| |
“YOU’RE SURE YOU have to go?”
I looked down at my fingers, twisting, turning—never resting. We’d spent a blissful few hours together, but now the sun was at its zenith, and Jethro tensed with anxiety. I hadn’t asked why he slipped from sated to stressed, but I could guess.
If Daniel and Cut didn’t touch me last night, something had been done to protect me. And it was precarious.
“I don’t want to, but I have to.” His golden eyes glimmered with openness. After talking, we’d dozed in each other’s arms—perfectly content to let silence heal the wounds left behind by honesty.
I shuffled, digging my toes into the carpet. We stood by my door. I’d gone to escort him out, but in reality, I couldn’t stomach the thought of being away from him longer than a second. The connection we’d built throbbed with intensity.
I knew he had to leave to fabricate whatever tale Cut had to believe. I knew our very safety was at stake. But it was inconsequential when faced with saying goodbye.
“I’ll miss you.” My voice was sex-laden and a blatant invitation. Come back to bed, so I won’t have to miss you.
He sucked in a breath. His eyes flickered down the empty corridor behind him. He’d slipped back into his clothes from last night and the faint scents of cigar smoke and cognac clung to him. “Don’t tempt me, Nila...”
My nipples tingled. He was as reluctant to end this as I was. “I don’t want you to go.”
His lips parted as he leaned into me, planting his hand on the doorframe beside my head. “I don’t want to go, either.”
Sadness pinched. “Then don’t.”
He shook his head, looking weary and tired. “I have to. I can’t be here when they wake up. And I have to delete the camera footage of what just happened in your room.”
My shoulders slumped. “Okay, I understand.”
Whatever he’d done to rig the Third Debt was reliant on Cut and Daniel believing a lie. If they saw evidence against that lie, everything that’d been done last night would be for nothing.
It would be a waste.
Jethro groaned. His hand dropped from the doorframe, capturing mine.
The instant he touched me, I sparked from head to toe. I shivered as he stroked my knuckles with his thumb. “Goddammit, I never want you out of my sight again.”
I swayed toward him. “Surely, we have a little more time?”
You’re playing with fire, Nila.
That was true. My core burned for him. My body blazed for his. I couldn’t think of anything but sex. I was reckless, drunk on him.
His forehead scrunched.
I couldn’t help myself. I stood on tiptoes and kissed the faint lines around his mouth.
He froze.
“Nila...”
I kissed him again. A butterfly kiss. A goodbye kiss.
Suddenly, he grabbed my chin, slamming his lips on mine.
His touch was delicate but fierce. His tongue teasing but demanding.
With a soft moan, I opened for him and the kiss waltzed straight into forbidden.
Breathing hard, he pulled away. “Come with me.” Wrapping his fingers around my wrist, he dragged me from my room and down the corridor. His eyes were nothing but lust and urgency.
I trotted beside him in knickers and a t-shirt. “Where are we going?”
“I can’t say goodbye. But I can’t do what I want in there.”
My stomach somersaulted. “What do you want to do?”
He lowered his head, watching me from beneath his brow. “Do you trust me?”
I no longer had to think or doubt or lie. “Yes.”
His lips twitched in love and gratefulness, moving quicker through the Hall. “I want to do what I’ve needed ever since I knew you cared for me. I want to show you what it’s like for me.” We careened around a corner like two eloping lovers. “Will you let me do that, Nila?” The devoted need in his voice circumnavigated any excuse or negation I might’ve had.
“I’ll let you do whatever you need.”
Yanking me to a stop, he kissed me fiercely. His fingers held the back of my skull as if he was afraid I’d float away and leave him. “Thank you. A thousand times thank you.”
Dropping his hand, he looped his fingers with mine and together we ducked around corners, scurried beneath paintings, and entered the secret door to his bachelor wing.
He’s no longer a bachelor. He’s taken. He’s mine.
My eyes drank in the maroon painted walls as Jethro prowled the halls of his own quarters. He seemed more at ease here, safe. Ever since finding his chambers, I’d wanted to return. I wanted to explore and see how many secrets his personal space would divulge.
Jethro guided me past gaming rooms, studies, and elaborate dayrooms until he opened the last door and pushed me through.
The moment we were inside, he locked it.
My eyes darted, taking in plasterwork of swooping birds of prey, the deep red carpet, leather-gilded walls, and priceless furniture that out-shadowed any antique my family had back in London. His room was masculine, almost medieval, yet there was a tranquillity about it, too.
I trembled as Jethro came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my front. His lips kissed the diamonds around my throat, drifting to my collarbone. How did he feel about my collar now? Did he have a strange love-hate relationship with the beautiful jewellery like I did?
I swayed backward, pressing myself into him.
His hot breath cascaded over my shoulder. “There aren’t any cameras in here.”
“Oh...” My heart rate skyrocketed.
Jethro’s hand cupped my breast, rolling my nipple between his fingers. “I can do whatever I want to you.”
Once upon a time, that would’ve been a terrifying threat. Now, I knew him. Now, I trusted him.
I moaned as he palmed my other breast. “You can?”
“I can do whatever I need.”
“And what do you need?”
His teeth sunk into the flesh between my neck and shoulder, his tongue stealing the sting. “I can be completely myself. I can take everything you have to give.”
Words deserted me as he spun me around and captured my lips.
His taste slipped down my throat. His eagerness wrapped around my heart.
We only kissed for a moment.
But it felt as if we kissed forever.
Sliding, licking, tasting.
He swept me away from this dimension, guiding me to a different one—a more spiritual one where our hearts beat to the same rhythm and our desire thickened with every breath.
Walking me backward, his arms swooped down and hoisted me off my feet. I gasped at his power, kissing him harder. Instinctually, I wrapped my legs around his hips. He groaned as my pussy pressed against his straining erection.
Still kissing, he headed forward. Arms bunched, lips slippery, he marched me to the bed.
Then I was falling.
And he was falling with me.
The soft mattress cushioned me, while the hard demand of Jethro landed on top, squashing me with fervent need.
My lungs deflated; a small vertigo wave tried to steal the magic of the moment.
He chuckled. “I’ve gone dizzy from switching from vertical to horizontal.”
In that second, I loved him so much I might burst. “Now you know how I feel most days.”
He pulled back, brushing hair from my face. “Is it terrible? To have your brain work against you all the time?”
His question was so much deeper than just enquiring about my imbalance deficiency. It was a probe into how I coped—a mutual understanding of what it was like to have a condition rule your life. “I manage.”
“You manage better than me.”
I cupped his cheek. “Everyone has complications. Some harder than others.”
He smiled softly, pressing another kiss on my mouth. “Yes, but some of us are stronger than others.” His lips trailed to my ear. “And you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met.”
His hand disappeared down my side, tugging at my t-shirt. I wriggled, helping him slip it over my head. I lay in just my knickers in the arms of the man who’d been given a task that would never come to pass.
Jethro would never kill me.
I knew that with utmost certainty.
He couldn’t because it would kill him, too.
His jaw locked, eyes devouring my naked chest. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
A prickle of sensitivity darted over my skin, centring in my core.
He ran his fingertip around my nipple, causing it to pebble. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone. Ever. Never let myself open to the pain it can cause.” His finger drifted down my sternum, moving toward my bellybutton. “I need you to know.” His finger coasted lower, dipping into the manicured curls between my legs. “I need you to know that I adore you. I worship you. I don’t just love you, Nila Weaver. I treasure you. I’ve never had anything so goddamn precious as you.”
My mouth fell open as he pressed a single finger inside me. Words flew from my mind as every part of me focused on his touch.
“I’m going to show you what it’s like in my world. Will you let me?” His finger slipped deeper, pressing against my inner walls.
I bit my lip, nodding. My eyes were heavy, body begging.
I was warm, content, and truly happy for the first time in my life.
I didn’t want to move or talk or do anything to burst this magical bubble.
Another finger entered me, stretching, coaxing, dragging me from needful to insane with desire.
“I’ll never be able to repay you for last night. I’ll never be worthy of what you’ve given me. But I’ll make it my life to repent and prove how fucking sorry I am for what I put you through.”
I opened my eyes. My heart clenched at the sublime beauty of the true Jethro. He blazed brightly in the softly lit room. His every thought and desire, his every fear and insecurity—it was all there for me to witness and wonder.
Never looking away, he withdrew his fingers and used the glistening digits to pull his t-shirt over his head. Shadows danced over his muscles, highlighting ropes of power in his forearms, chiselled planes of his stomach, and faint bruises on his ribcage.
His injuries from whatever fight he’d been in the night I found his room had healed and faded.
Sliding off the bed, he unbuckled his belt and eased the denim down his legs. Stepping free of the material, he didn’t hesitate pulling his boxer-briefs to the floor.
My mouth dried up at his naked perfection.
His cock hung heavy and hard between his legs. His hands opened and closed by his side self-consciously.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his incredible body. He was mine now. This insane specimen of a man was mine.
Lifting my hips, I shimmied free from my knickers, tossing them over the edge of the mattress. His eyes zeroed in on my exposed core. The smell of sex and musk filled my nose.
He smirked, slipping from intense to playful. “What we did before was the entrée to what I truly need. Taking you so quickly didn’t satisfy either of us. And I mean to satisfy you extremely well.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Oh? What does ‘extremely satisfied’ entail?” I dropped my voice as a delicious thrill ran through my belly. “What are you going to do to me?”
He bent over and grabbed my ankles. “You’ll see.” His signature scent of woods and leather seemed stronger, more intoxicating as he pulled me down the bed. “Stay there.”
Moving toward his private bathroom, he returned with several long sashes from a bathrobe. Without a word, he tied it around the post at the bottom of the bed. Never looking away, he imprisoned my ankle and ever so gently wrapped the terry-cloth sash around me.
My heart splattered with a mix of erotic excitement and spellbinding fear.
Jethro paused, his eyes tight. “I feel what you’re thinking, Nila.” He stroked my calf, calming me. “You’re intrigued what I’m about to do to you, but afraid of being tied up again. Am I right?”
I blinked. I will never get used to that. “Yes.”
Every time he’d tied me up, he’d done something awful.
His jaw clenched. “It’s understandable. Every time I’ve tied you up, I’ve done something unforgivable.”
I jolted at how eerily close his conclusions were to my own. I nodded slowly. “You’re right—”
Jethro scowled. “And why wouldn’t you despise me for what I’ve done? The First Debt I tied and whipped you. The Second Debt I bound and drowned you. The Third Debt—”
“I know what happened, Jethro. You don’t have to torture me or yourself by reminding us.”
There was no telling how I would react to being tied while he pleasured me. It could cancel out the bad he’d caused but also ruin whatever good he attempted. If I was honest, I didn’t want to be trussed up. I didn’t want to be helpless to his whims. But at the same time...wasn’t that what trust was? To have faith in someone that they wouldn’t go too far?
His fingers stroked my ankle. “I promise on my soul I will never hurt you again.”
My body screamed yes. My mind screamed no. I struggled to choose.
“This is pleasure,” Jethro murmured. “I give you my word; I’ll release you the second you ask.” His eyes glowed with need, begging me to grant one more sacrifice.
Slowly, I nodded.
He exhaled heavily, moving his attention to my other ankle. “Thank you.”
He wrapped a similar sash around me, spreading my legs apart. The vulnerability and almost degrading way my legs were held open made me squirm with nervousness and need.
Jethro ran a hand over his face, drinking in my body. “Fuck, you’re stunning.” He grabbed his cock, working himself. “I’ve never been so attracted to anyone as I am to you. Never wanted to worship anyone. Never been so fucking besotted.”
My nervousness popped like champagne bubbles, leaving me tipsy on lust.
“What I want to do to you isn’t degrading or demanding, Nila. It’s so much more than that.”
Breathing shallowly, I didn’t move as Jethro climbed onto the bed, crawling over me to place my hands above my head. “It’s not about control; it’s about showing you my world.” Climbing higher, he fastened my wrists above my head with another sash.
His cock nudged my chin as he bent forward, reaching over me.
Without thinking, I opened my mouth and sucked him. The tang of his desire coated my tongue as I swirled around his crown.
He froze.
A groan wrenched from his lungs. “Christ, Nila.”
His hips twitched, feeding a little more of his length into my mouth. He trembled as my head bobbed, sucking him as much as I was able to while imprisoned below him. I looked up.
His eyes scorched mine, melting with love. “You’re so perfect.”
With a grimace, he withdrew. “I’m too fucking close as it is. This is for you. My pleasure can wait.”
I licked my lips, missing the small burst of power I’d had over him. I wriggled, completely constrained but not helpless.
“This isn’t about dominant or submissive, Nila. This is about showing you how I feel. How earning your ultimate trust is better than any drug, better than any promise. This is about making you understand.”
“I don’t need to understand. All I know is my heart belongs to you.”
Jethro placed his fingertips over my mouth, shaking his head softly. “That isn’t enough—I owe you so much more than that. I want to show you the level of intensity I live with. I want you to know first-hand the sensory overload I suffer now that I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Fallen in love with you.
No words would ever compare.
I trembled as he stood up, gazing at my spread body. He stepped back; the bedside lights illuminated his spattering of chest hair and gleaming cock. His eyes hooded, filling with salaciously carnal intentions.
Even though I was the one tied up, he was the one bound—locked in a life that demanded so much from him. The longing on his face clenched my core, making me wet.
“You look incredible like that,” Jethro whispered. “Knowing you can’t run. Can’t hide. That you’re all mine.” He prowled to the side of the bed, dragging his fingertip over my knee, my thigh, between my legs, my belly, my breast, my chin, my mouth.
With a gentle press, he pushed his tattooed index past my lips. The thought of my initials stamping ownership on him reminded me we hadn’t done the tally for the Third Debt. I shouldn’t want something so ridiculous on my flesh, but I wanted him to sign and approve every inch of me. I wanted to be his completely and forever.
My tongue swirled around his finger.
He pulled his digit free. “Wait here. I have to get a few supplies from next door.”
Supplies? What supplies?
Ignoring my racing heartbeat, I laughed. “Where exactly can I go?”
He grinned—such a light-hearted sight. “Precisely. And that’s what makes this such fun.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Wait for me.”
Then he was gone.
The moment he disappeared, doubt filled my mind. Did I want this to happen? What would he do?
Testing the bindings, I squirmed. Fear lurked on the outskirts of my brain, but my body only grew wetter. No matter what rational thinking told me I should want, I couldn’t deny I’d never been so turned on.
Jethro appeared again, locking the door behind him. He kept his hands behind his back, obscuring what he’d collected. “Remember you said you trusted me.”
Stopping at the base of the bed, he slowly brought forth the hunting whip he’d used the day he chased me through the forest. I recognised the diamond glinting on the handle. I’d seen it while hiding naked in the tree, begging for a chance to escape.
I flinched. “Hell, no...”
He can’t be serious.
He shook his head, his eyes flashing with pain. “It’s not what you think.” He stalked around the mattress, trailing the tip of the crop along my skin. Every touch sent my nipples pebbling, core dampening. I didn’t want this—yet my body only grew more sensitive.
A stroke was no longer a stroke but a tease.
A smile was no longer a smile but a promise. A deliciously dark, dangerous promise.
“You trust me?”
I breathed faster. How could I say I trusted him then doubt him the moment that trust was tested?
Locking eyes, I nodded.
Jethro relaxed a little, then his wrist flicked and he brought the whip down across the top of my thigh. Not hard, but hard enough that heat flared.
I jerked, panting at the scrambled messages my nervous system gave. Was it hot or cold? Did it feel good or bad? Did I want to run or stay?
I don’t know!
Jethro swallowed hard.
Can he sense my confusion?
His voice was thick as he demanded, “Tell me how it feels.”
I shook my head, drowning under another influx of sensation. There was no way to describe it.
“Try, Nila. I want to know.”
I scrunched up my face. “Um...it’s warm...tingling.”
Jethro chuckled. “No, I don’t want to know physically. I don’t care about physically.” He sat on the edge of the bed, stroking my cheek with tenderness. “I know how it feels on your body.” His stroking dropped to my breast, not touching flesh but something so much deeper. “I care about what you feel in here.” His fingers pressed firmer as if he could carve out my heart and protect it forever. “I want to know how your heart feels, your mind, your thoughts, your soul. I want everything. I want the truth.”
I gasped as his hand drifted from breast to pussy.
His mouth tightened as he pressed a finger inside me. “Tell me how this makes you feel.”
My hips arched, wanting him to push deeper, give me more. “I’m wet...”
He withdrew his fingers. “No.” Drawing my wetness up my belly and back to my heart, he murmured, “In here. Tell me. Go deeper than physical. Ignore mental. Tell me your deepest, darkest sensation.”
I trembled as his hand returned between my legs; his long, delicious finger pressed inside me.
I moaned. My head fell back as I clenched around his touch. He made me feel idolized and wanted, dropping all his barriers, driving me upward to a familiar goal.
My mind was a mess. I couldn’t understand the threads of racing thoughts. But he needed this from me, I would do my best.
Jethro crooked his finger, rocking. “Tell me or I’ll stop.”
Don’t stop!
“I—I feel heavy. As if I’m too full and filling more and more the longer you touch me.”
“Good. Go on.”
“Um...I feel weightless as if I’m exactly where I need to be. I’m confused and crazy and needy and hazy. But through it all, I’m excited.”
He grunted. “Fuck, that’s a turn-on.” Bending over, he kissed me hard. “Having access to your body isn’t what I crave. It’s access to your mind. Your feelings I can sense, but your thoughts I can’t. It’s the one part of you I need to own—in order to give in completely.”
I quivered as he removed his finger and raised the whip again, torturing me slowly with it licking over my skin. “Do you understand what I need?”
“Yes, I think so.” I bit my lip as he circled the bed, never stopping his incessant stroking with the supple whip. With every stroke, I forced myself to focus on how I felt inside rather than how I reacted outside.
The physical was so much easier. My pulse thundered. My skin prickled. My blood raced. My core clenched. My body needed him desperately. And my libido scaled a mountain that terrified me.
But emotionally...I wasn’t prepared to go so deep. It was foreign territory to look so far inside. How could I truly understand who I was—not just as a woman or Weaver but as a human—a creature of breath and bone...of animalistic desires?
Were my thoughts normal? Were they acceptable? Was I weak or strong or broken? I didn’t know.
And Jethro wants to know...
On his second circuit, Jethro flicked the whip, striking my clit with a short, sharp burst.
“Oh, my God!” The intensity swooped hard, jerking my shoulders as a blistering wave of need spread from my core. The sweetest strangest buzz travelled through me. I became weightless all while heavy with colliding thoughts.
“Tell me how you feel,” Jethro purred.
I had no clear-cut answer, but I’d promised. I have to try. Closing my eyes, I focused inward. “There are too many thoughts to articulate. They’re all racing too fast.” Pulling on the restraints, I begged, “Jethro...”
“Quiet.” He dragged the whip up the centre of my body.
Every muscle bunched, preparing for the next strike.
He didn’t disappoint.
He struck me short and sharp on my bellybutton.
I convulsed, soaking up the decadent bite. One moment, my thoughts were tamed, untangling themselves from the twisting mass of nonsensical nonsense, the next, they were a jumble of madness.
“And now,” Jethro said. “Now, how do you feel?”
“Now...I’m quiet. I’m tense. I can feel something inside me unlocking, opening.”
That’s the truth. I don’t know what’s unlocking but keep going—I want to find out.
Jethro sucked in a breath. Our eyes connected.
The unlocking inside flung wide open like a rusted gate. It was the weirdest thing. To feel your own soul unfurling. I’d never taken the time to truly feel myself. To know who I was. To rifle through my history, experiences, and fears.
“I’m—I’m letting you in.”
Jethro flicked the whip again. “More.” The leather kissed my ribcage.
I cried out at the sweet, burning sting.
“That’s what I want. That’s what I need.” He circled the bed again, flicking me in different spots: my hip, my bellybutton, my nipple.
Oh, my God, my nipple!
Fire flamed through my blood. A trickle of wetness slipped between spread thighs.
My body sang. My soul rejoiced. I’d never been so free...so unencumbered even while bound in place.
The crop licked my throat, slapping quickly on my diamond collar. The sound of chastisement and the swift burn of intoxicating pain throbbed my nipples. Jethro rained gentle punishment down my sternum toward my pussy.
My head tossed back as I writhed, wanting him to strike faster. To fuck me. Love me. Claim me.
“Does it feel good?”
“Yes,” I whimpered. “Better than good. It feels...” My eyes closed as I threw myself into a maze of complexities. My body had brought me to this place, but my thoughts took over. They made this more than sex. More than love. They made this transcendent.
Jethro struck me quicker—like tiny breaths—working his way all over my body.
“Please.” I thrashed. “Take me. I need you inside me.”
“Why? Why do you need me inside you?”
Why?
There were so many reasons why. One fell from my lips before I could think. “Because I can’t handle the intensity anymore!”
Jethro sighed heavily, wrenching my eyes open. “Now you know...now you know how it feels to live with my curse.” He struck me particularly hard. “There is no stopping for me. No reprieve. It’s one piercing thing after another.”
The agony in his voice sent me higher; I strained for a release. “That’s awful. So awful.” I couldn’t handle the poignant need to explode another second. “But please, Jethro. I need you.”
“Quiet.” He struck my clit again. “I love feeling what you feel. I love having no barrier between us.”
Shit!
I almost came. My core clenched; sparks detonated in my blood. I never expected something like this could unravel me so quickly.
I was lost.
Drifting on an ocean of everything.
“God, you’re wet.” Jethro dragged the tip of the whip through my folds.
I moaned.
He consumed me. His body was supple and noble—every muscle proudly ridged. Something had melted inside him. He was no longer ice but magma. No longer snow but sunshine.
I wanted to grab him. Hug him. Fuck him.
My thoughts became a froth of temper. “Take me, Jethro. Fuck me, Kite. I can’t do this any longer.”
I didn’t think he’d obey, but without a word, he threw the whip across the room and climbed on the bed. Straddling me, he fisted his cock and bent to kiss me. “You want me to end your misery. If I do, can you end mine?”
He didn’t give me a chance to reply. His mouth crashed on mine, and we turned savage. Biting, licking, tasting. His hand clutched my hair, pulling hard, forcing my mouth to open and take whatever he gave.
His hot thighs imprisoned my hips, twitching as he worked his cock.
The kiss ended. He collapsed on top of me.
I moaned at the comfort of having him touch me after so many teasing strikes.
“God, Nila, you’re incredible.” His lips covered mine again, feeding me his voice. “I want to make you come. I want to come inside you over and fucking over again.”
His hips slotted between mine. His fingers dove inside me, testing my wetness. Then I screamed as he filled me with one wicked impale.
There was no pain. No bruising. Only the most majestic completion imaginable.
I couldn’t hold on. I wanted to grip his strong shoulders for balance. I wanted to wrap my legs around him for connection.
He thrust deeper, slipping through my wet heat. In some mystical way, this felt like an ending to everything he’d been and the beginning of everything we’d become.
A beginning he was finally strong enough to face.
It’s exquisite.
It’s raw.
It’s debasing
and
mind-blowing
and
real.
I gritted my teeth, riding the tsunami of pleasure. Jethro took hostage of every thought and dream I’d ever had, making it his.
My body hummed with possession. Every part of me was ravaged, disconnected, unable to concentrate on anything but the way he thrust and took.
I cried out, biting his shoulder as every cell tightened, quickened.
“Come. I need you to come,” Jethro panted in my ear.
I’d never been commanded to do something outside of my control. I never believed I could do something as miraculous as come with only a few words. But his cock stretched and filled. His lower belly rubbed and stroked my clit and every part of me combusted.
My body obeyed him utterly. I let go, spindling into the sharpest, quickest orgasm I’d ever had.
“Fuck, Nila.” Jethro pinned me to the mattress, taking me faster. His guttural groan wrapped around my body, replacing it with unlimited pleasure. “Goddammit, you feel good.” His face buried in my hair; his heart beat a war drum against mine.
I wanted to cradle him—give him safe harbour to come undone and find himself in this new world we’d conjured.
Thrust after thrust. We were stripped totally bare.
Jethro never stopped. His arms curled around the top of my head, keeping me in place. The ropes around my ankles jerked with every rock, bruising me.
I dissolved into his embrace. I was exhausted and spent. Aftershocks of my orgasm continued to squeeze my pussy.
Jethro suddenly reached toward his bedside and pulled a knife from the drawer. I tensed as he sliced the binds around my wrists and pulled my torso up with him. He sat on his knees, still inside me. Twisting around, he sawed the sash around my ankles, freeing me.
Throwing the blade to the carpet, he cushioned me in his lap. “Wrap your legs around me. I’ve got you.” His arms cradled my spine, creating a basket of muscle. I melted into him, bouncing with every thrust.
His large hand captured my nape, pressing me firmly, keeping my body pinned close and his cock deep inside.
With a savage rock, he groaned, “I’m going to ride you. And then I’m going to come.”
I nodded, every part of me drained. I’d never been so used, so abused, so sleepy.
His lips found mine, pouring energy down my throat as he drove deeper and deeper. Straddling his lap gave him complete control. His cock hit the top of me again and again.
His kiss turned demanding. His hands roved up my back and around my sides to palm my breasts. His dextrous fingers tweaked my nipples, tugging in time with his thrusts.
I moaned, biting his throat as I fell into him.
“You have the most incredible body.” His hands swooped to my back again, moulding me tight against him. “You’re so damn wet. I fit inside you. You take me completely.” Wonder dripped in his voice, sheer joy at finding me and me finding him.
“Hold onto me. I need to take you hard and fast.” He grabbed my hips, hoisting me higher on his lap. He looked at me.
I gasped at the molten love evident in his gaze. Tears prickled my eyes.
He loves me.
He’d said it. Whispered it. Cursed it. But now he’d shown me: he unequivocally loved me.
He smiled softly. “You sense what I’m feeling, don’t you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t sense, I know. It’s not a feeling but the truth in your eyes.”
His fingers dug into my hips, pressing me down, giving me nowhere to hide. “You should know you’re it for me, Nila. There’s no turning back from this. I’m on your side until the end.” He surged upright, filling me endlessly deep. His hand disappeared into my hair, wrapping the long black strands around his wrist, holding me firm. “I love you.”
The burn in my scalp scorched my body.
To be so adored but controlled.
To be so loved but dominated.
The combination was the best aphrodisiac in the world.
He slammed into me, bouncing me in his embrace. My arms wrapped around him as we glued ourselves together, holding on and riding each other fast.
My muscles burned, my legs wobbled, and my scalp yelped in pain, and through it all, another orgasm brewed.
Shit, I can’t come again.
I’d collapse.
I’d never come twice so quickly. I wouldn’t survive—I knew it as surely as I knew my heart was one beat away from exploding.
Jethro kept riding, kept fucking. And my body kept responding, gathering tighter and stronger, wanting to release and snap me into paradise.
“I’m yours, Nila. All fucking yours.” Jethro’s lips skated over my jaw.
I became nothing but lust and spirals and mindless passion. The ache in my womb increased, throbbing with the familiar agonising urge to let go.
His harsh breathing filled my ears.
My body detonated again.
I cried out as I clenched with delirium.
I didn’t think I had the power to combust so spectacularly. I feared I’d splinter into teeny, tiny pieces and flutter away in the breeze.
“Christ, yes. Take me.” He thrust hard and deep, following me. His teeth latched onto my shoulder as we rode waves of bliss. Spurt after spurt, he filled me, coming apart in my arms.
Minutes passed where all I could think about was liquid. Liquid and wetness and heat. We clung to each other until my muscles started to seize and cramp, and a chill turned my sweat into goosebumps.
I never wanted to let him go.
Jethro slowly pulled out, laying me gently on the bed. Our ragged breathing matched as he pulled me into him, spooning me, protecting me.
If I could move, I’d cuddle him back but I had nothing left. I was drained beyond all comprehension.
“Thank you.” Jethro kissed my hair. “Thank you for letting me in.” His arms squeezed tighter, giving me gratitude in both actions and words.
I yawned, snuggling into him.
“Was it hard?” he asked quietly. “Was it painful to look inside yourself?”
I shook my head, unable to keep my eyes from closing. “No. To be honest, it was scarily easy.”
“It’s not hard to let go when you trust the person you’re with.”
I nodded. “You made it right, Jethro. You made it perfect.”
A few minutes passed. Sleep settled heavier on the outskirts of my thoughts.
Jethro sighed. “I want to do more with you. Fall deeper into you. Would you let me do that?”
The moment hovered. I could pretend to be asleep. I didn’t have to answer. The thought of stripping myself even further scared but also excited.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, I would.” My voice was soft and full of love.
He hugged me hard. “I love you, Nila.” Pressing a kiss on my cheek, he said, “I’ve only just started. I have so many ways to show you the depth of my feelings.”
My eyes flared. Did he want more today? There was no way I had the stamina or strength. I was utterly spent.
“You can do whatever you want with me. But first, I have to sleep.” With his body heat and legs tangled in mine, I’d never felt so safe.
Jethro chuckled. “I want more—so much more. More than you can possibly imagine. But I’m patient. I’ve waited this long for you. I can wait another hour or two.” Kissing me again, he murmured, “Sleep, Ms. Weaver. Dream of me. And then I’ll steal you away.”
He gathered me closer.
Together, we drifted from this world into dreams.
