His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(109)
Author: Shayla Black

He liked her hint of tease. “You know, you might have a point. You’d be far more convinced of my abilities if I did more than stroke my cock. Let’s see . . . How would you like me to prove myself?”

Bailey pursed her lush mouth. “I have an idea or two.”

“I have more ideas than that,” he promised, abandoning his erection to stroke her nipple instead. “Wanna see?”

“Hmm, maybe.” She looked up at him with those hungry blue eyes that damn near dismantled his self-control. Her hair spilled around her in a pale, golden-brown cloud, and he almost mounted and impaled her in a single breath. “I might have to hear them first.”

“I’d rather surprise you. Will you trust me? Please.”

She didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

Joaquin was even more relieved to see that she immediately grasped the shift from playful to serious. He cupped her face. “I’d never hurt you.”

“I know.”

“I want to . . . explore with you.” He wasn’t sure how else to say that he wanted to try so much of what he’d seen at Dominion with her—and a million other things he hadn’t yet dreamed up. If a way to give her pleasure existed, he wanted to be the man who gave it to her.

“You mean tonight, because we have hours to kill and TV is boring?”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” Joaquin gentled his expression. He’d felt a whole lot of determination to fuck her, but he understood why she needed to believe what they shared was far more. “You’ve got something I can’t resist. I don’t know what this is or where it’s going, but I know I couldn’t leave your side right now for anything. I wouldn’t want to.”

Tears welled in her eyes. Then she bestowed the most dazzling smile on him, so happy and radiant. “That’s how I feel, too. Bet you never thought you’d wind up in something more than a fling when you took me from Houston.”

He snorted. “Hell, I never thought I’d even have a fling from this situation. Sex was the last thing on my mind, until I saw you dance.”

She frowned up at him. “When did you see that?”

“The night I abducted you. You danced around your living room and—”

“Oh my gosh! Where were you, peeking in my window?”

“Inside the armoire, with my knees crouched up around my ears.”

“Holy crap, that’s a small space.”

“You’re telling me. It only got smaller as my cock got harder.”

Bailey didn’t hide her laugh. “Really?”

“You think that’s funny?” he challenged her.

“Maybe a little.” But her eyes danced as if picturing him cramped up in a small space and fighting a hard-on amused the hell out of her.

“You know, I can’t exactly prove my masculinity if you’re giggling at me. That kind of disrespect deserves a little punishment, I think.”

The smile slipped off her face. “Punishment?”

He nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, patting his thigh. “Put yourself over my lap, ass in the air, baby girl. I didn’t get to finish my spanking last time we tried this. And you didn’t give me an honest response.”

She bit her lip and squirmed, pressing her thighs together. Now that Joaquin knew what to look for, he realized that she hadn’t been frightened by him previously. She’d been shocked by her arousal. It had startled and possibly shamed her. This time would be different.

“Bailey . . .” He grabbed her chin gently. “Do it or say your safe word. It’s ‘red,’ remember?”

She nodded. Her breathing turned choppy. “Yeah.”

“You need to pick. If you’re having trouble sorting through your thoughts, talk to me so we can come to an answer together.”

Bailey licked her bottom lip, and Joaquin made a mental note to see what that mouth felt like wrapped around his cock soon. For now, he waited patiently, damn near holding his breath. This would be a good test to determine how much she really trusted him in bed.

Finally, she sat up, then crawled across the bed, approaching on his left. “Help me? I don’t want to do it wrong.”

“There’s no wrong, but I’ll always help you.”

He took her by the waist and helped her across his lap. Once she was facedown, her ass directly in his line of vision, Joaquin lost himself in her scent, the warmth of her body across his bare legs, the spill of her silky hair toward the floor, and her pert butt so taut and small right in front of him. His hand would cover more than one cheek at a time. That fascinated him, as did the pale pink of her skin, her slender thighs parting restlessly, her erratic breathing.