“Please, Alex,” I whimper. I need his closeness, if nothing else. Letting him do this means I’ll have chosen a man, and he’s chosen me, too.
He stills.
“I’d rather take my time.”
We don’t have time. Each precious second that ticks by puts me in greater danger of discovery and humiliation.
“I can’t stay all night. I must go, and soon. If you don’t take me now…” I trail off, letting him fill in the blank. He’s confused enough to be wary despite the way his cock burns against my inner thigh.
“You know what to say to appeal to a man’s ego.”
He tips his hips forward to bring the blunt head into contact with my sex. I brace, waiting for the pain.
“Relax, princess.”
“I can’t.”
“You said you wanted this.”
“I do. It’s only that you’re very large, and it will hurt.”
“Sunshine.” He cradles my face between his palms. I wiggle, trying to impale myself on him, but I’m so wet I slip off him instead. “You have my word. The man who hurt you will die. Painfully. Slowly. Soon.”
“That isn’t what I want.”
If I never have to think about what Tremaine did to me again, it will be too soon. I certainly don’t want to be reminded of it now. No matter how much I enjoy his feral protectiveness. Tonight is a game. Nothing is real. We are strangers lying to one another and with one another, pretending this fire won’t burn us both to ash. Lying to ourselves, most of all.
Yet I want to believe him.
“I will not hurt you,” he declares fiercely. “You shall have nothing but pleasure from me.”
He thrusts without ceremony. Pain tears through me. Every muscle in my body tenses at once. Blindly, I stare at the ceiling, gripping his shoulders with my nails. It takes all my strength to breathe.
11
ALISTAIR
Pleasure coursesdown my cock and takes root at the base of my spine. By the gods, Elsie is so fuckingtight. She makes my eyes roll back in my head. She steals my breath. My soul.
But as good as she feels, something is not right. She’s stiff. Not meeting me halfway. I’m so carried away on a tide of need that by the time it registers, I’ve already spent.
That was….
Utterly humiliating.
Breathing hard, I pull back. Elsie, the warm, engaging woman I’ve spent the evening with, is not there. I snap my fingers in her face. Her bright eyes lock on mine, glassy with terror.
“I have to go.”
She shoves me away with both gloved hands on my shoulders and surprising strength.
“Now?” I sputter.
“Yes. Now.”
“Wait.”
“I can’t wait.” She won’t look at me. Her spine is stiff and her movements jerky. Her gorgeous breasts, now tucked back into their silk prisons, rise and fall with rapid breaths. She’s about as calm as a spooked filly.
