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

by Felicity Brandon

  Lily’s gaze flitted reflexively to the piece of furniture he’d described, and she nodded. “Okay.” She glanced back in his direction as he started on the final ropes. “Yes, sir.”

  Ethan could sense the relief in Lily. Not just at being liberated from her soft prison, but also from the fact he wanted her to dress at all. He supposed she thought that was a good sign, and once more, he suppressed the urge to grin at her error.

  “Sir.”

  The sound of Lily’s voice interrupted his thoughts, and he looked up to find her sitting watching him. His gaze took in the look of her breasts hungrily, and he shook his head. Anyone would think Ethan was sex-starved the way his brain and cock combined to create such lustful fervor, when both he and Lily knew differently.

  “Yes, little one.”

  He tucked the final ropes into his inside pocket as she rubbed the skin of her ankle gently.

  “Will we leave once I’m dressed?”

  Ethan nodded. “Yes,” he answered. “Although, I’m aware we both need a decent meal. I think there’s a place just a few miles from here, so we can stop and get breakfast.”

  Lily’s mouth parted at his words. Apparently, this was not what she’d been expecting. “That sounds lovely.”

  He offered her a smile. It would be lovely. “Into the shower then,” he ordered. “Before I change my mind and get my ropes out again.”

  That made Lily move, and she scampered off the bed with speed, landing on her hands and knees without having to be reminded. Ethan grinned at the look of her pink little arse as it wriggled onto the bathroom tiles. That was a sight he would never tire of seeing.

  She climbed into the shower a few moments later, the sound of the water switching Ethan’s thoughts back to his plan. Of course, it was still possible that Lily could sense what he was thinking, but it was considerably less likely now they were in different rooms, and her attention was elsewhere. He’d barely considered the fact they’d need to eat when he’d decided to make her travel in the trunk last night, and on reflection, that was stupid. Neither of them had eaten properly since breakfast yesterday, and it was going to be a long day—they’d both need the sustenance. So, that meant a small tweak to his scheme. Lily could sit up front with him when they left the bed and breakfast, and stay there until after they’d stopped to eat. The new plan had another benefit. It meant old man McManus would have nothing to be suspicious about, and it meant they left the place just like any other happy newlyweds.

  Ethan was waiting by the door when the shower cut off. He resisted the urge to wander into the bathroom and watch Lily drying herself. It would only be a distraction and slow them down. The woman was too damn tantalizing for there to be any other outcome. He smiled as she crawled out of the room, her dark hair clinging to her back in wet strands.

  “Come here,” he instructed, beckoning to Lily with one finger.

  Lily bit her lower lip but complied, crawling to his feet at once. Ethan pulled in a deep breath, trying to ignore the way his cock had just hardened at her submission.

  “Have you dried your hair, little one?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet, sir.”

  He gazed down at her, reaching down to stroke the side of her cheek. “Bring me your towel. You’ll catch your death of cold going out with wet hair.”

  Lily’s gaze lowered. “Yes, sir,” she breathed, turning to make the no-doubt excruciating journey back to the bathroom on her hands and knees.

  Ethan grinned as he watched her crawl away. He had a pretty good idea how much the display would be turning her on, and even though there was no time to scratch that itch, he couldn’t help but enjoy the show.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Lily

  Lily flung the towel across her shoulders and returned on her hands and knees to Ethan’s feet. She tried not to overthink the act, but as usual, her body was responding with its relentless hot, thrumming arousal. Lowering her head, she stopped by his leather shoes, waiting while he collected the damp, cream towel.

  “You’re taken to being my pet like a duck to water, little one,” he praised. “Now up onto your knees.”

  Lily blushed as she rose, her gaze meeting the obvious bulge in his trousers rather than lifting to meet his eyes. Ethan walked behind her, standing either side of her legs before he took the towel to her hair. She remained passive, allowing him to dry her washed locks, and honestly, the sensation was rather good. She’d much prefer to be kneeling naked before him, than be tied to the bed all night.

  Or bound in the trunk of his car.

  She gasped, pushing that thought away instantly. She couldn’t allow Ethan to hear those things from her thoughts. She must not give herself away. Lily held her breath for a moment, expecting some dry comment about his plan, or a swift smack to her backside, but, to her surprise, neither of them arrived. Drawing in a deep breath, Lily penetrated Ethan’s mind for a moment, and all she found there was a sense of repletion and a satisfaction that seemed to be linked to the small act of towel drying her hair.

  Strange.

  “What’s strange?” Ethan asked, though his tone was relaxed as he inquired.

  Lily’s heart leapt. So, he had been listening in on her thoughts then? But, for how long?

  “Just how good this feels,” she replied. “I like you looking after me, sir.”

  It helped that Ethan couldn’t see her face as she spoke, but still, the nagging doubt remained—had he heard what she was really thinking?

  “Good,” he answered, and Lily twisted her body at the sound of his voice.

  All of a sudden, Ethan was right there with her, his face only a few inches away as he crouched down.

  “I like it, too, Lily,” he assured her. “I can play the big, bad wolf when I want to, Riding Hood, but you’ve made me realize there’s more to us than just that.”

  Lily blinked at him. “Really?”

  Ethan laughed. “Yes, really,” he insisted. “We haven’t all been about ropes and ritual humiliation, have we? I thought there’d been a little romance, too.”

  Her lips curled at the question, though as Lily’s mind strained to think about it, she truly couldn’t recall much romance. Yes, Ethan could be charming and tender, but the man she’d grown to love over the last few weeks was rarely either of those things.

  “No?” he probed, running his fingers through her damp hair.

  “Maybe,” she replied. “Sir.”

  The fingers in her hair stopped their progress, and in a split second they closed in a tight fist. Lily flinched at the sudden hurt, her knees shuffling her closer to his body to alleviate the pressure.

  “Maybe you need more of that then?” he mused aloud. “Once I have a little more faith in you.”

  Lily’s heart pounded as she nodded her head as best she could in his grasp. “Yes, please, sir.”

  Ethan smiled, though in that split second, Lily couldn’t decide if the expression was simply gorgeous or predatory. She’d seen both from Ethan on more than one occasion.

  “If you earn it, then you can have your romance, Lily. What do you fancy, expensive dinner dates, champagne in the bath, breakfast in bed?”

  He was grinning at her now, and Lily felt the all too familiar heat spread to her cheeks. “They all sound good,” she admitted in a low whisper.

  The fingers in her hair relaxed a little, and Ethan leaned forward, brushing his lips over her mouth. “Then you shall have them all,” he promised her. “If you continue to be my good girl.”

  Their gazes locked for a long moment, and in that time, Lily wondered if Ethan already knew she’d guessed at his plan. It was entirely possible. The man was an expert manipulator, and even though she was besotted with him, she wasn’t blind to the fact.

  “I want to be your good girl,” she whispered.

  Ethan pressed his warm forehead gently against her brow. “Get dressed then,” he told her. “It’s breakfast time.”

  Ethan

  Ethan had been right about
the small roadside café he’d spotted. It was just a few miles from the bed and breakfast, and it turned out to offer the most perfect fried breakfast he could remember eating. He and Lily had left the bed and breakfast in a flurry of smiles and handshakes. Mrs. McManus even stood on the doorstep and waved at them from the driveway, and as he’d looked in his rear-view mirror, Ethan had been glad he’d made the last minute revision to their plans.

  He looked up from his plate to glance at Lily. She seemed as relaxed as he’d seen her for a long time, and was merrily tucking into the breakfast he’d insisted she order. Reaching for the blue jacket Ethan had bought her, he eased the sleeve up to reveal the outline of the place his ropes had been. He stroked the skin as their eyes met again.

  “Are the marks sore?”

  Lily swallowed the mouthful of food before she shook her head. “No, sir,” she whispered, glancing around guiltily as though someone else had heard the word. “Just a little tender, but not sore.”

  Ethan smiled. The place was virtually empty, yet he found her concern endearing.

  “That’s good,” he told her. “I don’t want any lasting damage to your flawless skin.”

  She glanced down at his fingers, pulling in a deep breath. “I really didn’t enjoy last night.”

  His palm moved to encase her smaller hand. “I know,” he replied. “In truth, you weren’t supposed to enjoy it.”

  “I know.” Lily’s voice was barely a whisper now. “You scared me—again—sir.”

  Ethan took a sip of his tea with his free hand. “I know,” he said with a smile as he placed the cup back in its saucer. “And you still don’t know how to handle that, do you, little one.”

  Lily bit her lip. “No, sir. I mean, I trust you—obviously.”

  She paused, and he noticed how her cheeks burned red before she went on. “But the things you do seem to be getting more extreme.”

  “That’s true,” he confessed. “For us, they’re extreme.”

  But not compared to those who came before you, Lily.

  The final sentence was unspoken, but the look in her eyes told Ethan that she’d heard every word.

  “But you don’t have to worry on that score,” he reassured her. “You’re nothing like any of them, and your fate won’t be the same.”

  Lily swallowed. “Nothing like…”

  She hesitated. “Nothing like Jody, you mean?”

  Ethan could practically feel her reticence about raising the matter of her murdered friend. Jody had been the issue that had broken the bough yesterday, so her apprehension was understandable, yet as Ethan heard her name today, he only smiled. Jody didn’t matter anymore. She was gone—out of the picture—and he had well and truly made his expectations clear about where Lily’s loyalties would lie.

  “Right,” he replied with a nod. “You’re allowed to say her name, you know. You’re not going to land in more trouble for the mere mention of her.”

  Lily’s gaze revealed the conflict she still felt about the subject.

  “And I know you miss her,” he added as he drained the remainder of his tea from the cup. “And for that hurt, I am sorry.”

  Ethan rarely apologized to anyone about anything, but this time he meant every word. He hadn’t been thinking straight when he picked up Jody, and a part of him did regret it. That in itself was noteworthy.

  “Thank you.” There was emotion in Lily’s voice again. “I still can’t quite get my head around it.”

  He squeezed her fingers gently. “I know,” he soothed. “And I’ll be here to comfort you. Just remember what I taught you last night.”

  Lily’s wide eyes flitted to his gaze at once.

  “I assume you remember?” he probed wryly.

  She nodded her head. “Yes, sir.”

  “Impress me then,” he demanded in a soft tone.

  Lily lifted her chin. “My loyalty remains with you,” she parroted, as though the words were permanently engrained in her mind. “Always, sir.”

  Ethan patted her hand. “There’s my good girl,” he told her with a smile. “Now, finish your breakfast; we need to get on the road.”

  Chapter Fifty

  Lily

  Lily had mixed emotions as she left the cafe hand in hand with her husband. He seemed calmer now—they both were—and there’d been no obvious sense that he intended to carry out his threat from last night, but still. Ethan was still Ethan. A force that no woman had ever been able to tame before her, and as she glanced up to his face in the cold parking lot, Lily had a feeling that no one ever would.

  “You’re set on going back to the house then, sir?”

  The question hung in the air between them as they crossed the gravelly track toward the car. The lot was set back from the roadside, tucked behind the back of the brick café, and aside from two other empty vehicles, the place was desolate.

  Ethan glanced down at her. “I am,” he answered. “I’m determined to make that place something it’s never been before.”

  She shivered at his reply, though she wasn’t sure what had unnerved her. “What’s that?”

  The corners of his mouth curled. “A proper home, little one. And you are going to be at the center of it.”

  Lily swallowed at the intensity in his eyes. All of a sudden, it seemed like she had all of his attention, and while that might have excited her in the past, something about the gesture now was ominous. They were at his car now, and as Lily peered into the back seat, her gaze fell over the small amount of luggage they had between them.

  But wait—why were their bags on the back seat?

  Lily had gladly been making polite conversation with Mrs. McManus when Ethan had loaded the car—grateful for the woman’s interest and the likely effect it would have on Ethan’s plans. She’d doubted he’d have tried anything reckless with a witness in tow, but now Lily wasn’t so certain, and the sight of the bags sent her stomach tightening into knots.

  “Lily.”

  She spun on her heel, her hands against the window of the back seat as she stared up at her husband.

  “Ethan,” she panted, aware of her racing heart. “Don’t do this. Please.”

  How many times had she said that to him in recent weeks? How many times had she begged him to stop—to see reason—and how many times had it ever made a difference? Lily sucked her lips between her teeth as he took a step toward her, the answers coming to her thick and fast. She’d asked him too many times. Too many times for her to recall them all now, but if she remembered rightly, then her pleas had always fallen on deaf ears.

  Ethan always did what he wanted. He always had his way.

  Ethan

  It was perfect. Better than he could have planned. The whole parking lot was deserted, save for the couple of cars at the other end of the place, both of which were empty and presumably belonged to the miserable waitress and chef inside the café.

  “Lily.”

  His tone was lower than he’d intended, as though his body had tuned into the transitioning mood, and knew full well what would be appropriate. She turned to face him at the sound of her name, her breathing suddenly labored. In that moment, Ethan knew for sure that his little one had seen what he intended, and the way her face blanched only reinforced the point.

  “Ethan,” she gasped, reaching for his arm. “Don’t do this. Please.”

  He glanced down at her hand at his wrist. Lily seemed even tinier to him at that moment. Smaller than perhaps she’d ever done. Tiny, and vulnerable. And all his.

  “Are you going to be my good girl?” He raised his eyebrow at her as he asked, aware of the way the gesture seemed to affect his wife. “I thought you said you were.”

  Lily’s breaths came in in short bursts, her eyes darting briefly around the car park before returning to his face. “That’s not fair,” she protested in a hoarse whisper. “I said I wanted to be, but this—this is serious, sir. You can’t really mean to drive me down in there.”

  She nodded toward the back of his car, an
d Ethan’s cock roused at the quiver in her voice.

  “You always talk about fairness,” he told her with a smile. “Like it means something.”

  “It does,” she insisted. “It does mean something, Ethan. It means everything.”

  Ethan licked his lips. He could sense the panic burgeoning in Lily’s body, and her head was full of potential escape routes.

  “There are no ways out of this,” he assured her in a calm tone. “You belong to me now, Lily, and as you’re perfectly demonstrating, we have trust issues.”

  “But, sir, I—”

  He stepped even closer, pressing his torso against Lily’s diminutive frame as his finger rested at her lips, silencing her. “This is how it’s going to be, Lily.”

  Ethan pinioned her with the full weight of his gaze. “If you yield to me now without a fight, then I will consider this matter closed when we get back to the house.”

  “Yield?” She practically shouted the word. “This isn’t some erotic game of bondage, Ethan, or even the pet thing.”

  Lily blushed as her thoughts darted to the many times he’d leashed her and made her lap refreshments from a saucer in the corner of the room, and Ethan chuckled lightly at where her mind had gone. Even now—in her panic—his horny little pet wanted to play.

  “No,” she insisted, pushing back against his body weight. “No, sir. I don’t want this! I don’t want to go in there. I don’t consent to this!”

  She was sneering at him by the end, stamping her foot and only just avoiding his shoe. Ethan pulled in a deep breath. He’d always respected the defiance in Lily, admired it, even, but whenever it reared its ugly head, he couldn’t decide if he wanted to wallop her or kiss her.

  “Do you honestly think that’s going to stop me?” Ethan’s voice was demanding, his gaze still drilling into her as he advanced again. “Has it ever stopped me, little one? Will it ever stop me?”