anymore, but this blew his mind. “So you decided to kidnap your own nephew and use him to coerce me?”
“It actually started when I agreed to do my sister a favor. We’d planned one last trip to New York for my father. He so enjoys the city. But at the last moment, his doctors said he wasn’t well enough to travel. I convinced Kitty and George to press ahead with the trip. When we arrived, Kitty spent the first two days crying. She’s been having some postpartum thing.” Gwyneth waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Anyway, George decided a romantic cruise might cheer her up. He asked me to watch Kyle.”
Liam frowned. He’d thought her critique of George had been rather harsh—until now. What sort of daft prick would leave his child with Gwyneth? “And? You thought—just in case seducing me didn’t work—that while they were vacationing, you’d use their own son to try to screw them out of a billion pounds?”
“Really, Liam…that’s unfair.”
He growled a curse. “Sounds pretty accurate to me.”
“Being responsible for Kyle every day and night has been so difficult. Do you know how impossible it is to get any sleep with a baby? And now that he’s so terribly ill…” She started sobbing again. “Oh, it’s awful. I look a fright. I can’t remember the last shower I had in peace. My nerves are shattered. I don’t know why anyone would want to breed.” She shuddered.
Liam had never been more ecstatic that he hadn’t gotten Gwyneth pregnant.
“What should I do? He’s seriously ill. What if the worst happens?” she sobbed.
“You’ll have to live with the consequences of your actions.” Something she’d had almost no experience with. “Why are you confessing all this to me now?”
“I’ve been out of my mind with worry. I can’t deal with the stress. You can usually fix any situation, so I hoped if I told you everything, you’d help me. I don’t know where else to turn…” She dissolved into tears once more.
Liam shook his head. “The doctors will give Kyle all the help he needs. But you’re beyond help. I can’t believe what you’ve done.”
“It started out innocently,” she protested. “Once Kitty and George set sail, I found myself in New York. I just wanted to see you again. I tried the apartment. When I couldn’t reach you there, I lowered myself to visit that terrible club Seth belongs to. Of course, you weren’t there, either.”
“And someone there told you where to find me?” So much for member confidentiality. A head needed to roll for that.
“It wasn’t her fault. When I appeared with Kyle at that…place, everyone assumed Kyle was yours.” She winced, staring at him with green eyes, begging for forgiveness. “I just carried the assumption along. Then everything snowballed, and I found myself having to come up with even bigger explanations—”
“Lies.” He corrected.
She frowned. “Not…completely factual statements, I’ll admit.”
“Fucked-up fabrications meant to disrupt my life.”
She sighed. “Don’t be a martyr…”
He glowered at her furiously, not trusting himself to speak—or not to throttle her. “Anything else, Gwyneth?”
“That’s it.” She dabbed at the tears rolling prettily down her cheeks. “Can’t you see how I’m suffering? Help me.”
Gwyneth never had been good at focusing on anyone but herself.
“What about your sister? Does Kitty even know her son is sick?”
She stood and resumed pacing, wringing her hands again. “I rang Kitty before you arrived. Their ship docks in Galveston early in the morning. They’ve already scheduled a flight from nearby Houston that lands at LAX shortly after noon. Thank God. I’m too exhausted to keep up this pretense. And you’ve become so surly.”
Liam felt a ridiculous amount of relief at her statement. But one thing still bothered him. “Why the hell didn’t you just ask me for help? That’s what a normal person would have done.”
She gaped at him. “You were so angry about my little fling with the trainer. He was pretty, and he didn’t mean anything to me. But for some reason, you were quite put out. Why would I believe you’d help me, especially since I needed you to marry me again?”
At least Gwyneth had figured out that he wanted nothing more to do with her. Since she usually couldn’t fathom a man not being madly in love with her, that was progress for his ex-wife.
“We’ll never know now, will we?”
Chapter Fourteen
Silence filled her head. Raine felt the press of lips to her forehead, a caress of her shoulder. She drifted on a cloud of warmth, surrounded by an odd peace. Nothing cluttered her mind. It was a nice change. She breathed, feeling too lethargic to do more.
“Are you with me, precious?”
Hammer. She recognized his voice, his term of endearment. He trailed kisses down her neck. Raine was aware of him, but sensation didn’t quite penetrate her haze. She should probably answer him, but when she tried, she only managed the softest moan.
“Come back to me now,” he coaxed. “Open your eyes. Look at me.”
Raine didn’t want to. She enjoyed the peaceful void. Almost nothing penetrated her quiet except his affection. But under that cajoling note, insistence laced his voice. Something inside Raine didn’t want to disappoint him.
Slowly, she became more aware of her surroundings: soft sheets on her tender backside, a warm quilt tucked all around her, Hammer’s bare torso pressed against hers as he leaned over her.
“Raine… You looked beautiful submitting to me. Everyone in the club now knows you belong to Liam and me, and you did us so proud. Let me know you can hear me.”
It took a lot of effort, but she managed to nod.
“Good girl. Open your mouth.” Hammer brushed her lower lip with his thumb, and she slowly complied.
Gently, he pushed something thin past her lips and placed it on her tongue. Instinctively, Raine closed her mouth around the little square. She smelled the chocolate mint candy before she tasted it. Rich, sweet, with a hint of bite… She moaned.
“You were amazing. Everyone saw you in a beautifully submissive light, especially me. I couldn’t have asked you to surrender more perfectly. I’m humbled by your trust.”
You made me feel like I was flying. I loved giving you my control. Let’s do that again. “Macen…” was all she managed.
The chocolate melted and the flavor coated her tongue. Her head began to rise to the surface after what felt like a long submersion under her blanket of peace. The heater blew warm air over her face. The whiskers on Hammer’s cheeks abraded her jawline as he nipped gently at her neck, her lobe. His hot breath feathered across her skin.
“I’ve imagined you giving yourself so openly to me a million times. You were better than all my fantasies,” he praised, leaving little love bites on her neck.
“So good for me, too,” she whispered.
By will alone, she lifted her heavy lids to see Hammer hovering above her, his hazel eyes looking so green, the beginnings of a dark beard fanning over his face.
A knock sounded at the door. Raine frowned.
“Come in,” Hammer called as if he knew exactly who was intruding.
Seth opened the door and hustled in, holding a cold can of soda and their scattered clothes from the dungeon. He set the garments on the nightstand and handed the can to Hammer.
“Thanks, man.”
Seth nodded. “You’re welcome. Have fun.”
With a wink, Seth was gone. She liked the guy. He seemed kind, straightforward, easygoing. Liam had good friends.
“Drink some of this.” Hammer helped her sit up and popped the top of the can.
Raine’s head was still swimming a bit as she braced herself upright and surveyed her surroundings. Hammer’s room. Before today, the only other time she’d been in this bed, he’d been fucking her into oblivion, like a primal animal in heat over and over… She’d spent most of her time lately in Liam’s room. In Liam’s bed. In Liam’s arms.
Now everyt
hing had changed.
Hammer helped her sip the drink. The bite of the cold and the effervescence hit her tongue, tickled her nose. Caffeine jolted her within moments. Or was that just her brain kicking in again?
She stared at the can. Seth had brought it, not Liam, who hadn’t been there for the scene because he’d gone to the hospital with Gwyneth and the sick baby. So Hammer had done his best to shut off her head and tune out her worry.
“Has he called you?” Raine blurted.
Regret tightened his face. “No. But Liam is fine. He’s coming back. Don’t worry.”
She really wanted to believe him. Their relationship was worth nothing if she didn’t have faith. Hammer had never been one to mince words or pull punches. If he thought Liam could be lured away, he wouldn’t say otherwise. And her gorgeous Irishman would have never bought them a house in which to build their future if he planned to leave.
“I know you’re right. I just don’t like it,” she murmured.
“Liam would be touched by your concern, but he wouldn’t want you to worry.”
Raine pondered that. “I know that, too.”
Hammer brushed the hair from her cheek. “How do you feel?”
“Relaxed. Good.” In heaven.
He cupped her nape, and his lips climbed up her neck. “Not too tender anywhere?”
Experimentally, she flexed and wriggled. Heat flared over her ass, upper thighs, and the small of her back. But a comforting warmth spread all through her body.
She snuggled down in the bed a bit more, barely resisting the urge to close her eyes again and find that alluring peace. “Sensitive. But it’s…” She sighed, sent him a little smile. “Nice.”
A wicked grin curved his lips before he dragged the blankets down, baring her to the waist. He cupped her breast and latched on to her nipple, giving it a deep, hard suckle. An unexpected electricity zinged through her body, zipping through her veins, zapping her clit. Her eyes flew open wide. She sucked in a breath. Hammer’s touch always felt insanely good, but Raine had never experienced this hypersensitivity. Ten seconds ago, she hadn’t been thinking of sex at all. Now?
As he pulled his lips away, she arched up and wrapped her arms around his neck with an imploring groan. “Macen…”
“How about now?” he taunted, pinching her nipple and filling her with another burst of sensation. “I can make you feel a whole lot better than nice, precious.”
* * *
“Please…”
Raine’s whispered plea went straight to his cock.
Oh, hell… Hammer hadn’t expected to give her anything except aftercare, but the instant she’d melted into him and he’d tasted her skin, he had fixated on one thing—and one thing only. In fact, he’d make it far more than nice. He’d fuck her until she clawed his back, screamed her throat raw, and fell to the mattress in exhaustion.
He kicked the covers aside altogether and tore into his zipper, shoving it down with a hiss of breath. “You enjoying that endorphin high?”
She blinked, wide-eyed as she watched him undress with a lick of her lips. “Is that what I’m feeling?”
So fucking innocent in some ways, and he shouldn’t enjoy corrupting her this much. “You bet it is. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you don’t come down anytime soon.”
Hammer rolled out of bed long enough to shove his pants to the floor. The sight of Raine in his bed, on his sheets, wearing the marks of his teeth on her breast, her thigh, her pussy… Fuck if that didn’t drive him out of his mind. He craved putting more of his brands on her pretty skin.
“Is that what you want, too? Yes or no?” he asked.
Every cell in his body wanted to merge with her, make it clear in no uncertain terms that he owned her.
She blinked up at him, blue eyes clinging, berry nipples hard, breathing shallow.
“You know what I’m asking, Raine. How much I’m asking. Yes or no?” He enunciated each word clearly.
Because he didn’t know how much longer he could hold back. If she was too tired, sore, or scared, he’d have to take himself in hand and hope like hell that would sate him enough to leave her alone. But no way could he unchain this side of him without her consent.
Somewhere in the back of his head, reason screamed at him. This wasn’t a fabulous idea. Liam wasn’t here to pull him back if he got out of hand, and he’d sworn to keep himself in check. Hammer cursed, raking a hand through his hair.
He was strong, damn it. In control. He didn’t need a fucking babysitter. Raine was precious to him, and he’d never break her. He could enjoy himself a little, then pull back. No harm, no foul. No problem. Right?
Raine bit her lower lip, watching him shyly, almost the way she had before he’d ever touched her…just like she had when she’d harbored a mad case of hero worship that had driven him to the brink of sanity because he’d been unable to sate his desire for her.
He could sure as fuck do something about it now.
“Raine? Answer me.”
A coy little smile creased her face as she lifted her hands from the bed. They fluttered around her, brushing aside her hair, spreading the dark mass over his white pillow, before she set her palms on the upper swells of her breasts.
And began to feel her way down.
Hammer nearly grabbed her wrists to stop her. No one was going to put out the fire he’d kindled except him. But Raine merely cupped her breasts, barely thumbed her nipples before gliding her hands down her stomach. Goose bumps broke out all over her skin. Her nipples drew up tighter and harder. She gave a little gasp and looked at him helplessly. Then she bent her legs and grazed her fingertips inside her thighs until she cupped her knees. Slowly, she nudged her thighs apart, easing them wide just for him.
Once her pussy lay totally open and wet, she dropped her hands to her sides. Hammer stared at her plump mound and swallowed a growing knot of lust.
“Always,” she whispered, soft and inviting.
A wave of primal possession swept up his body, a tsunami of thick, visceral demand. It sizzled across his skin, seared his veins, shook his heart, and slammed down his cock.
Before sanity vanished, Hammer managed to grab a condom from the nightstand and rip it open with shaking hands. As he rolled it down his aching length, he wondered why the hell he couldn’t harness this fucking urge to conquer her in every possible way. The force wasn’t totally new—he’d felt stirrings of it with Juliet—but the need had never been as overpowering and instinctive as it was with Raine.
“Oh, precious.” Hunger roughened his voice. “You have no idea what I’m going to do to you.”
Raine’s eyes widened. “I can take everything you want to give me, Sir.”
Hammer prowled onto the bed, homing in on her splayed thighs. “We’ll see.”
He didn’t give her time to respond before he dipped his head low and bit into the supple flesh of her thigh, leaving his mark opposite the one he’d welted at the house.
She tensed beneath his lips, her body rippling with a gasp—a breathy sigh of passion and pain. Raine arched off the sheets.
If she meant to entice him, she fucking succeeded.
The musky scent wafting from her cunt made his mouth water, but the urge to press her flesh between his teeth drove a need even more potent than his desire to taste her. Hammer wanted to consume her, lick her welts, and listen to her unbridled cries.
Dragging his tongue over the swell of her hips, he circled her hipbone like a shark. Then with a carnal growl, he gnashed her tender skin between his teeth. Raine jolted, shrieked, then held her breath for a long moment before releasing a throaty wail.
“Yes, precious. Let my burn sink deep,” Hammer lauded as he dragged his tongue over the marred flesh in soothing swipes.
Power, sizzling and savage, flared through him, tearing at his self-imposed restraint. As he gripped Raine in a brutal grasp,