Fallen: (A Psychological Dark Romance) (The Dark Necessities Prequels Book 2)

by Felicity Brandon

  Lily

  She didn’t think she’d ever been as nervous as this before. Even when she’d found out Ethan was the killer the whole country seemed to be looking for, and he’d refused to let her go home, the pit of dread in her belly hadn’t furled quite as tightly as it was now. Lily didn’t really want to eat—she wasn’t in the least bit hungry—but she used the fruit as a way to buy her some time and try to decide how best to manage this new persona of Ethan’s. Of course, it wasn’t the first time he’d threatened to punish her, or indeed, followed through with the notion. He had spanked her more than once before they came here, and he’d used that horrid belt on her just yesterday.

  Christ, was it only yesterday?

  Her mind could barely process the idea as she popped the final piece of the banana into her mouth. It seemed like months ago now that she was here, waiting to see what Ethan’s next sentence for her would be, though if there were any doubt on the subject, the stripes of hurt at her backside confirmed her initial verdict. She supposed it would take some days for those marks to heal.

  “Finished?”

  Ethan’s tone was harder now, intentionally no doubt, just to reinforce how fucked Lily was, and she fought to compose herself as she responded. Lily had an idea that he wanted to break her somehow, today—he just had an unnerving resolve she’d rarely seen before. He wouldn’t hurt her. Not really. If there had been any uncertainty about that in her mind, then she’d have stumbled on for help last night—twisted ankle or no twisted ankle—but for whatever reason, there was no doubt. Ethan was apparently a cold-blooded killer, a side of him she still couldn’t correlate in her mind, but he was also her lover, and rightly or wrongly, Lily trusted in the man she knew. Not the one she’d read about in the news.

  “Yes, sir,” she mumbled as she put down the bottle of water on the dresser.

  Glancing around the place, she wondered if this hadn’t once been his parents’ bedroom, but now didn’t really seem like the best time to ask.

  “Then, let’s get this show on the road,” he replied, resting his strong arms on his slim hips as he assessed her from the other side of the bed.

  He was naked save for the pair of trousers which hung open at his hips, and frankly the sight of him was somewhat distracting.

  “Come onto the bed,” he instructed, gesturing toward the structure as though Lily wasn’t sure where the bed was.

  She felt her limbs moving in the direction he requested, although a part of her brain was still unsure if it was really a good idea.

  What was he going to do?

  Ethan hadn’t even told her. Gingerly, she climbed onto the sheets they’d both slept in last night, and sat back on her heels as she watched him.

  “Time to remove the robe,” he told her. “Don’t worry about getting cold though, I finally managed to find that heater I was looking for in the cellar.”

  Ethan threw her an accusing look as he tipped his head toward the single bar heater radiating warmth from the corner of the room, and Lily bit her lip reflexively. It was just another reminder of how much she’d fucked up when she’d left him down there for dead yesterday. Gazing up at the towering figure of the man looming over the bed, Lily couldn’t recall what she’d been thinking. Yes, she’d been upset, but why had she left him there? Ethan could have been killed, for God’s sake.

  “Thanks.” The word slipped from her lips as a new wave of guilt washed over Lily. “Sir.”

  He nodded, folding his arms across the expanse of chest as he waited, and duly, Lily shrugged the warmth of the robe from her shoulders. She pulled it from her body, rising to her knees to offer it to Ethan. He was smiling as his gaze fell over her nudity, and he took the garment from her hands.

  “I have a lot planned for you today,” he murmured as he threw the robe onto a chair by the door. “But before we begin, I want to make sure you know why I am punishing you, Lily. After everything that has happened between us, this wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind for today, but still.”

  She sighed. Lily was more than aware of the reason why. “Because I locked you in the cellar, sir,” she admitted, cringing as she heard the explanation from her own mouth.

  Ethan sat down at the edge of the bed, twisting his body to face her growing blush. “Mmmm,” he said after a moment. “Yes, you did, little Lily. It was a side of you I’d never seen before, and frankly, I’d rather not see again.”

  Lily gulped at the way he made that sound. Ethan was disappointed in the way she’d behaved, and even though she knew there were at least a dozen reasons he had no right to judge her, she couldn’t help but feel crushed at that burning look in his eyes.

  “I know,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Ethan.”

  She forced her eyes north to meet his gaze as she concluded. Lily wanted him to know her apology was genuine. “Sir.”

  “I know,” he replied in an eerily calm tone. “And I’m well aware I am no angel, little one, but I would never, ever do anything to endanger your life, and that’s what you did to me. Do you understand?”

  His voice was insistent now, and somehow, each syllable seemed to only compound Lily’s misery.

  “I understand.” Her voice sounded croaky, and Lily’s gaze fell back to her lap out of instinct.

  Ethan’s hand was at her face in an instant, gently guiding her gaze back toward him. “No hiding from me, beautiful,” he whispered. “Not today, and not anymore. You know the very worst of me now, and from now on, there can be no secrets.”

  Lily nodded, all of sudden full of emotion at his sentiment. She had no idea what was going to happen between them. She didn’t know how long they could stay here, or how long she could be without her family and her job, and in the back of her mind, she was aware that Ethan was a wanted man. The police could burst the door down at any moment and arrest him for the terrible things he had done, and where would that leave her? She would be high and dry, apparently completely captivated by a madman who liked to throttle women for fun, but somehow, even that reasoning wasn’t enough to query him, and Lily knew why. She wanted to believe in his words more than anything. She wanted to be his, and to share everything with him. She just didn’t know if life was going to let that happen.

  “Lily.” His voice vibrated over her. “Did you hear what I said?”

  “Yes, sir,” she murmured in response. “No secrets.”

  He smiled at that, rising from the bed and stalking toward the dresser with purpose. “And stop worrying about all those things,” he told her as he collected the numerous strands of rope laid out there. “You have to trust me when I say everything will be okay, little one.”

  Trust him?

  The notion danced through her head as she watched him return, seating himself back in the same spot at the edge of the bed. Yes, she supposed she did have to.

  “Give me your wrists.”

  The abruptness of his tone made her eyes fly back to that expectant blue gaze, and slowly, she leaned forward, offering Ethan her wrists. Her heart was thundering as she watched him go to work, winding the black binds around her soft skin until they were bound tightly together. She watched, hypnotized, as he left a length of rope running from between her wrists, which he then tugged the end of, drawing her closer toward his naked torso.

  Lily gasped at the way her body responded to the rope’s pull, and for the first time, she started to understand just how helpless she was going to be today. Her breath caught as the realization washed over, and if she wasn’t mistaken, she could already feel the hot desire pooling between her legs.

  “You’re mine now, Lily,” he told her in a low, delicious growl that made those tingling muscles clench. “And for the rest of today you’re going to do exactly as you’re told. Have you got it?”

  She panted as he drew her closer still, until her hands were pressed against the soft hair of his chest and their eyes were only a few inches apart. “Yes,” she gasped. “Yes, sir.”

  Ethan’s lips curled, but there were no
more instructions. Instead, those lips neared, descending upon her mouth in an instant. With her hands bound and trapped between their bodies, there was little Lily could do to stop his pursuit, but who was she kidding? As the warmth of his mouth enveloped hers, there was no way she was going to resist. She yielded to his tongue which snaked inside her mouth, claiming her in a passionate display of his dominance. By the time Ethan drew away, Lily would have been ready for him to have fucked her then and there, but somehow, she thought her punishment might be a little more onerous than that.

  “On your back now,” he ordered as he rose from his place and guided the black rope still attached to her wrists toward the head of the bed.

  Lily watched him, scurrying back against the covers as fast as she could without the use of her hands. She was flat against the sheets by the time Ethan crawled onto the pillow and began to secure the end of her ropes to the wooden bedstead. Wordlessly, she tilted her head back to watch what he was doing, but in her mind, she already knew her fate. He was binding her there to the double bed, with her arms over her head, and she was completely powerless to stop him. A potent rush of emotions washed over her as she acknowledged what the consequences of her actions of yesterday were going to be—now. Ethan could do literally anything he wanted to her. He could fuck her, pleasure her, hurt her, or even replicate her own behavior, and abandon her there on the bed. No one would know she was there. She could literally be left here to rot.

  “Ethan!”

  His name escaped her lips in a panic as she felt the final tug of the binds against the wood above her head, and a moment later his face came into view.

  “Lily?”

  His face was so calm and his expression so in control. It was as infuriating as it was sexy as hell.

  “Please, sir, don’t leave me here!” she whimpered as he settled against the side of her body. “I’m sorry I abandoned you yesterday, but please don’t.”

  A part of Lily hated how pathetic she sounded at that moment, but there was no choice—she had no choice—and if this was the only chance she had to plead, then plead she would.

  “Little one,” he crooned, and he actually smiled as he gazed down at her, waves of his sumptuous dark hair falling between their faces. “I am not going to leave you. I am never going to leave you. Didn’t I tell you to stop worrying?”

  She gasped at his words, her mind still racing despite his assurances.

  “Now,” he purred, tracing a finger along her exposed midriff as he continued. “All you need to do is lie back and listen. Can you do that?”

  Lily nodded, though if truth be told, she was more than a little distracted by the path of his finger, which was right at that moment circling one, and then the next breast with soft caresses that made her want to pant.

  “Yes,” she whispered in reply. “Yes, I can, sir.”

  “Good.”

  He was gone then, rising to stand beside the bed before he strode to the end climbing back onto the covers between her naturally splayed legs.

  “The rules for today are really simple, Lily,” he told her in a tone that made her hips roll forward. It was as though he had hypnotized her body somehow, and now it was obeying his orders, and not her own. “Your job is two-fold.”

  Their gazes locked as he edged closer toward her sex, his knees nudging her legs even wider as he went.

  “You will endure for me whatever I choose to bestow upon you.”

  Ethan’s words echoed around the small master bedroom as though they were an edict from the gods, and in a way, they were. Ethan was the closest thing Lily was ever likely to get to a god, especially now that she was effectively harboring him from the law, and as she eyed him between her thighs, she was struck by just how powerful the man seemed. All of a sudden, it was far too easy to imagine him extinguishing the lives of all those women. The potent combination of his charm, looks, strong muscular body, and his ability to know what others were thinking would have meant that none of them even had a chance.

  Ethan was a predator.

  She could see that now. Maybe he was even the perfect predator…

  “And the second part of your job.”

  The steel in his voice shattered Lily’s thought process, and she locked eyes with him again as he delivered his final verdict.

  “Do you want to know what it is, little Lily?” he goaded, pressing his palms down at either side of her chest, and lowering his sculpted body over her soft skin.

  She gasped as their flesh made contact, arching her back and squeezing her eyes closed as a spike of pleasure whipped through her. “Yes,” she panted with obvious need. “Yes, sir.”

  “The second part is that you do not, under any circumstances, have my permission to come.”

  Lily blinked her eyes open at him, certain that she must have misheard the man.

  “No,” he told her with a soft, taunting laugh. “You didn’t mishear, beautiful. That is your punishment. I am going to keep you on the edge all fucking day, and you’re not going to be allowed even an ounce of pleasure.”

  Chapter Eight

  Ethan

  She looked wonderful, stretched out on the bed in front of him, and his cock hardened in a matter of seconds at the way her eyes widened as he’d delivered the news of her punishment.

  “None?”

  The word slipped from her gorgeous lips in little more than a gasp.

  Ethan ensured her gaze was locked with his before he shook his head firmly. “None at all.”

  Lily’s mouth fell open at that. It was as though there was a protest right on the tip of her tongue, but her brain had barely even had time to process the penance, let alone respond. The look of her made him want to chuckle again, so he lowered his mouth to the side of her neck instead, kissing the place he knew made her putty in his hands.

  Not that she wasn’t already, of course.

  She groaned at the sensuous way his lips grazed her flesh, rolling her head to one side to accommodate him.

  “Just imagine,” he whispered into her goosing skin. “A whole day of this torture, and not a single orgasm for you, little one.”

  Ethan definitely wanted to laugh now.

  “Of course, I’ll be having my fair share, but then I’m not the one who left you locked in a cellar, am I?”

  He nipped her skin gently with his teeth, making her cry out at the same time her hips left the bed, apparently already searching for his cock. His poor little one, he mused. So needy, so soon, and he’d barely even got started…

  “But, Ethan!” she panted after his mouth resumed at her shoulder. “I can’t… I mean, what if I can’t? What if I come by mistake, sir?”

  His lips paused their ministrations, and Ethan tilted his head toward her face. Lily looked all hot and bothered.

  Already.

  “Oh, I would certainly suggest that you don’t do that, little one,” he purred. “I do not think you’d like the consequences of that error.”

  She tipped her chin to try and meet his eye, but his attention was already elsewhere, back at her wonderful skin as his lips trailed a line of kisses down her chest, in the direction of her beautiful breasts. By the time he arrived there, Ethan found both of her nipples beaded into tight little buds, her flesh seemingly alive under his touch.

  “Look at these scintillating tits,” he murmured directly into her skin. “All excited and pleased to see me.”

  His palms pressed gently against the sides of her torso as Ethan straightened his body, enabling him to get a better view of her chest. Fuck, she was scorching hot, her breasts flattened slightly by the way he’d secured her arms, but looking ravishing all the same.

  “I’d like to devour those,” he told her in a low tone, and as he did, a wicked thought popped into his brain.

  Ethan had already resolved to have his breakfast in some salacious and errant way, but now that she was here and all needy and pliant, it seemed like the perfect thing to do.

  “Don’t go away,” he whispered mocking
ly, throwing Lily’s stunned face a wink as he retreated back down the bed to the dresser. Selecting the banana he wanted, and his favorite ball gag, he turned, eyeing her flushed face with a wry smile.

  He didn’t need to look inside her head to see how much Lily was struggling with the premise of obedience and endurance, but that thought only made him happier. That was the point. This was a punishment, after all, and it should be a struggle. Not all penance was about the receipt of pain, and as his little one was about to find out, sometimes trial by denial could be just as daunting.

  And demanding.

  She had left him, intentionally choosing to walk out of the house, knowing he was locked inside the basement, so he elected the opposite act of contrition for her. She would never be left—he wasn’t going to abandon her for one damned moment—however much she begged. Instead, he was going to be right there with her, goading, teasing and taunting; edging her all the way to the brink, before snatching it right away again. Ethan’s smile grew at the thought, and in a moment, he was back between her outstretched legs, placing the fruit out on her sexy little midriff.

  Lily yelped as the banana settled on her skin, her head straining to see what he had placed there.

  “Relax,” he told her with a chuckle. “I’m just having my breakfast now, too.”

  Her body tensed in response.

  “And now for the pièce de résistance,” he continued with a small smirk. “I’m going to introduce you to one of my favorite pieces of equipment—the gag.”

  Lily’s chest rose at that, and all at once she was straining against the ropes at her wrists, her writhing body sending the banana rushing down to the sheets at her hips.

  “Sir, please!” she gasped. “Do not gag me. I’ll…I’ll be good.”

  Ethan could see the look of horror in her eyes, but somehow, it just drove him on. He had always loved gags, and he so rarely ever got to use them. The one in his hands now was brand new. He’d bought it after abandoning blondie’s body, deciding that whatever else Lily deserved, it was her own equipment, and now it was going to make the perfect addition to Lily’s pretty little mouth. He leaned forward, straddling her middle as he waved the small plastic ball in front of her concerned face. It really was one of the smallest gags of its type, and she shouldn’t have any issues wearing it for an hour or so, not that he’d have known that based on the fearful look in those green eyes.