Flawed: (A Psychological Dark Romance) (The Dark Necessities Prequels Book 1)

by Felicity Brandon

  “Lily.”

  He greeted her with a warm smile as she turned to see him there, in all his glory. Tall, with a luscious mane of dark hair and scintillating blue eyes, he was every inch the romantic hero, like the ones Lily had read about in her mother’s old paperbacks.

  “Hello, beautiful,” he purred, the look in that gaze sending the butterflies in her belly scattering.

  Just like always.

  “Hi.”

  Her response was nervous and raspy, and she lifted her chin to meet his gaze as the sound of it resounded around the interior of the room.

  “Are you ready?”

  Ethan’s words were unhurried and firm, as though he wanted to make his intentions clear to her before they even started. Lily’s heart thundered in her chest. She had no idea what he was asking, but the errant look in his eyes told her that it would be something dark and delicious. And she wanted it—she wanted it whatever it was.

  “What are we going to do?” she asked, deflecting his question with one of her own.

  Ethan’s expression hardened just a little. “Get to know one another a little better,” he told her. “Just like we both want to.”

  What resemblance of her sane and conscious mind remained scattered at the look he gave her, but Lily barely even noticed. She didn’t care, because he was right. She didn’t know how he knew what she wanted, how he had transported her to this place, or how any of this was even possible, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they were there—together—and Ethan was right. She did want to get to know him better. She had ever since he had shown up on that cold street and scared away her aggressors, and she certainly had since the lunchtime he’d surprised her yet again.

  “How?”

  “I have an idea,” he murmured as he took a step toward her. “If you’ll let me show you.”

  His gaze pinioned her and wordlessly, Ethan reached for her hand. “But you have to trust me, Lily—even though you have no reason to—you have to listen to that voice in your head.”

  “I want to.”

  Her words were a barely audible whisper, but as she glanced up into his eyes, she knew Ethan had heard them. One of his large palms rose to graze her left cheekbone with a long finger as he appraised her face.

  “So beautiful,” he told her. “You are so beautiful, Lily, but you’re like a tightly bound little bud longing to bloom.”

  He was close now. So close. The heat of his breath washed over her face and Lily’s eyes fluttered shut on reflex.

  “I can help you bloom.”

  Ethan’s voice washed over her, the vibration traveling down the length of her body. Somehow, the sound halted at her core, the small nub at the front of her sex tingling at the metaphor he was describing. She was that flower, and for too long, she had been curled in a bud, too afraid to stretch her petals and reach for the sun.

  “I’d like that, Ethan.”

  Lily barely recognized the noises coming from her lips now. The woman speaking sounded breathy and desperate, but that couldn’t be her. Could it?

  “I know you would—and you will—I promise.”

  Her eyes blinked open to find Ethan’s face just a few inches from her own. “Kiss me again.”

  She gasped, her hand rising to her mouth. Lily couldn’t believe what she’d just said. Had she just asked him to kiss her? Oh my God! Only wanton women would demand such a thing of a man they’d only just met. It might be 1969, but still—what was wrong with her?

  Was she losing her mind?

  Ethan smiled, a knowing look that made Lily wonder if he hadn’t just heard her every astonished thought. But no—that was ridiculous—more likely he had just read the shock in her stunned expression.

  His free hand shifted to his lips and he pressed his index finger against that tempting mouth. It was a gesture designed to silence her, but Lily hadn’t spoken a word since her scandalous demand. “Hush, Lily,” he soothed. “And come to me.”

  Lily’s heart was still pounding, but her feet obeyed him nonetheless, closing the short distance between their bodies. It was like Ethan had captivated her. She knew she was sleeping—this was only a dream, after all—but she never wanted to wake from it. Lily would rather remain here with Ethan and comply with his requests. She liked the coiled knot of excited tension in her belly, and the way her nipples hardened with each dark look, and more than that, she wanted to know—what would happen if she stayed with him?

  The brush of his lips against her mouth stilled her mind at once. His fingers shifted into her hair, tightening into a hard grasp as Ethan held her in place. And that was when the kiss morphed from a light brush of their lips into something far deeper and more profound. Lily groaned as his tongue probed into her mouth. She’d never had sex with a man before, but the way moisture rushed between her legs at his tongue’s intrusion made her think of the act she’d never known. It was so hot and demanding, yet more sensual than anything she’d ever known.

  “I know what you need, Lily,” Ethan murmured as he drew slowly away from her lips. “You need someone to master you—to take you in hand—don’t you?”

  She blinked up into those tantalizing blue eyes. They were like two deep pools of water—two oceans just waiting for her to dive into. “I don’t know,” she gasped. “I don’t know what I need.”

  Ethan smiled. “Then let me show you?” he purred. “Let me be the one to show you.”

  His hand reached for her palm again, and slowly, Ethan led her further onto the middle of the rug. As she turned and blinked once more into the dancing flames of the fire, Lily had the strangest sense that she was on the edge of some unknown precipice. It was as though this was the brink of something significant, and if she chose to step over the unspoken boundary, then there was really no coming back.

  “Ethan!”

  There was panic in her voice, though she really couldn’t say why. Even with the precipice in sight, Lily couldn’t say she was frightened. It was more like she was restless and excited.

  “Give in to me,” he commanded in a quiet, sensual tone. “Surrender yourself to my demands and let me show you, Lily.”

  She drew in a shaky breath. “What are you asking for?”

  Ethan’s blue eyes sparkled. “Only to spank you, beautiful.”

  To spank her?

  Lily’s heart stopped at the words, her throat drying as if Ethan had commanded it. The man was incredible! In a matter of days, it seemed he had completely mesmerized her, the thought of him alone had been enough to occupy her time, and now he wanted this—to spank her! It was preposterous—utterly preposterous— and yet he made it all seem so normal, so captivating.

  But why? Why would he want to spank her?

  “For fun,” he answered, although Lily was sure she had never vocalized a question. “For pleasure, Lily.”

  “How?” she demanded softly, aware that her cheeks were warming at the query. “How is that fun?”

  He squeezed her hand, blinking down at Lily. “Wait and see,” he purred. “But… I think you already know.”

  She shook her head. “W…what?” she stammered. “No. I know nothing of the sort.”

  Ethan tutted at her playfully, his arms already snaking around her middle as he drew their bodies together. Lily gasped at his sudden proximity, but she couldn’t deny how much she enjoyed it.

  “Don’t lie to me, little Lily,” he warned. “Unless you want me to have a reason to spank you?”

  Lily swallowed. Something about the intensity in his gaze was making it difficult to think clearly.

  He was smiling as he prompted her. “Are you ready?”

  Her breath hitched at the query. “Do I have a choice?”

  Ethan shook his head, as though she was thoroughly amusing. The thought should have smarted, but she was far too caught up in Ethan’s web to climb out now, and even in her haze of intoxicating arousal, Lily was aware of that much.

  “Of course, you have a choice,” he replied with a soft laugh. �
�I’m not your father. I don’t deliver corporal punishment without consent, but I think you’ll absolutely love it, little flower.”

  She bit her lip at his proposition, his words more than hitting home. The notion of being spanked should have been completely debilitating—mortifying even—and on some level it was, but oh, there was definitely something else stirring inside her. Something hot and needy that his words had awoken. Something that had been sleeping inside Lily for all those years and had only now begun to rouse.

  “Lily?”

  His tone was harder now, sending a wave of electricity sparking through her tightly-wound body, and reinforcing what she thought she already knew—Lily did want to go down this path with Ethan. She wanted to know what surrender felt like, and she knew he could show her.

  “Okay,” she responded at length. “I mean, I don’t really know. I’ve never done this before. I don’t know how I should feel.”

  “Not even your father?” Ethan’s voice splintered her spiraling thought process. “Didn’t your father ever spank you?”

  “No,” Lily answered at once. “He never did. He’s not like that. He’s not a violent man.”

  Lily watched as Ethan’s gaze widened at her words, and for a moment she wondered if she’d just offended him—not the smartest move when the man was about to enact some sort of punishment on her.

  “My mum used a wooden spoon on me a couple of times when I was younger,” she admitted in a rush, her words trying to patch up any upset she might have provoked.

  “A wooden spoon?” His brow rose at the query, and Lily felt arousal pool at her core at the sight. Something about it was so damn alluring, but still, she couldn’t decide why.

  “Yes,” she murmured in reply. “But not much, I mean, I was usually a good girl.”

  Ethan smiled at that, glancing down intently as though he wanted to reassure her. “You are a good girl,” he told her firmly. “This spanking is only for fun. A taste of what a future with me could be like.”

  Chapter Twelve

  As she draped herself over his lap on the rug, a sense of euphoria filled his mind. It was a strength of feeling Ethan only usually achieved when he killed, and yet here and now, he had obtained it again, with just this one small gesture of submission from Lily. In the end, she had come with such little resistance, and while he could see the questions in her eyes, Lily’s body seemed more than ready to comply.

  Stretched out over his body, Lily was finally here, and she was finally his, and even though he knew this was only a dream, Ethan also knew it was real—transpiring in both of their minds at the same time—and the reality of that made an irresistible grin spring to his face. He ran a hand over the pale cotton of the nightgown she wore. It was so smooth, and pure and innocent—so much like Lily—but beneath it he could only imagine the temptation of the body that awaited him.

  But, not now, he told himself as his palm grazed over the curve of her arse. Not this time…

  He lifted his hand, bringing it crashing back down over her covered behind, and he watched with satisfaction as her lips parted.

  Holy fuck.

  “Why are you being spanked, Lily?” he asked her as he delivered another three swats in fast succession.

  She gasped, her eyes blinking wildly as she replied. “You… you want me to answer?”

  Ethan chuckled lightly. She was so fucking adorable. “Yes, beautiful Lily,” he told her. “I want you to bloom for me, to come alive under the weight of my palm. And for that, you must answer.”

  He heard the gasp of air Lily pulled in between her teeth. “I wanted it,” she responded, and Ethan could hear the trace of irony and disbelief in her tone at the admission. “I wanted you to spank me.”

  Lily was right. She had wanted this, and as he spanked her over and over, he wondered whether or not she was regretting that choice now. He hoped not, and as he glanced down at her face he couldn’t see any fear in her eyes. There was some shock, and perhaps even concern, but not fear.

  And Ethan knew what fear looked like better than most.

  There was definitely no terror in his little flower, but there was the genesis of something else—the dark promise of her dilating pupils and her splaying knees beneath her virginal gown. There was the tantalizing prospect of her arousal.

  “That’s right,” he crooned from over her bent body. “You did want it, little Lily, and I believe you need it, too. I think you’re the kind of woman who would benefit from a spanking most days.”

  His right palm connected with the sitting spot of one and then the other pert cheek of Lily’s behind. “What do you think, young lady?”

  Her lips parted again at his query, and he could see just by looking on her face how much she both loved and hated being labelled that way. No doubt she found the name denigrating in some way, but that was alright. Ethan could tell how much her body wanted to be treated that way—her desire to yield and her fast, panting breaths were evidence enough of that—but he also knew something else, something Lily didn’t know yet. Ethan wanted to denigrate her. He wanted to push her right down into the depths, if for no other reason, so that he could be the one to make her soar again.

  “Yes,” she rasped, gyrating her body over his lap although he had never commanded her hips to move. It was hypnotizing to witness. “Yes, I do.”

  “I know you do, beautiful,” he confirmed as he rained down a fresh torrent of smacks on her upturned bottom. “But you don’t have to worry. I’m here now, and I can help you scratch that little itch.”

  “Oh,” she mewled, burying her face into the rug in front of her.

  Ethan knew she was torn. He could sense the conflict within her body, the need to submit fighting with the society she lived in. England was still a pretty old-fashioned country, but the younger girls wanted more than their mothers had ever done before them. Ethan respected them for that—he agreed with their cause. He believed women were worth more than just motherhood and housekeeping, and he’d enjoyed watching his generation rise above their inherited stations, but still, Ethan understood that some women wanted to yield. They needed to. The submission was inherent in them, the same way it had been inherent in a man like him to hunt. It was something that could possibly be controlled, but not something that could ever be gotten past—not really.

  Ethan thought Lily was one of those women. He’d seen flashes of it in his visions, and his knowledge was confirmed with every interaction they shared since. She had never really submitted before she’d met him, that much was obvious, but she wanted to—she wanted to, badly. And he knew every time she yielded to him a little more, the craving for that capitulation would get stronger. The yearning was deeply embedded inside her, and Ethan knew she couldn’t run from it. In fact, he had no intention of letting her go anywhere at all.

  Reaching under her chest, Ethan found the outline of her left breast hanging alluringly close to his groin. As he continued the onslaught at her behind, he began to tease that breast through its cotton prison, relishing the way her nipple hardened immediately under his touch.

  “Tell me,” he commanded as he pulled hard against her sensitive bud. “Tell me you deserve to be spanked, little Lily. Tell me you need this.”

  She groaned into the soft fibers at her face. “Oh, I need this, Ethan,” she whimpered. “Thank you for showing me.”

  The admission made him smile, but not as much as her gratitude, because she meant it. She was thankful. Ethan could sense it in her thoughts.

  “Are you going to come for me this way?” he asked sensually. “Are you going to give your pleasure to me as I spank you, Lily?”

  She was panting again now, a reflex exaggerated when he reached beneath her chest and begun work on her other lonely nipple. It beaded immediately at his contact, lengthening as he tugged on the bud as best he could through the confines of her gown. Ethan’s cock could certainly relate. He reckoned it was longer and thicker than he’d ever known it, and that was all due to the wonderful submission
of the woman draped over his lap. Hell, she hadn’t even touched him, yet she was able to drive him crazy.

  “I,” she gasped, her fingers fisting into the long threads of the rug. “I don’t know. I’ve never…”

  Her words trailed away, but that was okay. Ethan understood completely. His little bud needed to bloom more badly than he’d realized. “It’s alright,” Ethan murmured, and he paused at her rear, tugging the fabric of her nightgown north so that he could explore the hot thatch of hair between her legs.

  Lily gasped, but she did nothing to counter his pursuit, and as he expected, he found her absolutely soaked with desire. Taking his time, Ethan stroked past the silky hair he found, until his fingertips brushed over her soft, wet pussy lips.

  “So fucking wet for me,” he praised, his tone approving. “Such a good girl.”

  “Please, Ethan.”

  Lily’s voice was barely even a mewl now, and the tension in her limbs suggested it wouldn’t take much more in the way of stimulation to topple her past the point of no return.

  “I don’t know how…”

  “Spread those legs wider,” he instructed, turning his head to acknowledge her compliance.

  “Now, you get what you want, Lily,” he went on. “Now I’m going to spank this sweet pussy—my pussy—and you’re going to reach the stars for me.”

  She trembled under his touch, but her hips gave away her true intentions, as they lifted, pushing her pussy back toward his waiting fingers. Lifting his hand again, Ethan didn’t even think. He brought the palm down directly upon her cunt, reveling in her heady, carnal responses. Lily groaned, bucking her hips as her body absorbed the swat, and splaying her legs as wide as she could. For someone who had never received an ounce of pleasure, she was doing wonderfully: responding to each touch and command instinctively. Ethan watched her body language, smiling at the way it silently begged him for more. A task he was more than happy to oblige Lily with.