A thrill raced down my spine as Callan stepped closer, forcing me to back up against the metal door. His eyes were dark with desire as he pressed his palms against the door on either side of my head, caging me in, before leaning down and drawing his lips along my jaw. I let out a shuddering breath as my eyes fluttered.
Part of me almost felt bad for him. Tomorrow morning, I was going to double-cross him so badly that he would never look at me with anything other than pure hatred ever again. And he had no idea.
The other part of me just wanted to experience, one last time, those intoxicating feelings that made my mind soar every time Callan coaxed pleas and pleasure from my trembling body.
As always, the selfish part of me won.
Reaching up, I grabbed the collar of his leather armor and yanked his mouth to mine. I stole furious kisses from his lips while my heart suddenly ached knowing that this would be the last time.
His hands dropped from the wall. One snaked around the back of my neck and gripped it firmly while his tongue explored my mouth. The other hand skimmed my breast before he slid it down my side and wrapped it around my back, drawing my body closer to his. There was something desperate about the way he pressed his honed body against mine. As if he too knew that this would be the last time.
Something in my heart twisted painfully, and I suddenly couldn’t handle the flood of emotions that rushed through my body when Callan held me as if I would float away and disappear from his life forever the moment he let go.
Planting my palms against his chest, I pushed him back and broke the string of violent kisses that threatened to shatter my soul.
He blinked several times as he looked down at me in surprise.
There were too many dangerous emotions in my chest that I didn’t want to examine. I just wanted something hard. Something that would make me feel alive.
“Make me beg,” I said, my voice coming out more breathless than I had anticipated. “After we save Henry, we’ll go back to trying to kill each other so this is your last chance to order me around. Use it.”
For a moment, something shuttered in his eyes. Then the expression disappeared and a wicked smirk slid home on his lips instead. “Oh I intend to.”
Backing up, he moved over to the chair by the wall and dropped down in it. Challenge danced across his features as he leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. I raised my eyebrows at him.
“You know what to do.” He jerked his chin at me. “Strip.”
My breath caught at the way his eyes seared into me. Holding his gaze, I drew my hands up my stomach. He tracked my movements. When I reached my breasts, I bit my lip as I drew my hands over their curves.
A shiver coursed through Callan’s body.
With a satisfied smile on my lips, I unlaced the silk strings at the front of my dress and then reached up to push the dark garment off my shoulders. The embroidered sleeves slid down my arms. Callan sat forward slightly.
The dress reached the point where there was nothing left to hold it up, and it fluttered down to the stone floor around my ankles. Callan’s gaze seemed to burn its way into my skin as he drank in the sight of me. Goosebumps prickled my arms at the intensity of his stare.
Drawing my hands up my back, I undid the fastenings on my brassiere and let it fall to the floor as well. My heart pattered against my ribs as I watched every twitch of Callan’s body when I traced my fingers over my stomach and down towards my panties. While holding his gaze, I started slowly pushing the dark fabric down my thighs.
Callan squeezed his hands into fists.
I swayed my hips slightly as I took my time shimmying out of that final piece of clothing. When they at last rested on the floor around my ankles, I stepped out of them. Callan licked his lips.
After flashing him a smug smile, I bent over and started on my shoes. My hair fell down over my face like a dark curtain while I maneuvered them off my feet and placed them on the floor next to my clothes.
A small gasp ripped from my lips as I straightened.
Callan had gotten up from the chair and was standing only a breath away. Reaching out, he traced his fingers over my cheek before pushing my hair back over my shoulder and hooking it behind my ear. A shudder rolled through me.
For a moment, it looked like he was going to kiss me again. But in the end, he just stepped back and jerked his chin towards the other side of the room.
“Follow me,” he ordered.
The stones were cold beneath my feet as I followed him towards a corner at the back of the room. His broad shoulders blocked my view of it as he stopped, but something made of wood clanked as if he was adjusting some part of it.
When he at last stepped aside, my heart skipped a beat.
“Bend over,” he commanded.
I stared at the wooden stockade in front of me. A rush of excitement whirled through my body. Was I really doing this? But I knew that Callan would stop if I told him to, so there really was no risk. And I was very curious.
He closed the distance between us. Drawing light fingers along my jaw, he leaned down and kissed the crook of my neck. Another pleasant shiver racked my body. He smiled against my skin.
“What’s the matter?” he teased. “Don’t you trust me?”
“No.”
It wasn’t true. While I didn’t trust him in any other situations, I did trust him in this. And I was pretty sure that he knew that too by now.
His dark laugh caressed my neck. “Smart girl.” Straightening again, he flashed me a smirk that confirmed my suspicions, and then jerked his chin towards the wooden contraption. “Now, bend over.”
I brushed my hand against his cock as I moved past him. It was already hard and straining against his pants. With smug satisfaction blooming inside me, I placed my wrists in the small depressions before bending over and positioning my neck against the smooth wood as well.
A moment later, another wooden bar appeared above me, trapping my head and my hands in its premade holes. Callan had lowered the stockade so that my upper body was completely horizontal while my feet remained firmly on the stone floor. I tried to raise my head again, but the top bar had been locked in place.
My heart pounded in my chest.
From my position, I couldn’t see anything other than the dark wall before me. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t decide what would happen next. All I could do was wait.
It was such an addictive feeling. Temporarily handing over control to someone else. I always decided everything. But not right now. Right now, Callan held all the power. And just the thought of that made my core throb.
I sucked in a sharp breath as cold steel appeared against my skin. It was put in stark contrast against Callan’s warm hand as he gripped my hip, holding me steady, while he began tracing what felt like the point of a blade down my spine. Dark desire pooled at my center.
A moan escaped my lips as he reached the small of my back. He drew his other hand down from my hip and towards my thigh while the knife moved towards my ass. My heart slammed against my ribs.
Lightning skittered over my skin with every touch of the blade. I felt… alive. Like my whole body was hyperaware of everything around me.
A thrill raced up my spine as Callan’s fingers brushed the inside of my thigh, making their way higher, while he traced the curve of my ass with the knife. I sucked in a ragged breath and arched my back.
His hand shot up and tightened on my hip instead.
“What have I told you about moving when I have a knife against your skin?” he demanded, his voice rough.
The blade disappeared.
And so did the pleasure that had been building inside me. Pulling against the wooden restraints in frustration, I blew out a disappointed breath.
He let out a dark chuckle. “That’s what happens when you don’t obey.”
“Callan…” I growled.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
That nickname yanked at something inside my chest. But instead of trying to figure out what or why, I blocked it out and snapped, “Fuck me.”
For a moment, only silence answered me as he paused. Then his strong hands appeared on my hips. “With pleasure.”
Any inconvenient thoughts were swept out of my head as Callan placed his boot against the inside of my foot and forced my leg to the side, widening my stance, while his hands trailed downwards. I drew in a shuddering breath as his fingers traced circles over the inside of my thighs.
A tremor coursed through me as his knuckles brushed against my pussy.
“Already wet, huh?” he coaxed.
Before I could answer, he rubbed his fingers over my clit. A needy moan tore from my throat. I pulled against the contraption keeping my head and wrists trapped as I tried to push my body harder against his. Callan just continued tracing lazy arcs around my pulsing clit, building the pleasure inside me little by little until I almost begged him to let me come.
Just when I thought he might actually push me over the edge, he withdrew his hand completely. I tried to blink my eyes back into focus, and was just about to protest, when he took a firm grip on my hips instead.
His cock brushed against my entrance as he lifted my hips until I balanced on my toes. After positioning his hard length against my pussy, he pushed inside. A groan rolled off my tongue. I clenched and unclenched my hands as he drew back before sliding in again.
“Harder,” I demanded.
He picked up the pace. Pleasure built inside me once more. But it wasn’t enough.
“I said, harder,” I snapped.
A gasp ripped from my mouth as he shoved into me. Keeping his firm grip on my hips, he thrust his cock inside me with savage strength.
There was too much frustration inside me. Too many confusing thoughts and feelings. And I wanted him to fuck them all out of my head.
The stockade rattled as he slammed into me over and over again, making my body jerk back and forth. Release drew closer. He continued pounding into me.
Moans spilled from my lips as I savored the feeling of him inside me. The feeling of being bent over and trapped and completely at his mercy while he pounded into me and fed the burning desire in my soul.
He drew one hand from my hip and down between my legs. Right as he shoved into me again, he rolled my clit between his fingers.
Pleasure crackled through my veins.
I sucked in a strangled breath as my pussy clamped down around his thick cock while he continued thrusting his hips. It drew a groan from his throat, and his hand tightened on my hip.
My pussy throbbed with pleasure as he kept swirling his fingers over my clit and slam his cock into me.
“Callan,” I gasped, breathless.
He came.
Our dark moans danced and mingled in the air as release coursed through both our bodies. My heart pounded in my chest. Squeezing my hands into fists, I sucked in deep breaths as the final tremors of my orgasm washed through my limbs.
At last, Callan pulled out.
The sudden loss of his body against mine was almost jarring.
Then he leaned down over me and placed a gentle kiss on my back. A small whimper escaped my lips.
A moment later, the wooden bar above me disappeared. I straightened.
My cheeks were flushed and I felt almost disoriented as I blinked at the room before me. Callan finished buttoning his pants again before looking up at me. For a few seconds, we just stared at each other. Was this it?
As if he could read the thought in my eyes, he flashed me a sly smile while advancing on me. “Oh, I’m not done with you yet.”
Relief blew through me as I let him back me up against the wall. It was ridiculous, I knew that. But I wanted to savor this last moment a little longer.
Metallic clanking filled the room as Callan reached out and grabbed one of the chains that had been bolted to the wall. Leaning forward, he kissed his way down my neck and over my shoulders while he spread my arms, one at a time, and locked them in the manacles. Then he stepped back, admiring his work.
The stone wall was cool against my skin as I leaned back against it and tilted my chin up so that I could meet Callan’s gaze again. His eyes raked over my curves, as if committing every detail to memory.
“So?” I said, giving him an expectant look. “Are you just going to stand there or what?”
He touched his palms together. Vibrating force magic spread across his fingers as he closed the distance between us again. “Always so impatient.”
“Well, you—”
His hand cupped my pussy, sending magic pulsing straight against it. The rest of my sentence was lost as I sucked in a gasp and wiggled my hips.
Callan slanted his mouth over mine. “You were saying?”
Using his other hand, he trailed gentle fingers up the side of my ribs. Since my arms were spread wide at my sides, it left a lot of sensitive spots unprotected, and the soft touch tickled my skin. He kissed the corner of my mouth.
“You still haven’t begged,” he breathed against my lips. “Or apologized for moving while I traced a knife over your body.”
Before I could answer, he shifted his hand so that his fingers pressed directly against my clit. A moan rolled from my tongue. His other hand skimmed the curve of my tit. I yanked against the manacles as my pussy throbbed with need again.
“But if you beg my forgiveness for not following orders, I might let you come again,” he finished in a dark whisper.
Pleasure rose inside me, but the vibrations weren’t strong enough for what I needed. I tried to push my pussy harder against his fingers, but he only shifted them away to keep the same distance. Stomping my foot against the floor, I let out a groan of frustration.
“Beg,” Callan coaxed.
The fingers of his other hand traced lazy circles around my nipple. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to will another orgasm into existence on my own.
Callan gripped my nipple and twisted it hard.
I gasped into his mouth.
The vibrations increased slightly in strength, and pleasure coursed through my body. Another moan fell from my lips. Callan kissed the crook of my neck, drawing another shiver from me. I yanked hard against the chains again. My body screamed for release, but it never came.
“Alright,” I pressed out.
He drew his hand from my tit and up my throat before taking my chin in a firm grip. “Eyes on me.”
I had to blink several times before his handsome face came into view.
A wicked smile curled his lips. “I want you to look at me when you beg.”
My mind was starting to unravel from the pent-up desire trapped inside me, but I kept my eyes locked on Callan’s as I sucked in a deep breath.
“Now, beg my forgiveness,” he ordered.
“Forgive me.”
The strength of the vibrations increased. I gasped in relief. Then it leveled out and the building release never reached the edge. A pitiful moan slipped my lips.
“For what?”
Holding his gaze, I tried to remember what I was supposed to be saying. It was something about a knife. Or not doing something…
My eyes fluttered before I could get them back into focus again. My whole body throbbed with need and I pulled against my restraints while I tried to get my brain to work properly.
“For what?” he growled against my lips.
“For not following orders.” The words tumbled out of my mouth in a mad rush as I finally remembered what he wanted me to say.
He shifted his fingers to the exact right spot and upped the strength of his magic. Power pulsed against my clit. The building desire inside me soared to dizzying heights.
Callan brushed a kiss against my lips. “Good girl.”
Pleasure exploded through my soul.
My arms shook and my knees buckled as the orgasm swept through my limbs. Callan’s hand shot down from my chin and wrapped around my back instead, keeping me upright while I came.
Heat flooded my cheeks and my heart pounded against my ribs. Leaning forward, I braced my weight against Callan’s solid form while the final tremors crackled through my body.
When he let his force magic fade out, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to stand on my own any longer. Thankfully, he kept his arm around my back in a warm and steady embrace. I let out a small contented moan.
He abruptly stepped back, as if changing his mind. I swayed slightly as he transferred my weight to the wall behind me instead before he moved back farther. Clearing his throat, he raked a hand through his hair as if suddenly remembering himself. My own mind still felt like it was floating around with the clouds, so I was having trouble processing what that meant.
Resting my back against the stone wall, I let it cool my heated skin instead while I waited for Callan to unlock my restraints.
He didn’t. Instead, he went to retrieve my underwear. I frowned at him in surprise as he guided my legs into the holes before pulling my panties up. My chest still heaved while he fastened the strapless brassiere over my tits again.
“If you unlock the manacles, I can get dressed on my own,” I said when I had at last caught my breath.
“I know. But if I unlock them right now, you’ll fall over without their support.”
Since I was too exhausted to argue, I just rested my head against the wall and blew out another deep breath while Callan drifted over to one of the tables by the wall. My legs felt weak and I had to admit that I wasn’t sure if they would support me if I stepped away from the wall.
Metal clanked faintly as Callan moved some objects around.
“Let me know when you’re ready,” he said without turning to look at me.
I sucked in a few more deep breaths before I transferred all of my weight back to my legs. They didn’t buckle. I pulled at the chains so that they rattled against the stone.
“Now,” I said.
Callan turned around and met my gaze. “Well then, I guess it’s time to get you ready for tomorrow.”
Confusion rippled through me. Tomorrow? Getting my mind to work properly again felt like jogging in mud. What were we supposed to do tomorrow again? Oh, right, we were going to Malcolm’s mansion to do the exchange.
I dragged my gaze down to the item in Callan’s hands.
It was a collar. A metal collar.
My eyes widened.
“Don’t you dare.”
