Page 39 of Provocation (Den of Deception #3)

What I didn’t tell Daisy was that we had an argument while she was gone over the fact that she had to go at all. Shade says she has to, that it’ll be worse for her if she doesn’t at least pretend to fall in line.

Blake and I think that she shouldn’t have to do anything she doesn’t want.

Blake sends a message back immediately.

Agreed

Shade reads it but doesn’t reply.

I look at the dress and the discarded lingerie, if you could even call it that, that's in a pile on the carpet. It's cheap and ill-fitting, and I know that she was probably really uncomfortable for the entire time she was wearing it, and that probably contributes to the fact that she's exhausted, but something else definitely happened there. At least this time she didn’t have any bruises that I could see from being hit. But I don’t like seeing her so subdued and blank, so inside her own head. It happens when she’s very upset and I hate it.

I wait for her in my bedroom, and I hear when the water shuts off that she’s finished in the shower. She goes to her room and immediately shuts the door.

I give her another twenty minutes before I knock, just so she has some alone time to decompress from her afternoon from Hell, and find her ready to go. She seems almost antsy, like being here is like standing in the open in enemy territory.

‘You don’t feel safe here anymore?’ I ask.

She considers my words. ‘No, I guess I don’t.

I think I haven’t for a while. It’s just that it’s here where stalker is watching, or the Novelle house where John is.

I didn’t think about it because there was nothing to think about, nothing I could change, and both were just as bad as each other.

Now that I can go to Wrath… I feel so much more relaxed there, Mav.

It sort of makes me realize how on I am everywhere else, you know? It’s exhausting.’

‘I get it,’ I say. 'Come on. Let’s get out of here.'

I take her bag for her. We go downstairs and get in the truck, and I drive us over to the club, parking in our usual spot in the alleyway.

The club is closed tonight, since we knew it would be slow. Most of the students are gone for the holiday, and the locals will be doing family stuff.

I'm kind of glad that we're all going to be here together. Just us. We probably should have figured something out for dinner. I frown, wondering if anywhere decent will be open besides the Chinese place just off campus. Does Daisy even like Chinese food?

We go in the side door and find the place completely deserted.

Even Dom isn’t here. I vaguely remember him telling me something about meeting some buddies, now I think about it.

I leave Daisy at the bar with a Seabreeze I quickly throw together for her and I run up to the office, but the guys aren’t there either.

I go back down, taking out my phone, and I see Daisy slipping into the basement without a word.

I send a quick message and follow, watching as she goes straight into the lab.

I peer into the Dark Lounge and the adjoining bedroom, but can't find them down here either.

My phone buzzes with a cryptic message from Shade to say that they'll be back soon.

I relax, only just realizing that I was growing concerned. But they’re fine. Everyone’s safe.

I stand at the door watching Daisy. She's going through the motions, checking the levels for the latest batch she's making. She puts it in the mixer, and then she sits at the table, and she stares listlessly at the shiny surface.

She doesn't move or speak. She doesn't look at me. It's like she's in a totally different world than the one she was in this morning, and she's completely closed off.

Because of them. Whatever those rich assholes did to her at their house.

'Daisy?' I ask.

She blinks and looks up at me.

'Come on.'

I reach for her, and she takes my hand. I bring her across the cellar to the Dark Lounge. She doesn't say a word as we go inside, and I flick on the lights.

I look around and realize quickly that it's not really in here that I want to be, so I pull her through the room to the bedroom we all share.

‘Wait here,’ I say at the door.

I leave her at the threshold and close it, looking around and wondering how I can make it special somehow.

There are decorative candles that I’ve only vaguely noticed before.

Probably part of the interior designer’s ‘vision’.

I don’t know if they’re meant to be lit but fuck it.

I see one of Blake’s lighters on the side and light them all, turning off the lights.

The candles give the room a warm glow. Satisfied, I turn down the bedcovers and make sure there’s no clutter on the sides.

Everything tidy, I open the door and lead her in. She looks around, giving me a small smile, the first real one I've seen since she got back.

'What's this?' she asks.

I cup her face and kiss her gently.

'Us,’ I say, looking into her eyes uncertainly. ‘Only if you want.'

I leave it there, and she blinks up at me, then she begins to unbutton my shirt.

'Are you sure you want this?' I ask, covering her small hands with my enormous ones. ‘After today? We don’t have to.’

She nods a little timidly. ‘I want you.’

Thank God.

I pull her oversized sweater off her body and follow it quickly with her tank top. I unbutton her jeans, and she takes them off. I allow myself a few seconds to stare at her. Her cheeks redden as I do, and she hides herself, turning her body away from my eyes.

I take off the rest of my clothes and I let her look her fill of me all at once. Her eyes flick down to what's between my legs, rapidly hardening at just her stare.

She looks curious as she watches me.

'Can I touch you?' she asks a little hesitantly, and I nod.

She steps forward and strokes me delicately with her fingertips. I shudder at how amazing even that feels.

And then, to my everlasting shock, she gets on her knees in front of me.

'Daisy, no,' I say, my eyes widening, but she grasps me with both hands and tugs on me gently, bringing me to her mouth, where she puts her lips over my tip delicately like she’s sucking the nectar out of a honeysuckle flower.

'Fuck,' I grind out. 'I could literally come right now, just from this.'

The look she gives me is impish as she does it again, watching my reaction. This time she puts the head all the way inside her mouth and looks surprised at how it feels.

'You're very big,' she murmurs, and I wince.

'Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.’

‘Sorry?’ she asks, tilting her head to the side. ‘Why?’

‘Because it’s…’ I look away, feeling self-conscious. ‘It’s too big.’

She gets back on her feet and I’m afraid she’s finished, that she’s decided she doesn’t want this after all, but she stands over me and nudges my shoulder, so that I lay back on the bed.

All thoughts stutter to a halt as she straddles me and lets me graze her between her legs, undulating her hips and letting out a pleased hum when I hit her in just the right spot.

'You're perfect, you know,' I whisper.

'So are you,' she says. 'I think this is just what I need. This with you today.'

And with that, she begins. She lines herself up and sinks down. Her breath catches and she gasps.

'Slowly,' I say, catching her around the waist, so she can’t move down too far and hurt herself.

It's been a few hours since I had my fist inside of her, but she doesn't seem to want to wait. She sinks down as low as I’ll let her go, her fingernails digging into my chest as she stretches back, arching her spine.

'I feel full already,' she whispers, and then looks down between us. 'And you're nowhere near inside me all the way.'

'You don't have to—' I begin, but she puts a finger to my lips and hushes me, giving me a warning look.

‘Let me go,’ she whispers, batting at my hands, the safety net encircling her waist.

I make my hands leave her body, putting them up in placation.

‘Put them on the pillow by your head,' she orders. 'No touching.'

And I realize that this is what she needs right now after whatever happened today. Control.

So, my eyes not leaving hers, I grasp my wrists, and I put them over my head on the pillow.

'As you command,' I say with a grin.

She lets out a breath and moves off me a little before sinking again, taking me a little bit more. She keeps doing this, moving up and down, little by little, her fingers running up and down my body, feeling my muscles.

'I love that everything about your body is rock hard.' she murmurs. ‘It’s so…’

Her words peter out as she leans forward and licks one of my nipples.

'Do you like that?' she asks. 'Does it feel like it feels when you do it to me?'

I open my mouth in invitation, and she eases forward, letting one of her breasts drop past my lips. I suck on the tip gently, and she lets out a low moan.

I ache to touch her, to run my hands down her back and pull her to me, but I don't.

She straightens after a moment, picks herself up and sinks back down. She's almost taken me fully now, and when she looks down to see, there's pride in her eyes when she realizes how deep I am inside of her.

'You're so good,' I say.

I see her bask in my praise, but she shrugs like it’s nothing.

'No, Daisy,' I say. 'You don't understand. I can't do this with girls. I’ve never...done this before.'

Her eyes widen. 'This isn't your first time, is it?'

I wince. 'Well, actually?—'

Her mouth opens on a surprised 'oh.'

'Is it okay?’ she asks breathlessly. ‘Do I need to do anything?'

'It's perfect,' I encourage. 'I've done everything else, just not this.'

She nods a little jerkily. 'Maybe you should help. I don’t want it to be…'

But I shake my head. 'Nope. This is all you, Tulip. Everything about this is amazing. You’re amazing.'

She gives me another smile and then kisses my lips, bending forward. She nuzzles her cheek against mine as she rises and brings herself back down. Our bodies meet. I’m completely sheathed inside her. Her hips move up and down experimentally, and I groan.

'Is that okay?' she asks, and I nod, unable to speak, it feels so good.

Her hips bounce up and down. She grinds against me, trying to find the area that will make her body go wild. She huffs when she can't find it, and I grin, waggling my fingers. She nods, and I put them where our bodies meet, finding that spot that I know she loves.

I manipulate it, glad that I've taken the time to learn what she likes when she suddenly throws her head back and lets out a cry, her body spasms around me, the force of it almost ejecting me completely. But now I grab her hips and turn us so she's on her back under me.

‘My turn,’ I growl.

I try not to be rough, but I take what I want from her, pistoning into her firmly. She grips my biceps, asking me to fuck her harder, begging for everything I can give her.

And I do. She comes again, her body shaking under mine, and my release is so powerful that I have to let go of her to grip the bed so that I don't leave bruises on her body.

I throw back my head and roar with everything in me, with pleasure, with liberation, the sound reverberating through the entire cellar as I come inside of her.

Afterward, I kiss her soundly, my tongue delving deeply as my cock twitches inside her.

She makes a small sound of discomfort, and I immediately roll off her. She throws her arm over me, as if she’s afraid I’m going to move too far away, and cuddles against me as I grab a washcloth from the bathroom quickly and clean her up with it.

She lets me and when I look over at her, she looks pleased, proud of herself and the smile that breaks out of me is wide.

‘You were amazing,’ I tell her.

‘So were you,' she says and hugs me hard. 'I can't believe I was your first.'

She sounds very happy about this development.

I kiss her temple, also glad in every way that it was her.

'I love you,' I say.

'I love you too,' she answers back quietly, and we snuggle together for a few minutes, enjoying each other’s company in the quiet.

My phone buzzes, and I see that the guys have returned. It's almost seven and I'm starting to get hungry, so I’m hoping they’ve brought something.

‘The guys want us upstairs,' I say.

She groans and gets up, starting to get dressed, but I shake my head. I give her my shirt instead—the same one that I saw her in in the lab this morning.

'Fuck,' I grind out as she puts it on, hiding her body from my view. 'How is knowing that you have nothing else on under my shirt even hotter than you being naked?’

She giggles.

We leave the cellar and go up to the club, where I find that a table has been laid out, complete with flower decorations and fall leaves of all colors.

'Happy Thanksgiving,' Shade and Blake say together.

Her eyes widen and she gasps. 'Tacos!'