Chapter Twenty-Six
Aftershock
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“S TAY THERE.”
Rising from the bed, he pointed in Hannah’s direction, but the smile painting his face contradicted the curt command. He wanted to be in charge. He always wanted to be in charge, but he enjoyed the passion they created every inch as much as she had.
“I’m not going anywhere, Mr. Lawes.” She stretched out on the covers as far as the cuffs allowed, her head fuzzy with pleasure.
Watching his firm ass as he strode around the room, she was amazed at his ability to constantly keep her guessing.
One moment, he’d been so intimidating, ordering her to the floor and leading her around with a collar and leash, and the next, he’d offered her sensual instruction on how to best brush her teeth.
Musing on his spontaneous lesson, her fingers shifted to the leather at her neck.
The collar was a symbol of his supposed ownership of her, but gazing at his impressive body, she accepted that probably wasn’t the only reason he’d insisted she wear one.
Hannah enjoyed the dehumanizing treatment almost as much as Lawes relished inflicting it.
The humiliating crawl from the bed to the bathroom was one of the reasons she’d been so ready for his cock. He knew precisely how to turn her on.
“May I lower my hands now, sir?” She resisted the impulse to smile when he turned at her question.
Once upon a time, the mere fact that she had to ask would have riled and petrified her, but sprawled on the bed, things had changed.
Hannah was no longer terrified of the man who’d stolen her away in the darkness.
She knew better than most that he had a deeply disturbing dark side, but she’d also learned to trust her instincts.
The version of the man who’d taken her to bed to make love to her wasn’t a monster.
He was a lover who understood her needs better than anyone.
He’d taken the time to get to know her, enjoy her body, and discover the things that drove her wild.
Stop. Her brow furrowed at her verdict. What am I saying? He didn’t make love to me. Nothing happening there constituted love, and she couldn’t let her surging emotions persuade her otherwise.
Great sex was only that. He’d still abducted her.
However he dressed it up, she was there without her consent.
Except that since he’d untied her from that damn dental chair, it hadn’t been that simple.
His caresses had stirred her, and she sensed the charged energy between them.
Sex with Lawes was proving increasingly difficult to reconcile.
“You may.” He threw her a salacious wink.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance you’ll release my cuffs, Mr. Lawes, sir?”
She’d determined not to ask him, but the cuffs had been on a long time, and however electrifying their chemistry was, the novelty of the bondage had worn off.
“Now, why would I untie my little captive?” His suitably mocking tone was temporarily drowned out by the sound of a gull calling outside the window, and briefly, they both looked in the bird’s direction.
By the time her focus returned to his muscular form, she already knew how she was going to reply.
“Because I’m a good girl.”
It was perturbingly easy to pick up his lead and run with it. Where was the woman who’d worked so hard to be independent after the court case? Where were her principles? All it had taken was Lawes’ hard stare and incredible climaxes for her to willingly surrender.
“ Your good girl.” Her toes curled as she refined her answer. For the time being, she would be his good girl. She’d chase the pleasure and see where their twisted chemistry led.
“Is that right?” He spun around to face her, his recently gratified dick still half roused. “It seems like I’ve been too lenient on you all day, allowing you to share my bed and not reinserting your new electrified dildo. Yet you want me to remove the binds, too.”
“I won’t run, sir.” Easing herself to one elbow, the strangest thing was she actually meant it.
Running would mean walking out on the best sex of her life, and she’d little desire to do that.
If he refused to let her go, then let her have the highs.
She bloody deserved them. “I didn’t ask to come here, but I appreciate the way you’ve treated me since, sir. ”
Appreciate it? The jeering voice in her head made itself known again. What a crazy thing to tell him! Which part have you liked the best? The kidnapping, the lack of agency, or the way he’s treated me like a fucking animal?
She swallowed at the derision. The judgment wasn’t wrong, but looking at a timeline of recent events in isolation failed to consider the way Lawes had made her feel.
He had no right to do the things he’d done, but most of the list had set fire racing in her blood.
She might loathe how little he looked for her assent, but increasingly, she accepted that, if he’d sought it, she just might have offered her permission.
She tensed at the realization, wishing she could buy back every word of the confession, yet simultaneously glad for the truth.
Whatever was happening between them was real, and it wouldn’t be dispersed by denial.
She’d tried living like that while he was behind bars, had pretended she’d been nothing but a victim, when the truth was, even at the practice, he’d opened doors she just couldn’t close.
“Oh, Hannah.” He stood at the end of the bed, his lips curling as he beckoned her forward.
She inched toward him, her heart rate accelerating as she wondered what he had in store for her next.
“You are beautiful, and I do so appreciate your declaration, but we both know we can’t trust each other yet. ”
Concern twisted in her tummy, even though his conclusion was entirely reasonable.
However good the sex had been, it didn’t alter who he was and why she was there.
Lawes was the man who’d captured and tormented her.
He was the reason she’d been left traumatized and had required constant support since his arrest and capture.
He should never have been released from prison, yet there he was—sent out into the world to detain and denigrate her while he wormed his way back into her head.
Her eyes closed briefly as she acknowledged that was precisely what had happened. Some maniac had released him so he could come out and treat her that way. Glancing down at her body, she resisted a frown. She’d never been so satiated, but at the same time, she was still his prisoner.
A woman in binds.
How could she live with that?
“So, I just stay in these?” Unexpected emotion lodged in the back of her throat, though she couldn’t explain why. What had she expected? That the man who’d catapulted her life into twisted darkness would fuck her fondly, then just whip off her cuffs?
It was Lawes—he was never going to just let her go .
“Sorry, what was that?” His voice was slightly clipped that time, the shift sending her pulse racing.
“Mr. Lawes, sir,” she added quickly. “Should I just stay in these?” She lifted her wrists, as if to remind him of her plea.
“You’ll do as you’re told.” Lowering to her height, his eyebrow arched. “Or have you forgotten so soon?”
She shook her head sadly, though she still couldn’t get to the root of her mushrooming melancholy. Lawes’ behavior was reliably true to form. It was her unspoken expectations that demanded explanation.
“No, Mr. Lawes, sir. I...” Her voice trailed away as she attempted to meet the intensity of his stare.
“You what ?” he goaded with a knowing smile. “You thought another orgasm meant I was going to release you?”
“No.” She sniffed back her impending tears, irritated that he not only had the power to manhandle her with such ease but had the capacity to manipulate her emotions as well. “That’s not what I thought, sir.”
“Hey.” Rising to his full height, he captured her chin with one of his large palms. “Don’t get upset again. I’m not angry with you, little girl. I’m enjoying your company.”
I bet. She heaved in air. Easy for him to enjoy himself. He sets the pace. He directs what happens next.
“We just need to settle into a routine and establish some ground rules.”
Ground rules?
Her stomach knotted at the way he made that sound. Did that mean her rules would involve being leashed, fucked, and tutored in dental hygiene? Her throat dried at the prospect, certain it shouldn’t sound as intoxicating as it did.
“But I am pleased to hear you’re not intending to run.” Lifting her chin, he compelled her gaze north to meet his.
Her brows knitted. Was that what she’d said? God, she must have been truly losing it.
Passionate green eyes probed her as he went on. “I want you to be happy, little girl, and I will look after you.”
He wanted her to be happy? Hadn’t he told her he’d hunted her down for revenge? Had he reconciled those two competing motivators? A part of her wanted to ask him, but fear kept the question quiet.
“Anyway,” he sighed. “We might both be on the run soon.”
“On the run?” she parroted his words.
“Mmmm.” He chuckled, as though she was an adorable pet who could bewilder and blindside. “We’ll have to get out of here sooner than I’d hoped.”
“Why, sir?” She glanced around at the unappealing bedroom. It wouldn’t be her choice, but at least they appeared to have developed a sexy equilibrium there. “What’s wrong?”
Suddenly, the idea of leaving terrified her.
Not that she especially wanted to stay in the neglected property, but she couldn’t understand his logic.
Why bring her there if they couldn’t stay?
Surely a move didn’t bode well. Lawes had been many things in the past—both brute and tormentor—but he’d always been logical. The change of heart was unsettling.
“You don’t need to worry about why.” He patted the side of her face gently. “Needless to say, I’ll bring all of your bowls and leashes with us, and I think you’ll manage your new dildo when we travel.”
She gulped at his judgment, trying to comprehend what the so-called ‘journey’ he described would be like.
Knowing the old Lawes, it would be belittling and excruciating, but the most recent version of her captor had altered her perception.
Staring at him then, she wondered which version of the man she could trust.
Neither. She tensed at her inner voice’s sneering decision. Don’t trust either.
“Don’t worry.” He sounded much more like his old self as, smoothing back her hair with one hand, he pointed to the floor with the other. “On your hands and knees now. Let’s think of some ways you can express your gratitude for the recent pleasure you’ve enjoyed.”
She slid to her knees softly, trying not to overthink what his next instruction might be or where, when, and why he was planning to take them from the pebble-dashed house by the ocean.