Collaring Brooke (Club Zodiac Book 3) Read online

  She closed her eyes and let her chin dip. “Yes.”

  “Good girl. I think you’ll be able to relax and enjoy yourself more if you don’t have to worry about keeping your hands at your sides or behind you.”

  She nodded, more wetness leaking irrationally between her legs. The sensation was so completely foreign, she didn’t know how to process it. There couldn’t be many twenty-two-year-old women as inexperienced as her.

  Carter stood and then patted the mattress. “Climb up. Lie in the center. Stretch your arms above your head.”

  Her blood pressure had to be through the roof as she did as he instructed, spreading her body out for him. The fact that he was seeing her naked was weird enough, but now he was going to have complete control to touch her everywhere, and that should freak her out.

  Instead, it drove her desire higher. When she reached the center of the bed on her hands and knees, she hesitated, pondering the difference between lying on her back so that Carter could ravage her body sexually in a way she was completely unfamiliar with and stretching out on her stomach instead to receive a flogging or spanking or even a whip.

  She knew he wouldn’t go for that right now, but half of the reason she was shaking so badly was because she wanted him to strike her. She was torn over the juxtaposition between his gentle touch that would bring her someplace new and the firm smack of leather or a palm that would give her the kind of relief she was familiar with.

  He climbed up beside her, setting a hand on her back. “You okay?”

  She nodded, yanking herself back to the task. Give this a try. Do it. She turned over, settled onto her back, and fought the urge to cover her chest or draw her legs up. So far out of her comfort zone.

  Ironic. Her comfort zone was off-kilter—consisting of the desire to be beaten instead of loved. She met his gaze and got bold. “Will you take off your shirt? At least give me something sexy to look at.”

  He grinned, straddling her as he grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms over her head. “You think my chest is sexy?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m inexperienced, but not blind or from another planet.”

  He chuckled, leaning closer. The slight pressure of his butt on her thighs was welcoming. At least he wasn’t staring at her sex. Yet. “I’m going to kiss you.”

  Her lips parted at his words. She wanted that.

  He lowered his face and claimed her mouth, gently at first, pressing lightly and nibbling her lower lip before doing the same to the upper one. And then he opened his mouth farther and angled his head to one side. He licked the seam of her lips, sending a current down her spine.

  Only Carter could have made her first kiss so beautiful that it brought tears to her eyes. The same man who was about to give her a giant pile of firsts. When his tongue slid into her mouth to tangle with hers, she fell further under his spell, enjoying the minty taste of his toothpaste from that morning mixed with his own flavor. Who knew people had a flavor?

  She found herself lost in the kiss, lifting her head toward him to deepen the contact, moaning around his lips as he grew more demanding, devouring her as if he would starve if he didn’t destroy her with that kiss.

  It worked.

  By the time he pulled back enough to nibble across her cheek and over to her ear, she was putty in his hands. He flicked his tongue over her earlobe and then whispered close, “You’re mine.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. What did he mean?

  “I’ll never get enough of you,” he continued. “I’m wrapped so tightly around your finger, I’ll never be able to unravel. I’ll never want to.”

  She flushed, biting her bottom lip at his words. He couldn’t know that. He hadn’t even had sex with her. What if she sucked at it?

  “Do you believe me?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Figures. I’ll just have to convince you.” He was still smiling as he rose over her again and then tugged her hands farther up toward the headboard. “Grab the rungs, baby.”

  She wrapped her fingers around the spindles and held on tight.

  He leaned across the bed, opened a drawer on the nightstand, and returned holding a length of rope.

  Her stomach dipped. He was really going to tie her to the bed. Yes. She wanted this. He watched her face as he worked the rope around her wrists in what she determined was an intricate, specific manner. When he was finished, she gave a slight tug.

  He fulfilled her request next by pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it aside. Lord, he was broad. And hard. And muscular. The desire to flatten her palms on his pecs was strong. Her hands were a bit occupied at the moment, however.

  He kissed her nose and then her lips as he slid down her body. His palms landed on her breasts so fast she gasped at the renewed contact with her sensitive skin. “So perfect.” He squeezed them both, molding them with his fingers. “Your skin is exquisite. Your nipples are the sexiest shade of pink.”

  She wanted to point out how small her breasts were, but decided against it. Judging by his expression, he was not concerned about size. In fact, he looked like he was about to devour her.

  And she wasn’t too far off because he pushed even farther down her body, leaned over her chest on his elbows, and sucked a nipple into his mouth.

  She arched into him on a moan. So good. Sooo…good. She had really been missing out.

  After suckling and tonguing her nipple for so long it stood at attention with a new level of sensitivity she hadn’t known existed, he switched to treat the other nipple in the same fashion. “You’re delicious,” he murmured. “I need to taste the rest of you.” He wormed his way farther down her body before she realized what he intended.

  She squirmed, mortified that he was going to put his mouth on her. There. And stare at her. There. This was the first time she’d even been naked with a man, and she was tied to his bed with his mouth all over her. It was overwhelming. “Carter…” His name sounded more like a mewl than anything else.

  He lifted one knee and then the other to nudge her legs apart and settled between her knees. The farther he moved down her body, the more nervous she got. When his hands landed on her thighs and pushed them wide, his face inches from her sex, she held her breath.

  It was too much. Sensation overload rocked her body. “Carter, please. That’s too much. I can’t…”

  He didn’t give her a chance to finish before he set his nose on her sex and inhaled deeply.

  She didn’t know how red her face was before that moment, but it was on fire now. She couldn’t find the words to argue further because he set one hand on her lower belly and held her down while he lifted his face for only a second. In a flash, his tongue flicked over the tiny nub at the top of her sex.

  Holy mother… Her vision swam at the contact.

  He did it again, and she squirmed hard against his hand. Too much. Way too much. “Shit. Carter.”

  He flicked his tongue rapidly over the sensitive ball of nerves she had never taken the time to explore. Apparently she should have because it felt amazing and scary at the same time. If she hadn’t been such a prude for the last twenty-two years, she wouldn’t be in such a state of shock now.

  The pressure in her belly grew, sparks zinging from the ball in her stomach and trailing outward to her entire body. She gasped, trying to focus, but unable to think of anything except the extremely unusual sensations bombarding her. Something was happening. Something was going to break free. She thought she might implode into millions of pieces if he didn’t stop.

  Intellectually she knew women had orgasms. But surely not this fast. Without having sex? It was unexpected. It was taking her by surprise like a freight train running over her body. She didn’t even have the brain cells to beg him to stop anymore. She could use her safeword if she remembered what the hell red even referred to. But she also didn’t want to miss the finale, whatever that entailed.

  Suddenly, he lifted his face. She could feel him looking at her. “Did you j
ust say shit?” he teased.

  She didn’t respond. He was worried about her language now?

  “I’ve created a monster,” he continued. “One flick of my tongue over her clit and she loses all her inhibitions. What will happen if I thrust my tongue into her pussy?” All this talk in third person was making her head spin.

  But that was nothing compared to what happened next. With his hand still holding her belly and his other hand pressing her thigh wider, he sucked that tight bundle of nerves into his mouth.

  She screamed, the unnatural sound ringing through the room. Her entire body stiffened as he suckled, drawing the little nub rhythmically into his mouth while his tongue resumed flicking the tip.

  Digging her heels into the mattress, she gripped the headboard tighter as if she might float away if she didn’t hold on. She crept closer and closer to the edge of an unusual precipice. So much sensation slamming into her. She couldn’t breathe right or think.

  And then she was right there, gasping as it grabbed her, luring her closer, not willing to let go. She couldn’t stop it. A second later, she flew over the side of the mountain, the nub exploding with her release. Pulse after pulse of her orgasm throbbed against Carter’s unrelenting lips.

  She soared on the high, gasping for air as he slowly eased his attention until he finally released the bundle of nerves with a reverent final kiss. “Fucking amazing.” His voice was so deep she didn’t recognize it. She was lucky she could even process words.

  He kissed her belly and dragged himself slowly up her body a few inches until he could set his gaze on her face.

  She blinked, still trying to find words or make sense of the world.

  He smiled. “Which is better?”

  She frowned. “Which…what?” she managed.

  “Sex or a whip?” He grinned wider. “I promised you that you could get the same release from an orgasm as you got from Faith’s whip. Was I wrong?”

  She closed her eyes, thinking about his words. “I don’t know yet.”

  “Then you’ll need more convincing.”

  She flinched when she realized his intention as he eased back down her body and stared once again at her sex. This time he explored more thoroughly, making her hyperaware of his gaze on her private parts. She squirmed.

  “Stay still,” he ordered. “Let me look.”

  It was too much. She had endured his mouth because she hadn’t had a chance to fully process his intention before he sucked the brain cells out of her head, but now that she was post-orgasmic, she was more aware of his intense examination. “Carter…” She wiggled to get out of his line of sight.

  He lifted a hand and gave the inside of her thigh a swat.

  She froze, her breath catching.

  “Stop squirming around, baby. I’m still dominating you. We aren’t done.”

  The sting on her thigh was shocking but in a good way. It sent her arousal right back where it started before she came so hard she saw stars. What the hell?

  “I think my girl likes a combo of punishment with her sex,” he pointed out.

  “Is that a thing?” she asked before she could stop herself. Weren’t they supposed to be comparing the gentle touch of sex with the roughness of physical pain?

  He lifted his gaze again. “Of course. In fact, I might have created a monster. Some people get aroused from a spanking or flogger or whatever. So aroused they can come from the contact alone.”

  Her sex gripped tight at his words.

  She swallowed. Yeah, she really wanted him to slap her again. “Do it again,” she boldly demanded.

  He shook his head. “Maybe, but not because you command it, baby.” He flattened his hand on the heated skin of her thigh. “Don’t try to dictate what you want when I’m dominating you. That’s called topping from the bottom. I’m in charge. Unless you need to use your safeword, you do as you’re told when we’re playing.”

  She nodded. It seemed like he needed confirmation. A nod was all she could give him. If that swat to her thigh was any indication of what her future might look like under his domination, she was suddenly certain she would sign up for this life. It scared her.

  He resumed his perusal of her private area, spreading her lower lips apart with his fingers to expose her more thoroughly.

  She clenched her butt cheeks, hoping he wouldn’t notice the movement.

  “Baby, you’re so wet for me.” He probed the opening to her sex, making her insane with need. When he flattened his tongue on her again, she gritted her teeth. “So pink. So pretty.” He gave a tug to the curls above her sex. “Sexy as hell.”

  She turned her head to one side, trying to endure this intense situation while her arousal built rapidly back to the same level it had been at moments ago. If she came like that again, she would be reduced to a blubbering idiot.

  He dipped his tongue inside her and moaned as if he were enjoying an ice cream. And then a finger slid through the opening, burrowing deep. His moan turned into something deeper. “Jesus, baby. So tight.”

  She bucked futilely to escape his touch. Too much sensation again. Way too much. Her mind was turning to mush.

  He pumped that finger in and out of her until the arousal reached a new height, her belly fluttering. Her thighs shook. She wouldn’t survive this. Did women die from sex?

  “Can you take another finger, Brooke? You’re so tight. I want it to feel good this time.”

  She tried to process his words. Had he asked her a question? Please, God, no.

  “Brooke, can I add a second finger?” he asked again, continuing to pull the first one slowly in and out of her channel.

  She twisted her face toward him. She needed to come. God help her, she needed to come again. “Please.”

  He smiled. “Good girl.” A second finger slid in with the first, stretching her, filling her so full she winced for a moment. Yes, she was not going to live. She would be the first woman in history to die of a heart attack from an orgasm.

  “Come for me, baby. I want to watch.” He pressed the fingers from his other hand against her swollen nub as he spoke, sending her over the edge again.

  She cried out incoherently as this second orgasm consumed her, the pulsing from that bundle of nerves combining with the grip of her channel around his fingers.

  She had so been missing out.

  Chapter 16

  Carter was unable to utter a word as he released Brooke’s hands and then arranged her sated body so the he was spooning her from behind. He held her close until she shivered, and then he reached down to the foot of the bed and pulled the sheet up to cover her.

  His cock was so hard it threatened to explode in his jeans, and it would have to wait. He’d pressured her to submit to him. It might have been too soon to have taken her as far as he had. It was definitely too soon to also claim her with his cock.

  Besides, she was in a subspace that made it impossible for her to consent. So far every time he’d watched her submit to Faith or himself, she’d succumbed to some level of subspace. She was sensitive to submission. He needed to remind himself of that often. She needed aftercare right now.

  Her breathing didn’t even out for several minutes.

  He smoothed a hand over her hair, brushing it away from her forehead and tucking it behind her ear for a long time before he spoke. “You okay, baby?”

  “Yeah, I think so. That was intense.” She shuddered.

  “Talk to me. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  “I’m thinking I just let a man see my naked body and ravage it, and I’ll never be the same. I’m freaking out a bit, wrapping my head around it.”

  He considered her words. “You’re so gorgeous when you come. The moment you stopped worrying about your exposure and slid into your head was precious. I wanted you to experience everything sex can be and see another side of submission. It’s not all about whips and chains. It can be gentle and sexy and just as fulfilling.”

  “Mmm.” She snuggled into him.

  His he
art beat faster as hers slowed down. He wanted her. He wanted to own her. He’d known he teetered on a dangerous precipice with her for weeks, but now that he’d tasted her, felt her come apart in his arms, dominated her sexually to the point of total submission, he would not be able to let her go.

  She was his. He’d told her so before he made her come, and he knew it with absolute certainty.

  Did she agree? He didn’t have the balls to push her right now. She needed to rest, wrap her mind around what she’d given him.

  It didn’t matter. He would convince her again later. And again and again and again, until she believed him.

  There were hurdles, and he couldn’t ignore them. For one thing, she was like a newborn in some respects. She had no life experiences. She hadn’t even gone to school, let alone college. She needed the freedom to expand her wings, experience life, and make her own choices.

  If he pushed her to accept him as a permanent fixture in her life, it might backfire on him later. She didn’t have enough experience to know what she wanted. It wouldn’t be fair to claim her as his own without giving her options.

  Would it?

  Half of him wanted to ignore those very real facts, wrap her in a tight bubble, and keep her. But that would make him no better than her mother. He couldn’t shield her from the world just because he thought she was perfect for him in every way.

  Fuck.

  He was also ignoring another important fact—she might be inherently masochistic. He had told her he would give her the pain she craved if she didn’t believe an orgasm gave her the same relief. Now he didn’t have the guts to ask her again if she found the scene in his bedroom to be equivalent. Could he replace gentle hands, his mouth, and eventually his cock with her craving for whips, paddles, and floggers?

  He watched her face as she fell asleep, her full lips parting on a sigh, her brow relaxing. So precious.

  When she was fully at rest, he slid from behind her, tucked the comforter around her body, and tiptoed from the room. He left the door open in case she needed him or called out, but he padded down the hallway.