“Hey there, sweetheart,” he answered, a ginger eyebrow curling up as Cormac slid in behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist and tucking me against him. My expression was no doubt identical with surprise. Rian lay beside Liam, their limbs tangled together much the same as Cormac and I. Liam held the phone above their faces.
“Hey,” I answered, smiling.
“Is that a smile, lass?” Liam asked, his own grin spreading over his face. “About fuckin’ time.”
“Hey there, princess,” Rian said, taking the phone. “How’re you doing?”
“She’s tired,” Cormac said. “And I haven’t finished taking care of her yet.”
Liam’s chuckle shot straight to my core. “Get to it then, but keep the phone on.”
My eyes widened. Cormac tugged on my shoulder until I was lying on my back. He propped his head on his hand, leaning over me and dancing his fingers over my collarbone. “What’s your safe word, Ginevra?”
“Pineapple,” I whispered as my heart raced beneath his hand.
“That’s my girl.” His voice was raspy as he traced my shoulders, my neck, the contours of my face, with his fingers, as if he were memorizing every inch of me.
Cormac pulled down the blankets, revealing my silk pajamas. He slid his hands down my sides and across my stomach, reverently sliding his fingers over the still healing cuts my ordeal had left. He bent his head to lay featherlight kisses on my stomach, brushing his lips above my skin as he hiked my camisole up higher and higher.
He traced a path up the center of my chest, kissing from my belly to my throat as he pushed the fabric out of his way. When he pushed it up past my face, he trapped my hands together with the silky fabric, looking down at me with satisfaction. “Fucking gorgeous, Ginevra.”
No.Terror jerked through me as I realized I couldn’t free my hands. I was trapped. My vision tunneled as memories of the warehouse flashed before my eyes.Shit.I yanked on my hands, trying to loosen them from their silk binding. My heart raced, pounding out of my chest. “Fucking pineapple, Cormac! Please!” I cried out as I struggled.
He grabbed my wrists and slipped the fabric up and off, freeing my hands. “Hey, hey, hey, of course. You’re free, Ginevra. You’re home and you’re free, and nobody’s going to hurt you. Shit, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I cried and shuddered in his arms. “I’m a shit submissive. I’m so sorry.”
“Oh no, love, there’s nothing to be sorry for. You couldn’t have known, and I should have thought to check before getting started.”
He held me as I shivered, pressing my body as close to his as I could, seeking comfort in the heat of his skin and the closeness of his heartbeat. After several long minutes, he pulled back an inch. “All right, my little koala bear. I don’t want you to do anything but tell me what you do and don’t want. Can you do that?”
“Give it a rest, Cormac,” Rian rasped through the screen. “She’s been through a lot today.”
Cormac ignored Rian, gazing down into my eyes. “What do you want to do, darling?”
I took one last shuddering breath, then surged up to meet his lips with my own. “I want to try again. Please.”
“Take off your clothes, Ginevra,” he ordered, his voice calm and quiet. I wriggled out of my shorts and panties, leaving me bare before him on the bed. I reached up my hand to stroke down his chest. Cormac shook his head. “Keep your hands to yourself, love.”
“I thought this was about what I wanted,” I sassed back.
“It’s about what you need, darling. Can you trust me?”
I nodded.
“Good girl.” He lay on his side, facing the phone, stroking his long fingers down my chest to my belly and back up again. When he leaned down to kiss my collarbone, I gasped, then pressed my lips together, trying to hold in the sound.
Cormac moved back up to my face to brush his lips against mine. “Don’t, Ginevra. Let them hear how much you love this.”
He kissed down my jawbone and my throat, taking a moment to suck on the sensitive spot where my neck met my shoulders. This time, I didn’t hold back. I whimpered as electricity sparked in every place he touched.
“That’s it love, let me know what you like,” he murmured as he traced lazy circles around my breasts, moving closer and closer to my nipples, until the tight peaks were hard and aching for his touch.
“Please,” I whispered.
“Do you want my mouth on you, darling Ginevra?”
“Yes, please,” I pleaded. He palmed one breast and brought his lips down to close over the other. I moaned as he sucked my nipple into his mouth, hollowing out his cheeks as he drew it up, then releasing it with a pop. His fingers closed over my other nipple, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger.