Page 44 of Beneath the Surface

Swallowing, I try to form words around my suddenly parched throat. “I don’t like calling it that,” I whisper.

He nods, his eyes spearing into me. “Okay, but…” He pauses, his thumb brushing against the underside of my jaw in a repetitive caress, lulling me into the feeling of comfort. “That’s what it is, right? That’s what you like?”

I nod, but then panic seizes my chest, a sharp ache radiating through the cavity. “I’m not uh… I’m not sure. I’ve never—”

His grip tightens again, and my heart rate slows down. “You’ve never actually done it?”

I shake my head.

“But you’d like to.” His eyes don’t lose contact, staying locked on mine theentiretime. And there’s something about the way he’s handling everything, the way he’s controlling the situation, and making me feel like I could tell him my darkest, deepest secrets, that has me wanting to tell himeverything.

But I won’t.

I can’t even admit them to myself most days.

“Yeah.” I nod.

He sucks on his lips, his cock twitching from where it’s pressed against the back of my leg. “We need a safe word.”

My nose scrunches. He’s so direct and at ease, acting as if we’re doing something completely mundane, like making a grocery list. Like he’s done this a thousand times.

Maybe he has.My stomach jolts as a ghost of a thought sits in the back of my mind, reminding me that I don’t really know him.

“I want to give you what you need, but I want you to know you’realwaysin control of the situation, okay?” His voice pushes the whisper of caution from my brain.

Emotion clogs my throat, and I swallow around the lump. I don’t know what that’s like—being in control. My fingers tear at my wrist, my mind spinning so fast, I couldn’t pick a word if I tried.

“How about bunny?” he suggests.

Satisfaction settles over my body with the word, and I nod. “Okay.”

My face heats and I break our stare.Does he think this is stupid?

His fingers lift up my chin again. “Hey, don’t do that. Talking about things is important.” He leans in and peppers my cheek with kisses. “Are you thirsty? Hungry?”

I nod, my insides swirling with an unknown feeling. I feel… safe. Calm. Protected.

Cherished.

Alex stands and leans over me, his palm wrapping around the back of my neck. He pulls me until the top half of my body is lifted from the couch, held up solely by his grasp. His nose brushes mine. “I just want to make somethingextremelyclear.”

My heart pounds against my ribs.

“Now that I’ve had you. Now that I’vetastedyou, no one else gets to touch you.” He slips his tongue in my mouth, branding me with ownership. I shouldn’t like the way it feels.

But I do.

“You’remine.”

And then he releases me, my body bouncing off the couch cushions as he walks into the kitchen.

I stare after him, my fingers tracing my lips, wondering where the hell he came from, and what the hell I’m going to do once he leaves.

21

Mason

“Where the fuck have you been?” Don’s voice is gruff, and my first instinct is to bite back, remind him that I’m not a fucking kid anymore, but I resist the urge because I know he has the right to be pissed.

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