“Do you trust me?”
Suddenly, I freeze, staring at him in disbelief.
He walks around the bar, and turns me in my stool to face him, my thighs straddling his waist.
“I need your honesty,” he murmurs, cupping my face with his hand. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes. I don’t know how, but yes.”
He slowly leans down, hesitating, his lips mere inches from mine. “Good,” he breathes. “There will be no more easing you into this. You’re ready.”
My heart hammers as I place my hands on his chest, staring eagerly into his eyes.
“Ready for what?”
His hand travels up my spine to the back of my neck. “It’s time I show you who I truly am, without holding back.”
“Why?” I ask, taking advantage of my sudden burst of confidence. “You think you’ll scare me away?”
He fists my hair, and tugs firmly, locking me in place.
“I might,” he says.
Fighting through the burning sensation on my scalp, I hold my breath, and remain still.
“Why didn’t you show me before?” I softly ask.
“You didn’t trust me wholeheartedly.”
Tilting his head to the side, he studies my reaction, searching what seems to be every inch of my face. Loosening his grip on my hair, his eyes darken.
“Something’s changed in you,” he observes, twirling his fingers through the strands of my hair, and pulling tight.
Hard.
A hushed moan leaves my parted lips, and a state of serenity consumes me. The shooting pain at the back of my skull sends a rush of adrenaline through me, a longing for something darker.
And he knows.
Oh, he knows.
“Pain,” he bites out, watching me closely. “The one thing you once couldn’t bear, you now crave.”
My heart fucking sinks.
He’s right.
God, he’s right.
He couldn’t be more right.
“You need it,” he breathes, pulling even tighter.
Blinking back tears from the harsh sting, I take my bottom lip between my teeth in attempt to stifle my moans. My nipples strain against my bra, and my inner thighs have become slick. I’ve never been so wet in my life.
So desperate.
Needy.
