Obsession (22 page)

She fingered a riding crop made of soft suede, her thumb testing the edge, wondering how it would feel against her bottom. Raphael had briefly spanked her, his hand caressing her bottom beforehand. This was much more intense.

A thrill of excitement flooded her senses. Jessica wondered if he’d use the crop on her. Raphael was a domineering alpha. Yet she sensed he’d never hurt her.

Not unless she wanted him to…

How could she even begin to explain the need burning inside her? Instinct warned Alexa and her other female friends would not understand. But she looked at Raphael, the only one who mattered.

“When you use these instruments, it makes you feel in control. Alive. Aware. And it lets you forget your own pain.”

He flinched, as if her words were a lash. Then his breath released on a sigh. “Yes. In an odd way, you are right.”

Her heart felt full for this male, who hid so much behind his mystique. “Did you do these things with Britney?”

Odd, saying that name. But it was part of his past. Raphael shook his head. “She was sweet, gentle and I adored her. But no. She was too timid and afraid.”

Fear and anticipation tightened her body. “Then do them to me. I’m not afraid.”

“Are you speaking the truth, little Red?”

He spoke in a quiet voice, watching her with a guarded look. Jessica suspected this was a side of Raphael hidden away from the world. Yet he’d remained celibate for seven years, building this secret room for others to experience pleasure…and pain.

“Yes, I am.” She faced him. “Actually, I’m intrigued. And more than a little turned on.”

He studied her with his usual intent look. “I must have your consent first, Jessica. Will you allow me to do what I wish to you?”

Tongue-tied she sought to control her breathing, the rapid pounding of her heart. “What do you want?”

He ran a gentle hand through her long hair. “I am an alpha wolf. It’s in my nature to dominate in all matters, but most of all, sexually.”

Her nervous gaze slid to a leather riding crop hanging on the wall. “Will it hurt?”

A smile touched his mouth. “Not unless you want it to. It is very freeing, for both the dominant and the submissive. Will you trust me in this?”

In this, yes. In other matters…

“Yes.”

Satisfaction edged his expression. “Good.”

He went about the room, lighting several candles. Flickering light made shadows dance on the paneled walls. A mahogany wood credenza sat opposite the bed. Intricate sunburst patterns were carved into the wood. Raphael opened a drawer and withdrew four red velvet ropes. “Get undressed, lie on the bed and close your eyes. Use your other senses to feel.”

Jessica closed her eyes and absorbed the scent of cinnamon and honey. The quiet flicker of candles. A taste of wild pleasure, and abandonment.

Her eyes flew open to regard Raphael, still standing quietly with the ropes in hand.

“Spread out your legs and stretch out your arms.”

She did. The air was slightly cool, and brushed against her overly sensitive nipples. Her skin sprang out in gooseflesh.

He bound her wrists with rope and tied them to the bedposts, doing the same to her feet. She was outstretched, her limbs spread wide open, her sex exposed.

Then his voice deepened. “You are mine, Jessica. Mine to do with whatever I please.”

Raphael shed his clothing and stood before her, muscles gleaming in the candlelight. Sensual anticipation chased away fear as he remained motionless, allowing her to look her fill.

She studied the bristles shadowing his jaw, muscles rippling beneath his flawless skin, the hard curve of his shoulder, the muscled contour of his long limbs.

A pulse jumped madly at his throat. He smelled of long, dark nights spent tangled in passion. Pain hidden beneath layers upon layers. Never exposing himself fully.

But tonight, here and now, he would.

Expression fierce with intent, he joined her. Raphael knelt between her outstretched thighs. Never had she felt more vulnerable and exposed. Appreciation gleamed in his dark gaze as he studied her body.

He kissed his way down her torso, dipping his tongue inside the intent of her navel. The sweep of his tongue felt like wet, rough velvet. Then he settled between her thighs.

“Relax,” he murmured. “Let go of all your fears and inhibitions. Trust me.”

He parted her soaked folds, and then dipped his head. A hot stroke of wet velvet between her legs. The first lick of his wicked tongue made her gasp. And then she started to moan.

Each seductive sweep over her folds had her writhing, helpless to resist the carnal pleasure. When he swept his tongue over her clit, she cried out.

Then he bit very lightly.

She screamed.

He suckled and licked, coaxing out the rich scent of her own salty arousal.

Raphael slid a finger inside her. The delicate tissues clenched around him. He lifted his head. Fire danced inside his irises, turning them dark as sin. Jessica squirmed, desperately needing his mouth again.

“One finger,” he said softly. “You’re very tight. I’m going to drive hard and fast into you until you beg me to stop. Or not.”

The sweep of his tongue once more, licking and suckling her as he slid a second finger inside her, stretching her open.

Jessica arched back, the ropes holding her prisoner. Moisture wept from her as his fingers moved deep into her passage. Pleasure built higher and higher. A loud sob wrenched from her throat as he found a spot and stroked. She screamed.

“Yes,” he murmured with satisfaction.

Raphael pressed down. Hot pleasure exploded in her loins. The orgasm wrung tears from her eyes, her inner tissues squeezing him tightly as she writhed.

“Good girl,” he crooned.

She watched, eyes heavy-lidded as he brought his fingers to his mouth, licked them slowly. “You taste delicious. I think you’re ready for my cock now.”

A smile curved his mouth. “Or not. Let’s try for two.”

The beast. He slid two fingers deep inside her again, withdrawing them slowly. Circling her clit with his thumb. Her body jerked against the ropes.

He leaned closer, his eyes blazing. “How bad do you want it?”

Wordlessly, she gulped air as she closed her eyes. Tension coiled inside her until she wanted to beg him to take her.

“Please,” she begged, her hips pumping. Desire became a relentless master, driving her to wild excess.

“I smell your arousal, Jessica. I want to lick and suck you again and make you come again and again.”

Squirming as his fingers stroked harder, she writhed against her bonds.

“Look up, Jessica. Look at yourself, flushed with passion, with desire. See how lovely you are.”

When her eyes remained closed, his voice became a whiplash of command. “Look.”

Jessica opened her eyes and stared into the ceiling mirror. A rosy flush tinted her naked body, her mouth was parted on a gasp.

“So beautiful,” he murmured.

Frustration bit her with daggered teeth. On the edge of an orgasm, she pushed against his hand.

“Tell me. Do you want to come?” he commanded.

“Yes,” she sobbed. “Please. Make me come.”

He watched, his gaze capturing hers. “Don’t hold back. I want to see you come, hear you cry out. Look upwards, at yourself. Look at yourself as you come.”

Her body grew taut as a bowstring, she looked upwards. He pressed on her clit and the tension shattered her.

Jessica stared at herself in the throes of orgasm, hair spilling over the pillow, mouth parted on a scream of his name. She saw the dark-haired man kneeling between her legs, his thick penis rising from a nest of dark hair. Rich with satisfaction, his gaze caught hers in the mirror. He fetched a condom, stretched it over his straining penis, then joined her on the bed.

“Give me your mouth,” he commanded.

Jessica parted her lips, tasted her musky arousal on his mouth. He cupped the back of her head, holding her steady for his possession as his tongue thrust inside.

Then Raphael pressed soft kisses across her belly and breasts, splaying his hands across her rib cage. Touching her, tasting her, worshipping her with his mouth. Cupping her breasts, he kneaded them, flicking the hardened nipples with his thumbs. He encased one taut nipple with his mouth and suckled.

He settled atop her, supporting his weight with his hands. His chest hairs rubbed over her overly sensitive nipples like a brush of silk. The rounded edge of his penis pushed slightly inside. Swollen from her climaxes, she wasn’t certain she could take him again. Her inner tissues were swollen from their previous joining. He was too big.

“Yes,” he murmured, reading her mind. “You can. Relax. Open to me.”

His thick erection slid into her slowly. His smoldering gaze locked with hers.

When he withdrew, waiting, his gaze locked to hers, Jessica pumped her hips.

“Don’t stop.”

Raphael smiled darkly, and obliged her.

His thick length filled her as he penetrated to her womb. Raphael rested his forehead against hers, a bead of sweat dropping onto her cheek and splashing down like a tear.

He groaned and began thrusting in long, slow strokes. Blood thundered in her ears, rushed to her loins. Her limbs quaked wildly. Emotions flowed out of her. Wonder parted her lips. She opened her eyes to see him gazing fiercely at her as he surged into her.

“Yes,” she sobbed, writhing.

“Yes,” he whispered, brushing his mouth against hers.

With a satisfied smile, he thrust harder. Jessica arched, desperate to touch him, but the ropes still bound her hands. Her hips bucked as he rode her. A scream rose from her throat.

Pleasure so intense she couldn’t bear it built to a shattering crescendo. A scream tore from her throat as her hips jerked convulsively, Raphael rode her throughout without mercy, his shaft hammering into her. Tossing back his head, he groaned, his big body shuddering as he released his seed. Raphael collapsed atop her, his breath thundering into her ear. Slowly, as if resenting leaving her, he pulled out of the tight clasp of her body.

Trembling, she lay on the sweat-soaked sheets, feeling him untie her bonds. Then he joined her on the bed and gathered her close.

For a moment, they lay still. Warm, naked, smelling of citrus and musk, he stroked her belly, tracing a line of sweat as it rolled to the sheets below. Then she turned to him, all her instincts charged, as she remembered his earlier comment about the experience being freeing.

“That painting back at your house, the one of the lone wolf chasing the butterfly. Why did you commission that scene? Are you the lone wolf?”

Raphael closed his eyes. “Yes.”

“And the butterfly? What does that symbolize?”

Pain haunted his gaze as he opened his eyes and regarded her. “Freedom to chase after finding happiness again.”

She understood. Raphael had been caged, and dreamed of being free. She was imprisoned in a different cage, one fashioned from her own expectations.

Jessica touched his cheek. “Thank you.”

She sat up. “Do you need anything else, Raphael?”

Uncertainty flickered in his eyes. She rolled over, presenting her bare ass. “Do it.”

Her wolf instinct urged her to submit, to offer herself to him. Deep inside, he hurt badly. She wanted him to release all his pent-up frustration and sexual inhibitions.

“I can’t,” he said thickly.

“You can. I’m not glass. I won’t break. I trust you in this.”

The smell of citrus and male grew stronger. She turned her head and watched as he padded over to the wall, and selected a slim leather riding crop. Jessica tensed, every nerve ending alive with anticipation.

Then he joined her on the bed, and began to lightly flick it over her bottom. Again and again. Light swats, followed by the warm caress of his calloused palm. The slapping sting, and then the gentle caress.

After ten flicks of the crop, he tossed it aside. Jessica rolled over, studied his haunted expression. Deep inside, she sensed this might make him, or break him.

“That’s all?”

He stiffened. “I have no desire to hurt you.”

“I’m no weak Lupine who breaks at the strike of a riding crop. I’m strong.” She turned over and rose on her hands and knees. Never had she felt more vulnerable, nor more needed.

“You still need to punish me for breaking into J.J.’s system.”

With a low curse, he pulled her over his knees and spanked her. The stinging pain was exquisite. Warmth resonated on her bottom with each slap of his hard palm. It made her feel alive and aware. But most of all, it forged a connection between them, and she knew it allowed him to release his own inner torment.

His pain, shared by each slap against her bottom. After a few minutes, he ceased. Her bottom felt hot and stinging from the strike of his hand. Jessica scrambled off his lap and pulled up on all fours, looking over her shoulder.

“There’s only one remedy for the pain, Raphael. Take me. Take me as a wolf does to his mate in the wild.”