by Angel Payne
His intuition was right. She yelped with surprise at first but settled into an exhilarating shriek when he started the spikes down her right thigh—especially because he timed the move with shutting off the vibrator.
“Aggghh!” She threw back her head, unknowingly turning him on in at least ten new ways. Her blindfolded face thrusting in the air…her lips open and straining on that scream… The sight was achingly similar to how she looked this afternoon on the wine room’s couch, in the throes of the orgasm they’d reached together. Again, thank fuck for the board shorts. If he was naked right now, this would be torture for them both.
He pressed the tines against the back of her knee. And scraped his way up to her ass.
“Shit!” she cried. “I…I don’t like this.”
“And yet you’re trembling for me, Ava.”
He let his hand continue, spreading his fingers over her ass cheek, weaving them around the hair clamps still fastened there. He let the vibe drop from his other hand long enough to swipe those fingertips through the slick layers of her sex.
“And your pussy is dripping for me.”
He scooped the pleasure stick back up. Started it back up on the low setting, brushing it over her dark genital curls.
“And I haven’t heard you call red light.”
He switched off the vibrator again. That, along with the deliberate arrogance he laced to the words, made her spine stiffen in anger.
Ethan steeled himself for anything. Though the woman played the Hollywood game with success, it was clearly never at a price she wasn’t willing to pay. She maintained her pride like most starlets in this city took care of their fingernails, but tonight, he’d been yanking it out piece by agonizing piece. He’d tied her up, rendered her sightless, and now controlled more and more of her body’s reactions. It was a power for which she was either going to hate him or thank him when this was done. At the moment, he couldn’t predict either outcome. She’d let her head fall back between her shoulders, but her fists were still balled against each other, and she let out huffs like a she-bull preparing to charge.
“Well?” he prompted.
“What?” she seethed.
“Where are we at, Ava?” He flattened the vibe back against her clit but didn’t turn it on. At the same time, he pushed the paperclip spikes into the top of her other buttock. “Red light says you’re free and I’m gone. Stubbornness earns you another spike bath. But a name gets you more pleasure and my cock deep inside you.”
Her breathing got rougher. “You don’t get it, do you?” she finally bit out.
He didn’t alter his position. Was this actually a crack in her window? Without having to pull out the sledgehammer? “Enlighten me.”
“You think that I simply won’t talk. But the truth is…I can’t.” Her head weaved as if a huge weight rolled inside it. “I can’t.”
“Why?” He lifted it just above a whisper.
“Because it hurts.” There were tears in her voice now. “I can’t. It hurts. It will hurt. I—”
“Ssshhh.” He cut her off after flicking off the paper clips and lifting his hands to trace the length of her spine. “That’s what I’m here for.”
He got the reaction he was seeking. Her lips fell silent as her whole body quivered. A tiny whine shook in her throat, full of question and confusion. He smiled at the sound. Oh, yeah. There it was. The crack.
“Let me take care of the hurt, Ava.” He repeated the long drag down her back, using his fingernails this time. Her ass rolled in visceral response; her hips clenched in blatant need. “Fuck,” he murmured. “You are so beautiful.” She moaned, juicing him to go on. “Give me more, sunshine. I’m not worth a damn without your gift…without your choice to give everything over, be it your passion, your pussy, and yeah, your pain. Just for now, let it go. Put it in my hands to give to you”—he pulled the smallest of the hair clips off her ass, making her yelp—“and to take from you.” He soothed out her sting with a gentle sweep of his palm, but just as she relaxed, he yanked one of the bigger clips. She yelled louder, reacting as more blood rushed back to her skin, but again he smoothed the burn, turning her cry into a whimper. “It’s all mine now, baby. I’m going to control it so you don’t have to. You’re safe, Ava. You’re safe.”
She shrieked again as he took off another clip. She sighed again as he rubbed the pain into warmth…and admired the crimson slashes left on her dark-gold skin as well. But even after all the clamps were gone and she undulated beneath him in a bath of raw sensation, her lips remained tight. Her resolution hadn’t changed.
Ethan growled low. “Does the cat still have your tongue, Ava? Damn it, I thought we were turning you into a dog person.”
She pushed her bottom against his hand. “M-Maybe if you did that longer…or turned the vibrator back on…”
He had to steel his own resolve. “Devious minx.” He meant every syllable. How the hell did she know he’d crawl on glass for her right now? How had she figured out what the sight of her was doing to him? How had she discerned that her stunning response to his domination was flipping every fucking switch of elation inside him and that now, all he wanted to do was slam into her body until they both screamed with completion?
But he had her on the brink. There weren’t just cracks in her window now. Full fissures showed in her composure, and he couldn’t stop just because his dick gushed precome and his balls pounded with demand.
He squeezed her hips and loomed over her once more. “Are you red lighting on me, Ava?”
“No.” Her answer was immediate. “God, no. Ethan—Sir—please, I need more. Please…m-more!”
Her breath hitched. Her whole body gleamed with need. She hadn’t stopped undulating her hips or biting hard on her lips. She began to babble as her senses started flying, ascending to a space of pure, hot desire. Goddamn, it was incredible to watch. To experience. To feel her giving in to him, inch by hesitant inch, and experiencing such bliss because of it.
He knew what had to happen now. What had to be implemented so that she released her last bit of resistance. The last piece of the arsenal he’d snagged off the nightstand. And ironically, the smallest weapon in the stash.
The crackle of the plastic candy wrapper would’ve been as inelegant if he’d pulled the stunt in the middle of an opera. This occasion definitely trumped the middle of La Bohème for sinful satisfaction. The payback potential didn’t suck either.
Ava’s thick curls bounced against her back as her head tugged higher. “Wh-What is… Are you seriously eating a damn peppermint—”
“Ssshhh.” He issued it as a full command this time. To drive the point in, he took advantage of having all that hair so close. With one well-placed jerk, her soft curls filled his hand and her aroused gasp filled the air.
It was the calm before the storm.
“We’re almost there, sunshine…but you haven’t turned it all over yet, have you?” He slipped his hand from her hair, skating it down again, stopping when he had his palm flat against the top of her ass. What a sight. The full globes of her raised backside. The symmetrical ladders where each clip had marked her skin. And, as his prodding fingers revealed, the perfect whorl that led into her body’s back entrance. “You need to be pushed just one more step outside that comfort zone, don’t you?”
Gingerly he spread her rectum a little wider.
“E-Ethan!”
He maintained his grip. “Wouldn’t recommend that screaming stuff, baby. The tighter you clench, the harder this is going to be.”
“This…this isn’t going to be anything. You… I can’t let you just—”
“You can.” He slipped one finger in, teasing the ultrasensitive flesh just inside her tight tunnel. “And you will.” He pushed a little deeper, making her whine again. “Because you won’t be able to stand not knowing what this is like. Not knowing what it is to give me everything…even this, the naughtiest kind of pain I can inflict.”
Her body squirmed. Her hands bunched back
into fists. “You really are Sir Bastard.”
“And you’re ten versions of sexy when you whisper it like that.”
“Vete a la mierda.”
“I’m sure hell would be thrilled to see me. But I plan to fuck you right here—just as soon as I turn your sweet ass into a really sweet ass.” Ignoring her skittering whimper, he took the red-and-white candy out of his mouth. Lowered it to her puckered entrance. “Relax, Ava,” he murmured. “Surrender it all to your sergeant.”
He felt her suck in a breath. When she blew it out, he pressed the peppermint into her tight little back hole.
Oh, how she fought it. She bucked and shoved and bore down against the finger that held the candy in as he waited for her body heat to start dissolving the candy, and—
“Ohhhh…caramba…”
Ethan withdrew his finger. He used the sanitizer he’d also brought over before caressing her back with more long, lingering strokes. The muscles beneath his touch were the texture of noodles, though she still wiggled her hips, reacting to the mint that awakened every tissue in that dark, naughty tunnel. As she did, he watched the depths of her pussy get shinier with her need to be filled there too. She was swimming in new sensations, and it was breathtaking. Damn, she was so open, so hot…so ready.
It was time.
As he pressed his body against hers, letting her feel the length of his aroused dick through every hot fold of her pussy, he snarled in her ear, “Did he ever make you feel this way?”
As he expected, she tensed. Gulped hard. And set free a sorrowful moan before she whispered, “Colin. His name was Colin.”
He turned the snarl into a kiss. “Thank you, sunshine.”
“And Flynn.”
He kissed her ear again. “It’s okay. I don’t need the middle name too.”
“It wasn’t a middle name.”
He stilled. Released a huff against her neck. Dumb shit. Dumb shit. “There were two.”
Her jerking nod came a second before her full sob.
“Ava.” He trailed soft kisses along her neck and over her nape, into the valley between her shoulder blades. “Ava…oh, sweet Ava…”
He needed to bring her back to him. Back to them. Back to this, here and now. He started that by jerking on the circle tie on her wrists, setting her free. As her arms separated, he flattened them to the bed, his own framing them, his hands atop her wrists. He sank his teeth into the curve of her ear as his cock seemed to move on its own power, nearing her sweet vagina. The air smelled like peppermint, coconut, and the sea. Her body felt like golden satin. Her sobs, now coming through the hole of the window he’d shattered inside her, officially crashed through the triple panes of his.
He seriously needed to be inside her.
He fumbled first with the ties of his shorts and next with the condom he’d stashed in the Velcro pocket. Thank fuck he’d had high hopes for where this would end tonight, though the journey had possessed more twists than the road to Serenity’s bar down in Mexico. But there was no stopping him now. Without even kicking off the shorts, he lined himself up to her tight sheath.
“Colin and Flynn,” he said into her ear. When she stiffened again, he scratched his nails into her forearms. “We’re erasing them tonight, Ava. Stay with me so we can do that. We’re drowning them with this, with us. They’re not here anymore. I am, and I’m not going anywhere. Tell me you understand.”
Her head bobbed beneath his. “I…I understand, Sir.”
He slid a kiss along her neck. “Good girl.” His dick swelled a little tighter. It had been so long since he’d spoken those words. It had been even longer since he’d relished speaking them. “Now…tell me who made your ass hurt so good tonight.”
“You,” she whispered. “It was you, Sir.”
“And tell me who you want here now…at the entrance of your perfect, sweet cunt.”
“You.” She released a high sigh. “Please, Sir!”
“Who do you want to fill you and fuck you?”
“You.” She trembled and pushed against him. “God, Ethan! I need it! I need you inside me. Fuck me now!”
With a triumphant growl, he slid into her tight, ready channel. He was fully seated within delirious seconds—not that he rested there long. It didn’t just feel good physically to fuck her hard. It fed the reaches of his Dominant’s spirit. It opened a dungeon inside him that had been dark and neglected for so damn long. Tonight, the dungeon was still there—only now, it was alive with her passion, illuminated by her beauty, vibrant with her cries as he thrust into her over and over again.
Soon, her shrieks resonated with his name. “Ethan—Sir—I can’t last much longer.”
“Same page, sunshine.” He reared back, letting his hands trail into the juncture of her thighs. His gasp escaped with hers when he slid a finger over the hard knot of her most tender nerves. “Give this to me too, Ava. Every screaming second of it.”
She complied in glorious detail, arching her head back, unleashing a groan that threatened to blow off the roof. Every muscle in her passage utilized its Kegel workout from this afternoon, squeezing down on his cock. Electricity sizzled in his balls, zapping the way for the hot milk that shot from him like liquid fireworks.
“Fuck! Ava!” He grabbed her by the hips and rammed her back hard on his shaft, needing to give her every last hot drop. Like the act of claiming her, there was more than carnal fulfillment to it. He’d asked her for so much. Despite her fear and despite the pain, she’d given it to him. In return, she deserved every measure of his passion too.
He gentled his hold as his limbs went slack, anticipating she’d pull away too. It wasn’t even midnight yet, and the day had been one for the unexpected. As soon as he let go, Ava turned around and reattached herself to him, arms around his neck and legs around his waist. Though the move dislodged his cock from her, he smiled and wrapped her back up in his arms.
Instantly, his senses were blanketed in peace. Fuck. Peace. When was the last time he and that word were on speaking terms? But for this collection of moments, there was no other term to encompass this complete connection of his mind, body, and spirit.
Because of this incredible woman.
On that thought, he forced himself to shift far enough away to see her face. Her high cheekbones were still stained with tears, but she had the heavy-lidded happiness of a satisfied subbie.
Nevertheless, he asked, “You okay?”
She slowly nodded. “Thank you.”
He frowned. “For what?”
“For helping me to start what I should have a while ago. Getting rid of the ghosts. Colin…and Flynn.”
He shook his head. “I told you, we don’t have to talk—”
“I know. And we won’t. Not tonight. But I promise, you’ll hear about them both…soon.” She tilted her head. “Okay?”
He brushed her nose with his lips. “Deal.”
She had the cutest nose. The tip had a tiny dent in it. He wondered what other nuances there were to learn about her.
“So.” She issued it with an impish curl of her lips. The quirk deepened her left dimple. Another nuance. “Do I get to ask a question now?”
He shot back a playful glower. “Am I going to enjoy answering it?”
She squared her shoulders, which made her breasts undulate in a way that turned distracting into an understatement. “Am I ever going to get a proper spanking…Sir?”
Well, that did it. His cock lurched, his chest flipped, and his pulse jumped. Screw the Tar Pits. If she was ready for round two tonight, then he sure as fuck was. He lifted a hand, buried it in her hair, and tugged her head back, exulting in the shaky little gasp she emitted as he did.
“I think that can be arranged, sunshine.”
He should have remembered it wasn’t midnight yet. That this day, full of as many crazy game changers as any twenty-four he’d known on the team, couldn’t possibly give up the ghost on midnight without a fight—a fight that sounded a hell of a lot like his phone, chirpin
g with the special ring that every guy on the battalion knew all too well. It was John Franzen’s version of the bat signal, and it meant only one thing.
Drop everything. Now.
Chapter Eleven
Tait wasn’t sure what to expect when he and Kell got out of the cab in front of the Foxfire Room. A North Hollywood dive bar wasn’t Franzen’s normal scene for a battalion rally-up, especially because most of them were staying at the Hilton in Universal City.
Okay, so none of them had actually been at the hotel thirty minutes ago anyway. In light of the throwdown at Bella’s place tonight, nobody had been ready to turn in. He and Kellan had made for the Whisky on Sunset for a kick-ass local band and some ribs, while Garrett and Zeke headed someplace quiet with their girls, in light of Sage’s condition. He’d heard Franz talking to Rhett and Rebel about checking out the famous Pink’s Hot Dogs joint, but after what happened on the beach tonight, he’d needed heavy booze, heavier rock ’n’ roll, and a place where he had to address his best friend in a lung-busting bellow. What he had to divulge was best done that way.
Their captain’s urgent text had preempted his confession.
“You good?” Kellan asked while shrugging into his faded leather jacket. His friend’s inflection and the expectant set of his jaw translated into a longer message. Something along the lines of You okay, ass face? Because you never drink four beers inside an hour without starting commentary on everything in the room that moves, so I know something’s up. Probably something big. And now you can’t tell me because of this code-red call from Franzen. So is this gonna wait, or do we have to stand out here and hash it first?
Tait shoved some money at the driver and then gave his friend a nod. “Yeah.” He tugged open the door that was set into a flagstone wall that hadn’t been trendy since Kennedy was sworn in. You’re right. It’s big. Too damn big for the sidewalk between a hair salon and an imports store with mugs screaming “Kiss Me, I’m Irish.”