by M. S. Parker
“Take it off,” Erik ordered as he worked a second finger into my ass. “I want to see you play with those pretty nipples, get them all nice and hard for me.”
I pulled my nightie over my head and then cupped my breasts. My thumbs caressed the bottom curve of my nipples, then moved over the tips. I shivered from the contact, then moaned as Erik’s fingers stretched me, preparing me for what I knew was coming.
I’d never imagined that I’d be the type to enjoy the bites of pain that Erik inflicted, the little jolts that came with being spanked and flogged, and all sorts of other delicious things, but from the moment we’d come together, it’d always felt right.
“Pinch them.” His voice was rough, but the bite he gave to my inner thigh was rougher.
I did as I was told, arching my back as pain flowed up from my leg and down from my breasts to meet low in my belly, coiling there as Erik coaxed me to the edge again.
“Please.” I wasn’t too proud to beg. Not when everything in me was throbbing with need.
“Not yet.”
His hands moved to my hips, and he flipped me over before I could protest. I barely prevented my face from hitting the mattress, and I had no time at all to brace myself before he buried his cock in my aching pussy with one deep thrust.
“Fuck, sweetheart, you always feel so fucking good.” He curled his body over me and nipped the back of my shoulder.
The heat from his skin covered me, licking across my body until my muscles quivered. His hands slid around my sides, caressing my ribcage before moving to my breasts. He tweaked my nipples between his fingers and thumbs, twisting and tugging harder than I had, finding that perfect balance of pain and pleasure.
“If we didn’t have such a busy day ahead of us, I’d keep you here like this, naked and waiting. Maybe tie you up.” His teeth scraped the edge of my ear, sending another shiver through me. “I’d make you scream and cry and beg…and then I’d make you come so many times that you’d forget your own name. Take you in every way until you’d feel me for days.”
“Fuck,” I breathed. Every inch of me was so sensitive that the places where we touched felt like electricity racing through my cells. But not in a bad way. In a way that made me understand why Mary Shelley had used lightning as the means for her mad doctor to bring his creature to life.
Erik was still talking. “But since we have plans later, I’m just going to fuck your ass until we both come, and that will have to be enough.”
I turned my head until I could see him over my shoulder. “It’s never enough.”
He gave me that smile that tightened all the right things. “No, sweetheart. It never is.”
And then he started to move. Deep, sure strokes that reached all the way into the core of who I was. Being with him wasn’t merely physical. Even something as simple as a chaste touch was special. The way he knew how to move so that he rubbed right against my g-spot, it was more than anatomy. He knew me in a way no one else ever had, or ever would.
“You’re allowed to come whenever you want, sweetheart.” His voice was rough, telling me just how close to the edge he himself was. “But as soon as you do, I’m taking your ass.”
A shudder ran through me, pushing me closer to the edge. Sometimes it was hard to believe that it hadn’t been difficult for me to wait twenty-two years to have sex. From the moment Erik first touched me, I’d wanted him. Almost a year and a half later, and my desire for him had only grown.
He straightened behind me, one hand going to my hip, the other coming down with a resounding crack on my ass. I cried out, my eyes closing as my head fell forward. A second blow followed the first, then another, and another…and then I was coming.
Erik cursed as my muscles contracted, squeezing his cock as he pulled out. I was dimly aware of his arm wrapping around my waist, pulling me up until my back was against his chest. I shivered as the blunt tip of him moved between my cheeks and found that ring of muscle. He’d stretched me, but his shaft was so much thicker than his fingers that it still hurt as he pushed inside.
But it hurt so good.
“Breathe, sweetheart,” he murmured in my ear.
The instructions weren’t really necessary. We’d done this before, but him telling me what to do, controlling the situation, that was as much a part of the process as anything else.
The edges of my orgasm that had started to recede came rushing back as he sank deep, blurring the sensations until I fell headlong into that wonderful place where everything else faded away and my world consisted only of my body and his.
He grabbed my braid, twisting it around his hand so he was able to yank my head to the side, exposing my neck. As he started to drive up into me, each stroke hard enough to lift me off my knees, he fastened his mouth to the side of my throat. Teeth worried at the skin even as he sucked it into his mouth, and I knew if I didn’t stop him, he’d leave a mark.
“Erik.” His name sounded more like a question than a warning. “I can’t wear a scarf with my bridesmaid dress.”
The last word came out with a half-strangled moan as he thrust into me hard enough to make my vision spark.
“I know.”
His fingers curled around my neck, not tight enough to restrict my air flow, but I knew the strength he possessed. It was just one of the reasons the trust between us was so important. I knew he’d only give what I could take, and he knew I’d stop him if I couldn’t take it.
“I don’t want you to cover up my marks,” Erik said, his voice taking on that dangerous quality I loved so much. “I want everyone to know that you belong to me. Not because you have a ring on your finger and not because we have a wedding planned, but because I’m the only one who gets to touch you, mark you. You belong to me…and I belong to you.”
I nodded, my heart giving a painful thud at his words. I’d never imagined I’d inspire this sort of passion in anyone, let alone a man like him.
His grip on my neck tightened just a bit as he resumed his oral assault. His free hand moved between my legs, fingers pressing hard against my swollen clit. I closed my eyes as multiple sensations threatened to overwhelm me. The burn in my ass as he slammed into me again and again. The pressure of his hand on my windpipe. His mouth leaving bruises on my skin. His fingers moving in rough circles.
Pain. Pleasure. Everything in between.
I heard myself whimpering, begging. The sounds that came out of my mouth were barely words, but I couldn’t get myself to form anything coherent as I exploded in a white-hot burst of pleasure so intense that I blacked out.
Two
Erik
“Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart,” I said softly as I smoothed back some of the silvery blonde hair that had escaped Tanya’s braid. She didn’t respond, but I didn’t expect her to, not after that insane orgasm she just survived.
Hell, she’d almost squeezed my dick off, her ass muscles had clenched so tight. Even after more than a year of having sex with her, things still felt fresh and exciting. The most vanilla sex was appealing. Even bad sex was an opportunity for a joke rather than embarrassment.
I loved knowing that I was the only person who knew what she looked like when she climaxed. I loved the way she fit right up against my side, like we’d been made two parts of a whole. The way her skin heated under my palms. The curve of her hips and the weight of her breasts. I even loved her flaws and imperfections because they were part of what made her the woman I loved. The woman I was going to marry on June seventeenth.
I thought about that as I pulled the covers up over us. We’d need to get up soon, but we still had a little time. Sometimes, I could barely believe this was my life. That I’d found someone I wanted to lay in bed with. Someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
It’d been less than two months since Tanya had agreed to be my wife, and we’d decided we didn’t want a long engagement. Neither one of us was overly close with our families, so it was only going to be us and our friends in a small ceremony. Absolutely per
fect, in my opinion.
In fact, most of our life was perfect.
Our careers were on the rise. I was working on an outline for a new book, and both of the previous books I’d written under the pen name Erika Summers were still selling well. The movie of my first book, Heat of the Sun, was opening nationwide today. Tanya and I had been at the red-carpet premiere just last week, and it was projected to be the biggest date movie this Valentine’s Day weekend. I’d closed a deal two weeks ago for The Muse to be made into a film, and Tanya was working with a couple new authors who had a lot of promise.
We had money and great friends with wonderful charities we supported. My sisters and I were on good terms, and we’d visited them more than once since we’d been together. Their families were expanding too. Chelsea’s oldest had just gotten married last June, and Katie had become a grandmother for the first time around Christmas.
That, however, was where things veered off from being perfect.
My arms tightened around Tanya even though she wouldn’t know the direction my mind had gone. We didn’t talk about it. We talked about everything else. We always had. We could discuss politics, and sex, and anything that most people would call controversial, and even if we disagreed, it would still be a civil discussion. We’d talked about all sorts of BDSM stuff when we’d barely known each other.
But we didn’t talk about this.
About six months ago, she’d gone to see her doctor for a routine exam, and had asked about going off birth control when we decided to start a family. She’d always had some issues, and she’d wanted medical advice. Her doctor had done some bloodwork, and while it hadn’t been as bad as it could have been, it hadn’t been great news either.
Tanya might never be able to get pregnant. It wasn’t absolute, but when she went off the pill, the issues she’d had before could come back, and that would mean the chances of her getting pregnant would drop significantly.
We hadn’t officially started trying yet, and she hadn’t gotten a second opinion. I knew there would be options for us, but we hadn’t talked about them. After she told me about the initial results, we’d put it all away. Never spoke about it again.
But I could feel it. Under my skin. And I knew it was under hers too.
We would need to talk about it eventually.
She stirred next to me, and I pushed those thoughts aside again. We would talk about it, but not today. We had other things to do today.
“Wow,” she said as she rolled into me. Her hand slid across my bare stomach, and my cock gave an interested twitch.
I chuckled and kissed her forehead. “That sounds like an accurate description.”
“That was a hell of a way to wake up.” She pressed her lips against my side. “Can I return the favor?”
“Fuck.” I sighed. “I’d love nothing more than to have those gorgeous lips wrapped around my cock, but we can’t be late today. Jace will kill me.”
Tanya raised her head, then groaned. “You’re right. It’s getting late, and I’m supposed to meet Savannah at the salon soon.”
“Traffic’s going to be a bitch today,” I said. “Which means you better get in the shower now so you’re not late.”
She propped herself up on her elbow, the sheet slipping down to reveal her full, gorgeous breasts. My gaze dropped automatically but lingered intentionally.
“Hey, eyes up here.”
I grinned as I looked up at her. “You can’t have those out and expect me to not stare.”
She rolled her eyes and disentangled herself from the covers. “Okay, this is going to digress quickly if I don’t get up right now.”
I laughed and stretched back out, letting myself enjoy the sight of Tanya walking across our bedroom in her sleek silk nightie. A few seconds after the door closed, I heard the water turn on, and it took quite a bit of self-control not to go join her.
The first few notes of my cousin’s ringtone managed to pull part of my attention from the thought of my beautiful fiancée all alone in our massive shower.
“Alix, good morning.” I knew I sounded far too chipper, but I wasn’t about to pretend that morning sex wasn’t a hell of a lot better than coffee.
“Damn, Erik,” Alix laughed. “You couldn’t sound more smug about morning sex if you tried.”
“It’s not my fault your last few attempts at getting laid ended with Elise jumping onto your bed and landing on your nuts.”
“That’s not funny.”
I sat up and swung my legs over the side.
“Seriously, that’s messed up. You just wait until you and Tanya have a kid. You’ll love the rugrat to death, but they’ll be hell on your sex life.”
All of my humor faded as the thoughts of what might never be a reality came clambering back.
“Anyway,” Alix continued, “I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I’m supposed to sign for the limos, but we’re running a bit late. Elise…” There was a pause, and then his tone changed. “Elise, put that down! Don’t put that – Elise! Fuck!”
And then I heard a thump. Then nothing.
What the fuck?
Three
Alix
The phone fell from numb fingers, but I didn’t care. All of my attention was on the little red-haired girl who’d put my friend’s wedding ring in her mouth and was now starting to cough and wheeze.
“Elise!” Panic flooded through me, and a fear that I’d never felt before nearly paralyzed me. “Spit it out, baby. Come on, Elise, spit it out.”
Her eyes, the same bright green as her mother’s, were wide, her chubby little hands flapping in the air as I dropped to the floor next to her. I grabbed her shoulders…and then realized that I had absolutely no clue what to do. I’d never spent time with kids. I hadn’t thought it mattered, but now I couldn’t help my daughter because I hadn’t done any babysitting, and I didn’t know what to do now that my baby was choking and–
“Sine!” I practically screamed my wife’s name. “Sine! Elise is choking!”
I started to put my finger in Elise’s mouth to see if I could pull the ring out, then jerked my hand back. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered hearing something about that being a bad idea because it could push the object farther into the throat.
What the fuck was I supposed to do?!
“Sine!”
I needed to call 911, but I couldn’t let go of Elise to grab my phone. She wouldn’t understand why I was leaving her, even if it was just to go a couple feet. But I needed my phone to call for an ambulance.
Where the hell was Sine? I’d yelled for her hours ago.
“Let her go, Alix.”
Sine’s voice was so calm that I knew she didn’t understand the severity of what was happening. She wouldn’t be so relaxed if she knew.
“We need to call an ambulance!”
Sine grabbed my wrist, her grip firm as she pulled my hand away. My heart was in my throat as I stared at her. I couldn’t even speak as she picked up Elise, flipped her upside-down, and smacked the heel of her hand between Elise’s tiny shoulder-blades.
Hard.
“What the f–?!” I was still aware enough to catch myself before I said something Elise would start repeating one day.
Sine didn’t even glance at me as she smacked our daughter’s back a second time.
I started to reach for Elise, ready to rush her out to the car and drive her to the hospital myself, but then she coughed, and something flew out of her mouth, falling to the floor in front of her. She wailed, and I could breathe again.
“Shh, mo grá,” Sine murmured the Irish endearments as she kissed the top of Elise’s head. “Alix, love, can you take her? I was on a call with Mam, and I don’t want to be running up her bill. She’ll want to be knowing Elise is safe.”
I nodded mutely, holding out my arms. Sine deposited Elise into them, then kissed my forehead before strolling out of the room like nothing at all had happened. Maybe it came from her having grown up with such a big family
that she was used to spending time around kids. Maybe kids choked on wedding rings all the time in Ireland. Hell if I knew. But the way she’d handled things, all unruffled and collected, made me prouder than ever to call her my wife.
Damn, she was something.
And I intended to tell her just that as soon as I got Elise calmed down.
“It’s okay,” I said as I shifted her in my arms. “You’re okay.” I kissed her forehead and used my sleeve to wipe off her face. “I’m so sorry. It was my fault, leaving that ring on the table. I didn’t know you could reach it there.”
I doubted she could understand much of what I was saying, but I said it anyway because it was true. Sine had said we needed to baby-proof the house, but I’d told her that I thought we could wait until Elise started walking. I should have known to listen to my wife. Even though I knew she wouldn’t be one to say I told you so, I’d remember this in the future.
“Shh, honey,” I whispered again. “You’re okay. I’ve got you. Mommy’s got you. Just go to sleep, and you’ll feel better when you wake up, I promise.”
I rocked her back and forth, humming one of Reb’s songs under my breath. I’d never been much of a singer, and I hadn’t been able to learn any of the Irish lullabies Sine sang to Elise, but I knew Reb’s songs, so they were what I used to put her to sleep. Fortunately, Sine found it charming.
Gradually, Elise’s breathing eased, and her cries faded away. Still, I kept rocking her, humming to her, telling her that everything was okay now. Her eyelids had drooped to half-mast by the time Sine came back into the room.
“Erik called. He was worried when your call ended, so I told him what happened. How is she?” Her voice was soft, concern on her face. “Mam’s rule always was that if we stopped cryin’ in a reasonable amount of time, there was no need to be going to the hospital.”
“How in the world did you do that?” I asked. “I completely froze. I couldn’t even figure out how to get back to my phone to call for help.”
