Talson Temptations 3: Talson's Net (9 page)

It sounded like a good plan to her.

“Will your gift work on him? How reliable is it?”

Trust Val to come to the crux of her problems. The one tiny
detail that might make her plan fall apart. “My gift is reliable.” Under his
rapt gaze, she found it hard to lie. “Mostly.”

He shook his head. “You should never lie to your
iriu
.”

“Now hold on, Val. I told the truth.” She could feel her
body readying for him, could feel her pussy creaming, needing him inside her.
Just a few days of mind-numbing sex and the man had addicted her.

But it was the mean look in his eyes that melted her. That
harsh stare promised punishment, and to her shock, the thought of Val
disciplining her aroused her to no end. Though they’d made love the last few
days, he’d been gentle though demanding. No slaps, nothing rough. She liked his
intensity, but it had felt as if something were missing.

“I need something from you.” His husky voice drew her
attention to his expression. But to her frustration, she couldn’t read him.

“What?” She blinked up at him, surprised when he straddled
her face.

“You know what I need,
veyu
.” His sly grin told her
he more than enjoyed her helplessness. “I need your submission.”

Just the word grated. “No.” Yet he had her, and he knew it.
Hell, they both did.

“No?” Val pinched her nipple. The bite stung. She opened her
mouth to protest and he shoved himself between her lips. “That’s it. Suck on
me. Careful you don’t gag, sweetheart. Because I’m going to fuck your mouth
until I’m ready to pull out. Me, not you. Because I’m in charge.” His thick
voice turned her on more than anything, and she sucked and licked, rough
against his cock.

“That’s good. Real good. Fuck, yes.” He fucked her mouth, in
and out, with short strokes. This wasn’t making love, this was a taking. A
possessing.

And she reveled in it. Val couldn’t feign this type of need.
To know she’d made him this way pleased her beyond words.

He pulled out before she could make him come though, and she
moaned, lonely without him.

“You little witch. Trying to take back control, hmm?” His
breathing was fast, his eyes so bright they hurt to look at. And he’d never
looked more appealing.

Without giving her a chance to answer, he moved between her
legs and nipped her clit. Then he sucked and startled a climax out of her.

“Greedy,” he murmured between sucks. His tongue stroked in
and out of her, and she quivered, over-sensitized and empty. She needed to come
with him inside her, to feel him fill her with his cum. “But that’s okay.
You’ll just have to come again. I need to be nice and slick. So when I split
that ass, it’s an easy ride.” He looked up at her and winked, able to feel her
nervousness.

He didn’t speak again. Fingering her, he spread her cream
over her labia and back, toward her hole. He played with her, licking and
stroking his way past her inhibitions.

Until she moaned and pleaded as he sank more and more of his
little finger into her ass. The stretching felt good, the small start of pain
an added pleasure that called for more.

“I need you in me,” she admitted.

“And you’re going to get me, sweetheart. But not until we
come to some sort of agreement.” Val pulled his finger out and mounted her.
Then he angled his cock at her pussy and thrust.

“Stars,
yes
.” She swore as he stuffed her full, his
body so big and hard in hers.

Sweat beaded his brow, and the gleam of lust and affection
in his eyes enhanced the energy between them. He was so hot, so sexy. And all
hers.

“I could come so easily in you. That tight cunt is mine,
isn’t it?” The crudity wasn’t lost on her, nor was the resulting arousal it
created.

“Yes,” she moaned as he fucked her harder.

“And that ass, you’re going to give it to me, aren’t you?
I’m not going to take what’s mine. Because I already own it. You’re going to
offer it to me, because I have control here and now, don’t I?”

She didn’t answer right away, and Val used his
psychei
to tilt her head so that he could look into her eyes.

An instinctive need to obey hit her hard. The acceptance she
both craved and feared—because it could be too easily taken away from
her—danced close. “
Val.
”

“Say it, dammit. Tell me who’s in control right now.”

She wanted to deny him, but she couldn’t. Everything inside
her called out for him. Val completed her. His energy comforted, shielded,
controlled. With him, she could surrender and revel in the fact he wouldn’t let
her fall. Just once, she wanted to know she didn’t have to be strong to be
safe.

“Give it to me,
veyu
. It’s what we both need,” he
said in a guttural voice.

“You’re in charge. I yield to you,” she whispered, taken
with the desperate hunger she could feel in his
psychei
. His utter need
for her.

He pulled out and inched lower, putting the tip of his cock
at her ass. “That’s it. Good girl. Now open to me. All of you.” He entered her
mind first, pushing more of himself in her than he had before. Though they
coexisted on the psychic plane, this physical intrusion added a new dimension
to their bonding. And before she realized it, he’d shoved half his cock up her
ass.

“Oh fuck. You’re so good,
iriu
. So tight.” He
clenched his jaw as he pushed the rest of himself inside her.

A fullness competed with the emptiness in her pussy. The
strange sense of being a part of him yet not grabbed on and wouldn’t let go. He
used his mind to pressure her clit, and she bucked under the sensation.

He slid out and pushed back in again, the burn enhancing her
desire. It felt good and bad, until she couldn’t tell the difference between
sensations. She only knew their togetherness, the feeling of belonging.

Tears filled her eyes.

“Yes, Rowe. That’s it. Let it out. Yeah, give it to me. Give
me what you’re still holding onto. I’m here,
veyu
. Always here for you,”
he rasped as he fucked her.

The orgasm crashed over her before she was ready, and the
catharsis of so much pleasure in her abandon was overwhelming. She felt herself
falter, devoured by Val’s pleasure as he came inside her, his cock pulsing
within the tight confines of her ass.

He arched his head back as he pumped a few more times, then
stilled. When he looked down at her again, those special eyes saw more than she
wanted him to see.

“Stars, but I love everything about you. Especially how much
you love me.” He grinned, that cocky arrogance such a part of him. “I don’t
deserve it, but I’m going to take it. You’ll see, my
iriu
. I won’t let
you down. Feel me.” He sent another rush of energy into her mind to wake her
from her orgasmic daze. “I’m yours. I’ll never let you go.”

She gave herself up to him, content that at least for now,
he’d keep her and guard her. Submission fit her with him, and she let him tend
to her, as was his right.

* * * * *

Three days later, Val swore at the stubborn woman clinging
to an outdated sense of authority. “Hell. No.”

Quinn had finally rejoined them and watched them argue with
a huge-ass grin on his face.

“It’s not fucking funny,” he seethed at the Otra.

“Oh, it is.” Quinn accepted the food Rowe passed him with a
nod and thanks. “She bosses me around constantly. I just didn’t think you’d let
her get away with it.”

“I’m not,” he snapped. But as he watched his mate scurry
around her apartment, he didn’t know what to think. He’d let his business fall
to the side while he figured out how to deal with Rowe. Meanwhile, she’d been
secretly commanding her office while he’d been trying to get her to relax with
him all week. He’d thought his daily naps were due to the extreme energy he’d
utilized during their new bonding, but apparently, his mate still had the
ability to control him with her mind.

The little liar had been hiding it from him. “I’m sorry,
Val. But when you refused the calls from my office, I thought it was time to
show you I can handle myself.”

That she could didn’t bother him. Proud to have a strong
mate, he liked her power. But having it directed against him grated. “Fine. Yet
you’ll notice how
I’ve
been ignoring my responsibilities in the face of
our joining.” He paced, annoyed all over again when Quinn didn’t even bother to
hide his amusement. “I’ve ignored my work while seeing to you. But feel free to
treat me as nothing more than an inconvenience in your life.”

She blinked at him and stopped moving. “Is that what you
think? That I don’t value
you
?”

“Well, why should you? Chartrell Shipping is powerful. As soon
as you deal with Keilor, you’ll be back to making a lot of currency with
nothing standing in your way. I’m a great lay, I’ll admit.” He ignored Quinn’s
interest. “But that’s apparently all I am to you.” Why the hell did this woman
turn him inside out? Instead of loving the fact she responded to him sexually
and gave him whatever he wanted, he needed
more
.

“Oh, Val.” Rowe’s endearing smile warmed his heart. “You’re
feeling unloved, aren’t you?”

He hated having this discussion in front of Quinn, but the
damn male refused to leave until he and Rowe came to a decision about Keilor.
Her cousin had apparently made a few threats they could no longer afford to
ignore.

“I’m not feeling unloved.” His face felt hot.

“Good. Because you’re not.” Now he watched as she blushed.

What she said astounded him. For the past few days, she’d
been sexually close but mentally distant. Knowing this bond would take time,
he’d let her have her space. Truth be told, having someone aware of his
thoughts 24/7 didn’t sit easily with him either. But Rowe mattered. He didn’t
want her to think, for any reason, that he didn’t want her.

“It’s about time you admitted it.” Quinn polished off the
last of his steak and sat back with a groan. “Now if you two lovebirds are
done, we have to figure out how to deal with Keilor. He’s flat-out accused you
of treason against the company, Rowe. You have to deal with him before it gets
any more serious.”

“No shit, Quinn.” She turned her displeasure on her guard,
finally leaving Val alone. “Why do you think I’ve been keeping tabs on work? I
need to know who I can trust and who I can’t. I don’t think Fulton’s on the up
and up either. Though he didn’t plan on dying, he had a hand in Keilor’s bomb
attempt. From what I’ve gathered, the
two of them
planned to steal the
artifacts and sell them to collectors worldwide. They were supposed to make it
look like the ship blew up with the cargo, but the cargo would have been
offloaded, and Fulton off the ship, before it exploded.”

“Hold on.” Val’s heart raced. Love? She’d finally admitted
she loved him…like
that?
“You drop a bomb on me and go right back to
discussing work?” He didn’t know what to think. The woman was steadily driving
him insane. But if she could handle their relationship with calm, so could he.
“Fine. Let’s fix your problems at work once and for all. Then you can explain
just where the hell you think we fit in your life.”

He couldn’t wait to take out his frustrations on her ass
again. A good reaming would do Rowe a world of good. He couldn’t believe what a
difference disciplining his little dictator made.

She needed to know he cared, and by punishing her, he showed
he loved her. It didn’t make much sense to him, but he’d sensed the truth, much
as she tried to hide it from him. If he needed to be a little rougher with her
to show her how much he cared, he’d do it. But this nonsense about her cousin
needed to come to an end. And not by putting her in front of the asshole.

“This idea about confronting him face-to-face? It’s not
gonna happen.” No way in hell.

But Rowe had other ideas. When she realized he wouldn’t
budge, she tried another tactic. “What if I promise not to go in alone?”
We
can go together
, iriu.

Quinn watched the two of them. “Explain that one.”

She fidgeted.

Val sighed. “What she means is she’s bargaining with her
mind. She’s closed herself off to me the last few days.” He admired her savvy,
but no. “
Veyu
, in case it’s escaped your notice, I could have pried into
that chaotic ball you call a brain at any time.” She glared, and he grinned. In
this one instance, her humanity made it harder for her to see into his
thoughts, though he kept himself open to her. Her, he could read like an open
book. But he didn’t want to annoy her by prying unless invited. “I respect your
need for privacy. But I won’t let you jeopardize yourself, not for anything.”

“What if I’m not asking,
Valis
?”

That nasty tone only served to get him harder than he was.
And of course, Quinn noticed.

“Hmm. Rowe? A word?” Quinn beckoned her closer, then
whispered something that had her smiling wide.

“Oh hell. What ideas are you giving her now?”

“I just said I fully supported her. And with you and me both
in her mind while she confronts Keilor, he won’t know what’s coming.”

Val frowned, startled to feel a hint of jealousy. The pair
stood too close to each other, and he didn’t like it. “You’re still connected
that deep that you can stay in her mind?” Though he had helped his brother Z
and Adri bond, he no longer had access to their joined minds. Not that he’d
tried to connect.

“I’ve always been connected to Rowe,” Quinn explained. “I
told you, we’re like family. Not brother and sister,” he amended and stared at
her breasts. “But close. And I’m still open to you if you bother to look.”

Val opened his
psychei
and saw Quinn, clear as day.
“Hell.”

Quinn smirked. “No getting rid of me that easily. But what
you don’t know is I’m not just good looking, strong
and
smart, I have
another ability that’s even better.”