Page 40 of The Never List (Never List #1)

Rylee

Jax sets me on my feet and steps back, allowing me to survey the room.

The walls are cushioned and black, and the only light comes from a chandelier hanging in the center of the ceiling. There’s an armless chair in the corner, a bench right next to it, and tables lining the walls with all manner of whips and blades and other items I can’t make out. There’s a massive bed tucked against the farthest wall, and in the opposite corner hangs a pair of chains with cuffs on the end.

Anticipation flutters beneath my skin. So, this is where the Nightmare plays.

I turn back around to face him, feeling the tension roll off him in waves. Relief is an intoxicating thing; my mind is whirling from the truth I laid bare and his acceptance of it. But the fact that I chose him? That’s something he’s struggling with.

Even now, I can see the conflict in his eyes, can practically feel him thinking about pushing me away again. I hate that he thinks so little of himself, that his father has made him believe such lies about himself. But I’m prepared to fight for him as long and as hard as it takes.

“You’re alone with the Nightmare,” he says, stepping into my space again. He inhales deeply, almost like he’s smelling me, but I know he’s not. He’s drinking in my emotions. His eyes darken. “You should fly away, butterfly.”

“Only if you promise to chase me,” I tease.

“Rylee,” he chides, folding his hands behind his back like he’s trying to keep from touching me. The tension in this dance he’s swept us into is tightening with every breath—and deep down, I think he loves it. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Neither do you,” I say. I have one last secret, one that could damn me in the end. Sure, he may be fine with me being an Ashlander, but a demi? I highly doubt it. Especially when they suspect the Faders might be comprised of people like me. They might think I’m one of them, sent here to ensnare them all.

He sucks his teeth, reaching out to gently grip my throat, tilting my head back to make me look at him. “Last chance,” he offers.

“I’m here, Jax. Still here. After all your attempts to push me away. I’m. Still. Here .” I glance behind him, silently indicating the utter scene he’d caused with Turner. I know that was merely a taste of what he’s capable of.

“I could make you leave,” he counters.

“Try me,” I fire back.

His grip increases, and then terror slides over my skin like an inky blanket.

It’s not of him but from him.

The prick is raising the stakes, showing me exactly what he can do. I fight against it with every ounce of strength I have, wrapping my mental self with shields upon shields, using every tool Pierce taught me as I assure myself I’m not terrified. It’s only his power playing with my emotions. And once I have a semblance of control, once I can look at him without wanting to scream like death himself is holding my neck, I grin at him.

“You can do better than that, Nightmare,” I say.

The terror instantly leaks from my veins, and the release is like a head rush.

“Fuck, Rylee,” he groans. Nothing but pure respect and desire churns in his indigo eyes as he dips his head down and crushes his mouth against mine.

I can’t resist his kiss, drinking it in like a much-needed breath. He sighs between my lips, sliding his tongue alongside mine, the edges of my teeth, claiming every inch of me until I’m burning for him.

“Goddess, Jax,” I sigh between kisses. “Please. I need you.”

“I know you do.” He grips my wrist and leads me across the room to where the chains hang from a solid wooden beam near the ceiling. The cuffs dangling there are lined in leather. “You’ll have to trust me,” he says as he guides my wrists into the cuffs and hauls my arms above my head. “Can you do that?”

I nod, breathless, as he unsheathes a blade from his side, eyes scanning my body like he doesn’t know where to touch first. No more masks, no more walls, no more anger to keep him at bay. This is Jax, fully exposed and raw as he lets go of every ounce of control he has.

And I fucking love it.

Slowly, carefully, he glides the knife down my exposed skin until he reaches my tiny leather shorts. With an expert flick, they fall to the floor in pieces. I whimper, my entire body hot and tight at the same time as I hang there, completely at his mercy.

“You’ll want to hold very, very still for me, butterfly,” he says, and I barely breathe as he drops to his knees before me. He drags his blade down the netting covering my legs, and the little strings give way, the sensation like being completely controlled and wild at the same damn time. It makes me lightheaded, makes me want to shift my thighs together to find some relief, but I don’t dare.

“Good,” he says, sheathing the blade again so he can remove the last remains of fabric until I’m totally bare before him. He’s still on his knees, and his eyes flick up to me before he dips his mouth between my thighs.

I tremble as he drags his tongue through the center of me in one sharp lick that makes me want to buckle right then and there. Jax moans against me, parting my thighs with his powerful hands, sliding another inch under me as he devours me from beneath. I rock against him with what little leverage I have, my wrists aching from tugging on the cuffs so hard. I want to drag my fingers through his hair, want to dig my nails into his back—

He sucks hard, emptying my head of all thought. I’m nothing but sensation as he licks and teases me until I can scarcely breathe. I’m right there, my pleasure built to a tipping point. I rock against him, seeking out that pressure that will send me flying—

Jax pulls away, grinning up at me with that devious smile of his as he kisses his way back up my body. He takes his time on my thighs, then my hips, then my stomach, all the way up to my breasts. Every kiss, every graze of his teeth over my skin is like trying to strike a match—I’m right there, ready to ignite, but he’s keeping me on the edge until I can barely see straight.

He palms one of my breasts, rolling my nipple until it’s peaked and rosy for him. He swoops down and sucks it into his mouth, doing the same to the other in a torturous dance that leaves me breathless.

“Jax,” I groan when he works his way up my neck and over the line of my jaw, stopping just an inch away from my lips. “Goddess, please.”

“Please, what?” He grins again as he glides his hand over my breast and down, dipping between my thighs, stroking me with a too-light touch.

“Let me come,” I beg him, so far beyond caring how much I’m revealing to him. I need him like I’ve never needed anything else in my life.

Jax steps away to slide off his pants and underwear, agonizingly slowly. My mouth goes dry at the sight of him. He’s so close but so far away, and I swear I’ll die if he doesn’t put me out of my misery soon.

He comes back to me, dragging his length through my wetness, and I whimper. Goddess damn me, I rock against him, trying to get him inside me, but he draws away again, piercing me with those eyes of his.

“I’ve never had anyone tie me up like you, Rylee,” he says, trailing his fingers over my peaked nipples.

“I’m the one in chains,” I reply on a released breath. My muscles are clenched tight, my entire being a white-hot knot of tangled need.

“Loving you is dangerous,” he says, thrusting his hips so he glides through my wetness again. “So fucking dangerous, you know that?” His fingers bite into my hips, the sting a delicious tremor that makes me see stars.

“Yes,” I say, neck slightly arched as he continues to slowly tease me. “We’ve been on a crash course since you found me in the library. I loved you then. I didn’t know it, but I do now.”

He goes still, poised at my entrance. I can feel him throb against me in time to my own heartbeat. “Say it again,” he demands.

“I love you.” I breathe the words, tugging against my chains. I need to claw at him, need to touch him, need to crash against him so hard I’m left with delicious bruises.

Jax’s pupils blow out, and he rocks against me again. “I’ll ruin you,” he says.

I capture his lips, biting down on his bottom lip hard enough that he growls.

“Then ruin me,” I say against his mouth.

He slams into me, and I can’t contain the cry of pleasure that rips through me. I’m slick for him, but he’s so big and thrusts into me so hard, a line of pain slices right along the pleasure. He feels so damn good, all hard and full and gliding in and out in confident thrusts that make me keen.

“You want to come, butterfly?” he asks as he drags his length all the way out of me, hovering at my entrance again.

“Goddess, please,” I beg him.

He captures my mouth and pumps into me again, hard and relentless as he claims my body and soul. He holds nothing back, increasing his pace and shifting my body like it belongs to him, like he owns me and my pleasure. He finds a rhythm, sinking deep inside me and hitting my oversensitive core with every thrust until I’m a breathless, wild thing in his grasp. And when he kisses down my jaw, biting my neck with enough force to sting—

I come so hard my entire body shakes.

My muscles clench, my core fluttering around him as he pumps me through the throes of it, claiming and giving and taking until both our bodies are slick with sweat. I’m barely at the tails of the first orgasm when he wrenches another from me, this one sharp and brilliant in the best way, turning my body to jelly as he spills himself inside me.

And then I go limp against him, totally sated and spent.

He draws his head back, eyes searing as he grins at me—this one is just for me, a rare smile that’s pure bliss. Mine . He’s mine.

And there’s no going back.