Chapter 21
(Aria POV)
His house was quiet when we came back from the diner, the smell of syrup and bacon still clinging faintly to me. I barely made it through the front door before his hand was on my wrist, tugging me close, his mouth finding mine.
“Bed,” he said against my lips, a low growl that made my knees weak.
By the time we reached the bedroom, my heart was racing faster than it had in the crush pad chaos. Because this wasn’t frantic like before. It was slow. Intentional. Marcus wasn’t just taking me to bed, he was taking me to ecstasy.
When I fell back onto the mattress, breathless, he reached into the nightstand and pulled out a tie. My pulse stuttered. “What…”
He arched one brow, the ghost of a smile tugging around his mouth. “Relax. I said bed. I didn’t say sleep.”
Heat and apprehension trickled down my spine.
He caught my wrists gently, guiding them above my head, looping the tie around them with practiced ease. Not tight, just enough to keep me there, stretched out, open, his.
“You trust me?” he asked.
“Yes,” I whispered. Too fast. Too true.
“Good girl.” The words landed low in my stomach.
Then his mouth was everywhere. Down my throat, across my collarbone, lingering at the edge of fabric before tugging it away. He took his time, teasing, tasting, making me writhe against the sheets. Every time I tried to lift my hands, the tie reminded me I couldn’t.
And God, I loved it.
“Marcus,” I gasped, arching when his hand trailed lower, lower.
“You started this,” he murmured, sliding over me like a storm. “Now I get to finish it.”
And he did. Slowly. Thoroughly. Until I was shaking under him, begging, undone.
When he finally gave me what I wanted, that I’d been pleading for, his restraint snapped into hunger. Every thrust, every kiss, every word rough in my ear was a promise and a punishment, tangled together.
When it was over, he untied me carefully, kissing the faint red marks on my wrists.
“Not too much?” he asked, voice softer now.
I smiled, happy in his arms. “Not enough.”
He laughed, low and dark, and pulled me tight against him. “Careful, trouble. I’ve got a lot more ties.”
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(Aria POV)
The sun was just edging over the vines when I slipped my shoes back on. My wrists still tingled from where he’d kissed them, my body humming from everything else he’d done.
Marcus was still in bed, half asleep, one arm flung over the pillow I’d abandoned. For a second, I thought about climbing back under the covers, burying myself in him until the world went quiet again.
But the world didn’t wait. And neither would my dad. I wanted to get home before he did.
I grabbed my bag, padded down the stairs, and eased the front door open. The early air was sharp and cool against my flushed skin.
Sliding into my car felt like crossing back into another life. One where I was just Tom Bennett’s daughter, not the girl Marcus Hale had tied to his bed and made unravel.
Halfway down the road, my phone buzzed.
Marcus: Made it?
I smiled, biting my lip.
Me: Almost home.
A second later:
Marcus: Good.
I rolled my eyes, grinning at the screen even as my stomach twisted. Because as thrilling as sneaking out had been, I knew it couldn’t last forever.
The whispers at the vineyard. The looks. My dad finding out. All of it was circling closer. And sooner or later, it was going to catch up to me.
My dad’s car was missing from the drive. I made it home safe, this time.