Page 76 of Playing with Fire

His words sent a fresh wave of desire through me. Even like this, with me physically on top, Xavier's control was absolute. His dominance had nothing to do with physical positioning and everything to do with the way he owned every reaction of my body, the way he read my responses like a particularly elegant code.

"Fuck—yes—" I gasped, the words fragmented as he shifted his hips, taking my cock deeper. My voice cracked, dissolving into a desperate moan. "Dios mío... Xavier—all yours."

But something shifted in his expression—a crack in his perfect control, a glimpse of the same fear I'd been fighting. His hands on my hips trembled slightly, grip loosening for just a heartbeat before tightening again.

"I thought I'd lost you today," he admitted, the words so quiet I almost missed them. "When I saw Felix standing over you... when I couldn't fucking move..."

The confession—that moment of vulnerability from someone who prided himself on perfect control—hit me harder than any physical sensation could have. My rhythm faltered as I processed what he'd just revealed.

"Xavier..."

"Don't stop," he ordered, but his voice had lost some of its edge. His hands guided my hips back into motion, but his eyes remained unguarded, showing me something he rarely allowed anyone to see. "I need this. Need to feel you. Need to know you're still here."

I obeyed, finding our rhythm again, but something had changed between us. This wasn't just sex anymore. This wasn't just Xavier using my body for his pleasure or me surrendering to his control. This was both of us seeking reassurance, confirmation, proof that we'd survived. That we were still connected.

His fingers dug into my jaw, yanking my face down. "Fucking look at me," he hissed, pupils blown wide. "Look at me when you fuck me."

I met his gaze, refusing to look away as he demanded, and what I saw there stole my breath. His eyes were wild, jade green and burning with an intensity I'd never witnessed before. I saw everything there—that same darkness that had dealt with Walsh, the fury that would hunt down Felix, and something else, something raw he showed only to me. Something that looked dangerously close to fear.

"Fuck," he breathed, voice breaking slightly as his control slipped further. "Just like that."

He reached between us, wrapping his hand around his cock, stroking himself with rough, uneven movements. The sight of Xavier touching himself while I was inside him nearly pushed me over the edge right there.

"Fuck—X—can't—" My words disintegrated, teeth clenching as I fought against the building pressure in my balls, the vibrator making it nearly impossible to hold back.

"Not yet," he growled, grabbing my hip with his free hand hard enough to bruise. "Not till I say. Not until I'm done with you."

When he came, it wasn't the controlled release I expected. His head snapped back, a strangled sound tearing from his throat as his body clenched around my cock in violent pulses, hot cum spilling over his fingers and onto his stomach. The sight of Xavier actually losing his perfect control, completely undone by pleasure we'd created together, shattered what little restraint I had left.

"Now—fucking now—" he gasped, barely coherent.

I was already gone. The orgasm hit with the force of a bomb, vision blacking out at the edges as I came so hard my entire body seized. Some broken version of his name ripped from my throat before I collapsed forward, arms nearly giving out.

He fumbled to switch off the vibrator. I eased the ring from my oversensitized cock, dealt with the condom, and quickly cleaned the cum off his stomach. Then his arms wrapped around me, dragging me down against his chest, both of us sticky with sweat.

"S'okay," he mumbled against my hair, voice rougher than I'd ever heard it. "Got you. Right here."

I buried my face against his neck, breathing in the scent of him—smoke and leather and clean sweat, the metallic tang of blood now mercifully washed away. This close, I could feel his pulse beneath my lips, strong and steady. Alive. Here. Mine.

"Sorry," I whispered, embarrassed by how easily he'd read my anxiety earlier. "I didn't mean to get stuck in my head."

Xavier's fingers tightened in my hair, pulling back just enough to force me to meet his gaze. "Don't apologize," he said firmly. "Not for caring about what happens to me. Not for being affected by the shit we're dealing with. But..." His expression softened slightly. "You don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself. And I will always, always come back to you."

His lips quirked into that dangerous half-smile that always made my stomach flip. "Felix Burns doesn't know who he's dealing with. He thinks because he studied me, he understands me. But he's only seen what I've allowed him to see. He has no idea what I'm capable of when someone threatens what's mine."

The possessive edge in his voice sent a shiver through me, but not with fear. There was safety in being claimed by someone like Xavier. Protection in belonging to a predator who considered you part of his territory.

"When I was in the Army," I said quietly, "there was this staff sergeant who collected venomous snakes. Kept them in these really elaborate terrariums in his quarters. Against regulations, obviously, but no one was stupid enough to report him."

Xavier raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue, one hand still absently stroking my back.

"He had this king cobra that was his favorite. Handled it all the time. Thing never bit him, not once. We all thought he was insane, but he said something I never forgot." I swallowed, remembering the man's weathered face, the absolute certainty in his eyes. "He said, 'If you respect the snake's nature, if you never forget what it is, you've got nothing to fear from it. It's the people who think they can make a cobra into something it's not who end up dead.'"

"And you think I'm the cobra in this scenario?" Xavier asked, amusement coloring his voice.

"I think Felix made a fatal mistake," I replied. "He studied you, but he doesn't respect what you are. He thinks he can predict you, control you. But he only knows Xavier Laskin the hacker. The vigilante. He has no idea about the rest."

"And what's the rest?"

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