AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Face the wall. Hands on the tile, legs apart. Then think about what I asked you.”
She turned and did what he asked. Except for having to tell him how much showing herself off in a wedding dress scared her—and she had no idea why. She wanted to bind herself to Richard in every way possible. Collared, married, if she could slip inside his skin, she’d do it. Yet, somehow, she kept hesitating to nail down a date. Something felt … unfinished.
Fabric rustled behind her. Then the trajectory of the water raining down on her changed. He’d stepped into the shower with her.
The slap on her ass was unexpected, yet not. “Thought enough yet?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You know what happens when you lie to me.” He rained hard whacks to her behind until she lost all sense of the water sluicing down her body. Her whole being focused on the fire rising on her ass. Her forehead rested on the tile, moans freely rising in her throat.
The heat and sting from his slaps raised a curious hope in her. Her lower back arched as her body ached for him to continue. She’d been here so many times—with Richard, with others before him. What lay on the other side of the pain was peace.
It’d always been that way with her. The rougher someone was, the more silence lay on the other side. And Richard knew that when she was wound up, scared, coming down from nightmares she couldn’t explain, she would find the words hedesperatelywanted from her only if she found that stillness inside her.
Desperately? No, he was never in that state. That was her domain.
He pressed his body against hers, his hard erection pressing into her back. “Tell me. Tell me everything.”
“I’m scared, and I don’t know why.”
His hand curled around her throat, her collar pressing into her skin. “Of me? Or this?”
Her head turned, her cheek meeting tile. “Never. I need you. This. I just don’t …”
“Don’t what, il mio tesoro?”
How could he treasure her when she didn’t feel she even had her own mind? “I don’t know what the truth is.”
A deep, rich murmur reverberated through her back. “Ah.” He spun her, her bruised ass meeting the slick tile. “Finally.” His finger traced down her cheek. “Now, we’re getting somewhere.”
His hands moved down her neck and shoulder to cup a breast as his thumb roughly swiped across her nipple. She gasped, a trickle of arousal slipping down her inner thigh despite the water hitting her side.
One side of his mouth tilted. Then his hand moved to cup her ass. With the other, he yanked one of her legs to curl around his leg. With a bend of his knees, he then lifted her up. Richard was a tall man. She often forgot his strength despite the muscles usually on display in his arms. He was so gentle with her.
At least until he wasn’t.
He pressed a kiss into her neck. “Now, feel me as I take you. Then, find the words.”
His thrust inside her was swift, brutal, and she’d have it no other way.
She let herself go soft, let herself get lost again. Only this type of lost was nothing but bliss.
“Who do you belong to?” he growled as his thrusts grew longer, harder.
She clutched at his back. “You.”
“And what does that mean?”
“You’ll always protect me.”
Then, he pitched into her as far as he’d ever gone. A cry left her throat as her nails dug into his skin. She wanted more,neededmore.
Then, maybe, she’d find the right words. She prayed she’d never have to utter certain ones, however. Like that her fear came from knowing he couldn’t protect her from everything. He couldn’t protect her from her own mind.
She watched him from the doorway. Richard didn’t need to glance over his shoulder to know she stood there.
The slightest rush of her breath, the rustle of her skin as she twisted her fingers—all things he could pick out over a jet engine if needed. His ears were so attuned to her.
