Free The Dangerous Hero by Linda Barlow Page A

Grab the bars, and don’t let go."
    Ohmigod, she thought, as all sorts of tiny muscles she’d forgotten she had clenched between her legs. "Why?" she asked, just to be provocative, even as she was reaching overhead for the brass frame of her bed.
    "Do it," he growled, in full Bad Boy mode.
    She did. Her palms felt slick as she wrapped her fingers around two of the narrow brass bars, and she was even more slick and wet between her legs.
    "If you let go for even an instant, I will tie your wrists and ankles to the bedframe."
    Again, a ghost of fear. She pushed it back. She wasn't afraid of anything or anyone.
    "Do you have any restraints?" he asked, in a low sexy voice.
    "You mean, like rope or something? Um, no. Sorry."
    His green eyes glinted wickedly. "Just hang onto those bars. I enjoy seeing you that way." He went back to kissing and caressing her breasts, ignoring the way her hips churned and thrust against his lower body. She was practically weeping with a combination of delight and frustration by the time he dragged her panties out of his way and slipped his fingers between the petals of her sex. She arched up against his hand as he explored, trying to coax him to touch her in a way that would bring the release she craved. Instead, he avoided her most sensitive spots and smiled cruelly as he met her eyes: "Not yet." Oh yes, he wanted control, all right. But she could tell from his own rapid breathing, the tension in his muscles, and the dampness that was breaking out on his skin that he was close to the edge.
    "Enough. Put a condom on and come into me." Two could play this giving-orders game.
    He flashed her a smile. She loved that he could temper the predatory harshness that came over him with his natural lightheartedness. "So impatient. You have a lot of learn about me, babe."
    But he ripped open a condom packet and snapped one on in record time.
    Moments later, he was rearing over her as he arranged himself between her legs and lowered his body to hers.
    "I’m letting go."
    "No, Viola, you're not." One of his hands reached up and curled her fingers more tightly around the bars. She could see the warning gleaming darkly in his eyes. She maintained her hold.
    "I need to touch you."
    "Not yet."
    Rebellion shot to the surface. "Why not?"
    "Ssh. You trusted me that summer, remember? I didn't take you anywhere you didn't want to go."
    "That was a long time ago."
    "I know. But it's gonna be okay. Do what I tell you and you won't be sorry."
    Okay. She could go with that, for a while, at least. She nodded.
    "Good. Hang on." He slid down until she could feel his breath against her mound. Parting her slick tissues with his fingers, he moved his mouth over her, kissing, licking, nipping. Ah, god. She felt her hips arch up and press against him as all sensation became centered in her core. He ran his tongue over her folds, up and down, back and forth, deliciously. He snaked it in between, around the opening to her cleft, and then gently nipped her clit until she cried out, needing more and finding it as he continued to drive her up toward the climax that was blossoming inside her.
    He didn't let her go there yet, though. He stopped when she was close and slid back up to kiss her mouth. "Good girl," he whispered. "You hung on. That pleases me. Lower your arms now and put them around me."
    Fiercely, she closed her arms around him, her fingernails dragging over the firm muscles on his back. She spread her legs even wider for him. She panted, beside herself, thrusting up trying to find him. He grasped her hips and held her still, and she fought him briefly. She was unaccustomed to having her movement restricted. He was the only man who had ever made love to her that way. He’d done it nine years ago too, but everything had been so new to her then that she hadn’t really been aware of how different it was.
    "Shh," he breathed. "I've got you."
    All thought fled as all the other impressions overwhelmed her. His body moving over hers