by Sam Crescent
“And in return?”
“I want you by my side. As my wife.”
Those words took him completely by surprise. From Harper’s open mouth, it had her as well.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am deadly serious. This is what I want. You and me. Like it was always supposed to be. Us together.”
She ran her fingers through her hair. It was the only sign of nerves he’d seen on her. She sipped at her drink.
“See, this is why I shouldn’t be allowed alcohol, ever.”
He smiled.
“You’re being completely serious right now?” she asked.
“Yes. Totally serious. No more talk of the past. Of my father. Of anyone else but us. You and me. No one else. I don’t want to know what you did or why you did it. I want us to start over, a clean slate.”
“This is also for you?”
“Yes.” He didn’t need to bring up the whipping post or anything else. He watched her.
“As your wife?”
“Yes.”
“Does that mean I can come and go as I please?” she asked. “No more prisoner status?”
“You’ll be free to do what you want, but knowing there will always be a guard on your side. I hope Axel will consider it.”
She leaned forward, and he knew without even looking that she was touching the ink on her back.
“What about the initiation?” she asked. “What does that mean?”
“Axel has shown no interest in being with you, with us. He’s a man of many mysteries, and he likes to keep his life away from me and away from what we do.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“It’s life, and it was the one we were born into.” He took a drink of his whiskey, a little shaken he’d offered her marriage. “The offer is open until the end of the night. When morning comes, it’s gone.”
The waiter brought them their food.
Harper looked a little pale, but she didn’t require him to force feed her.
She ate the food, and they made conversation about nothing. The food. The restaurant. The weather.
Anything that wasn’t related to the topic of a wedding.
“Harper, is that you?”
Harper looked up from her dessert menu as a man with short blond hair and green eyes approached.
“Ethan,” she said.
Draven’s hands clenched into fists as he saw the man that had been willing to marry her. He didn’t like him on sight.
“I’ve been trying to call you. To find you.”
“I dropped my phone. I didn’t want to be found.”
He found himself watching her, seeing her reaction.
She held a smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. It was forced. For a woman who was going to marry this man, there was no love there.
Draven sat back.
“I wanted to talk to you about what happe—”
“Are you here on a date?” she asked, interrupting him.
“Yes.”
“Then I really think you should go back to your date, Ethan.”
“You’re just going to leave it like that?”
“I left the ring for you. I didn’t force you to marry me, and I’m not there to be the perfect little wife you want. Besides, I’m on a date.”
She turned her smile toward Draven.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Draven said, holding out his hand.
Ethan shook it, and he noticed he didn’t even have a firm grip. That wouldn’t do, not for Harper. She could probably crush him.
“You were cheating on me?” Ethan asked.
“No.”
“I’ve been in Harper’s life since we were kids. We had a … quarrel some years back, but now we’re together. She’s also agreed to be my wife,” Draven said, taking her hand. “We’re going to have the most beautiful children.”
She was shooting fire at him.
It was a good job that nothing could spill from her eyes as he’d be burnt to a crisp, scalded from her look alone.
Ethan watched them, and it took him a few moments to realize he had to leave.
When he stepped away from the table and back to his date, Harper looked a little sad.
Draven didn’t like that, not the jealousy that spilled out or the need to show her who she belonged to.
****
Draven slammed her against the door of their hotel room.
“You did that on purpose,” Harper said, glaring at him.
He grabbed her hands, pressing them above her head. “I didn’t know your fuck was going to be there.”
She drew her knee up, intending to hurt him, but he stopped her. His body pressed against hers, stopping her from going anywhere else, and it irritated her.
Seeing Ethan, she was pleased to see him move on, but hearing Draven, what he said, she hated feeling that hope.
His proposal had been a shock, but his words to Ethan had been like he was looking within her, and that she couldn’t accept.
She was under no illusion about just how dangerous he was. She had to keep her distance in order to survive.
“Why did you have to say that?”
“Are you missing your lover boy? Does me make you as hot and horny as I do? Is your pussy wet for him like it is for me?” He held both of her hands above her head while he cupped between her thighs. “You drip for me. Remember that.” He pressed the dress between her thighs, and she moaned. She couldn’t do anything else.
He rubbed back and forth, his actions not smooth or gentle.
They were hard and rough, just the way she liked it.
She slid her legs open, and he chuckled. “You see? This is how much you want it. You want me to have it all from you.”
He lifted the dress up, and sure enough, he found her panties soaked.
She knew as she felt them herself. Draven had this power over her. He made her want him so completely that she couldn’t think of anyone or anything else. Why would she want to?
He slid a finger beneath the band of her panties and touched her. That single digit slid between her slit, playing with her clit, then down to her entrance.
“I remember that first time. Taking your cherry. You were my first virgin, Harper. I wanted to make it good for you. To have you screaming for me.” He slid two fingers inside her, and she gasped as he started to open them, stretching her. “You’re still so wet for me, so tight. I need to get you used to my cock.”
“So you can sell me?”
“Become my wife and the only dick you’ll be riding will be mine.”
“You want to keep me?”
“Yes,” he said. “You’ll belong to me. Everything I want, you’ll give me. You’ll want for nothing.”
“And what do you get in return?”
“I get what I always wanted: you.”
He pulled his hand away, and she watched as he sucked his fingers, licking the scent of her off him.
He gripped her shoulders and spun her.
Putting her hands on the door, she closed her eyes, loving the forceful way he took her. His control drove her need for him higher. He released the zipper of the dress and slid it down. His fingers trailed behind his touch on her back.
“No one will ever mark you like this.”
Some of the whips on her back would scar.
She wished she could hate him, and a part of her would always hate what he did, but she couldn’t bring herself to hate him.
Was it Stockholm Syndrome?
Was it because of their past?
She didn’t know.
He banded an arm across her stomach and pulled her back. The dress fell down to her hips. She met his chest, and he slid his hands up to cup her tits.
He held them up like an offering, teasing the nipples. They were so sensitive that with a few strokes, she nearly came.
“Do you have any idea what it is you do to me?” he said, biting her neck, sucking on the pulse that beat rapidly.
“I’ve got an idea.”<
br />
He laughed. “Babe, you don’t have a clue.”
His cock pressed against her back, getting harder and thicker with every passing second.
“I want to fucking own you. To take you and make you mine, over and over again.”
He licked her pulse and then released her tits, pushing the dress down past her hips to pool at her feet. Draven didn’t waste time as he grabbed her panties and tore them from her body, throwing them to the floor like scraps.
One of his hands slid between her thighs, cupping her pussy, and his fingers teased through her slit. Each stroke against her clit had her moaning, spreading her thighs for him.
Draven let her go once again, and she growled her frustration.
“Please, Draven,” she said.
“I love it when you beg.”
He grabbed her hand and moved her toward the bed. Only, it wasn’t to go to the bed. He stood in front of a mirror.
Draven pulled her in front of him.
“Look at you. Look at how beautiful you are. You can belong to me, all of me. You only need to say the words.” He kissed her neck.
His hands stroked her body, and he sat them down on the edge of the bed. The mirror was in the corner, large and imposing, but easy to move as well if they wanted. She couldn’t help but wonder if that was the hotel’s intention. For couples who wanted to watch themselves, they could look in the mirror and see.
Draven sat her on his lap and spread her thighs wide, putting her legs on the outside of his so he had control in opening them.
“Look at that pretty pussy.” His hand lay on her stomach, and she did as he said, looking at the evidence of her arousal.
While she was completely naked, he was still fully dressed. Draven touched her pussy again, and this time, she watched as he teased her clit. He’d stroke her nub before moving down to fill her pussy. She whimpered, wanting him to get her to orgasm, not to keep on teasing her.
Actually, she wanted him naked like her.
There was so much she wanted, and yet, she couldn’t move, not until he touched her some more.
Draven chuckled against her ear.
“Do you even have any idea what you do to me?” he asked. He pushed three fingers inside her, and he thrust against her ass.
“I’ve got an idea,” she said.
His cock was so hard. She lifted herself up off his lap and turned toward him. She pushed his hand away from her pussy and attacked his shirt.
She tore the fabric open, and the buttons spilled onto the floor, popping off in her need for him.
He let out a chuckle but didn’t make any move to stop her.
She was the one in charge here. Her, not him. Running her hands over his body, she loved the look of him. The power of him. The ink that decorated his chest.
She saw her name painted on his flesh. The name that pointed to the other three that bound her to him.
When it came to Draven, she was lost. She wanted him and hated him.
Part of her also wanted to run and another wanted to stay, to prove to him she was a fighter, that she’d had no desire to leave all those years ago.
She never wanted to go.
It was his father who caused it.
Just thinking about Alan filled her with so much rage. He’d won on every single battle so far. The war, it was still raging, and she wouldn’t let him win that.
When it came to Draven, she would be the one to win.
Tugging down his pants after releasing his belt, he let out a chuckle. “If you wanted to get me naked all you had to do was say.”
“I want to get you naked.”
He helped her, pushing down his pants and boxers until he was completely naked. His cock stood out. The tip was wet, and she couldn’t go another second without tasting him, without taking him.
She moaned as she did, sucking and licking at his cock.
“Fuck, Harper, that feels so good.” He drove into her mouth, pumping his hips, making her take all of it.
She swallowed him down, gagging a little on the length until she got used to tasting him. He held the back of her neck as he pumped within her.
As she stared up the length of his body, his gaze was locked on her. They both had the power over each other. Neither of them gave up the fight.
“You’re so fucking good,” he said. “That’s it, babe. Take my cock. Suck it.”
She swallowed him down, tasting his pre-cum and moaning as he kept thrusting into her mouth.
He suddenly pulled out of her and lifted her up. Draven spun her around, and she watched and felt as he filled her. The hard head of his cock moved between her folds, pushing inside her.
She seated herself on his cock and leaned back, putting her legs back to where they were so she could see.
His cock was so long as it drove inside her. He split her pussy open. Her lips wrapped around his length and the evidence of how wet she was gleamed on his cock as he slid in and out. She watched as he stroked her clit, and she was mesmerized by the sight of them together. His cock drove inside her as he brought her to orgasm.
With only a few strokes to her clit, she came and did so hard, screaming his name. The sound echoed off the walls, and Draven followed her seconds later, his cock pumping inside her.
She didn’t need to see their combined release, and Draven moved them both to the bed. His dick was still within her as he held her close, her ass nestled against his pelvis.
Even though he was flaccid, it felt good to have him inside her.
He kissed her neck, and she felt this peace, this calm wash over her.
“Yes,” she said. “I’ll marry you.”
Chapter Twelve
“You agreed to marry her?” Axel asked, suddenly appearing in his office ten days later.
Draven finished the email he was writing before finally looking up at his remaining best friend.
“Yes. I asked her, in fact. If I knew my current nuptials would bring you back, I’d have told you sooner.”
“Did you always intend to marry her?”
“Ten years ago, yes. When you brought her back from the florist, no. I was going to make her pay.”
Axel laughed. “You think you haven’t? How do you know this is not a trap? One she’s setting up?”
“I was the one who asked her.”
“Oh,” Axel said, taking a seat. “Where is she now?”
Draven stayed silent.
“Oh, come on, Draven, you and I both know you’re very much aware of where she is at all times.”
“She’s at the pool, taking a swim.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Care to tell me what you’ve been doing?”
“Not a lot and it’s not any of your business. So, is this an arrangement between you and Harper? Does she know the truth of everything you do?”
“No, and you’re not going to tell her.”
“You’re going to bind her to you in a marriage she can’t get out of without her even seeing the true extent of the hell we create together.”
“She doesn’t need to know. It won’t touch her.”
“You’re going to keep her locked up in Stonewall?” Axel asked.
“You’re paying a lot of attention to my soon-to-be wife,” Draven said.
“Don’t forget, she was also supposed to be mine.”
Draven wanted to shoot him. “You’ve not been around to stake your claim.”
Axel rolled his eyes. “You know what, Harper was always yours. She will always be yours. I don’t want her. Not like you think, so you can keep your alpha man bullshit away from me, okay. Just remember, you intended to share her with me, with all of us. That was the initiation.”
“The initiation was a mistake,” Draven said.
“Now the truth comes out. Is it a mistake now or back then? Come on, Draven, what is it? Or is it only a mistake because there’s only me left? You want to be rid of me.”
“You’re like a brother to me, Axel. I will never want to kill you.”
&
nbsp; “So I should count myself lucky?”
Draven growled. “What is it with you? Are you happy for me or not? Do you want Harper or not?”
“I guess I want some fucking clarity on what happens next?” Axel asked. “You’re the one with the power. You’re the big man in charge. Tell me what I should do next.”
“Do what makes you happy, how about that?”
“What if killing Harper will make me happy? Taking her up to the spot where Buck and Jett lie and running his blade across her throat. Seeing her blood seep into the earth.”
Draven slammed his hands against the desk, glaring at him. “Don’t even fucking think of it.”
Axel smirked. “You know, she and I, we’ve got a deal.”
“What?”
“That’s right. If I can find evidence of what your father did, she gets to walk free. If I don’t, then I get to kill her.”
Draven shook his head. “No. She wouldn’t make that kind of deal.”
“I did,” Harper said. She stood in the doorway.
From how pale she looked, she’d heard a lot of their conversation. She had a towel wrapped around her. Her hair was wet.
“I thought I heard you, Axel.”
“I’ve not stopped looking. I’ve got a few places yet, so your neck is more than safe.”
“Okay then,” Harper said.
“He’s not killing you.” Draven shook his head. There’s no way he’d ever allow anything to happen to her.
“A deal’s a deal, Draven. You know that.”
“You’re not killing her.”
“I guess we’ll have to see.” Axel got to his feet, and Draven tensed, his hand on Jett’s knife that he always kept with him. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Before he could do anything, Axel caught Harper’s face and kissed her hard. She held the towel against her and made no move to embrace Axel.
She did, however, kiss him back.
“I always knew it was you,” Axel said.
“What?”
“Draven wanted you. Always. It’s kind of … sweet. Adios, kids,” Axel said.
Draven watched Axel leave, ready to strike if even for a second it looked like he was going to attack.
“How much did you hear?” Draven asked.
“Not a whole lot. Enough to know that you’re aware of our deal.”
