I would’ve been so ashamed, but I couldn’t be. I was completely present in the moment, swept away by his touch, under his command. Rhodes Barrington owned me. This was more than a contract; this was possession of my soul.
He hummed against me. The vibration brought me higher, soaring?—
Then he abruptly stopped.
“What?” I was breathless. “What’s the matter?”
“Do you want to come?” Rhodes asked, his breath cool against my thighs.
“Yes!”
He chuckled, his dark laughter reverberating between my legs. “That’s not a full answer, Rory. Good girls know their manners.”
He languidly licked and sucked me again, then stopped.
I almost cried.
“Oh!” I was desperate. “I meant to say, yes,Sir.”
“Yes, Sir, what?” Rhodes asked hotly.
“Yes, Sir—please let me come.Please,” I begged, tears springing to my eyes.
“Excellent, Rory. Good girls get rewarded. Now you’ll see what being good and following the rules gets you.” He buried his face in my sex and latched onto my clit, sucking, and gently entered two fingers inside me.
I coiled against him immediately. The pressure climbed inside me, building to an almost unbearable sensation. I was on the edge of the abyss. It was coming for me. He gently fucked me with his fingers while sucking on my clit, a mind-bending combination of sensation and pleasure I could barely withstand.
He grazed his teeth against my clit, and I exploded.
“Ah!” I shattered beneath him, climbing, vibrating, opening for him. I couldn’t stop myself. The pleasure was so intense. I died and was reborn; I saw white. Everything zeroed out to that one moment, the feeling so intense that I screamed his name as the orgasm rocked me.
“Rhodes!” Tears streamed down my face as he kissed the insides of my thighs, collapsing against them as my spasms finally subsided.
Finally, he pulled himself up next to me, a smirk on his face.
“Told you so,” he said, the smug bastard.
AFTERGLOW
RHODES
I wokeup with Rory nestled against me, deep in sleep. I watched her peaceful face, lips parted open, hair tumbling over the pillow. My gaze traveled over to her hands, curled up against her chest, and saw the giant engagement ring. It symbolized so many things—most importantly, a promise between two people.
The ring was real. The promise we’d made was real.
It just wasn’t the right one.
When she’d let me touch her last night—when I was finally able to run my hands down her skin—something inside me unfurled. When we’d kissed, I felt like I had lost and won something all at the same time.
And when I’d made her come? Something inside me became positively savage.
I’dbeen the one to make her cry out like that. To beg for mercy. To cause tears to stream down her face as she experienced unbridled pleasure. I’d been the one to taste her, to claim her, to unlock the secrets of her body. She’d wanted more, and I’d been so fucking close to giving it to her—to taking her virginity, to marking her deep inside. But I’d decided to make her wait.
I needed to be sure. I needed to be sure that she wanted me like I wanted her. Because what had awakened in me last night had me unsettled. Myneedfor her had surprised me. I’d experienced a deep ache, a longing I’d never experienced before. And it wasn’t just her body, although I wanted to take her very badly. There was some other, unnamed connection between us.
I cared about her. I wasn’t sure how that had happened. Or why. It was inconvenient, uncomfortable.
It was also true.
