Bound to Surrender (South Jersey Bound Series) (5 page)

****

Christina curled into a ball and a shiver of fear slithered through Bryce’s arms. Had he gone too far? He’d taken command, but now his heady sense of power dissipated.

Her hair criss-crossed her white pillowcase in frantic patterns as the setting sun filtered through her lace curtains, drawing shadows of roses across the skin of her back. Bryce’s muscles remained frozen as her shoulders rose and fell with each deep, even breath.

She wasn’t angry; she was sleeping.

He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

I want a man who’ll fuck me until I’m screaming into the pillow.

Masculine triumph swelled his chest. Quite the screamer she was, too—uninhibited, throaty, with jaw dropped in shock and pleasure. Her thighs had quivered against his pecs as she’d clenched around his cock.

Careful not to disturb her rest, he rolled to his side and wrapped the spent condom in a tissue and tossed the wad into the trash. He stretched out beside her, and, with his eyes, he traced the shadows on her skin.

She rolled onto her back, satisfaction painted across her tension-free face and over her swollen, red lips.

He shook his head at his own audacity:
you’ll get your fucking, I swear
. That was a bit much, but she had gone along with everything he gave.
Yes, Bryce.

If he wasn’t so spent, he could have gotten hard again just thinking about how, at his command, her body undulated like a wave in the ocean. He brushed a tendril of damp hair from her forehead. Something in the vulnerable twist of her arm against her flushed cheek stole his sense of elation. He felt—what?

He withdrew his hand and rolled over, sinking into her other pillow.

He’d played games of domination with other women, but they had always been just that—games. Staged scenes—role plays that flirted with primal, base urges but stayed in the bedroom. He kept the truth locked so deep within, sometimes he even forgot. But his wolf-heart slept uneasily.

He could not deny he was an alpha seeking his mate.

He longed for a woman who could hunt on her own, but purr beneath him when he staked his claim. He’d nearly given up on the search, having decided long ago such a woman did not exist.

He frowned at the curled body beside him.
But she does.

The moment her muscles sagged and her body convulsed in ecstasy, he felt her total surrender. He rolled toward her side and pulled her against his stomach, curling his body around hers.

He’d conquered, but he lost something in the process. When her pulses drew his orgasm, he felt like her body yanked his come from somewhere within his spine and he had the mindless, crazy urge to tell her she’d be his forever.

It was the moment, only the moment. He reassured himself as he slipped into sleep.

If not, it could cost them both everything.

****

Christina followed her friends Lisa and Jillian to an open bar booth. The windowless, divey pub’s atmosphere matched her murky mood.

“Malone’s, huh?”
Lisa bounced on the booth’s bench. “I hope this means the conversation is gonna get good.”

Christina bit the side of her lip. “You don’t mind coming to a bar do you?”

“Nah,” Jillian said. “I could use a beer.”

“
You
could use a beer!” Lisa cried. “Try prepping for a wedding.”

Christina pushed aside thoughts of Bryce and focused on her friend. “How are things going? Ben’s not getting cold feet, is he?”

Lisa’s lips lifted into a cat-with-cream smirk. “Hell, no.”

“Phew!” Jillie chimed in. “We’d ‘ave had to kill him.”

“Things are good.” Lisa nodded. “Very good, in fact. Ben and I are closer than ever.” She hesitated and looked at Jillie. “You could say Ben was bound to be mine.”

Christina watched Jillie press her hand across her lips, and decided she’d missed some sort of joke. She ignored the twinge she felt at being left out.

“Anyway, you chose the place, hon,” Jillie pointed out. “Got something on your mind you want to share?”

Christina took a deep breath. “I did a bad thing.”

“Ooh, it’s about time,” Lisa said.

“Don’t,” Christina scowled, “joke.”

“Sounds serious,” Jillie said. “You must have been very bad indeed.”

“Let me guess—you told your ex to go to hell and refused to let Michael go to boarding school?” Lisa suggested.

Christina shook her head no. In fact, she hadn’t even thought of doing that. Michael seemed happy about the school. Guilt gnawed at her—her son should have been on her mind—not his baseball coach!

“Not Michael...let’s see then.” Jillian set her chin in her palm and drummed her fingers against her cheek. “You went on a date, didn’t you?”

“Not...exactly.”

“Sex!”
Lisa yelped. “Oh, my God, Christina had sex!”

The two men in the booth across from them turned around and Lisa covered her mouth.

“Sorry,” she mumbled from under her hand.

“Yes, sex,” Christina said in a whisper. “And now the whole bar knows.”

“Don’t worry, they’re just jealous,” Lisa said sipping her beer. “How was it?”

Christina flushed to the roots of her hair. She never minded when Jillie and Lisa discussed sex, but she could never bring herself to speak with the same candor. Or had she been silent due to lack of experience?

“That good?” Jillie whispered.

“I didn’t say anything,” Christina said.

“You didn’t have to. You’re flushing to your roots.” Lisa reached over and teased Christina’s bangs. “So what’s the problem?”

“The good part is, I can’t think of anything but him and how I want him to do me again.” Christina rubbed her forehead. “The bad part is
, he’s a co-worker.”

“Oh,” said Jillie. “Not good.”

“I know,” Christina said, resting her head on the booth. “Stupid. But, jeeze, I have wanted this guy for ten straight months. I guess I just wore out. And, I wanted something nice for my birthday.”

Lisa giggled.

Christina sat up and narrowed her eyes. “Go ahead, mock me.”

“Now wait,” Jillian said. “It doesn’t have to be all bad. I mean, you don’t go back to school for a couple of months.”

“Jil’s right, Chris,” Lisa chimed in. “By that time, either it’ll be long over or you’ll be committed.”

“I’ll be committed, alright—in an institutional sense.”

Jillie reached across the table and took Christina’s hand. “School and Michael make your stakes higher. But, aww, hell, you needed a good lay.”

Christina felt the side of her lip turn up and she blushed. “I know.”

“Have your fun for once,” Jillie continued. “Remember: we’ll be here to help you work it all out.”

Christina rubbed the twinge in her lower back. Who was she kidding? She was more than ready to do it again.
And again.
“If I’m going to go
have my fun
, I think I need to join your Yoga class, Lisa.”

Lisa broke into another fit of giggles. “I want to meet this guy.”

“To summer lovin’.” Jillie lifted her bottle.

Christina’s heart lightened as she raised her dark porter to her lips. Lisa was right. She was taking this far too seriously. Whatever was coming would be an adventure. And, she was long overdue.

****

Bryce’s gaze kept sliding back to Christina’s ass, even though he was supposed to be keeping a watchful eye on the sex shop’s exit.

“You are supposed to be on guard duty,” she said under her breath.

“What?” he asked, eyes wide with feigned innocence. “I am watching. Besides, we aren’t likely to run into any parents or students. That’s why we drove ninety-nine miles to New York City instead of hopping the bridge to Philly, remember?”

“Not likely, but it is possible,” she quipped.

She wasn’t truly concerned about getting caught, but the sheer variety of toys made her jumpy. As far as she’d known, vibrators came in popsicle-shaped black. But she’d been wrong. The options were endless. She examined a rubber-studded pink dildo.

“You don’t need one of those,” Bryce said.

“Oh, no?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“No.” Bryce lowered his voice to a register that vibrated in her pussy. “When you come, I want to feel you drench my cock, my fingers or my mouth—not a piece of plastic.”

Her knees wobbled under her skirt, but she managed a haughty toss of her hair. “You just love to talk dirty, don’t you?”

“Does the librarian object?”

She looked him in the eye, but quickly broke into a smile. “Not at all, but as we librarians say…
shhh
.”

His quirky grin made her feel all crumbly and warm inside. He claimed her mouth in a quick, but dominant kiss, leaving no doubt about her status.
His.

“If you are worried about getting caught, I’ll finish up here,” he offered. “You can meet me on the corner where we parked the car.”

She glanced around the shelves. “Okay. But if I leave, what are you going to buy?”

“Telling you would ruin the anticipation.”

She pursed her lips and eyed him askance. “Don’t,” she said in a whisper, “even think about nipple clamps.”

He chuckled low and tapped her ass in a mock spank.

“Who is in charge here?” he murmured into her ear.

She tingled all over and closed her eyes.
“You.”

“That’s right.” He rubbed the base of her back. “Clover clamps look far more painful than they are.”

“I don’t believe you.” She raised her shoulders and shivered. “I’ll meet you by the car. I might stop by the hot dog stand on the corner, though.”

The clerk had been cheerful and welcoming when they came in, but she avoided his gaze as she slipped out the front door. Three steps up and she was once again bathed in city sun. The skin on her arms instantly warmed. She closed her eyes and turned her face upward. The city felt good—anonymous and free.

Summer lovin’.
She chuckled, remembering Jillie’s toast.

She waited for a break in the cars and dodged across West 4th Street toward the hot dog stand on the corner of Sixth Ave.
In line, she people-watched. Bodies of all types and ages strolled in chattering waves on the wide Avenue sidewalk.
Excited, touristy laughter filled the air. In the heady mix of people and warmth and pleasantry, her need for order and predictability melted away.

Recess
. A chance to play.

She caught a snippet of a conversation. “He did not!” one woman exclaimed to another.

“Oh, yes, he did,” the other replied, “but mostly because I asked him too.

“Bull shit. You
know
he wanted it.”

“Maybe he did, but all that matters is he was
good
.”

Hearing their exchange sparked wild imaginings. Christina thought of several sexual things Bryce would do to her if she asked—and a few she’d be too nervous to mention. They all flashed through her mind as the women’s laughter faded.

Bryce had a damn skilled tongue.

She folded her arms so her erect nipples wouldn’t show and smiled as she stepped toward the hot dog vendor.

“Pretzel, please.”

The vendor smiled back.
“Anything for the pretty lady.”

“Thanks,” she replied, exchanging two bucks for the snack.

She stepped aside and Bryce’s now-familiar scent enveloped her.

“I leave you alone for five minutes,” he whispered into her ear, “and already you’re flirting.”

“Was not,” she said.

He slipped his arm around her waist, drew her close and kissed her nose.

“You
are
a pretty lady. So what if you want to flirt?”

Was she? She hadn’t felt pretty...ever. Feeling shy, she offered up her pretzel.

“Want some?”

“Is it good?”

“It’s no Philly pretzel, but it will do.”

“Thanks,” he said, taking a bite.

Odd.
Sharing food was more intimate than she’d expected. “You can have the rest.”

“Not Philly enough for you?”

“I guess not,” she replied, looking away.

“To be honest, I prefer the less bready kind.” He took a deep bite into the pretzel.

“Sacrilege!” She managed to smile. “Everyone knows Philly has the best pretzels.”

He put his finger up so he could chew and the funny expression on his face was just enough to make her smile genuine.

“I’m a California boy, what do I know?”

He pulled her closer to his side, and his radiant heat soothed the dizzying experience of being tossed between her understanding of him as a friend and colleague and her need for him as a man.