Cellar Door (18 page)

Madonna

Beneath his capable hands I feel boneless and limp, and yet I’ve never felt more powerful. All my hatred and animosity goes out the window as he owns my body. It’s as if I’m being pulled into a dark vortex of sensations I never want to end—he plays my body like a fine-tuned instrument.

The sting of his hand on the tender skin of my ass releases a euphoric combination of pleasure and pain. The overwhelming sensations rocking through me magnify my awareness of every smooth stroke of his cock. Every nerve ending in my body feels electrified. As I surrender to yet another mind-blowing orgasm, I know I will never experience this all-consuming sexual heat with anyone but my enemy, this man who took me against my will.

My upper body falls onto the cot, clutching and tearing at the sheets as if that will save me from what he’s doing to me. Deep down inside, I don’t want to be saved. I don’t want to ever spend another evening on a date with a man whose idea of passion is little more than clumsy groping or timid, awkward touches. I want
this
. I want to be taken.

When did I become this feral, wanton woman? I’m writhing and bucking against this man’s rock-hard shaft as if I’m a featured player in the writings of the Marquis de Sade. Liam’s intentions are anything but pure and I, in turn, want him to ruin me.

He pummels my sex with an almost frantic series of thrusts, all the while maintaining his bruising grip on my hips. He kneads my ass roughly, pulling my cheeks apart, no doubt to watch the show as our bodies slam together over and over again.

As my walls clamp down hard around his length, his body surges forward in a final, jarringly fierce thrust. He yanks my head back by my hair, his eyes locking with mine as his hips rock against me in ever slower pulsing movements. His face reddens and his neck muscles strain when he releases his cum deep inside me. As he rides out his orgasm, a guttural sound rumbles deep within his chest until he drops his head back and bellows my name in an anguished roar.

He collapses on top of me, pressing slow, open-mouth kisses along my neck and back. I decide it’s only fair that I hold the same hypnotic hex over him that he does over me. I’m not a woman to be led around by a man… or even by my own desires.

Yes…power is a good thing, and it looks like I have it now. And I have every intention of using it to my benefit.

Liam

Water drips from my fingertips as I run the sponge over Madonna’s body. She’s lightly dozing, cradled between my legs in my bathtub. The jasmine-scented water swirls over her breasts and stray droplets cling to her nipples, which remain plump and, I’m sure, quite tender after being handled so brutally earlier this evening.

“Don’t ever get it twisted, little one. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I can be manipulated by you because of that sweet, tight pussy of yours—”

Her body tenses, so I know I’ve hit a nerve. She’s no different than anyone else, we all seek to control the world we inhabit. “You, young lady,” I chuckle indulgently, “are not in a position to manipulate your destiny…or me, for that matter.”

I lean in and nuzzle her neck and linger there as I speak. My whisper becomes a low rumble and makes my intentions clear, “Don’t fuck with me, Madonna—the consequences will prove to be most unpleasant if you do.

“Such beautiful, milky white skin you have, so delicate,” I say, going for a change of subject. Another squeeze of the sponge and warm water rolls across her shoulders and over her breasts. But we both know her goosebumps have nothing to do with the water temperature.

“It’s okay, you’re safe here. As long as you do as you’re told, all will be well in the confined little world you now occupy. You really should be grateful. After all, I saved your life. I did. The things they’re saying about the man who wants to kill you, hmm, terrible, awful things.

“They’re saying he may be even crazier than my brother is. Isn’t it funny how two men can be twins, yet be so different? I guess we’re both our own brand of crazy but our intentions couldn’t be more different. Me, with my desire to hold you here, my need to save you. Him? He just wants you dead.”

Madonna

I’m listening…I can hear him loud and clear, and yet he sounds so far away. Maybe I’m slowly disconnecting from all the madness that’s been seeping into my life. Although his words are reassuring, they’re issued with a veiled threat. If someone on the outside heard his words they would see him as a hero, but I know better. In the short time I’ve known Liam, since he started
protecting
me, I have learned that he is malevolent, twisted, and definitely not to be trusted.

I’m walking a tightrope here. As long as I do things his way, I’ll be safe. I don’t know what it would take to set this guy off so I have to tread carefully. And I most certainly don’t want to know what a copycat killer will do if he gets his filthy hands on me. Frankly, Liam is the lesser of two evils.

Well, shit.

He’s forced me into a position where I have to choose him. We both know I’m not here willingly, but if I truly had to choose? Yeah, I’d stay right here, at least until my stalker is dealt with.

A chill courses through me while he talks. He must feel it because he pulls me close and slowly squeezes the sponge, sending warm water cascading over me.

I fill a need in him to control, to own, to seduce with domination; he fills a need in me to survive, to be protected from a madman who will stop at nothing to slaughter me as some kind of offering to his idol. Certainly not the usual basis for a relationship, but I’ve had a lifetime to make the best of the hand I’ve been dealt. It just isn’t in me to give up.

“Liam…do you trust me?” I ask, sliding my body against his erection until it presses against my lower back, just above my ass cheeks.

“I think we both know I don’t trust you,” he chuckles, barely muffling a groan deep in his throat from the contact.

I revel in the womanly power I hold over him, knowing that I’m the one making him hard
.
I turn my head and tilt my chin to look up at him. A spark of excitement lightens my tone as I blurt out my idea before I can change my mind.

“Let’s catch him together,” I say, rolling to my side to see him more easily, and sending sudsy water sloshing over the edge of the tub to land a puddle on the floor. “We can get this guy off the streets before he kills again.”

“If you’re suggesting I use you as bait to catch a killer…that’s never going to happen, sunshine.”

“No, no, of course not,” I reassure him, although, hmm, it’s an interesting thought. “Then let me help you with your research—it’s what I do.” He cuts his eyes at me and it’s obvious he is scrutinizing me, assessing me.

“Say something…” I demand as I sit up on my knees, giving him one hell of a show as I let water stream down my naked body, mere inches away from him. Close enough to touch…close enough to taste. I can’t stand the anticipation any longer; I just want him to say something.

“You want me to say something, hmm?”

I stay perfectly still, other than arching my back slightly to offer him my tits to play with. My skin glistens, rivulets of water drip off my nipples that are already puckering in the cool air.

“Okay,” he murmurs as he cups a breast, cradling it in his hand, caressing the firm mound. His touch is lighting me up between my legs, making me squirm against his thigh to find the friction I crave. “Here’s what I have to say,” he murmurs as his thumb trails back and forth across my nipple. A grin tilts a corner of his mouth as he gives my nipple a pinch, just hard enough to make me wince.

“What you’re asking me to do, Madonna, could cause me a hell of a lot of problems, not to mention if you go running to the police and I get locked up, then a killer will have free access to you. I’m sure you understand that I would have a huge fucking problem with the object of my obsession being killed. So here’s what we’ll do: you can do research, and I’ll give you access to the internet under my supervision. We’ll work on it together.”

He leans forward and squeezes my jaw between the fingers of his free hand. “Just know that, if you fuck me over, that guy will be the least of your worries. There won’t be anywhere on God’s green earth that you will be able to go to get away from me. I’ll spend until my dying day hunting you down. I brought you here to protect you and, whether you think my motives are right or wrong, I don’t take kindly to betrayal on any level and I’ll punish you severely. Do we understand one another?”

I respond with a jerky nod of my head and he abruptly releases his grip on my face. He pulls me back into our original position, with me lying against his chest, cradled between his legs as his hands cup my breasts in the warm water.

I have no idea what I would do if given the chance to escape, but for now I’ll tell him what he wants to hear. We have one thing in common: we both want to keep this guy from killing again—and we damn sure share the common goal of keeping me alive.

Where I am with all the mayhem in my life right now is the proverbial ‘ends justifying the means’. Liam has become my sordid savior…