Mine - HelenKay Dimon Page 0,80

arms not to move.

The mattress dipped from his weight as he sat down next to her. Facing her. He put his palm on her stomach and his long fingers spanned her waist. She’d never been considered tiny or petite. She found comfort in being bigger, taller, a little stronger. Victims might have to curl into a ball and mentally disappear to survive. She’d lived that way too long. Killing her father, trying to save her mother. It all smashed together until, in her head, the answer had come to her. She’d lead with a gun. Have weapons training. Never get caught and risk being the victim again.

The system served her well for years. She’d been on the run, maybe not physically but emotionally, her whole damn life. But with Gabe, she felt free. She could be a smartass, throw his words back at him. Sometimes she even went too far and said crappy things he didn’t deserve. Despite her flaws and her attitude, he never lost his control. Never struck out. He actually seemed appalled at the thought of doing so.

He gave her a different kind of strength. A feminine one. She knew she held a certain power over him, that she could meet his needs. He didn’t deny his attraction to her or try to hide it. Didn’t hold back.

And with him she didn’t have to pretend either. She could let go. For the first time in a long time, trust.

The warmth from his hand seeped into her skin. Still he didn’t move. Every nerve ending inside her jumped to life, begged for more, but he just watched. Held his ties in one hand and touched her with the other.

“You are so fucking beautiful.”

Not what she expected him to say but somehow exactly what she needed to hear. “With you.”

“It’s bound up in how you look, which is so smoking hot my dick gets hard just watching you walk. That voice, so sexy.” He shook his head as a small smile played on his lips. “The things you do with that mouth and that brain.”

The words battered her defenses. The awe in his voice, the reverent way he touched her, she knew he meant it all. “I never found big men with beards appealing until you.”

He ran a hand over his chin. “I let it go a little for this assignment.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t like it?”

“When I kissed the inside of your thigh that first time, I knew you did.”

The memory floated through her head and her stomach dropped. The roller coaster, spinning-out-of-control feeling assailed her. “Any chance you’re going to kiss me now?”

The smile lit up his face now. “Much more than that.”

Desperation clawed at her. “Do it now.”

“You’re not in charge, Nat.”

The nickname spun through her. He used it and her insides turned to liquid. She had no idea why. “I feel pretty powerful.”

“Oh, you are.” He lifted his hand and skimmed his palm over one of the red ties. “I plan to harness that.”

“But I won’t be able to use my hands.” He flirted, so she flirted back. She’d do almost anything to keep him close.

“You can still use your mouth.” He bent down and brushed his lips over hers then lifted again.

Quick and short but enough to get the excitement revving inside of her. “Gabe, please.”

She knew he liked the begging. She’d seen his eyes widen, grow darker, when she pleaded. When her voice dipped low and got all scratchy with need.

He slipped his fingers around her wrist. Touching his thumb to the tip of his forefinger. Encircling her without binding her. Then he lifted her arm, laying it against the fluffy pillows as his finger went to work threading the tie through the thick post at the top of his bed.

Air hiccupped in her lungs as he slid the tie around her wrist. At the first touch of the silkiness she knew she’d misjudged. Not a scrap of material at all. A thin padded cuff with a long length of red curl at each end.

He tightened the bindings. At first her skin pinched but then it eased around her, soft but strong. She tugged and realized unless she planned on tearing she’d have to wait until he released her. A tiny fissure of fear spun through her, but the press of his mouth against her breasts, over the fleshy part before licking her nipple, stamped out the last of her doubts.

With an aching slowness he leaned over her, letting his chest hair tickle