by Jessica Lee
Her mouth parted, but no sound escaped.
Guerin lowered one knee to the carpet, his quads trembling. “I want you,” he added. His heart clogged the back of his throat. Then his other knee fell beside the first. Guerin swallowed hard, clearing his vocal cords, and he bowed his head. “Tear down my walls until there’s nothing left but you inside my head. I want only you there.” He gasped. “Please…Mistress,” he uttered, his voice ragged.
Her breath hitched, then silence.
Damn.
What the hell was she thinking?
He listened as Eve began to move about the room, imagining her taking in all his preparations, but Guerin kept his gaze lowered.
“I approve of the items you’ve chosen,” she finally uttered in her best Dominatrix voice. His pulse raced under her praise. “Now on your feet.”
Guerin did as he was told—stood, and released his grip on his wrists.
“Clasp your hands in front.” Eve closed the distance between them, and with metal cuffs she’d retrieved from his stash, secured his arms together. “Come with me.” She directed him to the area beneath the suspended metal ring. Earlier, he’d mounted a tire swivel to the ceiling. The ball joint inside allowed him to rotate on the attached ring but kept him from moving no more than a step in either direction. “Arms up,” Eve commanded. Guerin lifted them over his head, and Eve hooked the links between the shackles to the device. His pulse kicked into a higher gear. But he could do this. Guerin scanned the profile of the female who heated his blood—this was Eve.
She returned to the collection he’d gathered on the stand, selected a black silk scarf, and turned toward Guerin. Sweat popped on his forehead. Shit. It wasn’t as if he’d never been in the dark before. Yet for some reason, he didn’t like the idea of losing sight of his beautiful Domme.
“Let’s take your senses higher,” she said and placed the cloth over his eyes, then wrapped it around his head. Her vanilla and cinnamon scent invaded his nostrils—his mind—taking him to rock-hard. Eve’s fingertips teased his shoulders, then brushed over his nipples. He sucked in a harsh breath. Lower still, she trailed over the ridges of his abdomen and down to the waistband of his briefs where she slipped under the material. Slowly, she explored his flesh there, teasing the end of his rod with her nails, sending darts of electricity down the shaft. “What’s your safe word?”
Safe word? He wanted to laugh, never having been asked for such a thing in the past. Guerin scrambled for something common enough he wouldn’t have any trouble recalling it if he were under duress.
“Black,” he said.
“Black, it is.” Then with a snap, Eve released the elastic. Guerin jerked, and her footsteps moved away.
“Where are you going?”
“I haven’t given you permission to speak freely,” she stated, her voice firm. Guerin sealed his lips, reaching mentally for his patience.
The strike across his chest took him by surprise, and Guerin reared back on his restraint. Instinct drove his fingernails into his palms in anticipation of the next blow from what had to be a riding crop. Again the leather seared his other pec and nipple, locking his molars together. Over and over she struck the muscles of his chest, then the tops of his thighs. His neurons fired, sparking memories to life with every blow.
Daniela’s dungeon.
The sting of her whip, her blond tresses clinging to her face from her exertion.
No, no, no!
He swerved and pivoted, doing his best to divert the next unseen blow.
“You’re running, Lombardi,” Eve said. She grabbed him by the band of his boxer briefs and held him in place. The sound of cotton popping filled his ears, and his rigid cock sprang free. Cool air washed over his heated flesh. “Spread your legs.” Guerin did as he was told, and Eve yanked his briefs from his hips.
The bite of the crop returned, and Guerin spun. Eve didn’t let up. She showered his back, his buttocks, his hamstrings with the tool.
Pain spiked, crested.
With only the images from his past inside his head along for the ride. His stomach churned. This wasn’t what he wanted. The bitter taste of anger surged from his gut.
“Turn around,” she commanded. Sweat ran down the sides of his face, and air sawed from his lungs. Dammit. Why had she taken his sight? He could hold on, give her what she wanted if he had her to focus on.
“Take off the blindfold,” he bit out.
“No.” Another strike seared across his ass. “Turn around.”
Rage festered. “Fuck you,” he spat.
“Not till I damn well say so,” she retorted.
Multiple blows of leather rained down on Guerin’s back, and he swiveled hard sideways. Son of a bitch. Eve had switched to a flogger. Again. And again. She covered his shoulders with solid whacks and then lower across his cheeks. His pulse roared inside his head, his nervous system responding to the assault like a thunderhead, rising, swelling under the influx until he was about to blow. Yet not for her. Not like this. His mind in the past—his body in the present.
“Stop!” Guerin cried out, swinging away from the incoming strikes.
“You’re still running, Lombardi.”
He spun, facing his Domme, and the tips of the flogger skated across his erection. His balls drew tight. “Shit! Take this thing off me or stop,” he growled.
“Why?” She struck again, wringing a hiss from between his teeth. “If you really want me to stop, you know what you need to do—say the word.”
His molars squeaked under the pressure. He didn’t want it to end. Not really. Guerin loved mixing pain with pleasure, being taken into subspace where his will wasn’t his own. But with Daniela, taking him there had become a weapon of manipulation.
So he’d run.
Run from his memories and his desires for fear of ever opening up again, letting his defenses fall. Because if he did, he’d lose himself.
But he wanted this with Eve, right? Being kept behind the damn blindfold had his mind frazzled.
“So do you want me to stop?” Eve danced the flogger once more off his dick. The shock wave launched up his shaft, arching his spine. Yes…! No! Blood leaked onto his tongue from where his fangs had pierced holes in his lip.
“Just take the blindfold off,” he rasped, and shook his head.
“But I want your senses on high. I like it.”
“I don’t,” he barked. Panic seeped under his skin, a parasite seeking to dig its mandible in and snap his control. Eve crashed into him again with the flogger, and the leather seared his chest. Guerin’s head reeled.
“This isn’t about what you want.”
The image of Daniela’s laughing face loomed in front of his mind’s eye. “I can’t do this,” he stated, panting.
“Why?”
“Get this off me!”
“Why?” Another whack to his groin.
“Because I can’t let go,” he cried out. “Not like this. She’s inside my head—in the dark. Daniela’s there. I need to see you,” he whispered. “Let me see you.”
Eve tugged on the knot behind his head and tore the blindfold away. Guerin gasped. He blinked, clearing his vision and absorbing the one in front of him—Eve. The room spun, but somehow Eve bound him to earth.
She reached up, detached him from the loop, and pulled Guerin into her. He stared down, lost in the liquid pools of blue that were her irises.
“I want you…,” he growled. “I want you to crawl inside me until I don’t remember anything that came before where you and I began.”
“Shh.” Eve placed a finger to his lips. “I’ve got you.” She hooked a finger on a bit gag from his assortment and brought it forward. “Open wide,” she said. A groan left his throat but Guerin obeyed. Eve stuffed the narrow bit into his mouth, making sure it fit around his fangs. The thick rubber padding was soft, allowing him to dig the sharp points in if needed. “After having seen the kind of endurance you possess, and the fact that you’re the most stubborn male I kno
w, this is probably a waste of time. But this needs to be said. With the gag in place, you won’t be able to speak, so if you need me to, shake your head a few times, and I’ll stop.”
He nodded, and she removed the shackles from his wrists, then ordered him on the bed, face up.
Guerin climbed onto the mattress and centered himself. His cock jutted up toward his abdomen, veins distended. Wrapping his fingers around the shaft, he stroked the sensitive flesh. He couldn’t resist. The damn thing ached. A moan erupted from his throat, sounding choked behind the bit.
“Hands off,” she demanded. “That’s mine.”
His arms slammed onto the mattress at his side, held in place by Eve’s mind. Damn. He loved it when she did that. His heart pounded like a heavy bass drum, each beat a pulsing reminder of the need inside his cock.
Guerin watched as she went for another object from the table. She held up her new find for his inspection, stroking the long cylinder of a blue silicone vibrator. With a smile, she brought the toy up to her mouth and slipped it between her lips. Damn. Guerin couldn’t drag his gaze away if he’d tried. His cock flexed as she worked the toy in and out like a delicious dessert. The end shone in the candlelight as she aimed it toward his groin.
“I remember during our last time together you touched yourself here.” She placed the tip to the backside of his shaft, clicked the on button, and the device came alive with a rapid buzz. The vibration went straight to his balls, boiling the cum inside. Guerin’s hips left the mattress on a grunt, needing more. Eve traveled his length to the root. With her other hand, she lifted his balls. “And you wanted me here,” she added, and tucked the item against his ring. His breath hitched, and reflex tightened the pathway. Chills raced over his flesh in anticipation. “I’m going to fuck you with this, love,” Eve said and tossed him a seductive grin. Guerin’s eyelids shuttered at the thought. Shit. He could come from the visual image alone. But damn if he would allow his release before Eve got inside and gave him permission.
Pressure ramped below, and he bit down on the rubber inside his mouth. Air surged in and out of his nostrils. His pulse thumped in his temples.
“Let me in,” Eve crooned.
Focusing on the invasion knocking on his back door, Guerin closed his eyes, relaxed, and Eve slipped inside. Oh God.
Burned.
So damn good. He moaned.
“Look at me,” she called out. Guerin lifted his lids. Eve released her hold on the toy, clutched the hem of her shirt, and pulled it over her head. Her breasts filled the cups of her white bra to near overflowing. He licked the roof of his mouth, remembering the sweet taste of her nipples. Shit, he wanted to see them again. Suck on the hard tips. His cock jerked, and his bottom clenched on the hard length of the probe. The vibrations bounced off a sensitive spot inside, and Guerin’s back arched. He cried out. Too much. He couldn’t come yet.
Eve latched onto the base of his shaft and clamped down. Guerin slammed the back of his head into the pillow. Breathe… He sucked in a cleansing breath through his nostrils. Breathe.
“That’s it,” Eve crooned. “Relax for me.”
Guerin blinked, his heart rate gearing down a notch.
“Okay?”
He nodded.
“Good,” Eve said, then uncurled her fingers and went for the zipper at her hipbone. Slowly, she peeled the black leather away, a seductress tightening her noose around his heart with every move. Did she even realize the power she wielded over his soul?
Toeing off her boots, Eve shimmied her skirt down her legs. She tossed it onto the floor, leaving her lower half bare. His palms itched to touch, to smooth his hands over her curves—stroke the petal-soft folds between her legs. His mouth watered at the thought of burying his face there. Damn, nothing compared to the nectar of her arousal.
Suddenly, the vibrator surged forward, and her fingers latched onto his dick once more.
“Do you want to come?” Eve pumped his cock with one hand, matching the pace of the vibrator sliding in and out of his rear. His head roared, and Guerin drove his fangs into the rubber of his bit. All he could do was nod. “But you’re not going to come yet, are you?”
Guerin couldn’t form the words around his gag. He groaned and shook his head.
The plunging sensation in his ass ceased, but the vibrator remained on. Eve uncurled her fingers from his erection and slinked over his torso until her legs were on either side of his hips. She seized his cock once more and positioned the head at her entrance. Oh fuck. The walls around his mind trembled, fractured. The tip penetrated her wet, hot core, and a brick toppled, leaving him dazed. He moaned. With every inch she sank over his shaft, another one fell.
“This is mine, Lombardi,” she stated, her voice low, husky. Eve’s head lolled, and her channel devoured his length until she sat balls-deep. Guerin cried out around the restriction in his mouth. She reached behind and twisted the rod inside him. “All of you. Mine. Do you hear me?”
His head buzzed. White spots danced in front of his eyes. Son of a bitch. He had to come. Hard pants burst from his lungs.
With a click, Eve released her bra. The material fell away, and her breasts swayed free. Dark, rosy nipples stood erect at the tips. Dear God, she was glorious. An angel of darkness and light, and the only one strong enough to delve into the black abyss of his mind.
Up and down, she rode his shaft, milking him. Taking him to the edge and back again. “Are you ready to come?”
God, yes!
Leaning forward, she worked at the buckle to his gag. Within seconds, Eve tore it away. His fangs ached. He wanted her.
Her blood.
Her body.
Her every pleasure to be his own.
“Are you ready?” she repeated, looming over him, his cock hard, throbbing inside her heat. Eve’s pupils swirled with fire, and the tips of her fangs glinted beneath her upper lip. Sexy as hell.
“Yes,” he growled.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, Mistress,” he whispered. “Let me come.” Eve’s hips stilled, and Guerin stifled a groan. “Please, Mistress.” Her inner muscles squeezed the length of his shaft, and it was as if she’d backwashed his pulse into his skull. His head pounded. Guerin clamped his eyes shut under the pressure.
“Who does this serve?” She clenched the walls of her core again for emphasis.
“My Mistress,” he bit the words out.
“And who is your Mistress?”
Guerin opened his eyes, his gaze locking with hers. “You.”
“No one else?”
“Only you,” he rasped. “Oh, fuck.” He groaned. “I only see you, Mistress.”
Eve surged up onto her knees, then drove down onto his rod. “Come for me,” she shouted. “Now!” She rocked up and down on his cock.
And Guerin erupted.
“Eve!” he cried out, and suddenly his arms were free. He clasped on to her, needing something to hold on to as his orgasm filled his Mistress. Colors exploded in front of his retinas. Then Eve was beneath him, and he pistoned into her core, giving her everything.
“Take from me,” she ordered and turned her head, exposing the smooth column of her throat. Holy hell. Eve didn’t take his trust and twist it to her will; she held it in the palm of her hand.
Stroked it.
Strengthened it.
His pulse stuttered with the realization. Getting lost inside her was the first time Guerin had found himself. Became more than he was when he was alone.
He teased the rapid beat of her carotid with his tongue, and gooseflesh popped along her flesh.
“Do it,” she whispered.
Guerin struck, driving his fangs into her artery. Eve shuddered, the walls of her sex in spasm along his shaft, and his name ricocheted off the walls. The sweet and salty essence of her life flooded his mouth, his throat, veins, swelling his heart. How had he ever existed before her?
No. Guerin was dead wrong.
He’d never lived before Eve.
&
nbsp; Chapter Twenty-Four
ONE MONTH LATER
Eve pulled the silver Mercedes coupe into the garage and killed the engine. “That was a great idea,” she said and turned to Alex, who had invited her out for some girl time. “I can’t remember the last time I went shopping with a girlfriend.”
“No problem. A woman can never have enough clothes or shoes.” Alex laughed and popped open the passenger door. Eve grabbed their bags from the backseat. “It was nice to spend some time away from the house with someone other than my sister. After what happened last year, she doesn’t like letting me out of her sight.” Alex met her at the front of the vehicle, tucking a few strands of her long blue-black hair behind her ear. “I’m sure Guerin has filled you in on how I came to live with the Enclave.” She retrieved her two bags from Eve.
“Yeah.” Eve gave her a gentle smile. “He told me a little about everyone who lives here. Anytime you want to get some fresh air, come look for me. The house is big, but I imagine it can get claustrophobic in there, especially with who’s locked away in the basement.”
Alex nodded. “If it weren’t for Elle…” She sighed. “I’m not sure what I would have done. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with this place.”
“I can understand.” Eve opened the door to the main house, allowed Alex to pass, then followed her inside.
“Anyway. Jeez. Enough depressing conversation.” Alex glanced over her shoulder and hit the light switch with her free hand. “It’s time to party.”
“Party?”
“Surprise!” Voices filled the room, coming from every angle around the kitchen. Eve froze, trying to take everything in. Balloons covered the ceiling with blue, red, and yellow streamers crisscrossing among them. What the hell? Guerin maneuvered around Alex and palmed Eve’s upper arms, drawing her attention.
“Happy birthday, beautiful.” He cupped her chin, then dipped his head, covering her mouth with his for a gentle kiss. But it was enough to have her pulse racing.
“What have you done?” She grinned. “How did you—?”
“I hate to give the bastard any credit, but Markus was the one who mentioned learning about you on your birthday. So Kenric and I pried the date out of him.” A sly grin formed on his face. One that said they hadn’t minded a great deal having to get the info out of the male. “Did we get it right?”