“You’re insane,” she hissed, shaking.
“We’ve established that already, but we haven’t discussed your madness yet. You know the adage about the definition of insanity, don’t you? You’re doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” I dipped two fingers between her thighs, swirling through her silky arousal. “You keep insisting that you hate me. You keep telling me that you don’t want to be mine. But repeating the same words of denial doesn’t change this.” I circled her clit, making her body convulse at the abrupt hit of pleasure. “Your lies don’t change what’s between us.”
“Stop,” she gasped, shuddering as I continued to tease her needy bud.
“No.” I issued a flat refusal. “There’s no stopping this, Carmen. There’s no stopping me.”
I punctuated my irrevocable vow with a sharp slap to her ass, the sudden shift from pleasure to pain wrenching a cry from her chest. I didn’t give her time to draw breath before delivering another blow, the force of my punishing hand driving her hips against the edge of the table. She shrieked, a wordless expression of rage.
I continued for a few minutes after her scream trailed off, then I resumed playing with her clit. She tried to jerk away from the pleasure I inflicted, but she only tightened the collar I’d locked around her neck. The choking sound she made was nearly a sob, but she transformed it into a defiant snarl.
I switched back to a punitive approach, peppering her pert ass with fiery swats, leaving her skin a breathtaking shade of red. She threw back her head and howled, anguish roughening her fury.
My fingers returned to her wet folds, stroking her gently. “Let it all out, kitten,” I coaxed, gentling her. “You’re safe with me, and you don’t have to be scared all the time.”
“I’m not…scared.” Her desperate denial hitched in her throat. “I’m angry.”
“I know you feel angry, but that’s because you don’t want to let me in, and I’m not taking no for an answer. Your anger is a wall you’ve built to contain your fear, but I’m going to break it down.”
“I don’t want you to do that.” Her shaky protest proved that I’d revealed the truth. She twisted against her bonds, desperate. “Leave me alone!”
I fisted her hair, immobilizing her so she couldn’t put too much pressure on her neck.
“You’ve been alone for far too long.” I gently revealed that I knew her deepest secret, one that she had perhaps hidden even from herself. “You’re not alone anymore. It’s okay to enjoy being with me. Nothing bad will happen to you. I will never hurt you, and I won’t let anyone else hurt you, either. I’ll keep you safe, Carmen.”
“You are hurting me,” she countered, her voice breaking.
“No, I’m not. I’m simply refusing to let you hide behind your anger, and you don’t know how to be around me without it. Let me show you how good it can be between us.”
I shifted my touch between her thighs, teasing around her swollen pussy lips. “Just let yourself feel the pleasure, kitten,” I urged. “There’s no need to be angry about something that feels this good.”
“I don’t want to,” she whispered.
“You don’t want to feel pleasure? Or you don’t want to be angry anymore?” I challenged quietly.
“Stefano.” She whimpered my name, and something twisted at the center of my chest, a wrenching ache.
I leaned over her, nuzzling my cheek against her hair. Her softness soothed some of the strange ache inside me.
“What do you need, kitten?”
She was tense and quiet for a long moment, searching for the answer. “I don’t know.”
“It’s okay to not know.” I pressed a kiss against her temple and drew back so I could unknot the tie around her wrists. “We’ll figure it out together.”
Once her arms were free, I gripped her hips and turned her onto her back. I grasped the end of her leash and wrapped it around my fist. I didn’t apply any tension, but I made sure that she could see me holding it firmly. She would learn to find reassurance in my control, now that she was finally letting go of her anger and defiance.
I leaned over her, bracing my weight on my forearm so I could capture her lips in a kiss. I took my time with her, patiently waiting for her to respond. My lips caressed hers, coaxing. Her hands came up to rest against my shoulders, her touch hesitant. I encouraged her by deepening our kiss, stroking into her mouth. She surrendered on a low moan, her fingers closing tight around the back of my neck to pull me closer, inviting me to take more.
The longer I kissed her, the more enthusiastic she became. The ferocity of my desire had eased while I’d reasoned with her to let down her guard, but now that I had her writhing beneath me once again, my lust surged back in a shocking rush.