Was she really doing this? Was she going to let him spank her? Was she going to let him prove to her that she wasn’t alone? That he could handle her damage?
Something fierce had awakened inside her, some piece of herself she hadn’t known existed. “Red.”
She’d gone for something simple, not really thinking she would ever find the need to use it. Now she wanted to push herself to the brink.
His hand tightened, lighting up her scalp. Arousal started to pulse through her, warring with the anger she felt, mixing inside. Was it all right to let off steam this way? She was feeling raw, and she could yell at him and probably say things she didn’t mean. Or she could play this his way.
She pushed against him. “Fuck off, Deke.”
He didn’t move at all. Not an inch. He was a hunk of stone, offering her some really weird shelter from the storm inside her head. “That’s not your safe word.”
It felt good to push at him because every time she did, his hand tightened on her hair, and she loved the bite of pain she got from it. “Fuck off. I don’t want you here.”
He pressed his body against hers, giving her no more space to fight him. “But I want to be here, baby, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. Stop cursing at me or you’re going to find out what happens when you disobey. I’ve been indulgent to this point, but you’re going to meet the real Dom tonight if you keep pushing me.”
He was so close, and all the man was wearing was one of her towels. He smelled like her soap, and he was staring down at her like he could eat her alive.
She went up on her toes, getting as close to eye level as she could. “I said fuck off.”
She gasped as he tugged on her hair, harder than before, and his gaze went positively glacial.
“I’m not joking with you. I’m feeling savage tonight,” Deke admitted. “If I scare you in any way, you use your safe word.”
She struggled against him, needing to keep the tension between them. What she couldn’t accept from him tenderly, she found she could handle with a little hate between them. “Let me go.”
His hand tightened again, a jagged thrill of pain racing along her skin. “Tell me you’ll use it.”
He was frustrating her. How could she lose herself in the play if he constantly reminded her it wasn’t real? “This is all consensual, asshole. I’ll use my safe word if I need to, but right now I’m thinking I won’t because you’re soft, Murphy. Maybe you’re the one who needs a safe word.”
His lips curled up in the most wicked smirk. “Oh, there’s nothing at all soft about me right now, baby. And you push me harder and we’ll talk about more than a spanking. We’ll talk about how well your asshole is going to take a plug.”
That was something that normally she would roll her eyes at, but in the heat of the moment, she kind of wanted to try it. The anxiety that had threatened to tear her up moments before seemed to recede, and she could focus on her anger. And her desire.
She wanted a fight, especially one where she knew the person she was fighting would never hurt her. She pushed at him again and managed to bring her leg up, kneeing his thigh.
His hand left her hair and captured her wrists, hauling them up above her head while he pressed his body against hers, getting both his legs between hers and holding them apart so she couldn’t get another kick in. “Do not try that again, baby.”
She could feel the press of his cock against her belly. He was so big, and she was utterly helpless against him. He could do whatever he wanted to her. Just like her boss. Just like the whole fucking world seemed to be.
She’d been so alone without him. She hadn’t realized it. She’d managed to put those feelings in a closet and lock them up tight, convincing herself that she didn’t need him, that he was some childish fascination.
He was everything, and in that moment, she hated him for being so important, resented him for coming back into her life to show her everything she’d missed.
It didn’t matter that once she’d tried to do the same thing to him. It didn’t matter that she’d gone to him. It made it worse because he hadn’t come looking for her. He’d been content to never see her again.
“I hate you.”
His eyes closed but not before she saw the pain there. When he opened them again, they were full of stubborn, steely will. “It doesn’t matter. I’m in charge, and you’re going to obey me. I think it’s time I showed you what happens to little brats who don’t mind their Masters.”
He stepped back, dropping her hands and leaving her off balance.
“You are not my Master.” She struggled to straighten up and growled the words his way before glancing toward the door. She wanted to run, to have him chase her through her house. He could pull her down on the soft rug in the living room and spread her legs wide and impale her on his cock. Her heart raced, pure arousal flooding her in a way it never had before. It was mixed with all the noxious emotions she’d felt for weeks, but somehow it wasn’t toxic.
Deke pulled the towel off and then her eyes weren’t anywhere but on that stunning body of his. His cock was long and thick, erect against his taut belly. He reached into his bag and pulled out a length of rope. “You should understand that if you run, I’ll chase you, and I won’t care that there are other people in the house. They don’t matter right now. I won’t care if they’re watching. I’ll still spank you until your ass is red, and then I’ll force you on my cock. You can scream and moan and call out and I won’t care unless they try to stop me. You’re the only one who gets to stop me.”
He would do it. He would spank her and fuck her in front of whoever was there, not because he was an exhibitionist but because he didn’t care about anyone but her. No one mattered to him in this moment except her.
That made her mad, too. If he’d cared about her half as much in high school, they would have had years together. They would have had a family. She wouldn’t be so fucking alone.
She rushed at him because if he thought she was going to sit there and be a good girl and let him tie her up, he didn’t know her. She pushed at him, this minor violence all part of the “play.” It didn’t feel like play. It felt like fucking therapy, and he was the only one she could ever share this with, ever allow to see her stripped down to her core.
When he was gone, she would be alone again, and that made her angry, too.
She pushed at him, tears starting to blur her eyes, but he was too fast. He had her hands in his and dragged her to the bed, straddling her and holding her down as he wound that rope around her wrists.
“That’s right, baby. You fight all you like. It’s going to end the way I want it to,” he said, his face a hard mask.
He was so gorgeous, and she was probably a mess. She pulled at the rope, but it held her fast. He sat on top of her, his cock thrusting up from a nest of well-groomed dark hair. He reached down and pulled at the sides of her shirt, ripping it open, buttons pinging as they hit the floor. He cupped her breast through her bra.
“Are you going to behave?” He asked the question as he pushed the cup down, freeing her breast. “We can get to the part where I eat your pussy faster if you like.”
She couldn’t. She wasn’t sure she should go there with him. It was one more temptation she could have avoided. “Get off me, asshole.”