Free Beyond Control by Kit Rocha Page A

through the incredibly short list of activities that could result in rhythmic grunts drifting from the other side of it. Fucking, obviously--easily set aside. Even if he wanted to be a pig, he wasn't a stupid one. If anyone was getting in his pants today, it was her.
    Of course, he could have started without her, a mental image that curled her toes in her heeled sandals and stopped her just shy of a knock. She licked her lips and rubbed her thumb over the inside of her thigh as she tugged the hem of her skirt down. An intoxicating possibility, but unlikely. Dallas wouldn't begin this discussion at a disadvantage, even one borne of pleasure.
    Working out, then. Probably doing pushups, and enough of them to leave his skin sheened with sweat and imminently lickable. Enough to distract the hell out of her.
    "Fuck you, O'Kane," she muttered, then banged on the door with the side of her fist.
    The grunts paused long enough for him to say, "Come in," before resuming.
    Not pushups, after all. He was hanging from the bar in one corner of the room, his shoulders flexing as he pulled his body up and then lowered it again. The sweat was there, of course, dampening his white wifebeater just enough to give an impression of the ink beneath. He kept going, every movement a controlled concert of muscle and power--and tailor-made to leave Lex weak in the knees.
    "Fuck you," she said again, this time plenty loud enough for him to hear.
    He grinned at her and paused with his chin above the bar. "Says the woman who makes us all watch while a fallen angel from Eden licks her pussy on stage."
    "You love it." Lex held up the folded paper between her fingers. "I have something for you."
    Still grinning, he dropped to the floor and reached for a towel to wipe his face and neck. "I wasn't sure you'd do it."
    "Then maybe you don't know me very well," she said innocently.
    "Uh-huh." He tossed aside the towel and walked toward her. No, not walked. Swaggered , every line of him dripping self-confidence. "We'll see."
    Damn him, and damn his swagger, too. "Did you make a list?"
    "I know my list." He stopped in front of her and touched her chin. "You want to hear it first?"
    "Sure, why not?"
    He nodded toward the couch and waited for her to sit before sprawling out beside her. "First rule. No sex without me."
    A command that echoed the one scribbled on her own list. "I figured as much. Next?"
    "The shows." His gaze darkened a little. "Though God only knows how much we'll lose if I pry Noelle off you."
    Plenty enough for them all to feel the pinch. "You don't act like it bothers you."
    "Mmm, things change. But I'll let the shows stand for now. Just the ones with her, though." Leaning in, he traced a fingertip along the collar before catching her chin. "No one with a pulse will wonder why I haven't put a stop to that."
    But he wanted to. She could hear it in his voice, a low hum of tension and something else, a deeper rumble almost like possessiveness. "Anything else?"
    "No lying to me about sex." He held her gaze, his own firm and unwavering. "If I ask a question about what you can handle, or what you need, that means I want the truth, not what you think I want to hear. Because believe me, I'll be taking plenty without asking."
    Unbridled honesty, no matter what. Lex had been taught never to give it, because revealing too much led to deadly weakness. "I can try." The admission alone made her gut tighten. "I can't promise. Not always."
    His jaw tightened, but the frustration in his eyes didn't follow through in the soft way he stroked her jaw. "Do you trust me?"
    Honesty. "As much as I trust anyone."
    It seemed like he studied her forever, his gaze roaming her face, his fingers still stroking. The silence stretched on long enough to make her want to look away before he jerked his head in a short nod. "If that's what I've got, I'll work with it."
    It sounded too much like a concession, and she bristled. "I am what I am, Dallas. If you don't like it, I can find