Page 40 of Reign

I haven’t been down here except on the tour of the house the day we arrived. There are several rooms but the big open space at the bottom of the stairs looks like a giant, less-formal living room. Finally, we turn the corner into the last room at the end of a hallway and he shuts and locks the door.

While I take in the mirrored wall, the cardio equipment, and the T.V. screens in the corners, Cas pulls a flat bench out on the floor and places it directly underneath the pull-up bar at the top of a cable machine. The back of the bench raises when he pushes a lever and now, the thin bench has a backrest.

He talks while he works, “Libby,” I notice he’s stopped calling me Isabel, which I like, “I’m done having this conversation with you. Every time I think we’ve moved on, I say one thing, which was misinterpreted by the way, and we’re back to square one.” He pulls a stretchy band off of a rack and throws it over the pull up bar, looping it on itself to secure it in place. “I don’t want Camila. I have no control over whether or not she wants me but if she does, you should find pity for her because that chapter of my life is closed.” He pauses and looks at me. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I swallow and nod unable to find words as individual water droplets continue to roll slowly down his glorious body, his quads and biceps flexing as he works.

He exhales and continues his monologue while grabbing a towel, “Good. Because I fucking hate repeating myself. Nowsit.”

Cas has never taken this tone with me. Sure, I’ve seen him frustrated before but never likethis. I feel my eyes go wide with shock. I’m not scared, more like unsure. The anxiety is mixing with adrenaline and I can tell now is not the time to push back, so I do as he says.

“Libby,” he whispers like he’s riding the edge of his control, sending an involuntary shudder through me. His eyes darken from his normal emerald shade to a deep forest green. “Do noteverturn your back on me to walk to another man again, unless you intend to tell me we’re done. This isn’t a game and we don’t have the luxury of petty jealousy.”

At this my hackles raise and I open my mouth despite his tone. “Petty jealousy? You choked her with your dick, Dominic! Which I’ve mostly gotten over, I might add. I didn’t even touch Adam!”

My fury is loud and clear.

Hisfury is quiet and quite frankly, scary as shit.

“And I’ve apologizedrepeatedly.I didn’t say I was perfect, Libby, but I am capable of learning from my mistakes. Since you couldn’t let it go on your own and you insist on these games, then I’m going to fuck it out of you. If you have any doubt about how I feel and what I want after this, then perhaps –”

“Don’t say it,” I plead, cutting him off as he circles the bench. I’m watching him in the mirror as he moves around me slowly. Shirtless, with his swim trunks dangerously low on his hips. I can’t bear for him to say we shouldn’t be together. Maybe he has a point. Perhaps I’ve taken this newfound boldness for saying what’s on my mind a little too far. Perhaps it’s been so long – likenever– that I’ve pushed a man to his limit, I just needed to see if I could. Dom has been patient. And he’s right, he’s apologized and I need to move on because the truth is Idotrust him. Hell, I mostly even trust Camila at this point.

He must see the attitude shift on my face because he smiles sinfully before adding, “Understanding is dawning a little too late, Princess. You’ll take everything I give you. We’ve been playful. We’ve been frenzied. We’ve been gentle. We’ve been rushed and we’ve gone slow. Now it’s time to show you my favorite way to fuck.”

He stops right in front of me on the bench and slips the neck of my halter top over my head so it’s now essentially a tube top that he drives down to my hips as I remain seated. Bending down, he slips his fingers in the waistband of my shorts while scooping my ass onto his forearms so he can simultaneously lift me up and pull them off along with my top, leaving me in just my bathing suit. Discarding my clothes, he pulls down on the thick, blue elastic band hanging above me.

“Put your hands in this anddo notlet go. No matter what. You’ll touch me when I say you can and not a second before. I’ve been punished long enough. Now it’s your turn.”

When I grab a hold of the band, the resistance pulls my arms over my head but it’s not painful, and I wrap my wrists inside so I can hold on effortlessly.

He’s set large rubber plates on either side of the bench and he doesn’t make me wait long to find out what they’re for. Skimming his hand up my shin, over my knee, and slowly along my thigh causing my skin to pebble at his touch, he places my left foot behind the weight. Then he repeats the same thing on the right side, spreading me wide.

Kneeling down, he takes another elastic band and secures each of my ankles to a leg of the cable machine behind me for good measure. There’s no way I can close my legs. I can’t even inch my feet forward because of the plates. Cas’s earlier words come back to me:unless you want me to tie you up.

I’ve never been tied up before. Cas and I have never had time and no way did Will ever attempt this, although looking back, I’m shocked that this wasn’t his thing considering his psychopathic tendencies and need for control.

I don’t hate it.

In fact, I’m getting really turned on. I squirm a little as Cas stands back to survey my current position, desire flaring in his eyes.

His gaze is so intense I try to make a joke to alleviate the tension. “Do I get a safe word?”

There is no humor in his response. “Princess, no word will save you from what I’m about to do you and if you’re coherent enough to remember a safe word, then I’m not doing it right.”

Well, fuck.

He comes to kneel at the edge of the bench, his quads well-defined and drawing all my focus as his short swim trunks ride even higher on his thighs. I resist the urge to try and push my hips forward toward his face. I know it won’t work anyway. I feel his breath on the inside of my thigh. He’s not actually making contact with my skin and already it’s overwhelming.

I’m not going to survive this.

He places two fingers right at the apex of my thighs, on top of my swimsuit bottoms. Not touching my skin, but applying pressure.

I can’t help the way his name erupts from my lips. “Cas!”

He laughs. Not chuckles, not exhales a short burst of humor, he full on laughs. It’s dark and low and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard this sound come out of his mouth before but I know instantly that I want to bathe in it.

I realize he’s been holding back the few times we’ve been together and I’m now about to get every ounce of his emotions and desires unleashed on me. The heat of a thousand flames rushes to my groin.

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