Jesse looked like a butterfly trapped there against the wall. Delicate and fragile, pinned where he was by nothing other than my will and stare, which was holding his in an unwavering battle of supremacy.

This was the moment. The one that would truly tell me if he would be mine for the taking, and his blown pupils led me to believe I was one touch away from having what I wanted.

With my hands on either side of his head, we were close enough that I could taste the air leaving his lungs with every shaky exhale he made, and the longer I stood there, silent and unmoving, the more nervous he became. That was all part of the build. That climb to the precipice I would eventually push him over the edge of.

“You weren’t sure I was interested…is that right?” I said, my voice pitched low but my words clear and precise. When all Jesse managed was a nod, I moved in by the side of his head and said, “Oh, I’m interested. But you know who I am…what I want. And before I show you just how interested I am, you need to know that once I put my hands on you…my mouth…you’re mine. That’s you agreeing to be with me until you say otherwise.”

He sucked in a deep breath, and then I shifted my weight again so I was back looking him dead in the eye. Jesse’s chest was rising and falling more rapidly now, the excitement no doubt mixed with a hint of wary curiosity as he tried to wrap his mind around what I had just said to him.

“It, uh…” He paused and licked his top lip, and I followed the path of that pink tip with my hungry gaze. I wanted to taste that mouth, wanted to tangle my tongue with his, and I was so close now. So fucking close. “It almost sounds like you’re warning me.”

My lips curled. Smart little lamb. “I am.”

“Why?” Jesse asked. “Am I in danger?”

“I told you before, wolves eat lambs. So, yes, Jesse. You are in danger. I’m dangerous to your peace of mind. To your body. To your every waking hour, if I’m doing my part right. And Jesse?”

A soft moan came from the back of his throat before he said, “Yes?”

“I always do it right.”

Jesse swallowed. “I… This is crazy.” He looked from side to side, as if remembering for the first time where he was, and once he seemed satisfied we were the only two there, he brought his eyes back to mine. “This is my first night. I don’t think I should be back here.”

I brought one of my hands off the wall and gently stroked down his jaw. “So you like to follow the rules?” He trembled, and I could tell he knew what I was asking, and when he nodded, it was all I could do not to crush my mouth down on top of his. But no, that would come later, when he was begging me for it. “I like that. It’s why you’re perfect for me.”

Jesse’s lips parted, and I traced his lower one with my index finger. “You have the face of an angel but respond to orders from the devil. That’s a potent combination, Jesse.”

I trailed my finger down his chin, and then took one side of his bow tie between my fingers. As I went to tug on it, Jesse brought a hand up and took hold of my wrist. My eyes went directly to his and locked on, and as if he realized what he’d just done, he let go.

“You, uhh…won’t hurt me. Right? This isn’t going to hurt.”

I tilted my head to the side, and decided I’d allow him this one misstep—this time. Plus, his question merely added fuel to the fire currently racing through my veins, because as aroused as Jesse was—and he was aroused; the proof was obvious behind the zipper of his black pants—he was also slightly terrified.

“No,” I said, and tugged on the bow tie, loosening it then pulling it free. “Not tonight. I’ll push you. I might even scare you a little,” I told him, and dropped the tie on the floor. “I’ll make you question yourself over and over…but Jesse?” I put my hand back on the wall, caging him in. And then I bent my head to brush my lips along his jaw.

“Yes?”

“I’m going to make you feel so fucking alive, you’ll keep coming back for more.” I slipped a leg between his and shifted my body so my thigh pressed against his erection, and when he brought his hands up as if he were about to touch me, I told him, “No touching from you tonight. Put your palms on the wall.”

He hesitated for all of a second, and then lowered them to his sides.

“Very good. Now, I need you to think of a safe word.”

“What’s a safe word?”

“If you ever want anything between us to stop, if I ever go too far with you, then you say that word and I’ll stop, no questions asked.”

“Okay… So I just pick any word?”

“Anything you’ll remember.”

He thought about it, and then said, “Triceratops.”

My mouth twitched as I fought back a grin. “Triceratops?”

“Yeah, you know. He’s an herbivore, so he’s like a safe dinosaur, and you said safe word, so…” Doubt filled his blue eyes. “Is that not okay?”

“It’s perfect,” I said, tracing that full mouth with my thumb. “And now I want to hear you say the words. You have to tell me you will be mine.” I paused and moved my leg a little higher, increasing the pressure on the hard cock I couldn’t wait to make my own.

Jesse’s eyes shut, but, like a good little lamb, he kept his hands firmly on the wall as though glued in place.

“Tell me, Jesse,” I said, and he rolled his hips forward, rubbing himself against my thigh. “Tell me what I want to hear.”

“Yes,” he said. His eyes flicked open and his hot gaze collided with mine. “I want to be yours.”

I bared my teeth in a smile that was both triumphant and savage, knowing how fucked up I was for what I was doing, but unable to stop what had now begun.

The little lamb was mine now, and really, I had warned him. He should be afraid of the big, bad Wolfe.

* * *

I knew it was wrong to be back here, somewhere off-limits and with a man who not only felt dangerous, but had admitted to it himself. But it was an intoxicating rush to be trapped by Salvatore, and though I knew I could break free if I wanted to, the thought of leaving was unfathomable. With his body pressed against mine and the feel of his erection rubbing against my thigh, there was nowhere else I would rather be—especially not with my own dick painfully throbbing and in need of release.

I wanted to touch him, slip my hands underneath his jacket and run my fingers over what I knew would be sculpted marble under my hands. But Salvatore was fully in control, and he’d demanded my hands stay flat against the wall, so while it took every ounce of my restraint, I kept them there. Even as his head angled toward mine and I felt him press a kiss at the pulse point beneath my ear. Even when his lips moved higher, grazing my jaw, and leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

He’s going to kiss me, I thought, only seconds before I felt his mouth hover above mine. But he didn’t move any farther, not yet. Instead, he said, “Remember that. You’re mine now.”

Then his lips crushed against mine, fervent and unyielding, and I got my first taste of the insatiable desire lurking behind Salvatore’s composed facade.

My mouth parted easily for his, eager tongues tangling at the rush that came with a first kiss. Without thinking, I lifted my hands to reach for him and pull him closer, but Salvatore grabbed my wrists and pinned them back against the wall. He kept them there as he explored my mouth, and when he felt sure I wouldn’t move them again, his hands trailed up my waist, feeling their way up my chest until they reached my neck. Holding me right where he wanted me, Salvatore deepened the kiss until I was breathless and dizzy.

I’d never had anyone take charge the way Salvatore did, and every touch and kiss made me realize what I’d been missing for so long. This was what it felt like to be wanted, and that was when I had a thought that nearly blew the top off my head: I’d caused this ravenous reaction in Salvatore Wolfe. Me. That knowledge was power, and it was almost as much of a high as the one I was experiencing now, with Salvatore undoing the top two buttons of my shirt.

My first instinct was to panic. After all, we were in public; anyone could walk back here at any time. But as I opened my mouth to protest, Salvatore narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, and that had me clamping it shut again.

At my silence, Salvatore smiled savagely. “Smart little lamb,” he said, before lowering his mouth to the hollow of my neck. But where I thought he’d kiss me again, his tongue came out to lick at me instead, and a low hum of approval met my ears. “You taste like all that is good. But I doubt that’ll be the case for long…”

I let out a shaky breath, completely overwhelmed by all the different senses clamoring for my attention. The taste of Salvatore still lingered on my tongue, his words echoed in my ears, and I could feel him on every part of my body, even the parts he hadn’t touched. I was rock hard, and with his leg rubbing up against my cock, I was nearly ready to explode.

“I have to touch you,” Salvatore said, coming up to nip at my lobe with his teeth. He bit down, and I gasped, not expecting the sting of pain, but just as quickly he sucked my lobe into his mouth, erasing what he’d just done with pleasure. It made my erection kick, something that surprised me just as much as the bite, and it had me wanting more.

That’s so messed up, I thought—that I’d liked that tease of pain, if only to have the sensation that came after it.

“Touch me,” I said, giving Salvatore permission even though he hadn’t asked for it. I supposed when I’d told him I was his, that gave him an all-access pass, and what had I been thinking to do that? Oh, that’s right, I’d lost the ability to think anytime I was around this man. But I didn’t regret it. If anything, I wanted him to show me exactly what that promise entailed.

One of Salvatore’s hands came up to my neck, keeping me pinned against the wall, and while it didn’t hurt, it was slightly alarming to be restrained in that way. He was so much bigger than I was and completely overshadowed me in every way. It would take nothing for him to hurt me, and yet I trusted him not to.

He must’ve seen the panic flash in my eyes. “Scared?” he asked.

“No,” I lied.

Salvatore gripped my neck tighter, and my body completely betrayed me then as my hips jerked forward, desperate for some friction to relieve the ache.

“Don’t ever lie to me,” he said. “I can see the excitement lurking behind your eyes. I can feel how hard you are, even now, so I’ll ask you again: are you scared?”

This time, I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“But you like it?”

“Yes.”

That wicked grin of his grew bigger, and then his free hand moved down to the buckle of my pants.

God, please don’t let me pass out before he touches me…

* * *

Fear had always been an instant aphrodisiac for me—others’ fear, that was. Ever since I was a teenager I’d been this way. Some would even say I was born this way. That part of my soul was dark from the minute I was born, and looking back at my past, and where I was right now, I would have to agree, because the spike of alarm I’d seen in Jesse’s eyes a second ago had my dick aching and my arousal increasing.

It was intoxicating, that breathless way he answered me, the way his eyes darted around us, searching for escape. Then there was the thick shaft throbbing against my thigh, leaving no doubt that while Jesse knew logically he should be terrified that he was being held against a wall by his neck, he wasn’t about to fight to get free. In fact, he was rolling his hips forward to increase the friction.

With my eyes on his, I quickly unbuckled Jesse’s belt and let the ends hang loose as I began to unbutton his pants, and when I went to unzip them, he moaned.

“I can feel your pulse thudding against my hand,” I told him as I pulled the tails of his white shirt free of his pants. “I wonder if it’ll match your throbbing dick.” I slipped my fingers behind the elastic of his tight boxers and wrapped them around his erection.

The tortured sound that ripped from Jesse’s lips at the touch had me silencing him with my own, and as soon as my mouth touched his, he opened for me, and I sank my tongue in, greedy to taste the sweetness tinged with apprehension.

Jesse bucked forward, his hands coming off the wall, but I muscled him back, holding him in place as I continued to lick and devour every inch of his delicious mouth.

He panted as I raised my head and shook it at him. My hand stilled down his pants, and as he stared up at me with glazed eyes, I said, “Don’t. Move. Your. Hands. I won’t tell you again.”

Jesse placed them back on the wall beside him, and I rewarded him with a long, hard stroke of his cock, which made his eyes shut and his teeth sink into his lower lip. I did it again, and this time, when I drew my palm back up his hard length, I dug my fingertips into the pale flesh of his throat.

His eyes flew open, and I ground my hips against his thigh. The strangled sound that left him made me do it all again. “There’s something so beautiful about you right now,” I said in his ear as Jesse’s breathing left him in ragged bursts, and I grazed my thumb over the wet head of his dick. “Your bow tie on the floor, your throat red from my fingers, your pants open for my hand. And your eyes…” I waited for, and received, exactly what I wanted. Jesse turned his head and looked at me. “Your eyes tell me you’re about two seconds away from coming, but you’re just not sure this is right.” I gave him another sure stroke, brushed my lips over his, and said, “And you’re right. This is fucked up. But come for me anyway.”

I slammed my mouth against his in a brutal kiss, my mouth plundering his as both my hands tightened, and Jesse fucked his hips forward, sliding his cock through my fist.

He moaned under the assault, and I growled in response, thrilling at the honest way he responded to all the new sensations he was experiencing. It was the rush I went in search of. The high that would keep me coming back. And that was how I’d known there was no way that once with him would be enough. I wanted to drown myself in the purity of this man’s essence until it was no more.

Jesse jerked against me, and I bit down on his bottom lip hard enough to make it bleed. As he cursed and wrenched his head back, his eyes found mine and he came all over my hand as he stood there pinned to the wall with a bloodied lip, looking absolutely bewildered.

I held his gaze and cock until he was totally spent, and when he stilled, I slid the hand on his neck a little higher until I covered his Adam’s apple. I removed the hand I had in his pants and brought it up to my mouth, and then I drew my tongue across my palm and licked the cum from it.

Jesse’s eyes dilated, and then he swallowed. The feel of his throat contracting against my palm made my dick throb. I ground my hips against his thigh, and Jesse’s eyes dropped to what I was doing.

“Oh shit…that was, uhh…” When words seemed to fail him, I chuckled and released my hold on him. Then I took a step back and brushed a hand over the front of my pants. Tonight had served its purpose, and there would be time for me later. I bent down to pick up Jesse’s bow tie, and when I straightened, I noticed he was still exactly where he was. Back to the wall, shirt undone, pants unzipped, hands exactly where I’d told him to keep them—flat against the surface behind him.

“You might want to do those up now, don’t you think?” I said, indicating his pants.

“Oh,” he said, and then flushed as he looked down to his open tuxedo pants. “I’m allowed to—”

“Move? Yes,” I said, and walked forward, dangling the bow tie off my index finger in front of him. “You’ve been a good little lamb. Plus, I have to go and say hello to Mrs. Berkovich, and you have several more faculty members to meet. I think that would be best done with your pants zipped. Don’t you?”

“Oh, yeah, right. Of course. Umm…” Jesse fumbled around, tucking his shirt back in and zipping his pants. Then he buttoned up his shirt and went to reach for the tie.

I quickly snatched it back and said, “Come here.”

Jesse lowered his hand and took a tentative step forward, and I slipped the tie around his neck and tugged him the final step closer. I kissed him hard then, slipping my tongue inside his mouth and allowing him to taste himself on me, and when I raised my head, I said, “You’re mine now.”

He nodded, and then gave a shy smile that made me want to take him back to the den, strip him down, and fuck him until he couldn’t walk…but instead, I quickly tied his tie, moved to stand beside him, and took his elbow in my hand. “You ready?”

He had a swollen lip and finger marks just visible under his collar, but he nodded enthusiastically and said, “Yes. I think I am.”