by Maris Black
I nodded. “Yes. And Jamie can’t know about either of those things. Knowing one gives away the other. And like I said… Eyes and ears everywhere. Probably on both sides. The only reason I feel halfway comfortable talking to you about this right now is I just got a new cell phone, and I’m not in my apartment or my office where there might be bugs or something. This is some pretty serious shit, Dr. Key.”
He ran his index finger back and forth along his bottom lip. “Without specific details to go on, it’s hard for me to form an opinion. But from everything you’ve said and the fact that you seem scared shitless, it seems to me you have two options. You can do like you said and make Jamie hate you, thus ensuring that he’d willingly remove himself from the situation and out of danger. End of story. Or you can explain that you love him very much but there’s something you need to do that necessitates a temporary split. I know you’re afraid he won’t understand your motives, but I think the second option is your only bet if you want a future with him. In that scenario, you’re risking him thinking badly of you, but in the first, you’re guaranteeing it.”
I leaned forward on the sofa, elbows propped on my knees, and buried my face in my hands. Dr. Key was right. Hearing it spelled out so succinctly from a third party who had no skin in the game had really cleared things up for me. The situation was still fifty kinds of fucked up, but at least it made more sense now.
I stood up, resolute for the moment. “Thank you for your advice. It’s really helped me see things more clearly. You’ve really earned your money as well as my gratitude tonight.”
He smiled. “No problem, Kage. That’s what I’m here for. I hope you’ll continue to confide in me. I have a feeling things are going to get tougher in the days to come, and I’d like to help you work through them. I wish you and Jamie only the best.”
I nodded and headed for the door, but something occurred to me as I pulled it open. I looked back over my shoulder. “You know, I really like you, Dr. Key, and I’ve chosen to trust you with some very sensitive information. But I need you to understand one thing. If you even think about fucking me over, be prepared for some dire consequences. I may be desperate and confused right now, but I’m nobody’s bitch. If you become a threat to me, I will have no problem making you pay. Are we clear?”
Dr. Key swallowed hard enough that I heard it from the door. “Crystal.”
I left, pulling the door closed behind me, and headed up to my apartment. I was a little shocked at myself after delivering that threat to Dr. Key. I’d heard shades of my uncle in the cold, unwavering delivery. And of Theo Brown. The worst thing was, I’d meant it with every cell in my body. I had to protect myself, and that wasn’t going to happen if I let people think they could walk all over me. I was a badass motherfucker, and it was time I started acting that way.
When the elevator stopped on my silent floor, I stepped off with newfound resolution. I was about to break up with my boyfriend, but it was for his own good. If he couldn’t wait for me, then so be it. At least he would be safe, and that’s all that really mattered.
I slid my key card through the door and stepped inside. There was no movement in the apartment, and the lights were off, but a cartoon flickered on low volume on the TV. I shook my head. Jamie and his fucking cartoons. I hated that it was so adorable.
As I got closer and prepared to turn the TV off, I stopped in my tracks when I got a good look at the sofa. Jamie was lying there asleep in the semi-dark, face unlined and innocent, long limbs slack. He was completely naked, wearing nothing except for the choker I’d given him. I was seized by a feeling of love so powerful it ached in my chest, followed by a crushing sense of grief at what I knew I had to do.
He was mine, goddammit. He belonged to me, and now I was just going to send him away? I wanted to gouge my fucking eyes out when I thought of the way I had been acting lately. I’d been preoccupied and distant. How many days had I squandered when I should have been proving my love for him? How many nights that I could have worshiped his body? I couldn’t go back and change any of it, and for that, I would be eternally sorry.
I spotted his cell phone on the end table and took a moment to transfer Aaron’s number to my new phone and send him a quick text that said, Kage’s new number. I sent one to Jamie that said, I love you forever, then I placed my phone beside his.
With that out of the way, I sat down on the edge of the sofa next to Jamie and watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in sleep. That he could find peace when it so thoroughly eluded me was comforting. I had not destroyed him yet. I admired him so much. How could he remain innocent and vulnerable and good in a world that was so full of evil? I’d never had the luxury of being good.
Perched precariously on a sliver of sofa, I watched him for a long time, until the aching in my chest became too much and I was suddenly overcome with the need to have him open his expressive brown eyes and discover me there. I needed him to see me and to look at me like I was something other than damaged goods.
I reached out a tentative finger and touched the Claddagh at his throat, then dropped lower to trace a circle around one of his pale nipples. He stirred a little, pulling his knee up to bump against my ass, but it wasn’t enough. I needed him awake. I trailed my finger down the line of his sternum, tickling all the way down to dip into his belly button before following his tantalizing happy. I stopped at the base of his dick, which at the moment lay sleeping on in its bed of dark hair just waiting for my touch.
The fact that Jamie was stark naked was proof that he’d been thinking of me. He had positioned himself here on the sofa like an offering, hoping I’d take him when I came home. Desire flared up in me at the thought. He was mine, and I was going to have him.
I dropped to my knees on the rug beside him and leaned over, lapping ever so gently over the flesh of his soft cock. At first, it remained oblivious to my ministrations, but after a minute it began to firm up, filling out slowly from the purely physical sensations. He stirred again and let out a soft moan—a promise that he would soon be awake. I pressed my tongue to the underside of his balls and dragged up over them, loving the feel of the crinkles and ridges, as I licked my way stealthily back up. He tasted so good. So clean.
He mumbled something in his sleep and turned a fraction toward me, still oblivious but beginning to respond more lucidly. I paused, not wanting to wake him until I’d made him hard. I wanted him to wake up wanting me.
When I couldn’t wait any longer, I opened my mouth and took the entirety of his barely aroused dick all the way into my warm, wet mouth and began to suck gently. That was when he started to show the first significant stirrings of arousal. His erection grew fast inside my mouth, and the harder it got, the more I sucked, until I had to reposition myself to move my mouth up and down his solid length.
At some point, dazed as I was with lust, I realized that Jamie’s fingers had wound into my hair, and he was actively thrusting. His hips pistoned up and down, dragging his cock over my tongue in smooth, long strokes punctuated by ragged breaths.
He let out a throaty moan that vibrated through me like an electric current. “Kage,” he gasped. “I was waiting for you.”
“I know, baby,” I said, pulling off of him with a reluctant slurp. “You were laid out for me like a virgin on the altar.”
He chuckled quietly and ran his fingers through my hair. “I’m hardly a virgin.”
When I smiled up at him, I felt the sadness in my own expression. “You are to me. Every time.” I wrapped my fist around his cock and stroked, slowly and firmly, determined to drag a response out of him.
He didn’t disappoint, pushing up into my grip and shuddering. “Guess I need to work on my naughtiness factor.”
“Wouldn’t matter,” I said. “You’ll always be my sweet college boy, and I’ll always be the monster who can’t wait to get inside of you. To stretch you and wreck you. To turn you out until you can’t see anything but me. I’m selfish that way.”
To ill
ustrate my point, I sucked him into my mouth again and worked my tongue and throat over him until he was panting out my name. He bent his knees and dug his heels into the sofa, legs trembling as he battered the back of my throat with his dick, seeking more contact, more friction, more sensation. Like me, he seemed to need something he couldn’t quite reach.
“You’re going to make me come like this,” he cried. “I don’t want to come like this.”
“You should be so lucky,” I said in a hoarse whisper. Then I squeezed the base of his cock hard and sucked him, using everything I had at my disposal—tongue, lips, throat—for maximum sensory overload. The trembling in his legs increased until they were wavering uncontrollably, and then I stopped. I let his dick slip from my mouth while keeping firm pressure on the base of his dick and looked up at him. “By the time I’m finished with you tonight, you’ll wish I’d let you come the easy way. I plan on using you until you’re begging for mercy.”
When his legs stilled to an intermittent twitch, I released his dick. He went limp, his bent knees falling to either side of him, and he stared up at me with glazed, dark eyes.
He shuddered visibly. “Is that a promise or a threat?”
“Depends on how you feel when I’m done. As hard as I am, and as many things as I want to do to you, I’m betting on threat.”
He caught his plump bottom lip between his teeth and held my gaze as he reached down between his splayed thighs and stroked his dick lightly and deliberately. “Sounds good to me.”
He was so dewy-eyed. So precious. So fucking irresistible to the animal inside me. Would he have been so quick to invite my attention if he’d known what was in store for him? There was a terrible desperation building inside me, driving me to own him before I pushed him away. I had no intention of letting this man go until I’d branded him irrevocably, body and soul.
CHAPTER 6
JAMIE
The look in Kage’s eyes was fierce as he gazed down at me, and it turned me on like nothing else. I hadn’t seen him so passionate in a long time, if ever, and for Kage, passion usually took the form of extreme aggression. The rougher he got with me, the more cherished I felt. Making him lose control of his dark side was my aphrodisiac, just like defiling me was his.
I loved his sweet side, too. The rare glimpses of vulnerability were special in a way that was hard to describe. It was like stumbling upon a long lost pharaoh’s tomb and getting the first peek at the treasures hidden within, knowing all the while you’re doomed for having been the one to break the seal.
All of his personalities were gold to me, especially the one that was running the show tonight.
He reached down and took my hand, pulling me up to a standing position. We were so close I could feel the heat coming off of him, and his presence was so strong I suddenly had trouble making eye contact. When I looked down, overwhelmed, he widened his stance and bent his knees, ducking his head down and capturing my lips in a kiss. His lips tasted like beer, which surprised me because he didn’t ever go out drinking without me. I had to wonder just what he’d been doing all day, because he certainly hadn’t been at work or at home.
“Have you been drinking?” I asked, pulling as far away from his mouth as he would allow. I tried not to sound accusing or suspicious.
“A little,” he said before wrapping a hand around the back of my neck and crushing our lips together. He was ferocious. Single-minded. But he did pull back for a couple of seconds to say, “I had one beer with Dr. Key.”
All I could think was, thank goodness he’d finally started utilizing Dr. Key’s services. He needed to talk to someone, and that someone obviously wasn’t me. Maybe we’d be okay after all. I sighed and leaned into his kiss, sucking on his tongue with renewed abandon.
Before long, he broke the kiss, leaving me breathless and lost in a cloud of rapture. I made a little surprised sound at the sudden absence of his mouth on mine, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bedroom.
He’d said he was going to make me beg for mercy, and I couldn’t wait. I was down for any pleasure or pain he wanted to bestow on me. I’d missed this Kage so damn much.
He pushed me roughly onto our bed and clicked the bedside lamp on. Then he rummaged in the drawer and round the lube, tossing it onto the bed beside me. I watched him as he moved. My gorgeous fighter. My sexy hotel owner. His dark hair was slightly wild, as if he’d been running his fingers through it or riding with the top down. The look in his eyes added to the wildness, his lust-dilated pupils making the green of his eyes appear darker, the irises reduced to a thin band of color at the edge. I thought of a cat, which was so fitting at this moment. Kage was on the prowl, stalking me down in the low light of our bedroom.
The night sky glowed with the reflection of city lights through our window, and shadows danced on the walls as Kage started to remove his clothing. First the sneakers and socks, then the sweatpants he’d taken to wearing since the mugging. His thighs were thick and powerful, his calves a perfect swell of muscle, and the hair on his legs was all male and enticing to me in a way I had never thought possible before I met him. The bruises marred the perfection of his skin, but my eyes had feasted enough on this man that I knew him by heart. When he pulled his shirt over his head, the bruising was a little harder to ignore. Shades of yellow, purple, and fuchsia…The colors mixed and swirled over his naturally tanned skin like a sick watercolor painting.
“Are you sure you’re good to—”
Kage narrowed his eyes at me in a way that made me shut my mouth. The look said he wasn’t playing, that he could take the pain, and that he wasn’t going to put up with any pity or worry from me. He was such a sexy beast, strong and fearless in a way I’d never be.
When he was completely naked and looking down at me, all gorgeous and damaged, I shivered with anticipation. For a moment, he just stared at me where I lay back sideways on the bed, propped up on my elbows.
When he spoke, his voice was rough. “Lie down,” he commanded, brooking no argument.
I settled flat on my back and waited.
“Spread your legs,” he said. “I want to see what’s mine.”
I drew my legs up onto the bed and flattened the soles of my feet on the mattress, positioning as far apart as I could so that I was completely bared.
“Not good enough,” he said. “Pull your knees up to your chest and show me my hole, Jamie.”
His hole. God, that sounded hot.
I pulled my knees up and banded an arm around them to keep them secure. The air was cool on my hole as I opened myself to his gaze. I chanced a peek around my legs, and Kage just stood there looking, as if he’d never seen anything quite so fascinating. It was almost embarrassing being that objectified.
He flipped the cap on the lube, turned it upside-down, and began to drizzle it straight onto my ass. I sucked in a breath as my muscles spasmed from the cold shock. He didn’t stop, and he didn’t apologize. Didn’t even flinch until my hole was obscenely coated with lube. I could feel it pooling beneath my ass on the covers.
“God, you’re making a mess,” I whispered, my voice sounding strange and out of place with Kage so quiet and intent on his goal.
“I’m only getting started,” he said. “Tonight we’re not worried about the mess. Or noise. Or what’s right or wrong.”
What’s right or wrong? A chill moved up my spine.
“Reach down and finger yourself,” Kage said. “It’s good and wet now. Slide one finger in, slowly. Let me see you.”
Keeping my knees tight against my body with my the left arm, I wrapped the right around my ass and found my hole with my index finger. Jesus, there was a lot of lube down there. I was covered in it. When I slipped the tip of my finger inside, it was almost like moving through warm butter—hardly any resistance at all, and only a slight little burn to let me know I’d breached myself. “Fuck, that’s wet,” I said.
“Push it in,” Kage growled. “All the way in.”
I pushed in and moane
d as my finger slid home.
“Now fuck yourself with it,” Kage continued, his voice low and husky. “Give me a show, baby. I need to watch you get yourself ready for me.”
I did as he asked, screwing my eyes shut and moving my finger slowly in and out, going all the way in each time. As turned on as I already was, my desire increased exponentially, and I imagined replacing my finger with Kage’s big cock. I was glad he was letting me get myself ready, though. It had been a while, and I knew there would be a tremendous stretch when he finally entered me.
“Two fingers now,” he groaned, and the sound of his voice made me pause and open my eyes. He was stroking himself while he watched, his touch gentle and unhurried. He was obviously pacing himself for the long night he had promised.
I added the second finger, feeling the burn a little more this time. “God, that feels good,” I said. “Can’t wait to have you inside me.”
“You want me to stretch that hole?” he asked, his movements over his dick increasing in speed just for a few seconds before slowing back down.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“You love it when I wreck that thing, don’t you?”
His words caused my ass to clench around my two fingers as I fucked myself. “I can’t get enough of it,” I admitted.
My fingers made a squelching sound, and Kage hummed his approval. “Yeah, that’s right. Get it all nice and messy for me. Three fingers now.”
I contorted my hand into the odd position required and worked the third finger in alongside the other two. It was a tight fit, stretching and burning me deliciously.
Kage stroked himself harder. “Keep going. Don’t slow down. Fuck yourself good, Jamie. I love watching you.”