He needed her to acknowledge what pulsed between them, needed some level of submission. “You have to trust me enough to let me lead.” There couldn’t be a power exchange without that trust. He licked over a brand he’d left on her shoulder. “I’ll take care of you, make you come so damn hard. But you have to let me lead.”

Guys had tried to dominate Ally before, tried to show her who was in charge. But that wasn’t what Derren was doing, wasn’t what he ever did. Oh, he dominated her as best he could, sure. But he never did it in a way that disrespected her. He battled her dominance, acknowledged it was there. But he’d never bent her over a freaking table before.

The submissive position prickled at her dominant instincts, making her wolf bristle. Ceding all control—it required strength and trust. She had the strength, but her trust? She didn’t think she could give him that. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel she could trust Derren. It was that she didn’t know if she could trust herself to make good judgments.

Sensing her struggle, Derren pressed a kiss to her throat. “You can trust me.” He rocked his hips forward, making her clit grind against the table. Her gasp made him smile inwardly. “Let me ask you something. Do you think I’d ever harm you?”

“No.”

“Good girl.” Another kiss to her neck. “You know I’ll always keep you safe. Don’t you?”

Ally did believe that. He was honest, reliable, and he’d protected her from day one—even when he’d thought she was someone he could never trust. “Yes.”

With that one word, a slight fissure in Derren’s defenses repaired itself. “I’ll never hurt you. And I’ll never let anyone else hurt you. You can trust me.” He traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. “Trust me enough to let me lead, Ally.”

It was so easy to say, yet not so easy to do. If he’d demanded her complete trust, she would have fought him. But he was simply asking her to trust him enough to submit in bed. She could give him that much. So she let her body go lax against the cool surface of the table. A growl of approval rumbled out of Derren. The stubble on his jaw grazed her cheek as he again spoke into her ear.

“That’s my girl.” His voice was thick, possessive. Ever so slowly, Derren eased his weight off her upper body, loving the sight of her there like that, submitting to him—just how he wanted her. He skimmed a finger between her folds, finding her slick and ready. She squirmed against his finger. “Tell me what you want, baby.”

“You know.” She gasped as two fingers slipped into her pussy. He slowly pumped them in and out of her. It was bliss, but it was also torture because it wasn’t enough.

“So fucking hot and tight.” He withdrew his fingers. “I think you’re ready for me.”

The sound of a zipper slowly opening sent a tremor down the length of Ally’s spine. The anticipation that had built inside her was now agonizing. She ached for him, for the carnal release her body knew he could give her. When the head of his cock bumped her folds, she arched back, trying to take his cock inside her. A strong hand on her lower back flattened her against the table once more. “Derren . . .”

Jaw clenched, he smoothly thrust himself balls deep inside her. Her pussy quivered and tightened around his cock, wrenching a guttural groan from him. “I love sliding my cock in you.”

The tips of his claws dug into Ally’s hip as he fucked in and out of her with rough, branding, powerful strokes. All the while, one hand remained splayed on her back, pinning her in place. She had to fight her instinct to buck against his hand, and he rewarded her by upping his pace. Her body wound tighter and tighter, and her claws sliced out, leaving deep grooves in the table.

He roughly tangled his fingers in her hair and yanked her head up. “Fucking come, Ally. Do it.” Then he lunged down and sank his teeth into the crook of her neck. She fragmented, and her pussy contracted around him as she screamed his name. Derren reared back and jammed his cock deep as he exploded. “Fuck.”

It was as if he’d poured every ounce of his strength inside her along with every bit of his come, because he had to brace his elbows on the table so he didn’t collapse on top of her. When he could finally move, he placed a kiss between her shoulder blades and slipped out of her.

Ally’s postclimax cloud began to disperse as she felt strong arms lift her and cradle her against a solid chest. Derren took her straight upstairs and laid her on the bed, and she let her eyes slide shut. He disappeared into the bathroom, only to come back moments later with a wet cloth to gently clean her. When he finally lay beside her, he pulled her flush against him.

“Have I fucked you to sleep?”

“No,” she mumbled, forcing her eyes open to find a glint of amusement in his own. “But it was close.”

Derren laved a brand on her neck before inhaling deeply. “You smell so good.” He sucked at the hollow beneath her ear, and her blissful sigh was his reward. “My wolf loves your scent.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

His wolf’s ears pricked up at that. “For you or your wolf?”

“Both.”

That answer satisfied both sides of his nature. “Good.”

As hints of his frustration and indecision flashed at Ally, her skin began to itch. “The shock’s beginning to wear off, huh.”

Derren sighed. “They were good to me when I was a kid. I never would have seen their betrayal coming.”