Page 129 of Safe Word

And hatred.

But not for her, yet for the part of me that needed this.

‘You’re going to plead. And like that night – you’ll be on your knees, full of me.’

Her body trembled beneath me, breathless from the exquisite edge of being seen and claimed.

And she was fucking soaked – the heat of her sex clung to my skin as I slid a hand between her thighs, fingers ghosting over her folds like the purest form of damnation.

‘Oh, that’s it,’ I muttered.

But my breath shook because I was as desperate for her.

When my fingertip passed over her clit, the pillow absorbed her moan. I didn’t relent. I pushed two fingers inside her – just a slow, claiming thrust curling deep as my palm ground against her. After a while of this beautiful torment, she finally bucked, mouth open in a silent cry that broke something loose inside me.

And then I pulled out.

‘No.’ The word came out rough, a growl dragged from the part of me that wanted to give her everything.

I gripped her neck gently, yanking her head back until her face hovered inches from my mask. ‘Not yet, little angel.’

She moaned, chest heaving, her body trembling as she held her arse raised. I relished the flush of her skin, the eagerness of her thighs wanting to open wider.

‘Let me punish you, little angel.’ I loathed how pleading it sounded – but also how much I meant it.

‘Yes,’ she whispered.

‘Louder.’

‘Punish me, Ghost.’

I left the bed, and she held her breath, body still bowed. She twisted slightly to see what I was doing.

From the duffel, I pulled a box. The slow reveal of the black vibrator was a performance, as I wiped it with a cloth like it were a blade I had forged for her alone.

When I held it up, her eyes widened – fearless. Her thighs spread – wet.

And I burned.

‘Green?’ I asked. Barely.

Her gaze rose from the toy to my face. I saw the hesitation as I dropped the wipe to the floor, waiting.

I would’ve waited forever. Because wanting her wasn’t the point. Her wanting what I gave her – that was everything.

‘Green,’ she whispered. A single word. A surrender.

I smiled behind the mask.

Clicking the toy on, I watched her flinch, then her entire body tightening like silk pulled taut, spine stiffening with the tension of a prey sensing the predator’s final approach.

I was going to ruin this woman.

TWENTY-THREE

Terrified. That’s what I was. Because I realised he wasn’t going to play nice tonight.

The flogger, the restraint, the sheer force of him – it should’ve triggered something deep and ugly, the way Travis used to. But it didn’t. Ghost was ruthless, yes, but not cruel. Every strike had a purpose, every denial a lesson – and underneath it all, a strange kind of mercy. He didn’t touch me to diminish me. He stripped me down to show me I could survive it. Still crave it.