“What? No, I don’t.”
My voice dark, I say, “Aye. You know what to call me. Say it.”
She’s silent. Out of her body and back up into her head.
Defying me.
I reach under and pinch her clit, tugging gently at the engorged little bud. “Say it.”
She sucks in a breath, holds it for a split second, then lets it out in a rush. Along with it goes her resistance. She blurts, “Sir, please let me come.”
Good god, the rush of adrenaline that courses through my body should kill me.
I roll her onto her back, take my jutting cock in one hand, and rub it up and down through her soaked folds. Looking into her eyes, I growl, “Who do you belong to?”
“You.”
It’s barely even a whisper, but I heard it. So did my cock. A surge of electricity shoots from my balls to the crown.
I grab her hips and shove my dick deep inside her.
We groan at the same time. Then Sloane stars to buck frantically underneath me, fucking herself onto my cock, desperate for release. I give her my weight, fist a hand in her hair, and close the other around her throat.
Into her ear, I say gruffly, “Don’t forget it, beautiful captive. You’re mine. Now, come.”
Her entire body jerks. She cries out. Arching against me as I drive into her over and over, her pussy clenching around my cock, she sobs my name. I test one of her hard nipples with my teeth, and she screams it.
My body reacts to that like I’ve been struck by lightning.
There’s scorching heat and a crackling current, a sense of danger rippling beneath the awe. Though we agreed this thing between us is a short-term negotiation, it has the raw and uncontrollable power of nature sizzling through it, a blinding white burn of energy that’s as beautiful as it is perilous.
A force powerful enough to end your life.
I kiss her breasts to smother my moan of despair. I know she’ll be able to walk away from this raging storm unscathed, but I doubt I’ll be so lucky.
If I’m being honest with myself, I knew it from day one.
I crush my mouth to hers and kiss her as I climax, tumbling off a cliff of pure pleasure, falling down toward the crashing waves and rocky shore far below, where I shatter into a million tiny pieces, all of them hers.
24
Sloane
It’s a long while before I come back to myself.
When I do, Declan is still on top of me, still inside me, and speaking in Gaelic, his voice a guttural rasp next to my ear.
We’re both panting. Shaking. Covered in sweat. My trembling legs are wrapped around his waist, his big rough hand around my throat.
It feels as if we’ve just survived a bombing.
He softly kisses both my cheeks. The corners of my mouth. My jaw, neck, and shoulders. Propping himself up on his elbows, he tangles both hands into my damp hair and holds my head as he looks into my eyes.
“Hullo.”
Feeling strangely shy, I murmur, “Hi.”
Has he always been this beautiful? Have those blue eyes always had that tender shine? I can’t remember. Time seems split into before this moment and after, like we’ve broken the laws of physics and arrived here in our own little bubble, shipwrecked on an island where nothing ever existed before.
Where no one ever existed but the two of us.
His voice thick, he says, “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
My laugh is weak. “You could’ve fooled me.”
“I meant I planned on feeding you first.”
“It’s okay. You couldn’t help it. I know I’m irresistible.”
He starts to laugh this lovely, husky laugh that makes me feel warm all over. He withdraws and rolls onto his back, taking me with him, tucks my head into the space between his shoulder and neck, then winds his arms around me and holds me tight.
His sigh is deep and full of satisfaction.
I ask tentatively, “Is it okay if I talk now? Um…sir?”
He peppers sweet kisses all over my forehead. “You’re the most amazing woman who ever lived.”
“I’m so glad you’re finally getting caught up with the program, gangster.”
He reaches down and smartly swats my ass.
“Excuse me. Sir.”
“That’s better.”
He’s trying to be stern, but I hear the pleasure in his voice. I hear the warmth and softness underneath. It makes something hard in the middle of my chest feel squishy.
“Aye, you can talk now. Try not to slice me up with that razor-blade tongue.”
“I’ll do my best.” Hiding my face in his neck, I close my eyes. “Are we still doing the honesty thing? Because I might have something to put out there.”
Hearing the emotion in my voice, he stills beneath me. He waits patiently until I gather enough courage to say, “I’m no virgin. I’m sure that’s obvious. There have been a lot of men.”
“There’s no need to confess a number. I’d never ask.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
He exhales in relief. “Thank god.”
“May I continue?”
“Aye. I think.”
“Don’t be so worried. I’m about to give you a compliment.”
“Ah. In that case, please proceed.”
My arms are draped over his head, and I’m still bound at the wrists by the handcuffs, so instead of giving him a sharp thump on the chest, the best I can do is tug on a lock of his hair.
“As I was saying.” I clear my throat. “I, um…Jesus. Okay, here’s the thing: have you ever been to the Grand Canyon?”
There’s a baffled pause. “Are you about to compare my manhood to a mule’s?”
“What the hell?”
“I understand they use mules to take tourists down the trails into the Grand Canyon. And, as everyone knows, mules are very well endowed.”
“If you’d stop trying to pat yourself on the back over the size of your dick for a second, I’ll get to the point.”
He presses his lips to the top of my head and squeezes me. I know he’s trying not to laugh, the bastard.
“Again, as I was saying. The Grand Canyon. It’s vast. So big you can’t imagine it until you’re standing at the edge of one of the rocky red cliffs, looking down. It’s not only deep, though, it’s wide, so wide you can’t see the other side. And long, too, like three hundred miles or something. There’s a river that snakes through the bottom, and incredible rock formations everywhere, and in the canyon walls, individual sedimentary layers where nearly two billion years of Earth’s history are exposed. It’s been inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years, and many of the tribes consider it a holy site. Because it looks and feels holy. Sacred and awe-inspiring, like a natural temple cut right into the earth.
“And it sort of has its own atmosphere. Gusts of hot wind come up out of nowhere, blasting through your hair and blowing grit into your eyes. But there can also be fog, and crazy thunderstorms, and below-freezing temperatures and even snow, all depending on if you’re near the rim or the canyon floor and what time of year you visit. There are about a hundred different animal species, and all these different ecological zones, and it’s all just sitting out there, self-contained, smack in the middle of this vast expanse of nothingness. It’s unexpected. Wild and strange. And so beautiful, it makes your chest ache.”