panting breaths mingled with Hunter’s, his unrelenting stare reached through the shadows, promising searing pleasure. Despite her misgivings about his bent for control, Kata wanted him. Badly.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered, raising her hips.
He hesitated, then levered himself up to shut the bathroom door—blocking out Ben’s soft snores. He lowered himself to the mattress again, hovering over her, his stare drilling into her in the shadows. “I’m going to take you alone tonight.”
“I know.”
“Repeatedly,” he vowed.
Her breath caught. Desire branded his masculine face as his hot palm caressed her breast, the curve of her waist, before settling inside her thigh—skating heart-stoppingly close to her pussy. And then he stopped. As she strained toward him, her ache ratcheted up.
He seemed to know exactly what drove her mad.
“Keep talking to me.” His husky murmur whispered across her skin.
“Tell you what I want in bed?” Kata had no doubt he was capable of giving it to her.
“That, and more. I want you to be completely open to me.”
“Sexually?”
“In every way.” His eyes were solemn, startlingly direct.
Her heart skipped a beat. Kata pulled her lip through her teeth and peered up at the hard, shadowed angles of his face. “What is it you want, exactly?”
“All you’re willing to give me.” He smiled wryly. “And probably more.”
Those murmured words raised all of her red flags. What did he want beyond passion? Surely not more than a night of pleasure with no regrets. They’d been ridiculously in sync so far.
Maybe hinting at possessiveness was his shtick. Maybe he thought women dug it. Whatever . . .
“I can’t promise I’ll agree to everything, but if you do something I don’t like, we’ll talk it out.”
“Good.” His fingers tightened on her thighs. He pried them apart a bit wider, then wriggled down her body. His mouth loomed closer to the ache she desperately needed him to sate. “Kata, I will push you.”
“About the bedside light?” Kata frowned. Would he still want her if he actually saw all her curves?
“For starters.”
She paused. “Hunter—”
“Trust me, honey.”
The way he called her “honey” made Kata shiver. Usually, she hated that endearment, but the way he said it . . . hmm. Then the rest of his words registered in her lust-ridden brain. Trust him . . . with what? Was he trying to tell her that he was into some freaky shit? He’d done ménages before. What else did he have in his repertoire?
“Look, I don’t know how your preferences run, but I have a few boundaries.”
“Such as?” He breathed against her stomach, pressing mindstealing kisses to her skin.
“I’m really afraid of knives.”
His husky laugh warmed her. “No knives. I’m hard-core, not weird.”
Kata relaxed. Maybe she was overthinking this. “I don’t like pain.”
Hunter shrugged and trailed his fingers through her very wet pussy. “You’ll only get the good kind from me. The last thing I want to do is hurt you.”
She frowned. “Look, in case you didn’t get it earlier, I won’t be dominated.”
“You’ll be fine.”
His voice reassured her more than his words, but he hadn’t done anything to give her pause, other than put out a dominant vibe. She’d run across that before and walked away unscathed. She could handle Hunter, too.
Kata shot him a cocky grin and let her knees relax to the sides, widening her thighs. “Okay, then. Do your worst.”
“Oh, honey,” he chided, his gaze fused on hers. “Don’t doubt me. I will.”
Before she could reply, Hunter bent to her again. He slid those long, still-slick fingers inside her, thumb grazing her clit just before his mouth took over. He sucked her slowly, a nuzzle, a gentle lick. A tease. She tensed, stared at him.
Hunter oozed confidence—and not just in bed. The man was clearly intelligent. Interesting. Dangerous. His touch gliding over her skin felt gentle . . . but his stare
Larry Niven, Nancy Kress, Mercedes Lackey, Ken Liu, Brad R. Torgersen, C. L. Moore, Tina Gower