by Alice Ward
“Ava, you feel so good.” Again, he glided through my slickness. Then without warning, he thrust himself inside me, pressing me down on the bed, hilting himself.
A sound came from my throat I didn’t know I could make. He pulled back, creating glorious friction, and thrust into me much harder than I’d expected, pushed in as far as he could go and held himself there. I gasped for air, feeling like he’d impaled me up to my neck and never wanting the sensation to end. Then as he pulled himself out with a deliberate slowness, as every nerve I possessed flamed, his rock-hard cock scraped across the skin of my vaginal walls. All the way out.
I whimpered.
“Are you uncomfortable?”
“Uncomfortable?” It took me a second to realize he was referring to the restraints. While they sort of freaked me out, they were also a turn on. I’d much rather be able to touch him. However, I had a feeling he wouldn’t release me unless he thought the bonds caused me pain. “They are… a little tight,” I lied.
He hesitated above me, and I could see him debating. He wanted me tied — why, I didn’t know — but didn’t like making me uncomfortable. To help make up his mind, I wiggled a little and let out an “unh” sound, giving him my best actress skills to make him think it was involuntary due to slight pain.
Quickly, his hands loosened the ties on my hands and feet, and I was free.
With barely a warning, he slammed himself back in again. This time, although it hurt a little as he rammed inside, it somehow was a pain that made the pleasure even more so. Before, I hadn’t been able to get close enough to him, so now I buried my hands in his silky hair and pulled his head down to mine, found his mouth and plunged my tongue in. My inner walls tingled with sensation, winding tension within me like a knot.
This time, he thrust harder, and at the same time, his mouth left mine, found my breast, covered my nipple, and bit. Hard.
Spikes of shock went through me, and I came up off the bed, crying out and pulling his hair, gasping as I clenched around his cock in response. How could him inflicting pain turn me on? I wanted him to stop and soothe what he’d hurt. I wanted him to plunge into me again. I wanted to bite his shoulder. All of these conflicting emotions were foreign to me. I’d never experienced anything like this.
“Do you want to stop?” His voice held a tone of disappointment.
I was so relieved that he cared, was about to tell him to slow down, go easy, when I noticed how his face was flushed, the rosiness going over his neck and covering his chest. He was watching me intently, even as his jaw was tight, his muscles hard as rocks. He was using every bit of restraint he had. A desire ballooned in my gut, to do anything I could to make him feel good.
So I said, “God, no, Lucas. I want more. Give me more.”
The look on his face was my reward. “Spread your legs more.” He pressed my legs wider apart. It had been years since I’d taken a dance class, but I’d kept myself limber, so my legs spread pretty wide. I could tell he was impressed.
He eased himself in slowly this time while his finger worked my clit, sending lightning bolts all through my body. He stayed above me, his hands going beneath my hips, bringing them up to meet him as he plunged into me. This time, instead of going deep right away, he made tiny pulsating ruts that dug in deeper with each stroke, faster each time he entered and exited. As he gained speed, he also gained depth.
Arousal built inside me from my toes to my eyelashes. I sensed I was nearing a mind-blowing climax. It was clawing at my stomach, making me lose the ability to take in air. There was just one thing I needed. Touch. Needed his touch, the feel of his skin on mine.
I was at the peak of orgasm, just about to topple over the edge, when I reached up, grabbed his shoulders, and pulled hard, surprising him. His chest met my breasts, and I wrapped my arms around his upper torso, moving my mouth over his neck, feeling the liquid heat inside me shiver, one beat from an explosion. It was beautiful, vulnerable—
Cold air rushed in when he stopped and withdrew from me. “No coming yet.”
A cry escaped my throat, and I had to bite my lip to keep from begging him. Something was wrong. Had I done something? I’d pressed us together, but…
“Turn over. Get on your knees, ass in the air,” he ordered as he lifted me, flipped me neatly, and repositioned me on my knees. “You can’t come until I give you permission.”
Permission to… come?
I forgave him the gruffness of his voice, his actions. I’d just hit on the key to cracking him open. That, and I could barely think. Needed his hard cock inside me, slicing me to pieces. I just needed to come, and now he wanted me to hold back? I wasn’t sure if I could wait once he was inside me again.
I did as he commanded and put my butt high in the air. He then slapped it hard with his hand. Electricity flew through my body — a mix of sharp pain and spiked pleasure. Before my mind could unscramble the feelings, he did it again — his hand came down on the other ass cheek. Whap.
Immediately, I felt the rush of indignity. It gripped my heart. When his hand smoothed over the inflamed spot he’d made on my ass, I almost forgave him. Then he slapped me again. And again.
I bit my lip, trying not to be angry, trying to wait it out, to see what kind of knowledge I could gather about him from this. But I learned something else. As soon as the pain left, imprinted was a burning desire that wanted more slaps, more soothing touches to ease the discomfort. I felt scrambled. My body wanted it. My mind knew better.
He then entered me again, hard and fast as he held my hips, planting his huge cock as far in as it would go. Quickly, he pulled almost completely out of me, making me feel empty as only the tip of his dick grazed my outer lips and teased with tiny thrusts. Then he jammed back in again, taking my body immediately to the point I’d been when I was on my back.
“No coming,” he reminded me.
The words growled into my ear pushed me closer to orgasm, even as I held back and the muscles milking his cock grew tighter, nearly painfully so. I felt like I was being split in two. It felt fantastic, and it was also hard to endure. I was panting now, like I’d never done, my breath coming in tiny gasps.
He lifted me up by my shoulders and maneuvered me until I sat on his lap with my back to his chest, both of us on our knees. He jettisoned underneath me, pumping hard, his hand clenching my breast, his arm pressed tight over the other. That hand pressed down on my mound, and an unbelievable pressure mounted.
I wanted to please him, wanted to do as he said, but I was going to come. Now.
His grip tightened, and he whispered in my ear, his teeth sinking into my earlobe. “Not yet, Ava.”
I gave a whimper-groan and arched my back as the pressure tightened until it was painful. I’d make him pay, and pressed down hard onto him with his next thrust, eliciting a moan.
“I’ll only give you permission to come if you say my name as you do it.” His voice was dark and commanding. He bucked into me mercilessly then. The air filled with tiny lights, and heat rose through every cell I possessed. I reached around, arching as far as I could and clamped my arm around the back of his neck, which drove him deeper, causing him to spasm inside me. We both cried out as I wrapped my hands around the back of his head, my ear pressed against his. He tensed, holding in his own release. I twisted my head, pressed my mouth over his neck, and bit.
He shouted out a groan and began jackhammering into me. “Come for me, Ava.”
The loudest, most pathetic cry of arousal rose from my chest as I spiraled into unparalleled ecstasy, remembering what he’d said. “Lucas,” I screamed as the world spun around me. I convulsed on him, my pussy clenching hard as I felt him rut against the pressure.
His voice raised an octave as he cried out his release, his body pulsing under mine.
The air seemed to have turned fuzzy as my muscles went limp in an amazing languid feeling. Lucas twisted us as we collapsed and crashed down on the pillows, panting and exhausted. He pulled himself out of me and whipped
off the condom, flinging it into the trash can. Then he stretched out beside me, sighing with sounded like deep satisfaction, not a hair on his body touching me.
A good friend had once told me that the one thing you could always depend on reeling a man in, was pretending like you just weren’t into him.
My heart ached for him, because there was some need inside of him he refused to acknowledge that drove him to acquire pleasure by causing pain, and that part of him refused affectionate touch. Even though my body still stung from his touch, at the same time, it sang from it too. “Well, we can cross that off the list.”
“What? Cross what off the list?” His voice was full of confusion, disbelief, and indignation.
I felt like he was still all over my body, his essence lingering on every inch of my skin, the tingling making me want to steep in the feeling. Here, next to him, I was too overwhelmed to get my head on straight. And I had to remember this was a game. I was playing a part.
I rolled to a seated position on the side of the bed slowly, letting the dizziness fade. Once I could focus, I stood and quickly walked to the bathroom, where I locked myself in.
Inside the opulent marble room, I slid down the wall and let hot tears rise to the surface and stream silently down my face. I wasn’t sure why I was crying, couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. Sex with Lucas wasn’t bad. In fact, it was the best sex I’d ever had. Yet something was wrong. I felt it deep inside of me.
A few minutes later, there was a faint knock at the door.
“Ava?” Lucas had given me some time, which I appreciated, but I’d have to face him at some point.
“I need a minute,” I said in a flat, tired tone of voice.
“We should talk.” He rattled the handle.
“I know, just not now. I want a shower.” I sounded like a spoiled brat, but I couldn’t face him, and it was better if he thought I was just that.
“I was hoping we’d have one together.” He sounded disappointed, but how could that be? Why would he want a shower together if he came apart when I touched him?
“Not tonight,” I answered. “Can you use the other bathroom?” Wow, I was really bitchy. What was wrong with me?
Standing, I flicked on the shower, thinking the warmth and time alone would help get my mind back together. My body was sore from his rough treatment, and in the mirror, I was stunned to see red handprints on my ass. The sight of his handprints shot a thrill through me that shocked me so much, my own expression in the mirror was comical.
I shook my head at myself, turning away from my reflection. As I stepped into the shower’s steam, the image of Lucas fucking me against the cold tile, spanking me, nearly had my knees buckling.
I blinked away the image, ashamed to admit that I’d liked — hell, loved — every stroke. The last thing I’d ever do was admit it to Lucas.
I’d always been alert and directed my own moves, and Lucas made me want to give him the control, what he did to me turning my normally rational thoughts into ones that were foreign to me. By the time I reentered the bedroom, I needed to find my equilibrium again.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Lucas
“Please talk to me,” I begged, “I know what you’re going through, and I think we should talk it out. I’m sorry, I should have taken the time to explain more thoroughly. We should’ve discussed your boundaries before we started. I should’ve understood your limits better. Please, I don’t want to have this discussion through a door. I want to see your face, Ava.” The only answer was the sound of shower water splashing against what I knew was her tender ass. I’d really fucked up.
I’d never had loving sex. I’d worship a woman’s body, send her to the moon sexually and dominate the fuck out of her, but holding and touching were out of bounds.
Ava wasn’t from my walk of life. Not just the money and the affluence, but her fortitude and strength were fashioned differently. She was a survivor, a real survivor, not just a debutante playing sex slave.
What I’d done, by not detailing my actions in advance, meant I’d treated her like a slut who wanted me to hurt her. The image flashed through my mind of my hand ricocheting off her smooth ass.
I dropped my head against the closed door. My behavior must have crushed Ava, and she’d barely taken her protective armor off.
“When you’re ready, please come out. I’ll be waiting.” My heart sank as I stepped away from the door. If she wouldn’t talk to me, wouldn’t give me another chance, this would never work.
Why was I so desperate for her to talk to me? Because of the damn competition? Winning, running my uncle’s company paled in comparison to making sure Ava was alright. All I wanted was to make sure I hadn’t hurt her too badly.
The fact was, I had no business running a company with so many souls depending on me to make the right decisions for their well-being. I’d never cared enough to be a good shepherd of it. I was about business and accumulating wealth, had never been about the people behind the business.
I was a selfish son of a bitch.
I knew exactly what I was getting myself into when I agreed to this competition. I also had a pretty good sense of the kind of woman she was right from the start. And I’d done what I wanted to anyway, hoping she’d play on my team.
If I was being honest, I wanted her to love it, love the dominance and the rough fucking. That’s who I was. Those things — rough, dominance — were my signature no matter what walk of life I found myself in. In bed, I made the women I was with come over and over. Women loved the dark bite marks on their breasts, felt honored to possess the marks that proved they were mine. They’d feel me for the next week and come back for more. I was good at this. I knew how to cause pain and pleasure in such an exciting way, the women I’d been with worshiped me.
The sad thing was, what she experienced tonight wasn’t even BDSM — it was just a warm up. And there were so many dimensions to this girl. Given the right training, I thought she’d enjoy some elements of the lifestyle.
Plainly, I hadn’t thought about what I was doing. From the minute she walked into the kitchen, making that incredible meal, wearing that insanely gorgeous dress, I wanted to dominate her and have her under my power. Once I had her under my power, she would never be more incredible than she already was. I’d never admit it to her, but I felt threatened. Nothing I had was going to be enough to keep her interest. To win her.
She wasn’t impressed by money or power. Looks were mildly interesting to her, but if she wanted those all she had to do was look in a mirror. She wanted and needed love. The one thing I didn’t have to offer. Partnership was something I’d never even considered.
In my life, partnership was something I didn’t understand. It was the furthest thing from my perspective of the world. Yet partnership was what had been demanded of me from the very first challenge. I shook my head as I thought of my uncle.
I blew this challenge. I failed.
While she was in the bathroom, I called down to our guide and had Arnica gel and some other things delivered to our room. When she was ready, I’d slather it on the places I’d hurt, and it would give her some ease.
The force of my spankings were meant to last, so no amount of gel would erase them, but I could give her some comfort so at least she could sleep. When the gel, ice, and ice cream were delivered, I went to the other bathroom and showered.
I was waiting for her in an armchair in the bedroom when she came out of the bathroom wearing a fuzzy white robe. She looked rosy-cheeked, scrubbed clean, and as if she’d spent at least some of the time crying.
My heart constricted. I was almost too nervous to offer the first words, as it was more than likely she was about to tell me she was going home. She didn’t need this, and I knew it.
If she stayed, I definitely owed her some triage and a massage. What I feared the most, however, was the fact that this wasn’t even the worst of it. I’d designed challenges that were going to kill it for us. There was no way she’d stay. Tonight was just a pr
elude, nothing more. A taste test to see what she was made of.
I couldn’t remember ever being this nervous. Before tonight, I was in command of every aspect of my life. In this moment though, I felt in command of nothing.
I’d gotten everything I ever wanted by being a hard-ass. I’d worked hard, started my company, succeeded. However, standing right here before me, looking tiny in the fuzzy robe was my greatest challenge, the highest mountain I’d ever climb — Ava. And the last thing she needed me to be was a hard-ass.
She bit down on her lip as she took the seat across from me. Her discomfort showed in the way she swallowed and fidgeted with her fingers.
I was truly a monster.
“I’m sorry…” she said, her gaze on the floor.
Ah fuck, she’s leaving.
My business instincts kicked in.
“No, I’m the one… I’m sorry. I ordered some Arnica — it’ll help with the redness, any bruising.” I was a mess. I could lord over any woman I chose, but the minute something was at stake… Ava had me in knots.
Her pink cheeks reddened more. “It’s who you are. You’ve never lied to me about that. I was wrong to expect… to expect my own reaction to be different.” Her gaze flicked up to my face then to her lap.
“Do you mind if I ask, what you did expect?”
“I just, I’ve always associated inflicting pain, especially a man inflicting pain, with anger and—”
I held my hand out, palm facing her. That was all she needed to say. If she wasn’t into the lifestyle and didn’t crave domination, it was just abuse.
“We need to discuss your experience and how that fits in with what I’ve known, sexually. I think we can bridge this if we communicate.” I stood slowly and went to my knees in front of her chair, not touching her. “I’m going to wager a peace offering, for the moment. This by no means negates your experience, nor does it solve our problem, it’s just… well, an apology.”
Her eyes were huge as she hesitated.
