Page 9

One of his hands slides from my hip down my thigh, then back up along the curve of my inner thigh. I feel his finger teasing at my entrance, just circling, not pushing in yet.

"Please," I hear myself beg, not even recognizing my own voice—raw and desperate.

I've faked pleasure countless times, manufactured moans and begging to hurry things along. But this—this mindless pleading—is embarrassingly real. I'm not performing now. I couldn't if I tried.

His finger slides inside me at the same moment his tongue flicks rapidly against my clit, and the dual sensations make my legs buckle. Only his arm around my waist keeps me upright as he adds a second finger, stretching me deliciously while his mouth continues its relentless assault.

The tension coils impossibly tighter, a spring wound to the breaking point. When he curls his fingers inside me, finding some spot I didn't even know existed, everything shatters. Wave after wave of pleasure crashes through me, stealing my breath and vision as my body convulses around his fingers.

I'm barely aware of the sounds I'm making—half-sobbing, half-moaning his name—as he works me through the climax, not stopping until I'm shaking and oversensitive, weakly pushing at his head.

Slowly, Vael rises to his feet, his movements fluid and predatory. His lips glisten with evidence of my pleasure, and the sight sends another aftershock through me. He doesn't wipe his mouth. Instead, he licks his lips slowly, savoring, his eyes never leaving mine.

"You're exquisite when you come apart," he says, voice rough with desire. "I want to see it again. And again."

I'm still trembling, my legs barely supporting me as I lean against the wall. The vulnerability I feel has nothing to do with my nakedness and everything to do with how thoroughly he's dismantled my carefully constructed walls.

And yet, I want more.

His eyes soak me in, his nostrils flaring, and I swear he fucking knows It.

"If I lay you out on that bed," he asks, one finger tracing the line of my collarbone, "will it be because of our arrangement? Or because you want me inside you?"

The question hangs between us, heavy with meaning. He's giving me another chance to be honest—with him and with myself.

I swallow hard, looking up at him. His massive frame towers over me, all hard muscle and sharp angles, yet I don't feel afraid. What I feel is a hunger that has nothing to do with survival and everything to do with wanting.

"I want you," I admit, my voice barely a whisper. "Gods help me, I want you inside me."

Something flares in his eyes—satisfaction, desire, something darker I can't name.

"Say it properly," he demands, his hand sliding up to cup my jaw. "I want to hear you beg for it. Really beg, not the practiced lines you've used on others."

Heat floods my face, both embarrassment and arousal tangling in my chest. I've never had to genuinely beg for anything sexual—it's always been an act, a performance to stroke a man's ego.

But the ache between my legs is real, the emptiness almost painful now that I know what his fingers feel like inside me. And something about the intensity in his gaze makes me reckless with honesty.

"Please," I breathe, my hands sliding up his still-clothed chest. "Please, Vael. I want you in me. I need it."

A growl rumbles through his chest, and he lifts me as if I weigh nothing, carrying me toward the bed. "Much better," he murmurs against my ear. "But I think you can do even better than that."

As he lays me out on the plush bedding, a thought crashes through the haze of my desire. "Wait," I say, pressing a hand against his chest. "I should tell you—I won't get pregnant. I've been taking a tonic for a while. It was the only way I could... protect myself."

Vael pauses, looking down at me with something unreadable in his expression. For a moment, I worry I've broken whatever spell has fallen over us by mentioning the reality of my captivity.

But then his lips curve into that not-quite-smile. "Trinity," he says, my name like a caress on his tongue, "I'm eager to have you either way." His hand slides up my bare thigh, leaving trails of fire in its wake. "Right now, all I care about is making you fall apart around me."

His eyes lock with mine as he shifts back from where he’s laid me, something predatory and possessive in his gaze that sends a fresh wave of heat through me.

I've been with many men, but never have I felt so completely seen —not just my body, but something deeper, as though he's looking straight through to the core of me.

"Don't move," Vael commands, his voice a low rumble that vibrates through my bones.

I nod mutely, watching as he steps back and begins to undress. Each movement is deliberate, unhurried. He doesn't perform or tease—this isn't about putting on a show. It's simply efficient, and somehow that's more arousing than any calculated striptease.

He pulls his shirt over his head, revealing the expanse of his ash-gray chest—broad and sculpted with muscle that ripples as he moves. Dark markings swirl across his skin, following the contours of his body in patterns that seem to shift in the dim light.

My mouth goes dry as he unfastens his pants, pushing them down powerful thighs. When he straightens, fully nude, I can't help the small gasp that escapes me.

He's magnificent—and intimidating. Every inch of him screams predator, from the sharp angles of his face to the powerful build of his body.

And between his legs... I swallow hard, a mixture of desire and trepidation coursing through me.

He's proportional to his massive frame, thick and hard, the head already glistening with evidence of his arousal.

"See something you like?" A smirk plays across his lips as he catches me staring.

"You're beautiful," I whisper, the honesty of the statement surprising even me. I've complimented men's bodies before, said whatever they wanted to hear, but this—this is real.

His smirk deepens as he approaches the bed, moving with lethal grace. "Beautiful? I've been called many things, little human, but never that."

The mattress dips under his weight as he crawls over me, caging me between powerful arms. His heat radiates against my skin, making me arch instinctively toward him.

"Hands above your head," he growls.

I comply instantly, raising my arms over my head. He captures both wrists in one large hand, pinning them to the mattress. The position leaves me completely exposed to him, vulnerable in a way that should frighten me—but instead sends another rush of wet heat between my thighs.

"Look at you," Vael murmurs, his free hand tracing a path from my throat down between my breasts, over my stomach. "So fucking perfect." His palm spans almost the entire width of my ribcage, a stark reminder of the difference in our sizes.

When his fingers dip between my legs again, finding me slick and ready, I can't help the moan that escapes me.

"Already so wet for me," he says, voice dropping to a growl. "Tell me what you want, Trinity."

"You," I gasp as his thumb circles my clit. "I want you inside me."

He positions himself at my entrance, the blunt head of him pressing against me but not pushing in. "Like this?" he teases, barely breaching me before withdrawing.

"Please," I whimper, trying to arch up against him.

His grip on my wrists tightens, not painful but unmistakably restraining. He leans down, his mouth hot against my ear. "I'm going to fuck you until you can't remember your own name," he whispers, the crude words sending a shiver down my spine. "Until the only thing you can say is mine."

With one powerful thrust, he pushes inside me, stretching me almost to the point of pain. I cry out, the sensation overwhelming—fullness and pressure and a pleasure so intense it borders on agony.

"Fuck," he grunts, holding still once he's fully seated. "So tight. So perfect."

I'm panting, adjusting to the intrusion, the stretch of him. When I try to move, seeking friction, his hand tightens on my wrists.

"Not yet," he growls. "I want you to feel every inch of me."

He withdraws slowly, the drag of him against my inner walls making me tremble, then pushes back in with measured control. The gentleness surprises me—I expected him to be rough, to take what he wanted without concern for my pleasure.

"More," I plead, wrapping my legs around his waist. "Harder."

A dark chuckle vibrates through his chest. "So demanding." But he increases his pace, driving into me with more force. Each thrust pushes me up the bed, would send me sliding away if not for his grip on my wrists anchoring me in place.

"Is this what you needed?" he growls, punctuating each word with a snap of his hips. "My cock filling you up? Stretching this sweet little cunt?"

The filthy words in that cultured voice make me clench around him, drawing a groan from deep in his chest.

"Yes," I gasp, meeting his thrusts as best I can in this position. "Gods, yes."

He shifts, angling his hips to hit a spot inside me that makes white-hot pleasure burst behind my eyes. "Right there," I cry out. "Please, don't stop."

"I can feel how close you are," he murmurs, his rhythm never faltering. "Squeezing me so tight. You're going to come on my cock, aren't you, Trinity?"

I nod frantically, beyond words as tension builds inside me, coiling tighter and tighter with each thrust.

"Let me hear you," he demands, releasing my wrists to grip my hips with both hands. "Say it."

My arms immediately wrap around his shoulders, nails digging into his back. "I'm going to come," I pant, the words broken between gasps. "You're going to make me come."

One of his hands slides between our bodies, finding my clit with unerring accuracy. His touch is firm, circling in time with his thrusts. "That's it," he growls. "Come for me. Now."

The command, combined with the dual stimulation, sends me hurtling over the edge. Pleasure crashes through me in waves, more intense than anything I've ever experienced. My body locks around him, inner muscles clenching rhythmically as I cry out his name.

"Fuck, Trinity," Vael groans, his thrusts becoming erratic. "You feel so good. I'm going to?—"

With a final, powerful thrust, he buries himself deep inside me, his body shuddering as he finds his own release. I feel the pulsing of him, the heat of his seed filling me as he collapses against me, careful even in this moment not to crush me with his weight.

And I try really hard not to, but I feel a little trickle of emotion spread through me before I crush in an iron fist. I can't get attached.

I won't .