Page 24 of Ink's Devil

“If I hadn’t come here today, would you have sought me out?”

He tenses at my question. After a moment, he shakes his head. “I can’t answer that, babe.” Then he spins and comes back over to me. “I can’t fuckin’ answer as I don’t know what the fuck I’d have done. All I know is you’re in here,” he taps his head, “and try as I might, I can’t get you out. So yeah, I might have come to find you.”

“Or your strategy might eventually have worked.”

He barks a loud laugh. “Well, it hasn’t as yet.”

I hate the thought of him going with the whores and doubt he’d ever be able to give up the free sex. I certainly wouldn’t want to share. “Untie me, Ink. I’d like to leave now.”

“What if I don’t want to?” His eyes darken. “Oh, hell, Beth. You ask me again, and I’ll free you faster than you can blink. Know this though, I don’t want you to go.”

“Why not?” I should give him the words, get up and leave. Go home and forget him. But there’s a part of me, a big part, that wants to grab any chance with both hands.

“I don’t fuckin’ know,” he complains, seeming frustrated. “All I know is I want you to stay. I’ll tell you this, you, cuffed to my bed? Best fuckin’ thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Let me fuck you,little girl.Let’s see whether last week can be repeated. Let’s see if there is something special between us.”

Little girl.His voice, deepening on the words, sets parts of me alight. The traitorous bits.

“What happens if there is something?” My voice sounds weak, almost a whisper. “What if it is special?”

His lips press together, then he replies probably as honestly as he can, “Fuck knows, babe. Uncharted territory for me. But if you’re up for it, and we want to fuck again, then we will. We’ll see where this leads us.”

He’s been honest with me, I have to be truthful back. “I thought I could do this. I thought I could accept your terms. One night and walk away. I tried Ink, I tried so hard to forget you. I tried to chalk it up to one of the best nights I’ve ever had and be content with that. If I stay now, I can’t promise I’ll walk away tomorrow and not look back. That’s not who I am.”

His lips press together. Then a fleeting grin crosses his face. “Knew I was right to avoid civilians.” When I start to bristle, his hand lightly covers my mouth. “What I didn’t know was the reason. Turns out I was protecting myself as well as them. I’ve spent a week holding back, not making contact, not coming after what I wanted. All I can suggest is we take this one step at a time, Beth. I can’t make you any promises, except to tell you the truth. I’ve never felt this way before.”

“I can’t fuck you, not when you’re fucking the whores.” I’m not certain I trust him.

“Don’t want the whores, babe. Not when it’s you that I’m fantasising about. I’ll make you that promise, and once my word’s given, I keep it.” He breaks off and chuckles. “And if I didn’t? Seems like your friends would tell on me.”

“You were angry at Jay.”

“Fuck yeah. Wouldn’t have kept that from you, babe, but I should have been the one to tell you, not her.”

“You’d never have admitted it,” I tell him, my eyes flashing scorn. “Men never do.”

He climbs onto the bed and grasps my chin. “Don’t make out that you know me, little girl. I’ve got nothing to apologise for. You and me? We didn’t make a commitment. We weren’t even supposed to see each other again. If you’d stepped out with another man? Fuck, wouldn’t like the idea, but wouldn’t blame you.”

Let me get this right. “You’re saying you’ll stay away from the whores?”

His look is earnest. “Hell yeah, while we’re fucking, I’ll be faithful, as no other cunt matches up.”

My lips curve at his phrasing. Bikers are definitely a different breed of men.

Can I forgive him for being unfaithful when we weren’t even together? When, as he said, we’d made no commitment? Would I think more of him if he’d said he’d been pining for me all week long? Probably, yes, but unrealistic given his lifestyle. The fact I should bank is that other women couldn’t satisfy him.

“Did you use condoms?” I suddenly blurt out.

“Fuck yes.” His eyes widen at just the suggestion he maybe hadn’t. “Girls are clean, Beth, as am I. We all get regularly tested.”

Do I trust him on that? I’ve no option but to take his word for it. Asking to see his results seems a bit much and would display a lack of trust. I decide to accept it.

But he sees the doubt in my eyes. Crossing to his desk, he opens the drawer, fusses around in it, then pulls out an envelope. Coming back to me, he slides a piece of paper out and shows it to me. It’s ten days old, but a clear result.

“I’ve not gone without a condom,” he stresses. “Wouldn’t put any woman at risk, and,” he chuckles, “not too keen on picking up something myself.”

Healthwise, I’m satisfied, or as much as I can be. I dither between insisting he untie me and walking out of his life, this time to stay away completely, or… I pull on the restraints once again, unable to deny being at this handsome man’s mercy is doing something to me. Heaven help me, but I want to give in. I want his hands on me.

But this time, I want more. Possibly more than he wants to give. “Kiss me,” I demand, pushing him, remembering he’d given his cock freely, but not his mouth.

---