Page 55 of No Going Back

Guy was unrepentant. If he’d enjoyed putting them on, taking them off was going to be a delight for him and a bitch for her. “Ready?”

She nodded her consent.

He carried her to the St. Andrew’s Cross. Seven steps took him there, and with each one, the passionate lover retreated, displaced by the sadist with the stone-cold heart who needed to inflict pain. He set her down facing the cross, and buckled the attached cuffs around her wrists and ankles.

“You come only when I allow it and not before.”

She shuddered. Orgasm denial had never been a favourite of hers, which was why he’d liked to use it on her, just to warm her up. The sessions they’d had… She’d been sweet, sobbing perfection, and loved the impact play—harsh though it had been—as much as he did.

From his pocket, he took out the blindfold, then thought better of it and tossed it to one side. He’d been denied those incredible jade eyes for too long to hide them now. Not only that—he wanted to know exactly what he was doing to her and how far along the road to redemption they’d travelled at any given point.

He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, so the heel lay at the top of her spine. Immediately her breathing slowed. “I’m not going to touch your back,” he vowed, his voice rough with emotion. “That doesn’t mean I’ll show any leniency when it comes to your arse and thighs.”

“I didn’t think it would, Sire. I wouldn’t want you to.”

He stroked a path from her nape to the base of her spine, and with each scar he counted, he condemned the perpetrator to hell a thousand times over.

“Remember to safeword if you need to, otherwise this goes on until I’m satisfied you’ve got what you need from it—agreed?”

“But what about what you need? What if you need more?”

“You seriously think I’d beat you beyond your limits for my own satisfaction?” The reprimand was all in his tone.

“No, Sire. Please forgive me.” Her contrition was genuine.

“You’re forgiven—and that’s enough distraction.” He smacked her backside, and experienced a surge of pleasure as she hissed when her clamped nipples came into sudden contact with the cross.

That pain would still have been stinging her flesh when he took the strap to her buttocks. The first crack was like a gunshot and the impact lifted her onto her toes, as if she were a complete beginner.

“I’ve only just started, pet. You can do better than that.”

“I’m sorry, Sire. With respect, it’s been a while.”

The second crack laid a pleasingly pink stripe just below the first. Before the third landed, the years melted away. For the first time since he’d lost the woman who was his life, Guy truly embraced the darkness within him. Liz had been reborn as Maddie, a thrilling, shining phoenix risen from the ashes of their shared past, and now he could soar with her once more.

After a couple more strokes, Guy set the strap to one side, using the task as an excuse to rest his hand at her waist and close the distance between them. He nuzzled the side of her neck and inhaled deeply. “Beautiful.”

She shivered, not through cold, but through apprehension. No doubt she was remembering the thrilling journey of discovery they’d made together. When she’d welcomed his need to dominate and control the pain she’d craved, he’d found his soul mate. The memories stirred his blood and revived the sense of possessiveness he’d developed shortly after meeting this woman for the first time.

He wrapped her braid in his fist and pulled, exposing her throat. Her pulse throbbed beneath her ear. Like a vampire in one of those god-awful films Ros had watched endlessly as a teenager, he yearned to sink his teeth into the tender curve of Maddie’s neck and shoulder. Then she’d be his for eternity.

He quirked an eyebrow. Maybe she’d like that, a different kind of role play to spice up their future games. For now, he settled for a few hard kisses and a warning nip before releasing her hair.

“I think it’s time we removed the clamps, don’t you?”

Her breath hissed when he released her nipples from their vicious traps, the pain so sharp her knees buckled. In a flash, Guy had his arm around her waist, pulling her back to support her with his body and keep her tender, abused flesh free of the cross. Respiration fast and shallow, she leaned into him, with a whispered expression of gratitude so faint he barely heard it.

“I’ve fantasised about having you here like this.” The slow movement of his hand over her abdomen anchored her close to the granite-hard erection that was giving him hell for his decision not to fuck her. “Wet and willing, eager for my cock in your cunt and your ass. You remember how it felt?”

“I remember, Sire.” Her breathless admission resonated with truth.

“And you remember what I used to do to get you that way?”

The corner of her mouth twitched with a hint of a smile. “Yes.”

Guy reached for the cane, a thin length of rattan with a black grip, and his favourite from his extensive collection. He wrapped his arm around Maddie’s waist and pulled into his body, so close she’d know exactly how much he wanted her. He stroked her cheek with the cane’s pommel.

She sucked in a breath and every muscle in her body tensed. “Please.”