“Maybe I like toxic. Maybe this shit amuses me. Maybe I just like to tie women up and hear them beg because I’m cruel.” He shrugged.
“No.” She frowned. “That is unlike you.”
“Is it? Then maybe I just don’t want to burden you with the truth, and I decided keeping it to myself would be better than treating you like a rational adult capable of making her own decisions.”
“You are being ridiculous.”
“So are you. Stop changing the subject. There’s only one thing I want to hear from you now, and that’s the reason you left with Ramos. Tell me.”
Laila bit her lip, looking as if she was searching for the right words. “Starting a vendetta with Victor will only get you killed. He is already furious that you ended his brother’s miserable life. If you use whatever I tell you against him in some vengeful retaliation—”
“That’s my choice, Laila. My business. And you’re still dodging me. You’re being a bad, bad girl. I guess it’s time for more punishment.”
“No. Please. I do not want this.”
“Really? Then why do you keep choosing it? All you have to do to make it stop is give me an honest, straightforward answer.” She didn’t reply, so he darkened his phone and set it aside, then rolled the stool back to her, taking her hips in his hands and forcibly tilting her pelvis to his waiting mouth. “Let’s see if I can incentivize you.”
He slid his tongue between her engorged folds and licked her from opening to clit, then focused relentlessly on the little bud, laving, nipping, tormenting her until every inhalation was a gasp, until the blood flushing her warm brown skin turned her rosy. Until her nipples poked the air desperately. Her clit had engorged again, now on the verge of bursting. Then he gave her one last slow, seductive swipe and backed away.
Instantly, she whimpered, her eyes closing, her head whipping from side to side in protest.
She looked fucking beautiful, and Trees would give anything to scale the wall she’d put between them, hold her while she clung to him, then take her to his bed and love her so thoroughly she never thought about leaving again.
Good luck with that…
“You motivated to answer me yet, Laila?”
She didn’t reply, just sucked in steadying breaths. Every part of her body looked taut, swollen, aching…
“No?” He sighed. “I wish you’d make a different choice. Can’t you trust me and believe I’m acting with your safety, happiness, and best interests in mind? I guess not. You keep refusing.”
“Why?” she sobbed.
Why was he punishing her? Why did he care? “Because I love you. That hasn’t changed. It never will.”
Laila gaped at him, tears running down her face. “After everything I have done to you?”
He shook his head. “Until you answer me, Laila, I’m not answering you.” He rolled away and grabbed his phone again. “Should I continue with this game, or are we finally going to talk? And before you answer, you should know that I can do this all night. I can get you to the verge of orgasm over and over again, never letting you fall over. I’ll enjoy spending hours with my head between your legs, lapping up that sweet pussy and keeping you on the verge of climax. So you can either tell me the truth now or go through the torment—”
“He threatened to burn down your house,” she squeaked out.
Of all the things she might have said, Trees hadn’t seen that coming. “What?”
She sighed, more tears clinging to her lashes. “I did not want to tell you. You will only get angry and chase revenge. He is underhanded and brutal. He is ruthless and—”
“I can be all of those things, too, honey. Every fucking day until he’s dead. But you’re saying you left with him because he threatened my house?”
Laila nodded miserably. “I can no longer stand this torment you have heaped on me, and I cannot stop you from pursuing Victor. No matter what I say or do, I will lose you forever. So if you want the truth, fine. I was—”
“You won’t lose me.” He stood and approached her again, cupping her face and delving deep into her hazel eyes. “You can’t lose me.”
“He will kill you.”
“He can try, but I’ll see him coming. And I’ll keep us both safe. Keep talking.” When she looked reluctant to go on, he cupped her mound again, sliding his fingers teasingly across her clit. “If you do, I’ll reward you.”
Her head slid back. She moaned, a long, high-pitched wail of need. “I locked myself in this room when I heard him shout for you. He threatened to burn the house and kill you, so I—”
“Rushed out to stop him because you were afraid of being burned alive? This room is fireproof. You should have stayed hidden and safe.”
“And sacrificed you?” She shook her head feverishly. “No. Not when I could save you.”
“You came out of hiding to protect me?” Did she comprehend how insane that sounded? Trees was well over a foot taller than her. He outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. And he’d been trained by the best to be a lethal son of a bitch. But she’d put herself on the line to save him? “How did you think that was going to work?”
“I talked him out of revenge by focusing him on another target for his violent urges. I could not bear him plotting your death or destroying your home.”
“Fuck the house. I bought this place for the land and the privacy, not the structure. Did you really think you needed to protect it with your life?” And why would she?
She squirmed, gyrating against his now-still fingers. “I saw an opportunity to accomplish many goals at once.”
“Explain that.”
Laila hesitated. Apparently, he’d ventured on to something she didn’t want to admit. Trees wasn’t about to let her hold out. He dipped his head and tormented her clit with his tongue again until it was hard as a stone, until she bucked in silent pleading, until he wrung a loud wail of surrender from her.
“Laila? Explain.”
“Okay. I-I ache. I cannot…”
“Think? Yeah, you can.” He brushed his thumb over her again, giving her enough friction to tease but not enough to send her over. “Don’t filter. Use the first words that come to your head.”
She nodded, gasping. “My plan was meant to save you and your house while distracting Geraldo Montilla, who would then focus more on Victor and less on my family.”
“And put Ramos on Montilla’s radar?”