The Pleasures of Winter (32 page)

She stared at him, shocked. Finally she found her voice. ‘They may have given my room to someone else.’

‘Not the Canterbury. I’ll get Ben to take you to a decent hotel’

‘I don’t have anything with me.’ She was dazed. What had just happened? One minute he was keen to drive her wild and now he wanted to send her to a hotel.

‘Order anything you need from room service. Send me the bill.’

She stared at him, shaken. ‘Why? I thought … I thought we had something good together.’

‘We do. But you can’t be with me tonight. You need to go to a hotel and be safe.’

‘Safe? What do you mean?’

She thought he wasn’t going to answer but when the limo arrived, he did. ‘I can’t be near you tonight. Otherwise I’ll do things to you that you can’t handle and that you won’t forgive. I’ll see you tomorrow when I have more control.’

He bundled her into the car, lifting her legs in and fastening her seat belt for her as if she were a child. She hardly registered him telling Ben to drive her to the Four Seasons.

Jack ran until his legs trembled and his lungs burned, but he couldn’t outrun the memory of Abbie’s wounded look when he closed the limo door on her. That expression would haunt him. It was the hardest thing he had ever done, but it was for her own good. He couldn’t be around her tonight.

When he staggered back to the house, he was still full of impotent rage which needed an outlet. He considered looking for a party or event somewhere in LA where he could find a willing and experienced sub, but he knew it would be a waste of time. If she wasn’t Abbie, he would just be going through the motions. He headed to his gym and beat the hell out of a punch bag.

The security alert took him by surprise. Someone was at the gate. He had given the staff the night off because he had expected to be with Abbie, so there was no one to answer it. It rang again.

Abbie’s nervous face looked back at him through the security camera. ‘What are you doing here? Something wrong with the Four Seasons?’ He kept his voice non-committal, but his heart pounded. Abbie had come back to him.

‘I … I want to be with you.’ She sounded nervous, but wasn’t backing down.

He took a breath. ‘Abbie. If you come in, you know
what will happen? Tonight won’t be feathers and velvet. It’s going to be leather and bruises and hard fucking. If that’s not what you want, go away now. Come back tomorrow.’

‘Jack.’ Her voice shook. ‘I want that too.’

He didn’t believe her, but he buzzed her in and met her at the door. She was barely in the house before he grabbed her and devoured her mouth in a deep, endless kiss. He wanted to take time to savour the sweetness of her mouth, the softness of her lips, but he couldn’t restrain himself. Instead, he held her head while he plunged into her mouth. He pressed her up against the front door, imprinting himself on her soft curves, absorbing her taste and smell into his being.

Abbie responded sweetly, sucking at his tongue in welcome and running her hands up his back. The tips of her nipples were distinct points against his sweat-dampened T-shirt. He looked down.

‘Holy fuck! What are you wearing?’

Abbie’s trench coat had opened, revealing that underneath it she was naked. Deliciously, sweetly, mind-bogglingly naked.

She blushed deep red but managed a smile. ‘This old thing? I’ve had it for ever.’

Jack laughed. In the middle of a battle where he was losing out to his demons, she had managed to make him laugh. He gave her a quick, tight hug, then stepped back and told her sternly, ‘So, you are appropriately dressed for the occasion. That’s good, I might go slightly easier on you.’ He smiled, a smile he knew was full of menace. ‘Or maybe not.’

She shivered, but stood her ground. ‘Bring it on.’

He brought her into the playroom, anticipation tightening his muscles and making his cock swell. His hands trembled slightly with eagerness. She turned to him, shaking slightly. Her mouth, swollen and already bruised from his kiss, smiled in nervous welcome. She still wore her trench coat, which was open to reveal a swathe of baby-soft pristine skin. He wanted to mark that skin, brand her as his, to ensure that no other man ever put a hand on her.

The strength of the impulse shocked him. He had thought he didn’t do contracts any more, never mind the sort of forever arrangement that she inspired. He took a step back. ‘Are you sure?’ He forced himself to give her one last chance. ‘Go to bed now, we’ll talk in the morning.’

He didn’t know how he made the offer: his demon was howling at him to seize her, tie her up, fuck her until she couldn’t walk. He kept his hands at his side, fists clenched against the urge to grab her. ‘Last chance, Abbie.’

She moved in closer, crowding him against the door, and reached up to plant a soft kiss on his mouth. ‘I don’t know what is going on with you now. I do know that I want to be with you tonight. And I know that you won’t hurt me.’

Her unreasoning faith in him triggered a surge of rage and lust he couldn’t control. He hauled her up against him, forcing her mouth to yield to him, dominating her with his kiss. She tilted her head back to allow him better access and he took everything she offered and more. He used his tongue mercilessly, as if to show her what he intended to do to her later. She clutched him desperately.

She already knew too much about him. He couldn’t
pretend to be civilized any longer. Tonight Abbie was going to see the real Jack Winter.

When he lifted his head, she was panting and her eyes were dazed.

Jack pulled her into the centre of the large room. ‘Strip,’ he commanded.

She kept her gaze pinned on him while she slowly slid the coat off her shoulders and let it drop to her feet, leaving her standing in only a pair of black heels. There was a hint of rebelliousness in her eyes, but the submissive act was a pure aphrodisiac.

‘Give me your hands.’ She did, holding them out palm to palm, like a child saying her prayers. Perfect. He grabbed a length of rope and looped it around her wrists, twice, three times, then finished the knot by looping it between her wrists and tying it off. He checked. Perfect tightness. No danger to her circulation, but she would never wriggle free.

‘What are you –?’ He didn’t give her a chance to ask any more. He pulled her hands above her head, hooked them to the winch and raised it until she was forced to stand on tiptoes, with her heels not quite able to reach the floor.

Nervous now, her eyes followed him when he went to the rack where he kept his whips and floggers. He took down a neat flail with twelve strips of leather, and a riding crop. There was apprehension in her eyes but she didn’t protest.

‘Tonight is different. There are no limits. We’re going to do what I want. You chose to come here. You’ll take the consequences.’ He wasn’t acting to scare her. He knew he was going to lose her, and something was driving him to scare her away first.

Abbie’s breathing was too fast, her pulse thundered in her neck, but she looked him in the eye. ‘I trust you. I know you won’t hurt me more than I can bear.’

‘Then you’re a fool.’ Without warning, Jack whisked the flail against her hip, so that the tails curved around her and caught her buttocks. It was a hard, direct strike. He wanted to make her react.

She gasped and jerked, but smiled at him. ‘I trust you.’

Damn her. How was she doing this to him? He stood behind her, still dressed in his sweaty gym clothes, and pressed against her naked body. ‘How does it feel to be so vulnerable?’ He ran his hand down her body slowly. ‘So open to whatever I do to you?’ He dipped his hand into the warmth between her thighs.

She moaned, helpless to stop him, and her thighs quivered. Her moisture dampened his hand and he couldn’t resist milking it. She whimpered and moved her hips back against him.

He stepped away, picked up the flail and flicked it across her ass. She gasped again. The backhand stroke caught her the other way and she jerked in her bonds. He did it again, giving her no quarter, intent on bringing the blood to the surface and turning her skin a rosy red. She panted, trying to catch her breath.

He wouldn’t let her. He wanted – no, he needed – to drive her past her comfort zone and out of control. He flicked the flogger up and down her body, listening to the sounds she made when it hit different parts of her flesh.

Abbie’s thighs were sensitive, and a stroke there made her wheeze. He did it again, just to hear the sound a second time. Her back could take more punishment than her
calves, but alternating hard strokes and soft flicks kept her off balance and drove her crazy.

Then he moved round to the front. When the first blow landed against her stomach, she flinched and protested. ‘You can’t –’

‘Of course I can.’ He struck again, this time higher up, closer to her defenceless breasts. He teased her a little by flicking the flogger up and down her body before he flashed it against her breasts.

She gasped, then struggled to catch her breath. Her nipples tightened even more, their points now a bright red lure. He couldn’t resist bending down to catch one between his teeth and biting down gently. She made a strangled sound that shot heat to his cock.

God, he wanted to do this to her all night.

‘Are you all right?’ He had no idea how he managed to ask that. Or what he would do if she said no.

Abbie took a couple of breaths before she answered. ‘I think so.’

‘Good. Then it’s time to make it interesting.’

He went back to flicking the flogger up and down her body, back and front, trying to see what drove her highest, made her give the loudest response.

Without warning, he dropped it and picked up the crop. He flicked it against her once in warning, then struck harder. She wailed and kicked, but didn’t ask him to stop. He did it again and watched two dark marks forming on her perfect ass. He needed to mark her. He struck again, lower down, and she screeched. One more time, another yell, and he couldn’t resist her any longer.

He tossed down the crop, shoved his pants down his
legs and picked her up. ‘Grab the rope,’ he told her. Without untying her, he shifted her so that she was in position, then pulled her down on to his cock.

Abbie shrieked as loudly at that as at anything he had done to her earlier, but the cream coating her thighs was proof that she needed this as much as he did. He had no patience and no control and rammed into her hard, again and again. Gripping the rope above her desperately, Abbie rode his cock, frantic for release.

He wanted to draw this out, torment and tease her, but her heat dragged him into her. He felt his juices racing to the head of his cock and couldn’t prevent it. He angled her so that her clit was under pressure and lowered one hand to grip her punished ass.

That was all it took. With a wail, she tumbled into orgasm, her internal muscles milking him mercilessly. His back arched as he followed her over and shot jet after jet into her welcoming warmth.

She slumped against him, boneless, and he managed to release her and carry her to the bed before collapsing beside her.

Finally, she stirred. ‘That was … astonishing. Why have we never done that before?’

Jack propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. ‘Are you serious? You’ll be black and blue tomorrow. You won’t be able to sit down to type.’

She gave a half-laugh. ‘No one is likely to be looking at my ass, so the colour doesn’t bother me.’

‘Not everyone takes that attitude.’

‘No?’ Her smile had a cat-got-the-cream quality that made him smile too.

Jack had planned to torment her all night long, but his demons slept. Abbie was exhausted and so was he. He pulled a cover over both of them and turned out the light.

Abbie tried half-heartedly to tear herself from Jack’s embrace. He was still wearing a dressing gown and she was fully clothed. Well, almost. Her ass still stung from the previous night and she couldn’t wear any of her panties. Jack had lent her a pair of silk boxer shorts.

He nuzzled her neck again. ‘Are you sure that you can’t stay and play some more?’

She brushed a kiss against his lips. ‘Don’t tempt me. I know that it’s a temporary assignment, but I can’t not turn up on the first day because I’ve had a booty call.’

‘But what a booty call.’ Jack nibbled her lower lip while his hand stroked her still-tender flesh. ‘Would you like a cushion for the car, Ms Marshall?’

Abbie frowned at him with mock severity. ‘No, thank you, Mr Winter.’

‘Make sure you’re home by five. I’ll expect my boxers to be returned by then.’

‘Yes, Sir.’ She gave him a mock salute and climbed into the car.

Ben dropped her outside the office and she took the elevator to the sixth floor. The receptionist called through to Lifestyle and a short, dark-haired man arrived to greet her a couple of minutes later. ‘Hi, I’m Matt Lincoln, glad you could join the team for a while. My office is this way. Good work on the Jack Winter piece. I gotta say, you really hit the ground running.’

‘What piece?’ Abbie followed Matt into his office. She had arrived less than ten minutes ago. How could she have had time to file a piece about Jack?

He flopped into his chair and picked up the morning edition. ‘Well, let’s just say that you were instrumental. You interviewed Kieran O’Dwyer and he rang up afterwards to fill in the full story. We gave you a credit on the byline.’

‘The full story?’ She felt like a parrot but she wasn’t sure what had happened.

‘O’Dwyer knew all about Winter’s past. Or should I say, Michael Delaney’s?’

Michael Delaney. Jack’s online name; the name Kieran O’Dwyer insisted on using last night. The name that Jack said meant nothing. Matt Lincoln pulled up the story on screen. ‘Jack Winter’s Secret Shame – Irish Actor in Sex Scandal Cover-Up.’

Sources close to Mr Winter have confirmed that the Hollywood A-lister left his native country under a cloud more than a dozen years ago, when a scandal involving a sex assault on a college student threatened to put him in prison.

The unnamed woman alleged that Jack Winter had tied her up and whipped her with a riding crop. The charges were withdrawn before the case reached court and Mr Winter left Ireland shortly afterwards.