Page 41 of A Worthy Opponent
She wets her lips. “You know, most dudes would have stopped with telling me how badass I am. They wouldn’t have gone into all the bits of me they’ve jacked themselves to.”
“You know I’m not most guys, beautiful girl.” I want to strip her down and show herexactlyhow much I want to worship every inch of her, but there are still the terms to be met. Fuck, I hate when I paint myself into a corner, no matter how vital it was to draw that line in the sand for us.
“That’s the damn truth.” She grabs the front of my shirt, and I’m caught off guard enough that I allow her to tow me down to her mouth. The kiss surprises the hell out of me, but my shock only lasts a beat before I take control.
I tighten my grip on her waist and lift her onto the counter. She immediately opens her thighs to me, and I close the remaining distance between us. We’re not close enough. We won’t be close enough until my cock is sheathed in her to the hilt. But it’s still so fuckinggood. Tink is soft and strong, and it feels like she was made just for me.
I dig my fingers into her silky hair and tilt her head back so I can get better access to her mouth. She tastes of vodka and the sharp bite of citrus, and I drink her down. This womankillsme.
She runs her hands up my chest and fists them in my shirt as if trying to keep from wandering. Fuck that. I break the kiss long enough to lean back and yank my shirt off, andthen I take her hands and press them to my bare chest. “Touch me.”
“I’m going to do more than touch you.” She pushes me back a step, and I let her.
Then Tink slides off the counter and sinks gracefully to her knees.
Chapter 16
Tink
Now that I’m on my knees, the doubt falls away. This is the right course, theonlycourse. Hook stares down at me with those dark, dark eyes. His hair is tangled from my fingers running through it, and his piercing glints against the black of his beard. He starts to say something, but cuts himself off before he gets the first word out.
Finally, he steps back and keeps moving back, holding my gaze, until he reaches the bed and sits carefully on the mattress. I wait for his Dom persona to flicker over him, for the arrogant smile to appear, for the swagger.
Instead his voice is hoarse as he beckons me forward by crooking a single finger. “Crawl.”
If I’d planned this better, I’d be crawling to him naked instead of in jeans and a crop top. No time to think about that now. I move slowly, sinuously, giving him a show. The cool wood floors bite into my palms and knees, but the faint ache only heightens the desire.
He’s utterly still, drinking me in as I move closer, inch by inch. If not for the tension in his shoulders and the way hefists his hands, I might be foolish enough to think he’s unaffected. As long as I don’t look at his eyes, that is.
Hook stares at me like I’m the most treasured possession he’s ever acquired and he looks forward to examining me at length. That earlier flicker of insecurity, of wondering if he prefers me as I was instead of as I am, dies under that gaze. There isn’t a single doubt in my mind that Hook desires me exactly as much as he says he does. More, even. He holds himself so tensely, it’s almost as if he doesn’t trust himself to see this through, to allow me this game, before he falls on me like a starving man.
“Hook.” No, that’s not right. Not here. Not now. I lick my lips. “Jameson.”
His hands unclench and clench. “Tell me what you want, beautiful girl.”
There’s no going back now. Maybe there never was. I stop just short of touching him. “I want your cock. Ineedyour cock.” Maybe I’ll regret this later, but I don’t care. I sit back on my heels and run my hands over his knees and up his thighs. “I might die if I don’t have it.”
I half expect him to topple me to the floor right then and there, but I should know better. Hook is made of stronger stuff. He catches my hands before they reach the front of his slacks. “No going back if we cross the line. You’ll be mine in truth.”
Part of me flinches away from the honesty ringing in his tone. I belong to no one but myself. I can’t go back to that, not ever again. “I’m yours in bed. Nowhere else.”
“Tink,” he says my name like he can already taste me on his tongue. “We’ve covered this already. You were mine from the moment you put that ring on your finger and said ‘I do.’ Crossing this last line only cements something we both already know.”
I’m terribly afraid that he’s right. “I’m scared.” I want totake the words back as soon as I voice them. The tenderness on his face isn’t enough to combat how vulnerable I feel.
“You should be.”
Before I can processthat, he urges me to my feet and takes his time stripping me. Shock leaves me placid and malleable. Or at least that’s what I tell myself. It’s certainly not that I crave Hook’s hands on my body, crave the way he touches me as if every brush is a gift I’ve given him and that he’s taken as his due.
I finally find my voice as he slides my panties down my legs. “What the hell do you mean Ishouldbe afraid?”
“The very best pleasure is spiced with fear. Do you deny it?”
I start to do exactly that but force myself to stop. We crossed the threshold into a scene the moment I hit my knees. I chose this. If honesty is all but a detriment in the rest of life, it’s vital during this flavor of play. “No, I don’t deny it.”
He nudges me away from the bed. “Your safe word?”
It might be protocol to check in like this before every scene, especially with a new partner or new relationship, but I can’t help feeling like that’s not what this is. I speak through gritted teeth. “Pirate.”
