Chapter Nineteen
The Swinging Pendulum
Erin
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“W HAT?” BACKING AWAY from his hand, my calves hit the edge of the bed frame. “What do you mean, I can’t leave?”
“I mean, you can’t leave.” Amusement flickered in his gray eyes as he watched me contemplate my dilemma. “I need you here where it’s warm and safe.” He motioned to the fire crackling happily beside us.
“But...”
Glancing at the dancing flames, even I had to admit its warmth was consoling, but the fire wouldn’t help me out of the ropes or the larger bind I seemed to have found myself in with Eli. The chemistry tugging between us was like those flames—hot and intense and yet wild and unpredictable. I didn’t like how much he affected me.
“But nothing.” He took a step toward me. “I’ll look after you and you, Erin, you’re going to keep looking after me.”
The same old devils were back in his eyes, taunting me with their mocking smirks. After the shock appearance of the rifle, and even after an orgasm that had seemed powerful, his attention had returned to carnality. That was why his hungry gaze devoured my breasts, and perhaps why my pulse seemed to have picked up its pace.
Oh, God.
My throat dried as he pressed against me, the soft, dark hair of his chest grazing my nipples as his fingers tipped my chin, once again demanding I meet his nefarious expression.
In another world, at another time, I’d have been impressed by his well-built body. The truth was, although I didn’t want to admit it, I was. Eli had strong, powerful-looking shoulders and a huge expanse of chest that I already knew was lovely to be held against. I’d admired his nakedness in bed, but seeing his muscular form so close up was something else.
The problem was, the man in control of that body was preventing me from leaving, and instead, seemed determined to get close to me again.
“I know you enjoyed the blow job, little girl.” His hand rose to my hair, but I ducked out of its way and edged along the side of the bed.
Enjoyed it?
Was he insane? I was as happy to give head as the next woman, but nothing had prepared me for the ruthless approach Eli had taken. I’d expected care as I offered him pleasure, but he’d taken what he wanted with force.
“Eli, I...” What did he expect me to say? “You were rougher than I would have liked.”
In the end, I opted for diluted honesty, although only God knew what it would earn me.
“Rougher?” He actually had the audacity to laugh at my suffering as he wandered closer. “Oh, come on, Erin! We both know you loved me using you that way.”
My clit throbbed in reply, apparently—and unbelievably—in agreement.
“Whether I enjoyed it or not is irrelevant!” How dare he try to maneuver his way out of any responsibility for the things he’d done by downplaying the deed? “You have no right to treat me that way!”
“I have every fucking right.” Looming over me, he snarled the words into my face. “You’re mine, little Erin.”
Time stretched out around me while those words played over in my head like a dreadful record stuck on repeat.
You’re mine, little Erin.
You’re mine...
Mine.
It wasn’t that I was surprised by his possessive streak—his performance since he’d stirred had helped me to realize the way he saw the dynamic between us—from refusing to let me leave the cabin to the outrageous spanking he’d delivered, but there was something so menacing about hearing the intention plainly from his lips.
I was his.
End of story.
But I had news for the huge man pinning me in place by the bed. It wasn’t even close to the end.
I wouldn’t be the ending he’d written for me.
“Nothing smart or sassy to say?” He tilted his head, apparently bemused by my silence.
Staring at him, I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t find the words. I had plenty to say, but nothing that would empower me out of the large Eli-shaped hole I’d fallen into.
“Come on... Have you seen it out there?” His free hand reached for my left hip and squeezed gently. “Even if I let you leave, you’d never make it more than a few hundred feet in those snow drifts. You must see that I’m right.”
My focus flitted past him reflexively to linger on the view out of the small window. I didn’t have experience in the conditions to know if he was right, but the fact I’d failed to pack the correct attire lent weight to his theory.
“It would be totally reckless of me to let you do that.” His voice had morphed into that silky purr again, the one he no doubt thought would seduce me. “You’re my responsibility, remember?”
“I wouldn’t quite put it that way.” My breathing had sped up, matching my pulse and acknowledging the knowing glint in his gaze. Evidently, Eli had decided getting me back into bed was the plan, but I wasn’t agreeing to another tumble in the sheets while I was bound and he was being so obstinate. “I paid you to look after me in the forest, but none of us anticipated this happening.”
“True.” The fingers of his free hand slid to circle my right nipple. I gasped, paralyzed not only by the gesture but the sinking feeling that there was really nothing I could do to resist his touch. Worse, the pulsing need at my clitoris only grew as his circles slowed, the tiny nub of nerves willing him to keep going until he tugged the beading tissue between his thumb and forefinger. “But we’re making the best of a bad situation here, little girl.”
His eyebrow arched, inviting me to defy him as his hand moved to fondle my whole breast.
“I wouldn’t call what happened by the fire the best , sir .”
He could throw his weight around as much as he liked, but I wouldn’t allow him to whitewash what he’d done. Choking me with his cock had been cruel, even if my pussy had relished the degradation. We hadn’t discussed him treating me that way, but then, we hadn’t talked about anything that had transpired since the sun had risen.
“Oh, is that right?” His grasp on my sensitive tissue tightened a fraction, as though I needed a reminder of which of us was bared while the other was dressed, and which of us was tethered while the other was free to do as he liked. “Do you have a complaint, little girl?”
His mouth neared, and for one heart-stopping moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. I froze, unsure how I felt about the intimacy. Would I tell him to bugger off and risk remaining in his ropes, or did I welcome his lips and the promise of the tenderness he’d so far failed to give me? “Because if you do, I’m going to need that complaint in writing.”
“In writing?” I stared into his eyes, caught between the absurdity of his suggestion and the simmering raw energy stirring between us. I sensed its magnetism, pulling me in his direction even when logic implored me to run. “I don’t think that will work, sir.”
How the hell was I going to put anything in writing until he released the ropes? As it was, my arms were starting to ache at their predicament. He couldn’t keep me bound forever.
But even as that reasonable line of argument filled my head, I sensed the way his fingers were weaving their magic at my chest. Each grasped caress tightened the tangle of need inside me, obscuring my judgment and making it difficult to recall precisely why I was so angry with him.
“Oh, yes... definitely in writing.” He grinned, no doubt conscious of the effect he was having on me, though his tenting trousers conveyed his interest too. “And I don’t even think we have a pen between us, so... I’m afraid I won’t be able to accept it.”
The hand at my hip brushed along my midriff, rising to tug at my other nipple. I bit back on the groan that threatened to escape my throat at the provocation.
I shouldn’t have liked the way his fingers felt on my skin, should have rejected any trace of his advances, but as I craned my neck to look into his eyes again, I already knew that wasn’t what I was going to do.
“What a surprise.” My voice was husky. “I didn’t think you’d listen to anything I had to say.”
“I’m listening.” The hand at my right breast skimmed north to settle at my nape, his fingers stroking the back of my neck in a simultaneously soothing and unsettling gesture. The fact that he could hold me there without objection incensed me, but at the same time, a distant part of me wanted to lean into his strength and believe he truly could look after me. “I’m just not promising to act on what you say.”
“Why?” Succumbing to the latter need, I inclined toward the large hand cradling my neck. “Why not listen to me for a change?”
He ran his tongue over his perfect line of white teeth. “You paid me to be in charge. That means you’re not only my responsibility, little girl. You’re my property.”
“What?”
I spat out the reply, my voice carrying more bravado than I felt as I straightened. I wanted him, could feel myself yielding, but I couldn’t abide his misogynistic views. The bastard had just called me his property. However horny I was, I couldn’t let that stand.
“That’s ridiculous, Eli. You can’t say that to me!”
“Oh, Erin...” The fingers at my nape stiffened, holding me in place as his lips brushed over mine. His earthy scent washed over me, reminding me of how I’d felt when he’d rocked me to ecstasy. “I don’t care if you’re a princess out there in the big, bad world. When you’re with me in this cabin, we both know what you really are.”
His mouth descended before I could muster a defense, colliding with mine with punishing force. Without my hands, there was little chance to fight him off, and when his tongue darted past my lips with such authority, I knew the final fragments of my resistance had fallen away. I groaned as he kissed me, resting against the same strong hand that had spanked me as he took his fill. Alive with the competing sensations he inspired, my outrage of the liberties he took ceded to my ballooning lust until I could think of nothing except how bloody good it was when he slipped into the driver’s seat.
Eli.
With his wicked gray eyes, roaming hands, and insufferable gall.
The man had become the center of my entire world.
I was breathless as he slowly withdrew, his eyes burning with emotions when he whispered against my skin.
“How was that, little girl?”
“ Fuck you.”
The defiance tumbled from me in a last-ditch effort to show that even when he had me trapped in ecstasy, he couldn’t have everything his own way.
Until he’d pressed himself against me, I hadn’t expected the kiss he’d offered, but the sudden caress had altered things in my head. I’d sensed my body soften as I opened for him, knew that despite my better judgment, I was giving in to his relentless pursuit, but I couldn’t succumb entirely without a battle.
The clouds in his eyes darkened; the first cue about what was going to happen next. “You want me to fuck you, little girl?” Clutching my shoulder with his free hand, he spun me roughly to face the bed. “I promise I can do that.”
One small shove was all it took to send me stumbling forward. I tried to lift one leg to break my fall, but it was his arm snaking at my middle that prevented me from unceremoniously crashing face-first onto the covers. Easing me down onto the blanket, he yanked my leggings and panties down to my ankles and prized my knees higher until they splayed on the bed.
Terror and excitement pooled in equal measure. That was the version of Eli I’d summoned—the version who would fuck me like I’d never been fucked before—and I wasn’t sorry.
“You should be careful what you fucking wish for.” His hand crashed down on my prone ass, eliciting a louder moan as the swat boomed around the cabin.
“Yes, sir.” Pushing my face to the covers, I smiled at my predicament. Whatever transpired, I’d provoked his fiery attention, and I’d just have to revel in his dominance.
“Is this what you want?”
Forcibly massaging my ass cheeks, he pulled them apart before spanking them both again. The sting of each swat reverberated through me, traveling straight to my desperate clit. Pushed against the bed sheets, my nub accepted the strikes gladly, sending signals to my brain that it was exactly what I wanted and forcing me to mewl an answer.
“Yes, sir.”
Unlike the prior spanking, which had caused pain and frustration, the fresh swats he rained down were wonderful. I needed his brute strength, and arching my back, I grazed my clit against the bed as I welcomed another strike. Warmth diffused from his hand, spreading as arousal between my legs. The heat was stifling, burning me up from the inside as a fast succession of blows landed one after the other, but rather than call out for him to stop, I never wanted it to end.
“My, my, Erin...” Skimming his hand over my bare behind, he laughed wryly. “You’ve changed your tune, little girl.”
My heart galloped, my thoughts in freefall about what he’d do next, but deep down, I accepted that was why I’d goaded him. I wanted him to do exactly what he’d promised—to fuck me—and I prayed he’d ram my sex as hard as he’d taken my throat. Whatever my rational doubts about the idea, I needed his cock inside me, needed him to do what he did best and take the lead. Bound and bent over, I couldn’t be culpable for what happened. I could just bloody relish it.
“Oh, God, just fuck me, will you?” Writhing on the bed, I couldn’t remember ever being so frantic for anyone.
“Are you giving the orders now?” His laughter deepened as he rose, collecting my ankles and dragging me down the bed to where he wanted me.
“Maybe.” Twisting, I peered behind, our gazes locking for a fraction of a second before the pressure at my neck became intolerable.
“Wrong answer, little girl.” Maneuvering my knees into position beneath me, he wrapped an arm around my chest and eased me upright as he climbed onto the bed behind me. “I’m not going to be gentle, and I don’t do fucking condoms.”
Helpless to stop his hand from manhandling my breast, I bit back on my smile. I could no longer conceive, and the last thing I wanted anymore was gentle.
“Got it?” He snarled the word into my ear, sending electricity coursing through my system.
“Yes, sir.” I turned my head toward him, bracing myself as his cock nudged between my legs to find its target. “Oh, fuck.”
That was what I wanted; the complete sense of abandonment that only a relentless fucking could bring. With no say over the pace or the intensity, I was little more than a vessel for our mutual pleasure as his thrusts drove me into a haze of sensual hedonism. If he reckoned he owned me, then I wanted to see what he could do, and laying down the gauntlet had never seemed so right before.
The sounds of our flesh colliding filled the air, fusing with his grunts and my strangled cries, and in the fever of the act, my head was finally silenced, surrendering to the then and there instead of worrying about what came next.
“Oh!” I threw my head back against him, brushing my fingertips over his skin as he squashed my hands between our bodies. “Don’t stop!”
“I’ll say it one more time,” he growled, slowing his pace and accentuating each new syllable with a fresh lunge. “I. Give. The. Fuck. Ing. Orders!”
Ignoring him completely, my hips continued their lusty dance, arching back to receive more of him before thrusting forward to search for the sweet friction of the bed, his arm, or anything else they could enjoy.
At the rate he was giving it to me, I wouldn’t last much longer, and after the cruel game of denial he’d inflicted earlier, I deserved the orgasm at the end of the effort more than ever.
“Look at you!” he hissed, drilling into me over and over again. “Practically begging for my cock!”
“Yes,” I groaned, snapping my hips forward again.
Who was I to argue?
If he hadn’t caved in so easily to provide me with what I wanted, I would have considered begging for it, but Eli had made the union simple, taking my bait and whirling me around for the most powerful and passionate fucking of my life.
“Fuck!” Balling my hands into fists, I called out at our unadulterated fervency.
I hadn’t known the craving existed within me until he’d come along and ignited it, but awareness meant I wanted more—much more—of all the ardor he could bring.
Tilting me forward, his weight pushed me back to the covers, leaving my ass prone and my pussy entirely at his mercy. The hand that had fondled my breast shifted, finding my clit and flicking and tugging it as I bit down on the bed sheets.
The last thing I remembered screaming before the wave of bliss shattered all cogent thought was his name—two syllables piercing the air as he pummeled me straight over the precipice.
Collapsing over me a moment later, his body jerked as my pussy spasmed around his cock, and even though my hands were numb and my shoulders ached, I’d never known contentment like it.