“It’s not my first choice, but if that’s what it takes…” She sensed that he shrugged. “You seem to think of me as the enemy. What have I ever done to make you believe I would hurt you?”
Nothing. In fact, if anything, he’d gone out of his way to earn her trust, rather than simply trying to take it.
“Whoever hurt you in the past… I’m not one of them, lass.”
Her shoulders drooped. Raine couldn’t see anything, but if she could, she’d be looking at nothing but floor.
Liam slid a palm up her back, under her hair, then cradled her neck. “I’m not giving up on this question, Raine. I want you to think about the fact that you’ll never be happy if you can’t share this pain and fear inside you. And you will never be able to truly bond with a Dom—or any other human being—until you do. Until then, you will always be alone.” He stroked her hair again. “You have so many wonderful gifts to share. I’d hate never to know them. It disappoints me to see you waste them.”
His soft condemnation was so fucking hard to take. The words lashed her like a whip cutting through flesh and opening her to the bone. Why didn’t he just punish her already? Paddle her bruised butt… But he’d explained that. He couldn’t force her to change, but he wouldn’t let her hide easily.
“Liam…” she began.
“Yes?”
Raine had nothing to say. She couldn’t make herself spill her past. Even thinking about it made her bleed. Shame. That she hadn’t been strong enough to stop it. That she hadn’t been smart enough to avoid it. And now she was left with the wound that just wouldn’t seem to scar over. Instead, it just kept infecting everything she touched.
“Nothing.”
He sighed, and she heard his disappointment. It hurt so damn much as he took hold of her arms and released her wrists. Her shoulders were a bit stiff, and she rolled them. Liam massaged them so tenderly. Oddly, the moment she got free of his cuffs, a part of her felt as if she was free falling inside, like some safety net had been taken from her. Without thought, she reached out for him.
He didn’t deny her touch…but he didn’t put the cuffs on her again.
“Climb up here on the bed and lay on your back. Arms wide, legs together.” He helped her onto the cushy mattress, and she sank immediately onto what felt like a fluffy towel over soft cotton blankets. “That’s it. Bring your knees up. Now relax them and let them fall open for me.”
So her pussy was exposed?
Still, she did it. He’d seen and touched it all. He wasn’t going to hurt her.
“Yes. Just like that.” He released her and stood, retreating and returning quickly. “I’ve fetched a tray of lavender, tea tree oil, and rosemary. The caretaker’s wife mixed it with pure olive oil and heated it for you. It will be a soothing medicinal balm. Don’t be alarmed as I pour it on you. Just relax. Keep yourself open for me, and not just your body, Raine. It’s your mind I speak of, too. This won’t be painful.”
With that, Liam began by massaging her methodically from head to toe, paying particular attention to her breasts, hips, and thighs—anywhere she was already bruised. He avoided her pussy, and unconsciously she rose to his traveling hands. But he didn’t touch her there. Instead, he drifted farther down, slowly lulling her into a blessed calm.
He drizzled the oil directly onto her skin now, over her breasts, then trailed it to her mound. “This will help with the healing. It’ll not alleviate the bruising, but it will soothe your skin. Does it feel warm and cool at the same time?”
She started to nod, then stopped herself. He didn’t want her to answer him that way, and it seemed a simple thing to give him the words he wanted when she’d denied him almost everything else.
“Yes, Sir.”
Raine sensed his sadness and wished like hell that she could see his face. No, that she could put her arms around him. The last thing she wanted to do after hurting Liam last night was make him even sadder now.
He stroked and caressed her breasts, massaging and kneading the tender flesh in concentric circles, drawing smoothly toward her areola, squeezing the nipple gently, again and again until she moaned.
Liam had found another of her weaknesses. Her nipples had always been sensitive, and his slow, slick touch with the oils was awakening her. As much sex as she’d had lately, everything south of her waist should be dormant, if not dead. But no. The warm oil spilled down her bare mons and over her sore folds, adding another layer of sensation.
And Raine couldn’t miss his hardening cock growing thick and heavy as he leaned against her. She was probably far too sore to actually have sex with him right now…but some part of her really wanted to be as close to him as two people could be.