“You weren’t enough for yourself, Violet. Being with me the way we were… I knew what you were destined to become.” His eyes roamed over her with approval. “I set you free to find yourself, but always with the intention that you’d come back to me. Do you believe I released you with no hope of return?”
If she touched him, if her hands so much as brushed against his chest, it was game over. It was the only reason she hadn’t shoved him out of her personal space. “Ibelievethe gist of the conversation was essentially that you wanted to fuck other women, other subs, because I no longer satisfied you after over a decade of loving you. My heart, my soul, everything I’d given to you and you alone… worthless trinkets you tossed in the trash.”
Blue and green merged together, darkening so swiftly, she almost stepped back from his palpable fury. Long, clever fingers deftly flicked open the buttons on his suit jacket until it spread wide, and he shrugged it off, throwing it aside, only to repeat it all again with his shirt.
She’d been right, Violet thought as the pale blue material parted to expose a sliver of solid chest no man of his age should possess. Tight, tanned skin stretched over firm muscle, his absdissected by the dark trail of hair leading to the waistband of his pants.
“Worthless trinkets?” he snarled, wrenching off the shirt completely. “I think not.”
Christ, what had he done? Sometime since she’d last seen him, he’d indulged in some ink, permanently marking that beautiful skin with… her. It wasn’t garish or ridiculous, overstated or foolish.
Twelve violets, each one the size of her thumbnail, were inked over his heart, making a bigger statement than she expected.
“One for each year you’ve enraptured me,” he continued, running a fingertip over the blossoms. “One for each year I’ve held yourtrinketssafe in my possession. Desperation and devotion drove me to ink them into my flesh while the woman I love, worship,adorespent two whole years living apart from me. I refuse to let another year pass without you by my side again, Bennie.”
“My name is notBennie.”
“You’ve been my Bennie since the day we met, there is no changing it now.” He lifted his hand to cup her cheek—she almost made a fatal mistake by slapping it aside, but caught herself and stepped back out of reach instead.
“If any part of you touches me, you will lose it, painfully,” she warned him.
One dark eyebrow arched in amusement, simultaneously reflected in his slow, unperturbed grin. “What are you scared of,chérie?Perhaps you remember what it felt like to writhe beneath my hands, hmmm? How you squirmed so prettily for me when my tongue licked your cunt until you came, squirting over my face like the Mardi Gras Fountain.”
The core of her went lax, readying for the pleasure she remembered all too damn well.
The trouble with Boudreaux was simple—he was all about pleasure, both giving and receiving. Sex was an artform, a journey of self-discovery, and he was the Master. She knew there was nothing he would balk at, no limit to how far he would push a sub if she let him, in the hunt for pleasure.
“How long has it been, Bennie, since a man put his mouth on you, worshipping this body the way it deserves?” He began to circle her, slowly closing the distance between them. “Since strong hands stroked over your skin, commanding your every move through touch alone?” His breath whispered over her hair as he leaned in to inhale her scent, then exhaled with satisfaction. “Since a cock ravaged your soft, wet cunt the way it likes?”
It was time to leave, she told herself. Beyond time—he knew all her buttons, how to push each one, the effect his voice had on her, and it was obvious he was here for one reason and one reason only. “That’s none of your business, Fontenot.”
“No? I wonder.” The heat of him surrounded her, bringing blood rushing beneath her skin. “I will be bold and guess you’ve been denying your desires for quite a while. I know you, Bennie,” he added in a seductive murmur, his lips almost brushing her ear. “This body is mine, is it not? I know when it is unsatisfied, even if your sour demeanor didn’t give you away.”
Violet bared her teeth. “Nothing of mine is yours, Boudreaux. Once you pull the trigger, there’s no putting the bullet back in the gun. I was yours in my entirety once—then you pulled the trigger and ended it.”
He stepped around her fluidly, the picture of grace and speed, and she found herself caught with her chin pinched between his thumb and forefinger, his eyes boring into hers with every inch of dominant possession he commanded. “I am yours; you are mine. Nothing will stop me from claiming what is mine and returning it to its rightful place by my side, Bennie.Nothing.”
Should’ve run, she thought again. Pride, wounded or not, be damned, she should have run when she had the chance.
“You forget consent,Sir.”
“Consent has never been an issue between us. In fact…” Calculation gleamed in his eyes as he released her chin and collared her throat instead. “Fuck consent, Bennie. Fuck it long, hard, and rough.”
“Don’t you dare—”
The bite of his fingers digging into her neck intensified, making her knees go weak. There wasn’t another soul in the universe who knew what turned her on, but Boudreaux… he’d written the goddamn playbook on her.
Despite the fact she had room to move, she didn’t. Not an inch. She was too well trained by his hand to step away, was already being consumed by the hunger he stirred inside her traitorous body. Still, she had enough willpower not to respond to the softest, sweetest brush of his lips across hers, not to moan for a deeper sample.
Damn him, why did his mouth have to be the same skillful tool? She’d always loved it, the shape of his lips, the firmness, the way it could arouse her with clever nibbles or devour her in one bite.
“Do you still have it,chérie?”
Her heart hitched, but she remained implacably unresponsive. Any word butyes, and he’d know she was lying; she refused to give him the satisfaction of confirming anything about herself. Holding herself perfectly immobile, she closed her eyes as he kissed the corners of her mouth.
Boudreaux chuckled. “Of course, you do. You can no more rid yourself of my mark than I can erase you from my heart, Bennie. We are forever, you and I. Two souls destined to belong to each other for eternity, no matter the struggles which befall us.”
The moment she opened her mouth to fire back a retort, he struck.
