Page 37 of Love’s a Witch (The Scottish Charms #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Sloane

As the words left my mouth, I could already feel it, a loosening inside of me, like a knot untying. How nice would it be to hand the control over to someone else, if even for just a moment? I felt safe here.

Knox had been there for me, repeatedly, every time my magick had gone astray.

But it was more than that.

He was more than that.

Knox wasn’t just a fixer; he was steady.

He showed up for people, for this town, and even for a family that had left him behind.

We were not so very different, him and I, even though I was certain the bed he was about to lay me down on was covered in sheets of silk.

His eyes had darkened, something unfathomable and yearning swimming in their depths, and need rose inside me, demanding an escape.

I wanted to feast, but when I reached for his neck, wanting to pull his mouth to mine, he angled his head back.

“Nuh-uh, Sloane. I’m the one in charge now.”

“But,” I said, confused. Intrigued. I was used to taking the lead in the bedroom, having my needs met exactly as I wanted, leaving a lover sleeping and sated in the bed as I slipped out and moved to the next town. Not that I took lovers all that often, but when I did, I made it count.

“Let it happen.” Knox swallowed my next protest with a kiss, hitching me up against him, rubbing my body against his as he dropped me lightly onto the bed.

I looked up at him, just simply admiring the view, as he stripped off his shirt.

He’d changed into gray sweatpants at some point, slung low at the hips, and already the material was tented from where he wanted me.

It was staggering, really, the number of muscles he had rippling across his abdomen, and his thick arms bunched as he reached up and ripped off a silken cord attached to the curtains around the bed.

“Knox!” I gasped. “Nooo, I can’t get in trouble for ruining another pair of curtains.”

“Don’t worry.” Knox loomed over me, the golden cord dangling lightly in hands. “Oswald already beat you to these.”

“What are you planning to do with…” I trailed off as Knox bent over and brushed the softest of kisses across my lips as he angled one of my arms over my head, and then the other. My hands brushed the cool wood of one of the posts on the four-poster bed, and I shivered as I realized his intentions.

“I get the sense that you won’t actually let me take charge unless I stop you from doing so.

” Knox knelt, one knee pressed at the apex of my thighs, and I moaned as he pushed gently up, rubbing his thigh against where I wanted him most. I rolled my hips, my body arching, craving his touch.

“But I’m going to need your permission first, Sloane. ”

“You want to tie my hands up?” I gasped as I rocked against him, surprised at the need that had already built inside me.

What was even more surprising was how unopposed I was to having him tie me up.

Everyday Sloane would have balked at such a suggestion, but there was something about him that made me willing to try this.

In fact, I was even becoming quite excited at just the thought of it.

“Aye, lass.” His timbre was low, a growl at my throat, and I couldn’t tell who was more surprised when a nervous giggle escaped from my lips.

“Um, yes, I think that would be nice,” I said, still rocking against his leg.

“Your safe word is ‘silk.’?”

“Bloody hell.” I gaped up at him. “Do I need a safe word? What do you plan to do to me?” Half-intrigued, half-terrified, I watched as he raised the cord over my head.

“I want you to feel safe, Sloane. That means you need an out.”

“Right. Silk.” Immediately, Knox stopped all movement and backed off, and I whimpered as his thigh left where I burned for him.

“No?” I asked stupidly as a soft grin crossed his face.

“If you say it, I stop,” Knox explained gently, firelight flickering across the hollows of his cheekbones.

“Oh. Right. Right. Um, you may proceed.” My throat went dry, and my nerves kicked up as he wound the silken cord around my wrists, pulling it tight enough that even when I tugged, I couldn’t easily slip my hands out.

I was well and truly tied up, and a shiver of panic slipped up my back, making me a touch uncertain of what I’d just agreed to.

I swallowed again as Knox leaned back and traced a finger sensually down my cleavage.

My clothes vanished, and I cried out.

“Knox!” Pulling at the cord, I writhed as I realized I had nothing to cover myself, and that I was just laid bare for this man, feeling exposed and uncertain. Embarrassment made my skin flush.

“Shhh,” Knox said, trailing his hands down my sides. His touch was warm, his caress insistent, and some of the nerves lessened as he devoured me with his eyes. “Stunning, sexy Sloane. I’ve dreamt of you.”

“You have?” I blinked up at him, derailed from my embarrassment, as he stood and walked to the table to get my glass of wine. Returning, he held it to my lips, and I gulped, grateful for the luscious wine to wet my throat.

“Och, about every night since you’ve been home. I’ve ached for you, Sloane. Touched myself over and over, craving this very moment. And now? It’s even better than my dream. Just look at you. Every man’s fantasy, laid out for my pleasure.”

“I don’t know about that,” I began, but Knox stopped my words with a kiss, his lips wet with wine.

“Maybe not every man’s, but mine. The only man who shall be fantasizing after you. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, Sloane, beautiful both inside and out, and I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“Oh.” I wish I could have come up with something more eloquent, but all conscious thought left the building when he dipped a finger in the glass of wine and dripped some of the liquid onto my nipple.

The cool liquid hit my burning skin, and I gasped as his mouth followed, hot and moist against my breast, his tongue swirling the peak as I arched into his mouth.

Somehow, the man managed to drive me crazy, and I bucked under him, while he held the wineglass steady and away from where he bent to my breasts, his dark hair gleaming in the firelight.

I wanted to run my hand through his hair, to keep him there, pressed against me, pleasure rocketing through me.

But the fact that I could do nothing made it that much worse.

And somehow so, so, so much better.

Pleasure spiraled through me, like one of those whizzy firecrackers that burst out and buzzed around in circles, and I exploded under his touch, sobbing as he sucked my nipples, scraping his teeth lightly over me as I rode his thigh into oblivion.

When I shuddered to a stop, gasping for air, Knox knelt above me, a cheeky grin on his face.

I gasped at the hundreds of silky pink plumeria flower petals on the bed.

“Did you do that?”

“No, darling. Remember, your magick tends to go a bit haywire when you’re… stimulated.” His hands traced languorously up and down my thighs.

“Whoops,” I said, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad about it. The flowers added an exotic flair to this moment, spicing the air with their sweet scent.

“And we’ve only just begun, witchling. When was the last time you took pleasure for yourself?”

It had been ages, really, since I’d done anything. Self-care, in any form, had fallen to the back burner.

“Um.” I couldn’t really answer that, not when he dribbled some wine on my stomach.

Putting the glass aside, I watched as he casually stripped, and almost swallowed my tongue at the sight of him.

Long, thick, and supremely well equipped, as I’d assumed the first night I fell on him.

But seeing him now, at full length and ready for ravaging, so to speak, my insides went liquid.

I wanted him inside me, all over me, and I mewled in distress as he prowled around the bed.

“Soon, love, soon.” I watched as he protected himself with a condom—modern conveniences for modern witches, after all—and then dropped between my legs.

His lips found the wine on my abdomen, and he kissed his way gently down, ignoring where I wanted him most. I bucked, and he placed one strong hand on my stomach, holding me down as he sunk his teeth into the soft flesh of my thigh.

“Ouch,” I hissed.

“Shhh,” Knox said, licking across my abused flesh. He lifted that gorgeous face of his to mine. I had to take a moment, just to revel in the view of this insanely handsome man kneeling between my legs, a sexy grin on his face. “Do you not like when I bite you, Sloane?”

“No, I do.” In fact, I’d liked it more than I’d realized, and when he bit again, likely bruising my skin a bit, the soft tremors of another orgasm rose inside me.

“ Mine ,” Knox said softly, biting again. “I want to mark you as mine, Sloane, in any way that you’ll let me.”

The comment was so basely male, so extremely egotistical, that I wanted to rear up and smack that cheeky grin off his face.

And at the same time, it was so intensely hot that I collapsed back against the cushions as a sharp wave of lust spiked through me.

Damn it, I didn’t want it to excite me so much.

But having someone claim me as their own?

Nobody had ever said those words to me before.

And now, here was this gorgeous man, chanting them against my thighs, burrowing his head between my legs until his tongue found me in one glorious slide of heat.

My back bowed, and I whimpered as his mouth assaulted me, the slick, warm deliciousness of his tongue on me dragging me sharply to the edge once more.

“Stop, stop, stop,” I breathed until finally he pulled back.

“That’s the not the safe word, Sloane,” Knox said idly, and slipped a finger inside me as I gaped down at him. Trying to stay focused, I panted as he toyed with me, sliding another finger inside, widening me, as he found the sweetest bit of delight inside me. “What were you wanting to say?”

I was pretty sure my eyes had rolled back in my head at this point, and I was actively riding his hand as he loomed over me, patiently waiting for me to speak.

“I want you,” I finally gasped out, trying desperately not to orgasm yet. “Inside me. I want you, Knox.”

“Och, that’s a good lass. Those are the words I’ve been waiting to hear.

” Knox pulled his hand from me, and shifted, positioning himself against me.

His hand was slick at my side, and when he lowered his lips to mine, I could taste myself in his kiss.

It was heady, erotic, and deeply intimate, and I moaned against his mouth, pulling against the ties that bound me back.

Knox rubbed against me, toying, just the tip, as I kissed him, desperate for more.

“Say it again, Sloane.”

“Bloody hell, Knox.”

“Say it.”

Annoyed, beyond aroused, and desperately aching for him, I glared up at him.

“I want you inside me.”

“Not that.” Knox laughed as I fumed, letting out the sound a kettle makes.

“What exactly do you want me to say?” I ground out, shifting my hips, trying to get him to slide inside me, but still he teased me, sliding himself over me, but never in me. My need was an overfilled balloon, ready to pop, and I wanted to scream.

“That you’re mine, Sloane. Tell me you’re mine. Not just now, not just in this moment. But for real.”

“I… I…” I blinked up at him, and for a moment, I saw the vulnerability there.

A yearning.

That matched my own.

We both wanted to belong somewhere, didn’t we? I could understand this emotion, even if it scared the ever-loving hell out of me, and I could only do the one thing that made the most sense at the moment.

Be one hundred percent honest.

“I’m yours.” I whispered it, unsure if I’d be able to say it comfortably to his face in the light of the morning, but here, as the storm raged outside and the flames flickered in the grate, here I could show him the shadows of my heart.

“There you are,” Knox said. His lips claimed mine in a searing kiss, and he entered me in one long stroke, filling me so completely that I shattered against him, my body convulsing around his hardness, loving the feeling of being completely covered and filled by him.

He pumped into me, my hips rolling, matching him thrust for thrust, as my pleasure built once more.

Not being able to touch him was the single most infuriating and erotic experience in my life. There was nothing I could do but give over to him as he pounded against me, hard against soft, the slick rhythm throwing me over the edge once more, and I broke around him as he bent his forehead to mine.

“Bloody hell, Sloane. You’ve ruined me.” Knox caught my lips in a searing kiss, his words imprinting on my heart, and then he shuddered against me as he found his own release.

He rested beside me, just for a moment, his breath hot at my throat.

“Incredible.” Angling up, and over me, Knox peppered sharp short kisses against my lips. “Stunning. Immaculate. Mind-blowing.”

I blushed, even though a giggle threatened to bubble up. Knox reached up and untied my wrists, kissing the skin there gently. Once I was released, a wave of shyness swept over me, and I crossed my arms over my chest.

That had been so outside my comfort zone.

No man had ever taken control of my body and owned my pleasure like one Knox Douglas had.

“Come here.” Knox patted the crook of his arm, and when I hesitated, feeling uncertain now that it was over, he sighed and pulled me close, rolling me easily so he was the big spoon.

I had no idea what to think, no frame of reference for how to explain just how he had made me feel.

He’d completely unraveled me and put me back together again, shined a light into all of the shadowy corners of my soul.

And I wasn’t sure what to say or do after an experience like that.

If he was any other person and this had been any other situation, I would have patted him on the bum and thanked him for a nice time before strolling out.

But since the first time I’d seen Knox again, he’d put me on my back foot and kept me there, and now I was struggling to reconcile my feelings for him.

When I opened my mouth to speak, to say anything that could shore up my walls, he just tucked me closer and pulled the blanket over us.

“Rest a bit now, Sloane. You can fight your battles another time.”

I smiled at the windows, loving and hating how well he already knew me.

And despite it all, my lids fluttered closed, and I fell into the first deep sleep I’d had in ages.