Chapter Two #3
He stepped around her fluidly, the picture of grace and speed, and she found herself caught with her chin pinched between his thumb and forefinger, his eyes boring into hers with every inch of dominant possession he commanded.
“I am yours; you are mine. Nothing will stop me from claiming what is mine and returning it to its rightful place by my side, Bennie. Nothing.”
Should’ve run, she thought again. Pride, wounded or not, be damned, she should have run when she had the chance.
“You forget consent, Sir.”
“Consent has never been an issue between us. In fact…” Calculation gleamed in his eyes as he released her chin and collared her throat instead. “Fuck consent, Bennie. Fuck it long, hard, and rough.”
“Don’t you dare—”
The bite of his fingers digging into her neck intensified, making her knees go weak. There wasn’t another soul in the universe who knew what turned her on, but Boudreaux… he’d written the goddamn playbook on her.
Despite the fact she had room to move, she didn’t.
Not an inch. She was too well trained by his hand to step away, was already being consumed by the hunger he stirred inside her traitorous body.
Still, she had enough willpower not to respond to the softest, sweetest brush of his lips across hers, not to moan for a deeper sample.
Damn him, why did his mouth have to be the same skillful tool? She’d always loved it, the shape of his lips, the firmness, the way it could arouse her with clever nibbles or devour her in one bite.
“Do you still have it, chérie?”
Her heart hitched, but she remained implacably unresponsive. Any word but yes, and he’d know she was lying; she refused to give him the satisfaction of confirming anything about herself. Holding herself perfectly immobile, she closed her eyes as he kissed the corners of her mouth.
Boudreaux chuckled. “Of course, you do. You can no more rid yourself of my mark than I can erase you from my heart, Bennie. We are forever, you and I. Two souls destined to belong to each other for eternity, no matter the struggles which befall us.”
The moment she opened her mouth to fire back a retort, he struck.
Being kissed by him was always an experience, never repeated the same way twice. He kissed with everything he was—passion, dominance, sin incarnate—and branded her with all three.
Violet would never admit he was the only one who could bring her to orgasm with a kiss. The only one who got her engine running so hot, he burned every thought from her head until a physical connection was the only thing she craved.
The only one she’d ever loved, broken her heart, brought her to her knees.
Boudreaux Fontenot was her one and only in all things, and she was never going to be that vulnerable ever fucking again.
Wrenching her head to the side, she broke the kiss before she did something stupid like encourage him with her hands in his hair. Without thinking, she did what she’d dreamed about doing since the day he tore her emotions to shreds and left her to rebuild what was left.
The crack of her hand against his perfect cheek was the sweetest music.
Lips tingling, she forced them into a savage snarl, exposing bared teeth.
“Go back to your kingdom, Boudreaux, and pick one of the undoubtedly numerous subs waiting for you to bestow your charms on them. I’m no longer the woman you tossed away, and I wouldn’t take you back if you were on your knees. ”
Slowly, he rubbed the red mark on his face, a pensive look in his eyes.
Whatever his next step was, it took him less than thirty seconds to formulate a plan.
Licking his lips as though savoring her taste, his hands dropped to his belt.
“I don’t want a submissive, Bennie. I want my equal, the Domme I’ve waited patiently to return to me. ”
“That ship sailed—what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The belt slithered to the floor with a quiet jangle of the buckle, then his tailormade pants slid over his hips, down muscular thighs… the asshole still preferred going commando, she noted as she took a moment to appreciate the familiar beauty of his very erect cock.
“Proving myself,” Boudreaux replied easily, toeing off his fancy shoes and kicking away the pants.
With feline grace, he sank to his knees and assumed an almost perfect submissive pose, gazing up at her like he did this every day.
“I don’t want you to be my sub, Mistress, but I’m willing to be yours if it shows you how dedicated I am to us. ”
Violet snorted. “Yeah, right.”
He spread his hands wide in supplication. “Command me, Mistress. I’m yours.”
Christ, why hadn’t she seen this coming? Oh yes, that’s right—she hadn’t even seen him coming for her, let alone this insane bombshell he’d dropped in her lap. A bombshell she had no intention of touching, other than to kick it back into his court where it belonged.
“For God’s sake,” she snapped, not willing to trust her own judgement when it came to Boudreaux on his knees, “get up and stop messing around. Obviously, I walked through the door into an alternate timeline, because there’s not a snowflake’s chance in hell that the most dominant man I know is going to submit to anyone, let alone me. ”
The moment she said get up, he was rising gracefully. By the time she finished speaking, he stood in front of her, feet hip-width apart, his hands clasped at the base of his spine. “Thank you for the compliment, Mistress. For the record, you’ll be the first.”
“First what?” she asked suspiciously.
“The first woman to dominate me,” he expanded as though she should already know. “You will be the first, the last, and only. I’m here for the long haul; I’m not going home unless you’re by my side where you belong. So, use me, abuse me, punish me… this body is yours to control.”
There was a catch somewhere, she just knew it.
As tempting as it was to take revenge for the pain and heartbreak he’d put her through, being a bitch and making him suffer for her own misery wasn’t in her nature.
If it was, she wasn’t sure she’d draw a line at outright torture—he’d hurt her in ways she still couldn’t comprehend, undermined her foundations, obliterated her in every way imaginable.
Besides, once she stepped onto the rocky path of engaging with him in this foolish game, there was no escape. It was the lure of him, part of his character. A noose around her neck, tightening with every passing minute until delirium set in and nothing else mattered but being with him.
Still, she couldn’t resist toying with him. “Uh-huh. So if I ordered you to bend over and grab your ankles while I peg your ass, you’d say… what?”
His lips twitched. “What size dildo would you like me to fetch, Mistress?”
Damn him. “Or if I make a call downstairs and ask Jennifer to round up a half dozen horny bisexual Doms to fuck you into next week?”
This time, his mouth pursed thoughtfully.
Eyes gleaming with humor, he smiled like a curious cat.
“That would be interesting, wouldn’t it?
Are they fucking you too, or are you saving that privilege just for me?
Because I will quite happily endure whatever you wish as long as my mouth pays service to your pussy. ”
Double damn him, why did he have to have an answer for everything? “Cock and ball torture.”
“A price I’m willing to pay, Mistress.”
“Medical play with an enema and sounding.”
Both his eyebrows lifted. “My, my, your kinks have certainly grown in our time apart, Violet. Considerably.” He shrugged casually, muscles flexing with the simple, Gallic action.
“Do what you will. Pain is a sacrifice I’m willing to make—after all, it is becoming increasingly clear I hurt you far deeper than I believed. ”
Violet stared balefully at him. “No shit, Sherlock. How much do you think it hurts when the person you loved beyond measure, the asshole you devoted your whole fucking life to, turns around one day and decides you’re not enough to be worthy of staying in his life, after he’s sucked you fucking dry? ”
He nodded somberly. “I’m sorry, Bennie. That was never my intention. You’ve always been it for me. It’s why, even though you haven’t physically been in my life since the day you left, I’ve been in yours.”
Wariness prickled over her skin. “I beg your pardon?”
“A safety net, that’s all. I—”
Realization struck her, stealing her breath for a long, tense moment. She lifted a single finger in the air to silence him before he dug his grave any deeper. It would be far too easy to castrate him right now, especially with his cock being so accessible. “How long?”
Boudreaux’s innocent expression didn’t quite hit the mark; a rarity for him. “Hmm?”
“Don’t even try to pretend you don’t know what I mean. Answer the damn question—how long have you been fucking stalking me?”
“Stalking is such a negative word, Bennie…” He lifted a shoulder, unconcerned that he’d violated her privacy. “The moment you walked out of my door for the last time.”
Holy shit. The shock almost buckled her knees and sat her on the floor; he’d been following her all this time?
No, not him, she thought with dawning fury.
A man like him was damn near omnipotent, but even he couldn’t build an empire and stalk a woman like a demented lunatic at the same time.
“Fucking Frank. You sicced that leech on me?”
“Yet he thinks so highly of you.” Boudreaux sighed. “Francoise has been exceptionally dedicated to his duties, ensuring you were safe and protected during our separation. Several of your potential suitors did not have your welfare in mind.”
“And I presume Frank took care of them, did he?” She was surprised steam wasn’t blowing out of her ears from the pressure building in her brain.
He had the utter gall to smirk at her. “No, my little beignet. You did that yourself.”
“I did no such—”