Lucent spanked me one final time, but that wasn't it. He gripped my ass hard, squeezing it in his hand. His fingers curved towards my hips, holding me tight, and he pressed himself against me. I felt the smooth fabric of his pants tight against my bare ass and the backs of my thighs. He pressed his other hand against my stomach, then thrust upwards, grabbing one of my breasts. Pulling me away from the tree, he squeezed me tight against him, crushing my body to his, my back to his front.
His lips crashed against my neck, kissing and sucking hard. I gasped and squirmed, but I didn't try to get away. Oh, no, I moved closer to him. Where were we? I knew exactly where we were, and honestly I didn't even care. I wanted him to spank me more. I wanted him to be rough with me. I wanted to...
"I want you," Lucent said. "Can you feel that, Miss Tanner?" he asked, grinding his hips against mine, forcing me to feel the bulge in the front of his pants.
"Yes," I whimpered. "I can feel it."
"That's what you do to me," he said. "That's what you've always done to me. You, Miss Tanner. No one else. And that is why you are mine, do you understand?"
I nodded and tried to speak, but before I could, he swiftly moved his hand upwards, releasing my breast so he could press two fingers into my mouth. He kept his thumb beneath my chin, holding me.
"You are mine," he said. "And because of that, I will never let anything happen to you. I will protect you, Miss Tanner. Forever. That is not only a promise, it is a fact. You are not mine just because you are attractive. You are not mine just because I enjoy watching you squirm and writhe whenever we partake in my BDSM things, as you so often refer to them. You are not mine because I want you to be mine, Miss Tanner. You are mine because I need you to be mine. I would never hurt you. I will never let anyone else hurt you, either."
I melted in his arms. My body, my soul, my entire existence. Lucent kissed my neck softly and I tilted my chin towards him. He removed his fingers from my mouth, kissing up towards my cheek. I moved more, and he kissed further, until our lips met. Yes, perhaps we were um... well, I was standing out in the open on a dirt path with no panties on and my pants lowered to my knees, but it didn't really matter right now. We kissed like that, soft and sweet and kind and loving.
Lucent slipped away from me, bending low to grab the waist of my pants. He pulled them up and zipped and buttoned them for me. I spun around, staring at him with wide, glistening eyes. Then I pounced him. I jumped up and he caught me and I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. He held me like that, lifting me higher, hands beneath my butt. I kissed his forehead, then his nose, both his eyes, his cheeks, his lips...
What we were doing? We were escaping, of course. We were running. From the police. From life. From everything. We were fleeing like criminals, planning on going on the run internationally, hiding on an exotic island. Yes, we were doing that, but right now we were also kissing, and I thought that was the most important thing.
I pressed my nose to Lucent's during a slight break between our lips pressing together. I smiled, and he smiled, too.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked.
"Do you really want to know?" he said.
"Yes," I answered, nodding. My nose moved up and down against his, and it made me laugh.
"There's a playground right over there," he said.
He pointed with his eyes and I instinctively turned around to look. Oh, yes, there was a playground, wasn't there? It wasn't much, really. A swingset, and some slides, plus one of those domed jungle gyms.
"Is someone there?" I asked. I hoped not! I didn't want someone to see us.
"No," Lucent said. "It's just us. But..." He trailed off intentionally, grinning at me.
I looked back at him, confused. "But what?"
"I would like nothing more than to rest for a moment with you on the swings."
"Together?" I asked, scrunching up my brow. "On the same swing, or different swings?"
"What would you prefer?" he asked.
"Same swing," I said, matter-of-fact. "I will sit in your lap."
He laughed. "Shall we, then?"
"I don't think this is a good idea, though," I said. "We're supposed to be running away, you know?"
"Yes, but this is the best spot, isn't it? No one will ever think to look for us here."
In a completely illogical sort of way, he made a lot of sense. I doubted anyone would think to look for us on the swings in a small playground in the middle of the city. It wasn't exactly an ideal hiding spot, which possibly made it the best hiding spot? I wasn't entirely sure how that worked.
"I'm not getting down, though," I said. "You're going to have to carry me over there like this."
"Oh am I?" he asked. "Are you defying me again, Miss Tanner?"
"No," I said. "I'm not. I'm not defying you, because you want to do it. I know you do."
He smirked, amused. "You're lucky you know me well, Miss Tanner."
"I am lucky," I said. "You're lucky, too, though. We're both lucky."
"Indeed," he said, giving me a quick kiss. "I agree with you completely."
***
Lucent carried me like that, both of us face to face, down the small dirt path. When we reached the clearing with the playground, he stepped off our weathered and beaten trail, walking through a pair of trees on either side of us, and onto the grass leading to the swings. I clung to him tight, my cheek to his shoulders, feeling his warmth and his strength.
I loved when Lucent held me. I liked when he picked me up and carried me off. Usually we just did this in private, and generally speaking it ended with, um... well, we ended up naked more often than not, and on a bed, or the floor, or...
I liked when he squeezed me. My arms or my wrists, even my thighs. I liked when he pried my legs apart even when I pretended to resist him. No, this currently wasn't that, but it reminded me of those situations a little bit. Not exactly, because we weren't about to do anything sexual, but the comfort and safety continued to exist, no matter what. The protectiveness, and obsession, the need and lust, and also the love. There was all of that right now, whether this situation was sexual or not, and I wanted to relish in the sensation of it.
We arrived at the swings. Lucent turned to sit in one, still holding me up. I lifted my legs to fit between his sides and the chains of the swing. It was somewhat of a tight squeeze, especially considering these weren't exactly made for adults, but we seemed to do alright. Lucent pushed off with his legs and sent us on our way, swinging back and forth.
"This is silly," I said to him.
"Yes, possibly," he answered with a smile. "Sometimes it's good to relax and do something silly. Life doesn't always have to be serious, now does it?"
"No," I said. "I know."
Lucent kicked with his feet again, keeping us moving. It was somewhat difficult to swing regularly like this, but we managed to maintain a nice and steady pace. Calm and relaxing, back and forth, almost hypnotizing in a way, like a magician and his pocket watch. I breathed in deep, then sighed, nuzzling into his neck.
"Let's just stay here," I said. "Let's swing forever."
He laughed. "Forever? That's quite a long time."
"You'd think so, but I don't think it is. I can't imagine doing anything with you for forever, Lucent. It doesn't seem like a long enough amount of time."
He laughed again. "I think you're exaggerating a little bit, Miss Tanner."
"I might be," I said. "What are we going to do when we're in Aruba?"
"I'm partial to laying on the beach," Lucent said. "I also enjoy swimming. The ocean is nice and warm all throughout the year. There's a calm breeze covering the island constantly, too. It's never too hot, nor too cold."
"Like a bowl of porridge," I added, partly interrupting him.
"If anywhere was a fairytale, I'd say Aruba had a good chance of it," Lucent said with a grin. "It's pleasant, anyways. It's my ideal vacation spot."
"Is that why you haven't told anyone about going there before
?" I asked.
"Possibly," he said. "I appreciate the privacy it affords me. I enjoy being able to relax and forget about my day to day affairs on occasion."
"You always seem so stiff and serious, though," I said. "I... um... I didn't mean that in a bad way. I mean, I know it sounds bad, but I meant at work. Did you know people find you intimidating?"
He smirked. "I daresay, Miss Tanner, you're one of the first who hasn't."
"That can't be true."
"I suppose it's not entirely true, but you do tend to ignore my more rugged and gruff aspects."
"It's because you can't hide who you are from me, Lucent. You can't and I won't let you."
"Quite domineering now, aren't you?" he asked. We were slowing to a stop, but he pushed us onwards again, sending us swinging back and forth once more.
"I spanked Elle," I said, suddenly confessing it to him. "I used a riding crop on her, too."
I imagined Lucent blinking, disturbed, but I didn't have a chance to see if he did that, or see any of what he looked like. Embarrassed, and more than a bit mortified, I buried my face in his neck, hiding.
"You... what?" he asked, sounding conflicted.
"I don't know," I said. "I did BDSM things to her, like you do to me." Oh God, that sounded horrible, didn't it? "Not, um... we didn't have sex or anything."
"So you're saying," Lucent said, "you decided to discipline one of my former submissives in a way she likely found quite pleasant, and you're telling me this... why?"
"I just thought you should know!" I said, huffy. "I didn't want to hide it from you. I wanted to be open. I was very angry at you, and also at her, and I... I don't know if it was BDSM, Lucent. I'm not sure what I was doing. I wanted to hurt her. I didn't, or I don't think I did. I tried to stay calm, like how you always seem so calm. Is that how it is? Do you feel like hurting people? Is that why you enjoy it?"
"No," he said promptly. "Of course not. It's not about hurting someone, Miss Tanner. I believe you of all people should understand that."
"I do, but... then that means I was mean to her, doesn't it?"
"You certainly weren't nice," he said. "Though I'm sure Laura has no qualms with what happened. She's somewhat of a masochist, if I'm being honest."
"Er... what?" I knew what a masochist was, but to be honest I couldn't quite wrap my head around it. There were actually people like that?
"She enjoys pain. The more painful, the more she enjoys it. That's the simple definition, at least. It's not actually like that, or not quite. It's a long story, Miss Tanner."
"Is she trying to forget something?" I asked. It was the only thing I could think of.
"You're far too perceptive for your own good," he said. "Why would you say that?"
"It seemed like it made sense. It's like if you bite your lip when you hurt yourself, to distract yourself from the pain with a different source of pain that you can control."
"Yes, correct," Lucent said, making no move to explain any further.
"So you cared about her, then," I said. "You said you didn't, but you did, right? At least a little bit?"
"I didn't love her, if that's what you're asking."
"I don't want you to have loved her, I just want you to have cared, Lucent," I said. Maybe I said it a little too forcefully, but it made sense in my mind. "You make yourself sound like a monster, like you're some uncaring, inconsiderate, and terrible brute, except you aren't. I know you, and you aren't. I've known you for quite some time now, and you seem to do this a lot, too."
"Are you sure you aren't preferring to ignore the simple facts?" he asked with a sly smirk.
"You're antagonizing me now, and I don't like it," I said. "I'm going to tell you right now that if you're going to act like a Beast, then I will be your Beauty, and I'm not going to let you hide away in some French chateau like a villain."
"No, of course not. We're going to hide away on an exotic island instead." His expression remained dreadfully serious and I really had no idea how he did it.
I leaned back, glaring at him. I glared harder, pushing my face towards his, touching his nose with mine. He stared back at me, impassive and confident. Lucent was somewhat cocky sometimes, but not in a rude, belligerent way. He just looked very cocky, with his clenched jaw and steady breathing. Everything about him spoke towards knowing exactly what he was doing, which I supposed was more than true in most cases. Lucent had a knack for keeping himself composed.
I huffed at him, breaking my gaze and jerking my head to the side so I didn't have to look at him anymore.
"Did you really just do that?" he asked. "Did you huff at me?"
"I did," I said. "I huffed."
He laughed. "You're not good at pretending you're angry, Elise."
"You're not good at pretending you're a jerk, Lucent," I said. "Also, you just called me Elise. You gave yourself away."
"Isn't that your name?" he asked, feigning innocence.
"Shut up," I said. I turned back and stuck my tongue out at him; and for good measure I licked his nose. I thought that should get some sort of reaction from him, but, no. He just stared at me, the tip of his nose glistening slightly.
"I'm sorry," I said. "Not for licking your nose. I'm sorry for spanking Elle."
"Apology accepted," he said. "Please try not to make a habit of it."
"Unlike some people, I don't want to spank other people, Lucent," I countered.
"You have no idea, Miss Tanner," he said, nearly growling. "It's very true. I would like nothing more than to tie you up and spank you right this instant. And then fuck you into an ecstatic mess. Unfortunately it's not possible currently."
"Very unfortunate," I said. "I think I would have enjoyed that."
He grinned, predatory. And then he stuck out his tongue and licked the tip of my nose.
"You licked me!" I shouted, laughing at him. Then I quieted, because, oh God, we were sort of maybe not supposed to be loud and argumentative right now. I mean, maybe it wouldn't matter, but it just seemed like we shouldn't cause a scene. Not that there was anyone here to see it, but...
"I did," he said, unapologetic. And then... "I'm sorry, too, Miss Tanner."
I knew he wasn't talking about licking me. It was much more than that. It didn't really need to be explained, but it needed to be said. There was a finality to it, and we'd talked about this before, but this time was different. I'd opened up to him, and told him about what I did, and he... he did the same in his own way. Different, though. We were different, but similar; comparable while contrasting.
I was sorry, and then Lucent was sorry, and that was it. I accepted it, and I accepted him, and he did the same for me. I knew this, and I understood it. It was the part of our relationship that I liked the most.
Companionable silence, comfort and closeness. No words, just ideas. A gentle touch. A soft whisper of nothingness. Quiet, calming gestures and sounds. Even the sound of us breathing, laying cuddled close to one another, could speak volumes. There was meaning in everything, and while I didn't exactly understand the entirety of the universe, I thought I understood the meaning in Lucent. Just small, subtle things; the furrow of his brow or his slightly pursed lips. The way he cleared his throat, or how he sat. All of it.
Everything.
"Where are we going?" I asked. "Once we get up, I mean. After we stop swinging."
We weren't swinging anymore already, though. Neither of us had paid it much attention for awhile now. We sat on the swing, at a standstill, floating lightly above the ground, Lucent on soft plastic and me in his lap.
"Come," he said. "I'll show you."
***
We walked down city sidewalks like we belonged here, like we fit perfectly, like we should be side by side, should be walking casually, holding hands, teasing each other, talking about this and that. We didn't talk about much of anything, just minor playful banter, but I enjoyed it.
We were talking through the city streets as if we weren't being chased by the police, as if we weren
't wanted, weren't looking to be brought in for questioning, didn't know that the police assumed us guilty of some crime. Perhaps they didn't exactly assume me guilty of any crime, but I was with Lucent and I considered myself guilty by association. An accessory, if you will.
Maybe that sounded wrong. Why should I want to be guilty? Except, I did. I mean, I didn't want to commit a crime, nor be guilty, but if Lucent had, if he were, then I would go along with him. If I thought about it too much, it seemed somewhat naive, but I didn't think so. I preferred to think of it as a Bonnie and Clyde type of situation, except possibly less fashionable. I didn't have the dress for it, but Lucent fit the part well enough, aside from the brash and cocky demeanor one might expect from a modern-day Clyde. Lucent's brashness and cockiness seemed more subtle.
It was a weird sort of thought, but it made me smile.
"What are you smiling at, Miss Tanner?" Lucent asked.
"I am smiling," I said, "at nothing in particular. Also, excuse me, but who is Miss Tanner?"
He smirked. "My apologies, Miss Dunst. Miss Tanner is my part time lover, of course. My mistress on the side."
I slapped at his arm playfully with my free hand, refusing to let go of his other hand while we walked side by side. "Max! You oaf. You absolute cad. You awful, rotten fellow. I can't believe you would do something like that."
"I'm an oaf, a cad, and an awful, rotten fellow, am I?" he asked. "If I'm being honest, you're much better than her."
"Do you tie her up?" I asked. "Do you spank her until she's red and then do you toss her onto the bed and have your way with her?"
"Possibly," Lucent said. "Would you like that?"
"I can't believe I'm not enough woman for you. I'm going to have to figure out a way to satisfy your insatiable desires so you don't stray from me," I said. Lifting my chin, I looked away from him. I also squeezed his hand tight and tried to hide my silly smile.
His Absolute Proposal: An Illicit Billionaire Love Story (Elise, #3) Page 8
