Chapter 14
Taryn
I soak in the tub for what feels like eternity.
By the time I get out, my fingers have pruned, my toes have pruned, and I’m pretty sure my soul has been steamed clean.
But I feel radiant. I don’t feel quite as much like some charity case.
I look at my jeans and shirt on the floor, realizing I may never put them on again. I don’t think I’ll mind that.
There’s a fluffy bathrobe hanging on a chrome hook, so I slip into it.
When I step out of the bathroom, Victor is sitting in the middle of the enormous bed, wearing only his boxers.
I feel moisture between my thighs, and it isn’t from my bath.
Of course, he would find a way to get me wet the second I’m clean.
“I don’t know what you drink yet, but I’m having some whiskey,” he tells me, holding up his glass, sipping it, and putting it down on the table by the bed.
“Just some water for now,” I answer. “Why are you sitting on the bed? Do you not like any of the furniture?”
“Furniture is fine, but I’m here because I want to play a game,” he says, patting his thigh. “Drop the bathrobe and lie right here.”
“Are you going to spank me?” I ask apprehensively, pulling the bathrobe tighter around me, even as my body wants me to strip it off immediately.
“Yes,” he answers casually. “But once you figure out how the game works, you’ll also know how to avoid it. Now hurry up. I’ve been waiting long enough.”
“You told me to take a bath,” I mutter.
“And you did. Now get your ass over here,” he commands.
My body answers before my pride can object, and I slowly release my grip on the bathrobe. I take a few steps toward the bed before letting it fall away, feeling incredibly exposed. But when I see his erection tent his boxers, I don’t hate being so exposed.
I climb on the bed and scoot over until he pulls me into spanking position across his firm, muscular thighs. I’m feel his hard cock pressing into me. I realize how wet I am when my pussy clenches and unclenches, already imagining it inside me again.
“For this game, you’re a girl named Taryn,” he explains, adjusting my position before placing one hand on my back and the other on my bare ass.
“So, I’m me?” I ask, tensing up slightly when he rubs my ass with his calloused hand.
“Yes, now tell me your name,” he demands, patting my ass like a warning.
“Taryn,” I say hesitantly.
“Good. You got that question right, so you don’t get punished for getting it wrong. And I liked your answer, so you don’t get any penalty slaps,” he says, his hand coming to a rest gently on my ass again.
“Okay, I answer your questions and if I answer them wrong, I get spanked,” I say flatly. “This seems like a very one-sided game.”
“No, because I’m sure you’ve got a million questions too, and after every question I ask you, you get to ask me one,” he sounds almost gleeful.
“What if you get the question wrong?” I ask.
“I won’t,” he declares, his constant confidence warming me in an odd way. “Only way you get it wrong is if you lie.”
“Useful information,” I say. “What if I don’t like the answer? I can’t exactly spank you.”
“Doesn’t matter if you like the answer,” he growls.
“I could bite you,” I say, a little braver than I probably should be.
“That would just make my dick harder,” he chuckles.
“I could…” I look at his leg. “Pull out a hair.”
“You really don’t want to go hair for hair with me, little girl,” he warns.
“Fine, okay. Why are we playing this game anyway? We could just talk,” I provoke him a little, but I’m getting more comfortable, enjoying the warmth and the tingle of anticipation between my thighs. Almost as much as I’m enjoying every gentle throb of his cock.
“This is more fun,” he answers. “We’re still in the get-to-know-you stage of the mating bond.”
“Last night and this morning seemed more intimate than that,” I scoff.
“We skipped ahead. Now a few things will have to catch up,” he says. “Now. Next question. What do you deserve, Taryn?”
The question startles me back to the reality of my position and his hand on my ass.
“Um, I don’t know,” I begin. “What do I deserve? I… I honestly don’t know.”
“You told the truth, but I didn’t like that answer, so here’s your penalty,” he says, pulling his hand back and lazily smacking my ass five times. “You deserve every good thing, Taryn. And now that I’ve found you, you’ll get it.”
I blush a little. He says that so easily. Like I haven’t been living in a moldy basement and mostly wearing the same clothes from high school. But everything has a price. I’m not used to being able to ignore that part of life.
“I’ll get it right the next time,” I mumble, processing the light sting. “I get to ask you a question now?”
“That’s how it works,” he sounds like he’s having fun as he casually rubs my ass enough to soothe the sting.
Several questions rush through my mind and I have trouble settling on one, but I finally do. “Is it always going to be this intense with you?” I ask. “I mean, like… will you always want to be near me and… want me?”
“I’ll let that be one question,” he concedes. “After the frenzy passes, what we both feel will not be this intense. I’ll always want to be near you because you’re my mate, but it won’t feel like I’m going to die if I let you out of my sight.”
“You really feel like you’re going to die if you let me out of your sight?” I murmur.
“It’s my turn to ask the question,” he deflects my follow-up question, patting my ass. “What do you deserve, Taryn?”
“Um, everything,” I say hesitantly.
“You told the truth again, but I didn’t like your answer because you don’t actually believe it,” he says, delivering five firmer slaps to my bare bottom.
“Ow!” I whimper, shuffling my feet.
“The penalty doubles if you get it wrong again,” he warns, rubbing my ass.
I have to believe it? How do I believe I deserve everything? Apparently, I’m going to get my ass spanked until I do. Is that the point of the game? Make me believe I deserve better than the life I’ve had?
“Ask your question,” he orders.
“Right, um, in the basement, you said you weren’t sure if you even liked me,” I say carefully. “Do you like me now, or is it still just the mating bond?”
“I like you better than I did last night,” his answer makes me feel weird, not exactly reassured. “Finding out the mating bond was real changed something in me. That’s why I’m so determined to change something in you.”
“Fine,” I sigh, leaning forward, preparing myself for more punishment.
“What do you deserve, Taryn?” he growls.
“Everything! I deserve everything!” I say, forcing conviction into my voice.
“Better, but you still don’t believe it. You’re just pretending you do, like when you smile at Frank before returning to the basement where you think you belong,” he grumbles, peppering my ass with a flurry of hard, stinging slaps.
“Ah! Aaiiiiyyy!” I squeal, squirming frantically against his hardness. I assume I get ten, but I don’t count them. “I’m trying, Victor.”
“Don’t try. Believe,” he demands, like it’s that easy. “In your soul.”
“Okay,” I whimper, blinking away the beginnings of tears. I was thinking of a question right before he started spanking me again. Oh. “Do you… do you think we’ll fall in love? Or is this going to be more like… an arranged marriage?”
“Wolves believe the bond is stronger than love, but like I told you before, it can wither,” he answers me with an undercurrent of strength in his voice.
“Since you asked what I think, and not what wolves believe, the answer is yes. I do think I could fall in love with you. In fact, I think I’d like to. ”
Warmth fills my chest. I mean, I know Shana and Madison love me in their own way, but it’s not the same as having someone who cares about… everything. And if he cares about it, then maybe I should too.
“What do you deserve, Taryn?” he repeats.
“Everything,” I say firmly. “I deserve everything.”
“You learned the rules of the game quicker than I expected,” he praises, patting my ass.
“I don’t want to play anymore,” I say, pushing myself up.
His hand stays firm on my back for one more breath, then eases. He lets me choose what to do next, and there’s only one thing I want to do.
I turn and kiss him, straddling his waist. Enough games. If I deserve everything, then I want it, and right now, I need his cock throbbing inside me, instead of rubbing against my hip. I’m so wet it’s glistening between my thighs, and I claw frantically at his boxers while our lips sear together.
He finally shoves his boxers down enough for his thick cock to fall over the top and I’m on it immediately, guiding it into my pussy.
I feel the marvelous stretch first, and gasp into his mouth.
He just kisses me harder, then pulls me down with his powerful hands grasping my hips so he can go deeper.
If this is the get-to-know-me stage, then I should be terrified of the frenzy.
But I’m getting less fearful. Everything that’s happening too fast is settling into place.
I’m not sure if that’s from getting to process it in a warm bath or if the mating bond is still turning common sense into mush in my head. I don’t think I care.
“Oh fuuuuck,” I groan, feeling him deep inside me as our bodies come together.
“I wondered which you would ride first,” he growls, positioning me and bouncing me on his length before I start moving again on my own.
“Since I haven’t seen your wolf, this is the only thing I get to ride,” I mewl, hardly able to believe I’m the one who said it.
“You will, but until then, you can ride this all you want,” he grunts, his hands settling on my hot ass cheeks.
“Good, because the mating bond just… made me… Oh god!” I shake as I climax on his cock, surprised by how quickly it happens.
“Made you come on my cock like a good girl?” he croons.
“Yeah, that,” I whimper, moving my hips faster as I feel the orgasm rushing through my body. It peaks and I gasp, then start riding him harder.
Is this what I deserve? The biggest dick I’ve ever seen, throbbing inside me, while lying in a huge bed in a luxurious penthouse, with a brand-new wardrobe, and underwear I haven’t even tried on yet?
I was supposed to model it for him, and I didn’t even see the rest of the penthouse before I dove into the bathtub.
Something tells me he doesn’t want me in underwear right now, though.
“Love needs somewhere to go, Taryn,” he speaks as he continues fucking me, meeting my movements with rolls of his hips that make his cock hit my g-spot. “It has to be given and received, otherwise it’s only one-sided.”
“I know that,” I groan, dangerously close to another orgasm.
“Yes, but if you believe that all you deserve is a filthy basement, old clothes, and a shitty job, then how can you ever believe you deserve the kind of love that I would give you?” he growls.
“Fuck,” I mumble, coming hard, my spine shuddering as I try to keep up my momentum.
“And I don’t want to be loved by a woman who doesn’t believe she deserves what I give her in return,” he snarls, hammering his length into me.
“Oh god, oh god!” I cry out, collapsing against him as the orgasms come like continuous beats of a drum through my core.
He holds me with one arm, still forcing his length into my body while I come. His other hand grabs my hair, turns my head, and pulls my ear to his lips.
“You should be cherished, protected, spoiled, and claimed every fucking time your pussy is this wet,” he snarls aggressively, slamming his dick into me while I continue to come. “Say it. Scream it!”
“I deserve to be cherished!” I scream as another orgasm ripples through my core. “I deserve to be protected!”
Do I believe it? Right now, I do. I believe everything I’m screaming because my reward is another hard throb of his cock and an orgasm that drenches my pussy.
“I deserve to be spoiled,” I mewl, still pressed close to him, climaxing helplessly on his beautiful, massive dick.
“And?” he asks, tightening his grip on my hair and fucking me with reckless abandon.
I don’t want to say it, but I believe it. Another orgasm rocks my core, and I have no choice but to obey. “I deserve to be claimed when my pussy is this wet,” I breathe out. “Oh fuck!”
“Good girl,” he praises warmly, his words washing over me while the orgasm rages.
Victor keeps driving his length into my spasming pussy.
I’m boneless and overwhelmed by pleasure, bouncing on his length every time his hips rise to meet mine.
I try to move, but I’m too spent. Or at least that’s what I think until I feel him throbbing desperately inside me.
His needy cock stirs me back to life, and I feel another orgasm building.
“That’s it, show me how much you need to be filled by my seed,” he growls.
The flutters begin and I dig my nails into his back. “I need it… I need you.”
I come hard and as soon as I do, he roars and slams his cock into my pussy. His entire length throbs while he fills me with his cum. A few smaller orgasms ripple through me before we’re both still. I’m pressed against him, practically glued to his chest because of the sweat.
“Is this what I deserve?” I whisper, leaning my head against his shoulder.
“You already know the answer to that, mate,” he murmurs, turning us gently and lowering me to the mattress.
It’s hard to accept and harder to believe, especially when my mind feels like it’s been turned into tapioca. That this could be my life. That it would have always been my life, if my bloodline wasn’t protected by a fate-block.
It may not have started as a curse, but it became one.
My grandmother never found anyone who truly loved her.
She was married several times, but the marriages didn’t work out.
She was all alone when she died. My mother had a troubled life, and I don’t know what happened to her after she left me with my grandmother.
If she’s still out there anywhere, she’s probably searching for the person she’s meant to be with, just like my grandmother.
Maybe none of us believed we deserved everything because fate had been locked away from us for so long that wanting too much started to feel dangerous.
Maybe that’s part of why I’ve never felt deserving of anything. My family’s history says we don’t get happy endings. We don’t get to fall in love and live happily ever after. But maybe we’ve all deserved this kind of happiness. This kind of love.
Maybe it’s supposed to happen this fast.