Page 80 of Run Like the Devil

“Not so opposed to it as you thought, are you?”

Instead of answering—I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction—I nipped at the fingers he’d pressed into my mouth.

And if anyone could deal with my difficult, defiant side, it was Gorrin. He didn’t so much as flinch, instead pressing the pads of his fingers against the top of my tongue, pinning it down, then rubbing over the top. “If that was your attempt at annoying me, you’ve made a mistake. In case you have forgotten, I rather enjoy your more defiant side. Or, perhaps it would be better to say I don’t mind it because bringing you to heel excites me. I like when I have to work for your submission, when I have to earn every inch of it. Things that come too easily bore me, but you never have. So if you want to bite, if you want to scratch, if you want to struggle, I welcome it. You are more than worth the effort.”

Something about that statement did what little else could.

So often in my life, that part of me, the one that wanted to do as I pleased, that saw the world as I wanted to, it had gotten me into trouble.

I’d spent my life knowing how much my personality grated on others. I’d accepted it for the most part, recognized that I’d annoy people and figured the best I could expect was to find people who were at least amused enough by me to ignore my less-desirable traits.

I hadn’t thought it possible for people to actually like that part of me. I hadn’t expected to find others who not only accepted me, but who couldn’t get scared off by that.

Gorrin didn’t just know about my stubborn streak, wasn’t just willing to deal with it—he liked it. Even better, he didn’t expect me to change it. He wasn’t just hanging in there until he trained it out of me, or because he thought he could get me to behave as he’d wanted eventually.

It was a far cry from how he’d treated me at first. I pulled back, his finger sliding from my mouth, so I could speak. “You sure wanted to change me before…”

He nipped my ear, closed his teeth on the lobe then tugged gently. “That was before. Back then, I’d thought keeping you safe was the most important thing. I thought I could make you understand the world as I did, that if you just complied, you would see the wisdom of my words. I am a man who focuses on results—not methods. I had always thought that the only thing that truly mattered in the world was survival.”

“But not anymore?”

“No, not anymore.” He ran his finger along my lip as if to remind me of what we were doing, as though he thought I might forget or that the lust inside me might cool. “You made me realize that living isn’t enough. Ensuring you continue to breathe matters, but it can’t be the ultimate goal. If my actions break you—if they shatter the person you are—what is the point of any of it?” He dragged his tongue up the shell of my ear, his warm breath making me shiver. “You matter, just as you are, so if you want to struggle against me, I respect that. I will stand toe-to-toe with you, but I will never try to control or change you again.”

His words were soft and honest, and they convinced me more than anything else he could have done would have. Gorrin had tried so many things over the years to bring me to heel. He’d threatened me, he’d coerced me, he’d used anything he could against me to try to make me fall in line.

It had all failed, in the end.

So why did I submit to him now? Why did I give myself over to whatever he wanted?

Because he gave me the choice. He acknowledged me, my feelings, my personality, and that made it so I could trust him.

When I relaxed and leaned back, it was me accepting him, my way of showing how much his words meant to me.

And Gorrin accepted that weight with ease, reminding me that no matter what, I could trust him. He was more than strong enough to carry anything I needed him to.

And he seemed more than ready to prove it.

Gorrin

Feeling Loch fully give herself over to me loosened a tightness in my chest that had worsened with my time in the Path. Sure, she and I had had sex just after my return, but that had been more about passion and anger than anything else.

Then Hubis’ ‘lesson’ had further complicated matters. She had seemed perpetually out of reach, and as the Path had twisted my thoughts, had made me even more worried, I’d stewed in my own head.

Would she ever accept me? Would I ever manage to cross the distance between us? Would she ever really trust me?

Those fears had taken over, growing from a shadow in my mind until they eclipsed everything else, until I couldn’t draw breath properly when I wasn’t touching her.

Yet all it took was this—her leaning against me, her surrendering herself into my care—to wipe those fears away.

Sure, they would come back—I was far too practical to think that having sex would fix all my problems—but for now, I could release it to focus on this moment.

I withdrew my finger from Loch’s ass, unable to hide a groan as I imagined sinking my cock into her. Her reaction suggested she’d never tried anal—or perhaps it was better to say she’d never tried it with any sort of satisfaction—and the thought of being her first excited me far more than it should have. I wanted her to trust me, to give me a part of herself that she’d given to no one else.

It was selfish and stupid, but knowing that didn’t stop me from wanting it.

Still, I’d been serious that now was not the time. The wetness I’d gathered from her dripping pussy had worked well enough to aid a single finger, but it wouldn’t be nearly enough for her to take my cock. I wouldn’t dare risk hurting her, not for something as trivial as me getting off.

Of course, I didn’t need that either.

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