I rolled my eyes. “Ex-wife calls and needs help with something? Is this what I should expect? You’ll drop everything to run to her? Because if that’s what I should expect, then I don’t know if I can fucking do this, Reed. I deserve more than this. And so does Penn.” My nose stung, and tears sprang to my eyes. I don’t know if I was ready to hear what he had to say, either. Maybe I was preventing the inevitable heartbreak now, but I needed to know, and he needed to know exactly where I stood.
“You absolutely deserve more than this.” Reed’s voice lowered an octave. He devoured the distance between us, again wrapping his hand around my neck, his fingers putting slight pressure on my throat, walking us backward again until my back hit the hitching post. “You deserve everything you could possibly wish for—and more.”
His palms then trailed down my neck, over my collarbone and shoulders, down my arms, my skin prickling under his touch.
“What do you think I wish for?” I jutted out my chin, my voice breathy, yet demanding.
“I know you, Lina. I see all those emotions swirling behind those big, brown eyes. You need release, an outlet to surrender them all to. I can give you that, if that’s what you need right now.”
31
lina
Igulped. My blood heated. A flush traveled over my skin until my pussy was pulsing. “You think I trust you enough for that?”
“I think you want to. Do you trust me not to push you past any boundary you’re not willing to cross?” His fingers intertwined with mine, raising them at our sides until he could spread my arms across the hitching post. He stepped between my legs, letting his thigh press against my center. I involuntarily rocked forward, the slit of my dress inching up just enough for him to see the thong underneath.
“Fuck, Lina. I want to touch you so badly.”
“Fuck you, Reed. I’m pissed at you.” My eyes pierced into his. And I hoped it was the death glare I imagined it to be.
“I know, sweetheart. I’m a fucking asshole.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“I need you to hear me. You have to see what you do to me. I can’t stay away from you, sweetheart. You can be pissed off at me as much as you want, but I need you.”
“You fucked up.”
“Yeah, I did. It will never happen again.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I will never lie to you, Lina. I promise. Please, let me touch you. Let me show you. And if you need to fuck me like you hate me, I’ll give you that, too.”
My hands involuntarily balled with his. Fuck, I wanted him so badly. The tension was like an inferno inside me, ready to explode, and I needed the release. But I loved him so much, my heart was aching. I could easily hate-fuck him right now, but there was no way for me to protect my heart in this.
“Fuck me,” I said through gritted teeth. “I can’t stand here and not let you touch me, Reed. This is just too much. Too much anger. Too much hurt. Too much love. It needs to go somewhere.”
“Then let me help you, sweetheart.”
I raised my chin in near defiance, tipping it slightly in a brief nod.
“Thank fuck. Keep your arms there, baby, so I can feel you.” I did as he said, arching off the beam of the hitching post toward every place his hands traveled. “All of you.” Over my breasts, the curve of my stomach, my hips, until he reached my panties beneath my dress. His fingertips dragged along the edge, dipping ever so slightly beneath.
“Reed.” I whispered his name as if he were my god.
“Getting mad at me makes you wet, doesn’t it? Is it the fact that I’ll have to make it up to you? Or is it the thought of me taking control?” His voice was husky in my ear, each word like a caress over my clit.
“Yes. Yes to fucking all of that.”
“How am I going to keep you from touching me? How am I going to keep you from falling when I fuck you?” His large hands continued their perusal over my body, reaching back up to my arms.
He spotted the rope hanging on the end of the post, a slow smirk breaking across his face. His eyes caught mine, black inthe night, yet bright as if a fire brewed behind them. “I’m going to ask you again. Do you trust me, sweetheart? You need to tell me now because I don’t think I can stop otherwise. I want you too fucking bad.”
My breath hitched as he gathered the rope up in his hands.
“What do you want to do to me?”
