Book Read Free

Pandora's Pleasure: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

Page 21

by Vanessa Fewings


  He pointed a finger in his face. “If you ever touch my fiancée again, I’ll end you.”

  Carter smirked. “You don’t even like her.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Really? I was there when you stormed into Dad’s office and demanded a way out of your engagement.”

  “Asshole. That was before I’d met her.”

  “I’m the asshole?” He scoffed. “You’re the one who was sent away to fix the mess you made. Two weeks before the election.”

  Damien glanced my way. “The issue’s resolved.”

  “She’s an issue?”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  Carter shoved him back. “What I’m hearing is there’s no sharing your bitch?”

  The strike of Damien’s fist into his stomach made Carter double over.

  “If you come within one mile of my girlfriend—”

  “Which one?” Carter gasped, his hand on his stomach. “So hard to keep up with them all.”

  “What the fuck is wrong with you!” Damien stepped back. “You’re a sociopath.”

  “They always did say I take after Dad.”

  “That’s not a compliment.”

  “Well, the last time I checked he’s about to become President.”

  “He’s just waiting for you to fuck it up, Carter.”

  “I’m not the one with a stalled multi-million dollar construction site. Fairfield was destined to fail.”

  Damien spun around to look at me, trying to appear calm. “Did he hurt you?”

  Trembling, I managed to shake my head to show I was okay.

  “It’s like arguing with a fucking wall.” Damien straightened and tugged his jacket down, his demeanor becoming more composed.

  “It’s unlike you to lose it,” said Carter.

  Damien seemed to realize this, his brows knitting together as his gaze scanned over me. “I apologize on behalf of my brother.”

  My heart swelled with hope knowing that Damien had found and saved me.

  Clutching my hand tightly, he led me out of the room.

  We made our way through the mansion, reaching a sitting room that had a door that led out to a patio. We walked across the sprawling lawn and took a path over to a private terrace with a fountain in the center.

  The tall sculpture at the top poured out a torrent of crystal clear water that cascaded down onto several levels. The sound was a welcome change from the chattering and raucous laughter of the guests.

  “I won’t leave your side again,” said Damien. “Not when you’re in the vicinity of anyone in my family.”

  “I walked away from you,” I admitted.

  I’d forgotten how many monsters were lurking nearby.

  “I should have come with you.” He looked me up and down. “Tell me you’re okay.”

  “I am now.”

  We sat on the stone ledge of the fountain, me resting my head on Damien’s shoulder and him hugging me into his side.

  “Let me guess,” I said. “Carter was bullied?”

  Damien shook his head. “No, he’s just an asshole.”

  “You can be just as arrogant, Damien.”

  He looked at me with mock surprise. “Me?”

  I nodded slowly.

  “How?”

  “Remember how you were at Seascape?”

  “Sure that was me?” He smirked.

  I suppressed the emotion in my tone. “Things right now are chaotic. I get that.”

  He sighed. “We’ve come so far. We just need to stay the course. Everyone’s exhausted and wound tight. Including me. I’m sorry.”

  I rubbed my hand up and down his back to soothe him. “You’re giving it everything. I know that.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “I’ve been thinking.”

  “About?”

  He straightened. “On Sanibel, you told me you wanted out. You never wanted this—” He pointed to our surroundings. “All of this had been thrust on you.”

  “I shouldn’t have told you that.”

  “You asked me to help you escape. Now it’s all I can think of.”

  “I didn’t think you and I would work out.”

  “That’s not what you want anymore, though, right? To be free of this commitment? Of me?” He looked conflicted.

  “Could you ever love me?”

  He stared at me. “You don’t know?”

  “Know what?”

  He clenched his palms in frustration. “I promise to do everything in my power to make you happy.”

  “Phone me, that makes me happy.” I loved hearing his voice. When he didn’t call it felt like a strike to my heart.

  He let out a frustrated sigh. “What if the way I feel traps you.”

  “I admit to saying those things.”

  “You’re still young—”

  “No, don’t do that.”

  “You talked about wanting a career. I ignored what you were saying because I couldn’t see any other way forward.”

  At least we were talking. Sitting here in the quiet garden finding time to just be together.

  He pulled away, turning to look at me intently. “Tell me what you want.”

  I want you to love me.

  “Other than your ridiculous name, you are too fucking perfect—from your blinding beauty to your ability to endure a man like me.”

  “You think my name’s ridiculous?” I grinned at him. “Yeah, and wow—do I ever endure a lot.”

  His expression softened. “I want us to work.”

  “Because we have no choice?” I asked softly.

  He broke into a sweet smile. “I’m quiet in the morning. Is that something you think you can cope with? I mean, until my first mug of coffee reaches my brain.”

  “Are you asking me…?”

  “Move in.”

  “Aren’t we meant to wait?”

  “I’m done with appeasing others.”

  “I’m not sleeping in your spare room.”

  He pulled me onto his lap, his face nuzzling my neck.

  Wide-eyed, I tried to comprehend the words he’d spoken, the invitation to live with him before we were married, my heart stuttering with the realization he was sincere.

  Damien was going to say it…

  He was going to confess his love. I held his stare, disappearing into chestnut eyes that reflected a multitude of complexities that now shone with tenderness.

  My heart was beating faster than it ever had. I craved this man, craved his intoxicating touch.

  “I have something for you.” He slipped a hand into his pocket.

  “Oh?”

  Damien frowned in frustration as he looked up the pathway.

  Someone was approaching.

  It was Theo. “Sorry, bad time?”

  “No, it’s fine,” I said, refusing to budge from Damien’s lap.

  Because we had the rest of our lives to tell each other how we felt. My love burned brightly for this man who held me in his arms.

  My heart is telling me to stay.

  Theo looked down at the bottle of tequila he was holding. He held three shot glasses in his other hand. “We have a problem, Damien.”

  “We do?” he replied.

  “Pandora confessed to something shocking,” said Theo.

  Damien and I swapped a wary glance. My thoughts circled back to my discussion with Theo, and I tried to figure out what he was about to say.

  Theo nodded slowly, frowning. “She’s never heard of Duran Duran.”

  Damien threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter. “We have to rectify this.”

  “I know, right?” Theo stepped forward and raised the bottle.

  “In all honesty, Duran Duran was before our time, too. Tamer’s an 80s music geek.” Damien lifted me off his lap and stood alongside me.

  I leaned in and wrapped my arms around him, not wanting to return to the party just yet. His right arm tightened around me.

  “Come on,” said Theo. “She needs to experien
ce one of the most successful bands of the golden era in music.”

  “You forgot to mention the hairstyles.” Damien laughed and it made him look adorably young and carefree.

  “I want to hear this music,” I said.

  “The lady has spoken.” Theo uncorked the tequila bottle with his teeth. “A shot each to make the rest of the evening bearable.” He set his phone on the edge of the fountain and pressed play.

  “You realize she’s too young to drink,” said Damien, winking at me.

  Theo ignored him. “This is from the Rio album.”

  A moody synth style sounded around us, a man’s smooth lyrics mimicked an almost erotic groan.

  “This one was written by lead singer Simon Le Bon.” Damien reached out and took the bottle of tequila from Theo, tipping it back to take a gulp. His mouth made an O as though the liquor burned his throat. “Pure genius.”

  “I like it,” I said, amused as Damien sang along.

  I gestured my insistence for a drink.

  Damien grabbed a shot glass from Theo and poured some tequila into it, then offered it to me, the spark from his touch sending electricity into my hand.

  “Tamer, what did you really want?” asked Damien.

  Theo looked at him. “Salvatore Galante isn’t coming.”

  Damien flinched.

  Watching his reaction, I wondered if Damien had intended on speaking with Galante tonight. Theo and Damien swapped a look of frustration.

  I raised my shot glass in a toast. “To new adventures at Vanguard!”

  “No.” Damien gave a forced smile.

  That sounded like him taking back control.

  “Godman has only one more week left to visit Vanguard,” said Theo. “Then he’s cut off.”

  Damien smirked. “Those days are over.”

  Theo seemed to be studying his reaction. “One week, buddy.”

  “I need you to piss off now.” Damien gestured for Theo to leave. “Take your 80s band with you.”

  “Fuck off.” Theo threw him a big grin as he reached for his phone.

  He walked back up the pathway with the enticing bottle of tequila; probably a good thing as I was going to have to rejoin my parents at some point.

  I studied Damien’s face. “You’re not going back to Vanguard?”

  He ignored that and stared into the fountain’s pool of water. “What I was going to say before we were interrupted…”

  “What?”

  “Make a wish.” He pointed to the fountain.

  I closed my eyes and sent out a secret prayer for us.

  I heard him approach me, felt his presence.

  “Keep your eyes closed.” He took my hand and placed an object on my palm. “Have a look.”

  I opened my eyes to see a blue sapphire ring—the same one from the store on Sanibel Island…the one I’d fallen in love with.

  “That was your favorite?” He looked hopeful.

  “Yes! It’s beautiful.”

  The one I’d dreamed of.

  He eased the emerald engagement ring off my finger and tucked it into his pocket, replacing it with the sapphire ring, the blue stone shimmering.

  I pressed my body to his chest. “You remembered.”

  “Of course I remembered.” Damien looked at me, his expression pleased. “This is how I prefer you. Smiling.”

  “I’ll move in with you.”

  His face lit up. “Now it’s my turn to smile. Not that you had any choice in the matter.” He nudged my arm playfully.

  Whenever I’d imagined what kind of man I’d end up with, I’d never considered the possibility he’d be into this: a dark dungeon filled with unusual devices.

  Having only moved in yesterday—the same day Damien had asked me to—I suspected this would all become familiar. Damien would frequently lead me down here and choose one of these pieces to use on me.

  Opening a drawer, I peeked inside and removed a leather strap with a chain on the end, realizing I was holding a leash. My smile flittered when I imagined him using it on me.

  “You need a collar,” Damien’s voice boomed from the doorway.

  Pivoting, I clutched the leash to my chest. “Do I get one?”

  He looked devastatingly handsome in his white shirt and ripped jeans, his dark hair ruffled casually.

  He stepped in and walked across the room. “See anything you like?”

  “Am I allowed in here?”

  “As long as you don’t use anything to pleasure yourself, yes.”

  “Because only you’re allowed to touch me like that?”

  “Masturbation is forbidden.”

  “Unless I can’t help myself,” I teased.

  He didn’t laugh. “Want your collar?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Then earn it.”

  How would this work if I was always compelled to rebuke him. I suppose that was the point, we’d find our way in all of this—him bossing me around and me reveling in the way he mastered me.

  Falling to my knees, I assumed the position and gazed down at the floor, remembering the pose he’d once told me to hold.

  “Permission to speak, sir.”

  “Granted.”

  “I want to see our sex tape.”

  “You mean my sex tape?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Why don’t we familiarize you with everything in here first.”

  Damien closed the space between us and assisted me to my feet. He escorted me around the room giving me the grand tour, showing me his collection of nipple clamps, sex tongs that widen a woman’s labia, whips and chains and toys and restraints, paddles and blindfolds and feathers, a suede flogger, and a collection of vibrators.

  More alarming still was the antique collection of torture devices he had hung on the walls, which he pointed out were merely for décor.

  Though with him anything was possible.

  Already my panties felt damp from the expectation of how a scene with him would play out.

  “Am I ready?” I asked softly.

  “Are you?”

  “Yes.”

  He brushed a few strands of hair out of my face. “Get undressed.”

  Damien was no longer touching me, but my skin felt like he was as I slid off my pumps and stripped out of my jeans and blouse. I pulled off my underwear slowly, the blue sapphire twinkling on my left ring finger…a reminder that whatever we did in this room we did as lovers.

  Naked, I was led across the room by my master, who directed me to stand between two tall posts. He slipped my wrists into cuffs, pulling the straps wide so that my arms were stretched out on either side of me. There was no getting out of this. My legs were free, but even those he controlled by showing me how to stand with my feet apart.

  I wanted to ask him not to hurt me too much, to keep the pain at a minimum, but I felt exhilarated, too.

  Standing before me, he held up an iPad and showed footage that had been recorded in this room…in the bed where he took me for the first time. Mesmerized, I watched the moment when he had thrust deep inside me, taking my virginity. My body couldn’t help responding as though it was happening all over again. I recalled having him above me, that pinch of pain, the deep ache and then what followed, a sense of euphoria.

  He must have been reading my expression because his eyes softened, as though asking an unspoken question.

  “Whatever happens, I’ll always be yours,” I said, my voice a mere whisper.

  “Let’s begin.”

  He set the iPad down on a long table and brought back two metal clips that he worked to fit each nipple. Damien tightened them until the pinch became a throbbing sensation; the same one I’d craved. The same one that seemed connected to my pussy.

  Lifting a leather whip off the table, he tapped it in his palm as he approached me slowly, threateningly, then let it glide along my limbs until my flesh tingled with need. He strolled behind me and I felt a flash of pain and heat as he struck my butt. My breaths came short and sharp as he
continued to strike my buttocks.

  Damien moved on to a small spiked roller that he weaved around my chest, right over my over-sensitized nipples that were still captured in clamps, causing me to jolt and gasp.

  I felt dizzy by the time he stopped, and then I watched him remove his wristwatch and throw that on the table, too. He stripped out of his shirt revealing his toned, tanned muscles and six pack abs.

  In a haze, I was lulled by the toys he brought over, one after the other. The vibrators that he seemed to carefully choose, the same ones he placed on my clit to thrum it into another universe.

  “Today, it’s all about Pandora’s pleasure,” he whispered.

  Unable to answer, I merely nodded, peering down as he pried open my labia with his fingers to reveal how wet he’d made me. He placed a rounded wand on my clit and it cherished that small nub with a violent tremor. I forgot to breathe.

  Then he pulled it away just as quickly.

  “I need more,” I managed.

  “You need what?” he teased.

  “To come.”

  He moved over to a corner of the room and fetched what appeared to be a curved red seat on a sturdy base. He eased open my thighs and slid it between my legs so that I was sitting on it—straddling the saddle. With my hands outstretched and secured in cuffs, I couldn’t refuse him anything.

  He flicked a switch on its side and the seat vibrated with a dangerous ferocity, causing my entire bottom half to shudder vigorously. It shocked my pussy into an instant orgasm. My cheeks flushed as I realized I was copiously soaking the seat with my arousal.

  Another climax snatched away my self-consciousness and thundered through me like a runaway freight train. I gripped the seat with my thighs, jaw slack, exulting in this full body explosion of sensations with my tits bouncing, their clamps tugging, feeling another detonation of pleasure.

  I was only vaguely aware of Damien as he stood back watching my violent ride, his expression serious, as though gauging my reaction to the intensity of the undulating seat.

  My moans and screams echoed around us.

  Head back, I rode out yet another orgasm. Owned by this moment, by him, I could do nothing but endure another forced cresting.

  Having almost passed out, I felt him undo the cuffs and set me free. He carried me across the room and laid me on the bed, his hand brushing over my face to bring me back to reality.

 

‹ Prev