Surrender

by D H Sidebottom

  “Will—you—untie—me!”

  “No.”

  “What?” I glared at him, stunned and astounded at his audacity. “What the hell is wrong with you”?

  “I abhor ignorance, Isla. I do believe I’ve told you that before.”

  “Are you fucking crazy?” I yanked harder, looking up at my restraints. I wasn’t sure if I was humiliated or livid that he had used my own stockings to truss me up with.

  “Yep, I’ve told you that before too.”

  I tensed when he stood up slowly, strolling easily towards me. “Jake, I’m seriously not in the mood for this.”

  He nodded. “What a shame I don’t care.”

  “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

  “Someone who is about to teach you a lesson in manners,” he stated coldly, his unblinking eyes fixed on mine. My mouth fell open and I gasped when I noticed something long and thin in his hand.

  “What is that”? I asked hesitantly as I shuffled as far as possible across the bed.

  He looked down and regarded the item. “This?” He lifted it higher, staring at it with a sinister tilt to his head. “This is a crop, sweetheart.”

  “What?”

  His smile was menacing and I shook my head briskly and gulped when he gently touched my chin with the end. “In future when I try to converse with you, I would appreciate it if you could answer me. I don’t like ignorance and I don’t like rudeness. You need to learn some respect, Isla.”

  “What the hell?” I hissed, stiffening when he slowly dragged the tip of the crop down my throat, his gaze now on his actions instead of my face. “This from you who has never respected a damn thing in his life!”

  His eyes snapped to mine. “You think I don’t respect you, Isla?” He narrowed his eyes, his mouth pulling into a thin line. “I’ve never had more respect for anyone as I have for you. I respected your innocence in college and I fought against all that I had so you could keep it!”

  He was furious but his caress with the item was soft and tender, like he was idolising me with a tool. I inhaled sharply when he trailed the tip around my nipple, causing it to peak under the thin cotton of my vest. “What? What do you mean you fought against all that you had?” I asked, forgetting what he was doing to me with his small revelation. I was greedy for an answer and I watched him cautiously as he kept his eyes down and away from my scrutiny.

  Ignoring me, he drew the crop down my belly, over my shorts and onto my bare thigh. I squealed when he snapped his wrist and smacked it against my skin. It didn’t hurt so much as stung warmly. He brought his eyes back to mine, studying my reaction. I stared back, unsure what to do or say. I’d never been so at odds with my body. It throbbed in a delicious heat, my stomach pulsing hungrily as my anger surged.

  Flicking his wrist again he this time smacked me three times in quick succession. “What do you need to say to me, Isla?”

  I blinked at him and shook my head, confused by his question. He nodded slowly then sighed. Gasping when he leaned into me I pulled myself away but he gripped the hem of my vest and tore it straight down the middle, exposing my bare breasts to him. I couldn’t do anything but gasp, the restriction in my throat blocking all my words. Why the hell was I turned on? This man was the most infuriating arrogant bastard yet he brought my body alive with just a simple look, his touch driving me wild and making my body his puppet.

  He brought the crop back up and slapped the side of my breast. I hissed but squirmed at the feeling, hating the way my body sang for him, my skin flushing with need. He whipped it against my other breast, harder this time and I looked away, humiliated by the way my nipples pebbled and my back arched involuntary into the hit.

  “I’m not sure if this is appropriate punishment, Isla. You seem to be enjoying it.”

  I blushed. Jake laughed cruelly, humiliating me further.

  “Stop it!”

  “You really want me to stop?”

  I jolted when his warm breath wisped against my ear. I snapped my face around to berate him. However Jake clashed his mouth over mine, halting my chastisement as he thrust his tongue in my mouth, greedily twisting it around my own. I hated the way I fought back, my fingers twitching with the need to curl through his thick hair. I groaned into him as he bit down on my lip harshly.

  He drew back, a wicked smile curving his mouth when he trailed his thumb across my lip and swiped at the blood he drew. Keeping his eyes on me, waiting for a reaction, he slipped it between his lips and sucked, his eyes closing as a shiver raged his body. “Your blood tastes slightly acidic but delicately spiced.” I stared at him, my eyes widening in shock. He opened them slowly then smirked. “I wonder if your cunt is the same.”

  I lay completely still when he slowly moved across me, his body straddling mine as his knees rested beside me. He shuffled down, smiling wickedly as he went until he sat on my shins. He pursed his lips, studying my shorts. “Oh dear,” he pondered quietly. Before I could question him, he reached behind him and pulled at the nylons, releasing both my feet. I tried to kick out at him, but he just laughed, his large hands grabbing my hips and suddenly flipping me onto my stomach. I squealed when he brought his hand down sharply and slapped my arse.

  I wriggled when he placed both hands on each buttock then pushed me until I was on my knees before him. My hands were restricted tightly above me in the twisted stocking making my face low to the bed as my arse pointed to the ceiling, high and exposed.

  I yelped when he yanked down my shorts and spanked me again. “I’ll ask again, sweetheart,” he growled as he laid another slap on my behind. “What do you say?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know!”

  Again and again he spanked me, my arse lifting to him shamefully as my skin flushed and heated with each of his strikes. I was oversensitive, each inch of me eager for more as my mind snapped, hating the way I was virtually begging for more.

  However, when his hand disappeared and the crop lashed down, I yelped harder. “Apologise, Isla!” he spat.

  “For what?” I shouted at him over my shoulder.

  I was panting now, pleading that he’d stop with the torture and fuck me. I was so highly strung that I was on the verge of a damn climax, an orgasm that forever hung on the edge and refused to step over into oblivion. My backside was throbbing, my pussy was weeping, my shorts soaked at the shame that coursed through me, but it was the way Jake’s dirty gaze watched both my humiliation and my hunger that powered the lust, his eyes promising what he could do for me if I relented.

  “Respect me, Isla. You will respect me in future.”

  Gritting my teeth and shivering when another strike tortured my arousal, I looked at him and curled my lip, glaring at him. “I’m sorry, Jake. I’ll make sure to never fucking disrespect you again.”

  He nodded. I growled, literally growled, when he bent and wrapped his lips around my clit, his teeth slightly grazing and igniting my orgasm instantly.

  “Shit!” he hissed, surprised by my immediate climax as he pushed a finger into me to help ride it out as he reduced his harsh sucking.

  “Jake!” I screamed out, every muscle in my body tightening painfully as my body let go and savoured the pleasure.

  He moaned as he moved his mouth higher and devoured everything I gave him, his tongue lapping as his fingers dug into my bruised bottom, pulling me apart for his pleasure.

  He kissed his way up my back until his mouth was on my neck and his body completely flanked mine. “And now I’m going to fuck you like you should be fucked.”

  I reared back, my back arching when he thrust his thick cock inside me, forcing himself to the very tip of me as we both groaned in satisfaction to the tight thrill. “Fuck,” he growled as he stilled, his lips sucking on my flesh. “I love the way you strangle my cock, Isla.”

  I couldn’t answer him as my body trembled in delight. I had never imagined sex could feel this good, the pleasure undeniable. But it was the way Jake whispered dirty words and loving gestures into
my ear that made my body dance for him, my cunt milking him more and more the harder he fucked me.

  “I love you, Isla. You’re mine.” “Fuck me back, sweetheart, fuck me hard.” “Take all of my cock, my little bitch. Love my cock like you love me.” “I promise to love you hard like this every day, Isla Cormack. You deserve the fucking world to pleasure you, you warrant the angels to kneel down and pleasure you.”

  Every sentence drove me higher and higher, his pounding growing more intense with each word until he was completely mounted over me, his hand around the front of my throat and his other in my hair, his cock pummelling my pussy, bruising and worshipping at the same time.

  My world shattered when he pushed deep inside me and erupted, the warmth of his spunk flooding my womb and pushing me over the edge. We both cried out, both of us grappling hard with each other as we struggled to hold onto our sanity.

  My legs splayed out behind me causing us both to drop to the bed in a tangled mess, my hair stuck to his face and his face stuck to my back.

  We lay there for several moments, panting and gulping for breath as our hearts raced in our chests and our limbs slumped heavily into the depths of the soft mattress.

  His silence was unnerving and I wasn’t sure if he was going to up and leave again but when he rolled to one side and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my bottom into the dip of his groin, I sighed in relief.

  He tenderly kissed my shoulder blade. “Do you understand now?”

  “Understand what?” I whispered, my eyes drooping heavily with the exhaustion dragging me under.

  “That you are mine, Isla Cormack, all of you. Your soul, your breath, your heart. They’re all mine.”

  I nodded, allowing the temptation of sleep to pull me in. I didn’t have the energy or the need to argue. Jake Devine owned me; he’d just proved it.

  “HEY,” JAKE WHISPERED, GIVING me reason to smile before I’d even opened my eyes.

  I sighed contentedly then turned and opened my eyes. For the first time, Jake’s eyes were alive, happiness radiated back at me where previously all I had witnessed was a bone crushing despair and emptiness.

  “Hey,” I echoed, smiling at him.

  He gazed at me, blinking slowly as he reached out his hand and traced my face with the tips of his fingers. Although his eyes were still bright and a soft smile played on his lips, the seriousness that overwhelmed him caused me to silently regard him.

  His gaze followed his fingers as he brought them down my face. “It was all worth it,” he murmured cryptically. I was unsure as to whether he was talking to me or himself as he continued with his gentle touch.

  “What was?”

  His eyes flicked to mine for a second. “All the pain. All that I lost,” he answered just as vaguely.

  “Jake?”

  His fingers ventured lower until they pushed the duvet down and revealed my breasts to him, my nipples peaking instantly at both his touch and the sudden encounter of cooler air. He smiled though, wider. “You are so pretty, everything about you. All of a sudden I can breathe.” He wasn’t making sense but I remained quiet, needing him to say whatever it was he was trying to say. “The stagnant air that’s suffocated me for so long has gone. It’s like someone opened the windows and the rush of air to my lungs is so pure.” Although he wasn’t making sense, I had the feeling he was talking about me. “I held on to the hope, Isla. I never stopped holding on. I could only dream that one day I would wake to see your beautiful smile beside me. Nothing mattered because I still had the hope.” His eyes finally lifted to mine and he inclined his head, placing a tender kiss to the tip of my nose. “And then the sun finally came out.”

  I frowned at him. “Jake, I’m not sure you understand the darkness that’s inside me. I’m not this goddess that you seem to think needs worshipping.” I said it lightly, in jest but he shook his head. My mother’s words haunted me and I couldn’t push away the truth in them.

  “But don’t you see? It’s not darkness. That part of you is the light to me, the part of your soul that makes mine come to life. You were created for me Isla, to dance with me in the storm and breathe with me through the destruction. Your soul is tethered to mine now. It will never be severed in this life and the next.”

  I swallowed and closed my eyes. It was because I agreed with him that my heart both sank and soared. I wasn’t a good person, far from it. I had savoured in the death of Dwaine. I had enjoyed the empowerment of making his heart stop with my own hand, the feeling of that final beat under my rule making my own beat excited and frenzied.

  I reached out, mirroring him as I cupped his cheek. “Tell me.”

  He frowned for a brief moment. He knew what I wanted and I watched with dismay as he shut down before me, the happiness in his eyes disappearing and anger once again murdering the beautiful sight of his contentment.

  I lowered my gaze and sighed but then tried a different course. “Are you sleeping with Genesis?”

  He snapped his eyes to mine. “What the hell?”

  It didn’t escape my notice that he didn’t actually answer my question. So I asked again. “Are you in a relationship with Genesis?”

  He studied me seriously. “No. Why would you even ask that?”

  “Because she insinuated it when she came to fetch some clothes for your . . . trip.”

  He lifted his face, watching me with narrow eyes. He looked angry for a brief moment and I gulped. “That trip,” he uttered as he drew his face close to mine, “was important but I cut it short because I had to come back to sort us out.”

  “Sort us out?”

  “Well, sort out your behaviour.”

  I curled my lip at him, still not agreeing with how he had reacted to my refusal to text him back. But because I had enjoyed his ‘sorting out’ I didn’t argue with him, my body warming with the memory of the previous night.

  He climbed from the bed suddenly and made his way into the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him. The sound of him relieving himself made me smile.

  As he walked back in I looked up at him, admiring the way his naked body moved deliciously. “Adam told me you’re looking into Seb’s murder.”

  He nodded, sitting beside me. He was completely comfortable in his own skin and I envied that slightly. “Yes.” He didn’t hide the truth, whether he thought I would be angry or not. Jake was arrogant enough not to take my opinion into consideration. To him, he was doing it for me and that warranted his actions, even if I didn’t agree with him. Adam’s revelations had played over in my mind a lot but I had come to the conclusion that, for the first time ever, apart from my family, someone was looking out for me. Although Jake’s tactics were underhand and extravagant, the fact that he was doing it for me felt good.

  He frowned when I paused. Tilting my face to his with a finger he brought my eyes to his. “Isla?”

  I chewed on my lip in thought. “Someone went to visit my mum today. Dr Lovejoy pulled me up when I arrived. Whoever it was told her about Seb.”

  The way Jake suddenly stiffened made the hairs on my skin tingle. His jaw clenched as his whole body hardened and a deep icy fury seemed to seep from him. I shivered against the chilly wrath. “Who?” I blinked at the tone in his voice.

  “I don’t know. The doc showed me an image captured on their surveillance but it was too grainy for me to see.”

  He looked deep in thought for a moment before he nodded stiffly. Snatching his phone from the table beside the bed, he stabbed at a few buttons then stood up and strolled across the room, stopping when he reached the piano. His finger drew across the mirrored surface and I grimaced, knowing I would have to polish away his damn finger marks.

  “Kris,” he barked suddenly. “Log into The Grange’s security. I want all the surveillance from yesterday.”

  I narrowed my eyes. The Grange was the home my mother was staying in. “What?” I whispered, more to myself when I realised Jake couldn’t hear me.

  “Yes, in fact make it a few days�
� worth. I want to know who has visited Marianne Cormack.”

  My own phone rang, the tune making me jump and pulling from my musings of exactly who Jake Devine was.

  I frowned, glancing at the clock and how early my dad was ringing. “Hey, Dad.”

  “What the fuck have you done, Isla?”

  “What?”

  He was livid, I could tell from the deep tone of his voice. “You told Dr Lovejoy, Isla. I told you not to! How could you?”

  I froze, my heart beating too quickly. “Dad . . .”

  “You stupid girl!” he bellowed making me wince and move the phone away from my ear slightly. “You think he won’t report this?”

  “Well, no . . .”

  “You come to me for supper, young lady. We need to talk.” With that my phone beeped, informing me the call had been terminated.

  I closed my eyes and sighed. Shit. Tears sprang in my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt my father any more than he was already hurting. But I had needed to; there were no more choices anymore.

  “Isla?”

  I tensed when I felt Jake directly behind me. “You told Dr Lovejoy what?”

  I shook my head, refusing to turn around and answer him and disappeared into the bathroom, flicking on the shower to preheat it.

  My body flew around and I gasped when Jake’s fingers curled lightly around my throat. “Did my lesson yesterday teach you nothing?” The hint of anger in his beautiful green eyes held me captive and I stared at him.

  I straightened my shoulders. “I told him about why my mother is like she is.”

  He blinked slowly. “About what happened that New Year?”

  I didn’t want to nod; I was anxious about Jake’s reaction. My father’s ire was nowhere near as chilling as Jake’s but I did, I nodded, reluctantly.

  “Why?” he asked quietly. “Why would you do something that foolish?”

  “It wasn’t foolish,” I snapped. What the hell was wrong with my father and Jake? My mother had suffered enough. It was time for her to live whatever years she had left as she had once been, a beautiful, fun-loving woman, and if my disclosure aided her recovery then I would happily spend the rest of my own days locked in a cold cell somewhere. “She’s drowning, Jake, and it’s my foot that’s holding her down.”