In Bounds

by Bronwyn Green

  He pulled back farther and looked into her eyes. “Hold your breath,” he repeated, putting more force behind his words, this time.

  She inhaled deeply, and he quickly loosened the clamp, listening to her closed-mouth squeal of pain. He drew the abused flesh into his mouth and gently sucked at it, swirling his tongue around the swollen bud. He could tell the exact moment the pain vanished, leaving behind only heightened feeling and extreme pleasure. She melted beneath him, muffled cries escaping her sealed lips.

  “Take another breath,” he commanded.

  Her lids lifted, and she stared at him wild-eyed and needy, but she did as she was told. Lowering his head, he repeated the same process on the other side as she yelped and bucked beneath him. He covered her nipple and slowly pulled it between his lips, drawing on her flesh until she was nearly incoherent beneath him. Her entire body stiffened then shuddered against him, and she flooded his cock with her arousal as she came, and still, she held her breath.

  He pulled off, and she finally gulped in shuddering lungsful of air.

  “Oh. My. God,” she gasped between panted breaths. “I think you’re trying to kill me with orgasms.”

  “I’m pretty sure you’ve got that the wrong way ‘round. Do you have any idea how fucking hard it is not to slide inside your hot little cunt while you’re gushing all over my prick?”

  She sank her teeth into her lower lip and shook her head.

  “Watching you come with only my mouth on your nipple. Christ, Ivy.”

  He groaned and rocked against her, loving the way she whimpered, still wanting more. And fuck him, he wanted to give it to her.

  “That’s never happened to me before. And never that...intensely.”

  He leaned forward and kissed her. “That intensity is because you were holding your breath. Breath play excites you.” He shifted and reached between their bodies, stroking his fingers through her sopping cleft. “A lot, apparently.”

  An embarrassed flush rose to her cheeks, and she glanced away from him.

  He smacked as much of her ample arse cheek as he could reach, and she shuddered, her hips jerking upward into his.

  “No shame, love.” He rubbed the spot beneath his hand. “No shame in truly enjoying the things that excite you.” He dug his fingertips into her flesh and grinned at her. “You should know I’m more than enjoying discovering all the things that get you off.” He paused for a moment and stared into her gorgeous, arousal-clouded eyes. “Now, hands and knees.”

  Will lifted himself from the bed and her body and waited, watching as Ivy rolled over and moved to her hands and knees. She sat back on her heels a little before crouching over. If he had to guess, she was feeling suddenly self-conscious about allowing herself to be seen in this position.

  He stepped behind her and drew her upright, letting her feel his erection pressing against her back as he slid his hands around her and cupped the perfect weight of her full breasts. Rolling her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, he tugged on them, loving the way she squirmed and let her hunger drive away her insecurities.

  Tilting back her head, she reached up and clutched at his hair, drawing him down for her kiss. Her lips opened beneath his, and she explored his mouth, moaning as he continued to torment her breasts. He broke the kiss and trailed his lips over her cheek to her ear. “You might be a little hoarse by the time we’re done.”

  Confusion narrowed her eyes.

  Grinning, he grabbed her hair, and tugging her head back farther, said, “Gonna make you scream for me.”

  Her breath caught at his promise.

  Placing his hand in the center of her back, he shoved her down toward the mattress. “Hair over your shoulder.”

  Ivy swept the silky locks forward and exposed the gorgeous line of her back. He wrapped his fingers around the handle of the flogger and dragged the leather over her skin, tracing swirling patterns over her flesh and giving rise to trails of goosebumps as she shivered beneath his touch.

  Twisting his wrist, he brought the fronds down against her left cheek. Her skin blushed sweetly, and she startled forward at the impact before moving back into position. He brought his arm down again, letting the strands, still damp with her arousal, snap against her right cheek.

  She bowed her head to the mattress and clutched at the bedding, fisting the fabric in her grip as he let the flogger’s tails fall against her back. He alternated left to right, arse to back, occasionally letting the fronds wrap around her to catch the sides of her tits and even her nipples if he got a lucky shot. Her whimpers punctuated the arousing sound of leather against her soft, lush skin.

  Stepping closer to where she knelt on the bed, he slid the wooden handle between her knees and nudged them apart.

  “That’s it, love. Let me see that pretty pink cunt.”

  She shifted, baring herself to him. Her thighs were shiny with her juices, and he leaned down and swiped his tongue across her flesh, letting her sweet, tangy taste coat his tongue.

  When she squirmed, he slapped the outer curve of her ass. “Unless you’re ready to end it, you need to keep your arse right where I want it.”

  He draped his arm over the small of her back and held her where he wanted her and dragged his tongue up her exposed cleft, loving the way she trembled as she fought to hold herself still for him. He repeated the action, nuzzling her slick flesh and thrusting his tongue inside her, listening with satisfaction to her guttural moans.

  Once she let herself get past the anxiety and discomfort that continued to plague her, she was so beautifully responsive. He’d love to see her banish the self-consciousness for good and just freely accept how fucking gorgeous she was.

  “Oh, god, Will.”

  He sank his teeth into the sweetly rounded curve of her hip before he answered. “Yeah?”

  “Please just fuck me already. I’m dying.”

  He adjusted his grip on the flogger and brought it down across her arse, smiling as she lifted into the stroke. With his free hand, he reached into the bag and grabbed a condom as he continued to lash the backs of her thighs, and back, watching as the fronds curved up and around to snap hungrily at her pussy. She squirmed, clearly wanting more and less at the same time.

  Her reactions were more arousing than he ever would have believed. Steady lines of pre-come leaked from his cock, dripping down his shaft, and his balls ached, threatening to spill all over her lash-reddened skin. He laid the flogger across the small of her back while he quickly sheathed himself and climbed onto the bed behind her. His knee twinged at bearing his weight, so he shifted slightly to the side in hopes of relieving the pressure long enough to give them both what they needed.

  Gripping his cock at the base, he dragged it up and down her dripping slit. “This what you want?” he practically grunted as he centered himself at her opening.

  “Yes, please. Please. Please. Please. Please.”

  He dug his fingertips into her hips and held tight. “How could I deny you when you beg so sweetly?” He paused for a moment. “I mean...I suppose I could.”

  She shoved her hips back at the same time she groaned out the word, “No.”

  But his hands on her hips kept her from impaling herself on this dick.

  “God damn it, Will.” She panted with frustration. Her head dropped and her arms shook with unrelieved tension.

  When he sensed the fight go out of her, he slammed forward, roughly filling her. Her back arched, and her breath pushed from her body on a surprised squeal as he seated himself fully within her. Her channel clenched around him, sending ripples of awareness of how close he was to the edge. He refused to leave her hanging and unfulfilled.

  Lifting the flogger from her back, he gathered the ends in his other hand and leaned forward, bringing the collected strands over her head to rest around her neck, startling a gasp from her. As soon as the leather wrapped around her neck, her internal muscles clamped down on him as little unintelligible sounds escaped her lips.

  Any attemp
ts to hold back and let her find her peak first vanished at the sight of her straining into the flogger and the feel of her flooding arousal coating them both. He’d never seen anything hotter in his life. Or more beautiful. It seemed like the more time he spent with her, the more often he had that thought.

  Then there were no more thoughts. There were only the sounds of their bodies straining wetly together and their harsh breaths—Ivy as she trembled toward her release and Will as he tried to hold his at bay, all the while shafting her harder and faster.

  “Tighter,” she whispered—half demand, half plea.

  His cock twitched, her need for more nearly overwhelming him. He shifted the leather and handle to one hand and buried his other hand in the silk of her hair and yanked.

  Ivy’s reaction was almost instantaneous. She gasped his name, and violent shudders wracked her body as her cunt rippled then practically locked, vise-like, around him. He drew back and shoved forward into her grasping heat. Pumping recklessly into her still quivering body, he was lost to everything but the pleasure screaming along every nerve ending until he exploded, emptying in a rush into her solid warmth.

  His fingers went slack, and the flogger slipped from his hand to the mattress. Her head dropped to the bed as she tried to catch her breath. He slid his palms over her shoulders and along the line of her back. Leaning forward, he pressed tender kisses along her spine.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  Her back shifted under his touch as she laughed quietly. “Ruined for every other man in the world, but other than that, I’m great.”

  He frowned. He knew it was just a saying, but hearing it bothered him, anyway. He’d asked her to give them a chance, to see where this thing between them went. She’d reluctantly agreed, and she was here with him now, but it was clear, that at some point, she imagined herself moving on without him. And that hurt more than he wanted to admit.

  He settled his hands at her waist and tried to inject a note of humor in his tone. “That was the plan. Gotta keep you coming back, somehow.”

  Her face was turned to the side, and he could see the faintest smile through the tangle of hair that covered her cheek.

  He slowly withdrew then took care of the condom, watching Ivy shift to her side, looking at him through sleepy eyes. He’d love to know what was going on in that head of hers, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for the answer, so he kept his damn mouth shut.

  Shaking off the negativity that threatened to smother his post-orgasmic bliss, he slid into bed behind her and drew her into his arms. He was falling into Ivy’s habit of overthinking things, and he needed to knock it the fuck off. He was fine. They were fine. And sooner or later, she’d see that, too.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ivy couldn’t believe Will had actually kept good on his promise to take her to see Jane Austen’s house. She figured she’d end up here on her own. But, for the last three and a half weeks, he’d been doing everything possible to make sure the items on her UK Bucket List were getting checked off. Of course, his added activity, Intimate Tour of Will’s Flat, had been the first thing they’d completed. At this point, it probably could have been checked off multiple times. Just this morning, he’d taken her in the kitchen after he’d made breakfast and she was trying to do the dishes. Her cheeks heated at the memory of him pressing her against the counter, one hand locked on her hip, the other circling her throat as he pushed into her.

  As they wandered around the room where Jane had done most of her writing, Will stepped close behind her, his lips at her ear. “You’re blushing, love. What’s that about?”

  That only made her face burn hotter. She shook her head as he chuckled and whispered about turning her other cheeks red. She stared at him wide-eyed, ignoring the tour guide in Edwardian dress, who was clearing her throat and looking pointedly at them. Just as Ivy turned away from Will again, his phone rang, startling her and causing the guide to shoo them out into the garden.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “Answer your phone.”

  Somehow, it seemed only fitting that they get kicked out of a National Trust House.

  Keeping his gaze on her, he swiped his screen and brought it to his ear, “Darby.”

  She took a few steps away to give him more privacy, but he followed her, and lacing their fingers together, led her deeper into the meticulously manicured garden.

  “At the moment,” he said, “we’re in Chawton.” After a pause, he added, “Yes, Jane Austen’s house. Well, we were. Your phone call got us kicked out.”

  Ivy shook her head and leaned over to smell some bright pink sweet peas, but she straightened when the tone of Will’s voice changed.

  “Yeah. That works. I’ll see you then.”

  He slipped his phone in his pocket and smiled at her, but it wasn’t the normal high-wattage smile she was used to seeing when he looked at her.

  “What’s up?”

  “That was Simon. Apparently, he and the physical therapist both cleared me to return to practice Monday.”

  “That’s great—isn’t it?”

  He shrugged a little sheepishly. “It’s good. But it also means spending less time with you.”

  Her heart stumbled a bit at the sweetly-earnest expression on his face. And then, she realized what that would likely mean for her. “We should probably get going, then, so I can still catch the train back to Charlotte’s. When we get back home—I mean, your place—I’ll get packed and out of your hair.”

  He slid his arms around her waist and drew her to him and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Not wanting you out of my hair, love.” He paused for a moment and met her gaze. “Unless you’re wanting to get on with your list? I mean, I could probably manage some weekend trips, if you still wanted company...”

  She nodded slowly, not really sure what he was offering.

  He pulled her closer and took a deep breath. “We do better when I’m direct, don’t you think?”

  She nodded again.

  “I don’t want you to go back to Charlotte’s. I want you to stay with me. I want to spend as much time with you as I possibly can before you have to leave for the States. I know that makes me a selfish, greedy bastard, and I swear, I’ll make it up to you with as many trips as we can squeeze in on the weekends—wherever you want. Just say you’ll stay?”

  Every warning bell she possessed started simultaneously clanging at once. This was the stupidest thing she could possibly agree to. She should cut her losses and run far and fast because she was in way too deep already, and it was only going to get worse. Much, much worse.

  Will still thought that this thing between them was going somewhere. Even though she it knew it wasn’t, even though she knew it was bound to end sooner rather than later—certainly before Charlotte and Caleb returned home—she knew she couldn’t bring herself to tell Will anything but yes. Because she was stupid. So fucking stupid.

  “So?” he asked.

  She swallowed hard. “I’ll stay.”

  His smile was so wide and beautiful her heart hurt to see it. He rested his forehead on hers. “I promise you won’t be sorry.”

  Staring into his deep-green eyes, she knew he was right. She wouldn’t be sorry. She already was. But she also wasn’t smart enough or strong enough to make a different choice. She’d just deal with the fallout when it ended. And if she was incredibly lucky, Charlotte would never need to know.

  Ivy pushed aside the guilt that she was keeping yet another huge thing from her best friend. The wedding reception. The aftermath. And now this. God, she was a shitty friend. The shittiest, really. What kind of person repeatedly fucked her friend’s little brother, who was supposed to be completely off-limits? Ivy did. Ivy, who was the worst kind of friend in the world.

  Will dropped a kiss on her nose, drawing her attention back to him. “What are you freaking out about and over-analyzing now?”

  “Who says I’m doing either of those things?” She frow
ned at him.

  He raised his eyebrow as he stared at her. “Look, just promise me that you’ll never try to take up gambling as a profession. You’re quite possibly the worst liar I’ve ever seen.”

  She smacked his shoulder. “Brat.”

  “Not that I’m complaining. Makes figuring out your secrets a little easier.”

  Her smile froze in place at the thought of the one that was forever wedged between them.

  He stilled, studying her, and she knew that even though he had no idea what it was, he knew she was hiding something from him. Guilt prodded her, but she shoved it away. She’d done what she’d had to do, and that was the end of it.

  “So, are you going to finish checking out the garden with me, or what?”

  He watched her a moment more then let her lead him toward the rose beds.

  As they wandered toward the back of the yard, his text tone sounded. He pulled his phone from his pocket and read the message, then glanced down at her. “I know we were planning on going out to dinner tomorrow, but how would you feel about rescheduling that and meeting some of my friends?”

  She tried to smile past what she was sure was a pained deer-in-the-headlights expression. “Friends?”

  This was, again, starting to feel like the sort of relationship-type territory she was trying to avoid. But maybe seeing how poorly she fit in with his actual life would help him realize they were better off being fond memories for each other.

  If Will noticed her hesitation or discomfort, he didn’t let on. “Rob, one of the guys on the team, likes to cook.” He grinned. “And his wife likes to have conversations with actual adults.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Her husband isn’t an actual adult?”

  “They just had their third kid earlier this year—which makes three under the age of five, plus his son who’s around Pheeb’s age.”

  “Wow. Yeah, I guess I’d want some adult interaction, too.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “I’ve got some adult interaction for you.”

  “Oh, I just bet you do.” A giggle slipped out then faded as she caught the eye of an older couple smiling indulgently at her and Will.