Page 11 of Complete Me

I brushed a kiss over her mouth, and she sighed. Her body softened against me despite her hesitance. “Sometimes you have to trust me.”

“I could say the same thing.” Clara buried her face into my shoulder. “I can handle it. Whatever it is. We said no secrets, remember?”

We had. I promised her that I was through keeping secrets from her, and then I’d proceeded to keep them anyway. Not because I didn’t trust her, but because I loved her. If only she could see that. I had to make her understand. “My only concern is with protecting you.”

Clara stayed silent and I could see her struggling with how to respond. I suspected the reason I’d gotten away with my past indiscretions had a lot to do with her knowing exactly why I had made the choices I did. Her life had been threatened on more than one occasion. It was a fact that I couldn’t live with.

“I’m stronger than you think,” she said at last. “I can handle it.”

“If you only knew.” I laughed under my breath. “If you had any idea how much I struggle with my need to protect you.”

“Show me. Let me in. Take what you need from me.” She stroked her hand down the side of my face.

It was an offer that I found difficult to refuse. Since the moment I’d met Clara, I’d felt compelled to watch over her. But not simply to just protect her. I wanted to claim her—own her. I’d longed to take that lovely creature and spirit her away where I would be the only one to ever touch her. She would be safe with me, and she would be mine. I tore my gaze from her and the temptation she was unknowingly dangling over me. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

She caught my face and held it steady. “I am yours. All of me. Take what you need, and nothing less.”

“Clara.” I swallowed against the longing building inside me. I had to put a stop to this. “I could never.”

“You can. I’m asking you to. Whatever it takes. I don’t want anything between us. Show me.”

Her words vanquished my resistance, and I slid my arms around her. Lifting her into my arms as I stood, I carried her toward our bedroom. Clara exhaled contentedly as I laid her across our bed and plucked open the sash of her robe. It fell open to reveal the luscious curves of her body. I took a step back and surveyed my prize. On another night I would take her right then and there. My cock throbbed as if to second this plan, but I ignored it. I always needed her body. I always wanted it. Tonight, I demanded her freedom.

“Take it off,” I commanded her.

Clara wriggled under my watchful gaze until she shrugged the robe from her shoulders. Reaching down, I slid it free from her until it was only her, stripped to nothing for me. She waited, her breath speeding up with expectation. When I moved away from the bed, she remained still. Clara enjoyed it when we played, so when I went to the closet, she made no effort to stop me. At the far end of the walk-in an antique armoire waited ominously. I kept the key with me at all times in an effort to prevent a curious maid from discovering its contents. Opening the black lacquer door, I found what I was looking for immediately. I chose the white, silk rope because it seemed fitting given that I had deprived Clara of her robe. While I loved the sight of red bindings on my wife’s fair skin, tonight I wanted the innocence. Despite my tastes, there was a purity to Clara that even my darkness couldn’t touch.

I reappeared over her with the rope and surprise flashed over her eyes. Perhaps she thought this was a game. Or a test. I saw it for what it was—for what she had given me. An offering. At times, she forgot what I was. I would remind her of that. I was the predator.

Clara held out her wrists, crossed in supplication. I uncrossed them, meeting her eyes as I took one firmly. She didn’t pull away as my grip tightened. This part I would do slowly if only to grant her a second chance. I kept my gaze locked to hers and wondered if she saw the darkness of my thoughts. Leaning down, I found her ankle and urged her leg up. She bent it willingly, even as I brought her wrist to her calf. Then I began to work, looping and tucking until her arm and leg were tied tightly to one another. I repeated the action on the other side. When I was done her legs were spread and bound, displaying the pretty pink gash of her cunt. Her knees pressed into the soft mounds of her breasts, her nipples peeking from above. I wanted to take them in my mouth and suck until she came, but this wasn’t about pleasure. She licked her lips, her eyes hooding with want.

“This is what I want, poppet,” I murmured. I drew my hand through the air over her naked sex, just enough to stir the air so that she would squirm against her restraints. “I want you helpless to my control. I want to tie you up and lock you away.”

“X,” she whispered, her eyes widening as she began to piece together what I was saying.

“Shh,” I hushed her. “I want you to be mine. I want you to do as I say. Right now you’ll do anything I ask, won’t you?”

She swallowed, managing to move her head enough for a slight nod.

“All I want is to know that you’re here.” I didn’t wait for my words to sink in before I turned and left her there. Shutting the bedroom door behind me, I walked back to my study and poured myself a bourbon. It should make me feel like a monster for leaving her like that, but instead I took pleasure in it. Some of the weight I’d carried with me since we met had lifted from my shoulders. I took my responsibility for Clara seriously. Since I’d accidentally dragged her into my life, I’d worried for her safety every moment she wasn’t in my sight. I was a modern enough man to know that I couldn’t reasonably expect my wife to be near me at all times. Even when we were home, her absence from presence needled me. Now there was no question what she was doing or who she was with. I had never known real freedom in my life , and I hated that I savored taking hers now.

I sipped my drink slowly. It burned down my throat. Clara was a wild thing that allowed me to tame her at her pleasure. I had pushed her past her comfort levels before. In every case, she had asked it of me. But that didn’t mean she understood when I crossed the line. I had no idea what to expect when I went back to her this evening. She had told me to take what I needed from her, and I had done it. Too often people in my life offered me lip service without devotion. My wife served my pleasure in my bed and I always rewarded her trust. But there had always been the promise of limits coloring our intimacy. I’d abandoned that. Draining the last of my glass, I stood and left it on the table. I paused and listened at the door. No sound came from within. I opened it a crack and caught sight of her on the bed. I had no idea if it had been minutes or hours. I only knew that enough time had passed to call me back to her. My heart pounded in my chest and I strode toward her.

She didn’t speak when I reached her. Her eyes were closed but I spotted two dried trails of tears. I undid my cuff links as I waited. She didn’t open her eyes. I left them on the nightstand and began to undo the buttons on my shirt. I’d taken off all of my clothes before her lashes fluttered. When our eyes met, they were full—of tears, of accusations, of need.

“I’m here now,” I said in a soft voice. There was no way to be sure she would find that comforting, but it was all I had to offer. I took a step closer, careful not touch her. “You know what to say.”

Given the hurt shining in her eyes, I knew she needed to be reminded that one word would stop all of this., When her mouth opened she said something I didn’t expect. “Please.”

My fists clenched into balls as the request processed. My hand dropped to cup the mound of her sex and she moaned. I felt my balls constrict at the sensation of wet heat. Clara tried to push against my touch as if she was desperate for more, but I wouldn’t take her this way. I’d always rewarded her trust and tonight would be no exception. Stooping, I undid her bindings and took care to rub the indentations the rope had left in her soft flesh. When she was free and I had massaged away any lingering discomfort, I helped her into a sitting position. Seating myself beside her, I waited. She moved like her limbs were foreign objects until slowly she lowered her body onto my lap. I drew her legs around my waist, encouraging my dick to sink deeper. Clara’s breath caught as I impaled her and she released it with a strangled cry as I took her hips and gently rocked her. She stared at me, her expression unreadable, and as we climbed together, she brought her hands to my face to trace the curves of my jawline and my brow. Then she kissed me deeply. She was my air and I released her hips, clutching her body to mine. I would never let her go. I couldn’t.

“I love you,” I groaned when the kiss broke. Clara’s eyes stayed trained on mine, and as I felt the first spasm of pleasure grip my cock, I saw sadness wash over her. We rode out our climax together, but I refused to relinquish her when the waves subsided. She pulled against my hold and I loosened my grip, but only enough to allow her to draw back. She slapped me with a force that vibrated across my cheek.

Shoving me to the mattress, she extricated her body from mine and backed away. “Don’t ever touch me again.”

“Clara.” I sat up, alarmed. Every ounce of me wanted to go to her and hold her while she raged and sobbed. Whatever it would take, I would give—just as she’d given me my darkest fantasy. But I stayed still. Right now the best thing I could do was listen and hear what she was saying. “Clara, I—”

“Don’t bother,” she advised me, her voice rich with warning. “I asked for it, didn’t I? So that made it okay?”