I’ll work with her to make it better.
And it might be my lust-filled brain convincing me this will work out, but I know that I'd give her anything right now.
I’ll fight her demons.
I’ll fight her enemies.
I’ll vindicate her so the Clan won’t have a case for retribution.
And when I’m done… she’ll be mine.
“Then fuck me, Tate,” she says, her eyes meeting mine in bold challenge. “Fuck me.” She reaches for my waist and unfastens the button of my pants, licking her lips. At first, I allow it, relishing the feel of her hands on my hips, then further down, my trousers pushed down over my hips as she reaches for my hard cock.
I push her hand away and shake my head.
“Not now, darlin’. No.”
She bites her lip. I watch her, drinking in every detail.
“Why not?” There’s a catch in her voice, like she feels I’m rejecting her, and it makes me feel terrible, but I know I have to stay strong.
“Because I just punished you. Because if I sleep with you and my brothers find out, they’ll think I’m thinking with my cock instead of my brain.” I give her a serious look. “Because you’re still my prisoner.”
I’m so fucking hard, though, it’s killing me.
“You don’t want me,” she says, and when she turns her head to the side, I see tears glistening.
“Fran.” I roll over and pull her to me. “You know I want you.”
“Do I?” There’s a note of steel in her voice. “All I know is that I fucked up. I put my friends in danger, lied about it, and have begun to face the consequences.” She draws in a deep breath. “I’m not dumb enough to think that’s it, that I’ve paid for what I’ve done. I know you were only trying to get the truth out of me.”
“Aye.”
“And so no, I don’t know that you want me. All I know is that for whatever reason, you’ve decided to keep me here. Under your roof. That you brought me into town to see the doctor.” Her voice softens. “That you carried me back up to your family’s house after I injured myself.” She sighs. “I don’t know if you want me or not. I do know that we’re alone in a secluded chalet deep in the mountains. I know that if we fucked, no one would ever have to know.”
I chuck a finger under her chin.
“You’re so fucking turned on you can’t see straight, aren’t you?”
She moans. “You have no fucking idea.”
I grab her good hand—so small, so soft, it’s dwarfed in mine, and slide it between my legs. I groan when she squeezes, and her eyes light up.
She laughs softly to herself. “Why, Tate Cowen… I do believe you’re turned on yourself. I thought so but figured either you have more self-control than I gave you credit for, or it was only my imagination."
“Not your imagination,” I manage to say, stifling another groan when she strokes me straight through my trousers. I feel like a bloody teen. All she has to do is keep doing exactly what she’s doing, and I’ll lose it right here, fully clothed, beside her.
I move her hand away. I’ve got too much pride for that. When I come, it will be with the walls of her pussy clenching me, her sweat-slicked body submitted to mine.
But it doesn’t mean I can’t touch her.
It doesn't mean I can't make her climax.
After I punished her, she’s wet and ready, and this could be exactly what we need to draw closer. For her to trust me.
I need to see her head thrown back in ecstasy. I need to see the way her breath catches when she’s writhing in pleasure. I need to see all of her, split wide open and relishing every second of pleasure.
“Hands by your sides,” I say softly, but with enough conviction in my tone she better believe I mean it.
