Page 53 of The Retaliation You Deliver

The time to push him has gone.

Silence falls around us once more, the only thing that can be heard is his shallow breathing and the bubbles popping around us.

It’s long, agonizing minutes later when he sits forward slightly and places his lips to my neck.

“Lee, I—” I gasp once more as his hand snakes down my stomach until his fingers brush my clit. “Oh God. I don’t think—”

“Let me, please. I need… I need…”

“Okay.”

Widening my legs, I throw one over the edge of the tub to give him better access.

His movements are slow and measured. His brutal touch and burning pain from before is gone.

His lips continue to kiss down my neck making my skin erupt in goose bumps as he plays my body to perfection.

Reaching lower, he dips two fingers inside me, his thumb pressed against my clit.

“Lee,” I moan, arching my back as my long lost release begins to return.

“Need to feel you coming, baby.” He bites my shoulder lightly. It’s the biggest tease and the first time I really accept how much I love his brutal side because I crave the pain just as much as he does. But that’s not what this is about.

His free hand lifts to my breast and he pinches and twists my nipple until I finally fall over the edge.

“Oh, shit, shit. Fuck, Leon,” I cry as wave after wave of pent-up pleasure rolls through me. My nails dig into his thighs as I ride the release out, his movements don’t stop until I’m wrung out.

“Oh shit,” I gasp, staring at the little bloody crescents on his thighs from where my nails dug into his skin. “I’m so sor—”

“Don’t,” he barks and I once again slam my lips shut.

His arms wrap around my body, pinning me back against his solid chest. He’s hard, his length pressed against my spine, but he does nothing about it.

I can feel his heart thundering in his chest as his panting breaths race past my ear, but still he does nothing.

Minutes tick by as I wait for him to say something, to do something, but he never does.

I desperately want to know where he went, who the blood belongs to, but until he offers up some information, I’m determined to keep my mouth shut. Both of us have already caused enough damage to each other tonight.

“It’s cold,” he finally says, gently pushing me forward so he can get out.

He grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist before pulling another from the shelf and holding it out for me.

Hesitantly, I stand from the tub and step into it.

He wraps me up, his eyes holding mine the second he turns me to face him.

I stare up at him, waiting for him to do something, thinking that he’s going to kiss me, but he never does. Instead, he just reaches out and tucks a wet lock of hair behind my ear.

The move makes me swoon and I chastise myself for forgetting what he’s done to me tonight.

Just because he’s being weirdly sweet now, it doesn’t erase this evening, even if I did crave the pain, I never asked to be tied up and left for hours.

Just remembering it makes my arms ache.

Sweeping me off my feet, Leon walks us from the bathroom and straight toward the huge bed that looks out over the twinkling lights of the town before us.

He pulls the towel from me and lifts the sheets, encouraging me to get in.