Chapter 6 Reluctant Submission
Reluctant Submission
Eyes wide, Marigold watched as Ash rounded the island, coming to stand behind her head. His thumbs found the knots of tension at the base of her neck, pressing with just enough pressure to make her gasp with relief.
“You’re wound tight as a spring,” he murmured, his breath warm against her ear as he leaned close. “When’s the last time you truly let your guard down? Really let go?”
His fingers dug into her tired muscles, finding every sore spot and working it loose with careful precision. She’d been carrying tension for so long she’d forgotten what it felt like to let go of the pressure. But this was not the time.
“That’s... that’s not necessary,” she managed, her voice breathy and weak.
When she tried to sit up, he pressed a stilling hand to her shoulder. “Isn’t it?” His touch moved beneath her back, working muscles between her shoulder blades that were screaming for attention. “You’re tight. Unrested. Running from something. Living on adrenaline and fear. That’s no way to exist.”
“You don’t know anything about how I exist.”
“I know you smell like desperation,” he said quietly, the words sending electricity racing down her spine. “I know you sleep like someone who expects to be hunted. You flinch when anyone moves too quickly. And you lie to protect yourself.”
His accuracy was terrifying. How could a stranger read her so easily?
“I wish you’d stop,” she said, but the next muscle he pressed made her close her eyes and moan.
“Stop lying to yourself. You’re not going anywhere. You know it. I know it. Hunter and Stone know it.”
The mention of his brothers made her frown. His hands stilled on her shoulders. “That’s the second time you tensed like that.”
She couldn’t make herself relax when she was so unsure of their true intentions. “Please… I want to sit up.”
He released her, and she swung her legs around, not just enough to sit, but to hop off the counter. She thought distance would make her feel safer, but once on her feet his height only reminded her how much bigger he was.
“What are you running from?”
“I’m standing perfectly still.”
“You know that’s not what I meant. You’ve been running since you got here.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Then help me understand.” He rounded the counter, his hands framing her face with surprising gentleness. “We invited you to stay. Do you think that’s a common occurrence?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“It’s not. Trust me. Why are you so reluctant to let us take care of you?”
“You act like your offer is without condition.”
“So what? Have you even asked yourself if the conditions are good or bad?” He waved an arm out, encompassing all the luxury that surrounded them. “You would want for nothing. Every craving, every thirst, every desire would be met. You would be safe from whatever has you on edge.”
“In exchange for what?” she snapped. “There’s a cost to surrender that men know nothing about.”
He stilled as if she struck him. “Not all men.” His thumb reverently traced the curve of her cheekbone. “Your desires would be met in exchange for letting us.”
“That still doesn’t answer my questsion. Letting you what?”
“Do whatever we want. It’s that simple. We’d have you, protect you—”
“Fuck me?”
He smirked. “I know you’re a brave girl, little thief.” When she stiffened, he pressed a finger to her full lips. “Brave enough to risk your life for freedom.”
She wasn’t free if she didn’t have free will. Sometimes, she felt cursed by fate. Certain other women had easy, normal lives with none of the suffering she’d known. “Why me?”
“You chose us.”
“No, why am I the only woman—as you claim—to get an invitation like this?”
He didn’t answer right away. After drawing in a deep, slow breath, he explained, “The winters are long on the side of Kassel. None of us take issue with isolation or the cold, and we entertain whenever possible, but this is different. This isn’t for them, it’s for us.”
“Them?”
He grinned, but his smile didn’t reach his telling blue eyes. “The ones we entertain. You aren’t for them.” His thumb traced the arch of her cheekbone again. “Just us.”
“The three of you.” He had to see how intimidated that would be to a woman in her position, of her size.
“You won’t break.”
“Maybe I’m already broken.”
His soft chuckle was warm, soothing something inside of her with that misleading sense of safety.
“I don’t think so.” He glanced down at her body.
“You’re small but hardy. Who’s to say this arrangement won’t also benefit you?
See what it feels like to shut off your worry for a while. We’ll protect you, Mary.”
Her lashes lifted. It was the first time he called her Mary.
But her satisfaction wasn’t about finally fooling him.
It was because she liked the sound of her name on his lips.
Until she remembered it wasn’t her name.
He wasn’t saying Mari as in Marigold. He was calling her by a stranger’s name.
And part of her was disappointed he was falling for the lie.
“I’m not brave,” she whispered. “I’m a coward. Running away instead of fighting.”
“Running takes courage, too.” He leaned close enough that she could see silver flecks in his ice-blue eyes. “And courage is never without fear, printsessa. Run toward something that scares you. Run into the unknown with us.”
Her lips tightened, but she was getting tired of shielding her emotions. “You’re very good at this. Did they put you with me on purpose?”
“I’m here with you because I wanted to be alone with you.” This time, there was no playfulness in his voice. “You see, printsessa, I’ve gotten used to getting what I want.”
Her hips jolted forward, and a startled squeak escaped her throat as he cupped her bare ass possessively.
He quirked a smile that was part angel, part devil, that devastating dimple flashing like a dark promise hidden behind his tanned cheek.
He lowered his head until his breath ghosted across her lips.
His eyes closed, and he breathed deeply like some sort of wild animal. “I won’t pretend I don’t want you.”
When he looked at her again, the intensity of his stare went beyond anything she’d ever experienced. “Ash.”
“That’s right. Say my name. Say it like a prayer. Let it be the first thing that crosses your lips when you can’t take anymore, and you’re begging for mercy.” His smile curved and widened. “But you won’t want it to stop. You’ll be begging for it to go on forever—if you let me have control.”
His hand slid under her sweater, fingertips between her ass cheeks. He gently pulled, spreading her in such a possessive manner that breath skittered past her lips. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” The tips of his fingers only needed to shift ever so slightly, and he’d breach her.
“Do what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing, Mary? Tell me.”
If he thought he could offend her modesty, he was wrong. “You’re holding my ass.”
“And?” He teased the crack, zeroing in on the tight little pucker. “Does it make your pussy wet, knowing I want to stretch every hole you have?”
All she had to do was walk away. She wanted to be the sort of woman who would slap a man for less, but she also wanted to see how far he’d push her. This wasn’t just her test. It was his.
She swallowed, not confirming or denying.
“I bet those interior muscles are starting to clench.” He leaned forward, trapping her earlobe between his teeth, sucking, licking, sending liquid heat to her core as chills raced down her spine. “Wanting to be filled…”
Her breath caught, and she shamefully moaned.
He released her ear and chuckled. “I’ve got you now, printsessa. Say mercy.”
Her words silently formed the word, but no sound came out.
“I didn’t hear you.” He dragged his touch between her legs, nudging her knees apart. She widened her stance. “Good girl.”
Sliding a finger through her folds, he chuckled when he found her slick with arousal. Mortification burned across her cheeks when he teased her open.
“Still think I’m hiding cruel intentions?” He curved his fingers, sinking his touch deeper until she leaned into him.
Her eyes closed at the unexpected gentleness. “Ash…”
“Yes?” He grazed his pillow-soft lips over hers, pumping his finger slowly through her shamefully slick heat.
“Ash, please…”
“Please, what, printsessa?”
She didn’t know what she wanted. Her breathing turned heavy as she leaned into him, partially gripping his muscled shoulders for support, partially hiding her face against his neck in shame.
When he kissed her, it was gentle. Soft and careful, nothing like the brutal claiming she’d expected from a man like him. His lips moved against hers with infinite patience, like he had all the time in the world to learn the shape of her mouth and the feel of her body.
She gasped, losing the rhythm of the kiss, and clung to his sleeve. Thick, corded muscle twisted beneath her grip as he worked his fingers in and out.
“Getting braver now…” He rubbed and teased, more deliberate than before, as if seeking that sweet release for both of them.
She should push him away. She should remind him she hadn’t agreed to anything yet. She should try to maintain some shred of dignity. Instead, she melted into him like snow under an August sky.
Her hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer. Tension rippled through him, and she sensed him holding back in order to stay gentle with her.
“Once you give in, we’ll show you things you never imagined. Things that make a woman’s mind splinter into a thousand pieces while her body shatters like glass from the pleasure.
“You can’t break what’s already broken.”
“No?”
“No.” But what was wrong with her that she wanted him to try?
She caught his wrist, edging him on, but he tore his touch away and turned her abruptly, backing her into the wall, his hand wedged between her thighs, two determined fingers pressing back inside of her.
He kissed her with pure possession. Demanding that she prove she could take what he was doing and meet her halfway.