It took a lot of effort, but she managed to nod.
“Good girl. Open your mouth.” Hammer brushed her lower lip with his thumb, and she slowly complied.
Gently, he pushed something thin past her lips and placed it on her tongue. Instinctively, Raine closed her mouth around the little square. She smelled the chocolate mint candy before she tasted it. Rich, sweet, with a hint of bite… She moaned.
“You were amazing. Everyone saw you in a beautifully submissive light, especially me. I couldn’t have asked you to surrender more perfectly. I’m humbled by your trust.”
You made me feel like I was flying. I loved giving you my control. Let’s do that again. “Macen…” was all she managed.
The chocolate melted and the flavor coated her tongue. Her head began to rise to the surface after what felt like a long submersion under her blanket of peace. The heater blew warm air over her face. The whiskers on Hammer’s cheeks abraded her jawline as he nipped gently at her neck, her lobe. His hot breath feathered across her skin.
“I’ve imagined you giving yourself so openly to me a million times. You were better than all my fantasies,” he praised, leaving little love bites on her neck.
“So good for me, too,” she whispered.
By will alone, she lifted her heavy lids to see Hammer hovering above her, his hazel eyes looking so green, the beginnings of a dark beard fanning over his face.
A knock sounded at the door. Raine frowned.
“Come in,” Hammer called as if he knew exactly who was intruding.
Seth opened the door and hustled in, holding a cold can of soda and their scattered clothes from the dungeon. He set the garments on the nightstand and handed the can to Hammer.
“Thanks, man.”
Seth nodded. “You’re welcome. Have fun.”
With a wink, Seth was gone. She liked the guy. He seemed kind, straightforward, easygoing. Liam had good friends.
“Drink some of this.” Hammer helped her sit up and popped the top of the can.
Raine’s head was still swimming a bit as she braced herself upright and surveyed her surroundings. Hammer’s room. Before today, the only other time she’d been in this bed, he’d been fucking her into oblivion, like a primal animal in heat over and over… She’d spent most of her time lately in Liam’s room. In Liam’s bed. In Liam’s arms.
Now everything had changed.
Hammer helped her sip the drink. The bite of the cold and the effervescence hit her tongue, tickled her nose. Caffeine jolted her within moments. Or was that just her brain kicking in again?
She stared at the can. Seth had brought it, not Liam, who hadn’t been there for the scene because he’d gone to the hospital with Gwyneth and the sick baby. So Hammer had done his best to shut off her head and tune out her worry.
“Has he called you?” Raine blurted.
Regret tightened his face. “No. But Liam is fine. He’s coming back. Don’t worry.”
She really wanted to believe him. Their relationship was worth nothing if she didn’t have faith. Hammer had never been one to mince words or pull punches. If he thought Liam could be lured away, he wouldn’t say otherwise. And her gorgeous Irishman would have never bought them a house in which to build their future if he planned to leave.
“I know you’re right. I just don’t like it,” she murmured.
“Liam would be touched by your concern, but he wouldn’t want you to worry.”
Raine pondered that. “I know that, too.”
Hammer brushed the hair from her cheek. “How do you feel?”
“Relaxed. Good.” In heaven.
He cupped her nape, and his lips climbed up her neck. “Not too tender anywhere?”
Experimentally, she flexed and wriggled. Heat flared over her ass, upper thighs, and the small of her back. But a comforting warmth spread all through her body.
She snuggled down in the bed a bit more, barely resisting the urge to close her eyes again and find that alluring peace. “Sensitive. But it’s…” She sighed, sent him a little smile. “Nice.”
A wicked grin curved his lips before he dragged the blankets down, baring her to the waist. He cupped her breast and latched on to her nipple, giving it a deep, hard suckle. An unexpected electricity zinged through her body, zipping through her veins, zapping her clit. Her eyes flew open wide. She sucked in a breath. Hammer’s touch always felt insanely good, but Raine had never experienced this hypersensitivity. Ten seconds ago, she hadn’t been thinking of sex at all. Now?
As he pulled his lips away, she arched up and wrapped her arms around his neck with an imploring groan. “Macen…”
“How about now?” he taunted, pinching her nipple and filling her with another burst of sensation. “I can make you feel a whole lot better than nice, precious.”
“Please…”
Raine’s whispered plea went straight to his cock.
Oh, hell… Hammer hadn’t expected to give her anything except aftercare, but the instant she’d melted into him and he’d tasted her skin, he had fixated on one thing—and one thing only. In fact, he’d make it far more than nice. He’d fuck her until she clawed his back, screamed her throat raw, and fell to the mattress in exhaustion.