Page 55 of Ly to Me

“I can, and I—”

“Youcan’t, actually.” He crooked a finger and brushed my cheek with his knuckle, a twisted type of calm seeming to wash over him. “As much as you want me to think you don’t have a piece of me in your heart anymore, I can see”—he glanced through the railing, eyes darting between the firepit and me—“you do.”

“Not true.” I scoffed and rolled my eyes away from him. Embers and ash from the fire were either dancing over from the pit and burning my lungs in a painful kind of way, or his words had an ounce of truth and breathing had become difficult for a whole other reason.

I refused to believe the latter.

“That’s a lie.” His touch trailed over the leather around my neck and continued lower. It swept over my collarbone, right about where the reins had continued to wrap around my body and formed criss-crosses between my breasts, then looped around my arms and ribs before ending at my waist. I was completely at his mercy.

“It’s not true. I don’t give a fuck about you.”

“All that time I spent fallin’ for you, and you don’t think I can still tell when you lie?” He tsked.

I jerked against the reins again. Still, no use. I don’t know why I even tried. “What the hell do you want with me like this?”

The pads of his fingers slid over the shirt I’d taken from his closet until they met a peak. I let out a soft moan at the touch as he pinched my hardened nipple, then rolled it between his skilled fingers, the tightness of the bindings only enhancing the sensation. I fought through my lust-filled haze and glared at him, keeping that eye-contact he demanded of me.

He chuckled. “I see my wife can obey orders quite fine.”

“Couldn’t you have just listed all the stuff you wanted to do to me in the contract? This all seems like it’s more effort for—” He palmed my breast, flicking my nipple with his thumb. I swallowed to regulate my voice. “For you,” I finished.

“Why do you think your body means nothin’?” He ignored my question and made my body go rigid with his own. His palm softened around my breast, and just as I thought he was going to leave me there, his hand slid down to my thigh. When he adjusted my knees, forcing my legs further apart, I just…let him.

“Because it’s…it's just a body,” I said. Calloused fingers worked their way up slowly, grazing over the sensitive skin between my legs. “You seemed fine using it for yourself years ago. Why is it any different now?”

His eyes darkened. “I didn’tuseyou. Or your body.”

“And how many women have you told that to?”

His hand hesitated, another lapse of judgement sweeping through his head, I assumed. Then he grinned. “Ly, I know what you’re doing.” His movement continued until his fingers were right over my wet panties. “Hate to tell you, sweetheart, but it isn’t going to work this time.”

“And what am I doin’?” My words came out breathless as a single digit swept over my underwear and down my slit.

“You want to distract me from the point I’m trying to make here.” Carver dropped a knee to the floor and leaned in closer, bracing his weight with his hand on the railing behind me.

I tipped my chin back, keeping his gaze. “Didn’t realize you had a point to this.”

“You want me to storm off and leave you all alone.” His finger stroked my soaked center as he continued—up, down, up, down.“You want to hurt me because, somewhere along the lines, I hurt you, and neither one of us is willing to fold on the hows and whys.”

I forced a sneer through the pleasure. “The day I tell you what happened is the day that Hell freezes over.”

“I’ll start collecting ice.” He smirked as I glowered more. “But, I’m not done telling you what you’re doing.”

“You’ve said enough.”

“I haven’t.” He roughly slapped my pussy. I tossed my head back at the sting, trying my damndest to keep my lips from letting another moan slip by. He went back to gentle strokes before continuing. “You want to never let anyone in because you think you aren’t worth more than a grain of salt. And you keep that front up by lyin’ through your teeth so no one can ever know the real you.” I winced. “Am I getting close?”

“Screw you, Carver.”

“Thought you’d say that.” He pushed my panties to the side, and I did nothing to prevent his fingers from slipping inside me. My hips bucked, forcing the reins to tighten.

“Eyes on me, remember?” His stern voice coaxed my lids back open, meeting those Atala-blue eyes, yet his fingers didn’t move from their knuckle-deep position. “Good girl. Just like that.”

My knees slid further apart against the wood with his praise. Embers danced on a gust of wind, floating over us as he adjustedand added another finger. My hips wriggled, seeking the friction and movement he was denying me.

His lips hovered over mine, warm breath falling over my mouth as I fought every urge to grind down on his hand and take what I wanted.

“That’s all? Don’t you want to do something more to me?” I taunted.Please do something more.