Yes. Tonight, there was one lesson to be learned.
Tonight was about teaching her to surrender.
He stood behind her, placing both palms on her shoulders. Breathed in the scent of vanilla and coconut; breathed in the heady scent of female arousal. He let his
fingers slide through the thick strands of hair that fell to her curvy ass. With slow, easy motions, he continued the soothing ritual until he sensed her muscles begin to relax.
Then he cupped a fistful of the silky fire and used the ends like a paintbrush over her body, as if preparing a canvass. With quick, teasing strokes, he touched her nipples,
then moved away. Caressed the side of her breasts. Traced her cleavage. Tickled the sensitive underside of her neck. When he finally let her hair drop, he placed both hands underneath the curve of her naked breasts.
“There are times for control, and times for surrender. Your stubbornness has become your prison. Do you remember how good it feels to have a man’s hands over you?”
Slow, barely-there touches urged her to lean in to his caress. He deliberately avoided her nipples and followed the path he’d traced before, using his fingers instead of her hair. Cupping the heavy weight, Theo squeezed lightly, testing the pressure, teasing a moan from her throat.
Her head slipped back to allow him more access. “That’s it, baby girl. Let go and let me touch you any way I want—let me show you what you’ve been missing.”
Hailey was losing her mind.
Her nipples grew taut and swollen, aching for more. Her heart thundered like a pack of thoroughbreds, and a sluggish, honeyed warmth pooled in the pit of her stomach, throbbed between her thighs, and made her knees grow weak. Her lids slid closed as she allowed herself to sink into the sensation. Long, tapered fingers touched her breasts, then gently plucked at her nipples, circling round and round as he urged her arousal to climb higher. She craved his tongue on the hard tips of her breasts, craved his fingers plunging inside her dampening heat.
Frustration built but he seemed content to let her body quiver in need.
Warm hands slid down her stomach, explored her belly button, the crease of her thigh, the curve of her hips. They stroked over her buttocks as his foot kicked her legs further apart for his exploration. Seething tendrils of sensation nipped at her control and her entire world narrowed to this one man and the need for more of him. For years, she’d been able to fight her desires, but tonight, as she felt his hot gaze on the private part of her, the wildness was unleashed.
His fingers separated the cheeks of her buttocks and slipped between them. A rush of wetness met him, and Hailey bit down on her lower lip to keep from crying out. Still, he didn’t stop there, didn’t allow her a moment of sanity, but pushed her further as he whispered in her ear the things he would do to her, with his tongue and lips and teeth and cock. The cool folds of his cloak swirled around her open legs until he stood before her; his gleaming eyes taunting the control she had built for herself. Never pulling his gaze from hers, he knelt, dragging his palms from her buttocks to the V between her legs. With gentle motions, he parted her swollen lips and exposed her completely.
“What do you want?”
She shook her head hard, as if to deny her own wanting. “Oh, please,” she gasped. “I need...”
“Not yet. You’re not ready enough.”
A choked sob rose from her throat. Every part of her throbbed, and she let herself beg as her hips rocked forward in a demanding motion. He soothed her with his voice, but his touch stoked the fire, as his index finger slid over the swollen nub just once, then stretched inside of her, the tight channel making way for him as a rush of wetness met his entry.
Hailey knew she had never wanted anyone as badly as she wanted him in that moment, and within the loss of control came a surrender; an acceptance of her female sexuality she had never felt peace with.
Theodore was overcome by the need to possess her completely. The fantasies he had spun over the past year faded away, replaced by the reality of her sheer beauty and honesty. He knew then it was not only Hailey being taught a lesson in control. He ached to end the masquerade right now and make love to her without his mask. Instead, he pressed his face to her stomach until the impulse passed.
He murmured against the smooth skin of her belly; breathed in the musky scent of her as he removed his finger and let her settle back. Her entire body pulsed like an instrument about to be played, and within himself he felt stretched to the limit of control. Her blue eyes were wild; drugged. She gasped for breath, her nipples hard little points straining for his mouth, her clitoris so swollen only the tip of his tongue could make her come.
He couldn’t remember another time he had wanted a woman more; couldn’t remember when he’d reveled in such an abandoned response from just his touch. Halfway tempted to rip off his clothes and take her right now, he hesitated a moment.
A bell rang out.
Silence filled the room. A moan escaped her lips.
“You may put your clothes on.” He paused. “We’ll meet again tomorrow.”
Hailey blinked at him in confusion. Her body shook with the need to orgasm. He watched as she opened her mouth to protest and ask him to finish. God knows, if he would’ve indulged both of them since he was at the edge. But she managed to reclaim control, as if realizing what she’d agreed to. She pulled her clothes back on and dressed without a word. Then she walked past him and out the door.
She followed everyone through the massive doorway and waited her turn to board the ferry. The damp, musky scent of her arousal rose to her nostrils. The other guests bumped against her as they obeyed the rules of the party. At dawn, every guest was escorted back to their various hotels. No one was allowed to return until the following night.
Hailey felt eyes upon her as she was about to step off the dock. As she settled down in the boat, she looked up and directed her gaze to the second-floor balcony off the right corner of the mansion.
A masked figure was barely visible, but she caught a glimmer of white which gleamed from the distance. The shadows closed around him and fought to reclaim its territory. When the ferry chugged through the calm waters, the figure turned and disappeared from the balcony, and Hailey wondered briefly if the whole night had only been an illusion.
But as she sat on the ferry and started to her hotel, she realized she had been flung over the edge of her sexuality. There was no going back. The thoughts of what her Phantom was going to do to her burned through her body with shame and hard-edged desire.
