The Biker's Teacher

Opened Cage

LEVI

"You're in my house now, Claire," I growled. "The rules of the outside world don't apply past that threshold. Here, I don't negotiate. I command."

She tilted her chin up, looking at me through the curtain of her dark hair. Her green eyes weren't wide with panic; they were heavy, dark, and utterly mocking.

"You talk a lot about rules, Levi," she purred. "But all I see is a man trying very hard to convince himself he's in control. If you wanted a doll that moves when you pull the strings, you picked the wrong girl."

"You think this is a game," I whispered. I reached down, my fingers tangling in her hair, forcing her head back. "You want to see if the monster in the stories is real? Let's find out."

"On your knees, Claire. Right here on the stone. Let's see how long that sharp tongue lasts when you're looking up at me from the floor."

She offered me a slow, deliberate smile. She didn't pull away from my grip on her hair. Instead, she stood perfectly still, her breathing steady against my chest, her eyes locking onto mine with an unyielding, stubborn fire.

"Make me," she whispered.

A few seconds of dead silence stretched between us—a battle of unspoken tension while the night wind howled through the grand hallway.

"I'll be upstairs, Levi," she murmured. "Let me know when you're ready to stop talking."

I turned my head, my jaw clenching as I watched her walk toward the sweeping grand staircase. Her hips swayed with a lazy, agonizing confidence under the fabric of her dress.

I let out a low, dark chuckle that cut through the silence of the house. It was a dangerous sound, even to my own ears.

I slid the leather collar back into my pocket, my boots silent against the stone as I stepped toward the stairs, tracking the shadow she left behind.

The master bedroom was dim, lit only by the amber glow of the fireplace crackling in the corner. Claire was standing with her back to me, facing the long dresser mirror.

My jaw tightened. The zipper of her dress rested on the absolute base of her spine. The fabric clung dangerously low, barely gripping the curve of her hips, exposing the smooth, pale expanse of her entire back to the cold air. Every time she breathed, the silk slipped another millimeter, teasing the exact line where her control ended and my hands began.

"You have excellent taste, Doc," she murmured to the mirror, her eyes locking onto my reflection as I closed the door behind me. She lifted the glass to her lips, taking a slow sip. "Though the room is a little cold. I was hoping you'd bring some warmth up with you."

"You're testing the depth of the water, Claire," I rasped. "And you're forgetting how deep I can sink."

"You think if you stand there looking like an invitation, I’ll forget that you haven't bowed. Turn around. Face me."

I stepped closer, my shadow swallowing her bare back.

"Turn around," I commanded.

"No," she whispered.

I stepped up behind her until the heat of my chest brushed her bare skin. I leaned down, my mouth inches from her ear.

"You're making a mistake," I murmured.

Claire tilted her head back, her neck exposing a long, pale line in the firelight.

"We both know you aren't going to make me turn, Levi," she whispered to my reflection, her voice thick with maddening confidence. "You know exactly what you want to do. Do it."

Slowly, I pulled the heavy black leather collar from my pocket and set it on the dark wood of the dresser, right next to her glass. The heavy metal buckle clinked against the crystal.

"Put it on," I growled.

Claire let out a soft, breathy laugh. With one smooth, agonizingly slow motion, she pushed the green silk off her shoulders. The fabric gathered dangerously low around her hips and then gave way entirely, pooling around her ankles.

She stood there, entirely exposed to me, her skin catching the warmth of the flames. Her spine remained perfectly straight, her chin tilted up.

"The dress is gone, Levi," she whispered to the mirror. "Now what?"

A slow, taunting smile spread across her lips.

"How long, Levi?" she whispered to the mirror.

"How long until you finally give in?" she purred, her eyes narrowing as she studied my reflection. She leaned her weight back, deliberately pressing the soft curve of her bare hips against the hard line of my trousers. "How long can you stand there playing the quiet monster before you pull me onto this wood and take what you're begging for?"

With a slow, fluid twist of her torso, Claire turned around in the narrow space between my chest and the dresser. She tilted her head back, forcing those sharp green eyes straight into my actual gaze, looking at the real face of the monster.

"The clock is ticking, Levi. Are you going to keep lecturing me, or are you finally going to prove you can handle what you claimed?"

The last thread of my calculated patience burned to ash under the heat of her mockery. I just needed to suffocate that arrogant, beautiful mouth.

My hand left the dresser, my fingers wrapping violently around the nape of her neck to anchor her in place. I leaned into her, pinning her completely against the dresser, and brought my mouth down to capture those lips hungrily.

Her fingers slid up my chest, gripping the dark fabric of my t-shirt with a fierce, possessive strength of her own, pulling me even closer until I dragged my teeth along her jaw.

"Th-there's..." she breathed, the word breaking over a shallow, frantic gasp as my mouth nipped the sensitive skin of her throat. "...th-the man... I was looking for."

The slight stammer in her voice sent a dark, dangerous rush of heat straight to my core.

"You think you want him, Claire?" I growled, my voice dropping into a lethal, quiet register as my large hand slid down from her neck, my thumb pressing firmly into the center of her chest, right over her frantic, hammering heart. "Because once he’s out of the cage, he doesn't go back in until he’s taken everything."