Owned By Fate(8)

“Caroline.” His voice held command in it, layered over concern. “I’ll bring you back downstairs right now. Just say the word.” He brought his forehead down to hers, eyes darkening, pulling her deeper. “But I don’t think you want that. Do you, baby? I didn’t expect that.”

Caroline shook her head, praying sanity would return, but it didn’t do the trick. Could she go with this man, let him touch her, in this place, and look at herself in the mirror tomorrow morning? Right now, daylight seemed like the distant future. Inconsequential. Now was what mattered. Getting rid of the damnable ache. “I don’t understand it,” she said, the words practically inaudible.

Jonah, obviously sensing her teetering on the edge, trailed his lips down her neck, nearly causing her knees to buckle. She was too sensitive. Every touch, sound, sight, felt wrapped in gauze. Nothing could stop her from twining her arms around his neck and rolling her body against his powerful frame. Jonah’s breath shuddered at her neck, turned into a groan.

“That hot, throbbing feeling. The one between your legs. I know it’s there, sweetheart, and it needs me.” He nipped at the inside of her arm. “Come with me now and I’ll bring it screaming out of you.”





Chapter Four

Jonah swallowed an expletive when Caroline swayed toward him, as if he’d cut some tight, unseen tether inside of her. That reaction only served to amplify his need for her. No, not only her reaction, but specifically her not understanding it, then literally leaning on him for support. It further stiffened his already full, aching cock, that sudden desire to protect and…teach. She would deny it until her beautiful face turned blue, but her actions translated to her wanting guidance. An explanation of why she liked what she saw, instead of being repelled by it. His body, his mind, gave him no choice but to be that man for her. In a split second, it became everything driving him, keeping him standing.

Already, he’d broken the club’s rules, rules he’d created, by bringing her up here without the interview process and signing the usual consent forms. Now it seemed he would be breaking his own personal rules. On top of leaving the control room to approach her at the bar, he had every intention of getting her alone and taking whatever she would give him. God, he didn’t know what about this girl inspired him to leave his self-discipline in the dust, but he intended to find out. His instincts told him she needed him, even if she didn’t know why. And hell if he didn’t need her, too. If she refused him now, letting her go wouldn’t be easy. It would be damn near impossible.

Jonah dropped his hands to the flare of her back, just above her bottom, clutching at the material of her skirt with tight fists. “Caroline, I’ve never begged a day in my life, but I’m about to come dangerously close.”

He let his breath warm the skin of her neck, damp from his kisses, warming her with his lips when she shivered. “I don’t want what she’s having. I don’t want pain. I want…”

“Me?” Jonah held his breath.

“I don’t know. I—”

“I won’t make you hurt, Caroline. I want to pleasure you too badly.” He tugged her earlobe with his teeth. “No pain. Just me.”

A heavy beat passed. “Yes. Just you.”

His relief was surprisingly short-lived. Why? She’d just given him what he wanted. Jesus, he was already in trouble. One night without kink wasn’t a problem for him. He might prefer to restrain her, to take a riding crop to her backside and drive her to the point of begging, but he didn’t need it to find pleasure or release. With this woman, he had a feeling it would take next to nothing. No, his lack of relief came from the fact that he couldn’t deny himself his vices forever, and he already wanted her more than once—treacherous thoughts he shouldn’t allow himself, since he suspected she didn’t feel the same way, despite the way she was fitting her lithe body against his, rubbing against him and purring like a cat.

“What if I told you myself and pain are synonymous?” He tipped her chin up and groaned at her lust-dazed expression. “Would you leave?”

“Is this leading to an ultimatum? Pain or nothing at all?”

“God, no. It’s not an ultimatum.” He smoothed a thumb over the beginnings of a frown between her eyebrows. “I’ll never take you further than you’re willing to go, especially this first time.”

“First and last. There won’t be a next time.” There it was. She’d said it quickly, like ripping off a Band-Aid. But that’s not how it felt to him. The sting didn’t fade immediately but lingered, like the effect of a right hook. “Please don’t let me change my mind,” she finished with a whisper.