My body hummed with possession. Every part of me was ravaged, disconnected, unable to concentrate on anything but the way he thrust and took.
I cried out, biting his shoulder as every cell tightened, quickened.
“Come. I need you to come,” Jethro panted in my ear.
I’d never been commanded to do something outside of my control. I never believed I could do something as miraculous as come with only a few words. But his cock stretched and filled. His lower belly rubbed and stroked my clit and every part of me combusted.
My body obeyed him utterly. I let go, spindling into the sharpest, quickest orgasm I’d ever had.
“Fuck, Nila.” Jethro pinned me to the mattress, taking me faster. His guttural groan wrapped around my body, replacing it with unlimited pleasure. “Goddammit, you feel good.” His face buried in my hair; his heart beat a war drum against mine.
I wanted to cradle him—give him safe harbour to come undone and find himself in this new world we’d conjured.
Thrust after thrust. We were stripped totally bare.
Jethro never stopped. His arms curled around the top of my head, keeping me in place. The ropes around my ankles jerked with every rock, bruising me.
I dissolved into his embrace. I was exhausted and spent. Aftershocks of my orgasm continued to squeeze my pussy.
Jethro suddenly reached toward his bedside and pulled a knife from the drawer. I tensed as he sliced the binds around my wrists and pulled my torso up with him. He sat on his knees, still inside me. Twisting around, he sawed the sash around my ankles, freeing me.
Throwing the blade to the carpet, he cushioned me in his lap. “Wrap your legs around me. I’ve got you.” His arms cradled my spine, creating a basket of muscle. I melted into him, bouncing with every thrust.
His large hand captured my nape, pressing me firmly, keeping my body pinned close and his cock deep inside.
With a savage rock, he groaned, “I’m going to ride you. And then I’m going to come.”
I nodded, every part of me drained. I’d never been so used, so abused, so sleepy.
His lips found mine, pouring energy down my throat as he drove deeper and deeper. Straddling his lap gave him complete control. His cock hit the top of me again and again.
His kiss turned demanding. His hands roved up my back and around my sides to palm my breasts. His dextrous fingers tweaked my nipples, tugging in time with his thrusts.
I moaned, biting his throat as I fell into him.
“You have the most incredible body.” His hands swooped to my back again, moulding me tight against him. “You’re so damn wet. I fit inside you. You take me completely.” Wonder dripped in his voice, sheer joy at finding me and me finding him.
“Hold onto me. I need to take you hard and fast.” He grabbed my hips, hoisting me higher on his lap. He looked at me.
I gasped at the molten love evident in his gaze. Tears prickled my eyes.
He loves me.
He’d said it. Whispered it. Cursed it. But now he’d shown me: he unequivocally loved me.
He smiled softly. “You sense what I’m feeling, don’t you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t sense, I know. It’s not a feeling but the truth in your eyes.”
His fingers dug into my hips, pressing me down, giving me nowhere to hide. “You should know you’re it for me, Nila. There’s no turning back from this. I’m on your side until the end.” He surged upright, filling me endlessly deep. His hand disappeared into my hair, wrapping the long black strands around his wrist, holding me firm. “I love you.”
The burn in my scalp scorched my body.
To be so adored but controlled.
To be so loved but dominated.
The combination was the best aphrodisiac in the world.
He slammed into me, bouncing me in his embrace. My arms wrapped around him as we glued ourselves together, holding on and riding each other fast.
My muscles burned, my legs wobbled, and my scalp yelped in pain, and through it all, another orgasm brewed.
Shit, I can’t come again.
I’d collapse.
I’d never come twice so quickly. I wouldn’t survive—I knew it as surely as I knew my heart was one beat away from exploding.
Jethro kept riding, kept fucking. And my body kept responding, gathering tighter and stronger, wanting to release and snap me into paradise.
“I’m yours, Nila. All fucking yours.” Jethro’s lips skated over my jaw.
I became nothing but lust and spirals and mindless passion. The ache in my womb increased, throbbing with the familiar agonising urge to let go.
His harsh breathing filled my ears.
My body detonated again.
I cried out as I clenched with delirium.
I didn’t think I had the power to combust so spectacularly. I feared I’d splinter into teeny, tiny pieces and flutter away in the breeze.
“Christ, yes. Take me.” He thrust hard and deep, following me. His teeth latched onto my shoulder as we rode waves of bliss. Spurt after spurt, he filled me, coming apart in my arms.
Minutes passed where all I could think about was liquid. Liquid and wetness and heat. We clung to each other until my muscles started to seize and cramp, and a chill turned my sweat into goosebumps.
I never wanted to let him go.
Jethro slowly pulled out, laying me gently on the bed. Our ragged breathing matched as he pulled me into him, spooning me, protecting me.
If I could move, I’d cuddle him back but I had nothing left. I was drained beyond all comprehension.
“Thank you.” Jethro kissed my hair. “Thank you for letting me in.” His arms squeezed tighter, giving me gratitude in both actions and words.
I yawned, snuggling into him.
“Was it hard?” he asked quietly. “Was it painful to look inside yourself?”
I shook my head, unable to keep my eyes from closing. “No. To be honest, it was scarily easy.”
“It’s not hard to let go when you trust the person you’re with.”
I nodded. “You made it right, Jethro. You made it perfect.”
A few minutes passed. Sleep settled heavier on the outskirts of my thoughts.
Jethro sighed. “I want to do more with you. Fall deeper into you. Would you let me do that?”
The moment hovered. I could pretend to be asleep. I didn’t have to answer. The thought of stripping myself even further scared but also excited.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, I would.” My voice was soft and full of love.
He hugged me hard. “I love you, Nila.” Pressing a kiss on my cheek, he said, “I’ve only just started. I have so many ways to show you the depth of my feelings.”
My eyes flared. Did he want more today? There was no way I had the stamina or strength. I was utterly spent.
“You can do whatever you want with me. But first, I have to sleep.” With his body heat and legs tangled in mine, I’d never felt so safe.
Jethro chuckled. “I want more—so much more. More than you can possibly imagine. But I’m patient. I’ve waited this long for you. I can wait another hour or two.” Kissing me again, he murmured, “Sleep, Ms. Weaver. Dream of me. And then I’ll steal you away.”
He gathered me closer.
Together, we drifted from this world into dreams.
LIFE WAS PERFECT.
The most perfect it’d ever been.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this happy or this uncaring about my fate.
Nila was mine. I’d found my one true place.
I should’ve known a man like me would never be worthy of such a gift. I should’ve known that death was around the corner. I should’ve seen the devil rubbing his hands together, waiting.
I didn’t deserve peace or togetherness or a future I wanted more than fucking anything.
There was nothing good left for me.
Only death.
No matter that I’d lived my entire life beneath death’s shadow, no matter that I’d expected it around every trial, and feared it every time I closed my eyes to sleep, I still wasn’t prepared for when it finally came for me.
It was quick.
It was painful.
It was over.
I’M SO LUCKY.
I looked over the balcony. Below me, bright lights and camera flashes immortalized my newest collection. The grey dress I’d made before paying the Third Debt caused a standing ovation among critics and fashionistas alike.
“You did so well, wife.”
I swayed into my husband’s arms. Jethro’s hair caught the lights, making him seem like some fantasy knight come to life. We’d eloped two weeks ago. We’d barely left the bedroom since.
My pussy clenched just thinking about what we would do when we returned home after the show.
Something cold and sticky splashed against my silver ball gown. Time turned to slow motion as I looked down in horror.
Blood.
Gallons upon gallons of blood.
It stained my bodice, train, hands…everything.
The audience below no longer watched the show but looked up at us. At me specifically. “What?” I screeched. “What did I ever do to you?”
Then, I heard the most dreadful sound in the world. The symphony of dying. The excruciating noise of ending life.
“Get up, you filthy fucking whore!”
My eyes wrenched open. My heart lurched into my mouth. Warmth and cocooned-safety was traded for biting fingers and hard floor as Cut wrenched me out of bed and threw me across the room.