Grace Street (A Chapter 8 Novel, #1) (24 page)

When she finally found the guts to look up,
Victor looked distressed. “Sometimes it’s good to embrace the
darkness.”

Now it was her turn to nod in agreement. “I
agree. I’m not saying that darkness is always a bad thing. We all
have shadows following behind us, some of us more than others, but
to be consumed totally by darkness isn’t a good thing. We all need
light in our lives, even if it’s just a small ray of it.”

He sighed heavily as he brought the chair
down onto all fours and his voice filled with angst. “Sometimes the
darkness can’t be denied.”

A new anguish seared her heart. He truly
believed his own statement. “You’re not going to change my mind
about it so save your breath. There’s light in all of us. Even if
you can’t feel it and you don’t think it’s there - it’s there,
Victor.”

He shook his head and the corners of his lips
curled upward only a fraction. “Jesus, you’re stubborn.”

She wasn’t sure why it happened, but her
cheeks warmed under his penetrative and earnest gaze. She could
only guess it was because she knew that look in his eyes.
He
wanted her
.

Victor rested his elbows on
the table and pressed his index finger to his mouth. “It’s a fact
that people who easily and frequently blush, are likely to be great
lovers. But since I already know this is true in your case, I’m
only proving that point.”

Elsa had to fight to urge
to roll her eyes. “Thank you for the compliment…” she grinned. “You
and your facts, you’re just full of them, aren’t you?”

His smile deepened. “I am.
Do you want to know another fact?”

“Do I have a choice?” she
asked with a trace of laughter in her voice.

He shook his head and
responded matter-of-factly, “My cock has a voracious appetite, the
likes of which only you can satiate at this moment. Now…” he paused
to stand and motioned toward the chaise. “…get over there and
spread your legs so I can devour you like a five course
meal.”

It was hard to miss the
savage inner fire glowing in his eyes and the mystery held within
them beckoned to her irresistibly. Walking toward the chaise, she
peered over her shoulder at him. “Would that be Victor or Mr. Black
doing the devouring?”

He lifted an eyebrow and
crossed his arms over his chest. “Does it really
matter?”

“No, because I enjoy them
both. I just want to know whose name to scream out when I come,”
she opened her robe to reveal her nakedness beneath.

“Don’t you mean
if
I allow you to
come?” he narrowed his eyes and rubbed his palms
together.

“That’s a
given.”

He smiled wider yet and
pushed his pants down. “Whoever you want to fuck you will fuck you,
Elsa. Just tell me who you want.”

Laying her body on the
chaise, she spread her legs like she had been told to do. “How
about a little of both?”

He drew his brows together
and stared at her with complete confusion on his face as if it
never occurred to him that he could be both at the same time.
“Interesting concept,” he licked his lips and kicked his pants to
the side. “I think we can work something out.”

With no lead-in licking or
nibbling, he dove into her pussy, but inadvertently touched her
wounds causing her to cringe and her eyes to fill with
tears.

“Shit!” he sat back on his
haunches and looked genuinely remorseful. He eyed her dressing and
peeled back a corner. “We’ll get these changed once I’m done with
you.” Gently, he pushed her legs apart, keeping his hands on her
knees, away from her burns, and got right back to
business.

Elsa wrapped her fingers in
his hair and smiled. This man was no sadist, but he did have needs
and she was more than willing to provide for him. She tugged his
hair and pulled his head up until their eyes met.

“
Drag me to the dark
side, Victor Black, and show me what my body was made for.”

***

How was it possible that
Elsa knew all the right words? Yes, he would drag her to his dark
side and show her that her body was made for him. It was an
invitation he wasn’t going to turn down. He buried his tongue
inside her and withdrew it as he savored her clean flavor.
Spreading her labia, he sunk his teeth in her clit, making her
writhe uncontrollably. He ate her out until she was begging to come
and his jaw ached, but he wasn’t ready for her climax. He stood,
grabbed her hand and walked to the bedroom with her in
tow.

He had stopped off at the
hardware store the day he finalized paperwork on the brownstone and
there were a few items he had been waiting for just the right
moment to use on her. He doubted he would be able to use them as he
didn’t know during his trip back from Cambridge what the extent of
her injuries was. However, to his joy, he found her to be quite
healthy and still able to be used for his pleasure.

In the walk-in closet, he
reached on the top shelf and pulled down a long length of soft
nylon rope and Elsa’s eyes rounded with fear when he approached her
with it.

“Is this for what I said?”
she backed away from him.

He shook his head. Her fear
really was intoxicating.

“Then what are you
doing?”

“Dragging you to the dark
side, Peach. Isn’t that what you asked for?” he leaned into her and
nipped her bottom lip.

She nodded and the heat
from her core radiated off her body in waves. When she relaxed, he
began to bind her wrists in a decorative knot he had learned to
make back in his sailing days. Back when he and… his body
stilled.
Chapter One.

“Victor?”

He shook his head violently
and picked up where he left off. Guiding her over to a corner of
the room, he looped the end of the rope around a heavy-duty ceiling
hook he had installed himself when he first bought the
house.

“When did you put that
here?” Elsa asked, looking up at the silver hook.

“Awhile ago,” he answered
as he slowly began to pull the rope taut.

“Is your game always this
organized and planned out?”

He let out a breathy
chuckle at the look on Elsa’s face. She exuded a combination of
anxiety and uncertainty.

He waggled his eyebrows at
her playfully. “You have no idea the extent to which I plan these
things out.”

With the first pull of the
rope, a soft gasp escaped her and with each subsequent tug of the
nylon, her body straightened and stretched until it finally came
into perfect position as she rested on the balls of her
feet.

“I’m afraid,” he heard her
whisper so softly he almost missed it.

He paused to hold her head
steady and his eyes caught and held hers. Her piercing brown eyes
grew large and liquid and her bottom lip trembled faintly. She was
genuinely fearful of him. But why? He had already told her that he
would never harm her. There was more going on in her head than he
could read just by studying her expression.
If only he could read her thoughts…

“Why do you insist on
making me repeat myself, Peach? I already told you I would never
hurt you,” he cooed soothingly to try and ease her
anxiety.

Her body swayed
hypnotically but her apprehension remained. She didn’t trust him
and could he blame her? He tried to concentrate on the beautiful
and artistic image of her naked body and flowing hair down her
back, but One was still lingering in the shadows. He closed his
eyes, took in a deep breath and pushed the memories of that time of
his life back to where they belong – in the far back corner of his
never-to-be-recalled things. The same place most of his childhood
memories resided.

Redirecting his attention
on her face, he saw what she had been talking about – the small ray
of light. It was there in her eyes, but e didn’t want any part of
it. The light was a lie and offered nothing but false hope, yet it
was there and she believed in it…

As he glided a hand down
the center of her breasts, he stepped back. “If you want me to
stop…”

Elsa’s soft, feminine and
meek voice broke through as if she had sensed his desires “Do it,
Victor. Use me. Force me to do your will. Make me feel alive. Show
me your darkness and I’ll share my light.”

***

Still trying to catch her
breath from the vicious fucking-while-being-suspended-in-mid-air
she had just been submitted to, Elsa rubbed her raw wrists
vigorously trying to get circulation back into them. She had never
been more afraid of him than at that moment when the rope tightened
and she was completely vulnerable to him. Chapter Five had flashed
in her mind and the things he did to her. But she wasn’t Peyton and
Mr. Black recognized that. She saw it in his tortured eyes when he
almost stopped.

Lying next to Victor, she
rolled onto her side and thrust a wrist in front of his
face.

“I thought you said no
irreparable damage?”

He laughed obnoxiously and
pushed her hand away. “It’ll heal.”

She propped herself up onto
an elbow and rested half her body on his chest to get a better look
at him.“My mom is coming on Tuesday.”

Victor lifted his head off
the pillow and stared at her a brief moment before responding.
“Tuesdays and Wednesdays belong to me.”

Her mouth parted in shock.
“Since when?”

“Since I added the new rule
that in addition to weekends, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are also
mine.”

“Don’t you think I
should’ve been informed of this new rule?” she poked him in the
ribs.

He shrugged his shoulders.
“I planned on informing you. Eventually.”

“What other new rules do
you have for me?”

He smiled evilly and leaned
his head back, but kept his eyes locked onto hers. “You’re to play
with yourself every work day during your lunch hour, record it and
send it to me.”

“You’re impossible, Victor
Laurenzo. Seriously, that’s the most ridiculous rule. First you say
no masturbating and now you want me to…”

“Stop talking or else I’ll
add another one. Anyway, my rules are subject to change at any
time.”

She sighed miserably. It
only served her right after having said he failed her. “Yes, well,
just an FYI, Mr. Rule Maker, I signed an agreement that stated your
house, your rules. Fingering myself at work isn’t in your house, so
technically I don’t have to abide by that.”

“You’re getting awfully
ballsy, Ms. Cassidy.” he narrowed his eyes. “Go ahead, then, don’t
follow my rule because of a perceived technicality and see what
happens. But for
your
information, I never said no masturbating, I said
all your orgasms belong to me. Again, you’re speaking out of turn
and assuming things, because my newest rule only states for you to
play with yourself and nothing about coming. I never said I was
going to allow you to orgasm without me, therefore, I’m not having
you break any of my previous rules.”

Elsa swallowed hard. Leave
it to Mr. Black to point out the finer points of his unreasonable
stipulations. “You truly are the wickedest man I’ve ever met,” she
pouted.

“You’ve just figured that
out?” he smirked.

“But what about my mom?”
she asked. “I mean, I can’t say no to her, Victor. She’s my mom. I
miss her.”

His lightheartedness
vanished and he twirled a lock of her hair between his fingers. “I
wouldn’t really expect you to say no to her.”

She sighed and kissed him
in appreciation of his kindness. She rested her chin on his chest
as she looked up at the scar on his chin, wondering if it was
caused by his mother. What a distressing thought. Seeing him stare
up at the ceiling, she was reminded of the look on his face as he
was binding her. He had seemed so tormented. She wanted to try and
get to the bottom of it as gently as she could.

As she scanned his face for
something, anything,
the softness in his eyes was replaced
with insolence and
his expression grew
serious.

“You’re doing it again –
trying to figure me out. Stop.”

Despite the harshness in his voice, she
wasn’t giving up that easily. “Don’t underestimate me. I know more
than I say, think more than I speak, and notice more than you
realize. I know there’s a good man beneath Mr. Black.”

Sitting up brusquely and pushing her off his
chest, he gripped her chin. “Do you know why I call myself Mr.
Black?”

Elsa blinked rapidly, took a deep breath and
held it. This was it. She was breaking through.

His brows drew together in an agonized
expression. “Because deep down, that’s what my heart and soul is -
blackened and charred, burnt and unrecognizable,” he gritted his
teeth. “There is no light in me, Elsa, so don’t.”

She shook her head, not getting his meaning.
“Don’t
what
?”

“Fall for me,” he pleaded with his eyes.

She moistened her lips nervously and felt the
misery of his statement. “What if I told you it’s too late?”

Victor pushed himself off the bed violently
and stepped back just out of her reach, and an inexplicable look of
withdrawal came over his face. “Then I would tell you that I feel
sorry for you because this isn’t going to end well.”