17. Maks
17
MAKS
“ W here the fuck is she?” I snarl, my hands shaking with fury.
“I—don’t know, gospodin .” Genrikh avoids my eyes as he flinches from my temper.
“Ten of you on duty, all with clear instructions that under no circumstances is the girl to be allowed outside, and not one of you can tell me where she is or how she got out.” I’m beyond livid—but most of all with myself, because I let my guard down again. Somewhere along the line, I started trusting Lindsey when she told me she wouldn’t run. I did it without meaning to, without even realizing I was doing it, and she slipped out in the night. “Call a search party. I want men scouring every inch of the city. Find her before anyone else can.”
If Lucian’s men find Lindsey again, if they catch her, there’s no doubt in my mind what he’ll do to her—or Emiliano, if he’s lucky enough to stumble upon her. A violent shudder racks my body, and I tense, every line going rigid. Lindsey better pray I get to her first, and when I find her, she’ll never forget the punishment I intend to give her.
“Yes, sir.” Genrikh leads the way as my men turn toward the elevator from my condo.
But before they reach the doors, the lift gives a soft ding and opens. Lindsey stands there, barefoot, dressed in nothing but my oversized T-shirt, her nipples tenting the white fabric and making my cock swell against my thigh. Her cheeks are flushed, her lips parted, and her hair mussed like she got caught in a brisk wind. Aside from the goosebumps covering her bare arms, she looks perfectly fine—entirely unharmed. One hand reaches up to grip her opposing bicep, covering her breasts as her eyes find mine, and she bites her lip, hesitating before she steps out of the elevator and into the foyer.
“Hi,” she says softly before glancing at my men.
They’re frozen midstep, unsure of what to do now that the person I’ve sent them to find just waltzed through my front door like nothing’s the matter.
“Get out,” I growl, my eyes still fixed on Lindsey, but there’s no question of who I’m talking to.
Wordlessly, my men filter around her slight form, crowding into the elevator so they can all ride down at once. Lindsey stays rooted to the spot, her ankles rolling nervously as she waits for the doors to close behind her.
“Where the fuck have you been?” I demand, crossing the living room and entering the foyer to stop in front of her.
Lindsey’s eyes widen, their Baltic blue darkening with fear as she takes a step back. “I’m sorry. I thought I could make it back before you woke up.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Fury vibrates through my body, and I clench my teeth, desperately trying to keep my temper in check.
She didn’t answer my question. Instead, her response only raised ten new ones. I’m on the brink of snapping, because every time I turn around, Lindsey betrays my trust again. I’ve been near frantic that someone might pick her up, and all the while, she’s been focused on making it back before I noticed her absence?
“You’re here for a reason, Lindsey. You begged for my protection. Said you would do anything. You know you’re not allowed to leave, and you fucking did it anyway. Do you have any idea of how many people are looking for you? Do you have the slightest clue what would have happened if they found you?”
The color slowly drains from Lindsey’s face, and she takes another step back. “I know.” Her voice hitches, and she wallows nervously. “I—someone did follow me,” she breathes, her arms wrapping defensively around her torso.
I huff, shaking my head in disappointment as the full picture comes into focus. “So you came running back to hide behind me.”
“I’m sorry,” she says again. “I never should have left.”
“Why did you?” I demand. “Haven’t I proven willing enough to get you whatever you fucking ask for? Short of being your personal escort around the city, I’ve given you about as much freedom as I can. So, what was so fucking important that you had to go do it yourself?”
Lindsey’s lips thin as she presses them together, clamming up, like she did when I first questioned her in the basement cell where I imprisoned her. White-hot rage rips through me, so overwhelming and explosive that if I don’t release it, I’m going to lose my mind completely. With a snarl, I grasp the oversized vase of flowers on the center table and launch it across the space. Lindsey jolts, her shoulders tensing as the porcelain shatters against the wall behind me, water and fresh flowers spilling across the marble.
“Damn it, I’m trying to protect you! I’ve fucking bent over backwards to keep you alive, and what do I get as a thank-you?”
“Maks, I—” Tears shimmer in her eyes as Lindsey’s words taper off into another vacuum of silence.
Taking a deep breath, I release it slowly through my nose, exhaling the violent fury pounding through my veins. I need to get a hold of myself because I can’t touch her until I’m sure I’m in control, but after what she just pulled, there’s not a chance in hell I won’t punish her. Only when my ears stop ringing do I move toward her, but Lindsey takes a step back.
“What are you going to do with me?” she whispers, her eyes flitting toward the elevator, like she’s thinking about running.
“Ensure you’ll never leave again,” I growl, closing the distance between us before she can react, and I scoop her up, slinging her over my shoulder as I head straight for the bedroom.
“Maks!” she shrieks, hammering against my back with her fists as I carry her like a sack of potatoes. “Maks, put me down!”
Scowling, I slap her ass. Hard.
Lindsey yelps, her hips jerking as she squirms. “Please, Maks,” she sobs, the fight leaving her as she realizes that struggling is doing her no good.
Kicking the bedroom door closed behind us, I stop at the foot of my bed and throw her down onto it. “Don’t fucking move an inch,” I command, pointing at her as I pin her down with my glare.
Lindsey braces against the mattress with her palms, her legs half drawn up toward her chest like she wants to get as far away from me as she can. It makes my chest ache and my head throb to think that might be exactly what her plan was. Maybe she decided to run and realized she wouldn’t make it when she saw someone following her—just like last time. All the nights she’s spent in my bed, all those intimate dinners and private moments—I’ve been deluding myself to think this is anything but a prison for her. It’s never going to be anything but that, and I’m just the monster holding her captive. But she has no idea what kind of monster I can be.
Stooping at the foot of the bed, I reach for one of the straps already attached to the frame. Then I snag Lindsey’s ankle, dragging her across the bed toward me. Her night shirt rides up, exposing every last inch of her perfect legs and the sheer cheeky green lace undies that leave little to the imagination.
Lindsey’s sharp breaths turn ragged as her eyes go round, but before she can pull away, I cinch the silk-lined fabric above her foot.
“What—” She starts to quiver as she tugs against the restraint to find it won’t budge.
I move quickly to her hands, holding her down as I work with practiced precision, and though she resists, objecting loudly, it takes very little to overpower her. Lindsey might be fit—and strong—but she’s no match for me.
“Maks, you’re scaring me,” she breathes as I immobilize her second hand.
“Good.” A sick part of me wants her to fear me. Clearly, she doesn’t have a healthy respect for what I’m capable of—what my world is capable of doing to her—and if making her afraid of me is what it takes to keep her safe, then I’ll be the thing of her nightmares.
Lindsey squirms against her restraints as she lies starfished across my bed, her muscles bunching and her back arching with the effort to escape. When I straighten to check that my handiwork will hold, it makes my cock swell to see her tied down and so entirely at my mercy. Reaching into my pants pocket, I adjust myself, and her eyes track the movement before I pull out my pocket knife. The blood drains from her cheeks as I flip open the blade, and a wave of panic washes across her face.
“Wait, Maks,” she pleads, scooting as far up the bed as her restraints will allow when I kneel between her ankles. “I’m sorry. Please don’t—don’t hurt me.”
“I’m not going to hurt you, little rabbit,” I state calmly, moving slowly as I take a handful of her shirt. I would never hurt her. I couldn’t. We’re well past that point now, but I’m glad to see she still thinks I’m capable of it.
Lindsey’s near hyperventilating as her eyes flick up to mine before snapping back to the blade—as if she can’t take her eyes off it for more than a second. “W-What are you doing?”
“I am going to teach you a lesson,” I promise, the sharp knife slicing through the T-shirt as it parts like warm butter against the edge.
She gasps, her nipples puckering as I cut the fabric from her body, exposing her small breasts. Her knees press together as best they can—as if my threat turns her on. “Don’t you fucking touch me,” she hisses, color flooding her cheeks as she narrows her eyes at me.
“You think you get to dictate terms after what you’ve done?” I warn, hooking a finger around the waistline of her panties and pulling them away from her hip bone. “Do you have any idea of the trouble you’ve caused?”
I slide the dull edge of my knife against her skin, and Lindsey shudders, goosebumps rising across her flesh. With a twitch of my wrist, the lacy fabric falls away, exposing every last inch of her to me. Closing my knife, I lean over her to set it on the bedside table, then I rest my palms against the bed on either side of her head as I meet her molten gaze.
“Are you getting off on this?” she challenges, her voice low and filled with a heady cocktail of fury and arousal.
Knowing that it turns her on to be tied down makes me so fucking hard, it hurts, but this isn’t about pleasure—mine or hers. I intend to break Lindsey so she’ll never disobey me again.
Leaning in until my lips hover mere inches from hers, I breathe, “Don’t worry, zaya , I won’t be fucking you. You don’t get my cock again until you’ve earned it.”
Lindsey’s chin lifts defiantly, her eyes determined as she glares at me in silent challenge. She doesn’t think I’ll be able to resist her. She thinks I’ll break before she does. But she doesn’t know just how agonizing I can make her pleasure, and she’s about to get a taste of the torture she’s put me through. I want her to know the maddening frustration, because every time I start to let down my guard, she snatches away the trust I want to give her.
Despite her rebellious expression, when I narrow the distance between our lips, hers part softly, her tongue darting out to wet them, and I can feel the tension crackling in the air as I brush past her without a kiss.
Leaning in until my lips brush the shell of her ear, I whisper, “You’re mine until I’m done with you, little rabbit. And the more you struggle, the smaller your cage is going to get.”
I nip her earlobe, and Lindsey gasps. The sound makes my cock throb and my balls tighten, and it takes all my self-restraint not to grind my hips against her. Slowly, I work my way down the curve of her neck to her breasts, biting and sucking her soft flesh—just hard enough to walk the line between pleasure and pain. I can hear the distinction in her muted whimpers, the soft mewls as she presses her lips together in her effort to hide them from me. But I know every perfect inch of Lindsey’s body by now, every touch that drives her wild. So, by the time I reach the peak of her thighs, she’s quivering with arousal, her folds glistening with anticipation.
“I thought you didn’t want me to touch you,” I tease darkly, letting my breath wash across her sensitive skin as my lips hover over her pussy. The sweet, tangy smell of her excitement makes me ravenous, and I inhale deeply, savoring the intoxicating scent.
“Fuck you,” Lindsey says, but her words cut short on a gasp as I release the breath, relishing the way her clit twitches in response.
“Begging for it already?” I tease, and before she can give a retort, I run my tongue along her slick seam.
She cries out, her back bowing as she strains against her ties, and I hum appreciatively at the erotic sight. I lick her from her ass to her clit, tasting her sweet juices before I wrap my lips around the pearl of sensitive skin.
Moaning, Lindsey writhes beneath me, her breaths coming faster as her pleasure overcomes her fear and defiance. She can’t run from her body’s natural urges, and even if she wants to pretend they don’t, I know my punishments turn her on.
“Oh god!” she gasps, her hips grinding up against my mouth, seeking relief.
I can feel her creeping closer to the edge as her sex swells, her clit twitching against my tongue. Tension vibrates through her body, her thighs quivering as they tighten around my shoulders. Breath hitching, Lindsey reaches the pinnacle, and just before she topples over the edge, I pull back, releasing her clit as I look up the length of her body. She pants as she looks down at me, our eyes meeting between the swells of her breasts. Frustration is written across her face, and her eyebrows press into a pained frown. Then she lets her head fall back against the bed as she tries to catch her breath.
“So beautiful, aren’t you?” I murmur, pressing kisses along the inside of her thigh. “So responsive and eager too.” I pause, my lips hovering over the skin at the bend of her hip—just before where I know she really wants them. “I wonder how long I could keep you like this. Just like this—desperate for release and yet unsatisfied.”
Lindsey tenses, her head lifting off the bed so she can assess my face, and a flash of anxiety lights her eyes. Wrapping my lips around her clit, I don’t give her time to respond. I suck her into my mouth, closing my teeth just enough to make her cry out, then I soothe the punishment with my tongue, swirling it over her clit until she whimpers with pleasure.
Her hips roll, her body responding to my touch, and I ease two fingers into her pussy. She’s drenched, her wet heat so inviting it makes all the remaining blood surge from my head down to my cock.
“Fuck, Maks!” she cries, her walls tightening around me.
Again, I coax her to the edge, stimulating her clit with my tongue, her G-spot with my fingers until she’s trembling with need. Then I stop, pulling my fingers out of her abruptly and rocking back onto my knees so I can watch her squirm. She does, her hips bucking, and her arms jerking against the ties that won’t let her relieve her frustration.
“Maddening, isn’t it?” I taunt softly. “Thinking you’re about to get something you want, knowing how good it would be if only you could have it. Then having it snatched away at the last second.”
Lindsey’s eyes widen, big and blue and innocent, and she strains more forcefully against her bindings as I lean in once more. “Maks, wait,” she pleads, then a sultry moan rushes from her as I suck her oversensitive flesh between my lips.
I know it’s working. I can feel the desperation in each line of her body as she moves beneath me, searching for the release that I refuse to give her—not when I’m still teeming with frustration and near my wit’s end. But every time I stop just short of giving her a release, that overwhelming pressure eases inside me. It feels good to give her a taste of what I’m enduring, the hope that gets crushed every time I fall for her tricks and get burned. She can’t help but do the same as I awaken her desires, giving her just enough pleasure to make her body trust that I’ll give her what I always have before.
Lindsey groans in agony as I draw back a fifth time. Tears stream silently down her cheeks. She’s a wreck, her golden locks a tangled mess around her head from her inability to lie still. She looks fucking perfect, every inch of her tuned to my presence as she quivers beneath the lightest touch.
I stroke my fingers between her drenched folds, and she jerks, her body twitching against my palm.
“God, fuck, Maks please!” she screams, and when I ease two fingers into her pussy, my pinky pressing against the puckered hole of her ass, she grants me access willingly, her body grasping for me as he pulls me deeper inside her.
“Please what, little rabbit?” I murmur, bracing an arm beside her so I can hover over her body and take one hard nipple in my mouth.
“Please, let me come,” she whimpers, her back arching until her breast is firmly suctioned against my lips.
“I don’t think so,” I say, swirling her clit with my thumb as my fingers slide in and out of her.
I’ve never wanted to punish someone so badly, and seeing the intensity of her pleasure, watching how desperately she seeks relief, has me fucking hard as a rock and half-mad with dark, sadistic satisfaction. Lindsey’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on, so full of fire and life, I’ve been swallowed up by her flames. I want to find her breaking point so I never have to feel this way again. Lava throbs through my veins at the thought of keeping her tied to my bed indefinitely, of having her here to punish and pleasure whenever I want. But that would destroy her, and I don’t want to do that, so instead, I’ll have to bend her to my will.
Lindsey sobs as my rhythm slows, creeping back from the edge without removing my fingers from her completely. What I wouldn’t give to bury my cock inside her right now. The thought of it drives me mad with desire, and red clouds the edges of my vision as my cock throbs. The fabric pressed against my swollen tip is damp with precum, and my balls feel tight and bruised, but I won’t give in to my needs. I meant what I said to Lindsey, and I intend to stick to my word.
She shivers violently beneath me as I increase my pace a fraction at a time, and a devastated wail bursts from her, obliterating my rage as it tears my heart open.
“Pomegranate!” she screams.
I freeze, every muscle in my body locking down as she breaks down in tears. It’s the only time she’s used her safe word—after all the ways I’ve pushed her, all the spankings and punishments I’ve dealt out, all her dark desires I’ve uncovered since the first time I took off my belt, I’ve finally found her limit. Fear grips me as I slam back into my reality, and I remove my fingers from her, worried that I hurt her accidentally.
“Fuck,” I hiss, reaching up to free her wrists as she sobs uncontrollably.
She sits up as I rock back to release her ankles next, and as soon as she’s unbound, she pulls her knees up to her chest, crossing her ankles and wrapping her arms around her legs.
“Are you hurt?” I ask softly, reaching for her as she shakes uncontrollably.
She shakes her head, and relief floods my body when she doesn’t pull away. Enfolding her in my arms, I hold her close, trying to keep her in one piece until her trembling starts to calm.
“Talk to me, Lindsey,” I murmur, cupping her cheek with my palm and tipping her face up so I can see her eyes. I brush the tears from her face with my thumb, my heart shattering at the look of devastation that I find.
“I c-can’t take it anymore,” she stutters between sobs. “I’m so frustrated it h-hurts!”
She’s voiced perfectly the emotions that have driven me to this point, but I never should have taken it so far. I teased her for too long—long enough she actually broke down. I wanted to find her breaking point, and now that I’ve found it, I feel horrible for what I’ve done. I thought I was in control—I needed to be in control—but I took advantage of her trust, and even if that’s exactly what I’m upset with her for doing to me, I shouldn’t have handled it the way I did. I have all the power in this situation—the strength to subdue her, the authority to keep her—and that means I need to have unwavering control of my emotions. I let her get to my head.
My lips part, an apology on the tip of my tongue, when a heavy fist pounds on the bedroom door. Linsey squeaks, her body tensing in my arms, and her head snaps in the direction of the French doors.
“Fuck off,” I growl, raising my voice so whoever knocked can hear it on the other side of the wood.
“Sorry, gospodin . He insisted it’s urgent.”
The strain in Genrikh’s tone makes my stomach sink. I have a feeling I know who the unexpected guest must be—and if I’m right, he’s here to talk about his man spotting Lindsey on the street this morning.
“Get dressed,” I mutter, releasing her reluctantly.