Lauren Dane

Brandt and Ash knew Sera needed some time to herself. They stayed off the chip and let her rest. When she walked into the dining room several hours later, it was apparent to Brandt that Sela was firmly in place.

Which was good because the Familial representatives had joined them in the dining room. Ash didn’t trust the people his Family had sent and he’d advised Brandt earlier to keep aware. They certainly seemed very interested in Sela.

All four men stood as she entered the room.

“Did you have a good nap?” Brandt reached out and hauled her to his body and his cock, hard and ready, pressed into her stomach. She smelled sweet and heady, lilacs and warm evenings. Like sex, and he wanted some. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, breathing her in. He didn’t have to fake being enamored of the woman he held.

She let her head drop back as he kissed her neck. “Well, I see you missed me. I did have a good nap, darling. Traveling and getting up so early makes a girl tired.” She straightened to look him in the eye. “And I know I need my rest to keep up with you.” She winked and he chuckled, leading her to the table.

Both he and Ash watched through half-lidded eyes as she dropped to her knees and put her hands in her lap, waiting for Brandt to sit as well. Every time she did something like that, Brandt understood more why it’d been so hard for Ash to forget her. There was something magical about the way she submitted.

Throughout the meal, Sera served Brandt, doting on him. Each small touch drove him higher. Knowing they’d sleep side by side that night, that most likely he’d be touching her naked body sent his senses into overdrive.

That and the way she was dressed. A small, gold scrap of diaphanous fabric covered her breasts but he saw the shadow of her nipples and the dangling diamonds of the ring. Her back was totally bare but for the gold ribbons holding the front of the blouse on her body. The skirt was very short and his curiosity at what she was wearing—or not wearing—beneath it made his ridiculously hard cock throb in time with his heart.

Brandt felt the chip’s call and opened. He heard Ash speak to Sera. “You play with fire, beautiful. Do you know what you look like there? Makes me crazy.”

“I’m just doing my job.” She’d even managed to inject a bit of sarcasm into her thoughts and it made Brandt laugh. Ash looked up and met his eyes, a smile playing at his lips.

Sela never wavered as she laughed and played charming with the Familial Representatives while still remaining wary. They asked a lot of questions he felt were inappropriate and seemed unnecessarily invasive.

“I don’t trust these men.”

Ash gave an imperceptible nod. “Me either, beautiful. Be on your guard. I’ve never seen them before but they’re underlings of my youngest brother.”

“Why would your youngest brother be interested in what you did? Can you trust him, Ash?” Brandt asked.

“I have no reason not to. He’s got his own piece of the Family business. He’s the son of my father’s mistress but he’s officially recognized. Still, it’s best to keep wary.”

The night wore on and Ash became steadily more drunk. Sera knew what he was like when he got to this point and she wanted to be out of the room sooner rather than later. It wasn’t that she was afraid of what he’d do physically. Ash Walker wasn’t a violent man. Not with her. In her years of being with him, all their sex play, even the roughest, was never done in anger or in violence. She’d never submit to anyone who made her feel fear.

No, submission was about trust and she’d trusted Ash with her body and her heart. He’d been very careful with her body. She wished like hell he’d done the same with her heart.

But when very drunk, Ash was like a dog with a bone. He would pick at something until he’d analyzed it to death, relentless. And she had no reserves for that kind of discussion.

“Brandt, darling,” Sera took great care not to look in Ash’s direction to get pulled into a conversation with him, “I think I’ll wait for you in our rooms if you don’t mind. That way you and Ash can have an after dinner smoke with your guests.”

“No, that’s all right.” Ash stood up and put his glass down. “I’m off to bed myself. I’ll see you both at breakfast. Sela, you look beautiful this evening as always.” Taking her hand gently between his, he leaned down and kissed her knuckles. With a final nod at Brandt, he turned and left.

Brandt shrugged. He was apparently familiar with Ash’s badger mode and was just as surprised as she was by Ash’s graceful goodnight.

The two guests smiled at them. “I think we should go back to our rooms anyway. If you’ll excuse us, it’s been a very long day.” Brandt bowed slightly and Sera inclined her head as they walked past and out of the room.

She looked deep into Brandt’s eyes and let herself fall into his gaze. He refrained from touching her at that moment and she knew what he was asking without words. He was giving her a way to back out but she didn’t want it. She could tell herself it was a way to get used to his touch but she didn’t have the strength to lie. She wanted him.

She wanted him to wash away the ache of the Ash sized hole in her heart. A hole she’d had for ten years and had mostly dulled with work and occasionally play. Being confronted with him and his presence brought it back. It hung like a heavy cloak.

She nodded and put her hand on his forearm.

Just inside the door to their quarters, he backed her against it. Stopping just shy of her lips he looked into her face, making sure she was still with him. Once he’d ascertained she was, his lips met hers. Softly at first, increasing with pressure and intensity as the moments ticked by.

He took his time as his mouth devoured hers. Lips, hot and soft brushed over hers. Her bare skin warmed under the hands resting at her hips. She sighed with pleasure and his tongue slid into her mouth. His taste, intense, spicy and rich, bolted through her system. Sharp teeth caught her bottom lip and she shivered.

He sucked her tongue into his mouth where the slow, seductive tango of a kiss fried her cells with electric intensity. He dominated her mouth, took, plundered her and fed it back to her until she trembled with need.

Her head fell back against the door behind her as his mouth skimmed over the line of her jaw until he found the hollow just below her ear and feasted on it. Writhing against him, her fingertips dug into the muscles of his shoulders as soft sounds of desire broke from her.

“I love the way you taste,” he murmured into her ear as his hands found the ties to her blouse and undid them. The pretty fabric fluttered to her feet. “I want more. Will you give me more?”

Her moan of assent was as articulate as she could manage.

His hips canted forward, holding her there against the door. She watched, immobile with fascination as well as his weight, as his fingertips trailed across her collarbone and down her chest. Skirting her breasts, he touched the sensitive skin between them and circled her belly button. Reversing direction, he reached up and took the weight of her breasts in his palms, eliciting a gasp when his thumbs brushed over her nipples.

“So pretty,” he said, just before kissing her chin and down her neck.

The heat from his body seared her. She reached out to remove his shirt but he looked into her eyes and shook his head. “No. Not tonight. It’s just you tonight.”

He couldn’t possibly mean that. She must have shown her distress on her face because he chuckled softly and smiled.

“There’ll be more, sweet. There always is. With you, there always is.”

Before she could think up what to say without sounding suspicious, his mouth found her nipple and all coherent thought was lost. Instead, her hands held his head to her.

Suck. Draw. Lick. Bite. Somehow the man took those four basic things—sucking her nipple, drawing it between his lips and against his tongue, flicking and swirling his tongue around the tip and biting—to poetic levels. Each time he completed the set of movements and began again he did something a tiny bit different than he had before, or he moved to the other nipple. Over and over until she was little more than a whimpering mass of writhing, begging woman.

“Please, Brandt, please!”

“Please, what?” He spoke around her nipple, his eyes on her.

“Oh, my! Please make me come. Give me more. Fuck me, spank me, tie me up, I don’t care! Just touch my pussy somehow!”

He froze and gave her nipple a sharp bite that made her shiver with delight. Looking up slowly he met her eyes. He was a sight to behold. His lips were swollen and glistening. His chest heaving to catch breath. Thank the gods he was as affected by the situation as she was!

“Go into the bedroom and take off your skirt and panties. Get on the bed and spread your legs wide for me.”

She opened her mouth once and nothing came out. She didn’t want to argue. So she nodded and walked past him and into the bedroom.