“So goddamn beautiful,” he groaned, swiping his tongue over my open folds. “I’ve missed your taste, baby girl. Missed you snuggled up beside me every night.” He thrust two fingers into me and scissored them open, stretching me. “I fucking missedyou, Sammy.”

“I missed you so much it hurt,” I whispered. “I wanted to come back sooner. I would have. But my brother—”

His fingers contracted. “You’re home now. That’s all that matters. Next time, I’ll go with you so there won’t be any issues of when you can leave.”

“Thank you, Daddy.”

My voice broke when he sucked one lip into his mouth and released it with a pop. Liquid gushed from my opening, letting him know just how much I liked his pleasure-pain punishment. The tip of his tongue swirled around my opening before dipping inside, tasting me.

I ground my head into the pillow, willing my hips not to leave the mattress for fear he would stop. Around and around, he teased then gave me a shallow thrust of his finger before returning to twirling. My inner muscles began to contract, my release so close my toes began to curl.

Elias lifted his head, licking his lips. I bit my bottom lip to keep from crying out. This was my punishment. What he’d promised. To edge me until I hurt. My clit felt like it had a pulse, but that ache wasn’t painful to me. He understood so much, but I didn’t think he was fully aware that when I told him nothing hurt when I was with him, I meantnothing.

He could edge me all night, but this torture was all I’d ever dreamed of. Simply being in his presence was enough for me when I knew he was mine. Having him touch me was heaven. Having him eating me was my personal utopia.

Lifting onto his knees, he pushed his jeans and boxer briefs down his thighs. His dick sprang free, long, thick, and hard, with the tip already leaking. Wrapping his fingers around the shaft, he pumped himself and squeezed. Gathering the thick liquid that poured from his slit onto his thumb, he shoved it into my mouth.

I snaked my tongue around him, licking and sucking greedily.

“Hungry, baby girl?” he rasped, his eyes glued to my mouth.

“Yes. I need more.” My gaze dropped to his hand, still stroking himself. “Can I suck it, Daddy?”

“Soon,” he promised as he crossed his arms to pull his shirt over his head.

Each exposed inch of his abdomen had my stomach clenching. But then I saw his chest, and everything inside me stilled. While I’d been away, Elias had gotten new ink. It took up the majority of his left pec.

As I blinked it into focus, it took a moment for me to figure out what I was looking at because it was so unexpected. Grinning, he brushed his thumb over one of the flower petals in the bouquet.

My favorite flower, the one that was so rare it was considered an endangered species. Bieberstein’s crocus. Tattooed over his heart.

Drawing in a ragged breath, I could only stare as my mind flashed back to all the flowers my stalker had left. His notes that I kept hidden in my desk—the one left on my mirror that first night along with the red rose petal.

I hadn’t even considered him when Mom said she thought someone was targeting me to get to her and Papa. Never mentioned him. Because deep down, I knew they weren’t connected. Maybe I’d known all along it was Elias.

But I wouldn’t let myself have that kind of hope.

“Anything to say, Baby V?” he taunted.

Lovingly, I traced my eyes over the purple and white petals, the yellow centers, each perfectly formed stem. It should have calmed my obsession, but all it did was cause it to become more blisteringly intense as it burned hotter.

“I’m ready for more of my punishment now, Daddy.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX

elias

Both of uswere out of breath as I dropped us onto the bed. Arms tangled around each other, my cock still inside her while my come dripped out of her because she was so full, I kissed her lazily.

Dawn was just breaking as I tucked her hair behind her ear and cupped the side of her face. She continued to shake a little. Tucking her head under my chin, I used my body heat to warm her.

Neither of us had gotten any sleep the previous night. I’d promised her she wouldn’t get off until she begged for mercy. All she’d done was take the torturously slow edging I’d threatened would be her punishment if she ever knowingly put herself in danger again. No complaining, no begging for relief, not a single tear.

I’d had to jerk myself off three times, marking her skin with my release, then teasing her even more by fingering her with my come back to the point of insanity. Her needy little sounds had made me sweat, keeping my cock rock hard despite all the times I’d gotten off.

It wasn’t until she’d started to shake that I realized she wasn’t going to beg for mercy. What had started as slight tremors began to shift into her muscles practically convulsing to the point I feared her shoulders would pop out of their sockets if I didn’t release her restraints.

As soon as her hands were free, she’d climbed onto my torso, her body weak from the hours of pleasure-filled torture. But that didn’t stop her from taking what she needed. Her legs wrapped around my waist, my cock already thrusting into her swollen channel, she’d started coming as soon as I bottomed out.