“Okay?” Ronan managed to ask through gritted teeth. I could see the sweat dotting his brow and I knew he was struggling just as much as I was. But while I was trying to accommodate the newness of what was happening to me, he was struggling to make sure all I felt was perfection.
He shifted just as I was about to answer and the move had him sliding deeper inside of me. Right after the burning sensation was a flash of something so raw and pleasurable that I actually tried to drive my hips forward onto him just so I could feel it again. “Please, Ronan, more,” I begged, barely recognizing the keening tone coming from my lips.
As I jammed my hips up again, Ronan let out a loud curse and then he pushed forward until he bottomed out inside me. I swallowed hard at the rush of near pain that came over me but just knowing that I was finally joined with Ronan in this way was enough for me to ignore the sting that was firing through my ass. I expected Ronan to start moving at that point but he surprised me by leaning over and crushing his lips down on mine. As he kissed me, I felt his cock pulsing and throbbing inside of me and I cursed the latex barrier that was keeping every part of him from me.
Ronan was still kissing me when he began pulling out before gently sliding back in and I gasped against his mouth as a delicious sensation swept through me. Another thrust had me giving up on trying to kiss Ronan back and I guessed he could tell because his lips settled against my cheek as he increased the pace. The pleasure began to spike with every roll of his hips against mine and for the first time, I began to fear that I wouldn’t be able to keep back the words my heart wanted me to call out as Ronan loved me. Hisabdomen was pressed against my now rock hard cock and every time he slid forward, I tried to press up against him to increase the sensation. Ronan must have sensed my need because I felt his hand slip between our bodies a second later and then he was jerking me off as his body began to ram into mine. I struggled against my bonds because I wanted nothing more in that moment than to wrap myself around him completely, but there was no give whatsoever so the only thing I could do was wrap my legs around him in a vain effort to keep him as close to me as possible. And then my mouth was searching out his because I knew the only way I could make him understand what I was feeling was through the few ways I was permitted to touch him.
Ronan kissed me back but the kisses were short and jerky because we were both panting too hard to do any different. I felt my balls drawing up tight against my body but I couldn’t find the oxygen I needed to tell him how close I was. But it didn’t matter because his hand on my dick increased its pace and his cock was slinging in and out of me without reservation. Our sweat-slickened bodies rocked against each other over and over and when I was certain I couldn’t take any more, my body gave in to its need and fire shot up my spine and radiated out to all of my limbs. I cried out against Ronan’s mouth and closed my eyes as the climax threatened to steal my consciousness away. Ronan’s hoarse shout followed a moment later and then I felt his free hand grab onto the belt where it was looped around my wrists. His grip on the restraints bordered on painful as he humped into me over and over but then to my surprise, he released his hold on the belt and closed his fingers over one of my hands. It was the most natural thing for me to separate my fingers just slightly but I couldn’t contain the emotion that flooded through me when his fingers linked with mine.
The tears came without warning but I was powerless to stop them. But Ronan said nothing and he didn’t pull away in disgust. He simply held my hand and then he began kissing the tears away one by one.
Wakingup alone wasn’t a surprise since I’d felt Ronan get out of bed within minutes of him untying me. I hadn’t been disappointed at first because he’d returned within a minute with a warm washcloth and he’d gently cleaned the come off my stomach and the residual lube that had clung to me. But instead of climbing into bed next to me after he’d drawn the covers over me, he’d left and I’d lain there hoping against hope that he was just going to get something to drink or to check to make sure the house was locked up for the night. As the minutes passed though, the same feeling of abandonment I’d felt after he’d walked out on me three years earlier came over me and the tears that had started to fall had nothing to do with the joy of finally being made love to by the man who’d been my entire world for so long.
I managed to lift my head long enough to check the time on the nightstand clock and was shocked to see it was well after eleven a.m. I wasn’t particularly hungry but my tired body had other needs so I forced myself to sit up. The slight sting in my ass was both good and bad. I’d finally had the night I’d always dreamed of and even though I hadn’t been able to touch Ronan the way I wanted to, the way he’d loved me had felt real. It was something I hadn’t had in a really long time. But I was going to pay for it because I’d had a taste of perfection but it was just that…a taste.
My legs felt shaky as I got out of bed and I took my time making my way to my own room. As I was leaving the room, my heart stopped when I noticed that the chair Ronan had been using as a luggage holder was empty. Not only were his clothes gone but his bag was too. I forced myself to go to the closet but couldn’t bring myself to actually open it so I left the room. I just needed a few more minutes of pretending. I needed to remember last night for what it was, not for what it wasn’t.
As I neared the kitchen, Bullet trotted out of it to greet me but just as promptly turned around and ran back into it, his tail wagging happily. A ridiculous surge of hope speared through my chest and I quickened my pace.
But the man sitting at the kitchen table wasn’t Ronan.
Chapter 11
Ronan
“What the helldo you mean, he locked you out?” I snarled at Hawke who was casually leaning against the side of his car.
“It means he locked all the doors-”
“Fuck off,” I snapped, cutting an amused Hawke off. He was checking something on his phone and I wanted more than anything to rip it out of his hand and throw it across the driveway but I knew better. As relaxed and laid back as Hawke looked, I knew it was just an illusion because in reality, he was brutally lethal and pissing him off for any reason was something only a man with a death wish would do.
I forced myself to step away from him and began pacing the small portion of the driveway on the outside of the heavy iron gate that hadn’t opened when I’d punched the code into the keypad. Bullet was sitting on the other side, his big tail thumping heavily against the ground as he whined. I put my hand through the bars to give him a pat and then he dropped to the ground and watched me in solemn silence. Like he was wondering how I’d ended up on the wrong side of the fence.
“What happened?” I finally managed to ask in a steady voice.
Hawke glanced up at me and then stopped fiddling with hisphone and tucked it into his pocket before crossing his arms. Michael Hawkins wasn’t a huge guy but something about the way he carried himself always made him seem bigger than he was. He stood an inch or two shorter than me but there was nothing average about him. Despite the cool weather, he was wearing a black T-shirt that stretched across his broad chest and did nothing to hide his bulging biceps, both of which were covered in tattoos. Even though he’d long ago left the army, he kept his hair in the traditional buzz cut the military favored. His flinty blue eyes watched me as I tried to use constant movement to work out my growing frustration – it was a behavior I’d long ago managed to curb but had struggled with more and more in the past few weeks. Of all the men in my employ, Hawke was the only one I would ever allow to see me like this…because he’d seen me even worse.
“He came downstairs a few hours after you left. I told him you asked me to keep an eye on things for a bit.”
“What did he say?” I interrupted. God, I sounded like a high school girl pumping her best friend for information.
“Not much. He made himself a cup of coffee, refilled mine and then asked me to leave when I was finished. I told him that that wasn’t an option.”
“Did you tell him I texted him about why I had to leave?”
Hawke tilted his head at me. “Yeah. That went over real well, by the way. A fucking text, Ronan? Jesus, what are you, twelve?”
I ground my teeth together in frustration because I didn’t have a reasonable comeback for the jab. I’d taken the coward’s way out from the moment I’d released Seth from the restraints. I’d barely managed to do the right thing by cleaning him up and getting him settled under the comforter before the desperate need to run had overtaken me.
I’d made a terrible mistake in fucking Seth. Shit, that word didn’t even fit what we’d done. We’d made love, pure and simple. I’d been selfish in taking what he should have given to someone more deserving. Because I had no doubt that Seth could have his pick of strong, giving, loving men as soon as he started putting himself outthere…as soon as he realized the truth about what I’d become and let me go.
But worse than being selfish, I’d been foolish too. Foolish in thinking that in tying Seth up with my belt, that he wouldn’t be able to touch me. Because everything Seth did touched me. Every look, every smile, every emotion filled kiss he’d given me, the way his body had cradled mine. That was why I’d run. Being with Seth had been the fuck up of fuck ups and I knew it would happen again the second he looked at me with that longing gaze that had me wishing I could be what he needed.
I’d left three days ago and I hadn’t been man enough to even call Seth once. I’d taken his virginity – an act that had been incredibly emotional for him if his tears had been anything to go by – and I’d disappeared just like I had three years earlier.
“You followed him, right?” I asked as I turned to face Hawke.
He nodded. “He stayed in his room Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday and today he went to work, the house on Mercer Island, and home – that’s it.”
