She was out of control. Or at least as out of control as she felt it was possible for her to get. She was nothing if not well aware of the fact that she had run from that office and from Lucian and Dev like a scared little virgin. She was anything but a virgin. And just because they may not be aware of it, she was honest enough with herself to admit the truth.
She was scared.
She hadn’t anticipated that when she had first been moved to Conover’s. She knew she lusted after Lucian, knew she wanted a chance to experience his touch, to f**k him until she knew at least some small relief from the desires tormenting her. When Dev had been added to the equation, she had been positively gleeful. Two men at her beck and call, she had thought. Amazingly virile, able to provide her with her every carnal desire. She hadn’t expected the dominance as well. Nor had she expected the growth of her desires. Her needs were almost consuming her now. Needs she had no business seeking.
She watched a small flock of ducks waddle across the grassy bank and slip into the cool water. Their lazy quacks and playful antics in the water brought a smile to her face. Once, a long time ago, she would have followed them. She would have splashed in the water and dared anyone to deny her the pleasure of it.
Now, she hid her pleasures, kept them in the dark and allowed them out only under the strictest circumstances. She could tell Lucian and Dev were not going to allow her to decide where and when those desires came out. Or how they would be played.
“Still pouting?” Dev’s dark voice had her jerking in response, her head swinging around as he stepped into the sheltered gazebo and took a seat across from her. His legs took up most of the space; his big body seemed to fill the small open building to capacity.
“I never pout,” she informed him with a patient little smile. She wished she felt as patient as she forced herself to appear. “I was merely enjoying the peace.”
A peace she was certain was gone for good now. Dev Conover looked like your typical bad boy. From his overly long jet-black hair to his intense green eyes and hard body, he was every woman’s ideal of carnal pleasure. He was the dark to Lucian’s light, as different physically from his brother as you could get. But she had a feeling that inside, where it counted, they were too damned much alike.
He watched her intently, leaning back against the bench, his arms stretched out along the back of it as amusement tilted the corners of his lips.
“I had you pegged as the Dragon Lady,” he finally mused quietly. “I expected you to come out with claws drawn, not to see you run away as though afraid of the two of us.”
She lifted her brow mockingly, despite the fact he had described exactly what she had done.
“Devril, really,” she said, shaking her head. “Some things are worth drawing claws over. Others aren’t really worth the time. Perhaps you and Lucian fall into that latter category.”
“Perhaps?” That demonically sexy quirk of his lips made her mouth water.
She breathed in deeply, refraining from rolling her eyes, though resisting the urge was a test of her patience. No matter how sexy he was, he was infuriating as hell.
“Fishing for compliments, Dev?” She fought to keep her voice calm, modulated. It wouldn’t do to let him sense any weakness. Like Lucian, he would pounce on it immediately. “You’ll need to bring better bait next time.” She lifted her brow in mocking amusement as she glanced at his lap insultingly before looking away. No way in hell would she admit that bulge was more than outstanding.
He was silent for long moments. Just long enough for her to grow comfortable with the sounds of summer that filled the hidden spot. Soothing, relaxing, she found comfort here more than any other place she knew of.
“Have you ever had sex in public?” he finally asked her with devilish amusement.
She glanced at him mockingly. “Of course I have. I’ve grown out of the urge to tempt a charge of public indecency, though. As you should have.”
His eyes were assessing and filled with an outright challenge.
“Hmm. Maybe.” His lips tilted into a sexually knowing grin. “But isn’t that all a part of the fun?” He lowered his arms from the bench and braced his elbows on his knees. Leaning forward as he was now, he was much too close to her; the small gazebo seemed filled with him, the sexual tension heightening unbearably.
Hard, calloused hands settled on the sides of her knees, his thumbs smoothing over the sensitive, silk-covered flesh. Tally’s gaze fell to those large, competent hands. It was much too easy to imagine them on her skin.
“I want to f**k you, Tally. So bad it’s like a hunger. You’ve flitted around and teased us for a year, determined to control every step of this little dance we’ve been involved in. Haven’t you learned yet? There’s no control here.”
Tally narrowed her eyes at the challenge. Drawing in a slow, deep breath, she leaned forward, noticing rather smugly the small flare of surprise in his gaze as her hands ran up his arms, her nails dragging over the hard, muscular flesh of his biceps. She felt him tighten, his knees shifting as he moved forward, enclosing her legs within his as she stared back at him.
“There’s always control.” She blew a soft breath over his lips as they parted, only slightly. “It all depends on the control you’re seeking.”
Her hands moved from his shoulders to the buttons of his shirt. She undid the first, then the second, spreading the material enough to allow her hands to lay flush against the heat of his chest.
The glitter of battle entered his eyes then. “You could be biting off more than you can chew, kitten,” he whispered as her nails flexed against the hard muscle beneath them. “I’m not the least bit afraid of an indecency charge.”
He wouldn’t be, she thought silently. But as she had told him, it was all in who controlled it and how.
She leaned closer, her tongue peeking out to lick her lips, but glancing his lower one instead as his gaze sharpened with sexual heat.
“Would you give up control, Devril?” she asked him as his hands moved to her waist, his fingers gripping her lightly. “Would you allow me to do whatever I wished, whenever I wished?”
All she needed was the promise. She leaned forward a bit more, her teeth catching the temptation of his lip and nipping at it gently.
His hands tightened further.
“How much pleasure can you take, Dev, before your control breaks?”