“How? I’ll do anything.”
“Wear this for me. Accept it. Be mine until morning since that’s all we have left.”
“It’s not enough time.”
“How much would be enough?” she asked, not expecting an answer. “The longer we put this off, the more it will hurt, the more people who will know about us. You know she’s more important to you than I am. You know she has to be.”
Lance nodded reluctantly.
Nora unbuckled the lock on the collar.
“Until dawn?” she asked. “Just until then?”
“Yes. Better an hour in paradise than a lifetime outside the walls.”
“Come inside,” she said and raised the collar.
“Are you sure? You shouldn’t waste something—”
She laid her hand on the side of his face and caressed his stubble with her thumb.
“The night we met you gave the bartender a ten-dollar tip for seven dollars’ worth of beer at a club where the alcohol is free and the only guys who tip the server are trying to get her in bed which you weren’t. Yes, I’m sure. And no, it’s not a waste.”
Lance raised no more objections. He leaned forward and rested his forehead head on her shoulder. Nora locked the collar around his neck and he sat up straight again. As she knew it would, it fit Lance perfectly. Never in her twelve years in the Underground had she seen a more handsome collared sub. The collar drew attention to the muscles in his shoulders and his powerful neck. He looked stronger in it, not weaker, more manly, not less.
“You’re mine.” She kissed his lips. “My property. My possession. My slave and servant. My knight and my protector.”
“Yours,” he said and seemingly could say no more.
Nora placed her hands on either side of his neck, feeling his pulse beating against the leather collar.
“Make love to me any way you want. Whatever your fantasy is, whatever your dream, live it with me now. Don’t worry if I’ll like it or not, because I’m with you. I know I’ll love it.”
Lance slid out of the bed and stood behind her. He pressed his naked body against her back. Nora’s hips were flush with the bed. Against her lower back she felt his erection, impossibly hard and thick. He kissed the side of her neck and the leather of the collar scraped her skin, a sensation so surprising and erotic that chills passed through her all the way to her feet. For one brief moment she thought of S?ren. Had he relished the feel of her collar on his shoulder or chest as she lay under him? Did he miss it now that she no longer wore it?
Lance’s hands on her breasts sent thoughts of all other men scattering. He cupped them through the thin fabric of her negligee and her nipples hardened, puckering against his fingers.
“Standing?” she asked as he slid the straps of her gown down her arms, baring her breasts. “From behind? That’s the fantasy?” She wasn’t disappointed or displeased, merely curious why he’d chosen this way for their last time together.
He kissed her earlobe as he pinched her nipples, waves of pleasure shooting into her stomach.
“Standing so I can protect you.” He ran a hand through her long hair and shoved a fistful of it off the back of her neck. “From behind so I can shield you.”
She understood at once what he meant. If someone broke into the house while they were making love, Lance’s body would stand between her and the intruder at the door. Even during sex he would keep her safe or die trying.
Lance kissed the back of her neck, kissed his way down her spine. Kneeling, he caressed the back of her thighs with his mouth. He lifted her gown and kissed her bottom, back and hips. Slipping a hand between her legs, he spread her folds with his fingertips, teased the taut knot of her clitoris, and she dampened against his hand.
He stood again and pressed his whole body into hers. She parted her thighs wider as he angled himself against her inner lips. He didn’t enter her at first, simply sliding along the length of her opening as she bathed him in her wetness and need.
She clutched at the sheets as he lifted his hips and thrust up and into her. Their bodies merged seamlessly as he sank deeper and deeper into her wet warmth. Lance’s hot breath scalded her skin as he pushed into her with endless patience and controlled force. One strong hand held her naked hip. The heel of his other hand pushed into her belly creating delicious pressure in her entire pelvic region. Pressure that rose in waves, clutching at her insides as she moved with and into Lance’s thrusts.
She felt her body tightening around him. Nora bent over the bed, pushed back and took him deeper into her. She wanted all of him she could take, all of him she could get.