Page 31 of Mortal Heart

But page three…yikes. She read through the list partly because she was playing a role and a domme wouldn’t hesitate to do so, and partly out of curiosity.Double yikes. Nothing on page three counted as BDSM in her book. Those items were nothing but torture. The black marks beside some seemed to indicate those selections might result in death. People had likely been murdered in this room, all in the name of someone else’s pleasure. Suddenly queasy, she closed the menu and put it back on the table.

Ronan stepped close to Arkady, his gaze fixed on hers. It was the silent signal they’d arranged beforehand. He’d seen, heard, or sensed surveillance in the room. That didn’t surprise Arkady in the least. The surveillance probably had very little to do with liability and everything to do with gleaning information about the club’s clients—information that could be leveraged later.

“Mistress.” The raw desire in Ronan’s low voice distracted her from her disgust at the menu and made her shiver. “The things I would like you to do to me in this room…”

She cupped his face and ran her thumb across his bristly chin. “Oh, the things I’d like to do to you in this room, given the opportunity. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll have the chance to really indulge ourselves, do you?”

“No, I don’t, Mistress.” His eyes twinkled. “Not toreallyindulge ourselves, but perhaps I’ll indulge myself.”

Despite her trepidation at their surroundings, she was intrigued. “How so?”

“May I touch you?”

She repeated what she’d said earlier in her garage when he’d asked the same question. “Touch me where? Why?”

“Where? Here.” His gaze on hers, he slid his hand up her thigh to the inside seam of her shorts and rubbed her gently but very deliberately through the fabric.

Oh, God. She let out a gasp.

“As forwhy,” he continued, “to hear you moan, of course.”

She wanted to resist, but she’d been turned on from the moment he’d kissed her in her kitchen. Even a bit of self-indulgent relief in the shower hadn’t eased her arousal much—just made her yearn for more. Add that to their role-playing and the contents of this room, and she was as tightly wound as she could remember being in recent memory. She couldn’t stifle a moan.

With that green light, his fingertips slipped under the hem of her shorts and explored further. His eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “Crotchless stockings?” he murmured in her ear.

“It’s the only pair I had.” Her voice sounded ragged. “Don’t look so smug. It has nothing to do with you.” He could probably tell that was a lie. Her choice of stockings had everything to do with him.

They had to stop. Henry Farrell could be right outside the door. She grabbed Ronan’s wrist.

“If you want me to stop, say stop.” He nuzzled her jaw, smelling like leather and pure hot-blooded male. “You want me to stop?”

She wanted him so badly she couldn’t think.Fuck it, she thought. She’d fight better if she wasn’t so wound up. And if someone was watching, she didn’t care.

“No, I don’t want you to stop.” She pulled him with her until her back hit the wall. She hooked her leg around his thigh to make it easier for him to slip his hand back into her shorts, grabbed his hair, and drew his face down to hers. “I want you to keep your promise about earning that blowjob,” she said, her mouth an inch from his.

He let out a guttural sound and kissed her so hard that her busted lip throbbed and she was sure she’d be bruised.Totally worth it.

With one hand under her raised thigh to hold her steady, his warm fingers stroked the slick, delicate skin left bare by the stockings. When he discovered how wet she already was for him, he smiled. Arkady wanted to be mad at him for looking so pleased with himself, but she couldn’t manage to feel anything but pure white-hot desire.

When two of his fingers slipped inside her, she arched her back against the wall. “More,” she ordered.

“Yes, Mistress.” His smile turned wicked as she shuddered and moaned. “I wanted you to come for the first time with me with my mouth on you,” he said softly into her ear. “But since we’re so pressed for time…”

In her haze of pleasure, she’d barely registered his words when he finally,finallyrubbed her just right. A few deliberate strokes were all it took to send her over the edge.

Her hand clenched reflexively and pulled his hair as she let out a series of gasping cries into his mouth. He held her up with one hand still under her leg while she writhed. And he continued stroking her until she had no more strength to stand.

It occurred to her that if Ronan was this good with his fingers, actual sex with him might land her in the hospital. The thought of it sent one last shiver through her entire body as he released her leg. Her knees trembled, but she could stay upright with two feet on the floor and her back against the wall.

“I needed that,” she said with a sigh.

“I know.” He leaned in to kiss her with surprising gentleness. “Some claim an orgasm speeds up reflexes and sharpens the eye,” he said, his mouth near her ear. “I have only anecdotal evidence to support that theory, but perhaps my Valkyrie will find it to be true.”

He froze. His expression indicated he thought he’d just stepped on a landmine.

Ronan had been so annoyingly self-assured and unflappable all night that Arkady couldn’t miss such a great opportunity to needle him. She put her hands on her hips. “YourValkyrie? So you give me one decent orgasm and now you think I’m yours? That’s not how it works, sweet pea.”

“That wasn’t…damn it.” He scowled ferociously, which amused her to no end. Though he wasn’t a shifter, his glower would give even Sean’s alpha stare a run for its money. She made a mental note to mention that to Sean the next time she saw him. Both she and Alice would get a good laugh out of his reaction.

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