Page 32

Tacy

“I don’t know how to live with myself,” I admit to Aris. “I can’t forgive myself for everything I’ve done.”

“Tacy, you’re not a bad person. You must know that by now,” I remind her. “Remember the research you did and how you tried to stop them from giving that toxic medication? How you lost your job to save your children and yourself? And others? Those are not things a bad person does.”

I shake my head as tears stream down my face. “I’ve made up my mind, Aris. I’m turning myself in.”

“For what?”

“For the murder of those men in Washington. For the murder of…of…my mother.”

Aris grabs my shoulders and spins me towards him. He looks down at me with so much love in his eyes. Love I don’t deserve.

“I understand your guilt. And your pain, Tacy,” he says. “What can I do to help you move on from this? Help you heal? Is there anything?”

“I think the best thing for me to do is go to jail. I deserve to be punished for what I’ve done,” I say and pull away from him. Then bury my face in my hands and cry freely.

“If that’s the case, then I should be in jail with you,” Aris says and sits beside me on the floor. Our backs pressed against the wall. “I can’t let you go to jail for your transgressions but not pay for my own. You forget…I’ve killed men too.”

I wipe my eyes. “That’s not going to work. We can’t both be incarcerated. Our children need us.”

“Well, it’s both of us or neither,” Aris says sternly. “I won’t let you take the fall without your partner in crime.”

“Fuck, Aris,” I shake my head. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“I love you too much, Tacy. Too much to see you beat yourself up anymore. And I refuse to let you take the fall for the sins of your family. If those men were your mother’s employees, it’s a guarantee they were bad men. If she hadn’t sent her men after you and Starkey, you never would’ve killed anyone, Tace.”

I breathe deeply. The feeling of something heavy being lifted off my chest overwhelms me, freeing my mind of the vice grip of shame. A shame so strong it had wrapped its tentacles around me and was slowly squeezing the life out of me.

“And if it wasn’t for me, you never would’ve killed anyone,” I remind him.

“Starkey had it coming. His number was up. It was only a matter of time,” Aris says and pulls me to his chest. I breathe in his scent – cedar and citrus. “Who knows. Maybe he even worked for your mother. He did end up working for The Org, didn’t he?”

“Good point,” I say and sniffle. “So, you’re saying…I don’t deserve to be imprisoned?”

Aris pulls back and stares down at me. A mischievous grin on his face. “I mean…unless you really want to. I can make that happen.”

“And I shouldn’t be punished?”

Aris stands, closes our bedroom door, and turns the music on. “Do you think you need to be punished? Last chance out of this, Tacy. Because I won’t go easy on you.”

“I’ve been really bad. And I deserve to be punished,” I say and open the closet to reveal a small kennel. With a lock. “Put me in jail.”

Aris nods, pulls our cuffs from the drawer, and dons a cheesy police officer mask. It looks like something made in the eighties. He strips his shirt then his pants off. I lift my wrists out to him.

“Remember, we have a safe word. Now, take those fucking clothes off,” he commands. I obey and slip out of my dress, leaving nothing on except my lacy socks and thong.

“Nope, the panties, too,” he says and instantly cuffs me when my thong falls to the floor. “Now…get in.” He says as he grabs my arms and lowers me to the floor.

I crawl on my hands and knees into the metal cage. And tremble knowing what game we’re about to play. It’s one I’ve never played before, and I never thought I’d want to play because of the trauma I’ve suffered at the hands of men like Starkey and Harvey. Yet, somehow, I feel the healing process can only begin when I’ve given myself over entirely to Aris. When he restores my trust in our species. And I know, somehow by playing the imprisoned, that I can work through my fears and my wounds. It’s hard to explain, but the way Aris and I take out our pain on each other is rejuvenating. Cathartic, even.

Aris clicks the lock in place. Then stares down at me through the holes in the kennel. “I think you need to prove yourself to me. Your loyalty. In return for your release.”

“How?” I ask and start feeling a bit claustrophobic. But I keep my mind on Aris and the throbbing that’s starting to grow more intense between my legs. “How can I prove myself to you, Daddy?”

“Bring your mouth up here,” he says and lowers himself into a kneeling position. Then, carefully, he eases his rock-hard cock through one of the holes in the kennel. “Now wrap those pretty lips around me.”

My face flushes and I obey. The warmth of his cock in my mouth and the taste of precum on my tongue has me yearning to be fucked.

“Use your tongue more, Babydoll,” he groans. “Yeah, just like that.”

He thrusts his cock harder and harder into my mouth, the head of it hitting the back of my throat. I wince but don’t gag, because I don’t really have a reflex. Never have. The salty taste of him makes me so wet. I want his cock inside of me. I’m yearning for him.

Then, suddenly, he withdraws and says, “that’s enough for now, Babydoll.”

“Okay, so let me out of here and fuck me,” I bat my eyelashes at him. “Please?”

He stands up and peers down at me. “Absolutely not. You’ve been bad. You’ve done bad things. And you deserve to be punished. You’ll stay in there until I say so. Now, turn around on your hands and knees and show Daddy what you’ve got.”

I spin around in the tiny cage, fully aware of my wetness, and bare my pussy to him.

“Bend over,” he says and begins to stroke his cock. “More.”

“It’s kind of hard to do that, Aris, since my hands are cuffed,” I grumble.

“I said, bend over,” he grunts. “Or you’re never getting out of that cage.”

I obey and lean forward, bearing more of myself to him. My wrists and hands are sore from bearing my weight. And I’m quickly regretting this decision. Maybe I don’t want to be imprisoned. I start breathing hard. Panting, almost. Rethinking my request for him to hold me hostage.

“Aris, I think I want out of here,” I say, whining. “Please.”

“We’re not done, Babydoll,” he says. “You haven’t spent nearly enough time in there to atone for your sins.”

The walls feel like they’re closing in on me. I’m lightheaded and my mouth is dry.

Aris kneels beside the cage and sticks his fingers through the holes. “Breathe, Angel. Just breathe. I’m right here, and even though I’m dealing out your punishment, just know that I’ll never hurt you. Not without your permission, at least.”

I take three deep breaths in and then out. I’m okay. I need this. Then I press my ass against the metal. “Here I am.”

He licks his lips as he slides his fingers down the slit between my legs. Then up again, circling two fingers around my clit. He leans over and his warm tongue hits me. His mouth closes around my clit and sucks me lightly. Then harder and harder, until my body is engulfed in warm chills and my pussy is aching with need.

“Come on, Daddy, haven’t I atoned? I’ve been a good girl, please let me out,” I beg.

Aris ignores my begging and continues flicking my clit with his tongue, dragging it up and down. Up and down. Until I’m writhing with pleasure.

“I’m going to cum, Daddy,” I breathe out. But before I can…

Aris pulls away, leaving me here. Slick and angry. “What? Why did you do that to me?”

“You think I’m going to let you cum that fast? No, Babydoll. Not tonight. Tonight, you don’t cum until I say.”

I’m tired of waiting and yearning for his touch. And I watch helplessly as Lazaris, this great hero of a man, debases himself in front of me by stroking his length, up and down, then in circular motions. I whine and moan like a cat in heat. I press my ass against the cage, hoping to torment him enough that he’ll give in.

And finally, he grunts and kneels, commands me to press my pussy against the hole and slams into me. A wave of goosebumps covers me from head to toe, and I feel him inside so deep it almost hurts. But it’s the kind of pain that summons a need for more.

The cage rattles, and we moan and grind together, me rubbing my clit against the metal while Aris slams against it and me. There’s sweating, and cursing, and I can take no more.

“Daddy, can I cum now?”

“Yes, Princess. Cum all over my cock,” Aris growls.

In one tandem moment, we erupt in a gush of orgasms unlike we’ve ever had together. I’m shaking, and sopping wet, and I try to collapse in the cage but it’s too tiny in here.

I turn and look at him. He’s sitting on the floor beside me.

“Want to get out of there?”

I nod and give him big doe eyes. “Please?”

Aris stands, locates the key, then unlocks the cage door, freeing me. I crawl out and kiss him from his feet to his mouth. He’s liberated me in more than one way. We’ve liberated each other. Healed each other. And we will until the bitter end. But in my heart, I know that even death can’t keep us apart.