CHAPTER 34

J essica

Every time I was around Xander, my blood boiled, but tonight the fire lapping at every nerve ending was even more enticing.

His eyes were hooded as he pulled his head away, taking several deep breaths just like I was doing. There was no denying the way we felt about each other or the connection we shared.

“Arms over your head, my little lamb.”

I did as he commanded, no longer fearful of what he’d do if I disobeyed him. My reaction was based on the need to please him. He tugged off my shirt, leaving me standing in only thigh highs and flat black ballet shoes.

There was something much more primal about the way he was leering at me. The man was preparing for a feast. Or my punishment.

He didn’t need a reason why. He simply provided what he believed I needed.

I couldn’t seem to stop shivering as he rubbed the flats of his hands down the outside of my thighs. The tingling sensations were almost overwhelming, leaving me as breathless as I was anxious for more.

Tonight he was wearing a black long-sleeve tee shirt, the material unable to hide his carved features. He appeared even more powerful than I was used to, but without his mask, there was no way of pretending or denying what he wanted.

My total surrender.

I remained completely lightheaded, swooning from the number of stars floating in my field of vision. Using his knee, he pressed my legs apart before taking a single step backward. Only weeks before I would have stared in horror as a man unfastened his belt. But now my mind was churning with possibilities, my pulse racing harder than it had done before. Maybe I did crave pain as he’d accused me of before.

He continued taking his time, as if this night was meant for the two of us. There would be no interference, no one attempting to destroy the moment. By the time he started to tug the strap from the loops, I was already breathless. He hadn’t needed to tell me to remain still. I had no desire to go anywhere.

“I can smell your desire, little lamb.” As soon as the belt was free, he snapped it on the floor. I didn’t jump. I didn’t move a single muscle.

My pussy was throbbing, the insides of my thighs both damp. I purred the moment he rolled the end of the strap over my shoulder, tapping one breast then the other. I even arched my back in anticipation of what he was about to do, the moment terribly stimulating.

But I should learn never to overestimate my knowledge of the man. He slipped the strap around my throat, sliding the end through the buckle and pulling until the thick leather was wrapped tightly.

I stood taller, controlling my breathing as I noticed he was searching the counter of my guest bath. Seeing nothing other than soap and tissue dispensers along with a favorite candle, he wrapped his hand around the end of the belt. With a strange yet very dark look on his face, he held the strap taut and searched the drawers.

I knew the second he found what he was looking for by the strange smile curling on his lips. A wooden brush I’d forgotten all about.

“Mmm…” It was the only sound he made as he gripped the handle, using his knee to close the drawer.

There was no additional explanation of why he was prepared to punish me and I honestly didn’t care about the reason. I was too exhilarated, my heart hammering in my chest from the rush of excitement.

As he pulled the belt even tighter, my gut told me I should be experiencing a moment of suffocation, but I was elated instead. His eyes were even darker than before, but the gold flecks in his irises managed to glow. Perhaps the slight loss of air was making me hallucinate, but, in my mind, he didn’t need a mask.

He brought the brush down four times, issuing a deep growl every time he did. The sound filtered into my ears, forcing the goosebumps to float down my legs as well.

Xander kicked my legs open even wider and pushed his hand down on the small of my back. I placed my palms on the mirror, pushing the surface as he smacked my bottom several times. The thudding sound matched the rapid beating of my heart. The entire moment was strangely cathartic.

He wrapped the belt around his hand with another loop, tightening the leash around my neck even more. I was floating on air, barely cognizant of the pain from the spanking.

My mouth watered, the longing to have his cock shoved against the back of my pinched throat stronger than ever before. He seemed delighted at my reaction, his breathing becoming as labored as mine.

I arched my back, pushing hard against the glass. My fingernails were scraping the mirror, but I was barely cognizant of what I was doing.

“Are you wet for me, little lamb, or do you need more?” he murmured and didn’t give me a chance to answer before plunging all his fingers past my swollen folds.

The moan was bedraggled and I was still gasping for air. The pleasure just as intense as the anguish and I bucked back, meeting every thrust of his flexed fingers. It wasn’t enough. Maybe what he was providing would never be enough.

More. More…

That’s all I could think about, especially when he jammed his fingers past my lips. I sucked on his fingers, cognizant of just how dirty the actions were. But I loved it.

Craved it.

He knew how to handle me, pumping his fingers in my mouth as his smile widened. When he was satisfied I’d cleaned his fingers, he resumed the round of punishment. I was so lost in the sweet rapture the heightened level of discomfort almost didn’t register at all. But the pleasure certainly did as he rubbed the brush between my legs. I was so wet I could easily soak the dense wood.

Panting, I licked my dry lips, only slightly relieved when he let off some pressure on my neck. After coating the back of the brush, he held it in front of my face.

“Now you can see how wet you are, how crazed only I can make you,” he whispered in his husky tone. “Lick it off, little lamb. Do it nice and pretty for me.”

I did exactly as he commanded, licking the brush as if an ice cream cone on a bright, sunny, and very warm day. As I did, I watched his chest continue to rise and fall, his eyes narrowing as he watched me.

Like he’d been doing for weeks.

Watching.

Waiting.

Wanting.

Now the hunted had become the captive.

He smirked and returned to the spanking, delivering six or seven more. I didn’t count. I didn’t care. I simply craved having his cock drive deep inside.

After a few additional strikes of the brush, he tossed it onto the counter, once again burying his head in the crook of my neck. “So perfect. Aren’t you? So inviting. You were waiting for me.”

I said nothing as I closed my eyes, my breathing still raspy. He kept a tight hold on the belt, but I heard the rustling of clothes. I clawed the mirror as he pressed his weight against me just as he’d done before. A soft moan slipped past my lips when I felt the thick throbbing of his cock rubbing against my bruised and heated bottom.

The ruthless man certainly knew how to use anguish as a powerful aphrodisiac.

“You make me do crazy things, Jessica. You have a hold over me I can’t explain.” He twisted his hand, tightening the belt again until I was forced to gasp for air.

With my eyes now open, I studied the chiseled features on his face, noticing the two-day stubble covering his jaw. A part of me craved the man wearing the mask, but being able to bask in his handsome features was delectable.

He laughed subtly and rubbed the tip of his cock up and down the crack of my ass. When he finally pushed a couple of inches of his cock into my aching pussy, I slammed one hand against the mirror in my continued impatience.

His eyes twinkled from my condition, his nostrils flaring as he continued taunting me. When he finally thrust the entire length inside, I was driven all the way into a moment of euphoria. I would never be able to explain the jolt of emotions any more than I could the searing and ragged edges of the electricity we shared.

Maybe there was no sense in trying.

Taking a deep breath, he held it inside his lungs and pulled out, driving into me again. Only seconds later, he developed a brutal rhythm, pushing the limits of decency, but I was wild with desire, panting like a crazed animal. My breath was ripped away completely as he jerked the belt, the lights in brilliant colors floating around my head magical in appearance.

Every savage plunge of his cock pushed me closer to nirvana, just like he’d done before. Just like I knew he’d do again. He’d certainly always let me know he wasn’t the kind of man to take no for an answer. He also knew I’d give myself to him fully, losing my ability to think clearly. We were alike in so many ways, perhaps too much so.

He knew how to push every blissful button, keeping me on the edge until I was a blubbery mess. But of course I loved it. The brutality of his actions and the clandestine nature of our strange relationship made the sex like nothing else in the world.

“Good girl,” he whispered in my ear as he continued to fuck me. “Now, I need you to come for me.”

“I…” I couldn’t speak or think clearly and he expected me to orgasm on command. I whimpered when he cracked his hand on my bottom, the pain exhilarating. My entire body felt as if it was floating on a cloud. Barely seconds later, my body reacted to his deep voice, my toes tingling as the first sign I was close to going over the precipice.

When I did, I cinched my eyes shut, listening to the slight whimpers coming from my closed-off throat and the hard scratching my nails were doing on the glass. I rose onto my tiptoes, panting like a wild dog as the orgasm swept through my overheated core.

People would believe me to be sick, but the round of ecstasy was perfection, one climax shooting into a second. He knew exactly what he was doing to me, cracking his palm against my bottom every other beat of my heart. I couldn’t separate the pain from pleasure even if I wanted to.

The moment was surreal, my mind spinning for an entirely different reason. I found myself caring about the man. How was that even possible?

I’d already known I wanted more when I accosted Dorn. But the article had made me giddy. Now I was being fucked in appreciation of my hard work.

“Oh. Oh. Oh,” I managed, but only after he backed off his tight hold of the belt. The light filtered back into my periphery of vision the moment he pulled out completely. My whine was met with an evil grin.

“Don’t worry, little lamb. You know I’m not finished.” Every time he chuckled, I shivered deep inside. This time was no different. When he pressed his cockhead against my asshole, I shuddered visibly.

There was no stopping the man even if I wanted to. He was in such control his entire face was beaming with joy. The realization caught me off guard. It was such a pleasure watching him, basking in how he was tormenting me. I was on fire, my skin tingling as much as my heart was racing.

His breathing remained labored as he pushed in another inch. Then another. My muscles stretched, trying to accept, but he was so large, filling me completely. I held my breath as he eased one arm around mine, intertwining our fingers together.

“I love calling you mine,” he gritted out and drove his cock all the way inside.

My scream was slight but powerful before I laughed as my ass muscles clenched and released. The sensations were incredible, so overwhelming I couldn’t see anything any longer because of an intense fog.

Xander powered into me, taking his time with a practiced rhythm. I met every thrust, my body aching from the erotic moment of pleasure. The air in the smaller bathroom was thick, the scent of sex and desire mixing with my perfume and his aftershave. The entire situation was intoxicating.

The man towered over me and I was completely vulnerable, but I’d never felt so safe as by being in his arms. A sigh slipped past my lips, one of satisfaction and continued longing. How could any one man have this kind of effect on me?

I always had a sense of when he was about to come, his muscles tensing, but his eyes remained dark and determined to remain in me. I felt the warm gush as he erupted deep inside, filling me with his seed, and for the first time in my life, I was completely content.

No longer would I ask if there was something wrong with me. If there was, then bring it on.

This was my life and I intended on living it fully.

And in exactly the way I wanted.

Xander

Relationships.

They’d never been a part of my need. I’d never felt the desire buried somewhere deep in my psyche, but being around Jessica was entirely different than I’d thought it would be. I enjoyed her company as much as her tempting ways. She’d surprised me with her actions, the sweet girl more of a vixen than I’d believed.

As we sat on her couch, having a drink together, I thought about how fascinating it was that neither one of us needed to talk to enjoy spending time with the other.

Maybe that’s how it was between all hunters and their captives, once they were taken in a way that they began to understand their life was no longer their own. But as funny as it sounded to me as I was thinking it, somehow the lovely woman had managed to capture a portion of me I hadn’t known existed.

A part of my heart.

Any who knew me very well or even remotely would say there was no heart to give and I’d truly believed that for most of my life. It was a practical thought. You didn’t kill people, even though they’d deserved to die and consider yourself love worthy. I also wasn’t suggesting what we were sharing was budding love. Likely far from it.

She was too precious, too vulnerable to fall for a monster like me. Although I’d gathered even more of a sense of her resilience. She certainly knew her way around the art of manipulation.

Including with me. Only to a degree, but it was duly noted.

“Tell me what you said to Dorn,” I finally said to her since she’d yet to bring up the subject.

Jessica glanced at me with her soulful eyes, a smile slowly curling across her face. “For me to know and…”

“That’s not fair.”

“Who said I played fair?”

I laughed at her admittance. “I don’t know. Perhaps you bent the rules to your liking in various reality games, but your actions were still considered acceptable.”

Her laugh was subtle yet kept the man inside of me very hungry. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. I’m damn good with Photoshop and Mr. Franklin can be a very bad boy. Just like you told me. I simply pushed the issue, which allowed him to see the light.” She lifted her arm into the air, waving her open fingers as if a bright light had appeared from the shadows.

I kept my eyebrows lifted.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Stephanie is dating a detective and he did her a favor perturbing the man. I know there will be no charges, but the act convinced him to write a retraction.”

“Very nicely done. My kudos.” How could I not laugh at her creativity?

“Thank you very much. Perhaps I learned from the master.”

I took a deep breath, still smelling our sex. It was fascinating to me that up until meeting her, I’d simply accepted the plague that had befallen me as a child. The weight of having demons reside in my soul had never seemed like a difficult cross to bear.

Until recently.

How ironic I’d found the one woman who could soothe the beast, yet she had a dark creature inside of her as well. However, she was still light to my darkness. Yes, the bullshit was cliché, but appropriate.

“Did it help?” she asked and the young woman with high hopes that I’d seen so many times came shining through. Her eyes were wide open, the look on her face hopeful.

“Yes. The sales suddenly spiked and my guess is by tomorrow, the stocks will have risen significantly in value. I owe you,” I told her and lifted my glass.

She laughed. “You owing me. Hmmm… Then I want the job at your company. I’m extremely good at what I do and the honest truth is that you need me.”

The woman had no idea that my cock was already fully aroused, eager to fuck her again. I mulled over the answer before giving it to her. “You have it. Welcome to the Blackwell Group.”

“Really?” Shock outweighed every other emotion. I was reminded of my own youthful eagerness a long time ago as she jumped nearly off the couch, crowding my space. “You’re serious?”

“I don’t lie, especially about business, little lamb. You earned your place by sending your resume in.”

She frowned seconds later. “No contest?”

As much as I wanted her safely under my protection, she wasn’t ready to be a member of the Obsidian Society. Not yet anyway. “Postponed for an indetermined period of time. We have work to do that precludes that adventure for now.”

Her frown intensified. “Well, when it’s back, I want to be a part of it. In fact, I demand to be allowed.”

I chuckled softly and took her hand into mine, pulling her knuckles to my lips. She sighed as I pressed kissed across each one, finally leaning back once again into the soft cushions.

“I’ll consider it.”

“Try hard or I’ll be a thorn in your side.”

So many things that she said allowed me to laugh. This was one of them. “I’ll try and keep that in mind when I’m disciplining you for your caustic mouth.”

She feigned being shocked. “I don’t belong to you.”

“Yes, you do.”

Jessica’s blush forced my balls to tighten. She pulled her hand away, staring forward as if something else was on her mind. “I hate that my reputation was sullied. I would never do anything to hurt Sam.”

“I know you wouldn’t.”

“He could never trust me again. Do you trust me?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be offering you a job.”

“When do I start?” Her eagerness was powerful.

Now I was the one who gave her a stern look. “A few days. Perhaps on Monday. I have a few loose ends to take care of.”

“Okay. Whatever you say.” She looked away again.

“What is it, Jessica? I can tell you have many questions.”

“You never talk about your brothers.”

“Well, we haven’t done much talking, now have we?”

She gave me a hard look and sighed. “I’m serious. Are you close with them?”

“As close as strangers can be after working together for several years. We’re very much alike.”

“Is it true you grew up in foster care?” There was no reason for her question to trouble me. While we rarely talked about our pasts, the fact we’d been brought up separately in the system was information that could easily be found if someone was looking.

“Let me guess. Your friend Stephanie told you that.”

“She did when she warned me about you.”

“Because of her father.”

Nodding, she scooted all the way around to face me. “He’s some bigwig and I don’t care what he has to say.”

“He had some issues with Wilder. I don’t know the details because I don’t care. Yes, we were abandoned as young children and no one wanted the burden of taking three infants into their homes. We were so young Zach and I have no memory of our earlier childhood. Wilder doesn’t talk about what he remembers, but I have a feeling he does.”

“Have you ever wanted to find your biological parents?”

I leaned over, rubbing my finger under her chin. “There are some questions and concerns in life that are best left unanswered.”

“But the truth is important.”

“Not when folded in darkness.”

“That’s very sad. Why wouldn’t you want to know?”

I needed to answer her carefully. “What my brothers and I endured is the kind of life horror movies are crafted from. We never knew why we weren’t loved when we were young. When we got older, each one of us figured out we’d been lost in the system, the foster families wanting the money and not the responsibility. The three of us were dealt horrible hands in life and to be honest with you, dredging up the memories or learning more about our parents will only bring back the intense loneliness and anger.”

“You experienced abuse.”

I took a sip of my drink. Other than with Wilder and Zach, I’d never talked about any of the experiences I’d endured with anyone, including the couple of child psychologists I’d been forced to see before I was a teenager. The visits had stopped after I’d threatened one of them. That was something I regretted. The poor woman had simply been doing her job.

“Do you really want to know about my childhood and the horrors I suffered?”

“Maybe not, Xander, but the past doesn’t need to define you.”

I was laughing again and certainly not for the same reason as before. “Perhaps you’re right.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Maybe you’ll have a family of your own one day. But you’ll need a strong woman by your side.”

“Yes, I will. Are you volunteering?”

“Whatever would my father say?”

“You might be surprised. But you’ll need to ask him.”

“We’ve already talked. I told him I was living my life my way.”

“Just remember, he’s your family.”

The look remained as she tilted her head, searching my eyes. “You talked to him.”

“Let’s just say he came to see me.”

“Interesting. Did you sort things out with your relationship?”

I took a deep breath. “To some degree. He wants what is best for his daughter. I can’t blame him.”

“What if he’d told you to leave me alone?”

“Let me give you an important hint about me, little lamb. I never do what anyone tells me to do. The niceties of doing so ended years ago.”

“Ah, yes, you take what you want.”

“Yes, I do.” I offered a sly grin and she blushed all over again. Keeping her wasn’t an issue, but protecting her was something that did weigh heavily on my mind. Dorn wasn’t the only man who’d played us. He wasn’t smart enough to be working alone.

“Never forget, my little lamb, that you now belong to me. There is no exception, no termination clause. And no way you can leave. You’re mine.”

It was only a matter of time until the person responsible for providing Dorn with his jaded information would be found.

And when they were, the person would pray for salvation and none would be given.