Page 52 of What Doesn't Kill Us

She pulls back, her gaze coming up to my own as she says, “Maybe I don’t want it to go away?”

My cock hardens further at her words, and I press my hips up, groaning at the friction of my dick rubbing against her ass. “I’d say that’s not an appropriate response to the trauma you’ve just suffered at my wicked hands.”

She wiggles her ass against me in response, and my hands move to her waist, stopping her movements as I work on controlling my urge to flip her onto her back and fuck her senseless.

We’ve had our dalliances. We’ve fucked around spontaneously whenever she’s pushed my control to the breaking point. But we’ve never fucked. And as much as it pains me, this is likely the worst time for us to go there. “Now isn’t the time for that, Antoinette.”

She shivers in my lap, pressing closer as she says, “If not now, then when?”

“I don’t know, but now, in this place, doesn’t feel right. You deserve more.”

She snorts. “Deserve more of what, exactly?”

“Romance? Tender loving care?”

“Sounds boring,” she replies with a laugh, her warm breath on my neck causing me to shiver as she goes on, “Maybe I don’t want romance and tender loving care. Maybe I want the animal, that deep urge to possess and be possessed.”

My blood is so hot in my veins it feels as if my heart is going to implode in my chest. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. So, I tell her. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Antoinette. What you’re asking.”

She frowns at me. “Don’t tell me what I know, Darius. I’m not a child; I know what I want and don’t want. I don’t want the type of romance where all I get is roses and sweet nothings. I want you. The real you. The you who looks at me as if he wants to swallow me whole. The you who wants to fight and fuck me at the same time. The you who touches me with such deep intensity, I fear you’ve imprinted yourself on my very being.”

She stares into my eyes, and I see the truth behind her words. Her eyes are glassy from her tears, her cheeks still damp, her hair a wild tangle, and I’ve seen nothing so beautiful in my entire life.

I roll my eyes at myself, annoyed at what I feel I have to say. “You say that, but maybe you’re not ready for the me who will consume you for the rest of your days. Sometimes, it’s best to ease into it, to take a few steps at a time before laying yourself out at my mercy.”

She gives me a soft look, her lips curving up into a small smile. “You mean, give you little bits of me at a time so I get used to your feral ways?”

I grin back, nodding. “Exactly. Because once I possess you, there’s no going back. You’ll be mine. The depth, breadth, and height of my soul, a soul that will call to yours every moment of every day until my dying breath. So, if that’s not what you want, you need to say so now because there won’t be any going back.”

She leans closer until her forehead presses against mine, her eyes boring into my eyes, her words a whisper against my lips. “Did you paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning to me?” I shrug and nod and she laughs. “And you say you’re not a romantic?”

“I’m really not,” I say matter-of-factly. “But I have no problem communicating intense feelings when needed.”

She smiles at me, then sighs. “But you’re saying my odds of getting laid are nil?”

I smile back at her, squeezing her around the waist as she wiggles against my still-hard cock. “That is entirely your call. I’ll do whatever you’re comfortable with. Just know there’s no going back once I get inside you.”

She presses her lips softly against mine, and I kiss her back just as gently. I want her to make her own decision, even as I physically force back the grunting beast inside of me, demanding I shove her down onto her front and rut into her like the animal I am.

She pulls back, looking at my face as she asks, “Would you let me tie you up?”

I blink at her a few times, surprised by her request. “Is that what you want?”

She falls quiet, obviously lost in her own contemplative thoughts, and I remain still, waiting for her to answer.

She raises her eyes to mine as she replies, “Yes. I think I would if you’re okay with it.”

I stare at her for a few moments, watching the quickening rise and fall of her chest and the racing pulse in her neck. “We should probably discuss some things first to clear the air.”

She shakes her head. “It’ll keep, Darius. All that shit will still be waiting for us in an hour, a day, or even a week. Let’s keep now for us and pretend for one moment in time that nothing else matters.”

Nothing else matters at all. She should know that by now.

“Okay.”

Her eyes widen, her excitement shining back at me, and my breath catches in my throat. I’ve never let anyone take control from me, and the possibility that she may still be playing me enters my mind. If she’s still playing me, once I’m tied down, that’s it.

Game over.

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