Free Beyond Control by Kit Rocha Page B

the door."
    That fast, his fingers clenched on her chin. "Don't you snarl at me. If I didn't want you, you'd already be out of here. But if you think I'm not going to fight to turn that answer into yes , then maybe you need to rethink what you're walking into. I'm not a man who stops at almost ."
    In that moment, she hated him. Her eyes and throat burned, and she ached to throw it all back in his face and leave, just to prove that she could. Not even to him, but to herself.
    She told her brain that it was time to move, but words spilled out instead as she shoved her crumpled note into his hand. "You want the truth? I don't know why I'm here, but I don't know how to leave. Not until I find out what this is."
    He released her with a deep breath that turned into a chuckle. "I guess we'll learn whether I can handle the unvarnished truth, won't we? Not many people will give it to me anymore."
    Lex pushed her fingers through her hair, bereft without his touch. "Do you blame them?"
    "Sometimes." He smoothed the paper out on his thigh and glanced at it. A frown creased his brow as he studied what she'd written. "What is this?"
    "It's my list. My rule."
    He read the words aloud, all seven of them. " Whatever we do, we do it together. "
    No inflection, nothing. She shifted on the cushion and cleared her throat. "That's all."
    "What happened to not liking punishment like Noelle?"
    "It's not my thing, but it's not a deal breaker, either." Lex arched an eyebrow. "If you expected me to list everything that gets me hot and everything that doesn't, forget it. You can figure it out like any other mere mortal."
    For a second, he looked so irritated she thought he might snap. His hand clenched tight around the paper, and that dangerous heat she knew so well gathered in his eyes. "So you're saying I can do any damn thing I want to you."
    The pendant woven into the center of her collar was warm on her skin, warmer still when she touched it with nervous fingers. "That's what it means for me, wearing this."
    "Stand up."
    It sounded different from his usual commands, softer and harder at the same time. She rose and faced him, standing with her hands in fists at her sides.
    He shifted into a pose she knew well, settling in the center of the couch with his long legs sprawled out carelessly. The lazy king at his finest, except he usually had plenty of people to demand his attention. Now there was only her, shivering under the weight of his gaze.
    He was looking at her like he owned her, and that was all he needed.
    Another long moment, and he smiled slowly. "What's under the dress?"
    "Not a damn thing." This was more familiar territory, and Lex clung to it as she gathered her dress an inch higher on one leg. "Want to see?"
    "Dirty girl." The words held nothing but sincere approval. "Show me. Take it off."
    With every nerve on high alert, the fabric sliding over her skin felt like hands. Lex eased it up, over her head, and dropped it on the floor at his feet.
    He gestured again. "Shoes, too."
    She nudged his knee with one toe. "The buckles are tricky. Help me?"
    "Maybe if you bend over, you can see them more clearly."
    Grinding a spike heel into his balls would be counterproductive, and not nearly enough payback for this arrogant performance. Instead, she pulled away and turned. One slow, deliberate bend from the waist later, she unbuckled one shoe, then the other.
    "That's my girl," he rasped. "Always fighting dirty." She hadn't heard him move, but he was there, suddenly, hands on her hips. "Don't move."
    She swallowed hard. "Not even to take off my shoes?"
    He splayed a warm hand across the small of her back, traced the curve of her ass and lower, along the inside of her thigh and the back of her knee. When he spoke, his breath spilled hot over her pussy. "You can do that."
    Only long years of practice allowed her to keep her balance. She kicked off the shoes and stilled. "Like this?"
    "Mmm." He edged his hand between her legs and stroked her, slicking