Brielle buried her face in his neck. “Investigation by the shadow riders?”
“Yes, and if he’s up to no good, he’ll be taken care of. If his crime is taking advantage of women at the clubs, I have friends who owe me favors. They would be more than happy to pay him a visit to make certain he knows that touching a woman who has said no is not okay. Your name will be kept out of it.”
“Honestly, Elie.” She sat up straight, forcing herself to look into his eyes. “I don’t think that would deter him. He believes he has the right to do what he wants with a woman. I don’t think what we do is . . .” She stumbled over what she wanted to say. She wanted to have a loving relationship with Elie, but she wanted to be free to play games with him in that relationship. The things she’d done in the club had been to learn about herself, but she’d considered them playing. She’d kept them in that context. She’d been very careful.
“I understand, bébé,” Elie said and transferred her from his lap back to the middle of the bed. “He disrespects his partners and considers himself above them. He doesn’t deserve the title of Dom, let alone the title of a partner.”
He bent his head to the scar on her abdomen and pressed a kiss there even as he dropped his hands to the zipper of his trousers. Her heart nearly stopped and then began to beat wildly. When he lifted his dark eyes to hers, she saw tenderness mixed with heat. Mixed with stark desire. That fast, she was his. One look. She’d never had anyone look at her with tenderness. She never thought anyone would.
Her breath caught in her throat. Her lungs felt raw, burning for air. He hadn’t touched her yet, and just from that one look, she wanted to cry. He had gone from playing, treating her as his favorite toy, to treating her as someone cherished. She could see it in the expression on his face, in the beauty of his eyes. Brielle wasn’t certain how to handle the emotions threatening to overwhelm her.
She wanted this from him—tenderness and caring—but if she lost it, she knew the loss would shatter her heart. Her gaze dropped from his to follow the path of his incredible abs. Who had abs like that? That led her to the sight of his very alive, straining cock.
“Elie,” she whispered his name. He was beautiful when she’d never considered that part of men beautiful. Thick and pulsing, he looked as if he was sculpted in steel but sheathed in a velvet case with one strong purple vein running the length of that wide shaft. The broad head was smeared with enticing white drops that made her mouth water.
He widened her legs, kneeling between them so he could blanket her body slowly, laying his chest over hers. He was heavy, crushing her into the soft duvet, his skin scorching hot, chest mashing her breasts as he came down on top of her. Both hands settled into her hair, fisted there, holding her head still while he took her mouth.
Brielle expected rough. He gave her gentle. A slow, smoldering burn that had her entire insides shuddering with need. She ran out of air and he gave her his breath, breathing for both of them. She had never experienced anything so sensual or intimate.
One hand left her hair to anchor itself beside her head and the other slid to her throat. With infinite slowness, he eased his weight up just enough that she realized the thick duvet had given her enough of a cushion to keep his weight from completely crushing her. It didn’t matter. She felt the loss of his body imprinting on hers. All that heat. That rough against her silk. That male against female.
Elie stared down into her eyes with such intensity, she was mesmerized. Spellbound. Aware of every tiny detail of that moment. She felt his thumb brushing over the frantically beating pulse in the side of her neck. His palm completely surrounded her throat as if he might crush her at any moment. That only added to her excitement. His knees pressed tight against her thighs, keeping them wide apart so the air fanned the heat of her clenching entrance.
“I wanted you, Brielle. No one else. It was always you.” He lowered his mouth and nipped at her lower lip. “Those women you saw me with? The ones you knew I wouldn’t stay with? I made it clear to them from the start that I wasn’t looking for a relationship. I had sex with them. Our time together wasn’t exclusive. It was sex. I spelled it out before we had sex. During the time we were together. I never wanted them to think we were going to be together for any other reason.”
His teeth tugged at her lower lip and then bit down until she felt a bite of pain. Instantly, he released her lip and his tongue soothed the sting. Her body reacted with that storm of flames rushing through her veins, settling low in her sex until she felt hot and needy. He held her body open so there was no chance of relief.