Page 23 of The Enforcer's Redemption

Those questions won't go away. They swirl around between us, and I feel compelled to ask him because I see in his eyes the desperation for relief, the way I feel. If I can make him feel relief, I know he will want me to feel it too. He'll help me.

"What was that about? What did you do?" I ask, thinking about dinner and how his brothers spoke to him. Connor seemed to be the only one defending him.

"We're not so different, Isla…" He brushes the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip and cups my cheek. "I almost ran away too, and now I have to prove my loyalty to this family. I just wish I could help you see what I see now. How Ronan helped me open my eyes to the wealth this family offers, and I'm not talking about money."

My heart sinks ever so slightly, but I believe him. I do believe there is a richness in this family that I could tap into. I see it in the way they respect each other, support each other. I see the way Maeve treats them, and given what I know about her, I can't see why such a respectable doctor like her would allow her life to be linked to this.

I know Declan feels that pull because it's the same pull I feel toward my family and being loyal to them. It's why I will actually walk down that aisle to become his wife if it gets my Da out of hot water, but the first instant I have to get out of here, I'll take it. Maybe while everyone is distracted at the wedding. I just can't stay here. I can't allow them to rule over me when I haven't even been given the choice to submit. My choice was stolen from me.

"You'll see," he says, pulling me against his chest. "I promise."

I do feel safe with him. I feel wanted and comforted in his arms. Maybe it was our joint near-death experience, the accident, orthe way he responded afterward by bringing me into his bed, but I do trust him that much. It's that affection that warms me from the inside out. If I run tomorrow, that means tonight is the last night I get with him. Even if I have to disappear now and come back to my family later, I know I have to go, which means a goodbye.

"D," I say, mimicking the way Finn spoke so vulnerably by using a nickname.

Declan's eyes turn down to meet mine as he gives me a bit of space. "Yeah," he says, narrowing his eyes in confusion. I'm sure the nickname probably feels odd coming from me.

"What would you do if I were a really, really bad girl?" I bite my lip and bat my eyelashes, and at first, his gaze storms. Like lightning bolts behind his irises, I see the lights flick on, recognition dawning on him.

"How bad?" he asks, and his hand rests on my hip, strumming the elastic of my panties.

"Very, very bad… I think so bad, you'd have to hunt me down and punish me." Warmth spreads through my body as I reach up and undo my bra clasp and let it fall. "What would you do to me?"

Finally, the point hits its mark. Declan hooks a finger through the elastic of my panties and tips his chin up. "Well," he says, reaching up with his other hand to remove his tie, "I'd have to punish you for sure. You'd probably need to be tied up so you don't run again." In a split second, his hands lash the tie around my wrists, and it makes a wave of lust shoot to my core.

It's bittersweet as he leads me into the bedroom. I've never felt so alive sexually as when he's dominating me. I'll miss it, so Ipour every ounce of desire I have into it as he pushes me onto the bed and I get on all fours.

"You'd better catch me. I'm gonna run away," I say, shaking my ass.

Declan's hand comes down on my ass hard, smacking me and leaving a fiery red handprint. "You'll see how I catch my prey, Isla," he growls, and it sends chills down my spine.

I wait for him as he undresses. My hands throb from the tie wrapped so tightly around my wrists. My body is exposed, chilly in the air-conditioned room, but I don’t move a muscle. I can feel his eyes devouring me, probably zeroing in on the dot of moisture soaking through my panties, showing my desire for him.

"You're a dangerous woman, Isla," he growls, unbuckling his belt and letting his pants drop to the floor. He growls low in the back of his throat and strides over to me. His cock is hard, straining against the fabric of his underwear, and it makes something inside me grow hotter and wetter, knowing I have that much power over him. I do that to him and I don’t have to try, much the same way that he makes me ache to be filled just by being near me.

He shoves his boxers down and his cock springs free, and I moan at the sight of it. Thick and veiny, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. “I know. Now punish me,” I tell him, praying if there is a God in heaven, he’ll ignite a fire in my core that will detonate the deepest pleasure I’ve ever known.

His hand comes down on my ass again, harder this time. I yelp but I don’t back down. It doesn’t deter me. It only makes me want him more, to feel his hands on every curve of my body. Thestinging pain mixes with desire, and the swirling emotions in my belly coalesce into one. Need.

“I’ll show you punishment,” he grunts. His hands tear the silky, moist fabric of my panties down to my knees, and he leaves them there, prohibiting me from spreading my legs. Then Declan’s fingers shove into me from behind, searching my pussy with force, making me gasp, drawing pants of pleasure as he fucks me with them. He doesn’t go slow. He doesn’t try to ease himself in. He simply impales me with swift thrusts that make my eyes water with the combined pleasure-pain.

I want to reach for my clit, rub myself, aid in the stimulation, but my hands are tied. I buck into him, backing up as he finger fucks me, whimpering for more. The delicious friction is eased only by the moisture my body makes, and his thick digits draw unholy gasps from my throat.

“I’m bad… please, punish me,” I plead, not even sure what I’m saying anymore. This game isn’t me, but how else do I ask him for what my body craves knowing full well that I’m going to run away tomorrow? To be soft is to let my heart be vulnerable. I remind myself that this is sex and nothing more, and after this, I’ll remind myself again that leaving is what’s best. “Please,” I whimper.

Declan growls again, this time a low, rumbling growl that makes me tremble with anticipation. He withdraws his fingers, and I whine my disapproval, but he only reaches for the drawer of the nightstand, grabbing something cold and metallic that clinks together.

“You’re a very bad girl, Isla,” he growls, and I can hear the lust in his voice. He drags whatever it is he’s picked up along my spine,sending shivers down my spine. The surface is smooth, but the edges are hard. “But I think I know just how to punish you.”

The cold object chills my entrance before he shoves it into my pussy, and a symphony of pain and pleasure that melds together until I can't tell the difference anymore follows. I’m whimpering, feeling the cold object fucking me, his hand gripping my ass and squeezing it. It’s hard and thick, striking my back wall with its full depth, and I’m on the edge, ready to come apart when he rips it out of me. I shudder and whimper at the sudden lack of anything inside me.

“Oh, God… shit,” I grunt, panting for breath as he replaces whatever it was with his cock. The contrast from cold to hot is exquisite, and I’m ready to snap. “I’m so close,” I tell him, and he begins pumping into me. His full girth and length are as large and deep as whatever toy he just used on me, but the heat is exquisite now following the chill.

I clench my teeth, clamp my eyes shut, and then I'm shattering, my back arching as my orgasm rocks through me, shaking me to my very core. Declan groans behind me, sliding his cock into my soaking pussy that is already dripping with juices. He pounds into me like a man possessed, growling and surging inside me. Every delicious thrust of his hips pushes me farther into the depths of pleasure. I claw at the sheets until I fall over and the waves begin to subside.

My world spins. I see stars, and I see the flashlight on the bed next to me, soaked in my juices. Its long, metallic blue handle is coated from being inside me, and I can’t even take a moment to think as Declan spreads my thighs, pins my knees to my shoulders, and pushes into me again from this angle. He’s large and dominant, tossing me like a rag doll, and his cock hits my cervix with so much force, I whimper.

“Shit!” I hiss. I use the restraint around my wrists to hook around his head and pull him down for a kiss, almost crushing myself in the process. I can barely breathe, but the sensations are otherworldly.

---