His voice was a shock. She hadn't directly participated in negotiations, having left that to Ares as her representative. Despite his warmth, a shiver tickled down her spine. Cool fingers of déjà vu followed the shiver. Something was familiar-not the words. She'd never been with a man who would admit he couldn't read her mind. Something, though. Maybe the way he stood behind her, his vibe protective instead of intimidating. Lily turned her head toward him. He remained out of sight, nothing more than a body behind her and a shoulder in her peripheral vision.
She moistened her lips. Some reckless part of her wanted him to try his hand at finding out for himself. "If you have to ask, maybe you don't have what I need."
He laughed softly and traced her jaw with calloused fingertips. "Challenge accepted."
With his breath hot at the curve of her neck, Lily swallowed and bowed her head. A tendril of trepidation worked its way through her, warning that she might get more than she'd bargained for, but she ignored the instinct. She wanted to turn herself over to a master and that was a two-way street. He could lead, but they wouldn't get anywhere if she didn't follow, submissive and consenting, trusting as much as she could. Once she'd demonstrated she would be all three of those things, he tucked her hair behind her ear and stepped away.
Anticipation began as a small, hard knot in her stomach. While he chose his tools and his position, the knot grew, bigger and bigger, until it throbbed behind her ribs. The pounding drumbeat slid over her easily now, its rhythm coaxing her thudding heart into the same pace. She hadn't glimpsed anything of the shifters after the tiger on her first night but it was never far from her mind that she was prey in the company of beasts. Now, she instinctively knew she was directly in the hands of one of the powerful creatures.
His first strike landed unexpected, but welcome, solid across the cushion of her ass. She was so tense, so wound up with anticipation that the relatively mild stroke made her gasp. It was delicious. Bowing her spine, she shoved her hips back for more. He played with her but didn't tease. Instead, he drew a deliberate pattern of lashes across her skin-hard, solid blows for the larger muscles, light taps for more sensitive spots.
She appreciated that he established a pattern. There was something to be said for the element of surprise, but she didn't want to be alert. She wanted to sink into it, float free in the ache. Over and over, he brought the tongues of the flogger down on her skin. His arm didn't falter and she lost track of his pattern. Her muscles remembered well enough to liberate her conscious self, however, and the club's music dulled to a hum in the back of her mind, its wild cry swallowed by the whoosh of air and rewarding burn behind her.
Liberated from external concerns, her focus shifted. The new master's strikes penetrated deeper than skin and vibrated toward her physical center. Each blow delivered a ripple of sensation, tiny shocks connecting with her clit. For the first time in her Jungle sessions, she experienced real sexual arousal, a real desire for fucking. She strained to squeeze her thighs together, but the ankle restraints held her in place, spread-eagle and without the pressure she needed for release. As her moans became pleading, a light slap landed across the front of her thigh. Lily jerked, surprised by the change in his pattern.
"Enough?" he asked from behind. His palm slid across her stomach. "Or are you ready to tell me what you want?"
Lily swallowed. She didn't want their session to end, but- "I want to come," she managed.
"Want or need? There's an important difference."
His voice. There was something there, something she should know, but the low, intimate rumble at her ear eased her back into the fuzzy, vibrating headspace she'd discovered. Boneless, she relaxed against the solid presence of his chest and dropped her chin to her chest. Throat dry, she whispered, "Need."
Somehow, he heard. Or read the shape of the word on her lips. Lily didn't care how he picked up on her response. She only cared that his touch glided lower and long fingers fanned across the triangle of her panties. Off to her right, a large, dark figure stirred. Ares. She shook her head slightly to warn him away. Her rule was no sex, not no hands. She wanted this man's hands, wanted his touch more than anything, and she tilted her hips until he cupped her sensitive folds. Ripples of sensation began fast and gathered into a bright starburst of pleasure.
Her entire body bowed for the rush, so sweet and deep it dragged her back into the floating space she'd found at the end of his flogger. The cuffs that secured her ankles and wrists bit into her flesh. The small pain added yet another layer of texture and she embraced it, sucked it in on gasping breaths. Oblivion, yes … but, damn him, Jude's eyes came back, haunting her as she crested.