“I don’t care if it was standing wide open.” She showed her teeth in a snarl that made his dick jerk in arousal. “Pick your ass up and get out.”
Oh, now there was the Tally he knew existed beneath the carefully polished exterior. Vibrant, explosive, her temper was more than a match for the dominance that pulsed thick and hot through his and Lucian’s blood.
He came slowly to his feet, watching her carefully.
“You honestly believe that little performance earlier isn’t going to be addressed, Tally?” he asked her, keeping his voice soft, though he did nothing to hide the annoyance that throbbed beneath it. “You should have expected one of us to show up ready to do battle, if not both.”
Her gaze flickered. Dev controlled the pleased smile that crossed his lips. She had expected Lucian and had been confident she could turn him away. She had obviously seen his patience as weakness instead, and thought him easier to control than Dev was.
“Poor Tally.” He sighed. “You’ve misjudged Lucian, but you’ll learn that soon enough. Even worse, you underestimated me. I won’t let you run so easily. The game stops here and now.”
“What is with you two?” she snapped, her voice thick with anger, her face flushed, eyes shining with emotion. Damn, he had thought her beautiful before, but now she took his breath away. “Can’t you accept defeat? Can’t you accept that there’s a woman alive that doesn’t respond to you? You tried, you failed, now leave it alone.”
Her voice broke on the last word, hitching as emotion seemed to crackle like electricity within it.
“I don’t think so.” He stepped closer. “I was unaware that you had taken Lucian and myself for fools. That we would calmly stand aside and allow you to hide because you’re too frightened to reach out for what you want. You can’t keep that indomitable self-control and find the satisfaction you need, Tally. It won’t work.”
He didn’t touch her. Not yet. He stalked around her, watching her carefully, seeing the naked nervousness in her gaze as she watched him warily. She knew Lucian much better than she did him. He had deliberately held himself away from her, stayed on the outside of her circle of friends, rarely giving her the chance to dissect him with those perceptive eyes of hers.
She did that. Watched people, waiting on them to reveal to her their every dark secret so she could use it to hold them at bay, to insure she had every weapon available to keep them from getting close to her.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She was breathing roughly, though he could tell she was fighting valiantly to control it. “I hate to prick that ego of yours, Dev, but you and Lucian may not be the walking female orgasms you think you are.”
May not be. He noticed she didn’t state it as a definite. His lips kicked up in a grin.
He stopped behind her, not touching her, not daring to. Her shoulders stiffened, her breathing becoming rougher still as he towered over her.
“Had you waited, you would have had what you needed, Tally.” Her arms uncrossed, her hands falling to her sides and clenching at the material of her robe. He could see the hard rise and fall of her br**sts, almost feel her fight for control.
“How like a man,” she sneered. “Perhaps I’m frigid. Isn’t that the standard male excuse?”
“Or perhaps you’re too stubborn, too intent on being in control, on being the Mistress, to ever admit there could be a Master,” he suggested softly. “I know what you need, Tally. I know, and I’m going to make certain you have it.”
She seemed to freeze, stiffening in response, not just to the words, but also the underlying promise that came with them. When she started to run, he was ready for her. He was determined Tally was not going to run anymore.
Chapter Twelve
Tally was in shock. This was not the gentle giant she had always thought of Dev as being. This was a man in his prime, far stronger than she, and determined to have his way. He caught her as she moved to run from the bedroom, a chuckle sounding in her ear as his arms went around her, holding her close. A second later she felt her robe loosen as she struggled against him, fighting to tear herself from his muscular arms as he stripped the robe from her body.
“You bastard!” she raged as he picked her up and tossed her to the bed.
Her fingers curled into claws as fury overwhelmed her. Hot, blinding rage burned in her stomach like acid as she snarled and flailed out at him.
She gained little more than a dark laugh as he straddled her body and within seconds, to her complete horror, had her arms spread and her wrists shackled with soft, padded nylon restraints.
“Let me go.” She jerked at the restraints, staring up at her wrists in disbelief as the slender chains running from the nylon refused to give way.
Instantly his weight was removed, but it wasn’t to release her. She shrieked in disbelief, attempting to jerk her foot from his grip as he began to shackle her ankles. She was now spread eagle, held naked to the bed as he watched her in amusement.
“You son of a bitch!” she screamed, outraged, terrified. No matter how desperately she fought she couldn’t release herself, nor could she stem the rising anger building inside her. “I’ll kill you for this. I’ll carve your dick from your body if you don’t let me go.”
“Such naughty language, Tally,” he chided her in amusement as he sat down on the bed and removed his boots. “Just settle down, baby, and save your breath. You’ll need the energy to scream from pleasure later.”
“Oh, now haven’t I just heard that one before,” she sneered, jerking at the restraints that held her wrists again. “A little overconfident, aren’t you, Dev?”
“Overconfident?” he mused as he stood and unbuttoned the snowy white shirt he wore. “Merely confident, I think.”
Snarling, cursing, Tally fought the restraints, desperately trying to ignore the fact that Dev was undressing beside her bed. His muscular chest shouldn’t have looked so inviting and when he shed his jeans and the snug boxer briefs, the hard, thick length of his c**k shouldn’t have caused her to catch her breath in hunger.