Page 11

L eaves crunch beneath my feet as I hurry through the wooded landscaping of Alexander’s house. Fire erupts in my ankle with each step, but I force myself to keep moving.

Climbing down the side of his house wasn’t as hard as I’d thought it would be, but the last jump to the garden patio twisted my ankle. I’m sure it’s swelling, but I don’t have time to stop and look.

It’s cloudy tonight, so I have to rely on any lighting I can see from the street to lead the way. Except I can’t see the street yet.

The driveway was long, but not so long I shouldn’t be able to get to the street before Alexander comes looking for me. If I keep moving, the streetlamps should come into view soon.

“Megan!” Alexander’s roar shakes the ground.

No! I need more time.

I freeze, sure he’s spotted me, but when I glance over my shoulder, I don’t see him.

I quicken my pace, my gaze darting around for the best path out.

Gotta move faster, get farther away from the house.

Pain slices up my leg—this fucking limp isn’t helping.

Move, Megan, move!

I can’t be here. I can’t wait for him to decide what to do with me.

It’s bad enough having one mob boss on my ass about the money he says I owe him. I can’t have another mafia family putting me on their shit list.

“Megan!” Fuck. I limp faster, dragging my right foot more than using it.

I can’t see the fence line or any streetlamps. I must still be too far away from the main road. Where the hell does he live? We aren’t far enough away from the city to have this much landscape.

A gunshot rings out and I fall to the ground, pressing my cheek to the leaves and dirt. The lunatic is shooting at me!

“You have fifteen seconds to surrender yourself.” His voice carries his demand easily through the trees.

There is no way that’s happening. I remember his threat, and the darkness that swam in his eyes when he gave it. I’ll take my chances out here. The only thing for me to do is get out of this place.

I can’t go home, but that’s fine. Maybe I can stay with Bella for a few days. I haven’t spoken to her since she moved out of the city, but I’m sure she’ll let me crash on her couch.

Billy and his grandmother are another option, but Billy would cave in a heartbeat if Alexander came around with questions.

Another shot.

Fuck!

“Ten seconds!” he bellows. He’s no closer than before, I think.

He’s not coming after me; he’s fully expecting me to come to him.

Well, he can hold his breath waiting for that to happen. Pushing myself to get moving, I hurry as best I can, ignoring the white-hot pain shooting up my leg every time I step on my right foot.

Something stubs my toe, and I fly forward face-first into the dead leaves and dirt on the ground. A root tripped me. At least I didn’t twist my good ankle.

“Five seconds!” His bellow blows through the trees. More leaves fall in the darkness and land on my head.

Looking around, I try to find a place to hide. There’s nothing but trees as far as I can see. Maybe I’ve gone the wrong way.

A fallen tree trunk isn’t far away, so I crawl to it as twigs bite my knees. Not changing out of this damn dress before embarking on my escape is yet another bad decision among a mountain of other bad decisions I’ve made recently.

Climbing over the thick trunk, I flatten myself against the ground. I take long, deep breaths trying to get my heart to slow. It’s beating so hard; I’m sure Alexander will hear it in the silence of the night.

Counting in my head, I hit the number five, then ten, then thirty. Where is he?

Focusing all my energy on listening, I try to place him, but there’s not a sound. No leaves crunching, no twigs breaking, nothing.

Could he have given up and gone back inside?

Silently, I count the seconds. But the sound of my own panic bubbling in my ears makes me lose my number and I have to start over again. Only when I’m confident several minutes have passed without any sound from him do I chance taking a peek.

The bark of the fallen tree is rough against my palms as I use it to push up just enough to see over it.

Nothing.

He probably realized I’m more trouble than I’m worth, a note I’ve been given more than a few times in my life, and went back inside. More than likely, he’ll assume I’m going home and he’ll just catch up to me at my apartment.

Sighing with relief, I sink back down behind the trunk and roll over to my back.

A set of dark eyes shimmer with the little light from the moon peeking through the tree branches. Before I can scream, he slaps a hand over my mouth, crouching in front of me.

“Naughty, naughty girl.” He scoots closer. “I told you to come back, but you wanted to run.” His breath is hot against my cheek.

Beneath his hand I try to shake my head.

“No?” he huffs. “But you did run, Megan. You wanted me to chase you, so I did. And now you’ve been caught.”

Pushing against the ground, I try to shove away from him, but my hand slips with the leaves and I nearly hit my head on the trunk of the tree. He catches me, cradling my head in his hand.

“Hmm, there are so many ways I’m going to punish you.” Coming even closer, he inhales, probably sensing my fear. A man like him probably gets off on other people’s terror.

His lips spread wide in an arrogant grin.

“I’m going to pull my hand away, and all you’re allowed to say is ‘Yes, sir’ or ‘No, sir.’” He pauses, waiting for me to respond, I guess, so I nod beneath his hand.

Gingerly, he peels his hand away and I lick my lips, tasting him. Again, I try to scramble back from him, but the tree behind me is blocking me. There’s nowhere else to go, and he’s still glaring at me.

“Now that I’ve caught you, what to do with you?” He tilts his head a little. It’s not a question; he’s just trying to freak me out.

It’s working.

Trailing his finger down the side of my cheek, he pushes away my hair, tucking it behind my ear.

“You have a cut on your cheek.” He sounds angry about it.

Just wait until he sees my ankle, and what a mess my knees probably are from the twigs and my fall.

“Yes, sir,” I say quietly when the time ticks by, and he still hasn’t said anything else.

He glances down the length of my torso. There’s a tear in the dress where I got caught up in the bushes after landing on the patio. He pokes at it, slipping his finger through it and skimming his fingertip along my stomach.

“You shouldn’t have ran.”

“I’ll never stop trying to get away from you.” I push his hand away from me, tearing the dress a little more as his finger gets caught in the hole. “I won’t just let you keep me here.”

His eyes narrow in on me.

“I will catch you. And every time I do, the punishment will be worse.” He moves closer, moving one knee between my legs.

“Just let me go,” I whisper as he leans in, his forehead touching mine.

“I can’t.” He inhales. “I won’t.”

His mouth crashes over mine, claiming me in a possessive kiss that leaves no question as to his intentions. Panic rises in my chest, and I try to shove him away. Maybe I can still get free of this place.

Of him.

But it’s like trying to move Mt. Everest. In response, he deepens the kiss, wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and squeezing firmly.

I’m not going anywhere without his permission; he’s getting that point across loud and clear.

He leaves me breathless, swimming in a pool of arousal and all he did was kiss me. It’s obviously been way too long since I’ve had a man in my bed if just a kiss, no matter how deep, possessive, and downright sexy can make me a gooey mess.

His fingers play with the drawstring of the dress. Too easily, he tugs on the string, and it unties, opening the neckline enough for the top of my breasts to be exposed. I try to grab it, to keep it shut, but he raises his eyebrow while brushing away my hand, and it’s as if I have no power over my own damn body.

“Someone will see.” Reason. Surely, he’ll see reason. We’re outside!

“If you were worried about that, you should have stayed in the house.” His voice darkens. “Where I told you to stay.” He lowers his mouth, kissing my neck, nipping at my earlobe.

With his other hand, he trails up my leg, stopping at my knee.

A low growl echoes in my ear.

“You’ve scratched your legs to hell,” he accuses, moving his touch farther up to my thighs. “You’re hot and wet,” he grumbles as he palms my sex.

Before I can defend myself, as if there is a defense for how easily my body reacts to him, he grabs hold of the elastic of my panties and yanks. The material tears easily and simply falls away to the forest floor.

“Alexander.” I try to scoot away, but he’s too strong, too big, and he’s back to kissing me. His hands sink into my hair, and I’m lost to his strength.

“You shouldn’t have run.” He breaks away, grabbing my arms and hoisting me from the pile of leaves I’m lying in and flips me face down over the fallen tree.

Dammit.

“What? No!” I hear the belt buckle jingling. “Please! No!”

“You could have killed yourself jumping from that height.” He grabs my hips, easily tossing the skirt of the dress up over my ass. My bare ass.

I try to scramble, but my left foot slips in the leaves, and my right foot hurts too much to be of any use now that I’ve been off it for a few minutes.

The leather strap drops in front of my eyes and wraps around my neck. He slides the other end through the buckle and pulls tight, creating a collar with leash around my throat. I pull at the leather, but he’s tugging it tight from behind me.

Palming my bare ass, he squeezes.

“You’re going to learn. If you need to learn the hard way, that’s on you.” In the next second, his hand connects, and I’m pushed forward on the log. He brings it down a second time and then stills.

Sensing a moment of hesitation, I try to lurch over the log, but he still has my neck in his belt, and I can’t get anywhere.

He runs his hand over my ass cheek, then lower, and lower still, until his fingers slide easily through my slick sex.

I groan.

Not only because it feels so damn good to have him touch me, but because he can see how good it feels.

The arrogant man doesn’t need more coaxing to strengthen his ego.

One thick finger penetrates me, then a second.

“Alexander. Please.” I press my palms into the dirt and leaves to keep from rolling off the log and falling face-first onto the ground.

“Please, what? Please make you feel good? Or please punish you for being such a naughty girl?” His question gets lost in the pleasure of his fingers stroking me, slowly pumping in and out of my pussy.

He curls his fingers inside me, and it’s too much to ignore.

“Please… this is wrong.”

He leans over me, the warmth and strength of his body pressing me into the rough bark of the log. “Everything about me is wrong.”

Not exactly comforting words.

“But this.” He sweeps his free hand around my waist, easily finding my sensitive, swollen clit. “This will never be wrong.”

I clench my teeth, but it does nothing to hold back the pleasure-filled moan that erupts when he pinches my clit.

The belt goes slack around my throat, but the weight of it is enough to remind me of its presence.

“Fuck, your pussy is so tight, so hot, so wet.” His fingers are gone in the next second and I whine.

Whine!

His clothing shifts and the thick head of his cock presses against my entrance.

I freeze.

“Reach behind and spread your ass cheeks wide,” he directs me, and I’m sure the entire forest will start on fire from the flames in my cheeks.

I can’t do what he says. I can’t.

“The longer you take to obey, the longer I keep your release from you,” he promises.

“I… please don’t make me.” I shake my head, but he probably can’t see me with the darkness as I dangle over the other side of the log.

“I’m not making you. It’s a choice. Obey or not. The consequences of that are up to you.” He pushes the tip of his cock against my pussy, just barely breaking through the entrance.

The belt tightens around my throat again, reminding me I’m not going anywhere. There is no getting away from Alexander until he lets me go.

Mentally kicking myself, I reach back and do as he orders. I pull my ass cheeks apart.

“Good girl,” he coos, and my pussy gets even wetter.

Betrayal. Every bit of my body betrays me.

“Hold this position until I say otherwise,” he instructs, while dropping the end of the makeshift leash and grabbing my hips.

I can barely register his words before he plows into me. The stretch is too much, and I cry out.

“Careful,” he grounds out as though his teeth are clenched. “Hold still. It will ease up in a second.”

I drop my head. I’m full, so damn full. His fingers work over my clit again, rubbing in a soft circle, morphing the discomfort into desire.

“Ah, there you are.” He continues petting my clit while dragging his cock back, almost all the way out of my pussy. I nearly lose my grip on my cheeks when he plows back in.

“So good.” He pinches my clit, then quickly switches to a soft touch, rubbing two fingers in methodically slow circles, driving me to the edge as his cock thrusts into me again and again.

Darkness fogs the edge of my vision as his fingers continue to dance the most erotic dance and he thrusts upward, hitting a new spot I’ve never felt before.

I jolt and cry out.

Fuck, I’ve never felt that. It was so, so, so… he does it again and I scream.

“That’s a good girl,” he says again. “Don’t let go of your cheeks. Just feel… fuck, you’re so tight, so hot… fuck.” He thrusts harder and harder, and I do my best to lift up to meet him each time.

I barely notice the log beneath me or the humiliation of holding my ass cheeks spread open for him anymore. It’s only pleasure.

Unmeasurable amounts of pleasure warm my skin, my blood. Every part of me is lost to the sensations he’s drowning me in.

I should be fighting him off. I wanted to, but his fingers, his kiss, his touch, it’s like the moment he touches me, my body becomes his to command, and I lose all power over it.

“Should I let you come? After you’ve been such a bad girl? Should I?” He thrusts harder.

I don’t want to answer. I can’t give in. Even if I’ve already given over completely, I have to keep this part to myself.

But he won’t be denied.

“Or should I keep you dangling on the edge?” His hands on my hips tighten, the tips of his fingers digging into my flesh. It only makes everything better, the bite of pain he gives me. “I’ll bring you right to the point of release and deny you over and over and over.”

The threat itself brings me closer to oblivion. My core tightens. I’m a pistol ready to fire.

“I can keep that up for hours. Your pussy will be so sore, so empty, you’ll beg me to stop, to give you what you want.” He puts more pressure on my clit. “But I won’t. So, choose. Obey me in this or don’t.”

Everything clenches. I’m so close to losing my mind, I can barely get the words out that he wants to hear.

“Yes. Please! Please let me come.” I throw my head back with a cry as his fingers push me right to the edge. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, please let me.”

“Sorry for what?” He’s toying with me, using my own body against me. Knowing that I’d probably say anything right now to get what he is withholding.

“I’m sorry for trying to run.”

“For being a…” His words trail off, leaving me to finish the sentence.

“I’m sorry for being a bad girl.” My face heats. Hell, my entire body warms as the words fly from my mouth. But I don’t care. I just need him, more of him, all of him. I need him to pull the trigger and let me explode.

He leans over me, filling me further, in a new angle that hits perfectly.

“Good girl. Come for me, Megan. Show me what a good girl you are.” His fingernails dig into my hips.

I lift up, arching my back and giving him more of my body as he pummels into me. And as though my body were waiting for his command, I come completely unglued beneath his touch.

My throat stretches around my scream as my orgasm tears through me.

“Such a good girl!” He plows harder, faster, twisting his hips and driving into me, driving me straight through my orgasm.

The intensity knocks the breath from my lungs.

I’ve never been so completely depleted before. My hands fall away to my sides.

“Fuck. Fuck,” he groans, twisting his hips and thrusting harder and harder.

I’m pushed farther over the log, and I stop myself from falling with my hands. Twigs bite into my palms.

Another thrust and another, and then he stills, letting a roar of pleasure loose into the woods.

Animals will be too scared to come out for days after the amount of noise we’ve made here tonight.

”Megan.” His raw voice breaks through the silence.

“Yeah?” I push up from the log as he leans back, sliding his cock out of me and letting his hot cum slip out of me and down my thigh.

“You let go.”