Dangerous Ties

by Devyn Quinn

  Swallowing back a moan, anger suddenly welled up inside her. Like hell she would! The arrogant asshole had no right to assume that a few well-placed caresses would send her willingly swooning into his arms.

  “Interesting, my ass!” she spat. “I’ll just lay there and spread my legs.” Her grin was little more than a gritting of her teeth. “Should be like fucking a dead woman.”

  Jackson grinned back. He glanced down toward his crotch. Those fitted slacks he wore hardly concealed the fact that he was impressively endowed, even when flaccid. “I guarantee that you won’t be still very long. I happen to know for a fact that you have a very virgin asshole and I have a very large cock. Going to be a tight fit, but I believe I can manage every last inch.”

  Nikki gulped. “I won’t enjoy it.” The idea of anal sex definitely didn’t turn her on. She’d rather die a thousand more times with a thousand more bullets in her guts than have a dick shoved up her ass.

  “This is hell. You’re not supposed to.” He smirked. His burning gaze slid over her like a caress. “But I will enjoy it. Thoroughly and completely.”

  Nikki clenched her jaw and wrestled fury down. Right now she’d like to wipe that smirk off his face with a Louisville slugger. She forced herself to stop trembling, to remain focused. Letting him intimidate her wasn’t going to work. Catching a breath, her pulse sped up a notch. She made a decision right then and there. He wasn’t fucking around with her as long as she had two arms and two legs to fight with. The one thing she hated most was being controlled—by anyone or anything. She might have fallen, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still land on her feet. The number one rule in her life was to look out for herself first.

  No one else ever had.

  When you have everything to lose, doing nothing wasn’t an option. She’d never really believed in fate, that doing good deeds would, in turn, beget any blessings. Living on the streets of Vegas since the tender age of fifteen, she’d learned early that her life wasn’t going to be an easy one. She’d also learned the only person she could lean on for sure was herself. Life hadn’t given her a free ride or an easy pass.

  She’d gotten herself into this jam. Somehow, she’d get herself out. Mental gears shifted, going into overdrive. Waiting for a break to escape would be the wrong thing to do.

  She was going to have to make one.

  Jackson Sullivan was a big man. No doubt about that. On any given day he could probably overpower her and twist her into a fucking pretzel. She’d only have one chance to get away.

  Hand sinking behind one leg, Nikki slowly clenched her fingers into a tight fist. Focusing every ounce of pent-up fury into her hand, she cocked back her arm and let her fist fly. She caught him square in the face with a roundhouse blow, knocking him right back on his ass.

  Righting himself with a hand against the floor, Jackson shook his head. Blood dripped from his mouth, courtesy of a nice fat split lip. He pressed curious fingers to the flow, then visually explored the damage. His tongue flicked a fingertip, tasting. He tilted his head and smiled. “Not bad at all.”

  Without warning he moved into a feral crouch, then gracefully rose to his full height. With a slow and deliberate move, he swiped his hand over his mouth. The damage she’d inflicted melted away.

  “Oh shit.” Nikki scrambled back on all fours, somehow making it to her feet just as he lunged for her and missed. She’d damn near cracked her knuckles on his face and it didn’t seem to have affected him in the slightest. She’d taken her best shot and blown it. Fighting her way out of this mess clearly wasn’t going to do one bit of good. He’d shooed away the damage the way one would a pesky fly—with no trouble at all.

  She skittered around the bed, putting as much distance between them as physically possible. There wasn’t a lot of room to run.

  Hooking his hand around one of the tall bedposts, Jackson eased himself around the bed. “I take it this means we’re doing things the hard way.”

  No shit, Jack. But not if Nikki could do anything about it.

  Feet don’t fail me now.

  Never minding that she was buck-ass bare, Nikki bolted toward the door. Fuck her clothes. Fuck the money. She was leaving. Right now.

  Jackson sped after her, closing the distance between them with shocking speed. He slammed the door shut before she could open it wide enough to slip through. “Plans haven’t changed, my dear. You aren’t going anywhere.”

  Nikki tried to slip though his grabbing hands. Swinging around, she tossed off another roundhouse blow.

  Jackson neatly sidestepped her flying fist. His hand shot up, fingers closing around her wrist like an iron band. “Once was fun. Twice is tedious.”

  Nikki swore viciously and twisted out of his grasp. She barreled into him full speed, trying to knock him down again.

  Again, no dice.

  Jackson ducked and came up under her flying limbs. Huge hands cinched her waist. He lifted her off the floor with no effort whatsoever. “You are a handful, darling,” he commented, not a bit out of breath.

  Hefted like a doll weighing just ounces, Nikki couldn’t get her feet under her to gain any sort of leverage to kick the living shit out of him. Just let her get one foot near those balls of his, and she’d punt them like a Sunday kicker going for the extra points.

  She wiggled and squirmed, but she simply couldn’t break away. Jackson was a solidly built man, all muscle under warm flesh. She couldn’t inflict any damage.

  He hauled her, kicking and screaming, toward the bed. Tossing her naked body onto the mattress, the full impact of his weight came down on top of her. Nikki made a final valiant effort to scratch out his eyes. He easily captured her wrists, pinning them down above her head.

  Stretched out under him, Nikki felt every sinewy inch of his body overpowering hers. She gasped, shocked that the fight was over so quickly. What had seemed to take hours had lasted mere seconds. Skin hot and flushed, her breath came in ragged bursts as she twisted helplessly under him.

  Armored like the warrior in the prize of conquest, Jackson smiled down at her. “Let’s play.”

  3

  Nikki wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she liked the feel of Jackson on top of her. Sleek. Powerful. Every contour of his male body molded against her softer, more pliant frame. His chest felt like a brick wall, her breasts flattened against him save for the two hard nubs that insisted on betraying her arousal.

  Thoroughly restrained, she felt deliciously vulnerable. Curiously, she liked the feeling being captured entailed. That thought alone had her moist and slick between the legs. Not that she could help it. The solid ridge of his penis pressed against her flat belly. Her fingers ached to feel the ripple of his muscles.

  Moving on instinct alone, Nikki attempted to align her body with his. Maybe she could turn this thing to her advantage. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d used her body to cut a deal or get herself out of hot water.

  Catching her not-so-subtle move, Jackson eased his weight off her hips. “Not so fast, my dear,” he warned. “I’m the one who’s in control here.”

  Nikki bit down on her lower lip. Men were usually willing to take advantage of what she offered. Remembering his threat to ream her tender rear, she winced. Guess there’s no chance he’ll skip that part. “What are you going to do?”

  Jackson gave a piranha’s smile. “I’m going to do the best that I can.” His grip on her wrists tightened. He gyrated his hips into her, giving her a little taste of what was to come. “To fuck you thoroughly and completely in every position I can think of.”

  Senses heating with desire, Nikki moaned as carnal hunger roared. She twisted her wrists against his tight grip. “You don’t have to force me,” she breathed. “I’m willing….”

  “Willing isn’t enough,” he murmured. “Part of submission is pain, the penance you must pay for sinning. Embrace it and it will cleanse you. Reject it and it will damn you.”

  “I-I don’t understand.”

  “Our time together w
ill determine how you spend eternity, Nikki. But only you can decide if you will be damned to eternal pleasure”—his fingers dug deeper into soft skin—“or writhe in the grip of perpetual agony.”

  His words offered no reassurance, nor, she realized, were they meant to. If there’d been a time to get scared, really scared, that time had clearly arrived.

  She winced. “Does it have to hurt a lot?” she asked softly.

  He winked. “Only if you want it to.”

  She cleared her throat. “Listen, Jack, I don’t want it to hurt at all, if you don’t mind.”

  He chuckled. “I do mind, and it will hurt.” His voice darkened with emphasis, almost dripping with menace.

  Anger simmered anew. “You son-of-a-bitch.” Her voice was shaky but venomous. She started to struggle again, bucking under him in an attempt to break free.

  He easily kept his grip. “You are a feisty one, Nikki. I knew you would be.”

  Nikki bared her teeth. “Fuck what you think you know about me.” She wiggled harder, succeeding in squirming halfway out from under his weight.

  Jackson easily recaptured her. “I’m so glad you’ve got a bit of spirit to you, my dear. So many souls come through here weeping and gnashing their teeth. It’s quite refreshing to have a woman who really enjoys fighting damnation.”

  She glared at him through slitted eyes. “Oh, I’ll fight you, all right. I’ll scream all the way through it.”

  “That sounds about right,” he returned cheerily. “Shall we get started?”

  “Fuck off and die!”

  He grinned. “The dying is already done and the fucking is about to begin. We just need a few things to get us started properly.”

  That didn’t sound promising at all.

  “Whatever you’ve got in mind—” She started to backpedal, “Let’s not and say we did.”

  His grip tightened. “How could we not when we’re so close.” He ground his hips in another nice, slow circle. Trapped in the confines of his tight slacks, his cock strained for release. “First I’ve got to do something about those hands of yours. I prefer to give rather than receive.”

  Nikki shivered. Damn, if he kept that up much longer she’d go right over the edge, whether she wanted to or not. “How generous,” she groused tightly.

  “Thank you.” Using one arm to keep her wrists pinioned down, Jackson rummaged around the headboard with his other hand. He pawed a length of rope out. “Ah, there it is.”

  Trying to crane her head up to see what he had, Nikki felt herself go stone-cold inside. “Oh, you’re not—” she started to say.

  Jackson interrupted, “Oh, I am.” He fingered his treasure. “And this is going to help me.” He let it go. Wriggling with an unholy animation, the rope slithered toward her left wrist.

  Her eyes widened in disbelief. Now she understood.

  Nikki started to flail frantically. “No, no, no, I don’t think so,” she cried.

  Jackson lifted her arm off the bed. “The lady doth protest too much,” he countered dryly.

  She tried to evade the unholy thing. “No, don’t!”

  No luck. Jackson held on.

  Caught in the grip of disbelief, Nikki watched the rope circle her wrist. One, two, three times, before knotting itself securely. Its coarse weave chafed, tightening uncomfortably against her tender skin. The other end of the rope curled out, securing itself around the bedpost.

  “Oh, that’s just the way I wanted you,” Jackson noted, pleased. “Good and tight too. Don’t want you getting loose in the middle of something important.”

  Nikki was far from pleased. “This isn’t submission,” she babbled, “it’s rape.” She kept struggling, but to no avail. As the first rope tightened to a barely tolerable degree, Jackson produced a second length out of nowhere. Within seconds both wrists were securely bound.

  She twisted against the ropes keeping her arms so cruelly locked above her head. It felt as steely as barbed wire. No bonds of silk for her. He had complete access to every part of her body and would clearly take advantage of every exposed inch.

  Jackson rolled off her, stretching out his long, lean body. Propping himself up on one elbow, he traced a slow circle around her left nipple. Studying her naked form, a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “If I wanted to rape you, I’d have been finished and smoking a cigarette twenty minutes ago.”

  Nikki’s back arched reflexively. Against her will, desire warmed her blood. Damn it! She didn’t want to respond to his touch in any way.

  She clenched her eyes shut. I won’t, she silently vowed. Let’s see how much he likes a dead woman playing dead.

  It took barely one beat of her heart to find out.

  A warm palm settled on her breast. A thumb brushed back and forth over her hard nipple with an arousing pressure. “Feel anything?” The weight of his hand was strong and sure.

  Shaking her head, Nikki stubbornly kept her eyes closed. “No,” she lied, “nothing.”

  She heard him say, “Then I am doing something wrong. Let’s see…” She felt him lean forward, capture the pulsing bud in his mouth to suckle the hard nubbin.

  The warmth of his mouth immediately penetrated to the blood in her veins, sending shivers up her spine. The sensations traveled through her, sending carnal signals all the way to her clit. She groaned out her frustration.

  Jackson nipped each quivering peak in its turn, his tongue making warm, wet tracks around each pink aureole. “I feel a thaw coming on.” He rolled her sensitive skin between his fingers, all the while suckling, then pinching her pencil-hard nubs.

  A tiny moan worked it way up her throat, slipping past her lips before she thought to stop it. Oh God! What he was doing to her felt so good. Pleasure surged up inside of her, the erotic sensations streaming through her body without abandon.

  A disturbing turn of events. How the hell was she supposed to resist him if her body kept responding to his touch?

  Gulping down a breath of air, Nikki opened her eyes. Their gazes met, and locked. “Damn you,” she choked out in a strangled voice.

  “Yes, I am.” Jackson lazily stroked his palm down the flat plane of her belly. “And so are you.” Moving lower, his hand brushed through the curls of her Venus mound, then back up to her navel. He drilled a finger into its shallow depth, a hint of what he intended to do to her sex.

  Her stomach fluttered when his hand skimmed back down for further exploration. “Why are you doing this?” She clenched her hands, fighting to keep control. Giving up her body willingly was one thing, having it taken was another.

  “Because I enjoy it.” Jackson’s hand urged her legs to part. His palm came to rest on the inside of her thigh. “You, on the other hand, might not.”

  Mouth going bone-dry, Nikki swallowed hard. Her stomach rolled with cramps. No doubt he’d had a lot of time and a lot of damned souls to practice his techniques on. She couldn’t say a word, only gulp and wonder what was about to go down with that hand of his between her legs.

  She was about to find out.

  “Ah, found it.” Grinning, Jackson lifted his hand from between her legs. A set of nipple clamps with serrated teeth hung on a braided silver chain. “Know what these are?”

  Nikki slowly nodded. Things seemed to appear as he needed them. Jolly.

  He dangled them above her. “Administered correctly, pain can enhance sexual sensation tenfold. It puts you on the edge, makes you more aware of what your body is truly capable of.”

  Nikki’s vision blurred. She blinked, concentrating on holding on to her composure. If he expected her to beg, plead for mercy, she wasn’t. She might be afraid, chilled to the bone inside, but she didn’t have to show it.

  I can’t stop this….

  Further thought fled from her mind when Jackson lowered his head, nuzzling her breast. He sucked the tip into a hard little peak. The first clamp followed.

  Nikki grunted at the tight pinch around her tender nipple. Vicious little spikes invaded the sensitive bud
bundled with thousands of nerve endings. She felt every one. A tiny sound escaped her throat as the unexpected sensation of pure carnal delight blazed straight down.

  Jackson dangled the other clamp above her other breast, letting it brush the tip.

  Her nipple responded instantly, coming to a nice hard peak. The sight delivered a hard kick to her libido. Her core throbbed with sudden appetite, wetting the insides of her thighs.

  He applied the second clamp. Its serrated teeth bit hard, sending a spike through her chest and down her spine. The pain lasted only seconds, quickly settling into a pleasurable tingle. A pulse of heat settled into both nipples, causing her clit to respond by telegraphing needs all its very own.

  Nikki failed to prevent her moan or the shiver tearing through her. Beads of perspiration drenched her as sexual hunger rose fiercely inside, demanding satisfaction. She panted fiercely between little shocks of electricity through her sensitive nipples.

  Jackson unexpectedly tugged on the chain suspended between her breasts, pulling her nipples rigid at the same time. He made no effort to be gentle, sensing through her reaction that she wanted to be completely mastered. “Makes you want to come, doesn’t it?”

  Unable and unwilling to deny the needs of her body, Nikki winced briefly but didn’t protest. Hands clenching into fists, she unconsciously fought the ropes holding her wrists. A sensation of burning shimmied down her arms. She welcomed the pain. Rode it like a wave. “God, yes…” The rest of her sentence became an incoherent babble. A fine madness ensued as the pain delivered the intended results. Ravening energy buffeted her from all sides. Climax loomed just beyond the horizon of her senses.

  Close…She was so close she ached.

  Jackson let go of the chain, dashing her back to earth. “No, you don’t,” he warned. “You may not come until I allow it.”

  Losing the moment, Nikki collapsed back against the mattress. The metal clamps burrowed into her nipples like two molten sets of fangs, branding her forever.

  Nikki groaned under her breath, exhaling on a shaft of delightful agony. Fighting to still her racing pulse, she forced herself to take in air. Perspiration drenched her trembling body. “I was almost there.”