Page 105 of Ocean of Sin and Starlight

But then he surprises me.

He shouts out my name like a desperate prayer, and he comes anyway. He grunts as his cock jerks, and long ropes of his cum spurt out of the tip, arcing into the air and slashing across the wooden floor. I didn’t think it was possible for a man to come without anything touching his cock, but Priest has always been full of surprises.

“Fuck,” he groans, hanging his head, his entire body going limp in the chains. “What did you just do to me?”

I pick up the wet washcloth again and go back to cleaning him, his body jolting at my touch, still sensitive. “Believe you me, my intention was not to let you come.”

“I know it was,” he rasps. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”

“Apparently,” I comment, making sure all the soap is thoroughly washed away.

Then, I step back and stare into his eyes. I expect to see them heavy and sated, but instead, they are as wild as ever.

“Now that you’ve done the courtesy of defiling me,” he says, “perhaps you’ll let me out of these chains.” He pauses. “So I can do the same to you.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

PRIEST

Sugared lemons and salt water.

Larimar’s scent still has the ability to undo me, even after all these years.

Though she definitely has other ways of undoing me as well.

I stare down at her, the intensity of my feelings rolling through me—love, hurt, lust. So much lust. My arms had been aching from being in chains for so long, but I don’t feel any pain or discomfort anymore, not after what she just did to me.

She’s staring up at me with fire in her eyes, though I can still see the pain there. She’s furious at me, and I can’t ever blame her for that. The last thing I expected was for her to do what she did. I know she didn’t mean to make me come, that she was trying her own sinful brand of torture, but I didn’t think she’d ever even touch me again.

But she did.

And that fire in her lavender eyes is also fueled by desire.

“What if I don’t want you to defile me?” she says with a raise of her chin. “What if I want to set you out in that boat so you can drift forever?”

“Then I shall give it to you,” I tell her. “But is that what you really want?”

I’m taking a risk here. I’m prepared for her stubbornness to kick in, the hurt I caused her to be lodged too deep. The mere sight of the scars on her legs makes me feel ill; I can’t imagine how they make her feel. She might really want me gone from her life forever, and I will have no choice but to obey.

I told her I would hunt her down and find her, that she was forever mine, that she belonged to me, body and soul. But even I have my limits. Even I have to find the courage to let her go if that’s what she truly wants.

Frankly, it’s what she deserves.

And I deserve to suffer for all my sins.

It doesn’t mean she won’t stop belonging to me, though. She always will.

“I want…” she begins and then trails off, looking away. Then she shakes her head and closes her eyes. “I don’t know what I want, Priest,” she says softly.

“You want to hate me,” I say.

She swallows hard, nodding.

“Part of you does hate me,” I add.

She stops nodding, pressing her lips together into a thin line.

“But part of you still loves me,” I say. “I know you do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t still be here.”

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