Page 212 of Lost in the Dark

I tensed when his warm hand cupped my side, just above my hip, as he fitted his chest against my back again. “Tch. Cara, I won’t hurt you - not like this. I’m going to give you something else to focus on, though. If you can’t take anymore, or you want me to stop for any reason, I want you to ask me for mercy. Do you understand?”

“Mercy. I understand. I’ll speak up if I need to.” My voice was softer than I intended, fingertips flexing against the ledge like it was a lifeline. It was exhilarating - being a little afraid withoutreallybeing afraid. This was exactly how I’d felt on stage that night; languid and slightly tipsy, though this had nothing to do with amaretto sours and everything to do with Jax. He was right, this was working, my brain had already started to slow in its ceaseless looping of worry and loss.

Something scarlet red fluttered into view before sliding flush with my eyes, the faint metallic shapes of golden letters registering before Jax started to tie it at the back of my head. I could make out slanting daylight from the window above, but nothing else - the wide band smelled of lilies with the faintest hint of resinous incense. His movements were surprisingly deft from a man I’d taken as a laborer - he’d blindfolded me in moments, taking care not to pinch or pull my hair in the knot. When he was done, he gathered my hair up in a fist, guiding me to press my brow into the wall again, his lips hot and light against the nape of my neck.

“Ready, Cara?” His grip slid to my hip, fingers tightening and becoming as much an anchor as a restraint as I squeaked out an affirmative sound. “Perfect.” I knew he meant my response, and not necessarilyme, but it made me feel warm and liquid all the same.

“We’re going to start slow. Focus on the rhythm.”

I nodded, adjusting my own grip on the windowsill as he stepped back. A soft rustle, like a sparrow darting through bushes, sounded behind my vulnerable, nearly-naked back. A moment later, the silky-cold kiss of refrigerated petals and rough, leathery leaves slid along my spine. It pulled away before thudding against my back, across my shoulder blades, with surprising weight. Again, it pulled back and fell against my skin. A slightly-damp crush of a broken petal or two sent an almost-sterile waft of roses over my shoulder, a snap of green following just behind. I bowed forward a fraction against the wall, the rough stone catching and pulling against the white lace of my bra.

Jax gave a heated sigh of pleasure as he brought the bouquet crashing against me again, this time with more force. It was an odd sensation, but I liked it - there was a raw, organic sense to it, one that had been absent when the man at the club had me on stage. My focus narrowed to the thrash of flowers against me now, the tickling sensation of abused petals fluttering down my back to the floor below. With each collision, the smell of flowers bloomed, and soon the strikes came more frequently, and harder, my sensitized skin welcoming them after the uncomfortable heat of the day. This - anticipating the thud and slowly-disintegrating integrity of the flowers - was something that didn’t need weighing, or considering: it simplywas, and I needed that.

My skin throbbed and ached for more, and, almost as if he could sense it, I heard Jax toss the flowers down as he crowded against me. He was panting, though I suspected it had more to do with the emotions flying around the room than the effort being expended on whipping me.

“Adoratur…” He groaned the unfamiliar word with heat, pressing kisses to the side of my jaw and neck. “You take it so well, my beautiful girl. No complaints, no bowing away, just the kiss of roses against you, like my own personal angel. You please me, Cara. Can you take more for me?”

“More?” I tilted my head to the side, giving him my neck with a happy sigh. “I can - yes, I can take more for you. Iwantto take more for you.”

Jax’s teeth scraped against my neck as he gave another appreciative growl. “Fuck.Such a good girl. Alright, pants down then, keep your underwear on.” His hand flexed at my hip, so I gently tugged it to the front of my pants, eager to have him involved in the disrobing. Blessedly, he took the hint, working the button fly of my pants open, sliding down the zipper with one hand while still holding my hair in his fist. I’d anticipated he’d just let them puddle around my ankles, but his arm snaked around my waist and lifted me clear off the ground, against his hip, stepping on the back of one of my flats as he lifted, kicking it away. He set me back down a moment, almost lightly bouncing me off the floor with my bare foot for balance, repeating the process.

Once I was barefoot, he dropped down to a knee behind me to roughly pull my pants down and off, leaving me in nothing but my blindfold, my bra and a pair of bright blue, embarrassingly-mismatched panties.To think I’d been worried about cute earrings this morning.

Jax’s breathing was heavy enough that I could hear it clearly now, his touches and grips on my body more hungry, more desperate. I’d never been undressed like that before, and having to navigate without sight added an erotic charge I was growing to crave. He didn’t walk me, he simply picked me up around my waist again and set me down with a gentle nudge forward until my stomach brushed the edge of the bed. Guiding me with a lingering hand on my ass, his palm splayed in the middle of my back, bending me forward until my cheek pressed into rumpled sheets that smelled like him, my thighs pressed tight against the edge of the bed, ass in the air.

“Cara.” He snapped once, lightly, near my ear, and I realized I must have missed him saying my name. “What do you say if you need me to stop?”

“Mercy.” I murmured dreamily, hiding a smile against the sheets as I sank against the mattress. My brain felt as untethered as an ice cube floating in a glass, and it was nothing short of wonderful.

I arched with a yelp as a considerably-less-forgiving implement met my right ass cheek, bringing a sharp bite of pain as it made contact. Whatever it was stung, with an uneven surface, almost like broom bristles, but harder. After another, matching strike on my left ass cheek, that sharp green scent from earlier put the pieces together - Jax was spanking me with the rose stems.Why was that so fucking hot?

Jax

Oizys forgive me, I may have been a demon, but I was only, metaphorically speaking, a man. If I thought Cara was beautiful behind a window, having the feel, the scent, thesoundof her now was worth any punishment my goddess might dole out for overstepping my role. For better or for worse, arousal was an excellent distraction from grief - I’d seen many an unlikely pairing of mourners “consoling” each other in our tiny chapel, in cars in the parking lot, even our restrooms.

The moment Cara signaled her willingness, I knew what I wanted to do, where I needed to go. Our facility fridge, typically used for storing flowers prior to services, currently held three dozen long-stemmed red roses from a recently well-attended funeral. I’d stashed them away to siphon grief as I needed it, but the half-naked woman in my sanctuary had removed that need, creating several others in the process. I grabbed the satin “Beloved” floral wreath ribbon as an afterthought on my way out, remembering what she’d said about being blindfolded.

The sight of two dozen heavy, dark red roses crashing against her pale skin was nothing short of art, showering her with petals and leaving red smears on her shoulders and back as we eased into firmer blows. I hit harder when I saw she could handle it, angling the flowerheads to shatter into petals as she eased into my rhythm. I had to pause once or twice to adjust my cock, throbbing just as heavily, as she let out the most delectable little whimpers and cries with each downstroke of the bouquet. Grief and something more suffused me as the flowers broke against Cara, suffusing me with so much power I wouldn’t need any for weeks.

I needed more. I needed to see her bare, make her sing more of those precious cries for me. Infused with strength from my unexpected glut the past two days, it was a simple matter to lift her like she was nothing more than a duffel bag. I took off her shoes and pants as quickly as I could manage, pausing to practically salivate over a pair of panties in my favorite color - it was like she’d been made for me. A groan of appreciation slipped out of me when I bent her over the bed, and I indulged myself by caressing the curve of her ass. I was going to turn it such a beautiful shade of pink against that blue fabric.

I grabbed the last bouquet, flipping it around to expose the stems, which had apparently been more hastily dethorned back at the flower shop. I dragged one of the exposed thorns, only semi-blunted, down her ass and thigh deliberately, admiring the trails of blushing pink it left behind before slamming the bundle mercilessly across her ass. Her fingers curled and clawed at the sheets as she squirmed and arched, whimpering and panting. I grabbed a fistful of her hair, holding her down against my bed with my forearm as I picked up speed, the stems snapping and bending one by one.

Eventually the fistful of stems lost integrity, and the closest thing I had to a home smelled like a greenhouse, perfumed with Cara’s distinct sweetness. I threw the ruined stems away from us, sliding up on the mattress to care for the flushed, reddened angel sprawled across my bed. I’d been a bit of a brute about everything, but her resiliency just made her even more delicious. She had a darker side that called to me, so much so that a very old endearment had slipped off my tongue, one I hadn’t used in centuries. I didn’t regret it, though - she deserved it, the radiant creature.

“Mm-” Her voice was muffled against the sheets, the curve of her ass cheek red and flushed alongside the bright blue trim of her underwear. It was just as pretty as I’d hoped it would be, and I curved a palm against it, eager to feel the heat of her skin for myself. I blinked off the haze, my stomach dropping with worry - was she trying to use the word I’d given her? Quickly and carefully, I reached down and slid an arm behind her knees, laying her out fully on the bed as I turned her onto her back. She winced as her ass and back met the sheets, but sighed deeply after the initial sting.

“Cara?” I cupped her cheeks and met her eyes, stroking her face with my thumbs. “Did I hurt you? Are you alright? I couldn’t make out what you were saying.”

She pushed up the blindfold over one of her eyes, grinned lazily and grabbed a handful of my coveralls, dragging my face to hers. “Yes, very okay. I saidmore.” With that, she leaned up and pressed her lips to mine with a tiny moan that nearly turned me feral.

Unwilling to put her in any more pain now that we’d progressed to something sweeter, I wrapped her in my arms and rolled her on top of me, settling her unabashedly on the bulge of my still-clothed cock as I reached up and tugged her blindfold off. She rocked her hips with a fluid motion that promised twice as many wicked things as her eyes did, bracing her palms on my chest with a smile. Licking her lips nervously, she settled her weight on my pinned shaft, and I almost bucked up at her for more of that wonderful friction.

“I - it’s been a long time for me, Jax. So I’m…you know. I’m not…prepared.” She winced with an embarrassed grin.

I instantly stilled my hips, cradling hers before reaching beneath me to retrieve her now-wrinkled shirt. “Here, no, of course, I’m sorry. I didn’t…I didn’t do that forthis. I honestly just did it to get your mind off of things, I promise. You’re just so goddamn beautiful, Cara, I’m sorry if I pushed anything or made you uncomf-”

She cut me off by pressing her fingers against my mouth. I longed to run my tongue across them, to show her what I wanted to do elsewhere, but it would have immediately taken the teeth out of my declaration. Her body shook, and it took me a long moment to realize she was laughing. “Prepared like…a condom, Jax. Believe me, nothing short of you opting out is stopping this afterthat.” She smirked and nodded towards the ruined pile of rose stems and petals littering the stone floor.

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