Page 20 of Lily: Captive to the Dark

Zain grabbed me around the waist, flinging his door open. As it shut behind him, he placed me back down and gave me a shove back toward the way we came.

“Start walking, slave. If they see you misbehaving, I might not be able to save you. Obey, remember?”

Slow steps carried me to the stairway area and he turned me, pointing to a door beneath them. My legs gave out and silent sobs wracked my body. I was past the point of exhaustion. At his arms sweeping me up, I couldn’t stop myself from turning into his large chest. He’d left me alone up to this point. He hadn’t tried to touch me or hurt me. Would he rape me now?

“Shh. No crying. I’ll stand watch at the door. You’ll have as much privacy as possible.” And he’d stayed true to his word. For a while.

“Yes, you never did listen too well. I can still remember it all so clearly. It took you almost half an hour to undress. When you finally did, it was only because I threatened I was going to do it myself. I was very patient with you. More so than I thought myself capable of. Just the tease of your naked shoulders that night made me realize how much I truly wanted you.”

Light kisses traveled over the expanse leading to my neck. My eyes reopened and I tried to step away, but he held on tighter.

“Don’t.” The word came out more as a moan and I could have cursed myself. It was so obvious that I didn’t want him to stop. Even now, I was leaning back against him. It was as if I had no control over it.

Suction against the side of my throat had my fingers digging into his thighs.

“And the first time I touched you. Do you remember that?”

My ninth day there and what felt like an eternity later. A sound escaped at the memory combined with the increase in his sucking.

“I was sleeping. I woke up to your fingers tracing over my palm. I…hit your hand away.”

“Yes, you did,” he whispered, running his tongue over the mark I knew he’d just placed. “But you didn’t fight for long, did you? Once I pulled you to me and kissed you softly, leisurely…by the third attempt, you were kissing me back. Still, I took it slow with you.” His fingers buried into my hair, pulling back slowly until the pressure was nice and tight. “Have I ever hurt you to where you didn’t enjoy it?”

The need to answer, while addressing him as Master, begged to pour from my mouth. I forced the term back as I tried to hold onto my resolve. “No.”

The jerk against my hair had me gasping and growing even wetter. “Say it, slave. You know you want to.”

“No,” I repeated. “I will not. Never again. I…don’t love you anymore. I’m ready to move on with someone else. Let me go.”

“Wrong,” he growled. “You do love me. As for moving on, that’s the biggest lie I think I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth. And the most hurtful. You know the consequences for that, don’t you.” Not a question. My legs pressed together at the tingling it evoked.

The straps from my dress broke as he tugged the silk down under my strapless bra.

“Your body is going to look beautiful covered in my marks. It’s been so long. I’ve dreamed of this so many times. Now, reach forward and put your hands flat on the glass while I unzip your dress. I’m going to start by spanking you until you tell me about Alec. In detail. Then, you’ll be cropped for lying to me.”

“Cropped?” I asked, in disbelief. He’d never gone that far. “No way,” I snapped. “I came here to talk, nothing more. And I’m telling you, this ends now. I don’t love you anymore. We’re finished. Go back home and never come around me again.”

“Oh, slave, such work we have ahead of us. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. You’ll stay right here with me until I make you see what I so clearly do. Even if that takes forever.”

I was spun around with my back pushed against the glass. Zain’s hand locked on to my throat and my own flew up to grasp his wrist. He didn’t apply pressure or choke me, he just held.

“You’re breaking your word?” The last of my sentence was silent. My voice had given out at the clash of emotion. Was I happy that he wasn’t letting me leave in the morning? Afraid? Both? What were his plans for me? Would we return to his father’s?

“I’d never break my word, but this isn’t just anything, Lily. This is our lives, our love, I’m trying to save. You can deny it as much as you want, but I feel what we share.” He stepped in closer, pulling me forward with the hand that was around my throat. “Your heart beats for me. Thump. Thump. Right here, under my fingers.” He increased the pressure until I could experience what he spoke. It pulsed throughout my body, slamming prominently in my lips at the lack of oxygen. “You feel that? Every thud that is happening right now is for me. Each beat that is giving you life is a reminder of who it’s making you live for. Me, Lilian. Your heart beats only for me.”

All I could do was stare into his eyes. How did he know? Was I so readable that he could see a gone slave when he looked at one? Was his name written in the depths of my connection with him? The one place people spoke of when it concerned the soul? Perhaps, if we were one, like I had always believed, it was obvious to my other half. Too bad what we both wanted couldn’t happen.

“My heart beats for me and if what you say is true about you not allowing me to leave, I have no other choice.”

“Other choice? What are you planning to—?”

Before he could finish, I used the element of surprise to bring my fist flying down as hard as I could at the bend of his elbow. The sudden loosening on my neck gave me the opportunity to lunge to the side, but he had me pinned against the window before I could get any further.

“Ah, your training was good, but not good enough, baby. Now, face forward and take your punishment. You’ll have extra because of this stunt.”

My zipper was ripped down. The dress yanked and fell to my ankles. Whack! The first spanking sent fire flaring over my ass. A cry escaped and I pushed my palms into the glass. Another quickly followed and I tried to turn — anything to not submit to him like I truly wanted.

“Forward,” he bit out.

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