He threw his head back and laughed. “No, sweetheart, you don’t have enough common sense to be afraid of me. You’re afraid of yourself. You are the proverbial moth to my flame.”

She nodded. “If I get too close, I’ll get burned.”

“That won’t happen. I may clip your wings to keep you from flying away, but I’ll keep you wrapped safe and warm in my arms.”

“No, you won’t. You’ll beat me or fuck me whenever you choose… use me in any way that suits you.”

He smiled again. She couldn’t seem to get a rise out of him—though technically, that wasn’t true… his cock was becoming more rigid by the minute. That, too, was impressive—he had both length and girth, and she could vividly recall how it felt when it was enclosed in her cunt.

“I have not, nor will I ever beat you. I will spank you when you need or deserve it, and the last time I checked, you seemed to get as much pleasure from our fucking as I did. The way your pussy spasms all along my cock when you come and continues to pulse against me even after I’ve spent myself in you is quite possibly the most amazing feeling in my life. I doubt I will ever get tired of that. And yes, I will have you whenever and however I please, but I’ll make sure you get just as much from the encounter.” He grinned. “Whether you want to or not and whether it is completely pleasurable for you is another story altogether.”

“You’re a prick,” she spat at him.

“Careful, Zara. As you can see, my prick is well primed to take you right now. I would think at this point, you’d want mefocused on taking you gently, but you keep giving me snark, and I’ll figure you have yet to learn your lesson. For the record, I have plenty of ginger here in the cottage.”

“Do you and your buddies often fig your victims?”

He shook his head. “No, I may well be the first, but if you aren’t careful, that won’t be the only time it happens. Ginger has a lot of health benefits and keeps easily, so we keep it on hand. For you, though, my guess is it’ll be used mostly for object lessons.”

Noah reached for her, but she pushed his hands away.

“Keep away from me, Noah.”

“Knock it off, Zara. Come here to me.”

She tried to scramble away from him, but he quickly had hold of the nape of her neck to prevent her retreat. Lifting the covers, he smiled when he saw her stiff nipples and her body flush with desire. Noah tossed the covers off them both. As he climbed the rest of the way into bed, her eyes were riveted to his cock, now fully erect.

He pulled her toward him and tilted her hip away from him, so she laid on her back. Zara started to struggle, mostly with her feelings and reaction to Noah. He smiled, not friendly or even sensual, but feral. He was the predator; she was his prey. She squeaked as he knelt on the mattress with her legs on either side of his. Grasping her thighs, he slid her along on her back and buttocks toward his staff.

“Shit, Noah, that hurts,” Being dragged on her ass, even on something soft, was painful. She kicked her legs as much as she could, but Noah continued to pull her to him so he could impale her sheath on his sword. She was incredibly aroused and knew the wet evidence of that glistened at the mouth of her sex. He said nothing but slowly drew her up his thighs and onto his cock.

“No,” she whispered, feeling every inch of him claiming every inch of her.

Once his cock was buried to the hilt, Noah splayed his hand and ran it up from her mons to palm her breast, tracing lazy circles around her areola before flicking her nipple with his thumb.

“Wrap your legs around my back, Zara.”

She shook her head and tried to find some kind of purchase that would give her any kind of leverage to push off him. Noah used one hand to play, tug, and pinch her nipples and his other to treat her swollen nub to the same. Her hips started to undulate in response.

“Good girl. Now, lock your legs around my waist.”

Zara knew she couldn’t trust her voice to speak, so shook her head.

“Yes.”

Noah increased the attention he was giving to her nipples and clit but laid completely still within her, his cock pulsing and her sheath responding to his invasion. Arousal surged through her, sparking all her nerve endings. Her pussy spasmed all along his length as the onslaught of a powerful orgasm hit her, and her body trembled in response.

“Noah,” she cried in one long wail of desperation and desire.

She opened her eyes and searched his face. She could tell he was determined to make her capitulate to his mastery over her body and soul. He continued to play—no, that was wrong, Noah wasn’t playing, he was toying with her—taunting and challenging her to accept his dominance. The same way a maestro coerced a reluctant prodigy to surrender her will to his. She felt as though she were a Stravinsky instrument—strung tautly with the strings just this side of snapping.

“Cradle me between your legs, sweetheart. You aren’t going to get what you need until you yield to me.”

“No,” she whispered as another climax possessed her, and she shuddered.

“Have it your way.”

He lifted her legs, so they rested against his chest as he raised them over his shoulders. He rocked up onto his knees, so only her upper body remained in contact with the mattress. Zara pounded the bed and tried to clutch at anything that would provide her with some means of evasion.