Sordid (21 page)

His hand covered the lock around the end of the leash and freed me. “Use the restroom and come right back.”

I did. I told myself I no longer cared about being naked. He’d seen me plenty by now. When I came back into the bedroom, he pointed to the bed. I lay down and said nothing. At least the choker last night gave me use of my hands and allowed me to sleep on my side if I wanted. He took the leash in a hand. It was slack and he was simply holding it, but I was incredibly aware of the control.

There was a loud ticking I picked up on then. A large, round alarm clock with hands on the face sat on the nightstand. Luka must have put it there when I was in the bathroom.

“This clock,” he said, “is going to help teach you.” He sat beside me and the mattress sank with his weight, causing me to roll into him. “When the second hand hits zero, you’ll watch it and count each second in your head.”

The thin hand ticked up the clock, heading toward the twelve. I studied it attentively as the new minute began.
One. Two. Three.

I blinked and forced my mind not to wander as it ticked along. By fifty seconds it was a struggle. As it climbed back to one, Luka’s single word shattered my focus. “Again.”

One. Two. Three.

The exercise went on, three more rounds of it. Somewhere in minute five, he spoke. “Count out loud.”

“Thirty-six,” I said. “Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight.”

“Stop and look at me.” His face was stoic. “What is this lesson?”

I inhaled. “That my time is your time.”

He teased a smile. “So fucking smart.”

There was a sharp click as he snapped his fingers and I swallowed thickly. I hesitantly spread my legs open, ignoring the unease channeling through me. First, his gaze scored down my bare flesh. Over the tops of my breast, along my belly, and down to my hips where I was totally exposed. Then, his hands, even the one holding the end of the leash, followed the path of his gaze.

His hands were warm as he caressed me. His touch was gentle and almost loving, but I told myself I didn’t like this. I flinched when his fingers traced a line at the hollow where my leg met my body. It both tickled, and made the muscles low in my belly clench. I knew where this was going and a dark hunger growled in me.

Luka climbed onto the bed and settled his knees between my legs. He put his hands on the mattress on either side of my arms, and his mouth repeated the path. Warm, wet lips trailed over my breasts. One, then the other, and back again. I bit down on my bottom lip.
I’m not enjoying this,
I repeated in my head as a mantra, although my nipples tightened under the command of his mouth.

It became difficult to remain indifferent as he dropped a trail of kisses lower. And lower. His hot breath rolled over my skin, and I grew shamefully wet between my legs. I cursed my betraying body, and the indecent desire I had for him to finish his journey. Hell, I wanted his mouth on me. His hold on the leash was symbolic of his hold over me.

The clock continued to tick away over the sounds of Luka’s quiet kisses, and the occasional noise of him shifting over me, working lower. My pulse had quickened, speeding much faster than the slow ticks of the second hand.

When he was nestled between my thighs, he halted, teasing his lips just above my slit. His focus wasn’t on me. It was on the clock. “You’re going to come at exactly nine twenty-two. Not fifteen seconds before, and not ten seconds late.
Perfectly
at nine twenty-two.”

I swallowed a breath. It was about to be nine seventeen. He waited until the clock struck the new minute, and descended on me.

Five minutes. At first I thought it wasn’t enough time to allow myself to enjoy it enough to get off. I’d had to throw out my mantra and start over, telling myself how much I
did
like his touch. But as his tongue glided over me, massaging the nub that held most of my pleasure, I began to worry five minutes was
too much
time.

Could I fake my orgasm? Would he be able to tell if I did? And what if I came too early, could I stay silent as the sensations gripped me?

He started slow, licking me gently in one long stroke. It made my legs shudder. He repeated it, this time with more pressure, and I bit back a soft moan. I didn’t need to persuade myself this felt good. His mouth was very convincing.

As he increased his pace, my hands balled into fists on the sheets beneath me.

His gaze was on me, watching how I fought my body. I forced my back not to arch, and refused to shift to a position to make his mouth line up where it would feel even better than it did already. But his gaze, like mine, would occasionally drift to the clock, checking to see how much longer.

“I could eat this pussy all day long,” Luka mumbled. He sucked my clit into his mouth. Teeth were involved, and I bowed off the bed with a cry. It hurt, but in a good, surprising way. The sensation had me sweating.

When I had less than two minutes left, fear whispered at me.
You won’t make it, and he’s going to punish you.
My eyebrows tugged together in concentration. I couldn’t think like that. I focused on the heat his tongue generated, and didn’t restrain my moan. It was long and sounded like a plea, and . . . it turned me on. The sound of my own voice filled with pleasure carried me upward, causing another moan.

“Fuck, yes,” he urged. He glanced at the clock and back to me, writhing beneath him. His faint smile was sinister. “You seem to like it too much. Maybe I should stop.”

My muscles tensed. “No!” I said, far too desperate sounding. “No.” The second one was calm, but filled with worry. If he stopped, I’d never meet his ridiculous goal.

Desire, mixed with victory, painted his face. “You want me to fuck you with my mouth?”

Oh, how quickly he’d turned the tables on me. He’d left me with no choice. “Yes. Please.”

His hands curled around my thighs and held me tight as his mouth closed over my clit. His tongue slid around and fluttered, occasionally slipping down to dip all the way inside. I groaned and burrowed my hands in my hair, then hurried to check the clock.

Forty seconds left. I was getting close. In fact, if he stayed right where he was, I’d just need to hold back the orgasm until it was time. My breath had gone ragged and I was still squirming, but his hands held me open to his invasive, seductive tongue.

Then, it was gone.

Luka hovered above, his lips wet and breathing hard. His face was faintly flushed, and his expression wild. He looked gorgeous.

“Please
,” I whimpered. There was twenty seconds left, and he’d ceased all action, leaving me right at the precipice. I put my hand on his head and pressed downward, signaling what I needed. “Luka, please.”

But he ignored me and held fast, his powerful eyes staring at me in a challenge.

Chapter

Fifteen

There were only ten seconds left
, but forget it. I wasn’t going to fail this test, not when Luka had gotten me ninety-five percent of the way there. He hadn’t said how I was going to come, or who was responsible for getting me off, so he’d forced my hand. Literally. My face burned with humiliation as I set my fingertips on my clit and began to rub in tight circles.

I couldn’t believe I was doing this in front of him. It was so intimate and private, and it was as if he’d stripped me bare of my decency, forcing the raw, carnal version of myself out onto a stage. Luka’s eyes flooded with desire, turning into dark pools of lust. He seemed fascinated and excited to watch the show.

I was panting as I glanced at the clock a final time. Three seconds. I squeezed my interior muscles, and lifted up on my feet as the orgasm approached like a sudden hurricane. My hand moved furiously to encourage the swell.

“Fuck, yes.” It came as a gasp from him.

The orgasm tore through me, splitting me apart. I collapsed on the bed, gasping and shuddering as I pulled my hand away. My center was quaking in the aftermath of the explosion. The pleasure had been fast, but strong, and it took me several breaths before I could think again and the tingling faded.

Luka was a blur as he crawled off the bed and tore at his clothes. The t-shirt was yanked off and tossed away, followed by the descent of his jeans and boxers. He moved with precision, like he didn’t want to waste another second. Ironic when we’d spent five silent minutes staring at a ticking clock.

He was a clever bastard. If he’d demanded I touch myself, I likely would have done it, but I would have felt too uncomfortable to achieve climax. Had pushing me to the edge and leaving me dangling there been his goal? To see me get off by myself?

It wasn’t the first time I’d seen him naked, but the sight of it still felt new and dangerous. Predators were the most beautiful creatures by design. His sinewy form encouraged my gaze downward, to where he was fully erect, angling out from his body. He wrapped a hand around the head of his dick and stroked. He looked at ease like this. Powerful and in control, the one hundred and eighty degrees from me. I’d felt scattered and frantic as he had watched me touch myself. Luka was confident.

When he climbed on the bed, I retreated, giving him as much room as I could. Only, I’d forgotten about the long metal chain attached to the leather band padlocked to my throat. He could grab it at any time and flex his control.

He didn’t. Instead he lay down on the bed and faced me, putting a hand on my shoulder. His voice was whisper-soft. “Come here.”

I wasn’t sure what he wanted and I was too afraid to ask. I inched closer with my breath held and my body tense. Luka studied my cautious approach, scooped an arm under me, and yanked me awkwardly on top of him, so I had one leg between his and our chests were pressed together. Naked flesh to naked flesh.

Like my bold act a few moments ago, this also felt shockingly intimate.

“Christ, Addison.” His eyes were heated. “Can you feel how hard you made me?” I could, since his erection was nudged against my hip. “You’re sexy as fuck.”

He caressed his hand up and down my back, stroking. Each pass it dipped lower, until he finally curled it around my thigh and shifted beneath me. Now I was straddling him and the contact of his skin on mine sent a delicious shiver up my spine.

“I knew you’d do it,” he said, and I could feel the deep rumble of his voice reverberating through his chest. “You’d be perfect, because you want to be the best at everything.”

I turned my head to the side and stared at the straight lines on the elegant wallpaper. I hated how he had me so figured out when I hadn’t a clue about him.

His lips pressed against my neck, just above the leather collar and beneath my jaw. He breathed the words and they soaked into my skin. “I want to do it right this time. Let me make it perfect for you.”

He was actually asking for permission, more or less, which struck me deep. He didn’t need my permission—I’d already agreed to surrender, so his statement threw me off-balance. His hands were fitted on my waist, holding but not trapping me.

Luka’s approach today was as it had been Friday night. Like the living frog in a pot of water, slowly increasing the heat on the burner until it was too late and he was boiled alive. I’d been the oblivious victim then, but now I went into it with eyes open. I saw Luka’s hand turning up the heat and chose to stay in the water anyway. I was a stupid girl and deserved whatever I got.

It was weird being on top since it gave me the illusion of control. It was only an illusion, though. His kiss engulfed me. When I moved my hips to line him up, he took over. He put his hand between us and held himself steady so I could slowly lower down.

I grimaced as he began to intrude.

“It still hurts?” he asked, halting my progress.

“Yeah.” The ache hadn’t been noticeable until I tried to take him inside.

“Go as slow as you want.”

His expression was confusing. It was the same concern I’d seen from him once before, mixed with something else . . . It was surprise. If I had to guess, he was surprised he was feeling concern, probably because he wasn’t used to having feelings at all.

I was anxious and nervous in the position. As if I were on display, but there was a sliver of excitement as well. I was about to have sex for the first time by
choice
, even if that choice was twisted and warped.

It hurt a little, but the pain was more discomfort rather than true pain as I eased myself further down on him. Luka’s eyes hooded, but he watched me, engrossed. The stretch between my legs was bearable, and I pushed down further.