CHAPTER 4
He sets me down by the side of the house. It’s dark out, but we’re not exactly hidden, either.
“What the hell was—”
He interrupts me. “Hands on the wall, angel.”
His expression turns serious. “If you want this to stop, say red.”
I hold his gaze, my pulse kicking. I nod. “Got it.” Then I stay where I am.
He holds up his hands.$1“You're free to leave, sweetheart. No one's keeping you here.”
I smirk. “No, thanks,” I say. “I’m good.”
I cross my arms, my heart thumping like a jackhammer. I feel like I’m playing a game I can’t quite articulate yet. I’m operating on pure instinct. I’m not sure what the strategy is here, refusing to leave after he gives me an out. I know what I’m doing. I’m daring him. Daring him to do something.
He breathes in slowly. “I’m going to give you five seconds to get your petulant little ass out of here. If you don’t, I’m going to take that as your answer. And your punishment, by the way, is going to be twice as bad because of this little stunt you just pulled.” Oh God, my stomach twists.
“Five… four… three…”
He looks at me. Eyebrows raised.
He smiles a delicious smile and continues counting,$1“Two, one…”
He pauses and looks at me.
I hold my breath. What's he going to do?
He moves quickly. He reaches for me. His warm arm grips my torso, brushing the underside of my breasts. I feel a tingle throughout my entire body. Before I know what’s happening, he’s raining spanks down on my ass.
I’m so surprised, I’m silent for a few seconds. And then I yell.
“WHAT THE—”
The stranger clamps his hand over my mouth. I breathe in deeply, feeling my entire body tremble against him. I feel a tingling sensation between my legs, and shame washes over me. I’m not supposed to have these kinds of perverted feelings. Especially not about a guy like him.
“If you make a scene, everyone will get to see and hear me spank your naughty, virgin ass. Now, is that really what you want, Virgin Mary?”
“I am not—” I start to say.
I breathe in sharply, the cool night air stinging my lungs.
“What are you doing?” I say, my voice wobbly.
My cheeks flush, and blood pumps to my cunt. The stranger’s fingers are sneaking up my inner thighs. The closer he gets to my panties, the shakier my legs get. You know that stupid game kids play where they hyperventilate to get a head rush?
That’s what this feels like.
“What do you think I’m doing, Mary?” he whispers. I swear, I can hear that goddamn smirk in his voice. It’s honestly unfair that someone this insufferable was gifted a sexy voice.
His fingers brush the lace of my panties, and my heart quickens. I try to keep quiet, but I breathe in quickly when his finger grazes my skin. He’s right at the crease of my upper thigh. If he moves a millimeter closer, he’ll be touching my cunt.
“Did my spanking turn you on, Mary?” he whispers, his voice hot and heavy in my ear.
“N-no,” I stammer. I don’t know why I just said that. It’s obviously untrue. But I instinctively know that we’re playing a game where my role is to deny him.
“No?” he asks. His middle finger slips beneath my panties and plunges into my cunt, and I gasp. Embarrassment and pleasure wash through me. My pussy clenches around his finger as he begins to pump it in and out of my slit. He smells like gasoline, and it’s the sexiest fucking thing.
“Why are you so shy all of a sudden, Mary? I remember you asking me to ‘prove it’ to you, but I think the only person who has to prove anything is you,” he says, his blue eyes glittering.
“Prove what?” I ask, my heart hammering.
“What’s your name?” he asks. “Or should I keep calling you Mary?”
A shot of pure adrenaline rushes through me. “Belle. You?”
He ignores my question. “Belle,” he says, rolling the name in his mouth like candy. “I like it. So sweet and innocent. Just like you.”
“Stop it,” I hiss.
“Stop what?” he asks with a smirk.
“Pretending you know me. You keep acting like I’m this wholesome, goody-two-shoes, but you know jack shit about me.”
He removes his finger from my cunt and rubs overtop of my panties. I bite my lower lip to keep from groaning as his fingers work their magic. It’s taking every last ounce of willpower I have to not throw myself at him.
His eyebrows raise. “I thought anger was a sin? Are you going to have to repent, Belle?”
My cheeks flame red-hot. I don’t know how much longer I can keep up this game.
“Fuck you,” I whisper.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
A split second later, we're entwined. Kissing. His lips are everywhere, his hands are everywhere.
I can't distinguish my skin from his. I grab the back of his shirt hungrily, pulling him closer to me. I feel like an animal. I feel feral.
A split second later, I remember where I am: outside, in public, where anyone could see.
Oops.
I freeze.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
A pang of warmth shoots through my belly. Is he actually being nice?
“People could see,” I whisper.
“Good,” he says.
He leans back into me, and I feel him everywhere. His hard chest pressing up against my breasts. It feels like he’s sucking my soul out. I feel like I can’t breathe.
I feel his hardness press up against me. A silent thrill runs through me, then a pang of guilt. I shouldn’t be doing this.
“What’s wrong, angel?” he asks. His voice is raspy and sexy, but I sense an undercurrent of concern, too. Or, at least, I think I do.
How did he notice something was wrong?
“I just … how did you know?” I say.
“Your body language. Plus … if you’re not begging for my cock, I know I’m doing something wrong.”
My cheeks redden.
“Don’t avoid the question,” he says. “What’s wrong?”
“I shouldn’t be doing this,” I whisper. Shame flushes through my body. I cringe as I remember the bravado I acted with 15 minutes ago when I told this guy to “prove it.” Wait. What is this guy’s name?
“What’s your name?” I whisper.
“Answer the question, and I’ll tell you.”
I roll my eyes, and he brushes his thumb across my lower lip. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, little girl, or I will punish you.”
I squeeze my legs tightly as warmth gushes through them. It feels so wrong to be turned on by the dirty things this guy is saying … but I can’t help it.
“Uh, it’s a sin,” I blurt out, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I look around—at the ground, at the trees, at the night sky—anywhere but those damn blue eyes. The ones that make me weak in the knees.
“What is?” He traces a finger down my cheek, and I shudder. His skin feels electric.
“Sex,” I say.
“Who said we were having sex?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh my god,” I say, clapping a hand over my mouth, embarrassment flooding me like a tsunami. “I’m s—”
“I’m just teasing, angel. My name’s Ajax. But to get back to what I was saying—of course I want to fuck you senseless and use your perfect little body in a million ways, but I wasn’t expecting it. I would never expect that.”
I swallow. This was not what I was expecting.
“You look surprised, angel.”
“I guess I just … didn’t expect you to react like this.”
“Like what?”
“Respectfully,” I say.
He laughs. “Trust me, angel, I have more than enough women who are dying for me to fuck them. Why would I bother with a girl who isn’t interested?”
I eye him up. “I see what you’re doing,” I say finally.
“Oh? Enlighten me,” he says.
“Reverse psychology. You’re trying to get me to think you’re the prize by acting like I’m not even worth your time. Like, you're not even interested in me.”
“Is it working?” he asks with a smirk.
He brushes my cheek, and I shiver. “I’m kidding. Of course, you’re worth my time. If you weren’t, I wouldn't be here right now. My time is valuable, sweetheart.”
“How do you manage to brag every single time you open your mouth?” I ask.
“How do you manage to keep your dirty little thoughts to yourself?” he replies cheekily.
His blue eyes sparkle with wickedness, and I’m caught off guard. My legs feel like jello.
“I don’t have—”
“Don't lie to me, Belle,” he says.
Belle. Suddenly I’m imagining him saying my name in all sorts of circumstances. I’m imagining him lying on top of me, choking me while—
“Tell me what’s going on in that dirty mind of yours,” he says.
“I—”
He cuts me off before I can object. “Tell me, or I’ll stop touching you.”
My entire body flushes as my skin pulses under his warm touch. With every second, the delicious feeling between my legs grows stronger. It’s humiliating to be under his control like this, and even more humiliating to have it used against me as a bargaining chip. I hate how much I like it.
“I was imagining you saying my name—”
He slips a finger into my cunt, then another.
I gasp from the stretching sensation.
“Keep going,” he says.
I close my eyes as he pumps his digits in and out of me while swirling his finger around my clit. It feels so good. I’m caught between giving in to him and pulling away.
“You were lying on top of me…” I whisper.
He adds a third finger, and a tingly feeling fills my lower body.
“You’re so fucking tight, Belle,” he growls into my ear. I inhale deeply, letting his scent soak through my body. “I bet you’ve never been pounded by a big, thick cock, have you?”
Embarrassment and pleasure wash through me.
“Answer me.”
He slips his thumb in my mouth. It’s such a small thing, but it feels so invasive. It feels like the ultimate show of control.
“Answer me, Belle.”
There’s nowhere to look but in his electric blue eyes. I shake my head.
“What else?” he asks, slipping his thumb from my mouth.
Oh god. My insides tingle. “You were … choking me…”
His large, callused hand slips down my face and to my neck. He’s almost able to grip my neck with one hand.
“Does this turn you on, Belle?”
He’s increasing the pressure on my clit, and I feel myself losing control. Saying no would be like denying the earth is round. It would be denying basic facts.
But for some reason, I squeak out a quiet, “No.”
He smirks. “Then why are you about to come for me?”
As soon as the last word leaves his devilish mouth, an avalanche of sensation wracks my body. I writhe and contort as he holds me in place.
My blood pumps through my neck, reminding me of his firm grip. He presses harder on my sensitive clit, prolonging my orgasm in an almost painful way.
I feel totally out of control as I ride out the wave of sensation.
When it fades, I’m left light-headed, dazed, and slightly euphoric. What the hell just happened?
But strangest of all, Ajax doesn’t ask me to do anything or try to push things. He just steps back, smirks, and catches me with his icy eyes.
My knees wobble. Before I can fall, Ajax steadies me, his hands suddenly gentle.
“You okay?” he asks.
I take a breath and check in with myself. Shaken, embarrassed, exhilarated—but okay. “Yes.”
He waits until I’m standing on my own, then holds out his hand. “Phone.”
I should refuse on principle. Instead, I unlock it and pass it over. He enters his number, calls himself once, and hands it back. The new contact reads Stranger.
“See you around, angel,” he drawls.
As he walks away, I stare at the name on my screen.
A tingle runs up my spine.
Stranger.