Chapter Sixteen
Evangeline
O NCE IN HIS truck, we drove the opposite way of my hotel.
“Where are we going, Shep?”
“My place,” he said, his knuckles bleached white as he gripped the steering wheel.
“And why are we going to your place?”
“Because we’re going to talk.”
“What if I don’t want to talk?”
“Don’t give a fuck.”
I sighed. “I’m getting that.”
“You scared of me, Lina?”
“Of course I’m not afraid of you. What a ridicul—” I cut myself off and scoffed. “Shit. I get it now. If I’d lied and said I was scared, this would all be over, wouldn’t it? You’d drop me back at my hotel and I’d be blissfully left alone.”
He reached over and took my hand. “We’re gonna talk.”
“Well, make it quick, Shep,” I hissed, tugging my hand away. “I have things to do.”
“You came to town to see me, beautiful. What other things did you have to do?”
I huffed. I hated when he was logical and shit. “I came to fuck you, not to converse with you, Shep.”
“Multitask, Lina.”
We pulled up to a sweet little brick home just outside the city center, and Shep made his way to my side of the car and pulled open the door. I debated whether or not I would push his limits, but ultimately, unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed out.
“Smart choice,” he retorted, leading me up the stairs of his porch and unlocking his front door.
Once inside, I didn’t have a chance to admire his home, as he locked up again, dropping his keys on the console at the back of his sofa, and then I was shoved against the wall and kissed like he was a dying man, and I was his last breath.
I fisted my hands in his shirt and kissed him back, fighting my base instincts to come to my senses, which I did, far too late. “Wait,” I panted out. “I thought we were going to talk.”
“Can Clarke do that to you, Lina?” he hissed.
“Wha...what?”
He dragged his hands down his face. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, baby, but three’s a crowd where I come from.”
“You don’t actually think I’m with Clarke?”
“He sure as hell thinks he’s with you . I heard him tell you to make your choice. I’m not blind or deaf and I’m certainly not stupid.”
“No, you’re not stupid, but your wrong about Clarke.”
“I swear I could see into his soul, Lina. You have no idea what kind of man that guy is.”
I scowled. “I know exactly what kind of man Andrew Clarke is.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“And just how long have you been fucking him?”
I scoffed. “That’s none of your goddammed business.”
He slid his hand between my legs and growled, “It absolutely is my goddammed business, Lina. You are mine .”
I hissed in irritation at the reaction my body had to his touch. My pussy immediately flooded, and I leaned into his touch.
“Fuck it,” he snapped, leaning down and throwing me gently over his shoulder.
“Shep!” I squeaked, pounding on his back as he carried me down a hallway. “Put me down.”
He did. Dropped me unceremoniously onto his bed. A large four poster that looked like it had been hand carved. “Shep—”
“Hush,” he hissed. “Do not move.”
He disappeared into his closet, returning holding rope.
“What the hell are you going to do with that?” I demanded.
“I’m going to bind you,” he said.
“What?” I rasped, my body once again flooding with desire.
“How much, Lina?” He raised an eyebrow. “A simple spread eagle or Shibari?”
My eyes widened. “You know Shibari?”
“I know a lotta things,” he said, leaning over me and gripping my chin. “You gonna behave and do as I say?”
“I thought we were going to talk.”
“We will. After.” He met my eyes. “Make a choice, baby.”
“How do you know about ropes?”
“Dated a girl who put herself through college as a dominatrix. Now answer the goddamn question.”
I shivered. “Let’s start with spread eagle.”
“Take off your clothes and get on your back,” he ordered, and I did as he said immediately.
Once in position, he tied one ankle, then the other before securing them to each bed post. I had to scoot my body down the mattress a little to give him a more slack, but once I did that, I was tied tightly, but not painfully. “You okay?” he asked.
“I’m good,” I promised.
Shep moved to my left wrist next, kissing it gently before tying me to the headboard, then he kissed me gently before finally securing my right arm. “Too tight?”
I shook my head.
“We won’t have a safe word. If you want to stop, you just say stop, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You want toys?” he asked.
“Jesus, you have toys?” I hissed.
“Yes, Lina, I have toys. This ain’t my first rodeo.”
I scowled, jealously rising out of nowhere. “Just how many women have you brought here?”
“Easy, beautiful.” He smiled, leaning down to draw a nipple into his mouth. “Since I haven’t lived here long, none. But I’ve ‘played’ before, so have a nice selection of toys. So, do you want to play, Lina?”
I arched into his mouth as he moved to my other nipple. “Yes, I’d like to play.”
“Hard or soft?”
I swallowed. “Both.”
He grinned, kissing me quickly before disappearing back into his closet for a few minutes. If I hadn’t been so horny, I might have laughed. Here I was buck-naked, spread-eagle on the man’s bed, and he was in his closet, ‘shopping’ for ways to torture me. The thought made me almost come.
I closed my eyes and took a few deep, steely breaths, when suddenly something whispered over my skin. I opened my eyes and Shep was standing above me with a flogger, running it across my stomach. I tried to squirm, but because I was tied, I had limited mobility. He flicked his wrist, the bite of the suede hitting my belly and I arched with a mew.
He moved it down my thigh, giving it another flick and I cried out again, my pussy flooding with each sting but when the flogger hit my breasts, I could barely control myself and tugged at my binds as my nipples beaded tight and goosebumps formed all over my body. It was absolute sweet agony, and I didn’t want it to end.
After one more slap to my breasts, he tossed the flogger aside and climbed onto the bed, his mouth moving to my neck, then traveling down my body. His tongue swirled around a nipple while his fingers tormented the other and then he bit down gently, and I cried out as my pussy contracted with need.
I couldn’t move and I desperately wanted to touch him as he traveled further down my body, his tongue dipping into my navel. I tugged desperately on my binds, arching into his touch as he continued down, and then he was between my thighs and his mouth was on me. Sucking, nibbling, eating, his tongue fucking me before he added his fingers, and I almost felt as though I couldn’t take anymore before he pressed his thumb to my clit, and I exploded around his hand.
“Shep!” I screamed, and then all of a sudden, my legs were released, my knees were pushed up to my hips, I think I heard the faint tear of foil before he was inside of me.
“This isn’t gonna last long,” he warned, burying himself to the hilt. “You good?”
“So fucking good.”
He slammed into me... hard. And I almost combusted right then and there, but I refused to let myself go too soon. I wanted to enjoy this a little longer. Jesus, a man who knew how to push my limits was worth his weight in gold.
He placed his hands on each side of me, anchoring himself to the bed, and thrust into me, harder and harder, faster and faster, and the only thing I could do was wrap my legs around his waist. My breasts bounced as he slammed into me, and I arched into him as another orgasm built.
“Shep, please,” I rasped.
“Wait,” he growled.
“I can’t.”
He slid out. “Fucking.” Then slammed back in. “Wait.”
I cried out, “Shep!”
Back out. “You.”
In. “Come.”
Out. “When.”
In. “I.”
Out. “Say.”
In. “You.”
Out. “Come.”
“Arrgh,” I cried.
In. “Now, Lina.”
I exploded and Shep buried his face in my neck as his dick pulsed inside of me. He gently pulled out, then released me from my bonds, tenderly rubbing my arms and kissing me before heading into his bathroom to clean up.
He returned with a washcloth for me, then stretched out beside me and pulled me close. “Are you okay?”
“Never better,” I said. “That was amazing.”
He chuckled. “Yeah.”
“I’d like that on the menu again, please, Chef.”
“Oh, are we doing this again?” he challenged.
“Don’t be a dick,” I sassed. “I like this with you.”
“No shit.”
“And I’ve never fucked Clarke.”
His body locked. “Do you want to?”
“Again, none of your business.”
He leaned up on his elbow with a scowl. “Goddamn it, woman—”
“Oh, calm your tits, Shepard,” I snapped, squeezing his face. “No, I don’t want to fuck Andrew Clarke. He’s helping me with a project and that’s all I’m going to say about that.”
“Well, he sure as hell wants to fuck you.”
“There are a lot of men who want to fuck me, Shep. He can get in line with the rest of them.”
He rolled on his back and dragged his hands down his face. “Jesus.”
I slid off the mattress and snagged my clothes off the floor. “You need to grow up, buddy. You’re a great fucking lay, but you don’t own me.”
He let out a strangled grunt. “Bullshit.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked as I shimmied on my panties.
He knifed off the bed and stalked toward me, yanking my shirt out of my hands and cupping my face. “You stand there and act so fuckin’ unaffected by this, but you’re in just as deep as me.”
I couldn’t continue to look at him because I didn’t want him to see the truth in my eyes.
“Yeah, exactly,” he said.
“This wasn’t the deal,” I whispered.
“Well, I’m renegotiating.”
“I don’t want to renegotiate.”
“Do me the courtesy of looking at me when you lie to me, Lina.”
I let out a frustrated squeak and pulled away from his touch. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop looking into my soul. It’s annoying.”
“What would you rather I do?” he asked. “Fuck you or feed you?”
“Are those my only two options?”
“For the moment, yeah.”
I bit my lip. “Feed me then fuck me, I guess.”
“Excellent decision, Ms. Monroe.”
He leaned down to kiss me, and then handed me back my shirt.
* * *
Shep
I watched Evangeline war with her emotions and smiled. She was telling lies, and I didn’t mean the kind she thought she was telling everyone but me. I was talking about the ones she was telling herself.
“What?” she snapped, as she pulled her shirt over her head.
“Nothing, baby. Just like lookin’ at ya.”
“Stop being weird.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You sure you don’t need more of what I just did, Lina?”
Her nostrils flared and her face flushed as she swallowed. “Later.”
I slid my hand to her neck and stroked her pulse. “Once you eat, we’re gonna talk.”
“I don’t know what you expect from me.”
“I only expect the truth.”
“I have never lied to you, Shep.”
“Lies by omission count as lies, beautiful.”
She wrinkled her nose, but dropped her gaze, which was a huge tell, and I kissed her nose.
“Meet me in the kitchen,” I said, and after pulling on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, I left her to her thoughts.
By the time she walked out, I already had pasta on to boil and shrimp in the pan, and she looked a little more composed. She was also wearing one of my hoodies.
“Shrimp scampi good?” I asked.
She slid her hands into the pockets of my sweatshirt. “Yes, it’s great, thanks.”
I held my arm out. “Come here, baby.”
“I’m good here, Shep.”
I waved my arm and she let out a quiet huff, but stepped over to me and I wrapped her in a hug. “Tell me why you’re pissed off.”
“I’m not pissed off.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. My mistake.” I kissed her temple. “Would you like wine?”
“I’m not pissed off.”
“You said that.”
She let out a frustrated groan. “Stop it.”
“Stop what? I just asked if you wanted wine.”
“That’s not what you’re doing.”
“It’s not?”
“No, it’s not and you know it.”
I gave her a squeeze. “Enlighten me, beautiful.”
“You’re peering into my soul and it’s—”
“Pissing you off?” I finished for her.
“No, that’s not what’s pissing me off.”
“But you’re pissed about something,” I deduced.
“Okay, fine,” she snapped, pulling away. “Yes. I guess I am.”
“Fill me in, so we can talk it out.”
She palmed her eye sockets, then crossed her arms and shook her head.
“Baby, I can’t help if you don’t talk to me.”
“I don’t know how I could have possibly let this happen, and you’re probably going to dump me once I say it but, I’m in love with you. Okay?” She threw her arms in the air. “Are you happy?”
I chuckled. “Exceedingly.”
“Don’t be a dick.”
I laid a hand on my chest. “I’m a dick because I’m exceedingly happy that the woman I’m in love with is also in love with me?”
“You’re a dick because you’re smug.”
I grinned, wrapping my arms around her and slid my hands to her ass. “I’m smug because I’ve known you’ve been in love with me for a while and you’ve been fighting it. Not sure why, though.”
“Because you don’t know all my secrets, Shep. And once I tell you, you’re going to hate me.”
“That’s never going to happen.”
She dropped her head to my chest and sighed. “I wish that were true.”
“Well, then how about we start at the beginning?”
“Okay, but some other time. Right now, I just want to be here, with you.”
“I can so get behind that,” I breathed out, holding her close. “But I gotta let you go so I don’t burn the shrimp. You wanna open that wine?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
She grinned up at me and went about opening the bottle.