She was asking for a lot; the one thing he refused to trust a woman with was his carefully constructed control.
Lucas’s eyes hardened, bitterness flashing within the green depths. She’d taken a gamble, hoped he’d trust her with some small piece of him. It was disappointing, but at some point you had to accept when a person couldn’t give you what they didn’t have or want to give.
Lucas rolled his neck, rubbed his hand back and forth over his abdomen as if trying to soothe it.
“All right, Sienna Red, you think you can take the reins on this bull, then I’m perfectly willing to let you try.”
Yes,Stormy shouted in her head. She walked over to him, as close as she could get without touching, maintaining an outer display of calm seduction.
“Close your eyes,” she directed.
Lucas squinted at her, but he did as requested, and lowered his lids, long tangled lashes fanned out over his deeply tanned skin. Stormy brushed her thumbs over his closed eyes and kissed the center of his chest.
She’d asked for a gift and he’d overcome his fears and biases to give it to her. Now it was her turn to be as courageous, allow herself to explore desire in a way that she had never been permitted to do before.
She caressed his unlined forehead; this man wasn’t much for worrying. Tangling her fingers in his damp hair, she pulled his head down and stood on her toe tips, touching her lips to his, simply feeling their warmth, their softness.
He growled, opening to consume her. She pulled away.
“No. Only if I tell you.”
His brow furled, but he took a deep breath, then nodded, acquiescing.
She resumed her exploration.
Lucas truly was large all over. She caressed the deep cut and bulk of his muscles, skimmed her fingers over his waist, dug her nails into his ass cheeks, recalling when he’d toyed with hers back in the cell with Cornelius, remembering her vow to pay him back.
Dipping her tongue into the hollow of his throat, she sucked gently, pulled back when his body coiled to strike. She maneuvered him around so that the back of his knees pressed against the foot of the bed.
“Open your eyes.”
He did. Her breath caught. Fire was alive in his green gaze.
“Lie back on the bed and grip the headboard. Don’t let go until I say.”
His expression was both curious and suspicious, but he crept backward on the bed and held firm to the ornately sculpted wooden rail that ran horizontal in the center of the headboard. She walked to the side of the bed and sifted through her luggage until she found the items she sought.
“Spread your legs a little wider for me,” she said as she lined the items beside his hip.
“Hold on now, what the hell is all that?”
Lucas eyed the narrow four-inch black silicone device that had a subtle corkscrew design. There were three distinctive nobs that got successively bigger toward the base. After the largest bulge—which really wasn’t that large—the device narrowed and smoothed out, ending where the on/off switch was centered. Stormy placed a tube of lubricant beside the vibrating butt plug and reached for one of the pillows near Lucas’s head.
“Lift your hips for me.”
He shook his head, eyes wide, staring at the vibrator, then at her, in horror.
“Don’t you trust me?” she asked, stroking Bubba as she awaited Lucas’s answer.
“Come on, ol’ son,” he muttered, shutting his eyes. “This cain’t be no worse than being stabbed or shot or bitten by red ants. Don’tletthis woman send you running scared now.”
Despite his words, he remained frozen in place.
When his hips eventually rose, she placed the pillow beneath them.
“How brave you are. I promise you, Big Country Beaumont, you’ll enjoy this.”
She crawled onto the bed and settled in between his legs. “Now bend your knees for me.”
