Redemption (A Dark Romance) (Fragile Ties Book 3)

by Jennifer Bene

  “It looked a lot better than that,” Lianna argued, poking him in the ribs, and he sighed when he looked at her again.

  “Rémi and Mathieu are fine,” David admitted, which was basically a glowing compliment coming from him. “Mathieu actually taught me a couple of things in exchange for discussing security systems with him.”

  “Oh really? What did he teach you?”

  Leaning close, David’s lips brushed her ear as he whispered, “Tu as été très coquine.”

  You’ve been a very bad girl.

  Lianna’s cheeks went crimson, and she couldn’t help but laugh in shock at David’s rough French saying something so dirty. “Oh my God, please tell me Mathieu didn’t teach you that.”

  “Oh, he did.” Chuckling, David squeezed her thigh and kissed his way down her throat. “He taught me another one too.”

  “Yeah?” she panted, unable to focus on anything but his touch and the low rumble of his voice as he nipped her neck.

  “Mon ange, tu vas finir en travers de mes genoux tout à l’heure.”

  My angel, you’re going to end up over my knees later.

  “Holy shit,” Lianna whispered, her breath catching as he chuckled and sat up straight, his eyes roaming over her.

  “I asked him to translate that one.” Grinning, David looked over his shoulder at the others, and Lianna realized they were all watching them with big smiles. Mathieu even had the nerve to give them a thumbs up, and she covered her face in embarrassment.

  “You did not,” she whined, but it was clear he had. Bonus points for him making friends with her cousin, but the entire idea of them discussing any of this about her was mortifying.

  “I did, but you know you’re impressed. This stupid language isn’t exactly easy.”

  Rolling her eyes, Lianna dropped her hands into her lap. “It’s not a stupid language, but I am impressed. You didn’t even butcher it too badly.”

  “That’s not very nice, angel.” He chuckled as he slid his touch higher on her thigh, his dark eyes intense. “Maybe you need me to teach you a lesson later. Add a few stripes to your sweet ass.”

  “Oh my God! No!” she whispered harshly, shoving at his hand, but he only tightened his grip.

  “What? Are you ashamed of me?” he asked, lifting his brows, but he didn’t look upset.

  Groaning, she blocked his hand from moving any higher and kept her voice hushed. “Of you? No, of course not. But of the fact that I like getting my ass beat? Um, yes. It’s not happening.”

  “We’ll see.” David winked at her and then let go, turning to face the others, and she did her best to make the butterflies in her stomach calm down.

  Finishing off her wine, she raised the empty glass in the air and stood up. “I need more wine.”

  “Me too!” Amanda said, laughing, and as they went to the table to refill, she heard everyone pick up conversation again. The woman bumped Lianna with her hip as they looked through the bottles together. “He’s completely head over heels for you.”

  “Thanks,” Lianna answered, still fighting the blush burning her cheeks.

  “I mean it. Rémi and I used to be like that before the twins. Couldn’t keep our hands off each other.” Her wistful tone made Amanda seem a little sad, but she was still smiling. “He’s softened a lot since they were born, but we still have our fun when we have the energy to stay awake.”

  Lianna laughed when Amanda winked at her, not sure what to say in reply to the bold confession. “I’m sure it’s a lot harder with kids.”

  “Sometimes. It just takes more effort to make time for each other.” Filling her glass, Amanda handed off the bottle. “Remember that when you guys have kids. You’ve got to make time for each other, so you don’t lose that spark.”

  “Right,” Lianna answered, momentarily stunned as Amanda walked back to sit beside Rémi.

  Kids?

  The idea had actually never even crossed her mind. Well, not with David. She’d thought about kids in general over the years, and she loved being around kids, but everything with David had been so... messy. Ignoring the situation that brought them together, Lianna had still spent the past nine months drowning in legal issues and financial drama. There hadn’t been a single moment to think of anything beyond the present.

  But, looking at him now, watching him laugh with her cousins as the guys recounted their four-wheeling adventure... it didn’t seem impossible.

  Just very, very far away.

  She didn’t even know what David thought about kids or if that was even in his plans for the future, and there was no way in hell she was going to bring that up anytime soon. They just needed to deal with one obstacle at a time, and getting David to accept that the Faures may not be as evil as he believed was the most important thing right now.

  Nine

  David

  Moving up the stairs after dinner, it was impossible to keep his hands off Lianna. For the first time since they’d arrived at the Faure estate, he felt like he could actually breathe. He wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he’d spent an entire day away from Jean-Luc, or if it was the effect of the wine that had started flowing on the terrace and continued throughout dinner... but it felt good.

  Lianna felt good, and he loved the way she squirmed when he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her tight against him as he half-dragged her up the stairs. Much better than last night when she’d been wasted, and he’d had to practically carry her. Tonight, they were both pleasantly buzzed, and she’d been teasing him for the past three hours, so there was no way in hell he wasn’t fucking her tonight.

  It had been torture waiting for someone else to leave the table first so he could get her upstairs without offending everyone, but Rémi and Amanda had saved the day by leaving to take care of the twins. Claiming lingering jet lag, he’d squeezed her thigh, and then stood to excuse them.

  Jean-Luc had even smiled at him as he’d told them goodnight.

  Not that David cared about the asshole’s opinion of him, but it had let him finally get his hands on her and that’s all that mattered. Shoving the door to their room open, it smacked into the wall, and Lianna shushed him. “Oh my God, be quiet!”

  “Now is not the time to tell me what to do, angel,” he growled, scooping her up to toss her onto the bed before he shut the door with more restraint than he thought he was capable of in the moment. Flipping the lock, he faced her and groaned. Lianna was sitting up on the bed, taking off her shoes, all those golden waves flowing over her shoulder in a cascade that he’d both loved and hated since the first time he laid eyes on her. She was beautiful, but any idiot on the street could see that. What he loved about her was her strength. That iron will that he’d never been able to break, no matter what fucked-up shit he did to her. Lianna might bend for him sometimes, but it was because she could stand up to him that he loved her — and no one else on the planet would ever get to see that side of her. Not like he had.

  All mine.

  “You need to take those clothes off or I’m going to rip them off you.”

  Grinning, Lianna looked up at him as she dropped her last shoe to the ground. “Is that a promise?”

  “You’ve been teasing me all afternoon, angel. That’s not a promise, it’s a fucking warning.” Ripping his shirt over his head, he tossed it aside. “Get undressed. Now.”

  He could tell she was nervous about having sex inside the Faure house, but there was excitement in her eyes too when she finally hopped off the bed to yank her jeans down, followed by her underwear, kicking them aside as she took off her sweater. His cock was already a steel rod before she was naked, and he wrapped his hand around the base and squeezed, forcing a deep breath as he looked her over.

  “On the bed,” he commanded, stepping over his clothes as she obeyed him, scooting back to give him room, but when he got to the bed, he grabbed her legs and flipped her onto her stomach. “Knees.”

  “David,” she said his name quietly, a breathy, needy edge already taking over
her voice. “We have to be quiet.”

  Landing a spank on her ass, he climbed onto the bed behind her, grinning when she twisted to look over her shoulder at him. “Don’t tell me what to do, angel. That’s not how this works, and you know it.”

  “Please?” she begged, and he groaned again, running his hand over the pink handprint he’d left behind on her skin.

  “Want me to gag you?”

  “No.” Groaning, Lianna leaned forward on the bed again, bracing herself on her elbows as he stroked a finger through the wetness between her thighs.

  “Seems like I wasn’t the only one that got wound up this afternoon.”

  “After what you whispered to me out on the terrace? How was I supposed to think straight after that?” she asked with more bite to her tone than necessary, and he landed another sharp spank to her other cheek. “David!”

  “Keep up with the smart mouth, and I’ll get my belt.”

  Burying her face in the bed, Lianna whined, but the slight wiggle of her hips told the truth. She’d love for him to get his belt, and they both knew it. Lianna wanted the pain as much as the pleasure, and it always made her come harder when he made it hurt — but the snap of a belt would be way too loud. Her family would still be in the halls for a while, and there was no way in hell he was going to wait until they all went to sleep.

  “Be a good girl for me.” Sliding two fingers inside her, he had to bite down on his lip to fight the urge to replace them with his cock right away. Her tight heat squeezed around his fingers, and he curved them down to focus on her g-spot as he moved closer. “That’s right, angel. I want you soaking wet.”

  “Fuck...” she mumbled into the bed, and he slid his other hand underneath her, seeking her clit. Her hips bucked with the first swirl of his fingers, a sweet little gasp escaping as she pressed back into his touch.

  “You want me to fuck you, don’t you?” Watching her, he read every twitch of muscle, every hitched breath, as she nodded. Carefully pushing her closer and closer, he sped up the circles on her clit even though his balls ached. He wanted to be able to fuck her hard, to plunge into her cunt without working her up to it, but she had to be wet enough. The wait would be worth it though, and the reward would be her beautiful cries and her pussy clenching him when he made her come again and again. “Answer me.”

  “Yes. Yes, please.” Panting, she lifted her head from the bed, little murmurs of pleasure telling him just how close she was.

  “I’m not going to be gentle,” he warned, plunging his fingers in hard and holding them deep as he tapped her g-spot, and her hips shifted side to side, seeking oblivion. Not yet. Grinning, he leaned down, keeping his voice low. “But you don’t want me to be gentle, do you?”

  Lianna just shook her head, lost in the search for a climax that he wasn’t going to let her have yet. When she started to breathe harder, hushed moans slipping past her clenched teeth, he pulled away and grabbed onto her hip, digging his fingers in as he lined up.

  “Beg me for it.”

  “David... please,” she whined, and he barely pressed forward, immediately pulling back when Lianna tried to push herself onto him.

  “Tsk, tsk, angel. That’s not good enough. I want to hear you beg.”

  “Fuck...” Grumbling, Lianna lifted her head. “Please fuck me, David. Please. I don’t want you to be gentle, I want it to hurt. Just please—”

  Thrusting hard, he yanked Lianna’s hips back to force himself balls deep in one stroke. Her cunt clamped down around his cock as she gasped, but he wasn’t in the mood to drag this out, so he quickly slid back and slammed forward just as hard, biting down on his own groan of pleasure. “God, you feel so good.”

  “David...” Lianna’s back was arched, head high, and he was more than happy to take the offering. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, he used it as leverage to pull her onto his dick again and again, losing track of the rising volume of her cries as he fucked her. Every thrust sent a ripple of sensation up his spine, every squeeze like a skitter of electricity over his skin, and he had to resist the urge to come as she made those little whimpers that always drove him crazy.

  “Who owns you, angel?” he asked, releasing her hip to land another sharp spank that was, admittedly, probably too loud. The perfect hand print he left behind was worth the risk though, especially combined with the way her cunt gripped him as he continued to move inside her.

  “You,” she answered too quietly, and he could tell from the moan that followed that she was close.

  “Louder.”

  “David, please,” she pleaded, but he just spanked her again.

  “I want to hear it.”

  “You,” she finally said, just loud enough to satisfy him as she moaned even louder. “You own me. I’m yours. Oh God!”

  “Good girl,” he growled, slamming deep as he released her hair, reaching to the side to grab a pillow and shove it under her. “Now bite the fucking pillow before you come and let the whole house know what a naughty girl you really are.”

  Lianna moved the pillow, burying her face as she wrapped her arms around it, which made her back curve in the most beautiful way. When he held onto her hips and started to fuck her again, hard and fast, the moans weren’t as muffled by the pillow as she probably thought — but he didn’t really give a shit. He liked hearing her whimper and moan almost as much as he liked listening to her scream and beg. A second later she tensed, her pussy locking down around him, and he had to clench his jaw to fight the urge to come as she cried out into the pillow, her cunt squeezing him in waves.

  “Fuck, yes... come for me.” Groaning, he dug his fingers into her hips and yanked her back, driving his cock deeper, fucking her straight through the orgasm. Her muffled pleas and hushed moans just urged him on. Delivering another spank, and another, he growled when she reached back, trying to stop him.

  “David! Please, it’s too loud, baby. Please,” she begged, and he smacked her hand away, landing another spank before he grabbed onto her hips again.

  “Put your face back in the pillow. Now.” Closing his eyes, he tried to hold back the tension building like an electrical storm in his veins. Everything was narrowing down to the feel of her skin against his, the impossible perfection of her slick heat, the way her body took everything he had to give — and he didn’t want it to end.

  Not yet.

  The clap of their bodies coming together again and again was probably just as loud as the spanks, but he couldn’t stop. The only thing that would make it better would be if he could see the desperate need on her face as he pushed her toward another orgasm, but there was no way he was changing positions now. He was close, so fucking close. Leaning over her, he reached between her legs to find her clit, reveling in the way her hips slammed back into him, trying to avoid his touch.

  “Oh God, I can’t,” she whined, and he shoved her face back into the pillow with a growl.

  “I know what you can handle, and I want to feel you come again.” Trying to pull his thoughts together was getting harder and harder, but he knew Lianna was just as close as he was, and he wanted to come with her this time. To feel her pull him deeper just as he came. “Be a good girl, angel. Come on.”

  Her soft murmurs in the pillow were half-bliss and half-torture, and it was exactly what he needed to hear. When she suddenly bucked, gripping his cock like a vise as she shouted into the pillow, he felt fire rush down his spine, and managed to bite down on her shoulder just before he came hard. Muffling his shout against her skin as he thrust deep, filling her as the world whited out in a violent crash of ecstasy.

  David couldn’t breathe for a second, unaware of everything except the insane beat of his heart crashing against his ribs. Lianna’s low whine of pain was the first thing to break through the haze the orgasm left his brain in. Then he felt her back twitch against his chest, and he realized he was still sinking his teeth into her shoulder. Releasing her, he felt Lianna relax under him as he stared at the dark imprint his teeth had left behind.
>
  “Jesus...” she whispered, her head turned to the side as she rested on the pillow. “That was... intense.”

  “Yeah.” That was the only word he could manage for the moment, working to catch his breath as he kissed the mark on her shoulder. Groaning when she squeezed him again as a shudder rolled through her. “Fuck, angel.”

  “Your fault,” Lianna mumbled, and he laughed a little as he pressed another kiss to her skin and then slid from her, dropping to the bed. A second later she was against his side, one leg draped over his, her head finding its place on his shoulder. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too,” he answered, still breathing hard. Pressing a kiss to her hair, he wrapped his arm around her back, not even caring that they were sideways on the bed, on top of the duvet because someone had made their bed during the day. They could move once his brain finished rebooting.

  “Needed that.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but he caught it, and he hugged her close to his side as a smile took over his face.

  “Me too, angel.” Having her against him was everything he wanted or needed. It didn’t really matter where they were, even in the middle of the Faure compound. As long as she was with him, he was happy. Glancing down at her, he had the urge to say it, but he could tell by her even breaths that she was already asleep.

  Stifling a chuckle so he wouldn’t wake her, he leaned his cheek against her hair and tried to get comfortable. Eventually she’d get cold and wake him up to get under the covers, until then... he’d just enjoy this.

  Ten

  Lianna

  It was strange how comfortable the Faure estate was beginning to feel. David was even starting to relax, and lunch almost felt… normal.

  Like Lianna was always meant to be there.