Page 38 of Safe Word

My lungs burned with a held breath. All of her focus, all of her trust poured hot into the hand that held the blade.

‘Fear,’ I whispered, my voice raw. ‘Of losing control. Of what it reveals.’

The knife paused at my sternum, and I felt her holding her breath in the space between us.

‘And pain?’ she murmured.

My eyes opened slowly, locking onto hers. ‘Pain takes the weight off. Peels you open. Strips you bare until the only thing left is raw need.’

The blade grazed my nipple and my hips jolted. She was controlling every response from me now. Every quiver.

She moved lower, her body sinuous and graceful, her curves a siren’s call. And then she sank down entirely, her hourglass figure stretching and straining as her face levelled with my waist.

‘Scarlett…’ I warned.

But she claimed me, anyway. So sure. So sudden.

I bit my lip hard, the sting keeping me from spiralling me as the heat of her mouth wrapped around me.

The world narrowed to her – the wet, scorching sensation of her lips, her tongue, her movements. And I gave a deep groan as my discipline finally shattered. I didn’t care to mask it any more – I needed her.

She sucked me hard, rhythm brutal, need on its absolute high.

Her hands joined this infernal symphony, one stroking me in time with her mouth, the other cupping me, teasing, tormenting with soft, insistent pressure. The knife lay forgotten on the bed. All that existed was her. Her mouth, her hands, her tongue. And the slow breaking of my mind.

She was tiny against me, her sweet mouth struggling to take all of me, yet she didn’t waver. She pushed herself further, taking me as deep as she could, and it drove me wild.

My head fell back. My body shuddered violently against the restraints as I came so hard it felt as if my lungs split in two.

She didn’t stop. Took every ripple of it.

When I thought I’d reached my limit, she slid me from her mouth and rose with languid grace, her eyes locked on mine. Her hand touched my chest, guiding my gaze downwards to her. And there she was, looking up at me like a demoness, hands soft around my neck. She opened her mouth, showed me just how full she was. My release spilt past her perfect lips.

It ruined me.

A feral sound rolled in my throat that I didn’t even recognise as my own voice.

And she swallowed… and swallowed… everything disappearing into the depths of that throat.

She didn’t recoil. Didn’t look away or shrink. That was what did it. Not just the mouth but the defiance wrapped in submission. She had fucking taken it all like it belonged to her and stared back like she was eagerly waiting for punishment.

And when I didn’t deliver it… something in me cracked.

What the fuck had just happened?

The satisfaction in her eyes had been a challenge and a victory in one.

This beautiful fucking vixen – this tormenting, infuriating, exquisite woman was everything: my curse, my obsession…

My wish come true.

EIGHT

I should have felt powerful.

I had shackled him. Pinned him down. Watched his skin pebble as I swallowed him whole, not even flinching when he growled like a man about to snap his leash.

And then I walked away wearing his silence like a crown.