Always Will: A Bad Boy Romance (18 page)

He pulls his hand away, sliding it along the base of my jaw. I want to grab his tie and force his mouth to mine, but he didn’t tell me to move, and I’m determined to play his game.

“Good,” he says, holding my eyes. “Come in.”

He walks into his condo and I follow. The lights are low, and soft music drifts from the speakers. It would be a relaxing scene, but for the fire racing through my body.

Ronan stands a few feet in front of me and puts his hands in his pockets. “Strip.”

I try not to smile—I’m not sure if I’m allowed—and put my purse down on a side table. Slowly, I reach behind my neck and unfasten the clasp that holds up my shirt. I pull it over my head and let it drop to the floor. Ronan watches me, unmoving, but I can see the hunger in his eyes. I unzip my jeans and slide them down.

“Leave the shoes.”

It’s a little awkward getting my jeans over my heels, but I manage to do it while still feeling like a sex goddess. I stand in front of him, wearing only my lacy strapless bra and matching thong. He raises an eyebrow and I reach back, unhooking my bra, and let it drop. Then I slide my fingers beneath the waist of my thong and push it slowly down my legs, kicking it off when it gets to my feet.

I stand up again, naked save for my shoes. He licks his lips.

“Touch your nipples,” he says. “Slowly.”

My mouth drops open, but I comply, rubbing my fingers over my nipples, and feel them harden.

“Slide your hands down,” he says. “That’s it, dirty girl. All the way down.”

I move my hands down my body to my hips, and angle them in.

“Keep going,” he says. “Touch yourself.”

I find my clit with two fingers and rub a slow circle. My heart beats faster and heat rises between my legs.

“Stop,” he says, his voice still like frozen steel. “Bedroom.”

I take a deep breath and walk past him toward the bedroom, but he keeps his hands in his pockets and doesn’t touch me. I notice the blinds are already closed throughout his whole apartment. My heart is beating wildly as I stop in front of the bed.

He comes in and takes off his jacket, laying it on the back of a chair. Then he loosens his tie. “Sit down.”

I lower myself onto the edge of the bed, and he stands in front of me. I watch his face, struggling to contain myself. He unfastens his tie and slides it through the collar of his shirt, then loosens the top two buttons.

Fucking hell, he looks so sexy like that.

“Hands,” he says.

Oh my god. I hold out my arms, wrists together, trying not to shake. He binds my wrists, just tight enough that I know I won’t be able to get free.

“On your knees, facing the headboard,” he says.

I comply, although putting my back to him sends a renewed flurry of nervousness through my belly. He climbs onto the bed and ties my wrists to the headboard. His hands finally touch my skin again, grabbing my hips. He eases me backward so I’m bent at the waist, my arms stretched out.

He rubs one hand up the back of my thigh and palms my ass. My breath starts to go ragged and my pussy throbs again. I tilt my hips to the side, trying to force his hand near my center, but he squeezes my flesh.

“No moving until I say so,” he says. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you everything you want, Selene. Everything you need. But I have to punish you first.”

Never in my life did I think those words would elicit the flood of lust that overtakes me. I am not a child—if any man before Ronan had used the word
punish
while I was naked and bared to him, I would have been out so fast he wouldn’t know what happened.

But Ronan … I want him to. I want to play this game. I want him to make me pay for being naughty, like the dirty girl I am. It’s a thrill I’ve never had before.

“Do you know why you’re being punished, Selene?” he asks. “Answer.”

“For teasing you at work,” I say.

“Exactly,” he says, rubbing his hand up and down my ass and lower back. “Don’t make a sound.” He smacks my right cheek, and I bite my lip against the sting. Immediately his hand rubs the spot. “Ooh, poor baby. Did that hurt?”

I nod.

“Do you want another?”

I nod again.

He smacks the other side, the light sting sending a jolt of electricity through me. It doesn’t hurt enough to be upsetting, just a sharp burn that fades quickly. He rubs it with a gentle touch.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he says, his voice low. His fingers brush my folds and I try not to moan. “But I will drive you crazy, like you drove me crazy today.”

He slips a finger inside and I arch my back, trying to get more. He presses against my ass, not letting me move.

“Not yet,” he says, circling his wet finger around my clit. I shudder and bite my lip again. “Fuck, Selene, I want to taste you. Look at me.”

I turn my head over my shoulder and watch as he slides his fingers into me, then brings them to his mouth and licks. His eyes flutter closed for a second and I see the tight grip he’s trying to maintain on his self-control start to waver. He puts his fingers in again, rubbing me just how I like it, hard against the front of my pussy where I’m so sensitive. Relief floods through me as he rocks my hips back and forth, letting me grind against his hand.

“Is this what you need?” he asks.

“God, yes.”

He slides his fingers out and I’m left panting, my arms starting to ache. A whimper escapes my lips.

The bed shifts beneath my knees and suddenly Ronan is lying on his back, his head between my legs.

“Get down here,” he says. “I want my mouth on you.”

He pushes my knees apart, widening my legs, until I’m straddling his face. The new angle relieves the strain on my arms, but his mouth on my pussy almost sends me tumbling over a cliff. His velvety tongue slides up and down, putting exquisite pressure on my clit. I moan as he licks me, clamping my mouth shut so I don’t make too much noise. I’m afraid if I talk, he’ll stop what he’s doing, and I need him to make me come. I need it so bad I can hardly think.

He drags his tongue in and out of my pussy, his hands grabbing my ass, rocking me back and forth over his mouth. I’m rolling toward climax, my core clenching. He sucks on my clit and I throw my head back, unable to contain the shriek that rips from my throat.

He stops, holding me right on the edge, his tongue suddenly soft and gentle. I try to grind into him, but he grips my ass with hard fingers and stops me from moving.

“Not yet, dirty girl,” he says, and flicks my clit again. “You didn’t have my permission to make noise.”

He gets out from under me while I take panting breaths. My entire body aches for release. I’m so desperate I’ll do anything he asks.

He runs his hands along my arms and loosens the knot at the headboard. With my wrists still tied together, he turns me over onto my back and kneels in front of me. He still has his pants on, although at some point he took off his shirt. I don’t remember him doing it. He leans forward and kisses down my arms. “Do your arms hurt? Is this better?”

I nod, still breathing hard.

“Tell me what you need,” he says.

“I need you inside me,” I say, barely able to get the words out.

“What do you need inside you?” he asks, brushing his fingers up my thighs. “My fingers? My tongue?”

“No.”

“Tell me.”

“I need your cock inside me,” I say. “Please, Ronan.”

“I need it, too,” he says, his voice a low growl. “I’ve needed it all fucking day.”

He pulls off his pants, his thick erection springing in front of him, and sinks on top of me, his chest over my hips. He runs his tongue up my stomach as he crawls forward. When he gets to my breasts, he lingers, tracing my nipple with his tongue.

“Fuck, Ronan, please,” I say.

He kisses higher, and I feel the tip of his cock teasing outside my opening. I want to grab his hips and push him into me, but my wrists are bound. I’m helpless, totally at his mercy. He nibbles my collarbone, digging in his teeth until it almost hurts.

With a hard thrust, he plunges in. I close my eyes, reveling in the feel of his thickness stretching me open, filling me completely.

“Are you okay?” he asks, speaking low in my ear.

His sudden concern for my well-being unmakes me, opening me to him more fully than I’ve ever been. “Yes,” I say, almost breathless. “Just make me come. Please. I can’t stand it anymore.”

“Neither can I,” he says. “I’m going to make you come. Then I’m going to come in you
so fucking hard
.”

He picks himself up, holding onto the headboard with one hand, giving me a perfect view of his exquisite body. His broad chest, muscular arms and shoulders, the hard edges of his abs. He drives into me, fierce and frenetic. I lose myself, any sense of control I had completely gone.

“Yes, fuck yes, harder,” I say. There’s no more punishment for talking. He gives me what I need, his cock so deep, his pelvic bone grinding against my clit with every thrust. My eyes roll back in my head, and the power, the agony, the bliss all sweep me away. My muscles tense, so tight I can’t breathe.

And then, the release. Blinding waves of pleasure tear through me. Ronan’s cock pulses and we both call out, primal and unrestrained. I’m soaring, free-falling through nothing. Ronan doesn’t stop, his hips driving hard.

I’m lost. Taken. Completely his.

Eventually the pulses subside, and he lowers himself over me. He puts one hand on the side of my face and stares into my eyes. His lips meet mine, so soft and sweet.

“I love you,” he says, and kisses my cheeks and my forehead.

His sudden gentleness disarms me and tears spring to my eyes. “I love you, too.”

He rests his forehead against mine. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“Thank you for letting me.”

23: Selene

It feels like I’m coming to after losing consciousness, but I don’t think I was asleep. I blink, looking up at the ceiling. I’m lying on my back, splayed across the bed. My body is so spent I’m not sure if I can move.

Ronan props himself up next to me and reaches for my hands. He unfastens the knot, slipping off the tie, and brings one arm to his mouth. He kisses the vulnerable skin on the inside of my wrist, rubbing the base of my palm with his thumb.

“Are you all right?” he asks.

“Yes. You didn’t hurt me.”

“Good.” He kisses my other wrist, his lips warm on my skin. “Did you learn your lesson?”

My mouth turns up in a smile. “Yes.”

“Are you going to be a naughty girl again?” he asks.

“Definitely.”

He laughs and kisses me again. “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known, Selene Taylor.”

“And you are nothing like I thought you would be, Ronan Maddox.”

I glance over and look at the time. “We should probably get up. We’re going to be late.”

Reluctantly, we both get up and get dressed to meet Braxton and Kylie. I’m hit with another flutter of nerves. Back before Brax and Ky got together, the triple date test was always important to me. The three of us are so comfortable with each other, hanging out is as natural as breathing. But anytime we added a boyfriend or girlfriend to the mix, the dynamic changed. I insisted we get together as couples to make sure we could all still hang out—that if one of those relationships turned out to be
the
relationship, it wouldn’t separate us as friends. Since Braxton and Kylie married each other, the worry over whether either of them will wind up with someone the rest of us don’t like is gone. Now it’s down to me.

I’m in so deep with Ronan; I’m worried I’ve fallen too fast. He hasn’t passed what’s now the double date test. He met Braxton and Kylie the night I was assaulted, but that wasn’t under regular circumstances, and he and I were still dancing around our attraction to each other. Or rather, I was dancing around my attraction to him, keeping him at a distance, while he made it abundantly clear what he wanted from me. But tonight is the test. Braxton is always suspicious of the men I date, so I don’t expect them to be fast friends. But will there be a glimmer of hope that the four of us could spend time together and it wouldn’t be strained?

I don’t know if I’ve made it completely clear to Ronan how important Braxton and Kylie are to me. They’re almost the entirety of my family. Brax and I don’t have anyone else left. Our parents died, and our one living relative was the aunt who raised us. She died years ago, and it’s been just the two of us ever since. The two of us, plus Kylie and her dad, Henry. That’s it.

We have friends, and coworkers, and people who have moved in and out of our lives over the years. But aside from that, there’s no one else. I can’t have a future with any man who puts a wedge between my brother and me. And as I freshen up in Ronan’s bathroom, I find myself desperately hoping that tonight goes well. I want to keep the flame of hope alive, that Ronan is something special.

We get to the restaurant later than planned, but Brax and Ky aren’t here yet either. We find a booth in the bar and order drinks.

I still feel flushed from earlier. Ronan leans back in his seat, looking completely relaxed, his arm stretched out behind me. He didn’t put the suit back on, nor
the tie
, opting instead for a casual blue top with three buttons at the collar, layered over a crisp white t-shirt, and a pair of muted green slacks. My hair doesn’t look quite as nice as it did when I first arrived at Ronan’s place, but I managed to tame it down and fix my makeup. I put my gold halter top and jeans back on, and feel reasonably put together for a Friday night out.

Braxton and Kylie show up a few minutes later. Brax is sporting his fifties bad boy look with a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Kylie is cute, as usual, in a pale blue top and little black skirt, her dark hair down around her face.

“Hey, sorry we’re late,” Kylie says.

“It’s fine, we pretty much just got here,” I say. “So, you guys met Ronan once, but Ronan, this is my brother Braxton and his wife, Kylie. Guys, this is Ronan Maddox.”

Braxton looks Ronan right in the eyes and gives him an easy smile while they shake hands. “Nice to see you again.”