“Just starting?” he asked, carrying her swiftly past the arbor.
“They passed ‘starting’ after your friend turned the screw. Did you direct that too?”
“The clamps, yes. The tightness, no. That was all sadist, which we will discuss, believe me.”
He hurried down the shadowed walk beside the house, and up the narrow staircase to one of Devil’s guest rooms above the garage. The door clicked shut behind them. The room was simple—low lighting, soft sheets, a wide bed—but it felt like sanctuary.
“First things first,” he murmured, pressing her against the door. “These clamps are going to hurt coming off.”
“I’ve heard that,” she whispered. “Please, hurry.”
“Some things can’t be rushed,” he said, tracing a finger over one compressed tip. “Or you’ll suffer for it. Try to breathe through the pain. Here goes,” he announced.
The sudden rush of blood into her nipple triggered a sharp hiss, but he took it into his mouth, sucking gently until she softened against him.
“One more to go.”
“I’m ready,” she whispered.
The next one was as bad as the first, but his mouth and soft caresses made the flash of pain worth it.
When she could breathe again, he moved in for a kiss. She opened for him, tongue tangling with his. Her fingers buried in his hair, rubbing her body against his, inner muscles clamping down on the emptiness, yearning desperately to be filled by him.
Alec felt the same urgency.
“We’ll go slow next time,” he growled. “Right now, I have to be inside you.”
He pulled the straps down her legs. The butterfly clattered onto the floor as he tore open his fly. The condom delayed him only slightly. Then he lifted her, and, with her pinned to the door, drove up inside her.
His impressive size combined with the plug made it a snug fit, but the past hour had her primed and ready. After a few controlled glides—deeper each time—he seated himself fully.
His hands supported her bottom, his fingers flexing and squeezing, reigniting the heat of the spanks in the maze. Each upstroke nudged her clit, her tender nipples grazing his chest—pleasure and pain colliding.
He slid one hand between them, long fingers finding the swollen bud.
“I can’t hold off much longer,” she gasped, clinging to his neck.
“I don’t want you to,” he murmured huskily. “Come for me, Emily.”
His fingers worked her clit in rhythm with his driving cock and the shifting plug. Mindless to everything except the pleasure, she let out a keening wail as her body convulsed. After fighting off an impending climax for over an hour, she came.
Alec followed, growling as he thrust home, setting off another shuddering release that rippled through her.
She clung to him as the tremors passed, still hanging on when he gave her his weight, but only briefly. Then he carried her to bed.
“I think you’ve had enough of this,” he said, rolling her onto her side. He eased the plug out slowly, her body letting go with a soft pop.
He kissed the curve of her hip. “Be right back.”
Devoid of clamps, plugs, and tension, and replete with pleasure, she lay limp on the bed, listening to the water run. She was dozing when the mattress shifted. He slid in close, fit himself along her body, and covered them both with a sheet.
“You okay, beautiful?” he asked.
She twisted until her eyes met his. “I’m more than okay. I have my knight back.”
His hand curved around her jaw, guiding her into a kiss that left no questions, no doubts—only the quiet, overwhelming truth of him. Familiar. Certain. The place she’d always belonged.
When they broke for air and settled again, she whispered, “I love you so much, Alec.”
