by Livia Grant
“But…why?”
He smiled, baring teeth. “In case you run again. This time, I’m going to find you.”
The whoosh of air leaving her lungs made her lightheaded, yet she did as he asked. It seemed almost too good to be true that he actually wanted to keep in touch with her after what she’d done.
“My stuff is still in a locker downstairs.”
“Not to worry.” Taking the phone back, he typed quickly, his large hands surprisingly delicate on the device. “You have a text from me waiting, and Elijah said someone will bring our things upstairs before morning.”
Taking her hand, he led her into the opulent bathroom and washed her like she was a child, dragging a warm soapy washcloth between her legs and rinsing her just as carefully. With a fresh cloth, he cleaned away the remnants of her makeup, leaving her to sit on the edge of the soaking tub wrapped in a fluffy towel while he bathed himself.
When they finished, he escorted her to the massive bed, then pressed down on her shoulder to encourage her to sit. “Stay there, Kacy. Don’t make me restrain you.”
He picked up the room phone, keeping his gaze on her as if he thought she’d disobey. It was tempting to grab a robe and leave, yet she couldn’t bring herself to disappoint him again.
“Yes, please,” he said when it was answered. “Bring several bottles of water and…” Giving her a half smile, he added, “Some of those beef Wellington appetizers you served for Roulette. At least a dozen, if you have them, and cut fruit as well.”
Realizing he’d watched her devour a plateful of those things, and fucking remembered, did something to her. She felt like laughing and crying at the same time, and the mix of confusing sensations for so simple a gesture made her want to get on her knees and beg him to keep her.
“Perfect. I’d also like two orders of eggs Benedict, coffee, and juice brought to our suite at nine tomorrow morning as well.” He thanked the staff member and set the phone back in its cradle, then settled on his knees behind her, his large hands kneading the tension from her shoulders. The gentle touch, combined with his warmth against her back, felt so good, and she didn’t want him to stop.
Unfortunately, she had to shoo the elephant out of the room. “Are you mad at me?”
Jafari blew out a breath, tickling the hair on her neck. “No.”
“You should be.”
“I was at first, but you admitted what you’d done and apologized, exactly as I asked you to.” Dropping a kiss to her shoulder, he moved to lean against the headboard, then pulled her into his lap. “Will you tell me why?”
Kacy wasn’t sure if he wanted to know why she’d kept it from him, or the reason she didn’t like to be kissed. Deciding to go with the easy one, she said, “I… I didn’t tell you because it’s stupid, and I didn’t want you to think I was crazy.”
Frowning, he shook his head. “There’s no such thing as a stupid hard limit, chérie. Yours are just as important as any anyone else’s.”
She nodded, sniffing back more tears. “I know. I just… You kissed me and I really wanted it, but I—” She cut herself off, then looked away. “Anyway, I’m sorry. It was inexcusable to keep it from you.”
Reaching across her, he grabbed a box of tissues, then carefully wiped her face. “Would you like to try an experiment?”
“What kind of experiment?” she asked. “And why aren’t you running?”
“Should I be?”
“Who wants a girl… I mean, who wants a partner who won’t kiss them?”
“Ah, but we didn’t try that,” he replied, kissing her nose. “I’ve kissed you, but you haven’t actually kissed me.”
She blinked, then stared at him, unable to resist a small smile. “No, sir, I haven’t.”
He pursed his lips, making her giggle. “Try it, sweetheart.”
Swallowing hard, she gathered up her courage, then leaned close and brushed the barest of kisses over the corner of his mouth.
“There now.” He petted a few curls off her face. “Was that so bad?”
“No.” She put her hand on his cheek and kissed him again, this time making contact with his mouth. Kissing him was nothing like she’d expected.
It was better than she dared imagine.
Jafari
It took every ounce of self-control Jafari had to stop himself from taking more and deepening the painfully sweet kiss. He wanted his little rabbit to take a chance and show him the passionate woman he knew lay under the surface.
Still kissing him, she turned in his lap to straddle him, making him bite back a hiss of need when her core brushed against his erection. Reminding himself to be patient, he pushed a hand between their bodies and thumbed her clit, careful to avoid where he’d pierced her. It would still be sore, and he didn’t want to disturb it any more than necessary.
“Yessss, please.”
As much as he wanted to, he wouldn’t push her farther than she was willing to go. And for that, he needed her verbal consent. “What do you want, Kacy? You have to say the words.”
“Room service!” The words were accompanied by a soft knock, making Jafari sigh and lift her from his lap.
“Your aftercare snack has arrived, my lady,” he murmured, tucking her into bed.
“I’m not hungry.” Pouting, she reached out and caught his hand, then tried to pull him back into bed.
“Behave.” Unwilling to push her, he kissed her forehead, then grabbed a robe from the bathroom. After securing her snack, he returned to bed with his woman.
Feeding her took the edge off his nerves. He liked taking care of Kacy, providing for her, yet couldn’t explain why he felt that way for a woman he barely knew. Perhaps it was her strength mixed with aching vulnerability.
She trusted him enough to tell him a secret she held most dear—something she’d never told anyone else, if he had to guess. He fed her another appetizer, but she refused the next.
Sitting up, she took the tray from him and set it on the nightstand. Her whiskey brown eyes met his and she cupped his cheek. “Will you make love to me like you wanted?”
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes.” She wriggled into his arms, then tilted her head up and kissed him, her tongue dancing along the seam of his lips as if she wanted him to let her in but wasn’t sure how to ask. Her tentative touch, shy and untaught, made him rock hard in seconds.
“Yellow, little rabbit,” he said gently, helping her sit up. “If you keep going, I’m likely to disgrace myself.
She giggled, then kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him tightly. “Sorry,” she whispered, still smiling. “I couldn’t help it.”
He held back a laugh and gave her what he hoped was a stern expression. “Submissives who tease their sadists often get spanked,” he warned.
“Promise?”
“Naughty girl.” Jafari rolled her to her back, then shouldered her legs apart. The heady perfume of her passion filled him to the brim and he lowered his head to her pussy to feast.
He wrapped his hands around her thighs and lifted her, lapping at her center to get every last drop of her liquid arousal. With careful attention to the small bandage covering the piercing on her clit hood, he teased the bundle of nerves until she gasped for air and jerked her hips up to meet his lips.
“Jafari! Oh, fuck!”
Although he wanted to eat her pussy for hours, he wasn’t going to last much longer. With any other woman, he’d have had more control but even the bedding rubbing against his rigid shaft was about to send him over the edge. He teased her with a fingertip, then thrust inside, relishing her shriek of pleasure.
“Come for me,” he ordered, adding a second finger to her sopping wet channel.
Her body quivered, arching tautly like a drawn bowstring. Eyes wide and unseeing, she spasmed in his arms, jerking uncontrollably as she climaxed for him. Skin flushed pink, she panted, her whimpering breaths sending another surge of need into his balls.
Crawling up her body
, he dropped several kisses on her collarbone, then reached for a condom from the crystal bowl on the nightstand.
“Let me.” Kacy sat up and took the foil packet from his hand, then tore it open. Her eyes slumberous and dark with blown pupils, she eased the latex down his shaft, her small hands teasing as she smoothed it into place.
“Give me a color,” he murmured, settling between her thighs.
“I’m always green for you.” She sank her hands into his hair, then pulled him close and touched her lips to his. “Kiss me.”
Instead of giving her what she’d asked for, he teased her, placing kisses everywhere but her lips. Kissing was new to her and he needed to see if she wanted it badly enough to take it. They had plenty of time to work out the dynamics later.
He didn’t think Kacy had completely overcome her aversion. The reason behind it wouldn’t have gone away just because of the intimacies they’d shared, but it was good enough. Now that he understood the problem, he could help her with it. He’d even find her a kink-friendly therapist if she wanted additional help.
“Please,” she whispered. “I need you now.”
“Well, since you begged so nicely…” He hooked her thigh with one arm, then eased himself inside her welcoming body.
“Yessss.” She wrapped her free leg around his hips, opening herself to him, then pulled his head down and kissed him, her tongue demanding entry into his mouth.
Kacy was more than worth the interminable wait. Her channel tightened, seeming to pull him deeper inside with every delicious stroke. A shard of electric need traveled down his spine, making him grit his teeth against the urge to come. He refused to spill like a teenager with his first lover.
Grabbing the edges of the condom, he pulled out and sat back on his knees. Her kisses coupled with the heated clench of her pussy were going to be the death of him. Even looking at the bandages on her belly made him itch to put more needles into her skin.
“Turn over,” he said, his voice thick and rough. “Hands and knees.”
She let out a squeak of surprise, then scrambled to obey, nearly kicking him in the face. The unblemished expanse of her back was almost worse, and he closed his eyes against the image of the ribbon corset he wanted to pierce into her skin.
Cane marks crossed her magnificent ass and he squeezed them, dragging a pained hiss from her. Lining his cock up with her swollen opening, he thrust inside, then grabbed a handful of her silky blonde hair.
Her back arched against the pressure and she cried out, slamming her hips against him.
“Good girl,” he husked. “Touch your clit. Pinch it hard, but don’t you dare come.”
“Oh, God.” She whimpered, but obeyed, pushing her hand between her legs. Her body quivered and she keened, the low whine like his favorite music.
“Harder,” he barked. “Make it hurt.”
“Jafari, please! I can’t hold it!”
“You will,” he warned, lowering himself to reach between her legs. Grabbing her hand, he pressed harder against her clit, making her rub herself. “They’re probably still cleaning up the club. I could take you downstairs and chain you to the whipping post. Everyone will know what happens to naughty girls who come without permission.”
As he expected, she clamped down on his cock and screamed. The climax rocketing through her body was the only impetus he needed to let himself go. Tightening his grip on her hair, he pounded into her, fucking them both into mindless bliss.
Lowering his head, he bit down on her shoulder, hoping to leave a mark. She cried out breathlessly yet rocked her hips back to accept his brutal thrusts, while the fragrance of vanilla, salt, and feminine passion filled his nose. It was a scent uniquely hers, and one he couldn’t forget.
His balls tightened, the sting of incipient climax making him still inside her in an effort to hold back for a few scant seconds. Kacy bucked in his arms one last time, her sweet pussy clamping him in a muscular vise that tore a shout from his throat as he exploded inside her.
He had enough presence of mind to roll to his side before he crushed her, then pulled her to his chest, harsh breaths tearing his lungs. Slowing his breathing to match hers, he nuzzled her hair and wrapped her tightly in his arms.
“Naughty girl,” he whispered. “You came without permission.”
Chapter 7
Kacy
Kacy let out a tired giggle and shifted her weight in an attempt to burrow into his hot body. “You’ll have to carry me downstairs and prop me up for punishment, sir.”
“Mmm.” He buried his face in her hair and tightened his arms around her, nearly squeezing the air from her lungs before loosening his hold. “I’ll spank you in the morning. I’m afraid I’ll be unconscious until then.”
“Unconscious sounds good.”
Releasing her, he sat up and scraped a hand through his locs, then dealt with the condom. “Alas, there’s no rest for the wicked. We aren’t finished with your aftercare.”
She turned over to look at him, her vision slightly blurry with exhaustion. How did she feel?
Sore, tired, maybe a slight headache from crying… But content. And safe. Kacy hadn’t felt that way in so long, she almost didn’t recognize it.
“I’m…” She rubbed her eyes and smiled, letting them close. “I’m actually good, sir. I’d really like to sleep though. Can I be the little spoon?”
His gaze softened and he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Of course,” he said, reaching over to dim the lights. The expensive bed barely moved when he settled in behind her and tugged her into his muscular chest.
Within moments, he was snoring softly behind her, his warm breaths moving the curls on the back of her neck. It was a comforting sound, like the world’s best white noise machine, and she smiled, closing her eyes.
She’d never had trouble falling asleep before. Her car was pretty comfortable, and the back seat folded down into a cozy nest that hid her from prying eyes. Lumpy couches and gritty floors were no problem either.
Yet sleep eluded her for a long time as doubts crept in to plague her. What was she doing here in this comfortable bed with an amazing man who had shocked the hell out of her by not kicking her to the curb? Kacy tried to wriggle free, but his long arms tightened as if even in sleep, he knew she was about to run.
Sighing, she let herself relax. Her clothes were probably still on Black Light’s floor, meaning she’d have to steal a robe if she wanted to escape. She might be broke and homeless, but she wasn’t about to take anything that didn’t belong to her.
She finally managed to doze, but a soft noise in the hall brought her to alertness. After almost six months of sleeping in her car, her instincts were honed to a sharp edge. Jafari was still out cold and had finally relaxed his hold on her.
Easing from the bed, she grabbed a robe from the bathroom and crept to the door, then stretched up to peer through the peephole. Nobody was there, but she caught a glimpse of something on the floor. As quietly as possible, she opened it, finding a white cardboard box, along with Jafari’s play bag.
The box contained their clothes, clean and folded in a neat stack, as well as her purse and phone. After carrying everything inside, she swiped it awake to check the time.
It rang in her hand and she nearly dropped it.
“Shit!”
Hurrying into the bathroom, she answered it without looking at the number, desperate to silence it before it woke Jafari.
“Hello?”
“Is this Ms. Kacy Coleman?” a male voice asked.
“Yes, who is this?”
“Good morning, Ms. Coleman. My name is Arthur Pearson, and I represent your uncle, Gerald Richards.”
Her stomach roiling, Kacy swallowed in an attempt to keep from throwing up. “Why are you calling me? I haven’t spoken to him in almost twenty years.”
“Mr. Richards is suffering early-stage Alzheimer’s, along with some other health problems, and there are some complications with his living arrangements.”
“And?” She tried to be polite, but it was five in the fucking morning, and she had zero interest in the asshole who had been a step away from sexually abusing her.
“He said to give you a message.”
“Fine. What is it?”
“He said to tell you that your cousin Macie is having her seventh birthday soon, and it would be a shame for you to miss it.”
Kacy dropped to her knees, the fierce ache in her chest taking her breath away at the thought of that predator having access to her cousin. Macie had lost both her parents in a car accident but was supposed to be living with her paternal grandmother.
“What does he have to do with Macie?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“That’s one of the complications I mentioned. Mr. Richards is her guardian, but—”
Oh, hell no.
“Tell the old bastard I’ll be there in two days.”
Jafari
It was probably bad form for him to eavesdrop on Kacy’s private conversation, but he couldn’t help himself. His little rabbit was going to run again, but it seemed as if she was running to something rather than from him.
Judging by her last comment, she wasn’t at all happy about it either, although he’d only heard one side of the conversation. Moving swiftly, he got back into bed, feigning sleep when she exited the bathroom. Cracking his eyes the slightest bit, he watched her dress.
Dark circles shadowed her eyes, evidence of her exhaustion. She was too intent on her escape to pay him any mind. To his surprise, she pulled his wallet from his play bag and removed the cash, but none of his credit cards.
She grabbed a pen and notepad and scribbled hurriedly, then laid the note and his wallet on the coffee table. When she turned to look at him, he shut his eyes, trying to decide if he wanted to stop her.
