Lauren Dane

Holding his hands to the side, he tipped his chin at her. “Go on then, sweetness. Take me, I’m all yours.”

She felt like it was Christmas morning. Running her palms up the impressive wall of his chest, she gloried at the feel of his muscles jumping beneath her caress. Bolstered that she was having an effect on him, she leaned in and put her cheek against his flesh and breathed him in.

He was warm and hard against her cheek. His heart pounded reassuringly beneath her ear. Something deep inside her roused at his scent. It was comforting and exciting, home and adventure all at once. It was right.

Her hands traced over the muscles of his shoulders and back, down his spine and along the waistband of the pants until they came to the front. Smirking, she went about unlacing them, making a delighted gasp when she saw he wasn’t wearing any underwear. Zippity doo dah!! Wasting no more time, she pushed the pants down over his thighs. And what thighs they were! Muscular and hard just like the rest of him.

When she bent to pull the snug leather from his body, she ended up kneeling before him. Eye to er, eye with his cock. The lure of the heated skin so close to her face was too much to resist. Leaning in, she brushed her cheek over his cock, breathing him in. The scent of his sex settled into her system, affecting her deeply. She kissed the blunt head and tasted the salt of his semen, the taste bursting through her.

“Wait.” Bending down, he gently pulled her upright.

“I thought you said you were all mine?” she said with a slight pout.

“I am, but there are a few things we need to get out of the way first.”

“What’s more important than what I was doing?”

A smile threatened to come over his face. “You aren’t as shy as you seem at first glance.”

“Well, duh! I mean, after the supertight leather pants come off what’s the point of being shy?”

Nate liked Holly. Aside from the lure of the chemicals that made her his mate, she was interesting. She had this inner core of strength that he admired. And she was funny. His life had been so serious for so long. She brought some much-needed laughter into it.

“Holly, take off your clothes.”

“You’re awfully bossy.” Her voice was quiet as she nervously twisted the hem of her shirt in her hands.

“When it comes to sex I’m very bossy.” He tipped her chin up so that he could look into her eyes. “Is that a problem, sweetness?”

“Huh?” she said, mesmerized by the curve of his bottom lip.

Pulling her close, he brought his lips against her own in a crushing kiss. His cock dug into her stomach. His hands held her to him by her upper arms. She was utterly swept away by the act.

After kissing her senseless he pulled back and looked deep into her eyes. “I like to be in charge, Holly. In the bedroom especially. I’m a dominant man.”

“No kidding.” She grinned at him.

“I’m being serious. I saw you look at the hooks above the bed. Do you know what they’re for?”

She turned and looked at them again. “Holding onto for balance? Plants?”

Raising an eyebrow, he continued to bite back a smile. He pulled off her shirt before she could make herself any more nervous about it. Her skin was like milk, so pretty and creamy. The fingertip he ran along the curve of her breasts just above the edge of the lacy bra she was wearing left gooseflesh in its wake.

She blushed at his scrutiny. Undaunted, he reached around and undid the hooks on her bra and slid it forward. Still, she kept her arms crossed so it didn’t slide all the way off.

“Holly, don’t hide from me.” His voice was gentle but steel edged it.

“Easy for you to say,” she mumbled, eyes downcast.

“Why is it easy for me to say? Am I not standing here totally naked to your gaze?”

She got pissed then and gestured to him. “Uh yeah! Hello? For god’s sake, Nate, have you looked in the mirror lately?”

He looked utterly clueless, which only made her angrier. “In case you haven’t noticed, you are fucking delicious, Nate. Gorgeous. Major major hunkalicious. I on the other hand am not.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and turned her to face the mirror as he stood behind her. He pulled the bra all the way off and made quick work out of stripping her jeans off. Before stripping her of her panties, he grinned up at her as he caught sight of the front panel bearing the cartoon face of a cat.

“What? Everyone loves a little pussy.”

He barked out a laugh. “You’re a delight, Holly.”

Once she was fully naked, he took her wrists and put leather cuffs on them and laced a sturdy-looking silver chain through them. Wide-eyed, she watched him as he pulled her arms above her head and attached them to a hook suspended from the ceiling, careful to be sure her shoulders weren’t overextended.

“Look at yourself, Holly,” he said. Ordered.

Her eyes slowly moved from his pale green ones to her own in the mirror. Her hair was like a curtain of flame against her flesh. Her back was arched, arms above her head. Her breasts were heavy and large. The neat triangle of hair at the apex of her thighs framed her sex. She resented the sight of the softness of her stomach and the curve of her thighs that she’d always hated.

He took a breast in each hand and weighed them, thumbs coming up and over the nipples.

She was transfixed by the contrast of those large hands, dark against her own pale flesh, elegant fingers moving around her nipples.

“You’re so beautiful, Holly. Inside and out,” he whispered into her ear, bringing a shiver as the heat of his breath flowed across the sensitive skin there. He smoothed his hands down and over her stomach and through the curls shielding her pussy.

“I need to taste you. Here,” he said, running his tongue over her neck. “And here.” He pressed his middle finger through the folds of her pussy.

“Oh my,” she whispered and he gave a chuckle so wicked that she grew moist and lethargic just hearing it.

“Are you still all right with offering me your blood, sweetness?”

Somewhere, she found the energy to look up to meet his eyes in the mirror and nod. He whispered in her ear what she needed to say and she licked her lips and very softly said, “You and I, we are one. One heart, one soul. My life force is yours for pleasure and for sustenance.”

With hooded eyes he nicked her flesh open and covered it with his mouth while she watched.

Shivers worked through her as she felt her blood leave her own body and enter his mouth. Each pull was like a tug on her clit. When he stopped, moving back to lave his tongue over the wound to close it, her climax bloomed within her and she pulled against her bonds and cried out, back arching, going up on her toes.

He put his lips to her ear and repeated the words back to her and then, keeping his hands at her waist to support her, he walked around to face her and took her lips. The metallic tang of blood coated her tongue and she realized that it wasn’t just her blood but that he’d nicked his own lip and she was taking his blood into her body. The thought was scary and yet erotic at the same time.

Total disorientation swam over her and she experienced double vision. She swayed a bit in Nate’s embrace and he moved his lips away but kept her within his embrace.

“Shh, it’s the bond. Close your eyes a moment and you’ll get used to it.”

She pressed her face into the warmth of his chest and breathed him in as he held her. The beat of his heart and the rhythmic stroke of his hands up and down her back comforted and gentled her.

Some time later she heard a tap on the door and felt Rhett come into the room.

“Jesus, you’ve chained her up already?” Rhett murmured as she felt him move toward them.

Nate laughed and it rumbled against her face. “Do you object, Rhett? Doesn’t she look exquisite this way?”

“She does,” he agreed. “I love the way your hair is like a cloak of fire over your back,” Rhett said, pressing a kiss on her shoulder.

The nausea and disequilibrium passed and she carefully opened her eyes and felt the world adjust with relief. “I thought that it was like having both of you inside of my head before but this is way more than that.”

“The mate bond is sort of like the integration of our senses together. I can feel your excitement, Holly. The wetness between your thighs. I can feel the way that it turns you on to have Rhett standing behind you, the material of his pants brushing up against your ass. I can feel your fear, your feelings of inadequacy.” Stopping, he looked at her closely and the depth of tenderness in his eyes nearly tore her apart. “So alone. Oh, sweetness, you’re never alone with me and Rhett in the world.”

Tears welled in her eyes and her bottom lip trembled as she fought off her turbulent emotions.

Nate reached up and unhooked her hands but left her wrists bound to each other. He led her to the bed and laid her down on the cool comforter. She looked up at them both and watched as Rhett pulled his sweater off and then shrugged out of his slacks and socks.

The two of them stood side by side, naked. Staring down at her. She flushed scarlet.

“It’s our turn to bond, Holly,” Rhett said, lying down beside her on the bed. “I took a lot of blood from you night before last so I’m just going to take a taste and you’ll do the same.”

“O-okay.”