Caged (Mastered, #4)(10)


“Oh, there’s fear.”

“Of?”

Right now she had too many to name, so she picked the most obvious one. “That you seeing me naked won’t be nearly as thrilling as me getting the full monty from you.”

“Not a chance in hell, babe.” Deacon’s hands landed beside her head. He leaned in, letting his smooth jaw rub against hers. His breaths teased her cheek, then moved lower.

The combination of the soft drag of his lips and the scrape of his teeth turned her skin into a mass of goose bumps.

“You wanna test that theory right now?”

“How would you do that?” she asked breathlessly.

“Unbutton your blouse,” he murmured against her throat.

She obeyed him without question—and she didn’t stop to ask herself why she had zero hesitation. She untucked her shirt from her skirt and started at the bottom, working her fingers up. When she reached the button between her breasts, the back of her hand brushed his chest. After unhooking the last button, she let her shirt hang open.

Deacon didn’t waste time. He planted sucking kisses from the hollow of her throat to the V of her cleavage. Then he traced the edge of her bra with his tongue, up the swell of her left breast, back down, then up the right side. He didn’t speak; he just tormented her with hot kisses, leisurely licks, and tiny nips. He muttered, “Fuck,” then sank his teeth into her flesh and sucked hard.

Molly gasped, more in surprise than in pain.

Keeping his mouth in place, he snagged her left hand and pressed it against the fly of his jeans.

Her palm met a rock-hard bulge.

He broke the suction of his mouth on her skin. “You’re half undressed and I’m fully hard. So yeah, I’m thrilled by the idea of seeing you naked, babe.” He brushed a soft kiss over the mark on her breast.

She glanced down; he’d left a big red hickey on her boob.

Then Deacon nudged her chin back up, forcing her to meet his hungry, sexual gaze. “You look at that mark over the next couple of days and make sure you understand what it means to be involved with a man like me.”

“Is that supposed to scare me?” Thankfully, her voice didn’t shake when she tossed out, “It doesn’t. Know why?”

He waited, those blue eyes still blazing at her.

“Because it’s really hot that you used your teeth on me just because you wanted to, so I guess I passed your little test to see if I’d get prudish.” Feeling reckless, Molly tilted her head, baring her neck. “I liked it. So mark me here.”

He didn’t hesitate. He opened his mouth over the spot. When he started to suck, her knees wobbled. But Deacon held her up, pushing his leg between hers. Palming her breasts. Squeezing the flesh with his strong fingers in time with the pulse beating in her throat.

She reached for him, wanting to feel the muscles in his back rippling as he positioned himself over her. Wanting to feel the muscles in his ass flexing as he powered into her. Wanting to feel the muscles in his chest abrading her nipples as he moved against her.

Cool air met the wet spot he’d created as he trailed kisses up her neck to her jawline.

“Deacon.”

“That’s what I want. My name on your lips.” He fit his mouth over hers and delicately licked the inside of her bottom lip until she opened for him fully.

No explosion of need, just pure sensual torture.

He ended the kiss but didn’t release his hold on her.

Breathing hard, they stared at each other.

Then Deacon leveled that devilish smile on her. “No more denying there’s nothing between us. From here on out, we are together.”

Not a question; a statement. “So it appears.”

“So what are we doin’ tonight?”

We. Lord, the man was a bulldozer. “Presley has a roller derby bout in Centennial. I need to change before we go.” We again.

“Need help?” His gaze swept over her from her unbuttoned shirt to her bare toes.

She pushed past her normal response to hide her body and listened to the voice that dared her to tease him. As she headed for the bathroom, she let her blouse flutter to the floor. She paused just outside the door and unzipped her skirt; then it too hit the carpet. Looking over her shoulder at him, she said, “Maybe next time.”


His eyes were firmly on her ass. She might’ve heard a growl before she shut the door in his face.

As she pulled on her jeans, her gaze caught on the red spot on her breast. Her fingers traced the mark. She’d never had a love bite before—just another rite of passage she’d missed.

When she leaned closer to the mirror to check her makeup, she noticed kissing Deacon had made her lips full and pink. No need for lipstick. She adjusted the drawstring on the hoodie and saw the other love bite. Holy crap. It was huge. She smoothed her hands down her hair, pulling the sections forward to frame her face and mask the mark. After slipping on her pink and black canvas sport clogs, she shouldered her backpack and exited the bathroom.

Deacon leaned against the wall, her blouse and skirt dangling from one finger.

“Thanks for picking those up.”

“I figured there might be questions in the morning if you left a trail of clothes.”

Molly rolled to her toes to peck him on the mouth.

Instantly Deacon’s arm circled her lower back, holding her in place as he kissed her with surprising sweetness. Then he released her and said gruffly, “Let’s go.”

Lorelei James's Books