Fear began to coil around her again, tightening her muscles and knotting her stomach. All at once, a sadness welled up, and she blinked fast to hold back the sudden tears pressing against her eyelids. What was she doing here? She should be home, trying to figure out how to make the ends meet that were slipping further and further apart.
She jumped when a large, warm hand curled around the back of her neck. Master Dane. She took a deep breath and tried to relax, though she wasn’t sure it was possible to be at ease now. Lifting her hands from her lap, she wiped her face, trying to erase the worries, the sadness, before Dane, no Master Dane, could see. For this weekend, she would not think about the future or bills or how she could earn more money. For the next forty-eight hours, she would focus on experiencing.
* * * *
Dane could feel emotion rolling off the pretty little virgin in waves. It wasn’t fear, but sadness. Had she been forced to offer herself? Or was something else bothering her? Wanting to make a connection to this woman who seemed to affect Merlin as strongly as she had him, he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck.
She jumped at his touch then took a deep breath. He frowned when she lifted her hands and wiped at her eyes. Was she scared? Of him? Or of this situation?
“Look at me, little one,” he said as his hand shifted to her shoulder. Once she’d lifted her chin and her sage green eyes met his, he smiled. “Don’t look so worried. I won’t bite, too much. We won’t demand high protocol this weekend. You’ve got too much to learn before we deal with that. Right now, we’re going to talk and get to know each other. We need to know what your limits are, and you need to know who we are. We need to start building trust.”
Before Sloan could ask what high protocol was, Merlin returned with two bottles of water and something golden and bubbly in a tall glass. After placing the drinks on the table, he sank to his knees in front of Dane. His attention focused solely on the man in the chair.
“Pet, I was just trying to assure our new plaything that we’re not monsters that are going to attack her here and now. Give her a kiss to help her relax. Then we’re going to talk.”
He watched Merlin nod then turn to look at Sloan. Leaning up to reach her, he touched his lips to hers in a gentle, closed-mouth kiss. He backed away an inch before leaning in again and tracing the seal of her lips with the tip of his tongue.
* * * *
Sloan’s fear evaporated like smoke in the wind. A shivery thrill raced through her, igniting a sexual fire she’d never felt before. Her nipples knotted, her lower belly heated, and her cunt grew so wet she felt her thighs grow damp. All thoughts of money and bills and life beyond these two men fled. She was left with a need to kiss this man and more. Much more. Much, much more.
She parted her lips and leaned forward, following when Merlin tried to pull back. Then his tongue was between her lips, brushing across her teeth, seeking entrance. With a soft sigh, she mentally prepared for his invasion as she dropped her jaw.
In the past, French kisses always tasted like beer and pizza and bad breath and were sloppy. She always ended up fighting off hands that were touching her in all the wrong places at the same time she choked and fought to breathe.
Merlin’s kiss was gentle and exploratory. He tasted of mint and male. She enjoyed his tongue exploring her mouth thoroughly in a slow, easy, relaxed mating. When he retreated and invited her in to explore his mouth, she followed easily. By the time he gave her one last gentle lip-to-lip brushing before pulling away, all Sloan could do was wonder what else she could do with that mouth.
“Wow,” she breathed. Was it possible to achieve an orgasm just from a kiss like that?
“Wow, indeed,” a deep voice rumbled softly above them. “I’m not sure I can handle much more of that kind of display.”
Sloan looked up, worried that Master Dane would be offended. He was smiling down at them, but his jaw seemed tight. Was he as turned on from the watching as she was from the doing?
“Come up here, little one. We need to talk. Pet, you may find yourself a chair.”
While Merlin moved an empty chair around the table to be closer to Master Dane, Sloan stood. She didn’t understand what he meant until he pulled her into his lap. She wanted to argue that she was too big, too heavy, but held her tongue as he settled her across his thighs. He’d learn soon enough.
Her eyes widened when he tilted her head back and threaded the fingers of one hand through her short hair. Was he going to kiss her, too?
Before she could finish the thought, he lowered his head and kissed her. When his tongue entered her mouth and began to duel with hers, she marveled at how two men could kiss so well and yet so differently. Merlin’s kiss was gentle, almost playful, as he explored her. Dane’s was masterful, demanding, and controlled. Even in something as simple as this, he was in charge. His tongue swept through her mouth, an invader who thoroughly explored her mouth then sucked her tongue into his, demanding she do the same to him.
Sloan wanted to touch him, but his hand lay on the links connecting her wristbands,
