Page 180 of Safe Word

Then his mouth crashed into mine.

It wasn’t a kiss.

It was punishment. Confession. Brand. Ownership.

Teeth. Tongue. Rage.

Memory.

The raw sound of our moans drowned out everything else.

His hand fisted into the fabric at my lower back, dragging my dress upwards in frantic, jerking pulls, exposing my thighs until the hem was bunched at my hips.

The other tangled in my hair, grip tight enough to sting, but perfect enough to draw a moan from me.

Want. Need. Obedience – all in the same breath.

‘I told you not to fucking run,’ he snarled against my mouth, each word biting, brutal.

He pulled back just enough to drag his gaze over me.

His eyes devoured every exposed inch like a man assessing what was his.

Like a beast reuniting with its chain.

‘Now look what you did…’ He pressed into me, rolling his hips until I felt the full weight of his length grinding against the already soaked fabric of my panties.

I gasped, my spine arching off the wall.

‘Touch me,’ he rasped. ‘Like you fucking did before.’

‘Cain…’ I whimpered, but not in protest.

He dragged his nose along the column of my neck, breathing me in with the desperation of a man about to commit a crime. As if he needed my scent to moor him to survive this. ‘That’s it, say my name.’

His lips brushed my skin in threat of a kiss. ‘Touch me, Paula.’

Then he grabbed my hands, guiding them up—

And pressed his face into my palms like a prayer.

His breath was fire. His stubble scraped. His body vibrated against mine.

Something unleashed inside me.

A need I couldn’t smother; a madness that matched his.

Tangling my fingers into his thick hair, I fisted hard, yanking him into me.

With a raw groan, he bit down lightly on the side of my neck.

His hands found my thighs and gripped, digging into flesh as if he needed to bruise me to believe I was real.

Then he lifted me up, dragging me against him, pulling me into his heat as if he could absorb me – merge me with him, fuck the masks out of existence.

Wild and heavy, his breath tore through the air, his cheek pressing into mine.

‘Say my name, little angel.’