“No…nobody has ever told me that before.” I admitted to him shyly. My eyes were drawn to the corner of his mouth when he gave me a half grin. Then he tightened his hold and bent his head to whisper in my ear,
“Trust me beautiful, they have.” Then he let me slide the rest of the way down and I bit my lip all the way. He stepped away from me and held out an arm towards the bath that I was amazed to see was now full of steamy water.
“But I was just in here and…”
“Here, let me help you.” As soon as his hands framed the bare skin at my belly I forgot any coherent thought.
“Uh…I don’t…oh but I…” I tried to say, what I don’t really know, but before I discovered what he pulled my t-shirt above my head, leaving me in just a borrowed bra that was clearly a size too small for me, if the bursting cleavage was to go by. Remembering this made me react and I hugged myself over my chest, hiding myself from view.
“Turn around.” He ordered in that authoritative voice of his and suddenly Dominic Draven’s teasing tone was long gone. My heart beat wildly in my chest and I could feel myself shaking from the inside out. I started to chant my doubt in my mind, saying over and over, I couldn’t do this…I couldn’t do this…I couldn’t do…
“Ssshh, easy now. You need not do anything but let go.” He said tilting my chin up so he could see the fear in my eyes.
“I will take care of you… all you have to do is let me.” And with those words said I knew what he was really asking of me.
To trust him.
For I knew this time was a test. So I took a shuddering breath and nodded, turning round, facing the mirror and putting my back to him as he wanted me. I shivered at his touch when his hand came to my neck to sweep my stray hair back to one side.
“Good girl.” His whispered praise lingered on my skin like his fingertips did even though he was no longer touching me on my exposed neck. No, instead he had moved both hands to my shoulders and started running them down along my arms that I still held crossed over myself. He continued down to my wrists, leaving trails of goosebumps where he made contact. I held my breath and soon became dizzy with the need for air.
“Breathe for me.” He demanded softly, looking at me in the mirror, his intense gaze still burning into me. I did as I was told and inhaled at the same time he gripped my wrists in a tight hold. He tried to pull my arms outwards, which would mean exposing me to him from all sides thanks to seeing my shy reflection in the mirror. I fought him for a moment until he spoke again, this time with a hard edge that told me who was in charge in the room.
“Let go.” I did instantly and let him move my arms until they came to rest at my sides.
“That’s it, you’re doing well.” He cooed, stroking back my hair and again never taking his eyes from mine. Then I felt his hands at my hips and they followed the contours of my torso up and around to my back until they met in the middle of my shoulder blades.
I sucked in a quick breath when I realised he had unhooked my bra and the flimsy black lace started to slip from my breasts. The straps fell down my arms and the sensual act continued at such a slow pace, it was maddening. I could literally feel every nerve bursting with anticipation at being discovered by this man’s hands.
I could barely believe I was here half naked in front of him, exposed for his pleasure to take and for the first time in real life, I actually felt like his willing captive. All of this and we hadn’t even kissed yet.
I felt the last of the thin strips of satin leave my skin and land at my feet with a soft thud. He didn’t say anything more or give me warning when he lowered himself on one knee. I wanted to move, I wanted to speak, to question what he was doing but I was too scared to move. Too scared that it would end. The greatest experience of my life… No, it was too precious for it to end now and never by my doing, I wouldn’t allow it!
So when his fingers ran along the inside of my waistline I remained as still as I could, burying the urge to pull away from his touch thanks to troubled feelings of not being good enough. All the time he watched me as if reading every fear, every sensation and every need I had just from the reactions I was trying not to make.
But whatever I gave away he knew he had me under his spell with the way he held his fingers hooked, not only in the waistline of my trousers but also under the elastic of my underwear. So at the slightest caress to a place that was so close to where I felt myself needing it the most, it quickly became delicious torture and I wanted to scream and cry and moan all at the same time.
“Enough teasing now.” He told me as I was on the cusp of begging and I almost praised the Gods for the end to my mental suffering. Putting me out of my beautiful misery wasn’t how I thought it would be because he deliberately started to drag my trousers down my legs at a painfully slow rate.
Damn him but I closed my eyes as every move he made was done so with what seemed like the sole purpose to touch every inch of me and to torture me further whilst doing it. Even the trouser leg that was ripped up near to the waistline and had been flapping around was taken off as if it had been skin tight. In fact, it was becoming difficult to keep my legs strong and not crumble from the intensity of it all.
It was only when I opened my eyes once more that I realised he had taken everything from me and now I stood in front of him with nothing left to hide behind. He rose from one knee and his large frame loomed behind me, reminding me what he could now see.
I looked down feeling ashamed of what he saw and how disappointed he must be, for what did I have to offer this God of a man? I felt so exposed it was as if he could see more than bare skin over flesh and bone, but more like the flesh and bones of my soul.
He didn’t like my shame. He didn’t like my lack of self-confidence or insecurity. I knew this when I felt him raise my chin once more from behind me and issue me with my next order,
“Look at yourself. Look at what I see when I am gifted with your magnificence.” I did as I was told having no other choice and for the first time saw myself as he did.
“Do you know how much I have missed gazing upon the beauty I own. I am a lucky man indeed, for with you back in my life, back in my arms again, I am both blessed and envied by the Gods themselves. Do you know that…? Tell me that you do…tell me now.”
“I wish I could.” I admitted in a small voice and instead of the stern, hard look of disappointment I was expecting I got something unexpected in his smile.
“Why are you smiling?” I asked softly being curious.
“Because I am happy to see my girl hasn’t changed, even if her beauty warrants an ego. It still pleases me she hasn’t found one in my absence, for if my words could never make you see what I see, then no other’s should accomplish such a feat in my place. I would not have liked that...as such it remains my battle, one I will happily fight for you.” This, along with everything else coming from his lips, was one of the most perfect things anyone had ever said to me. So it was no wonder when I blushed.
“Exquisite.” He said before picking me up into his arms and carrying me over to his bath. Then before I felt the water caress my skin, he lifted me higher so he could kiss me. It was the lightest touch on my lips and just before I could do what I craved to do, which would have been to deepen the kiss, he lowered me into the water.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him but in the end I had no choice as he silently broke my heart and walked away…
And left me.
Chapter 22
Baptized
After he left the bathroom I was left feeling cold in this steamy water and I couldn’t get warm no matter how much I wished for it. I pulled my legs up against my body and held them there as if this would shield me against the feelings that assaulted me. I was so confused why he would leave after something so intimate passed between us, something I was reminded that he instigated in the first place.
I was surprised at how hurt I felt and couldn’t help but see it as how it looked…like a rejection. Was he playing some kind of
game with me or was this all just another test of his, to see how long I could go without admitting something I was still unsure about. I knew he wanted the Keira he knew but I was far from it, even if he didn’t think so.
Was it crazy to want him to want me as…well, as me? When he touched me, I needed it to be me he touched, not the thought of me as someone else. I wanted it so badly I almost tasted a bitterness on my tongue that wouldn’t go away. And then inevitably the guilt would follow and I would be left feeling unworthy either way as I knew what she must have meant to him.
On one hand it was probably best he had left the room or these poisonous thoughts might have ruined my one chance at that perfect moment I would wish to carry with me forever. But then again thinking about how he made me feel with his arms around me… the way his eyes drank in my naked body with nothing but lust and desire reflected back in them, then how could I think such things in sight of it all.
“I can assure you, there is nothing in that bath with you that bites…at least not yet.” As soon as I heard his voice I spun around in surprise. I found him leaning against one of the marble pillars with his back to it and he nodded towards me drawing attention to my protective position. He was right, I looked as though something could be lurking beneath the water, ready to strike.
I looked back to him and seeing him there, stood the way he was I knew I had seen the sight before. I must have given away the look of recollection as he pushed away from the pillar and commanded in a serious tone,
“Don’t chase it, Katie.” I did as I was told, knowing it was for the best and let go of the memory that was trying to invade the here and now I was living in.
“Good. Now tell me, what’s with the sad face and protective position?” He asked taking a seat at the lowest step that surrounded the raised bath.
“I thought you’d left.” I told him honestly knowing there was little point in trying to save face and lie.
“I did.”
“But why?” I tried to keep the whining sound from my voice, I really did but from the looks of his satisfied smirk I knew I hadn’t accomplished it the way I would have liked.
“Because your grumbling stomach told me you were hungry. You may have not heard it but I did. I will not have you underfed and from the looks of things, it has been a regular occurrence.” He said looking angry, which was the complete opposite to the gentle touch he provided when running the back of his hand along my collarbone.
“What do you mean?” I asked feeling my insecurities seeping back in.
“What I mean is simple. I do not take pleasure in seeing someone I care for, deeply, come back to me half-starved! As such, I have ordered some of your favourite food to be served for when you are finished in here.” I knew I should have been touched by how much he cared but I couldn’t help my reaction. I sank further down into the water and hid what clearly upset him to see…my body. I jumped when he growled as he sounded more like a beast than a man. I was also startled when I saw that flicker of purple again, knowing now it obviously occurred when he was highly emotional.
“Don’t do that.” He growled again, only in words this time. I moved further away from him to the other side and only when there was distance between us did I turn back round to face him…and boy, he didn’t look happy!
“I thought…” I swallowed hard, trying to control the urge to cry so I could continue.
“…I thought… you said I was…was beautiful.” I uttered the last word like it was admitting a sin and I bit my lip so hard it hurt. I had wanted him to look at me as though I was a woman he wanted more than his next breath and for a foolish moment, I had believed that was what I had seen.
“And you think I lied?” He ground out, now clearly very angry but thankfully it looked to be more with himself than with me.
“I…just…I… don’t know.” I felt a tear bred from insecurity fall from my nose as I looked down at the water feeling ashamed for too many reasons to count.
“Look at me.” It was clear this wasn’t a request by the strain heard in his voice. He seemed as though he was only just holding his patience in check as it hung by a thin cord, twisting there until one of us snapped it free. This was until I did as I was asked and looked up at him. I don’t know what he saw when he looked at me but whatever it was the cord definitely snapped. He got to his feet and still fully dressed he walked into the bath with all his focus centred on me.
“What are you…?” I started to speak as I was moving backwards only to find the edge of the bath at my back. He cut through the water with the sole intent of getting to me as he didn’t stop until he was inches away. I had to arch my neck to look up at him he looked so tall.
“Sometimes words just aren’t enough…” He said down at me and then he placed his hands on my face so intimately I stopped breathing for a time.
“…So I will show you how beautiful you are to me.” He whispered softly before finally marking me as his with his kiss. As soon as his lips touched mine I opened up to him without any hesitation, for I knew now that I belonged to him, not just in this moment but for all moments to come. I was his and in this second my own cord snapped for I wanted to make him…mine.
I wrapped my arms up around his neck and locked him to me. He growled in my mouth as the kiss deepened and burst into mind-numbing sensations that rendered me drugged from his taste, his touch and the feel of him straining against me to get to my core. So I wrapped my legs around his waist, trying desperately to get close enough to feel the tip rub against my clit.
Once that first contact was made I threw my head back, closed my eyes and moaned at my first experience of such pleasure. He placed a hand behind my head in worry that I would hit it against the stone.
“Easy.” He whispered in my ear before kissing his way down my neck. I moaned again and rocked myself against him, quickening the pace as though I was chasing something I didn’t yet know. No, that wasn’t right, I knew what it was I running towards in my mind, I just didn’t have a clue as to how it would feel once I finally reached far enough to grasp it. I craved it, I was desperate for it and I wasn’t letting it go this time.
“Please…please…” I started pleading with him and then arched back again to press myself nearer to him. I wanted to feel him breaching my barrier and breaking through so I finally knew what it was like to be connected to the man of my dreams.
“Tell me, what do you beg of me, Vixen?” He growled the question against my skin before pulling me up to him and taking my protruding nipple into his mouth to feast upon. I cried out as the bite of pain connected straight to the junction of my thighs and I felt it getting closer. He rotated his hips against me and I wanted his clothes off, so we were skin on skin.
I found without knowing it I was clawing at his wet shirt over his back in desperation. I felt him smile around my breast and he nipped at me making me scream out before backing away. I let out a moan of protest but when I realised why, I decided to use this time to drink in the sight of him. It was my time now and I wanted to enjoy the show.
His white shirt clung to his muscles like a pale second skin and I could easily say it was the sexiest sight I had ever seen. The material clung to defined pecs and deep ridges of a six pack making me want to drool. I had never wanted to taste what a wet shirt over a body like his tasted like before but seeing it now I could think of nothing else.
He undid a few more buttons and then dragged it from his back and over his head. This is when my mouth went dry! Christ alive but if I thought the wet shirt had been sexy then this took things to a whole new level. He didn’t need to ask my approval as my mouth hanging open was enough but this man didn’t strike me as someone who needed to be told how incredible he looked. For a start he didn’t seem vain enough to care and I guess when you had a body like that to match such a handsome face, then confidence just came natural.
“There is only one woman I want to please.” He said reading my thoughts and unbuckling his belt. I thought I might choke as I swallowed
the hard, lustful lump down, that or come at the sight. I certainly didn’t think my heart was going to survive this man for much longer.
“Just wait sweetheart, we have only just begun…I have lots more in store for you.” He said, his eyes once more flashing purple as he yanked on his button and his zipper travelled south.
“Oh God.” I whispered on an exhale as I realised he was a fan of going commando. I had to lick my dry lips at the sight of the length of him coming up through the water. Well if I thought I wanted a taste before, then now I was definitely feeling starved. Which was why my own demand slipped from my lips,
“I want to taste you.” His reaction made me feel powerful as this time when he growled I wasn’t scared, I was turned on.
“Come here, pet.” I bit my lip as I stood, rising from the water and baring all as I walked over to him. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer to him before he kissed me once more. I wanted to wrap my arms around him but he was so tall he had to bend lower for me to do so. I could feel his naked length pressing against me and I wanted it in my mouth so badly, it felt I was ravenous for it.
“You want me that way?” He questioned, pulling back to gauge my expression and the lust he found there must have spoken volumes for all I did was nod, too shy to say the words.
“Very well sweetheart…on your knees.” This last command was the most dominant I had heard him yet, as it felt like the demon I had seen in my dreams was breaking through. I sucked in a sharp breath at what it did to me to feel myself submitting to this man, I couldn’t help the tremor it sent through me.
He took my hand to help lower me to my knees before him and I was almost panting in anticipation of what I was about to do. But then his hard length was presented to me and my natural instincts took over. I looked up at him making sure to keep eye contact as I encountered my first taste. I licked up the steely length, marvelling at how soft the velvet skin felt, even against my tongue.