“Everything okay, sir?”
Lily stood in the doorway to the adjoining room, towel drying her hair. His gaze fell over her supple, naked body, the image stirring his cock again.
“You look fabulous, Lily.”
He wasn’t answering her question, which would infuriate her, but somehow, Ethan didn’t care. Just the look of her took his breath away, and it was moments like this that made him wonder what on earth he’d done to deserve Lily in his life at all.
She eyed him with a mixture of arousal and suspicion. “Thank you,” she whispered, wandering toward him “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to change, or…”
Her voice trailed away.
“Or stay naked?” Ethan finished her sentence for her.
Lily bit her lip. “Right.”
Ethan’s excitement swelled at the sinful look in her eyes. “Thank you for checking, little one,” he purred, grazing the back of his fingers over her cheek. “And, yes, naked. Assuming you’re warm enough?”
His gaze darted to the small heater in the room. It was switched on, but Ethan had no idea how efficient the thing was.
“I am,” she whispered. “Thank you, sir.”
She flashed him a naughty little smile, and in that moment, Ethan forgot all thoughts of proposals and weddings. He just wanted her again. Naked and collared and at his feet.
“Bring me your collar.”
His cock strained as he gave the order, and he inhaled as she scurried away to obey. He had helpfully laid the item out on the bed behind her, and Ethan had watched her gaze absorb that fact when she’d entered. Lily returned a moment later, holding the leather out to him.
He nodded at her. “You like it, don’t you?”
Her dark round pupils, and burning cheeks already told him the answer, but somehow, Ethan needed to hear it from Lily’s lips. He had always enjoyed denigrating a woman this way, but he’d genuinely had no idea Lily would be so receptive when he’d suggested the concept.
“I enjoyed it, yes, sir,” she admitted in a breathless tone. “I like belonging to you.”
Lily’s nipples beaded at the confession, and instinctively, he closed the distance between them, pulling her warm skin against his clothed body.
“Do you know how much I love you?” The question was almost a growl.
She gulped, shaking her head as he met her gaze. “Enough not to kill me?”
Lily’s eyes widened at her answer, but it was too late—the words were out there—and Ethan laughed at the temerity of her response. Here she was, the naked little captive of a prolific killer, and still, she couldn’t help herself. Lily had to kick the hornet’s nest.
Ethan reached into her damp hair, fisting it and yanking Lily’s head away. She gasped at his sudden grasp.
“That’s a pretty brave answer,” he told her. “Considering the company you’re keeping.”
Tears sprung to her eyes, but she nodded as best she could. “Yes, sir,” she agreed. “Brave or stupid.”
Ethan’s lips curled. “Maybe both? But as it happens, you’re right. I do love you enough not to kill you, little Lily, but that doesn’t mean I won’t denigrate you to within an inch of your life.”
Lily
He fastened the leather at her neck, and Lily’s heart pounded as he slid the D-ring around to the front of her body.
“Now you may bring me your leash,” he commanded, eyeing her intently before she dashed to obey.
She crawled to the bed. The metal was cold as she grasped it from the white linen bedsheets, but Lily tried not to overthink what it was, or what the chain meant. It wouldn’t do to process how much the denigration turned her on—not now. Now, she just wanted to revel in it.
“And you will,” Ethan assured her as he took the leash from her mouth. “You did well yesterday, but today you know what I expect. Don’t you, little pet?”
Lily pulled her lip between her teeth at the sound of his new name for her. It sounded awful and humiliating, and she bloody loved it.
“Yes, sir.”
She watched him handle the metal chain from under her lashes, hypnotized by the way he ran the thing between his fingers as he spoke.
“Lily.”
His tone was serious and her eyes widened in response.
“Sir?”
“I’m going to push you today.” Ethan’s eyes darkened as he made the admission.
Push her today? Well, that was laughable! Hadn’t he pushed her just about every day since they’d met?
“I mean it,” he warned, reaching for the collar at her neck and drawing her body toward him. “I want to push you. I want to see how far you can go.”
Lily just stared at him. Fuck, she didn’t really have a clue what Ethan was referring to, but her throbbing clitoris seemed to like the idea. A lot.
He arched a brow at her. “I’m glad about that,” he answered with a smile. “But I’d like to hear some of those words from your lips, as well as your mind. You might not have the chance for long.”
Her mind raced at that comment, but she nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Her tone was raspy—already. “I understand.”
Ethan’s mouth lowered, his lips brushing against her forehead. “Up on your knees then.”
Lily complied with his instruction, expecting the way he connected her leash to the collar at her neck a moment later.
“Beautiful,” he purred as he loomed over her. “And I just have one more thing to add.”
She glanced up just in time to see Ethan reach into his jacket pocket and pull out a black item she recognized all too well. It was the same strap of leather with a large ball connected in the middle—the gag he had used on her at the house.
He dangled the thing in front of her face. “Do you recall what this is?”
Lily eyed the thing warily. “Yes, sir.”
Ethan crouched down in front of her. “It’s one of my favorites,” he declared in a soft tone. “And I can’t wait to see you wearing it again.”
Chapter Thirty
Ethan
Lily’s gaze widened at his words, but she managed to compose herself.
“Any ideas why it’s one of my favorites?” he asked, swinging the ball gag just a few inches from her pretty little face.
She shook her head. “You like silencing me, sir?”
His already rousing cock sprung to life at how Lily made that sound. “Mmmm,” he replied. “Sometimes I do like to keep you quiet, but it’s more than that. The gag helps me to claim ownership of that beautiful mouth, and to remind you who it belongs to.”
Worried, green eyes flitted to meet his eyes. “But—”
“No, buts.” His tone was intentionally harder now. Lily would wear the gag for him, and he’d wager she’d love it, but if she didn’t, then so be it. “Who owns that mouth, little pet?”
Ethan tugged on the leash as if it posed the question. It wasn’t a hard pull, but it was just even force to jerk her body forward. To remind her which one of them was naked and leashed.
“You do, sir,” she blurted in a panicky tone.
“So, you do remember?”
Ethan wanted to laugh at the stunned expression on Lily’s face. Her cheeks had started to burn again, and he had a good idea that her tight pussy would be wet for him already.
Slowly, Lily nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“And I like to train the things that belong to me,” he told her. “And that means you, little pet. You, your mouth, that beautiful little cunt and of course, that arse.”
She inhaled at his words, panting as the meaning clearly began to resonate. “Train them… sir?”
Ethan smirked. “Right,” he confirmed. “And that begins with that mouth. Later I’ll find some toys to torment that arse with, as well.”
Lily shivered at his verdict, but he noticed how her nipples hardened at the same time. She was sinking back down into that wonderful quandary all masochists seemed to find themselves in, where the desire to submit and receive became
stronger than selfish impulses like pride.
And he loved her for it.
“Open up,” he ordered. “I want to see it in place again.”
Ethan shifted to his knees, towering over Lily’s kneeling frame as her lips parted.
“Wider,” he demanded. “Much wider.”
She swallowed, that imploring gaze returning to him once more.
Sir.
He heard her plea as clearly as he’d heard her words earlier, and he answered her even as he moved the gag into position.
You’re fine, little one. Trust me.
Lily nodded, but she looked close to tears as he pushed the ball between her white teeth.
I’m trying, but, oh God, this thing is so big…
Ethan laughed at that, shaking his head at her appraisal. “No it’s not,” he assured her. “It’s the same one I used on you before.”
After all the months of murder, he had much larger ball gags in his possession. Ethan had always been a fan of the gag, and he’d brought a small variety with them when they came north.
“How does it feel?”
With the ball shoved into her mouth, it wasn’t easy for Lily to speak, but she could tell him in her thoughts. There was never an excuse for Lily to be uncommunicative.
Horrible.
Ethan couldn’t decide if she sounded miserable or petulant, but his lips curled again regardless. “My little pet doesn’t like her gag?” he said mockingly as he climbed to his feet and wandered around her body.
No, sir.
That was definitely sullen, and he’d need to spank that mood out of her, if she wasn’t careful.
“That’s a shame,” he told her as he collected the black straps from the side of her face and pulled them tight. “Because I do, and I want to see you wear it while we play.”
Lily pulled in a breath through her nose, but her head was silent, and the reality made his smile widen.
Good. Let her just be silent. Lily would have to get used to the gag.
“Onto all fours now,” he commanded just as he finished fastening the buckle behind her head. “Let’s go for a walk, little pet.”
Lily
Lily couldn’t believe what was happening. Somehow, she’d adjusted to the reality of the collar and even the leash, but being gagged at the same time was not something she had even contemplated before this point. And it was bloody terrible.
She hated the way her lips were forced to accommodate the ball now shoved between her teeth. She hated the way her jaw ached at the unwelcome intrusion. And she particularly despised the humiliating way she knew it would make her look, and yet all at the same time, Lily’s body was thrumming, relishing the ignominy, and the way it affected her.
“Let’s go for a walk, little pet,” Ethan said in a playful tone, tugging at the leash attached to the leather at her neck.
Her eyes fluttered closed temporarily as he led her forward, her heart pounding while the realization of what was actually transpiring washed over her body. He was walking her like an animal—and like he’d done the day before, but this time she was gagged by the horrible black ball in her mouth, and somehow, she felt so much more powerless. So much more out of control and helpless.
Ethan wandered a few feet to the corner of the room, before turning and watching her follow. The weight of his stare pierced her, and Lily wondered if she’d ever been as humiliated as she felt at that moment.
Hot, humiliated and horny.
It was maddening. And intense. And consuming.
“Very nice,” Ethan drawled in an enthusiastic tone. “You look fabulous.”
Lily’s gaze flitted north to survey the dark look in Ethan’s eyes, but she couldn’t return the intensity she found there. Not now—not like this, and her attention shifted back to the old, beige carpet beneath her knees. She tried not to think about all the countless people who’d walked on it, and she tried not to dwell on how dirty it looked from this proximity.
“Lily.”
She panted at Ethan’s tone, her neck craning reflexively to acknowledge him.
He grinned at her. “Eyes on me, pet,” he warned her from his towering position overhead. “I want to see the blush in your cheeks and that emotion in your eyes.”
Bloody hell. Was there no end to her torment?
Ethan laughed. “Not unless I say so, no.”
He stalked away from the corner, passing her kneeling body as he made his way to the bed. One sharp tug of the leash dragged Lily’s body in the same direction, and she scuttled after him as best she could. Crawling was considerably harder than it looked, and her hands and knees were already starting to burn against the thinning carpet. Lily reached the side of the bed just as Ethan stretched out on it above her. Their gazes locked again as he plumped the pillow behind his head and glanced down at her.
“Settle down now,” he told her, as though speaking to a naked woman on a leash was the most natural thing in the world.
The idea resounded around Lily’s head. Perhaps for Ethan—it was.
She blinked up at him. I have to stay here?
He smiled. “You will absolutely stay there,” he replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “On the floor—in your place—for as long as I deem it appropriate.”
Lily inhaled through her nose, hoping he could pick up the indignation in the sound.
“Careful.” The tone of his voice had lowered to that sexy timbre that instantly affected her sex. As though it wasn’t excited enough in her current predicament.
“Insolent thoughts will be punished as severely as insolent words.”
Oh, fuck.
“Indeed,” he answered her, his glee more than evident. “And it’s been a while since I last punished you, Lily.”
She lowered her gaze to the floor. What about this? Wasn’t this a punishment? Wasn’t being forced onto all fours on the floor, like an animal, punishment enough?
Ethan’s dark chuckle echoed above her, the sound eliciting a shiver from her body although Lily didn’t feel cold. “This is just a lesson, little pet. A lesson in your obedience and denigration, and one I have no doubt you’re enjoying almost as much as me. Am I right?”
Lily’s eyes darted back to the bed. As if this whole scenario wasn’t bad enough, he had to raise that point again.
He smiled down at her, drawing the handle of her leash closer toward his body. “I thought so, gorgeous. You’re almost as depraved as I am.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Ethan
Lily’s mind quieted as she huddled beside the bed. Ethan could tell she wasn’t comfortable, and for a moment, he regretted not being able to find her a decent pet bed, but he reconciled it didn’t really matter. He would buy one in time, and for now, the carpet was fine. Lily wouldn’t be there for long. Just long enough to reinforce the point. A lesson he intended to teach every day from now on.
As she settled, he was able to ponder the question of his proposal again. Lily was still wearing his mother’s wedding ring, but he reasoned that wouldn’t do for what he had in mind. She deserved something new. Something of her own, and he also wanted to buy her something to mark their engagement—when he finally got around to asking her. Lily’s head shifted at that thought, her chin raising from the palm of her hand where it had been resting, and she blinked up at him with those big green eyes.
Had she heard that thought? Ethan had to remember that Lily was almost as good with telepathy as he was these days.
“How’s that jaw?” he asked after a moment. “Starting to ache?”
She nodded her head at him, the movement inadvertently sending a small pool of saliva sliding down her chin.
Fuck. Ethan’s cock roused at the sight. One of the things he’d always relished about ball gags were the uncontrollable quantities of saliva they tended to produce, and Lily had rarely looked hotter.
“Try some words, little one,” he demanded in a sensual tone.
Her eyes widened, and her thoughts were almost scornful. But, I’
m gagged, sir?
“Do your best around the gag,” he ordered. “I want to hear you.”
And he did. Ethan loved all those mumbled consonants, and the inability of a woman to actually articulate her needs. It made him fucking hard.
Lily’s eyes narrowed at his assertion, but he just shook his head with a smirk. “Or, I can haul you over my lap for a damn good spanking first, and then you can get back down and beg me for the chance to answer. What would you prefer?”
Her gaze flared with indignation at his question, but Ethan felt her push those thoughts away. Clearly, she wanted to behave, or perhaps she just really didn’t want the alternative he offered.
It hurts, sir.
Ethan heard Lily articulate the words in her head, but the noises that came from around the gag were practically indecipherable. They did the job though, making his cock swell as those green eyes implored him. Ethan smiled at that. Lily wasn’t the first woman to have begged him to see reason, but it might just be possible she would be the last. He hadn’t wanted to think about murder since they came north. Now, his every fiber was tuned to Lily. To chaining her, to taming her, to marrying the woman. It was like a revelation.
“Okay,” he told her, lowering his hand to stroke the leather strap at the side of her face. “The gag can come out in a moment, but first, I want to talk to you.”
Lily blinked up at him. But, I can’t talk, sir.
“That’s okay,” he replied with a laugh. “You don’t need to talk right now.”
She sighed, her resignation obvious from her face.
“I want to marry you, Lily, you know that, don’t you?”
Ethan’s gaze immobilized her as he asked the question, his fingers snaking to the back of her head and playing with the buckle there. She drew in a slow breath, her eyes large before she nodded in response.
Fallen: (A Psychological Dark Romance) (The Dark Necessities Prequels Book 2) Page 17