Stark Pleasure; the Space Magnate's Mistress (The LodeStar Series) by Cathryn Cade Read Free Book Online Page A

anything about it.”
    She took a sobbing breath, fighting the hot weight of tears pushing behind her eyes. “I won’t be helpless. I won’t. I’m strong.”
    His hand smoothed over her back again, down into the curve and lower, over her ass. “You’re a fierce one, Kiri te Nawa.”
    The remnants of her fear morphed into anger, swift and hot. She pushed at his chest, her fingers tangling in the mat of short, curling hair on his chest. “Are you laughing at me again?”  
    His hand smoothed down her back again. “No, wildcat. I’m admiring you. You’ve been through a lot in the space of a few hours, and you’re still hissing your defiance. Hold onto that. Sometimes defiance is the only thing that gets you through. Although I’d remind you recklessness does not necessarily denote strength.”
    “Sometimes … it’s all I’ve got,” she whispered. Then, ashamed of betraying vulnerability, she flexed her hands, digging her nails into the plush swell of muscle of his pectorals. He sucked in a sharp breath, and she bared her teeth against his throat and nipped at him.
    His fingers tightened painfully in her hair, and he pulled her head back, his eyes glittering. “Tyger kitten or no, do that again and I’ll turn you over my knee.” His breath puffed warm and moist against her face.
    She believed him, but she needed some outlet for the emotion tumbling inside her. Sliding her hand up, she speared her fingers into his short hair, cupping the back of his head, hard and silky under her palm.  
    She tried to pull him closer, but he resisted. She glared at him. Couldn’t he see she needed him, needed forgetfulness? She was just giving him what he wanted, wasn’t she?
    “Are you sure?” His face was taut, his square jaw set. “If I kiss you, I won’t stop there.”
    Her heart thundering, trying to climb her throat, Kiri trembled clear into her feminine core. She held male power in her grasp. She wanted desperately to unleash it, use him to burn through the dark backlog of despair. “Yes. I want this.”
    He swooped, his mouth opening over hers, his lips hot and demanding, his tongue licking into her mouth to claim hers. It was more than a kiss, it was a claiming, and she reveled in it, her body softening against his, his taste and scent filling her senses. This was sheer hedonistic pleasure, drowning her in sensation.
    He held her in one arm, while his free hand stroked down over her shoulder, his fingers tracing the edge of her soft bra. He cupped her breast in his hand, and she arched into his touch, loving the cup of his palm over her sensitive flesh, even through the thin, stretchy fabric of her bra. He dragged his thumb over her nipple and she moaned as pleasure shot down through her body, straight to her pussy.
    Kissing her deeply, Stark stroked his hand down over her belly, over the thin fabric of her panties. His fingers delved between her thighs, and he cupped her mons. Claiming her most private place, for now.
    Another moan struggled up her throat, the soft sound hanging over them, above the rustle of sheets, the rush of their breath and the thundering of her heart.
    “That’s right,” he urged against her mouth. “Let me hear your pleasure.”  
    He let her go, just long enough to yank at her panties. The soft fabric tugged at her hips and then tore, falling away from her. She should care, but she wanted his hand on her again, so desperately that she whimpered instead, opening her thighs to him, lifting her upper leg to curl it over his hip, arching into him.
    When he cupped his hand over her again, bared now to his warm, powerful touch, she cried out at the exquisite relief. He kissed her again, closing his lips over hers to drink in her cry.
    Then he stroked his long fingers into her waiting flesh. His touch was sleek and easy—she was wet for him, so ready for the large pad of his finger to delve into her, drawing her wetness up, up and over the swollen knot of nerves hiding in her