Page 28 of Haunted (Blackwood Brothers #1)
The red silk clings to her skin, translucent now from the water, outlining every curve as she tests the restraints. The chains hold firm, anchored to mechanisms thirty feet below. She could struggle for hours without loosening a single link.
“Xavier!” Her voice carries across the chamber. “Let me go!”
I watch her strain, muscles flexing as she tries to free herself. The system adjusts automatically, maintaining enough tension to keep her spread wide without causing injury.
Her breathing quickens as she realizes the hopelessness of her situation. The chains extend from anchor points designed to bear ten times her weight. She might as well be trying to break free from bedrock.
I place the tablet to the side and remove my jacket. The leather slides from my shoulders onto the floor.
Behind the one-way glass, I remain invisible to her frantic searching. She twists her head left and right, trying to locate the source of her captivity while the chains keep her in position.
My boots hit the floor with twin thuds that echo through the room. Then, the rest of my clothes and mask, leaving me completely naked.
The service entrance on the opposite side of the chamber opens silently, concealed behind decorative stonework that appears to be part of the wall. I slip into the warm water without a splash, submerging myself completely before surfacing behind her suspended form.
Her breathing fills the chamber, rapid and desperate, as she continues testing the titanium restraints that hold her suspended like an offering in the water.
She hasn’t noticed me yet.
I glide closer, my movements creating no disturbance in the heated pool.
My hands emerge from the depths and close around her hips with firm possession.
“NO!” The scream tears from her throat, echoing off the chamber walls as I press my hard length against the curve of her ass. The silk provides no barrier, it’s simply a whisper of wet fabric between us that’s bunched up below her ass.
Her body jerks against the restraints, sending ripples across the water’s surface. The chains hold her exactly where I want her—unable to escape, unable to turn around, unable to do anything but feel my erection grinding against her.
“Shh,” I murmur against the shell of her ear. “You signed the contract, Mira. You agreed to this. ”
“I didn’t—I never—” Her words fracture as tremors rack through her suspended form.
“You knew exactly what you were getting into.” My lips brush her neck, tasting the salt of her exertion mixed with the pool’s mineral oils. “A brilliant journalist like you? You researched us thoroughly before walking into Purgatory.”
My grip on her hips tightens, pulling her back against me with deliberate pressure. The silk slides against my skin, slick and heated from the water.
“You wanted to uncover our secrets,” I continue. “Well, here they are. Every dark truth you’ve been hunting lives in this maze, in these chambers, in what I’m going to do to you.”
Her trembling increases, sending small waves through the water around us. I can feel the fear radiating from her body, but underneath it, want is there. A craving that makes my cock throb harder against her ass.
“Tell me, angel,” I whisper, my voice dropping to pure menace. “How does it feel to finally have the whole story?”
Her resistance crumbles like sand through my fingers.
The trembling that racks her suspended form transforms into surrender disguised as defeat, desire masquerading as desperation. Her back curves against my chest, pressing herself into me despite the titanium chains that hold her captive.
“Xavier,” she whispers, my name falling from her lips like a prayer and a curse combined .
I feel the exact moment her body betrays her mind. The tension in her muscles shifts, her hips tilting back to meet me instead of fighting to escape. The red silk has become nothing more than a suggestion between us, soaked through.
My cock slides between her spread thighs with silken ease, the heated water making everything impossibly smooth. She gasps at the contact, her head falling back against my shoulder as I position myself against her entrance through the flimsy barrier of wet silk.
"Embrace it," I encourage. "Stop fighting what you want."
Her moan echoes through the chamber, soft and broken and perfect. The sound resonates off the ceramic tiles, filling the space with her surrender. I can feel her pulse racing where my lips rest against her throat.
The chains keep her exactly where I need her, spread wide and helpless, while I take my time exploring. My hands roam her body, mapping every curve through the clinging silk.
“You feel that?” I press harder against her, letting her feel every inch of my length sliding between her thighs. “That’s what happens when you challenge me. When you think you can outsmart me.”
She whimpers, her hips moving instinctively. The water ripples around us with every movement, the colored lights beneath the surface casting shifting patterns across her skin.
“Please,” she breathes, though I’m not certain what she’s begging for—release or more .
“Please, what, angel?” I bite down gently on her earlobe, savoring the sharp intake of breath it draws from her. “Tell me what you want.”
Her answer comes as a broken moan that sends heat racing through my veins.
I release her hips and swim around to face her, the warm water parting like silk around my body. The chains hold her suspended perfectly, arms spread wide, legs parted, that red silk clinging to every curve.
My fingers sink into her dark hair, collecting a fistful at the base of her skull. Her eyes widen as I yank her head back, exposing the elegant line of her throat above the water’s surface.
“Look at me,” I command, my voice echoing off the chamber walls.
Her hazel eyes meet mine, pupils blown wide with a cocktail of fear and attraction—want she's fighting desperately to deny. The colored lights beneath the water dance across her face, blues and greens swirling in patterns that make her look ethereal and otherworldly.
Beautiful and completely at my mercy.
I crush my mouth to hers without warning, kissing her lips with brutal possession. It’s not gentle, nor tender—pure dominance made manifest. My tongue invades her mouth, tasting the salt of her tears.
She tries to turn away, to break the connection, but my grip on her hair keeps her exactly where I want her. The chains do the rest, holding her body open and available while I plunder her mouth like a conquering army.
When she moans against my lips—a sound of defeat and desire combined—satisfaction floods through me like molten metal. This brilliant, stubborn woman who thought she could expose my secrets is melting in my arms, surrendering to the very darkness she came here to destroy.
I pull back enough to see her face, and watch the way her chest rises and falls with rapid breaths that send small ripples across the water’s surface.
The red wrap has shifted, revealing more of her body to my hungry gaze.
I use my smart watch to unfasten the restrains around her ankles, before returning my eyes to hers.
“Now,” I murmur against her swollen lips, my hand sliding down to position myself at her entrance. “Now you learn what it really means to belong to a Blackwood.”
This is the moment I take what’s mine. The moment I fuck the woman who thought she could unravel my empire.
Every move she’s made since walking into Purgatory has led to this—suspended in my pool, spread wide by my chains, about to be filled by my cock while her screams of ecstasy echo through the chamber I designed.