Whatever had happened with the police showing up at his house just now had led him to think that everything between us had been a lie, including his kindness and his nurturing nature. In his mind, he was rejecting all the wonderful qualities that made up the complicated man I’d come to love.
Unable to help myself, I tried to lean in for a kiss, desperate to comfort him.
He pushed me away with a growl, pressing me against the wall at my back and pinning me with his huge body. Rejecting my offered kiss, he imposed one on me instead. He crushed his lips to mine, subjugating my mouth with brutal force.
There was no gentleness in him, but I could still give myself to him. If he wouldn’t allow me to touch him with tenderness, I would surrender fully, welcoming his claim.
His big hands tore at my clothes, stripping me roughly as he kept me trapped in his merciless kiss. By the time his thick fingers ripped away my panties, leaving me completely bare against his fully clothed form, I was dizzy from lack of oxygen.
The lightheadedness heightened the intoxicating release of being utterly swept up in Raúl’s strength. His will wrapped around me like iron chains, and I yielded to his power over me.
My tight nipples throbbed in time with my aching clit as my entire body came alive under his domineering hands. I rubbed my chest against his, mindlessly seeking stimulation. His muscular thigh wedged between my legs, and I shamelessly rocked my wet pussy against his jeans. The material was almost abrasive on my swollen sex, but the rough edge only fed my desire for his savagery.
He dropped more of his immense weight against me, trapping me too tightly to continue my wanton writhing. My core ached at his denial, and he devoured my soft whimper, ravenous for the sounds of my suffering.
When he finally tore his mouth from mine, I sagged, breathless and drunk on his power over me. Despite the way my body melted, he had me pinned so tightly that I barely moved an inch.
He ground his thigh against my sex, drawing a strangled cry from my chest; equal parts pleasure and pain. My liquid desire wet his jeans, and a cruelly triumphant smile sharpened his stony features.
“You might be a liar, but your body isn’t. All this time, you’ve wanted me every bit as much as I’ve wanted you. But you’ve denied me, tormented me. You strung me along, punishing me for holding you captive.”
Another merciless press of his thigh blocked my protest, drowning it in a harsh shout.
“I’ll teach you what real punishment is. You will suffer and shatter in my hands. And I will force you to love every second of it. You have no power over me. You are mine.”
Yes, I’m yours. I pressed my lips together, barely containing the words. He wasn’t ready to hear them. Not yet.
The icy armor that’d served as a barrier between us had begun to melt. His ruthless assault on my senses continued, but his vicious heat grew stronger with each of my tormented cries. Fierce, verdant green light began to flicker through the hard gleam in his eyes. Raúl was coming back to me slowly, even if it was the most beastly, ruthless version of the man I loved.
I welcomed him with open arms. I accepted all of him. I wanted all of him, even this dark, dangerous part.
Especially this dark, dangerous part. It called to the darkness in me, and for the first time, I didn’t resist their joining. I surrendered on a sigh, not only to him, but to myself. I was done doubting my judgment. I was done denying what was between us. I embraced the most frightening, thrilling parts of myself, just as I embraced his.
Nothing bad could come of it, because Raúl was everything good in my world: my savior, my protector.
I wanted him. I wanted us.
Suddenly, he grabbed my waist and shifted back. Before I could fall, he threw me over his shoulder. He carried me towards the bed; a hungry beast dragging his prize to his lair.
The stomach-drop fear at falling burst into a giddy shout when my back hit the soft mattress. Raúl didn’t seem to share my slightly drunken mental state. His granite face was carved in forbidding lines as he grabbed my wrists and pulled them above my head. He held them there in one hand while his other reached into the nightstand drawer.
Light glinted off silver handcuffs, and my heart squeezed at the hard flash in his eyes. He bared his teeth in defiance as he closed the metal restraints around my wrists, locking me in the debilitating cuffs that the cops had threatened to use on him. He’d feared that they would take him from the safety of his home. He’d feared that they would lock him away, where he’d never be able to touch me again.