HIGHER (The Indigo Lounge Series) Read online

  His jaw clenched tight and he frowned. “I’d never force you to do anything you didn’t want. You know that, don’t you?”

  She laughed, the sound scraping her throat raw. “We both know it’s not that simple.”

  Sizzling eyes pinned her in place, searching, assessing. “Tell me how I can make this work. Would it help if you were in charge?” he rasped.

  Her breath jerked out. She noted the distinct lack of his agreement to her no. “In charge?”

  He nodded. “Wait here.”

  Striding to the farthest door in his bedroom, he entered the room he’d just spoken about. Dark, tormenting curiosity warred with the need to stay sane in this furiously escalating sensual ride that she’d once again found herself.

  There were so many things wrong with her presence here in Zach’s bedroom. But for the life of her, Bethany couldn’t move, couldn’t lift a single finger to halt what she knew was coming.

  A part of her wept with just how overpowering Zach’s will was over her. He smothered her protests with just a look. When he touched her, her brain ceased to function. She loved it and hated the unique way he could command her emotions.

  She was silently shaking her head in despair when he returned. He walked slowly to where she stood, his throat moving in a swallow. As impossible and unconscionable as it seemed, Bethany was shocked to realize he was nervous.

  She guessed why when she saw what he held in his hands.

  “I know my silence hurts and frustrates you. And you're well within your rights to punish me. Tonight you're in charge. You can do whatever you want. As long as it involves my cock, your tight cunt and hot, wet, vigorous fucking. Do it to us, baby. No matter how angry you are with me, you can't deny we both need it.”

  Her eyes widened as he held out the large silver handcuffs to her.

  “Zach—”

  He pushed them at her, his breath shuddering out of his chest. “Take them, Bethany. God, please use them. I’ve been without you for far too long.” He raked a hand through his hair, his eyes dark with tortured heat. “I won’t survive another day. If this way makes you feel a little bit in control, then I’m okay with it.”

  She took the handcuffs and slowly turned the key in the tiny lock and watched the cuffs spring open. They were made of solid steel, well able to withstand Zach’s imposing strength. Dark excitement fizzed into her bloodstream. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll abuse my power?” she enquired huskily.

  His dark laughter sent fresh tingles dancing down her spine. “Fuck, I’m hoping you will.”

  “God, even in this, why do I get the feeling you’re getting exactly what you want?”

  Abruptly, he knelt at her feet and slid one shoe off. “I like to think we’re both getting what we want.”

  He stared up at her, gently caressing her instep before setting her foot down and doing the same with her other foot. Memories of their first meeting sliced across her unguarded senses, making her breath catch roughly.

  His bold hands crept up her ankle to her calves. He squeezed them, using the action to draw her closer until his mouth was one hot inch from her pelvis.

  Slowly, he shut his eyes and laid his cheek against her belly. Warmth from his skin seeped into her, rose to cradle her heart.

  “I’m on my knees, Bethany. I’ll beg if you want me to.”

  A powerful shudder rocked her. She was certain it would’ve propelled her from her feet had he not been holding her.

  She stared down at his dark head resting against her and trembled against the feelings cascading through her.

  In Marrakech, she’d told this man she loved him. Although those feelings were buried beneath the pain still residing like a hard stone in her chest, they were there nonetheless, eating at her, demanding she acknowledge them one way or the other. She hated that she was too afraid to look too deep into her heart right now. The probability that she would accept anything Zach chose to offer loomed far too large in her mind.

  But this…what was happening between them right now, she understood.

  She had no idea what tomorrow would bring but the sex between had always been honest and true. It was the one thing that held no ambivalence whatsoever. Ironically, it was the one thing she could count on when it came to Zach.

  “Are you going to take that shirt off or do I need to rip it off you?”

  His head jerked up. A second later, he surged up to tower over her, his shirt a useless heap on the floor. Up close and intensely mouth-watering, his broad chest just begged to be touched.

  She slid the thin side of the handcuff over his skin and felt his deep shudder as the cold steel grazed his nipple. “Fuck!”

  Power surged through her. She repeated the action on his other nipple and bit her lip when his flesh puckered beautifully.

  Starved for him, she lowered her head and tasted him.

  Desperate fingers speared into her hair, holding her to her task. “God, yes, baby!”

  Exercising the prerogative he’d handed her, she bit him, glorying in his hissed, guttural response. “Let me go, Zach.”

  He released her immediately, his chest rising and falling agitatedly as he stared down at her. Deep excitement flared in his eyes as he watched her trail the handcuff down between his pecs to his waist.

  She paused just above the rigid swell in his pants.“I own you tonight. Will I need to remind you again?”

  His nostrils flared and he licked his lower lip. “You’ve owned me since the second I saw you. I don’t need reminding.”

  Her breath faltered. Tears brimmed her eyes and threatened to fall. He cupped her cheeks and started to brush them away.

  She turned away abruptly and walked to the huge, imposing bed. Taking her time, she removed the key from the cuffs and dropped them on his bedside table. With one finger, she dangled the handcuffs in front of her. “I’m going to have a lot of fun with these.”

  A hint of uncertainty crossed his face but it was gone a second later. “Tell me what you want me to do, baby.”

  Her eyes devoured him from head to toe and back to his crotch. Hunger clawed through her belly with a viciousness that made her wonder if this was how addicts felt when confronted with their favorite drug. She could barely think straight, never mind speak through the need that pounded through her.

  “Undress for me. I want you naked.”

  He complied with a fevered enthusiasm that would’ve made her smile had she not been caught up in a similar overwhelming turmoil of need.

  Zach shucked out of his clothes and roughly kicked them aside. Without waiting for permission he strode to where she perched on the edge of the bed.

  The handcuffs slid off her finger onto her lap, unheeded. She breathed him in and fought the heady scent of his heated body and unique scent of his arousal.

  His huge cock bobbed with each heartbeat. Unable to resist, she grasped him in both hands. He was rock hard and hot, thick and so incredibly tempting, she wetted her lips.

  “Shit!”

  She glanced up him through drowsy eyes and saw flared nostrils and high color slashed across his cheeks. Power, sweet and potent surged through her. But at the same time she recognized that she was equally enthralled by him, equally at his mercy.

  But wasn’t about to give up her power just yet. She caressed him harder, watched his face grow more taut, more tormented. “Do you want me to suck you, Zach? Do you want to feel the back of my throat?”

  “More than I want to breathe,” he replied tersely.

  She tilted her head and blinked slowly. “What if I wanted to do something else first?”

  A thicker wave of tension washed over him. “Something like what?” he croaked.

  “I don’t know. I’m thinking…” She slid her tongue over her lips once more and felt him shudder in response.

  “Torture, Peaches?”

  “Not necessarily. It may be something you enjoy immensely.”

  “Or I could be dead by the time you make up your mind. Then we both los
e. Think about that.” The gravelly plea didn’t diminish the determined bite in his voice. Her answering smile was as tight as the need knotting inside her.

  She caressed him again from root to tip, then cupped his heavy balls in one hand. Deliciously sensitive to her touch, he groaned deep but his eyes remained fixed on her, watching every single thing she did to him.

  Leaning forward, she trailed her lips above his groin, nipping and licking her way up his pelvis. She saw his hands twitch at his side, knew he was resisting the urge to spear his hands into her hair and keep her locked against him.

  “You want to do something with those big hands?” she teased.

  “Hmm,” he rasped.

  She tongued one nipple and nearly passed out from the pleasure overload. “Undo my zipper,” she managed to instruct.

  Unsteady fingers eased her long zipper. Cool air washed over her heated skin, exposing her bra and the top of her matching thong.

  His heartfelt, “Christ,” told her he’d noticed the color.

  She withheld the urge to tell him every piece of lingerie in her underwear drawer had been changed to indigo, the impulsive online shopping madness having struck her that day he’d been caught up in meetings all day in Marrakech.

  Hearing him now, she was glad she hadn’t resisted the urge to return every scrap of lace and satin the day she’d returned to New York.

  “Let me take off your dress,” he requested.

  She nodded against his chest and let go of his cock long enough for her arms to free her dress. It slithered over her hips and dropped to the floor.

  Eagerly, she grasped him again as her mouth drifted up his strong throat. Feeling his pulse underneath her tongue, she licked the strong flutter, then bit him hard enough to leave a mark.

  Dark laughter rumbled through his chest. “Marking your territory, Peaches?”

  She didn’t respond. His mouth was too close. Too tempting to resist. Rising on tiptoes, she kissed him.

  Strong hands closed around her immediately, holding her tight enough to strangle her breath. With her hands on his cock, locked between them, she felt every pulse through his hard erection. Wet heat oozed between her thighs as her clit pounded with need.

  His tongue invaded her mouth and she flicked hers against it, earning herself a deep groan. Fused and desperate, they devoured each other, stopping every few minutes to breathe.

  Her bra came off somewhere along the process and she just managed to pull back when his hand knotted in her panties, ready to rip them off.

  “No,” she protested raggedly.

  Hard, demanding eyes clashed with hers and his hand tightened in her thong, pulling it tight against her heated sex. “Baby, you know that’s not my favorite word.”

  “What happened to me being in charge tonight?”

  His mouth firmed into a thin line of displeasure. Slowly, he loosened his grip and closed his hands over her ass instead. He squeezed the tight globes and his clenched jaw told her he was reaching the end of his rope. She stemmed the urge to appease him and gripped his cock harder.

  With a sustaining breath, she stepped back and picked up the handcuffs. “Lie down,” she instructed.

  His hand tightened on her ass for a few seconds before he let go. He levered one knee on the bed, his body sleek and predatory as he drew back the sheets and discarded all but two pillows.

  With his eyes on her, he arranged himself in the middle of the bed. One hand gripped the steel and wood carving of the headboard, the other rested on his groin, just above his thick erection.

  Looking at his sculpted perfection made her throat dry and her heart pound with incessant need. She swallowed and forced herself to concentrate.

  “Both hands up, please.”

  Releasing a rough breath, he raised his other hand to grip the headboard.

  The high expansive bed meant Bethany had to get up and close to secure the handcuffs. Which meant bringing her body close to the predatory beast beneath her. She barely managed to secure one wrist before his head surged off the pillow and his hot, hungry mouth closed over her tight nipple.

  She gasped as pleasure shot fiery darts through her. “Zach!”

  He rolled her nipple in his mouth, groaning deep and long as her flesh puckered tighter. Then he bit her flesh and sucked some more. Her hands shook so badly, she gripped his wrists to steady herself.

  He was unapologetically derailing her every intention. And she was letting him. With a pained groan, she pulled back. He lurched for her other breast and caught the second peak just as she slapped the second cuff in place. He laved her once, twice, before she found the strength to move away and scoot down the bed.

  He stared at her, his eyes imploring and demanding at the same time. “Come back, baby. I can make you feel—Oh, fuck!”

  Her mouth closed over his cock, her greedy and desperate suction making his hips surge clean off the bed. With all her strength, she pushed him down and took him as deep as she could, his thickness filling her to discomfort. Her wet, slippery tongue slid along the underside of his engorged length and felt the thick vein pulse against her lips.

  His biceps bulged against his restraints, his eyes darkening to a molten grey as pleasure washed over him. She released him and flicked the tip of her tongue over him. He panted out thick, coarse words of pleasure.

  “You like that?”

  “Fuck. Yeah.” He shuddered.

  His hips twitched again and his thighs brushed her sensitive nipples. Suddenly a memory cut through her thoughts. Slowly she licked him one last time and pulled away.

  He watched her leave the bed with something akin to horror and outrage. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” he roared.

  She raised a brow and earned herself another dark look. Turning on her heel, she slowly lowered her panties and kicked them away. Then she looked at him over her shoulder. “Be a good boy and be patient, Zach. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

  His eyes remained on her ass, his breathing rough and harsh. “God help you, Peaches because when I get my hands on you, I will fuck you until you break in half. Then I’ll fuck you back together again.” The dark promise sent sensation skittering over her skin as she headed for the room he’d retrieved the cuffs from what felt like ages ago now.

  She opened the door, stepped in and gasped.

  As it had in Marrakech, the sight of the extensive toy room made a fierce blush suffuse her body. The smell of leather and steel had never been so heady. Nor had she felt so very turned on by the sight of so many pleasure-giving gadgets collected in one room. She turned in a full circle, noting the cock-chair, the gurney and the collar and nipple clamp combo and the bigger St Andrews Cross taking up the whole of the opposite wall.

  Of course, there wasn’t a chastity belt in sight. But there was a tall gadget that looked like a rocking horse, complete with a double saddle, stirrups and bridle.

  Bethany shivered as she walked past it, her mind frenzy with images of what Zach could do to her on that thing.

  She went to the large chest of drawers and searched until she found the bottle she needed.

  His gaze found hers the moment she walked back into the bedroom. Then it flicked to what she held. “Did you like your toy room?”

  “I’ve seen it. A rocking horse, Zach? Really?”

  “Just say the word, baby, and I’ll give you the ride of your life.”

  “You’re depraved.”

  He caught her shiver and laughed. “And you love it. What are you going to do with that?” Dark anticipation coated his voice.

  She climbed back onto the bed, flicked the top of the bottle and tipped it over her chest. “I’m going to drive you out of your mind.”

  Liquid dripped down her midriff to pool in her belly button. Dropping the bottle containing the most heavenly scented oil, she smoothed her hands over her breasts and then over his erection.

  Intense grey eyes watched her every move, her every stroke. “Holy fuck.”

  Sh
e stared up at him and smiled. “Too much, Zach? I can be gentle if you ask nicely.”

  “That sassy mouth is going to get your ass pink, Peaches. Count on it. Now do it.”

  She pouted and pretended to hesitate. His growl warned her into action. Bending low, she cupped her breasts around his cock, trapped him in her cleavage, and began to rub him up and down.

  Zach being Zach, he took over within seconds, fucking himself between her breasts with long, sure strokes that drove them both close to the edge.

  Just when she believed she would come just from being tit-fucked alone, he jerked away. “Your pussy, baby. I need it. Now.”

  She was too far gone to remind him that she was in charge. Besides, she needed to feel his possession as much as he yearned to be inside her.

  She rose and stared down at the beautiful, breath-taking man bound and ready for her. Something hot, hard and painful clenched in her chest.

  Tears she believed were dried pricked her eyes.

  Emotions she thought were buried for tonight threatened to break free.

  Abruptly she turned away from him and straddled him, her back to his front. He hissed in surprise but she was already grasping him, angling him toward where she craved him most.

  His thick crown probed her entrance. It would hurt, she knew that. She’d been too long without him. But she didn’t care.

  With a deep groan of anticipation, she slammed down on him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Fuck…God!”

  “Oh, Zach!”

  The sound of his name on her lips threatened to fry his brain. Zach struggled to breathe through the intense, unique feeling of once more being inside Bethany.

  At long fucking last.

  His heart pounded and sweat broke out on his brow as he stared down at her sweet ass bearing down on him, her tight cunt struggling to accommodate him.

  He felt thicker than he’d ever been before, probably on account of all his blood surging happily to one place. She pulled up and his cock glistened with her slickness.

  Jesus, how the hell had he managed to stay sane without this?