Chapter 20 #2
Without answering, I walk into the bathroom, pausing in front of the mirror to take a good look at my face.
It’s easy to see I’m not sleeping well, but I haven’t in a very long time.
Lying all night in the bed with him isn’t some miracle cure, but I don’t know if it’s because I’m afraid of what he’ll do or if it’s the terror that Alessio will find me.
If I thought for a second that I’d have a quick, easy death, it would be easier to come to terms with it, but I know better.
I know Alessio’s methods, how he dispenses punishment for wrongdoings.
Knowing there’s nothing I can change, I grab my toothbrush and toothpaste and start brushing my teeth. I hate the cinnamon toothpaste he has, but I’m not in a position to complain. Knowing him, he’d take it all away, and I’d rather my mouth feel like it’s on fire than go without.
I’m not surprised when the bathroom door opens.
He never asks permission to invade my space.
I also don’t feel like I have a right to ask.
If anyone is invading space, it’s me. He asked me to leave, and I refused.
He doesn’t want me here, and I know he’s doing what he’s doing, pressing the boundaries, until I finally walk away.
I keep my eyes on him as he walks over to the toilet, flipping the lid, and using the bathroom.
It’s personal and uncouth, masculine the way his ass cheeks flex as he takes care of business.
I immediately avert my eyes, bending to spit when he flushes.
I freeze when I feel the warmth of his body against my back. It’s a tiny bathroom, but if he were careful, he could get back out without touching me at all. This is intentional.
I don’t straighten in fear immediately, rather, I scoop water into my mouth and rinse before straightening to find his eyes on my reflection, his body pressed to mine. The stubble on his chin scrapes along my shoulder, and I do my best not to shiver. He grins, somehow sensing the effort.
“You haven’t paid for your toothpaste,” he says, taking a step back.
The toothbrush falls into the sink, but I know better than to pull my eyes from his.
“This is your payment.” Warm, rough fingers trail down my back, a smile twitching the corner of his mouth when I arch into the touch rather than pull away.
I hate myself for not being able to control my body’s reaction to him.
I should be terrified, standing here naked, but that isn’t what I’m feeling at all.
I’m needy, desperate, aching for more, just like I was last night before he woke up.
I fed that part of me in the darkness, but I’m not sure I can do the same in broad daylight.
“This is payment for the toothbrush,” he whispers, his eyes locking me in place as he lowers his mouth to my skin.
My mouth falls open as parts of my dreams from last night come true.
He licks and bites at my shoulder before crouching lower to taste the skin on my back and down my spine. I’m entranced by this man when I should be bolting from the room.
He stands again, his huge hand circling my waist and spreading across my stomach, my bellybutton in the dip between his index finger and thumb. I watch it, mesmerized by how big his hand is, focusing more on the way it could protect me rather than the terrible things it could be capable of.
“Payment for the water,” he whispers, his voice full of gravel and need as his hand travels even lower.
“Not inside,” I tell him before he can brush his fingers over my pussy.
Instead of agreeing or even pressing the issue soundlessly, Hollis pulls his hand entirely away.
I meet his angry eyes in the mirror. “What’s the fucking difference in me taking it and that bastard taking it?”
“You taking it will get me killed,” I answer.
He doesn’t flinch. The reminder that I’ll be killed doesn’t seem to bother him at all, and for some reason, especially now with this level of intimacy, it feels like a slap in the face.
Being wanted and irresistible because I’m me is different from being wanted because I’m accessible and convenient.
“Fine,” he growls as he lowers into a crouch. “But you still owe me breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’m taking payment for all three right now.”
I don’t know what to expect from him, but it certainly isn’t being forcefully bent over the sink until my face is pressed to the mirror with his mouth buried between my legs.
I cry out, unable to control myself at the first fiery hot sweep of his tongue against my clit.
I realize I’ve pushed him too far when he grips both of my ass cheeks, pulling them apart to gain better access.
He’s gone from gripping my chin in anger that first day, while insisting I tell him everything, to not touching me at all.
Last night, he crossed a boundary by sucking my fingers into his mouth.
How we got here so damn quickly I’ll never know other than he’s met his limit.
I don’t know if he’ll cross the line I drew or not, but with the way my body feels and how talented his tongue is against me, I don’t know that I’ll stop him if he tries to press his luck.
It’s magnificent, nothing akin to a punishment or payment at all.
My legs tremble uncontrollably, and a spark of pleasure runs through me with his own grunts and groans as if he’s finding this as pleasurable as I am.
“Hollis,” I gasp, my grip on the sink growing tighter.
He doesn’t pull his face from my pussy to answer me.
The sounds he’s making against my flesh are embarrassing, much like the noises he’s pulling from my throat.
He’s sloppy and unconcerned about the trails of wetness running down my thighs.
His fingers hurt, their grip on my ass bruising, but I don’t make a move to push him away.
It’s as much a part of this as his tongue and the occasional nips of his teeth.
Never in my life have I felt something like this.
Everything I’ve been forced to endure has been about Marcello’s and Alessio’s pleasure.
If they were feeling extra mean and vindictive, they’d grasp at me, hurt me by squeezing one of my breasts.
They’d even cup me between my legs while making threats, but it was always over clothes.
They, for some reason, had some boundaries.
Hollis seems to have none other than his fingers staying on my skin rather than pressing into my opening. It doesn’t stop his tongue from delving in deeper, however.
“Oh God,” I moan, the feeling the most intense thing I’ve ever felt. “Hollis.”
He groans again. When he pulls one hand away, I crave exactly what I told him he couldn’t have. I know the danger of it. I know the trouble it could bring, but in this moment, none of that matters.
He doesn’t press his finger into me. He rolls the rough tip of one against my clit, and it’s enough to make me see stars.
His other hand grips me tighter, pressing me into the sink.
I’m certain it’s the only thing keeping me on my feet as that ache I never seem to be able to reach grows bigger before pulsing deep inside of me.
I scream, the intensity of it too much to keep caged inside.
He makes his own noises. I can feel the vibration of them but it’s almost as if I’ve gone deaf, and I want to live in this place of bliss for eternity. Nothing hurts here. There’s no pain or fear. It’s absolute perfection.
It doesn’t last forever, and all too soon, my senses come back to me, my breathing still erratic, my eyes taking the longest to regain focus.