Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Y ou can put me down now,” I said when we reached Duke’s penthouse.
I didn’t want him to, but it seemed like the right thing to say, anyway.
In truth, I enjoyed being carried. No one has since I hit puberty and grew six inches in one summer, and knowing he could pick me up and hold me the entire way up to his place excited me.
So much power in this body and it was all mine.
I pushed back the little voice in my mind that tried to remind me he didn’t belong to me at all. He did for now, and that would have to be good enough.
“As much as I like the view up here”—I squeezed one of his ass cheeks— “I’m sure you’re getting tired of carrying me.” He was too stubborn to admit when he’d had enough, and I loved egging him on.
He bounced me on his shoulder a bit.
“I forgot you were even up there. I should feed you more. Your salary at that library is clearly not paying you enough for good food.”
From anyone else, I would have felt self-conscious, but Duke was one of the few people that knew why I didn’t eat and loved me, anyway.
“You know damn well it’s a museum.”
“Is it? They all look the same to me.” He shrugged and sent me bouncing against him again.
“I suppose I shouldn’t expect much out of a Pogue like you.” He made the mistake of teaching me exactly how to insult him best when he joined the Marines. This was one I’ve held close for years, just waiting for the perfect time to use it.
He stopped three steps into the entryway.
“That’s it. Now, I’m going to spank you for real.”
I giggled at his threat.
“If you insist, but can we move to the bedroom? It’s very uncomfortable up here.” I poked some of his muscles and grabbed his ass again. “You’re all lumpy and big.”
“Well, if you’re so uncomfortable up there.” He bent over and set me down like I was fragile and precious. My heart squeezed at the tenderness when he held onto me so I could get my balance and let my blood go back where it belonged.
My mouth went dry when he stepped back, took off his suit coat, and rolled up his sleeves. Anytime his tattoos peeked out from his fancy suits, they felt like a secret he kept just for me, like he was taking off the mask of billionaire Sam Pennington and becoming my Duke again.
He smiled in a way I hadn’t seen before. Something about it was off—different—and it sent shivers down my spine. He was a predator, and I was his prey. My skin itched with the need to run.
“Bend over the table so I can give you an attitude adjustment.” A predatory gleam lighting his eyes.
I laughed, panic and excitement warring within me, as I gave into the feeling crawling up my spine and ran.
A bark of laughter and sedate footsteps echoed off the high ceilings and reclaimed walnut flooring as he followed, in no hurry to catch me. He knew I had nowhere to go.
My heart rate picked up as I moved, glad he tore away so much of my dress earlier so I could run without tripping.
I ducked behind a door to catch my breath and gauge where he was in the house.
Something about the slow steps moving inexorably closer to me had my pulse jumping and my pussy clenching.
I shoved a fist in my mouth, silencing my panicked panting and the little squeak of fear and excitement that tried to burst from me. Some long dormant part of me, something inherited from our more primal ancestors, woke up screaming at me to stay silent and still.
I’d read plenty gray and dark romance about women being chased through the woods, but had never understood just how thrilling it could be. The combination of fear, excitement, and adrenaline unlocked a hidden part of me, and I needed more.
“Lily,” Duke called out, his voice low and even, trying to cajole me out of my hiding spot. I didn’t fall for it, but I kept my fist against my mouth to hide the slightly panicked giggle threatening to burst free.
I inched away from the door to the hallway behind me, the one that led to his bedroom and our ultimate destination. I wanted a clear path to run when he finally caught up with me. Just a little more and he would spot me.
“You can’t hide from me for long.” His voice was louder, closer, just beyond the door I had been hiding behind. His shadow fell into view, and then he walked around the corner. I was right where I needed to be, so when he stepped around the door, I turned and ran.
This time, he didn’t follow me at the slow, sedate pace. Instead, he bolted after me, catching me just steps before I could reach the bed and launch myself onto it.
He wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me in close. “Got you,” he whispered into my ear. The gravelly texture of his voice sent shivers down my spine, settling in my core, and drawing a moan from the depths of me.
I couldn’t stop myself from rubbing against him as he ran his hand down me until he cupped me through my dress. The rough texture of the tulle on my bare, wet pussy was exquisite torture. I clenched my thighs, desperate for the friction he wouldn’t provide.
“Now, I believe I owe you a spanking.”
The thought of bending over for him and presenting myself for a spanking after he hunted me through his house rocketed my arousal to a ten, pushing me to the edge with just the thought of it.
I whimpered and tried to move again, seeking that small bit of friction to push me over that edge. He denied it.
“Please, Duke.”
He ran his other hand up me until he reached my collarbone. Arousal shot through me and I wanted him to reach higher, grab my neck, move me where he wanted me. I whimpered when he kept his hand where it was, teasing me with its promise.
“Will you be a good girl and bend over for your spanking?” He tensed. The hand cupping me gave me just the barest hint of friction—not enough. It wasn’t enough.
“Yes,” I gasped out when I couldn’t stand it anymore .
“Good girl.” He released me slowly and then stepped back. I turned to him for instructions. He waved his hand toward the bed. “Dress off. Bend over.”
I turned my back to him. “I need help with the zipper.” I looked over my shoulder and tried to bat my eyelashes at him. I’d never done that before, so I wasn’t sure how it would look. He just chuckled and shook his head.
“Brat. Yes. I’ll help you with your dress.
” He stepped toward me and ran his hands gently down my neck and shoulders, pushing my hair where it fell from my braid out of the way before he slowly drew his finger along my spine down to the zipper.
He traced the line of my bodice, the feel of his hands on me sent electricity buzzing through my veins.
His touch left me and then the low rasp of my zipper echoed through the room.
It stuck on the seam and his fingers brushed my lower back as he worked it free.
I held the dress to me. Something about tonight felt different, more intimate and fragile, like I would need to hold on to it forever, like taking a leap off an edge, hoping to survive. Somehow, everything had changed between us from one breath to the next.
Shaking off the feeling, I let the dress drop to my feet, stepped over it to get to the bed, and turned my head to watch the only man I ever wanted to see me like this. Duke stared at my ass, raw hunger filling his face as I bent over.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” I asked, breathless and eager. “I can’t spank myself.”
“Minx.” Duke stepped closer to me, releasing me from whatever spell had trapped us, and I rested my head on the bed to wait for my punishment.
The first biting slap came without warning. The sound broke through the room, sharp and loud, and I moaned at the small shock of pain. He rubbed the spot he spanked to ease the sting, and I pushed back into the feeling of his hands on me.
“Now, how many do you deserve?” he mused, like his words were for himself and my ass and I had no say in the matter. So many people had spoken through me in my life that I immediately recognized it. I wasn’t going to let that slide.
“I think we’re done. I feel nice and chastised for…
well, shoot, I can’t even remember.” The whole time I spoke, though, I moved my ass, pressing back against his still circling hand, begging with my actions for more.
Another sharp sound echoed through the room, and I arched my back and moaned in surprise and pleasure. “Maybe not.”
“No. Not yet. I think eight more should do it. Be a good girl and count for me.” His hand rubbed soothing circles, and my head spun from the contrast with the sharp sting of the spankings.
“Duke,” I begged. Gone was the brat and in her place was a woman desperate for the pleasure she knew only this man could bring.
“That’s right, baby, give into it. Let me hear how much you need me.
Now count.” He didn’t wait and the next two hits landed in quick succession, ringing through my body and erasing all thought from my head except the feel of his hands on me, delivering pleasure and pain in equal measure until neither my body nor my mind could separate the two.
“Lily.” Duke’s voice held a note of warning, and I remembered to count.
“Two,” I said between breaths. “That was two.”
“Good job. Don’t stop counting.”
I didn’t. I counted every last spank, even when my mind went blank and a soft, floaty feeling came over me. The only thing that existed was the sharp slap followed by a soothing warm hand and my now unrecognizable voice calling out numbers for each cycle.
“You still with me, sweetheart?”
“I need you in me.” I didn’t care that I begged, or that I was so boneless that I couldn’t hold up my weight.
“Gladly.” He pushed into me, fast, eager, hard.
I didn’t realize until now just how much he had been holding back.
He’d been gentle, caring, soft. All that was gone, and what remained was a primal, starving hunger, gnawing at us until the sound of our animalistic cries as flesh met flesh filled the room.
My orgasm crashed through me as Duke used me like I was simply a tool for his pleasure. He gathered my hair in his hand and pulled my head back. His eyes were filled with a fierce determination.
“Duke!” I cried out, begging for more, begging for everything. His other hand moved around my waist, reaching for my clit, strumming it fast and hard, just like he fucked me, wringing yet another orgasm out of me. I clamped down on him, powerless to do more than take what he gave.
“Fuck, that’s it, baby. You’re taking my cock so good.
” He brought his hand to my mouth, and I tasted myself, the musky flavor of my pleasure bursting across my tongue.
He didn’t linger, though. As soon as his fingers were coated in my saliva, he tore them out of my hand and used them to circle my asshole.
“Duke, oh god. Yes. More. Shit.” He pushed one finger in and then a second, and I felt so full.
All of me.
He was inside all of me.
Another orgasm crashed through me, drawing out every bit of energy, seizing my muscles around him, trying to hold him in me even as he continued to barrel through, his own orgasm chasing mine as he lost rhythm and ground his cock into me.
“Fuck, Lily, yes. Take my cum. Fucking filling you up with me.” He gave two more quick jerks before he collapsed on me, his weight pressing me into the bed, our hearts beating out a frantic rhythm in sync with each other.
I whimpered when he pulled out of me, over-sensitive from his fucking, that soft, floaty feeling leaving me too quickly.
He gathered me in his arms and pulled me into his bed as the tears slipped from my eyes. I buried my nose in his neck, shaking and lost.
“Shh, baby. It’s ok. I’ve got you. Deep breaths. You’re ok.” He ran his hands along my back in slow soothing motions until I stopped shaking. Blurry claw marks littered his chest, and I realized I must have done that, desperate to be close to him again, needing to crawl inside him and become one.
“I’m sorry,” I said when the tears stopped.
“Nothing to be sorry for. I should have realized that would be too intense for you and brought you down slower.” He rubbed slow circles on my back, and I could feel myself drifting off to sleep under his care. “Rest baby.” He kissed my forehead. “I’ve got you.”
My last thought before drifting off to sleep was that he didn’t, he didn’t have me, and it was all my fault. I never should have asked for this.