by Rynne Raines
Get to the point, Bianca, before he touches you.
“I—I came to end our arrangement prematurely.”
“I see.” An undercurrent of irritation laced through his silky voice.
It didn’t take his touch—the mere sight of his long muscular legs, attached to those lean powerful hips deteriorated her resolve and warmed her skin. When he stepped toward her, she forced herself not to run from him or to him.
“I want the why,” Cade said.
Of course he did.
“It’s…it’s nothing, really. I just don’t need any distractions right now. I’m trying to get my enrollment numbers at the club back up and—”
“Don’t.” He clenched his fingers in her hair at the base of her neck and arched her head back so their eyes locked. “Don’t lie to me. If you’re angry about how I left you the other night, then say so, but at least have the decency not to feed me some bullshit story about inconvenient timing.”
Her blood heated as he called her out. His emerald gaze burned like fire and she fought to keep her eyes from drifting shut, found it hard to ignore the sensation of his knuckles grazing her neck. He was too close…too warm. The line of his hard, sensual mouth was too tempting.
“I didn’t come here to argue with you.”
“Then don’t.” He held her gaze, made it sound so simple. However, it wasn’t simple. What she was feeling, the intense and violent ache in her chest, went beyond simple. But when his thumb drew small, tantalizing circles at the base of her neck, Bianca closed her eyes and brushed her cheek against the inside of his forearm.
“I need to go,” she heard herself saying, but her body refused to get on board with her brain.
He jerked her into him and crushed her mouth with his. Their thighs slammed together and Bianca’s breath caught as if she were free falling from a seventh-story window. The descent was one of desperation, but she didn’t want to think about hitting the ground.
Cade nudged her lips apart and plunged his tongue deep inside her mouth. A quiver started in her belly, the type of quiver that would linger when this was all over. She savored the tight clutch of his strong fingers in her hair, the slow roll of his tongue, the flavor of him that would stay with her forever.
Cade’s gut knotted with urgency as he expertly worked his fingers against a small area of skin uncovered by her leather and lace corset. This was his last chance. The moment of truth. Bianca was ready to run and if he failed to play his cards right, he had no doubt, she’d disappear from his life again. But this time, permanently.
He wouldn’t let that happen.
Cade punctuated the vow by pulling her body harder against his and ravished her mouth with long, fluid strokes of his tongue. He didn’t smile when she moaned and stabbed her fingers in his hair. This was not the victory he was looking for. Their bodies had been on the same page since day one. Her heart was what he wanted.
He took her by the shoulders and eased her back from him. Long vibrant lashes swooped against her high cheekbones as her eyes closed in dizzy satisfaction. He put his ego aside and refused to delight in her reaction. It had been his intention to knock her off balance, lower her guard, if only for a moment, and plant a seed of desire to replace her reservations. But for the first time since they’d started this charade, he wasn’t sure desire would be enough.
“You’ll give me tonight,” he said, taking a casual stance and forcing his hands back into his pockets. “You’ll give me tonight. And, after, if you so choose, you’ll never have to see me again. I want you, Bianca. I know you want me.”
She didn’t answer immediately and Cade’s heart thundered in his head. The office tilted around him in a distorted haze, but it didn’t matter. He focused on Bianca’s liquid-blue eyes, clouded with emotion he couldn’t quite read.
Then it happened. She slowly sank to her knees. Arms behind her back, she shifted forward until the insides of her thighs aligned with his ankles. He couldn’t breathe. How long had he waited for this, for the moment she would submit to him again? She had only been back in his life a few days now, but in his mind, he’d anticipated this for four long years.
“You’re right,” she said softly. “I do want you.”
His fingers flexed in his pockets while his cock jerked at the soft sound of her surrender. Christ. He held back a moan as her short, prissy skirt rode high up her thighs, the garters stretching her stockings tight. If he were the same man she’d met four years ago, he would have spun her around, bent her over and taken her like a savage.
However, he wasn’t that callous youth any longer. That’s where he’d gone wrong with her all those years ago, he was sure of it. There was no way in hell he would make that mistake again.
“Stand.” At his verbal release, she slowly rose to within an inch of his mouth, but he warded off the temptation to kiss her again with the anticipation of long-term success. “Follow me.”
“Wait.” She touched his arm and stared up. “We’re leaving?”
The uncertainty in her voice, in her eyes, slashed at him like a thousand blades but he refused to let it show. For Bianca to accept him as a permanent part of her life, he couldn’t lose himself in the heat of the moment. She had submissive needs, far too long neglected.
He lowered his head, brought his lips next to her ear and spoke slowly. “If you hadn’t been so disobedient this week, I’d be fucking you right now. Unfortunately, there’s a matter of punishment we need settled first.”
****
The winding corridors of Halo were a magnificent maze of stone, mortar and torches. With every subtle bend within those dark hallways, her heart thumped harder. The tendons in Bianca’s legs stretched as taut as piano wire and her thighs quivered.
If it were any other man leading her down into what looked like the gallows of a medieval castle with the intention of punishing her, she would have dashed back up the stairs fast as her legs would carry her. But this was Sin. In truth, the thought of his divine discipline had her pussy aching, almost more than the thought of his cock pounding inside of her.
They stopped at a large steel door. Cade cast a glance over his shoulder, and she knew this was him giving her one last chance to change her mind. There’d be no turning back once they entered. She understood the unspoken rules of this world, accepted them. When he flipped up a panel on the wall and punched a few numbers, she did not hesitate when the door opened.
The light in the center of the ceiling buzzed and illuminated a room like no other. No windows. No modern equipment. If forced to compare, she’d say it resembled a torture chamber made for sex and sin.
The heavy steel door slammed. Her stomach hotly clenched as Cade’s chest pressed into her back. His large hands grasped her bare shoulders.
“Do you remember?” he whispered against her ear. “Do you remember what I did to you our last night together?”
She shifted her eyes to the massive, wooden St. Andrews cross on the opposite side of the room and sighed. The memory of her first flogging rushed into her head and her knees nearly gave out. Cade was an expert with the flog. A single crack of his wrist could have her reaching orgasm.
That night, he had taken full advantage of his prowess. She remembered screaming from the intensity, how he’d thrived on the sound and instead of letting the initial waves of her climax subside, he’d forced her higher.
“Answer me.”
“Yes,” she said quickly and closed her eyes against the memory. “Of course, I remember.”
“Well,” he said as he moved back a handful of her hair and nuzzled behind her ear, “that was nothing compared to what I’m going to do to you tonight.”
A throaty moan poured out of her, but it wasn’t from the recollection of his sexual dexterity alone—it was for his compassion.
She recalled the night he made her love him. He’d finally unshackled her wrists and legs at the end of their session, which had crept into the early hours of morning, and she hadn’t been able to stand on her own
. However, she hadn’t needed to. Cade had caught her in his arms, swept her limp and sated body against him and carried her to bed.
Afterwards, he’d held her, soothed her feverish skin with gentle kisses, and asked about her childhood, her family, what she wanted for her future. Then, the intimacy had made her chest so tight she’d found it hard to breathe. And that night, regardless of how premature or implausible, Bianca knew she’d fallen in love with him.
Four years later, she knew she was still in love with him.
“Don’t move,” he murmured and lowered the zipper on the back of her skirt until it loosened enough to glide over her hips. The scrap of fabric whispered down her legs with the promise of heaven. He took his time slowly working the clasps of her corset. With the final hook free, he slipped it off, and palmed her breasts in his large hands. Her nipples stiffened and exquisite heat shot to her hungry pussy.
“Interesting.” Short of breath, she arched for his touch. “I remember it taking you a lot longer than that to work a corset four years ago.”
“Glad my proficiency with women’s fashion impresses you.” He squeezed her stiff buds between his fingers, rolled them. Her legs turned to jelly and threatened to give out. He circled to stand in front of her, and with his slow, intense survey, her panties soaked.
“Is this your means of punishment? Not touching me?”
“That’d be punishing both of us.” A few quick flicks of his clever fingers and her garters snapped free.
Her face warmed when he crouched to remove her underwear, followed by her boots. One by one, he slowly rolled down her stockings.
“Stay still.” His fingers wrapped her ankles and firmly slid upward. When he pressed his thumbs into her slick folds, spreading them, tormenting her with a slow stream of his breath, her inner thighs trembled. A single nip of his teeth against her clit sent her spiraling. The thrill rocketed to the tip of every finger and every toe.
“Oh, God, please, can’t we just skip the punishment this one time?” He could punish her all he wanted later. She wanted his cock inside her now.
“Not a chance,” he said, and followed with a long stroke of his tongue. Her stomach muscles involuntarily quivered. “Be a good girl for me and get on the table. I need to grab a few things.”
He not only needed to grab a few things, Cade thought as he rummaged through his personal arsenal of sex toys in the cabinet across the room. What he needed was a moment to collect himself.
He glanced down and rolled his eyes. Christ, if his cock was any harder, it’d split his goddamn slacks. She was getting to him, had always gotten to him, without even realizing it. His fingers vibrated on the new purple ball gag and he swore softly.
Hell, you’ve got it bad for her, Sinclair.
He wanted to laugh at himself, but forced it down and gathered a few more tools. Nothing funny about a man in love with a woman who didn’t reciprocate the sentiment. His only salvation was that he knew she felt something for him. Desire, at least. Tonight, he would build on that.
Cade slammed the cabinet door, contemplated the collection of toys in his arms, and cocked an eyebrow. Although there was no doubt in his mind Bianca was aroused enough to withstand the laces of his flog, he needed her on fire. By the time he was through, she’d never want for another man inside her ever again.
“A gag?” Bianca visibly shivered on the table while her toes flexed. “We’ve never used one before.”
“That’s because I wanted access to your mouth. Tonight is different.” He leaned, traced the subtle bow of her lips with his tongue and felt her tension dissolve into his kiss. “It’ll muffle the screams.”
“Screams?! Cade, I—” He caught her before she could jump off the table.
“Relax.” He nipped lightly at her lower lip and she softened in his arms. “I promise they’ll be good screams.”
It took a minute but she finally nodded. He guided her to lie back on the table and fastened her wrists in the restraints above her head, then continued with her ankles. The spacer he’d chosen had black silk manacles that fit perfectly just above her knees.
Once Bianca was secured in place, Cade ran his gaze from toe to head. The sight of her spread and vulnerable for his taking had a low growl rumbling in his throat.
Nothing would stop him tonight.
“Do you trust me, Bianca?”
She didn’t answer immediately. “Yes. I trust you.”
“We’ve never had the need for a safe word before. This will be no different.”
Her hesitation didn’t bother him. In fact, he’d been hoping for the reaction. Gagging was a new element for her. With all new experiences came reservations.
He stroked her jaw gently with his knuckles and lowered his tone an octave. “Part those pretty lips, angel.”
“And on the slim chance I want you to stop?” Excitement flashed in her eyes.
“You won’t.”
With the glossy purple ball hugged beautifully between Bianca’s rose-hued lips and the silk straps fastened beneath her unruly mass of red locks, the alpha in him took over.
This was his element. Power rushed into him, consumed him. But along with that power, he felt a grave responsibility, a responsibility he took very seriously.
Having a woman bound and gagged wasn’t for the lighthearted or the cavalier, he mused reaching for a tube on the side table. Working with a gag entirely eliminated Bianca’s free will. She was allowing him to choose for her, trusting him with her body, mind and soul. To him, that was the greatest gift she could give him. In return, he would give her all the pleasure he was capable of.
He circled a splotch of gel between his fingertips before turning back to study his glorious captive. Although her eyes were heavy with lust, her ankles remained flexed.
“Relax for me.” Cade rested the heel of his palm against the bridge of one foot and pressed down. “You’ll like this part.”
Her muscles slackening, the flats of her feet lowered onto the table. But her breathing remained quick. At this point, it was just a little too quick for his liking. He lowered his head to hers, forehead to forehead, and closed his eyes to bask in the scent of her hair.
“Trust in me,” he whispered. Then he dusted his mouth over her brow, her eyelids, along the gentle slope of her nose. She turned her face into his as her chest rose and fell with steadier breaths, and in doing so, gave her consent. There it was, trust.
Although the excitement and novelty of being with a new partner for the first time had its perks, in Cade’s experience, nothing compared being with a woman whose body he knew nearly as well as his own. He had branded Bianca’s hotspots to memory, reflected on them over the past four years to the point of obsession, and hoped one day he’d be able to put that knowledge to use again.
The day had finally come.
He skimmed his fingertips, coated with aphrodisiac, over her pebbled nipples. He allowed the sound of her weak moan to break his concentration for only a second before chiding himself. It would be a hell of a long night if his cock jumped against the fly of his slacks every time Bianca moaned.
He reached deep into his well of willpower and plucked her nipples with a ruthlessness he knew she yearned for. Her back arched, the shackles rattled against the table and her breathing picked up because his hands demanded it.
That’s my girl. Go to that special place, he thought, refusing to take his eyes from hers. Things were about to get far more intense.
With more gel applied, he worked his fingers between her slick folds and against her clit, pressing two inside her tight cunt. Her knees fought the bar between her legs as her inner walls pulsed. God, he would bury his cock there soon, and lose himself in the sounds of her.
When her eyes flashed and her fists clenched, Cade knew the gel was kicking in. The initial burst of heat would be intense but after a few seconds, the aphrodisiac would bring her unbelievable pleasure.
“Easy.” He grazed the backs of his knuckles over her temple. “It’ll g
et better.”
The muffled whimpers transformed into moans against the rubber ball as she twisted and bucked her hips desperately to meet his hand. Oh yeah, the flames had worn off, but he wasn’t anywhere near finished.
Knowing she was on the verge of orgasm, Cade withdrew his fingers and took his time at the side table. Bianca’s stifled curse cut a notch into his restraint. But only a notch. He knew exactly what she thought he was going to do—bring her to orgasm repeatedly until she was sated and spent before conducting his punishment. However, he didn’t intend to let her climax on the table. Now that he was older, wiser, he had new techniques. He would force her up, then down, each time a little closer. The aphrodisiac would help keep her on the edge between intervals, but he hadn’t used it for that reason alone, and she would soon discover that.
The first vibrator he chose was a favorite to use, small but effective. Shaped in a slender U, it fit between her glistening folds and clamped gently, the stimulator in direct contact with her clit. When he turned it on, she bucked wildly and his heart pounded.
Control yourself, Sinclair. Higher. She needs to go higher.
Tiny pin-pricks of perspiration started on her delicate brow when he coated his fingers once more and circled them around her anus. He stroked the inside of her thigh with his free hand, soothing her as her head twisted from left to right. She was fighting the onslaught of an orgasm. However, he read her body well enough by now to know he had time still.
The gel, combined with her moisture, had his middle finger pressing inside her asshole easily, but he kept his movements slow, gradual, and steady. He reached for one of the dildos. It’d be a shame to neglect that sweet pussy.
When her slick cunt accepted the tip of the toy without much resistance, she stopped thrashing and moaned. Her eyes were wild, beautiful, and demanding. Beads of sweat started on his brow as he imagined the dildo as his cock and worked the toy all the way in. Knowing her body would reciprocate, he pressed up with the finger in her anus, finding the ridges of the dildo and stroked.
His vision blurred as he heard his name in muffled groans, over and over, but he didn’t relent. This was the height he wanted to give her, needed to give her, was desperate to give her. And he wasn’t close to being done.