Page 26 of Great Falls Rogue
Well, not on Tye’s watch. He might be in the dark as to what exactly was making terror lurch in those beautiful brown eyes, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be the one to make it go away.
Unable to stop himself, Tye gripped Lera’s waist and, ignoring the indignant squeak, hoisted her up onto the table in the dungeon’s center. Another step, and he positioned himself between her thighs, their eyes for once level with each other. As he trapped Lera’s gaze with his own, preventing it from scanning the dungeon, Tye could see the pulse in her neck start to slow, the hunted fear in her eyes wane. Good. A few moments later, the lass’s fear-tight muscles softened enough to let her breathe easier.
“There we go,” Tye said softly. The notion that—despite the manhandling— the lass still trusted him, was so gratifying that it nearly made Tye purr. He ran his thumb over Lera’s high cheekbone, watching her eyes flutter, his whole body longing to wipe the vestiges of her fear away. “It’s just a room, Lera. It’s people who hurt you, not anything in here. If someone wished you harm, they’d hardly need all these toys for it.” A corner of his mouth tugged up and, because hewasan arse, Tye added, “I could prove it to you if you want.”
Lera snorted softly, a touch of humor in her eyes—which was a miracle as far as Tye was concerned. “You sound very certain of yourself.”
“I am.” Oddly enough, Tye wasn’t lying. Hewascertain. Knew exactly how he’d go about turning their cell from a chamber of horrors into one of pleasure, guiding the nervous tension in Lera’s body to mindless release. As if he’d done such things before, many times with many women.
Which, of course, was utter nonsense. After all, Tye had been with Tiga for most of his romantic life. Hadn’t he? His mind itched, as if memories were trying to hatch through a hard shell. A familiar feeling. Small and feisty as Lera was, she made Tye feel as though he wore blinders, only able to see the world fully when she was close.
A spot on Tye’s chest burned suddenly, and he rubbed at it, shaking his head. No, of course, he was just speculating as to what onecoulddo in such a chamber—envisioning the pleasures a man might offer a woman given the tools at hand. It was nothing more than imagination mixed with a healthy dose of desire and cockiness.
“What are you thinking?” Lera asked, making Tye realize he’d gone quiet.
“Some very explicit thoughts that involve your screaming in ecstasy,” he muttered before catching himself.
The heady scent of Lera’s arousal once more spiked the air, reminding Tye of exactly how she tasted. Everywhere. Tye’s whole body heated, and he simultaneously longed to splay the lass out on the table before him and to gather her against his soul.
Lera swallowed, a delicious pink blush rising into her pale cheeks. “That… Us. It would be a very poor idea.”
“Agreed,” said Tye firmly, clearing his throat. The memory of their last coupling had driven him mad for weeks. They couldn’t do it again. Shouldn’t.
But anything was better than having Lera spiral down into terror again.
He looked around the dungeon cell, his mind racing against the tension starting to rise into the lass’s shoulders. That odd sense of expertise teased him again, an uncanny set of ideas of the many, many things he could do here. Maybe there was a way to offer her pleasure without losing himself. Not coupling exactly, but… “Do you want me to distract you, lass?”
Leralynn frowned at him suspiciously. “What do you mean, precisely?”
Tye grinned and cupped the back of her head with his wide palm. Leaning close to her ear, Tye nipped the bottom lobe. “Precisely, that I am a very good distraction.” He grinned, breathing her in. “Also, the one nice thing you should know about the chamber here is that no one can hear us—so feel free to scream my name as loud as you wish.”
This time when Lera opened her mouth—probably to call him a colorful type of bastard—Tye captured her soft lips with his own. She stiffened for a moment, then yielded with a nearly inaudible sigh that sent currents of need shooting into Tye’s cock so fiercely that he groaned.
Resisting the urge to take Lera right on the table’s edge, Tye slid his hands under the dark pink shoulder straps of her dress. Pulling the satin down over her breast, he considered the chest wrap for a moment before lifting her with one arm to slip the dress all the way off with an efficiency that made the lass’s brows rise. Apparently, Tye was also exceedingly good at undressing women.
6
Lera
Ishouldn’t do this. Shouldn’t let Tye do this.The thoughts repeating in my mind lose potency with every stroke of Tye’s hands along my skin. His emerald eyes study me with a predatory intensity that makes my sex clench, my thighs slick. Somehow, the male has gotten my dress, undershorts, and chest wrap all off within the space of a few heartbeats.
With a low growl, I slip off the table and plant my hands on Tye’s hard chest, fully intending to push him away and put a long, cold cell between us. Then he cups my rib cage in his large palms and flicks his thumbs over my nipples, taking my mouth so suddenly and deeply that I can’t help but moan against him. His large body blocks out the damp cell, his pine-and-citrus scent pushing away Coal’s phantom memories, River’s furious gaze, Zake’s descending whip.
I reach for his flies, suddenly desperate for more distraction, intending to make him as naked as I am. Whatever this is, however ill-advised, it’s working. The anticipation of feeling Tye’s muscles beneath my hands makes my fingers tingle, but it’s the bulge in his trousers I plan to enjoy first. To savor the hardness pulsing there.
Before I can so much as undo a button, Tye catches my wrists in a viselike hold, the wicked sparkle in his gaze sending a shiver along my spine.
“What—” I start to ask, but he is already moving on.
Transferring both my wrists into his one wide hand, Tye binds them together in front of me with my own chest wrap. He drinks in my whole body with his gaze, brushing his palms lightly over my arms. Across my abdomen. Through the coarse auburn curls between my legs.
I release a long breath, my eyes shuddering closed, each touch of Tye’s callused fingers waking my body more to his presence. Heat plays along my skin, warding away the dampness of the dungeon’s stale air. Emerald gaze capturing mine, Tye drops his hand lower still and—
I gasp, rising onto my toes as he plunges two fingers into me. A tiny pang of indignant shock followed by warm pleasure ripple through me at the intrusion, my breath quickening. But before I can get accustomed to the sensation, Tye pulls the hand free and grins at the sparkling wetness coating his skin. The smile splitting his perfect face, deepening the lines around his mouth, makes it disorientingly beautiful. I feel dazed, unable to move.
“I think we are on the right track,” he says, sucking his fingers clean.
I’m still blinking at Tye’s antics when he cups my bottom, pushing me a few steps forward. With swift, sure motions, he lifts my arms and loops the loose ends of the wrap binding my wrists to the chained manacles hanging from the ceiling.
