Spellbound(27)
Author: Sylvia Day

“Did she make you this hot?” Victoria asked softly.

“Never.” He grabbed the bar in his fist, the bright chrome suddenly looking dangerous when held by that beautifully defined arm. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone. You know that. Stop doubting me, Victoria. It’s starting to piss me off.”

She took a quick breath, her ni**les hard and aching. He stood there waiting, a formidable male in full rut, his face harsh in its unyielding masculine beauty. His virile body strained with the need to mount her.

“You know what to do,” he said huskily. “Don’t make me wait.”

Victoria turned and stretched out facedown, spreading her legs to accommodate the bar. Her pulse quickened, spurring her breathing and her desire. Still, she couldn’t hold back from saying, “She wants you back.”

His former lover had been in their home, naked and willing. What excuse could there be for that?

“I don’t care what she wants. I only care about you.” Butter-soft leather wrapped around her ankle and tightened. “Your magic is in me. I feel you. Smell you.” His hand slid adoringly up the back of her leg. “Taste you.”

She moaned. “Why is she in our home?”

“Why are you obsessed with her?” His hand came down hard on her buttock, the sound of flesh hitting flesh cracking like thunder. She cried out and squirmed, her skin on fire from the spanking. “You know I love you too much. There’s no room for anyone else.”

His voice throbbed with emotion and Victoria’s eyes closed tightly. His hand smacked hard against her other cheek and the heat swept through her legs, swelling the lips of her sex.

“You don’t know how you look together,” she moaned. “How obvious it is that you enjoy f**king each other. You wouldn’t understand unless you saw me with one of the Hunters that came before you. See how they look at me in a way that says they know what it feels like to have me suck them off . . . how it feels inside me . . . ”

“Victoria,” he growled, just before he bent and sank his teeth into her hip. Punishing her. Marking her.

She sobbed, so aroused her body hurt. “I hate that she knows how good you feel. The sounds you make. I hate that you wanted her so much.”

“Not as much as I want you,” he breathed, nuzzling his cheek against hers. “Not even close.”

The other leather cuff magically secured itself on her ankle.

“She was targeted today,” he told her roughly. “Struck right on the street in broad daylight with me beside her.”

Victoria’s breath caught.

“I told you how dangerous this hunt is. Told you they’d come after those around me. It could’ve been you—”

His voice broke. Sliding his hands gently beneath her torso, he cupped her br**sts and pulled her up onto her knees. He moved onto the bed, tugging and milking her ni**les. His chest was hot and hard at her shoulder, his hair a soft caress against her neck. Her back arched, pressing her aching br**sts into his hands, her balance fully dependent upon his strength.

“It could have been you,” he said again, his lips at her throat. “And I couldn’t have borne it, Victoria.”

“Let me help you. Please.”

“You’ll help me now.” He gripped her nape firmly in his hand and urged her forward, anchoring her by the waist as she folded to press her cheek against the bed.

Her arms pushed through her splayed legs and were instantly bound to the bar by leather cuffs. She was helpless and unable to move, her hips arched high and held wide, her sex open and positioned for his pleasure. The deepest penetration.

Victoria creamed with excitement and anticipation. The more restrained she was, the hotter Max got. The hotter he got, the more she wanted him.

He straightened and snapped his fingers. It was the only warning she got before the lash of a flogger stung the back of her thighs. She moaned into the comforter, absorbing the sting of pain into her clenching core. Inside her, something rebelled. But it wasn’t stronger than her desire. Max took her places she didn’t want to go and yet couldn’t wait to get to.

His hand stroked over the heated, smarting skin. “Stop fighting me.”

“Fuck me.”

The flogger came down again. She gritted her teeth against the pleasure/pain. Max used the perfect amount of force, his actions skilled and methodical. She couldn’t help but wonder at the practice he’d had, the darkness in him that made him need unequivocal subjugation.

“Stop analyzing me.” His voice was low and controlled, quietly authoritative. He whipped her again, striking new flesh with unerring precision. When he was done, the temporary marks he left would form a clear artistic pattern. “Stop doubting me.”

“Max . . . ” The plea in her voice came from a wellspring inside her that only he’d ever tapped.

“Stop second-guessing me. I spent only two days away, Victoria, and you seem to have forgotten what you promised me.” The suede straps whacked against her bu**ocks. “To serve, obey, and please me. To never question an order or deny me anything. To never tell me no.”

“I give you more than I’ve ever given anyone.”

The flogger came down harder. Not enough to bruise her, but enough to tighten her attention on him. On the sound of his steady, unaffected breathing. On her pounding heartbeat.

To make her wetter. Needier.

“You’re too focused on your vulnerability,” he crooned, massaging her burning flesh with gentle fingertips. “It was a gift you promised me when I claimed you, but you’ve never really given it, have you? But I’ve kept my promise to you. To cherish you . . . treasure you . . . to keep you safe.”

“Your life is dangerous, Max. You’re dangerous. That’s part of the package.”

“Are you still arguing with me, kitten?”

She tensed, but he switched his game on her. From pain to pleasure. His clever fingers gliding over her exposed pu**y. She shivered as sensation darted through her, tightening her skin. A gasp escaped her as he rubbed her clit, circling over it with featherlight pressure.

“Such a pretty cunt,” he murmured, his breath hot against her glistening folds. His tongue teased her, rimming the opening to her sex. “Soft and tight and creamy. I’m going to f**k it hard and have the most delicious orgasm inside it. I’m going to pump you full of thick, slick cum.”

“Yes. Max . . . please.”

He straightened and caught her hips, rolling her carefully to her back. She lay splayed before him, her ankles and wrists by her ears. “You won’t come.”