Club Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair Read Free Book Online Page B

the other sub, how rare it was to find someone willing to act to help another.
    He told the truth. Even though she’d been wrong to break up the scene, the bravery of her actions impressed him. The facets of her personality were mesmerizing; from a spitfire to a yielding woman in his arms; from controlled and careful to passionately responsive. She delighted him.
    Slowly her crying turned to jerky breaths as exhaustion overcame her.
    But after all too short a time, he felt her mind turn on and start burying the pain and hurt under layers of control. Her body stiffened, no longer accepting any comfort.
    “I want to leave now,” she said in a hard voice.
    Oh, he knew this had been coming. “The rain and wind haven’t lessened, and you have no car. However, you may stay in the entryway, and no one will bother you.”

    Club Shadowlands
    41
    Her breath hissed out, and she shoved at his arms. “Let me go.”
    “We will sit here until your legs work on their own. Unless you want me to carry you across the room?”
    She stopped immediately. “At least put me down.”
    “No.”
    That brought her head up, her green eyes wet like a forest in the rain.
    “I have never had to punish someone I just met,” he said, letting his own anger show.
    “Discipline is a trust issue between a Dom and a sub. We do not have that trust between us.
    To have to perform a scene, a punishment scene like that, was extremely unpleasant. It bothered me to hurt you, Jessica,” he growled. “You will let me hold you, and offer me some comfort in return.”
    Her eyes widened. Earlier, she had understood the damage her heedless actions had created with Master Smith and his sub. Could she grasp the discomfort she had caused him?
    He could almost hear that clever mind turning over the events. This was a very smart woman.
    And then she whispered, “I’m sorry” into his shirt.
    “As am I,” he returned evenly, not granting her the grace of forgiveness. Not just yet.
    She sniffled a little, edging her way under his defenses. “What do you want me to do?”
    “Just sit with me, little one,” he sighed. “Until we both recover a bit. You are a comforting armful of woman, and my body likes having you against it.”
    With his words, her mind opened to more than any lingering pain. He could sense the way her body suddenly became aware of him again, of his hardness against her softness, of his hand stroking her hair, of his scent. Even as she relaxed, she squirmed a little to ease the pain of her sore ass. His cock reacted to the provocative movements. She had the kind of body he enjoyed most: round, soft, and abundant.
    As he hardened, she froze, realizing what her movements had incited.

    42
    Cherise Sinclair
    He chuckled, pressed his lips to the top of her head. “I want a kiss, and then I’ll take you to the entryway.”
    “That’s all?” she asked suspiciously.
    His eyes narrowed, and he stroked his fingers on the underside of her breast, his thumb rubbing the nipple. Her alarm was accompanied by a flare of heat.
    “Maybe I should ask for more?” he murmured.
    She set her hand over his, trying to pull him away, as successful as a kitten tugging on a human’s hand.
    “Kiss me,” he said.
    With an aggrieved sigh, she tilted her head up to him.
    This time he would go more slowly. He brushed her lips teasingly, like in his days in Special Ops, scoping out the terrain. Her mouth was soft with a tiny ridge in the center of the lower lip, dividing it into two tiny bottoms. He took the kiss deeper, opening her lips with his own, coaxing her into responding. Under his slow assault, her mouth softened, much like a woman’s nipples after she’d come. Still deeper, he invaded her mouth, taking possession.
    Her fingers tightened around his hand, so he tightened his fingers around her breast. A gasp. He read in her mind the complex roil of emotions of a woman with growing needs.
    Heat seared pathways from her breasts to her pussy, and when he