Once Upon a Time in Bliss (Nights in Bliss, Colorado Book 8)

by Lexi Blake

  Oh, what was he going to do with that crop? He couldn’t smack her backside. “How about we negotiate? I’ll take half the blame and the egg can take the other half. I think it might be a faulty egg. Seriously, I’m planning a protest.”

  A brilliant smile crossed his face. “I love to play with you. Well, my sweet sub, the egg has already had its punishment.” He drew the crop down her body, letting the leather tip caress her skin. He pulled it down until it sat on the top of her clitoris. “That egg was happy right here. It had finally found a nice spot to call home. So we’ll move on to your punishment.”

  Before she could protest that seemingly unfair circumstance, he tapped her clit with the crop. A quick slapping motion that made her scream. She could feel the plug in her ass as she clamped down. There was no real pain, merely a jagged sensation that made her deeply aware of parts of her body she’d never paid much attention to before. She was always so lost in thought that there was a beauty to the simplicity of being deeply aware of her own body.

  He tapped her clit again, another jangly rush heating her skin.

  “How wet are you, baby? Is this pussy getting soaked and ready for a cock? Or a tongue?” He slapped at her again, the sound worse than the sensation.

  “I’m so wet.” She struggled with the bonds. She wanted to touch herself, to relieve the horrible ache that was building. The oil he’d rubbed into her clit had her throbbing and ready to beg for release, but he kept up the slow torture.

  “How about your nipples? Are they aching yet?” He flicked the crop across her breasts lightly.

  “Oh, oh.” The words came out on a puff of breath. Her nipples were tight, so tight. The jewels vibrated as he touched them with the crop.

  “I could leave you like this. I could sit down and get some work done safe and secure in the knowledge that you’re exactly where you should be.” He frowned. “Not off somewhere nearly being killed.”

  She sniffled, tears forming because they were finally at the heart of the matter. She’d danced around the subject for days. She’d known Henry for a brief time, but she’d already learned that he didn’t talk about things until he was ready to. She’d had to be patient, to get him to a place where he felt safe enough to open up. He felt in control now. “I’m sorry.”

  His jaw tightened, and he brought the crop across the fleshy part of her breasts. “I saw the tapes. The security camera watches the front gate. I watched that tape over and over again. You could have gotten away.”

  She shook her head. “No, I couldn’t.”

  “Yes, you could have.” He struck her thighs, the sound slapping, but the crop had a lot of play in it. Had it been a sturdier crop, she might have been screaming, but he seemed to know what he was doing. There was a sting and then a pleasant heat crept across her legs. “You could have run behind the security shed and called someone.”

  She could have, but there was a problem with that scenario. “I would have left Kelly alone. I couldn’t do that.”

  He slapped at her other thigh. “Yes, you could. You’re my sub. You do what I say and I say you save yourself.”

  She wanted to hold him, but he likely wouldn’t allow it at this point. “I can be your sub here, but I always have to be me. I love you. I can’t tell you how much I love you, but you have to take me as I am, and I will always try to help. I could never walk away.”

  “You were ready to give yourself up. After I had already fucking saved you.”

  She still got cold thinking about the night. “But Seth was in danger, and I was the one Lyle wanted.”

  “He would have killed you.”

  “Not likely. You would have saved me again. I believe that. I know you think I’m naïve. I know you think half the things I believe in are stupid and silly, but this is who I am. I won’t allow someone like Warren Lyle the power to change the core of my soul. I won’t allow fear to do it either. If I had told you to kill him after he’d already been disarmed, I would have been reacting in a way that fear and anger shaped. I don’t want to spend my life reacting. I want to act. I want to act on all the good things I can be. I want to act on my impulse to be kind, to be positive.”

  He stopped, his head down. “And if that gets you killed?”

  “Then at least I lived the way I wanted to live.”

  His eyes came back up, deep brown orbs that held her own. “I don’t understand you, but I don’t want you to change. Not ever.” He tossed the crop away and climbed between her legs, placing his mouth right over her pussy. “God, I’ll never forget the way you taste.”

  He licked her clit, his tongue rubbing hard, and there was no way to hold the orgasm back. It shot through her system like a wildfire, and she screamed out his name.

  He stayed right where he was for a moment, licking and petting her as she came down from the high and then he sat up, gently releasing her legs from the spreader bar.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, barely able to get the words out.

  “I’m releasing you.” He grabbed the key Callie had left on the nightstand and started to uncuff her hands.

  Nell held back tears because she wasn’t ready for it to end.

  She would never be ready for it to end.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The key to the handcuffs snicked softly as Bishop released Nell’s wrists. He held her arm in his hand, checking to make sure the circulation was all right. Callie seemed to have done a good job. There was no chafing or red marks, just Nell’s pure porcelain skin. He drew her hand to his lips, kissing her before moving to the next hand and releasing it, too.

  He wanted to tie her up, to wind rope around her breasts until they stood up at attention. He would take his time, the rope his art and she his canvas.

  He needed more time. He needed time to do everything with her, to take her to a club, to spend hours and hours fucking her, only stopping for short naps and food he would feed her from his hands.

  He looked down at her breasts where the jewels dangled from her nipples. Her nipples were a nice ruby red, engorged with blood from the clamps. He hadn’t been as kind as Callie. Nell would feel the marks of those clamps for days. Every time she moved, she would feel the ache as her nipples touched the fabric of her shirt. He knew it made him a bastard, but he liked the thought.

  His hand trailed down to her breasts. The sadist in him was aroused at the thought of the bite of pain he was going to give her. He would never want to hurt her in any real way, but this was erotic, and he had a plan to soothe her. “This is going to hurt but only for a minute.”

  She drew her plump bottom lip into her mouth. He loved that mouth. He loved the way she sucked his cock. “I don’t care about the pain. I don’t want this to be over yet. You promised me a whole night.”

  How could she think he was done? He wasn’t even close to being done.

  She was a terrible submissive, and he wouldn’t have her any other way. “I’m in control here. You’ll take what I give you and not question me. You’re angling for another spanking, but I think that’s what you want. I’m not done, sweetheart. I haven’t even started yet, but I can’t leave you like this for very long. I know what I’m doing. I would never tell you how to protest, so leave the bondage to me.”

  “Okay.” Tears sparkled in those clear brown eyes as she looked up at him, uncertainty plain on her face.

  If she wasn’t the perfect sub, then he wasn’t exactly überDom when it came to her. Protocol didn’t matter. Rules didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but making her happy. He climbed onto the bed next to her and caught her lips with his. Sighing into her mouth, he pressed her body into the bed, covering her entirely. So soft, so open. It didn’t matter that she questioned him. She was worried, and he wanted to make her comfortable. No concerns were allowed in the bed tonight. Just pleasure.

  She could manipulate him with nothing but a few tears and those big doe eyes. He had fucking protocol when it came to his subs, and one of those rules was that his submissive didn’t question hi
m. His lovers accepted his discipline and his pleasure and thanked him for it. If a prior sub had forced him to stop his previous plans to explain what he was doing to her, he would have dismissed her.

  But not Nell. He couldn’t even think about dismissing Nell. The women who had come before had been casual, subs he’d picked up in a club or women he’d used as cover for his job. Some had been bought and paid for, some had betrayed him. Women in his world were kept at arms’ length, but he couldn’t do it with Nell. He couldn’t push her away, couldn’t hide behind rules or pretend that she didn’t really matter. She wasn’t exchangeable. No one else in the world could make him feel like Nell did.

  She was his ultimate weakness. She could cost him everything. So why did he want to revel in her? Spend every second he could with her arms wrapped around him?

  He was the badass. How did she make him feel safe? He kissed her softly, enjoying the intimacy of being pressed to her body, her legs spreading to welcome him inside. She never tried to hide from him. From the moment he’d met her, she’d opened herself up and invited him in. They had all night. He didn’t want to waste a minute of it.

  But first, he had to get her out of those clamps.

  He shifted slightly, moving his head to her breasts. Poor little nipples. The teeth of the clamps bit into them, engorging them with blood, making them look like red jewels on her chest. They were so beautiful, and they were about to hurt like hell. “I’m going to take these off now, baby. Try not to scream.”

  He pinched the clamp off the first one, and her gasp filled the room. Before she could say a word, he leaned over and took the wounded nipple into his mouth. He tongued it and suckled gently, easing the pain of the blood racing back in. He tossed the clamp aside, spending all his energy on soothing the nipple he’d tortured. Her hands found his hair as she held him close. He could smell her arousal, still taste her on his tongue.

  “You’re not going to leave?” Nell asked, her voice small and vulnerable.

  He would leave, but not tonight. He sighed, shifting so he could get to the other breast. “We have tonight. It’s all I can promise you, but I won’t leave you until I have to.”

  If he stayed much longer, he wasn’t sure he would be able to leave at all.

  His fingers moved nimbly, twisting off the clamp. His tongue was on her before she could scream. He moved back and forth between her breasts, loving and memorizing them so he could close his eyes and relive the moment later when he was far from Bliss. He couldn’t tell her, but he intended to live with her memory, the vision of her the only thing he would ever be able to love.

  He’d made all the wrong choices. He could see that now. He’d done what Nell hadn’t. She acted on her love, her optimism. He had acted on all that was dark. She’d taken the bad shit that had happened to her and turned it into a positive. He’d used it as an excuse to indulge his darkness. He wasn’t worthy of her. He couldn’t be, but he could make her believe how amazing she was.

  “You’re so beautiful, baby. I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as you.” He kissed the top of her nipples one last time. Her breasts weren’t the largest he’d ever played with, but he loved how round and perfect they were, how they nestled into his palm as though they had been made to fit his hands.

  “That’s sweet, but I’m hardly a beauty.” Her hands moved in his hair.

  He lifted his head, frowning at her. He wasn’t about to put up with that. She was gorgeous. Perhaps not in a showy way. She didn’t wear makeup. Her clothes had been designed for function rather than seduction. But her skin was porcelain smooth, her eyes so guileless he could lose himself in them. Her goodness practically glowed. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I’ll never think anyone is lovelier than you. I’ll never want anyone the way I want you.”

  His cock wanted her. So fucking bad. He was dying. His dick was so close to her pussy. It rested right up on her labia, getting coated in all that juice from her orgasm. It would be such a simple thing to let his cock go, and he could be inside her in a single thrust. There wouldn’t be anything between them. If he fucked her without a condom, if he spent himself inside her, he would have to stay. He could buy them a couple more weeks to see if she was pregnant. And if she was pregnant?

  The Agency would still come after him. An operative like him didn’t retire to a sleepy mountain town and marry a sweet activist. The CIA had put a lot of money into training him, and he’d been a part of a whole lot of classified operations that the government didn’t want anyone to know about. And that wasn’t the only problem with this scenario. He’d made too many enemies, too many bad choices that could come back to haunt him and Nell. There were a whole bunch of nasty forces out there who would be thrilled to know John Bishop had a weakness.

  If he wouldn’t make a good husband, then he wasn’t parenthood material either.

  “Turn over.” He couldn’t take the chance, but he also was far too selfish to give up the idea of being inside her without anything between them. He’d had a physical, and she was perfect. There was nothing to keep him from this particular act. He wanted everything she would give him. He wanted to be her first again.

  She allowed him to roll her over. That round, glorious ass of hers came into view. His mouth practically watered. He’d loved using the crop to tease her clitoris, but nothing compared to spanking that ass, to feeling her skin against the flat of his palm. Warm flesh filled the palms of his hands as he cupped her cheeks. He rolled them, spreading her wide so he could see the plug resting deep in her asshole, a mark of his possession. No one had ever claimed her ass. It would be his and his alone for now.

  But she was small. If he had more time he would properly prepare her, spending night after night opening her up, making her ready to take his cock. But their time was almost over, so he needed to give her something to distract her, pleasure to make the shock of his cock splitting her open more savory.

  Stefan Talbot had thought of everything. Bishop reached onto the nightstand, where he’d placed the items he’d prepared earlier. He grabbed the nicely sized rabbit vibrator and lubed it up.

  “What are you doing?” Nell tried to look behind her.

  They were going to have to talk about trust, but he didn’t mind because it gave him the perfect excuse to smack her lovely ass and hear that whimper that always went straight to his cock. She was so fucking perfect for him.

  He slapped at the fleshiest part of her cheek, loving the way it pinkened. “Keep your eyes to the front. You don’t need to look back. I’m going to fuck your ass, baby. Do you have a problem with that?”

  Her head nodded, but her eyes stayed to the front. “I have several concerns, actually.”

  He smacked her again, forcing down a laugh. There wasn’t an ounce of fear in her voice, the brat. He could practically hear the smile on her face. She loved this. She loved the push and pull of play.

  She would need this again.

  He forced that thought out of his head. If there was one thing he’d learned about this town, it was that they took care of their own. Their sheriff might be lackadaisical, but Rye Harper was going to take over, and he would watch out for Nell. Stef cared about her, too, and he understood what a woman like Nell would need. She would need a strong partner who would make sure she was taken care of while she tried to change the whole damn world, a man who would love her for everything she was. Stef could find her a Dom, a husband.

  And Bishop would love her from afar. Always.

  “Are you telling me no?” He knew the answer to that, but they were playing.

  “I’d never tell you no. Yes. Yes. I want to experience it all with you. But you could spank me again.” She wiggled her ass his way.

  She was going to kill him. He slapped her ass, giving her the erotic punishment she’d requested. He spanked her over and over until she was moaning and submissive. Until her head had dropped and she was on her elbows, her backside high in the air.

  That was what he wanted. He lubed
up the toy and started it humming.

  “Henry, I won’t last long.” Her words sounded dreamy and a little far away.

  “Come as much as you like. I want you to come a hundred times tonight.” He lined the vibe up and started to work it into her pussy, pressing until the rabbit head was nestled against her clit. He pushed it in, fucking in and out of that pussy as Nell started to moan. “I’m going to fill you, baby. I’m going to make you scream for me.”

  Her ass moved, pressing back to take the vibe. He could see the plug peeking out of those cheeks. He couldn’t stand it another minute.

  “Hold the vibe, baby. I need to get inside you.”

  A hand came back as she held the vibrator, moving in long, slow passes into her pussy.

  He watched her fuck the vibrator as he lubed up his cock, anticipation building every second. He gripped his dick hard, spreading the lube, getting himself ready.

  He spread her cheeks and toyed with the plug, twisting it slightly. Her spine shook, that slow rhythm of hers interrupted as he played with her asshole. He pulled on the plug and pressed it back in again and again until he couldn’t stand another second. He pulled it out, tossing it on the towel he’d placed on the nightstand. The plug had done its job, opening her up for his dick to plunder.

  “Please, Henry.”

  Yes, this would absolutely please Henry. God, he’d thought of himself as Henry. Her Henry.

  He pressed his dick to that hot hole and rimmed her with his cockhead, opening her further, forcing his way inside.

  So tight. He pressed in and pulled out in tiny movements that threatened to make him lose control. Patience. He had to make it good for her. He had to make it last.