Bang

  “Please,” I shriek as tears prick the back of my eyes when he pinches harder, pulling on my most sensitive part. My head drops as I release another pained cry before finally giving him the words, “I want you.”

  “Louder!”

  “I want you. Please.” My words, more a plea than anything else, spur him to go harder, pounding inside of me at a violent pace. His assault erupts quickly as he comes, spurting his hot sperm inside of me with a powerful grunt.

  I stand there, legs quivering beneath me while Declan has his face buried in my neck. His dick is still rock hard inside of me when he finally lifts his head, but I keep mine down, confused about what just happened. Wondering if that was him wanting me as his or if that was nothing more than a punishment for playing games with him.

  When he pulls out of me, he drops my dress down, covering me up. His breaths are labored, as are mine, and when I right myself, I catch a glimpse of him shoving his dick inside of his pants, and then I look away.

  “Don’t do that,” he says, and I turn around to face him. “Don’t look away from me.”

  I don’t say anything because I have no clue what to say in this moment, but he breaks the silence after his shirt is tucked in and his belt is buckled. Taking a couple steps towards me, I grip the edge of the sink as he scolds, “Don’t ever try to make me jealous again, do you hear me?”

  “Yes,” I murmur.

  “Now go back to your husband, but don’t you forget whose cum is inside of you right now,” he says before taking my chin between his fingers and giving me a hard kiss, then turning and walking out of the bathroom, leaving me standing here, a fucked up mess.

  I turn around and look at myself in the mirror, working quickly to pull myself together before returning to the party. Taking in a few slow, deep breaths to calm my racing heart, I smooth my hair and blot the sweat from my forehead with a towel. I don’t have time to think about what just happened because I’ve been in here for long enough, and I need to get back to Bennett. I give myself another glance over to make sure everything is in place before I pick my mask up from the floor and walk out.

  When I make my way back to the party, I scan the room for Declan but he’s nowhere to be seen.

  “You feeling better?” Bennett asks, causing me to jump. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, you just snuck up on me,” I breathe.

  His eyes roam over my face before he asks, “Why did you take your mask off?”

  “I was hot,” I tell him. “Would you put it back on for me?”

  When I hand it over to him, I turn around, and as he’s tying it back on, I spot Declan’s date, but she’s alone. Taking one more look over the room, I still don’t see him.

  “There,” he says and then wraps his arm around my shoulder. “Let’s go find a quiet spot and sit down for a little bit.”

  “I’m fine. Really,” I assure. “Dance with me.”

  He smiles and we spend the rest of the evening dancing and enjoying our night. After the countdown to midnight, we ring in the New Year with champagne toasts and lots of kissing, but with Declan nowhere in sight, it seems he must have ditched the party after fucking me in the bathroom. It isn’t until we get home that I lie in bed and replay everything that happened with Declan. Putting all the pieces of him together, I’m fairly certain that what happened was him staking his claim, albeit in a primitive and territorial fashion.

  With Bennett going to Miami in a couple of days, I plan to lay low and focus my attention on him before I seek out Declan. That is, if he doesn’t seek me out first.

  “HONEY.”

  “Yeah?” I say as I grab a few more dress shirts from Bennett’s closet and walk back out into the bedroom to pack them in his garment bag.

  “I wanted to talk to you about Baldwin. I’ll need to continue taking him with me for my trips to Dubai. I just want to make sure you’re okay with that.”

  “We discussed this before, and I told you I’m fine. But why do you need to take him with you?” I ask.

  “The laws there are strict, and I like having him to keep an eye on everything,” he explains. “It’s just safer that I’m not alone.”

  After zipping up his bag, I walk over to him and ask as I wrap my arms around his waist, “Should I be more worried about you?”

  “No. I don’t want you to worry about a thing, which is why Baldwin will be traveling with me.”

  “Just you saying that already has me worried.”

  “It’s just, last I was there, a situation arose with a couple who shared a cab that was staying at the same hotel as me. It made me realize how much I didn’t know about the laws there,” he tells me and then leads me over to one of the chairs that sit next to the windows.

  “What happened?” I ask as he takes a seat and pulls me down on his lap.

  “They were friends sharing a cab and they got arrested. According to the driver, they were holding hands and kissed, which I found out was against the law unless you’re married. The bellman who brought my bags to the room told me that they would most likely go to prison for the indiscretion. So, I just want the added security measures around me while I’m there on the jobsite, that’s all.”

  Shaking my head, I remark, “That’s crazy.”

  “I know I had mentioned you coming with me, but I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’d worry too much, so I think it’s best that you stay put here, where I know you’re safe.” He runs his hand through my hair, adding, “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if anything ever happened to you.”

  “Baby, nothing’s going to happen to me. I’ll stay here and wait for you,” I tell him and then add with a smile, “impatiently.”

  He laughs and brings me in for a kiss.

  “So what are your plans for the next few days while I’m gone?” he questions.

  “I need to stop by the Tribune Tower to meet with Mr. Bernstein about that social piece I was approached about writing.”

  “Did you decide to do it then?”

  “I think so. I mean, it’ll be great exposure for the charities we work with. I figured we could use this opportunity to get the word out about some of the smaller foundations we are affiliated with,” I explain. “I know I’m not a writer or anything, but I can try, right?”

  “I’m proud of you, you know that? Plus, you’ll have an editor, but I have no doubt that you’re fully capable of writing a great article.”

  “Well, the least it will do is keep me busy while you’re gone.”

  “Three days. It’s only three days,” he says with a grin.

  “Yeah. Three days and then you leave a few days after that,” I tell him with a soft poke to his ribs, which causes him to laugh and nuzzle his head into the crook of my neck, giving me a couple nips.

  We continue to talk and be close until Baldwin calls with the car, and Bennett and I say our goodbyes for the next few days while he’s in Miami on business. Once he’s gone, I go to check my phone, wondering if Declan has tried contacting me, but I have no new messages. It’s been several days since the incident in the bathroom at the New Year’s Eve party, and I haven’t had any contact with him since. But now that Bennett is gone, I make the decision to drive over to his loft.

  I distract myself when Clara comes over, helping her in the kitchen, preparing meals for the week. We share a glass of wine, and I fill her in on the party and we talk about her daughter’s wedding that is coming up in a few months. When everything is prepped, labeled, and placed in the freezer, she says goodnight and I take a quick shower to freshen up.

  I dress casually, leaving my thick, red hair in loose waves and dabbing on a touch of makeup. I prep myself on the drive over to River North with how I plan on approaching Declan, needing to play heavily on his emotions to pull him into what he will assume is just your everyday affair. So I listen to a few songs that aid me in my doleful mood, and as I pull up to Declan’s building a little after nine, I breathe a sigh of relief when I look up to the very top to see the li
ghts on in his place.

  Giving myself a last look in the rearview mirror, I walk into the building and buzz for Declan on the intercom.

  “Who is it?” his voice questions through the speaker.

  “It’s me,” I say softly.

  I have to wait a few silent moments before his voice responds, “I’ll be right down.”

  Since you need a card to get to his floor, I wait for him by the elevator. When it finally opens, and Declan steps out towards me, I do as I planned and simply stand there, staring at him, willing the tears to bathe my eyes, until he finally speaks, “What are you doing here?”

  With a subtle shrug of my shoulders, my voice trembles when I respond, “I don’t know.”

  He closes the space between us, cupping my cheeks in his hands, but I don’t give him a chance to say anything when my vision blurs with unshed tears and I weakly say, “I want to be mad at you. For what you did the other night. But . . . for some reason I can’t bring myself to hate you.” My head falls to his chest, and he holds me tight in his arms when I add, “I just . . . I’m scared, but I want to be here with you.”

  He presses his lips to the top of my head, and with me tucked in his arms, he moves us to the elevator and holds me the whole way up to his loft. When the doors open, he leads me across the room and over to the same couch we sat on the other week, next to the already burning fireplace. I curl up next to him, resting my head on his shoulder when he finally breaks the silence, saying, “The last thing I want is for you to hate me, Nina.”

  “Then what was that in the bathroom?”

  “Me.”

  Lifting my head, I see the creases in his forehead, but his look is solid when he says, “I won’t apologize.”

  With a faint nod of my head, I whisper, “Okay.”

  “Like I told you, I don’t have the softest touch. I don’t want you to mistake that for a lack of feeling, because I won’t deny that I already feel strongly about you.”

  “I’m scared.”

  “I know,” he states softly.

  “Do you?”

  His thumb runs along my cheekbone when he says, “I won’t ever do anything to hurt you.”

  “But . . . Bennett . . .”

  “He doesn’t need to know anything until you’re ready to say something. He doesn’t exist here, here in my home. It’s just you and me,” he tells me before his lips touch mine in a soft kiss. A very un-Declan-like kiss. He’s gentle, and when I reach up to touch his face, he grabs my wrist in his hand and hoists me on top of his lap. My legs straddle his hips, and his erection is evident as it presses between my legs.

  His hands quickly find my breasts, and he squeezes them achingly hard as I sink my fingers into his hair, fisting it in my hands. When I tug at the roots, he growls in my mouth and lifts up my top. I raise my arms in an invitation, which he accepts as he pulls off my sweater. And in a fluid movement, he stands up with my body clung to his, legs wrapped around his hips, and he walks us down the hall and into his master suite.

  The room is dark, lit only by the lights of the city below. My back falls against the soft bedding when he lays us down. His mouth is all over me, dragging down my neck, over the swell of my breasts, to the dip of my navel. He unhooks my pants and slips them off my legs, along with my shoes. I look up at him as he stands over me, peering down as I lie here in my bra and panties. Slowly, he starts working the buttons on his shirt before tossing it across the room. His shoulders and arms are roped in muscle. His smooth chest is nothing but hardened, accentuated slabs that define his broad build and narrow to a deep-cut V, sinking down into his pants.

  He starts to undo his leather belt, and when he slips it from the loops of his slacks, he grips it firmly in both of his hands as if he’s about to make use of it. Suddenly I run cold, and ask hesitantly as I sit up, “What’re you gonna do?”

  “Don’t ask me questions, Nina.”

  My eyes lock on the leather belt, and I begin to feel nauseous at the thought of it, at the thought of being tied up in a closet for days, at the thought of being beaten and the snapping of leather as it slices into the skin of my back, at the thought of being choked with a leather belt while forced to suck my foster dad’s dick. I can’t tear my eyes away from the tight hold he has on his belt and the spiraled veins in his arms. All I can hear is the pounding of my heart in my ears, and I take a hard swallow.

  “Look at me,” he says, and I can’t hide the fear that I’m sure is splayed across my face. “I meant what I said, I’ll never hurt you, but I’m not like most guys.”

  I nod. I don’t know what else to do because I can’t lose him when I’ve finally come this far.

  “I like control. Do you understand what that means?” he questions in an even tone as I shift my attention to his eyes.

  “I don’t want you to hurt me.”

  He steps between my legs and touches my face. “This isn’t about pain, Nina. This is about trust. Do you trust me?”

  I don’t trust anyone, but I give him the word anyway. “Yes.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good girl.”

  Those two words, I’ve heard them so many times from that piece of shit, Carl. He’d always say them to me when I would make him come. No one has ever said those words to me since him, until right now. And I know this is going to destroy me, but what other choice do I have? So I play the part and give him a soft smile when all I want to do is vomit.

  “God, you’re so beautiful,” he breathes and then leans down to kiss me, sliding his tongue past my lips, tasting me deeply. He reaches around and unclasps my bra with ease. It’s then that he kneels between my thighs, running his hands over my knees and up my legs while he sucks my pert nipple into his hot mouth. His tongue swirls around before he bares his teeth, pulling more of my breast into his mouth and biting down, making me whimper as his teeth sink in to the supple flesh.

  In a quick move, he thrusts my legs wide open and drops his head to my center, taking my pussy in his mouth, licking me through the lace of my panties and then grazing his teeth along my mound as he pulls away to take a lingering look before standing up.

  “Do you have any idea how sweet you taste or what it’s like for me to look at you like this?”

  “Declan,” I sigh at the same time he tells me, “Lie back.”

  I do as he instructs and he takes my hip, flipping me over onto my stomach. In forceful movements, he grabs my arms, bringing them behind my back, and I feel the cool leather binding around them, above my elbows, in a painful restraint. With a sharp jerk of the belt, my shoulder blades pinch together, and all the slack disappears as the leather bites into my skin in an unrelenting vice, which there is no getting out of as he loops the belt and then fastens it. My heart trills in my throat, and my heavy breathing is prevalent. But it’s when I begin releasing panicked noises into the sheets that a ribbon of breath heats my ear as he presses his lips to its shell and gives me a quiet, “Shhh, baby. Trust me.”

  He brushes my hair back as I lie there with the side of my face resting on the bed. I give him a nod, but everything in me is telling me that this is going to be too much. And then he’s off the bed, grabbing my hips and lifting my ass up in the air, propping me on my knees with my chest still on the mattress. He yanks my panties down to my knees, and then his hands spread my ass open before his mouth is on my bare pussy. The wetness of his tongue gently laps over my clit while his hands roughly squeeze my butt, and when he wraps his lips around my nub and sucks, he brings a hard hand down, smacking my ass. I yelp in pain, lying there like some animal, helpless at the hands of someone else, and I’m taken back to the fucking basement I never wanted to think about, but I’m there, on that filthy mattress being humiliated by my foster dad.

  My eyes squeeze shut, and I will every ounce of effort to disengage, to think about anything other than what’s happening, but Declan makes it impossible when he slips his tongue inside of my pussy as he drags his fingers along the cre
ase of my ass, forcing me to tense up. He then takes that hand, reaches under me, and grabs my breast, pinching my nipple between his fingers as he continues to fuck me with his mouth. I try to focus on the ache in my arms, but he grasps my attention when he takes his mouth off my pussy, grabs ahold of the belt, and pulls me back, lifting my chest off the bed, so that I’m now sitting on my heels. Turning my head to him, he offers me his mouth, saying, “Taste yourself,” and then kisses me, caressing my tongue with his.

  I want to scream for him to stop because I don’t want to be doing this with him, but I don’t. I force myself to think about what I’m using him for, what I need him to do for me. The words you can do this, you can do this repeat over and over in my head, but there’s an intensity with Declan that I haven’t experienced with a man before. It’s easy to shut down with Bennett, but Declan has a power that keeps me in the moment, making the escape near impossible.

  Pulling away from our kiss, he says, “Tell me what you want. Ask for it.”

  “I want you,” I lie.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Fuck me.”

  “Ask me,” he demands and the request irks the shit out of me, but I swallow the irritation.

  “Will you please fuck me, Declan?”

  Rounding his hand over my butt and down between my legs, he sinks his finger inside of my pussy, asking, “You want it here?” with his face pressed to the side of mine, his chest against my back.

  “Yes.”

  “I want to hear you say it,” he requests, and I just wish he would stop fucking talking so I can at least attempt to go numb.

  “Please, Declan. Just fuck me. I want you inside of me. I want to feel you in my pussy. I want all of you filling me up,” I tell him, giving him all the words I feel he wants to hear so that we can get this over with.

  And with that, I hear his pants hit the floor from behind me as I sit on my knees, waiting for his next move, and then it comes.