ChapterSixteen
Noah
I listenedto her rhythmic breathing as I sat on the couch by the window, watching her sleep. It was as hot as it could be this time in the morning, and her naked body lay draped over the silk sheets. Sleeping on her stomach, her arms tucked in beneath her pillow, I allowed my gaze to travel down the arch of her back and over the curve of her ass. Sienna was perfect. Flawless. No wonder Oakley couldn’t leave her alone, wanting to hump her leg like a fucking dog. And while I sat there studying every inch of her naked body, I thought about cutting his goddamn eyes out the next time I saw him. It gnawed at my spine, knowing that he had seen her like this—naked and fucking radiant.
See, this was exactly what I didn’t want, what I tried to stop from happening. Waking the possessive fucker in me once again, allowing him to come out and play only to have him refuse to go back to his cage where I had kept him locked away for years. I was so sure I’d be strong enough to never succumb to the wicked urges that stirred deep within me. But she made it so fucking hard. Every second I spent around her, I could feel the temptation ooze from her pores, reaching for me. It was like teasing a starving predator with the flesh of its prey, allowing him to smell the scent of blood and then expecting him not to lose his shit.
She surprised me last night; how she embraced her role and bathed in ecstasy as if it had been the high she had always craved. It was like this woman had been born to sin. By the sound of her cries and whimpers, I was convinced that she had never experienced true pleasure before. As if she had waited for this all her life.
I rubbed my fingers along my stubbled chin. She had fallen asleep the moment I was done tending to her; her body spent and thoroughly fucked. I had her bend over the sawhorse, spreading her legs wide as I cleaned between her legs. My cum dripped down her thighs, and I’d be a lying motherfucker if I said I didn’t love that—to see my jizz mark her. It’s been so fucking long since I felt that power, that possession of owning a woman’s body. And Sienna’s body was enough to drive any fucking man crazy.
Last night when I walked in here, wondering if she’d follow, a part of me hoped that if she did show up, I’d unleash my darkest self, and she’d hit the ground running—getting as far away from me as she possibly could. But once she stepped inside and our bodies collided, I knew there was no way in hell I’d let her leave without claiming her cunt. And the way she embraced it all, the way she submitted in such a fierce way, it was a huge contradiction and a mindfuck—but I loved it, and now I had a huge goddamn problem.
I wanted it again.I want her again.But I knew where this road was headed. I’d been down it before, and it didn’t end well. It destroyed lives and derailed my future in a way I could never have imagined.
I gently eased a damp towel between her legs, her back turned toward me. Her raven strands splayed across the royal blue silk pillow. The leather belt lashes marked the skin of her ass. Some were pink, some were red, and some dark crimson—almost purple as they drew blood to the surface.
I brushed my fingertip to the scarred flesh, and she flinched, pulling away from my touch.
I hated it, and even though I had found pleasure between her legs twenty minutes ago, I now felt like my gut had been filled with concrete and my chest tight with remorse.
“Why didn’t you tell me to stop?”
She breathed in deep, slipping a hand between her cheek and the pillow. “I did.”
“What? No, you didn’t.”
“I did, Noah. Multiple times.” She reached for the sheet at her knees without looking at me, pulling it up and over her hips. A subtle way of telling me to stop touching her.
I stood, tossing the towel on the chair in the corner. “You did not tell me to stop. If you did, I would have stopped.”
“You didn’t hear me.”
“If this is your idea of a joke, it’s not funny.”
Abruptly she turned on her side, cutting her icy glare at me. That’s when I realized that she had been crying, her eyes red with tears. “It’s not a fucking joke, Noah. I told you to stop. I fucking begged you to stop.”
I paced, my heart pounding in my throat as my mind went back, dissecting every second in the last two hours, running the memories through my head. But there was no way. She didn’t say anything. If she did, I’d remember.
I turned to face her. “I’ve always kept to your limits. I’ve never overstepped or forced you to do anything you didn’t want to do. And to say that I—”
She leaped out of bed, the sheet falling to the floor as she straightened, and I stopped fucking breathing when I saw the blue bruises around her waist, her abdomen covered in scratch marks.
Ice covered my skin. My spine chilled to the bone. “Did I…Jesus Christ,” I paced again, rubbing the back of my neck, “did I do that?”
Tears slipped down her cheeks, her dark brown eyes reflecting her sadness. Her pain. Her hopelessness. “The day you told me you wanted to try this,” she bit her lip, “this fucking twisted shit, I told you I wasn’t into it. But I was willing to try. I was willing to give you what you wanted because I fucking love you.”
“I know.”
“And you promised me that you would never lose control. And you would always stop whenever I told you to. You swore.”
“And I kept my fucking word. I’ve always stopped the moment you told me to.”
Her hand moved to her bruised hip, hovering a few inches from her marred skin. “Not tonight, you didn’t.”
“I didn’t…” I placed my hands at my sides, looking down. Memories trickled through the haze, and from a distance, I could hear her voice…louder…louder.
“Noah, you’re hurting me.”