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“And what will my men do when you no longer have my protection? Do you really want to lose your virginity that way? With strange rough men who won’t be gentle?”

She makes a sound of disgust. “Like you would be gentle.”

“I will be, Maddie. I’ll make it so good for you. You have no idea the pleasures I will initiate you into.”

I don’t think she’s consciously aware that she loosened her grip and pulled away ever so slightly. It’s just enough for me to take the knife from her and reverse our positions.

I’m careful not to crush her with my weight, but now I’m the one straddling her. I press the flat part of the blade against the side of her cheek with one hand. With the other, I touch the pulse point of her throat. The frantic beats push against my fingertips.

“You spent a lot of time and money just to kill me on day one,” she says. It sounds like bargaining, but there’s something in her voice that makes me wonder if she’s trying to decide if dying now would be better for her than spending a lifetime with me.

Now I’m the one with the offended righteous anger. Really? She’d rather die than be with me? I’m sorry, but her body tells a far different story, and I will make her acknowledge it.

“I didn’t start this altercation,” I say.

I wait for her to calm down, then I sheathe the blade so I don’t cut myself and flip it so I can use the handle.

“I want you to grab the headboard bars and do not let go until I allow it.”

She’s realizing now what I’m planning to do with the knife she so rudely woke me up with. “Aidan, I… please.”

She’s suddenly afraid of much bigger things than death.

“You just woke me up with a knife to my throat, so I’m a little grumpy right now.

We could have slept all night without any of this drama.

You’re getting off so much easier than anyone else foolish enough to try something like this with me.

You might want to work on winning some of my favor.

Now, put your hands where I told you to. ”

It takes another few moments of hesitation, but I wait. I don’t say another word or make another move. She knows she’s not going anywhere until she obeys my command. I wait and let that realization settle. Finally, she grips the bars.

I slide down her body and press the handle of the blade over her panties. The handle is ribbed with designs carved deeply enough that the remaining polished ivory can be felt distinctly against sensitive flesh.

“Spread your legs wider.”

“Aidan… please.”

“Please what? I’m not going inside. I’m not taking you tonight, so relax. I must be insane, but I’ve clearly decided to reward you for your bad behavior.”

I can tell she wants to argue. She has something sarcastic and biting all lined up and ready to unload on me, but instead, she spreads her legs like a good girl because we both know how hungry she is.

I glide the ridged handle slowly back and forth over her pussy, leaving the thin barrier of her panties in place.

It’s the lightest skimming touch, just enough so that she can feel the ridges and curves rub against her most sensitive flesh.

I know she can’t come this way at this pace, but I can get her to where I want her.

Her hips arch up to meet the knife handle. She’s not getting anything else until she begs for it.

Finally when she can’t take it anymore, she says, “Aidan, please…” followed by a soft whimper.

“Please what? You were a very bad girl, I should tie you up and let you squirm for the rest of the night with no relief. I know how much you need to come now.”

She’s a mix of fury, arousal, and fear, and I’m not sure which one will win. She clenches her thighs together, to stop me.

I arch a brow. “Please, what? You know it’s gone too far now, Maddie. You know you need it. I can tease you like this all night and never give you enough pressure or speed to give you release. It’s the punishment we both know you deserve.”

She’s biting her lip, trying not to say anything because no matter how much she may hate and fear me, no matter how much she may resent me for forcing her into this marriage and into my bed, her immediate carnal needs are about to outweigh all that. They might have already won.

Her legs finally splay open.

I drag the knife handle back and forth. Slowly. Lightly.

“I can do this all night, Maddie. Beg. Me. Beg me to make you come.”

“Please…”

“Please what? Please could mean anything. Please let me go. Please stop. Please buy me a pony. Please, what , Maddie?”

“Please…” Then she whispers the last part so quickly I almost miss it.

I pull the knife away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that.”

“Please, make me come.”

Even in the darkness I can tell her face is flaming with embarrassment at having been made to say these words to me… her tormenter, her jailer, her stalker. Her husband.

I take a coil of rope from the dresser and tie her wrists to the bars.

Then I move back down her body and rip the panties off.

She gasps and struggles against the rope the moment my tongue is between her legs.

She thrashes under me, and I can’t tell if she’s trying to get closer or move farther away.

I grip her thighs hard and hold her in place. I tease her entrance with my tongue and then I hook a finger inside her, gently moving until I hit the barrier.

She tenses.

“I won’t rip through it tonight. I’m not taking this until you beg. But that doesn’t mean I won’t drive you crazy until then.”

She whimpers as I go back to stroking her soft sex with my tongue.

Her mewling cries sound like a desperate kitten.

She tries to hold back her pleasure from me.

As much as she wants this, she doesn’t want it to be from me, and we both know it has nothing to do with physical attraction and everything to do with her inability to forgive me for how I’ve terrorized her up to this point.

I move back up her body, keeping my groping fingers between her legs. I grip her chin with my free hand and force her to look into my eyes. I hold her gaze, and she squeezes her eyes shut.

“Look at me,” I command.

When she does, I increase my pace. Her hips arch up against my fingers. I pick up the knife again, gripping the leather sheathe. I press the ivory handle against her clit. She’s so wet and sensitized now, I know she’s feeling every ridge in a whole new way.

“When you come, you’re going to know who gave you this release.” I see the resistance in her eyes, but her body has already made the decision. It’s out of her hands.

“Be a good wife now, and give me your pleasure.”

When she comes, I drink it in as though it could sustain my life.

I drive her to the edge of her sanity. I don’t allow her a quick, sweet release that leaves anything behind, like a meal politely left unfinished.

No, I want her to lick her plate clean. I push and drive her until she begs me to stop, not because what she’s experienced at my hands is so horrific, but because it’s more pleasure than she knows how to handle.

She never drives herself this hard with her own toys.

That ends now. She’s going to learn the capacity of her body for pleasure.

Finally at the moment where the pleasure is right at the edge of crossing over into something like pain, I allow her to stop.

She melts boneless against me, pliant and docile when I pull her into my arms. I know as she drifts back to sleep she feels the hardness of my erection pressed against her.

That one, looming threat. I’ve waited this long for her.

She will beg for it by the time I’m finished, and when I finally penetrate her, she will know exactly who she belongs to, and won’t make the slightest whimper of dissent.