Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
N o one had ever looked at Mireille the way Ronin was looking at her. Had ever said such things to her. Had ever seen her so clearly, despite her efforts at obfuscation with every word, every gesture, every fight these past weeks.
She had no words to offer him. He’d just uttered all the most meaningful ones. So she kissed him again instead, pushing her tongue into his mouth. Her entire body lit up at his responding groan.
He massaged her ass as she ground her hips against the growing hardness beneath his loose sleep pants.
Sweet Amatu, she’d never been so happy that a male slept without a shirt on. She pulled away to marvel at his sculpted, powerful beauty, dragging a finger across the glacial swirls on his chest.
“Will these disappear when they uncage you?” she asked, her lips swollen, her mind loose and hazy from his drugging kisses.
He shook his head. “They’re permanent. Only the magic within the ink itself will be removed.”
She curled her fingers around the back of his neck. “I kinda like them.”
He bent down to slant his mouth over hers again. “Good. I’m hoping you’ll be seeing them often.”
His kiss wasn’t nearly as gentle as hers. Hand fisting her hair, he surged upwards, tilting her head back and taking what he wanted, his body curving over her.
He yanked her hair harder, and she moaned at the delicious pain.
“Take control, Ronin,” she begged. “I’m so sick of clinging to it.”
She felt his smirk against her mouth. “I fucking knew it.”
She rolled her eyes and he smacked her cheek, hard enough to startle but not hurt.
“First rule,” he said, all the playful smarminess fleeing his face. “Do not roll your eyes at your master.”
A tentative giggle escaped her as his eyes narrowed. “Sorry… Sorry. It’s just so…”
He cupped her skull, his thumbs tilting her chin up and forcing her to look at him.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” She nodded at the tenderness lurking beneath his dominance. “Then before we start, we should probably discuss some boundaries.”
“Okay,” she tittered nervously. “Like what?”
“Tonight will be all about your pleasure. Don’t forget that. Even if it seems like I’m in control, remember that you have control too. I will only go as far as you allow me to go.” A dull, heated ache throbbed in her low belly. “I think you want to submit to me. To take your body to the razor-thin edge between pain and pleasure. Am I right?”
Fuck , yes, that’s what she wanted. She nodded enthusiastically.
“I need to hear you say the words.”
“Yes. Yes, it’s what I want.”
“Anything off-limits?”
“No ass play.”
He chuckled, dragging a gentle thumb across her bottom lip. “Got it. Anything else? Slapping? Spanking? Biting?”
Heat crawled up her neck and cheeks. “I am very much on board with all of that.”
He raised her hand to his mouth and nipped the base of her thumb, his canines dimpling her flesh. “Safe word?”
“Spiders.”
He threw his head back in a hooting laugh. “Good choice.” The smirk gracing his soft mouth set her stomach fluttering. High Gods she wanted that mouth back on her immediately.
“What about you?” she asked.
“Me?”
“Is there anything you don’t want me to do to you?”
“Nothing,” he answered, his gaze so bright and open and honest that her chest squeezed. “Fight me, kick me, punch me. Give me your worst. I’ll happily take it.”
Her breasts pebbled and his eyes dipped straight there. “Hmmm.” His low grunt crept up her thighs, a rumbling caress. Too much fucking talking. She wanted him now . “So that’s what does it for you. You want to fight me off, don’t you?”
Her breathing grew rapid. She’d been wondering what it would feel like to be Ronin’s prey. And the fact that she was about to find out? Fucking bliss.
Bait him , her wolf piped up.
What?
Hit him , the creature purred. Trust me.
Mireille’s lips curved into a wicked grin, and she slapped Ronin across the face.
His shock was genuine before it turned into something else. Something molten.
“Oh, little she-wolf,” he purred, grabbing her wrist as she attempted another strike. “You have no idea what you just started.” He shoved her out of his lap, all traces of teasing gone. “Go stand over there.”
Her palm stung and her heart slammed against her ribs, her knees wobbling as she padded to the center of the room.
Her wolf chuffed. Told you.
Keep it down in there.
Killjoy.
Mireille turned back to face Ronin, who was sprawled against the headboard, long legs spread.
A king of beasts awaiting his sacrifice.
With one hand behind his head, he dipped the other below his waistband, stroking himself. Pinning her in place with his heavy-lidded stare, a faint smirk twisted his soft, cruel mouth. “Here’s how this is going to go. From now on, you are under my command. If you’re good, if you please me, I will reward you. If you defy me, you’ll be punished. Do you understand?”
She nodded, the tumultuous beat in her chest matching the pulsing, liquid heat slicking her panties.
“Say the fucking word, Mireille,” he growled.
“Yes,” she breathed. She could barely stand upright. Wanted him to touch her so badly it physically hurt .
“Good.” The headboard creaked as he settled back against it. “Take off your clothes. Show me what’s mine tonight.”
Clasping the hem, she lifted her shirt over her head. Ronin’s attention seared across her exposed chest. She slid her silk pants off and tossed them aside, then stood upright, drawing her shoulders back and pushing her breasts forward.
She trailed her hands down her stomach, Ronin’s gaze a fiery brand upon her overly sensitive skin, then reached for her panties.
“Leave those on. For now.”
Unsure of what to do next, she left her hands at her sides, fingers trembling. Ronin seemed content to let her stand there, soaking up every inch of her as his hand moved below his waistband.
After what felt like an eternity, he shifted, throwing his legs over the side of the mattress and spreading them wide, palms braced behind him.
“Come over here.”
She took a tentative step forward.
“No. On your hands and knees.” His marbled eyes gleamed—a predator stalking through midnight woods. “ Crawl to me.”
His command pelted her, a physical blow that stole her breath and deepened the ache between her thighs. She crouched down, eyes glued to the soft carpet.
“Eyes on me.” His lips curved upwards, exposing his sharp fangs. “I want to remember this. The impervious Mireille Valette, crawling across the floor, her body shaking with anticipation for my touch.”
She held his gaze for the entire length of her journey, her back arched and her drenched panties chafing.
Electric energy flowed between them. As if everything they’d experienced together these past weeks—the bickering, the fighting, that explosive kiss, the blood drinking—had led them to the precipice of this moment.
Once she reached him, she sat back on her heels, knees spread with her hands on her thighs and her head bowed. Awaiting his next order.
At the heavy weight of his perusal, she dared a glance upward. The longing and lust she found on his handsome face nearly stopped her heart.
His hand shot out to grip her chin, and he turned her face side to side. “ Very good.” His praise trailed gentle fingers across her clit, and she sucked in a sharp breath as he ran a callused thumb along her lower lip. “Now show me what this pretty little mouth can do.”
He released her face and leaned back on his palms, his stiff cock tenting his pants between them. A challenge. One she was determined to surmount.
She rose onto her knees, reaching for his waistband, but he slapped her hands away. “No. Mouth only.”
She cocked an incredulous eyebrow, and he circled her wrists in a single hand, hauling her face toward his. “Really? Defiance already?”
His breath on her lips tasted like frosted pine needles, the cool, crisp scent heightening her arousal.
“Nuh-no,” she shuddered out, and he squeezed her wrists, just this side of painfully tight. She knew he could break them with little effort.
“No, what?” he grunted.
“No, Ronin.” She tried to look contrite. Normally, pulling such an expression would have infuriated her, but she wanted to be good. Wanted to please him.
“Better.” He released her wrists. “I want you to use my name tonight. Often.”
Mireille clasped her hands behind her back, then leaned down over his waist, her copper hair spilling across his bare abdomen. She could’ve sworn she heard a soft moan. The sound enflamed her; he wanted her, needed her, just as badly as she needed him.
She grabbed his waistband with her teeth, and he lifted his hips as she tugged his pants down.
As his cock sprang free, her eyes widened, and her mouth began to water. It was just as glorious and brutal as the rest of him, the taut skin of his swollen head glistening with a bead of moisture above a thick, veined shaft.
She inched in closer, angling her head, then kissed up his length. His cock twitched against her lips, and he uttered a soft curse. Then groaned in earnest as she closed her lips around him.
The taste of his cock, salted and musky with that velvet-plush skin, made her ravenous. She licked, kissed, and sucked every incredible inch. Relaxing the back of her throat, she took him down so deep that the tip of her nose brushed the downy hairs dusting his lower abdomen.
He thrust his hips up to meet her strokes, and she sucked in her cheeks each time she reached the tip. She swirled her tongue around his head, drunk on the titillating symphony of his breathy grunts and rumbling curses.
Without the use of her hands, she couldn’t help swallowing strands of hair as she sucked him.
He gathered her hair up, then held it in a single fist at the crown of her head as she bobbed in his lap. His voice was low and guttural as he praised her. “ Fuck , you’re good at this.”
She relaxed her jaw further, holding herself still and letting him thrust up into her as hard and fast as he wanted. The head of his cock slammed into the back of her throat, and she gagged, her eyes watering.
She loved it. Wanted more.
He lifted her by the hair, pulling her mouth off his wet, hard cock, and kissed her fiercely.
Raw, burning need tingled across every inch of her body, and all she wanted him to do was touch her. Use her.
Punish her.
As his tongue stroked over her teeth, she cupped his balls, already firm and raised, and yanked down with all the force she could muster.
He tore his mouth away with a shocked gasp, then dug his fingers into her scalp and jerked her upright. She struggled to stay on her feet.
He licked up her stomach, his tongue shooting a quivering jolt of ecstasy straight to her clit, and whispered against her flesh, “What’d you that for, little she-wolf?” He elongated his canines and bit the underside of her breast. She moaned, the sound laced with pure pleasure. “I’m beginning to think you want to be punished.”
He tugged her across his lap, then pressed a hand against the back of her neck, pushing her into the mattress. She turned her face to the side, watching him out of the corner of her eye.
Though his words were harsh, reverence filled his savage features as he traced his fingers down her spine, over her panties, and across the back of her thigh, dipping between her legs. So close, yet so far from where she wanted him.
She arched her back, begging for more of his touch, and he pushed her neck into the mattress harder.
“Stay. Still,” he snarled, and her body flooded with heat again as she obeyed his command. She didn’t know which turned her on more, his praise or his scolding.
He yanked up on the waistband of her panties, exposing the swells of her ass, and the tightened fabric against her throbbing clit dragged a low moan out of her.
He pushed his thumb past her teeth. “Quiet. You’ll take your punishment in silence.”
She bit down on the rough pad while he smoothed his hand over her left ass cheek, a teasing, gentle caress.
Though there was nothing gentle in the open-palmed, explosive smack he unleashed upon her willing flesh.
The blow shattered through her, the stinging pain like lightning in her veins, and she clenched down onto his thumb to stop herself from releasing a primal groan.
He rubbed her ass cheek, soothing briefly, before bringing his hand down again. This time, his palm lingered, his fingers digging into her flesh.
Each smack grew harder, the sting buzzing her skin, increasing her sensitivity.
Teeth clenched around his thumb, she darted her gaze toward him as he spanked her. He was feral, crazed with lust, a sight so erotic that she felt she might come just from witnessing it.
High Gods, she wanted this. Wanted him to be as rough with her as he dared. Wanted him to turn her backside into a flushed, pulsating mess. Wanted to feel his imprint there every time she tried to sit down for days.
“Are you going to defy me again, or are you going to obey?” He spanked her so hard that she lurched up the mattress. She released a garbled, incoherent sound and he smacked her again. “ Answer me.”
“Obey,” she breathed out around his thumb, pressing her thighs together in an attempt to curb the desperate ache.
“Good,” he whispered, shooting a claw from his fingertip and tracing it down her spine. She shivered as he sliced through her panties, then tossed the ruined silk to the floor.
He retracted the claw and removed his thumb from her mouth, using both his hands to spread her ass apart.
She tensed, worried about where he was going to put his fingers, but he didn’t go anywhere near the space between her cheeks.
Just like he promised he wouldn’t.
The thought of it, that he was respecting her wishes even as he delivered such delectable pain, made fresh tears squeeze from her eyes.
Tears that instantly dried the second he stroked a finger up her slit, her lips dripping for him. His dark, silken chuckle coasted over her skin. “You’re so fucking wet. My twisted little ballerina.”
She spread her thighs apart, pushing her hips back in an effort to impale herself, so desperate to have his long, elegant fingers inside her.
He pressed his forearm against her lower back and curled his hand around her hip, then used the other to tease between her legs in light, feathery strokes. “No squirming, or you won’t get your reward. Can you stay still for me?”
He huffed a laugh as she went motionless.
“Yes, Ronin.”
“Good fucking girl.” He plunged his thumb inside her, and her body erupted. She chomped down on her tongue to keep from moving as waves of shimmering bliss rocked her limbs.
He pushed his thumb in and out in a tantalizingly slow rhythm, stroking his index finger along her clit in tandem. Drawing out her pleasure.
Keeping still under the ministrations of his wicked fingers was nearly impossible. Moans and whimpers bubbled up her throat and she pressed her mouth against the sheets, desperately afraid that if he heard them, he’d stop this seductive torture.
Her entire body quivered, her thighs shaking, her hard nipples coasting over the soft blankets. Trying to control her muscles as he fucked her with his fingers only provoked her impending release. She suspected he knew; that this was the reason he’d demanded she not move.
“Fucking look at you, Mireille.” His quiet voice was near worshipful as he held her down, his fingers soaked with her arousal. “This perfect, pink ass.” He squeezed a cheek with his left hand as his right continued to move inside her. “These powerful thighs.” He trailed a hand down her legs. “This fucking hair ,” he groaned, fisting a handful of it again as he increased his pumping rhythm, circling his index finger around her clit.
She was nearly sobbing into the sheets, struggling to still her hips when all she wanted to do was roll back against his hand, his praise skyrocketing her to heights of sheer ecstasy.
Then, just when she was on the verge of pitching over the edge, her body a tight coil of pleasure begging to spring loose, the fucker stopped.
He removed his hands from her hair and between her legs, calmly placing them outside his hips, and gifted her a gorgeous, infuriating smile.
She bolted upright, her chest heaving, and straddled him. “What the fuck, Ronin?” She shoved his torso, but he didn’t even flinch. Just continued to smirk as she beat him with her tiny fists.
He stopped her movement with a large hand on her hip, then grabbed her wrists with the other. “Oh, you thought the spanking was your punishment?” He had the fucking audacity to laugh . “The spanking was for me .” He brought his face inches from hers, breathing against her lips. “And you only get to come if you behave.”
She snarled, then bit his bottom lip.
His eyes went molten as he tore away, then dragged a finger across his beautiful mouth, brows narrowed.
Her heart pounded in her chest. She was fucking furious with him. But still wanted him so badly. She’d agreed to this. Agreed to play along. He’d said this was about her pleasure, but how could that be true if he were denying her?
He licked the blood from his finger, his gaze sliding back to her, and all the air fled her lungs. “You really shouldn’t have done that.”
It was all the warning he offered before flipping her face down onto the mattress and bracketing her hips with his knees, folding her arms behind her. She tried to break free, his rock- hard cock bouncing against her back as she kicked and struggled beneath him.
He reached for the sheet, elongating his claws, then cut out a long strip of fabric and tied her wrists together. She bucked her hips, trying to throw him off, but he held firm. Once he had her arms secured, he flipped her over again, her bound arms pinned beneath her.
She kicked a leg out, aiming for his stomach, but he caught her ankle. “No, no. Unless you want me to tie these up, too?”
Amatu spare her, his wild, cunning grin made her impossibly wetter.
His strong hands clenched her thighs as he spread her open. Moonlight glinting off an exposed fang was the last thing she saw before he lowered his hungry mouth to her sex and she threw her head back in a shuddering scream.
Ronin’s tongue was even better than his fingers. He laved her clit, kissed her lips, devoured her in long licks and gentle strokes.
It should have been painful since she’d been so close to orgasm before, but he knew exactly when and where to apply pressure, ratcheting her body to heights of pleasure she’d never thought possible.
“That’s my angry little she-wolf.” He pushed two fingers inside of her as he nipped her clit, the pain a jolt of pure ecstasy. She wanted her hands free, wanted to cup her breasts and pinch her nipples, needing more sensation.
Ronin dipped his head down, spearing his tongue inside her as he trailed a hand up her stomach. He squeezed her breast, then pulled her nipple, stretching it to a point of intense pain. Just as she was about to scream, he let go and a wave of body-shaking euphoria pounded through her body.
She couldn’t believe it, but she was at the brink again. Riding that plateau, her muscles tightening and loosening. She arched her back and pushed her heels into the mattress, undulating her hips against Ronin’s face as he fucked her with his tongue.
Just as she was about to come, he stopped.
Again.
She burst into frustrated tears and rolled onto her side, her arms still bound behind her.
Ronin slid up her body, bringing all of his weight on top of her. She hated him. Hated his control and how badly she wanted him. Hated all these stupid feelings he’d drawn from her these past weeks. She wanted to fucking come and she fucking HATED him.
But not enough to say her safe word.
Because this was exactly what she needed. A way to channel her rage and anguish, twist it into something else and burn it from her soul. Turn it into blazing passion.
And Ronin was the perfect partner for the task.
He brought his mouth to her cheek, his breath hot on her face. “This is what you wanted, Mireille, wasn’t it? For me to show you just how little control you actually have? Fucking admit it.”
“ Never ,” she snarled against the sheets.
He turned her face and shoved his tongue into her mouth. She bit down nearly hard enough to sever the tip and a hot rush of iron-rich liquid flowed down her throat. Laughter bubbled out of her as he spat his blood onto her cheek.
“Fucking bitch ,” he growled, then flipped her onto her stomach. He hauled her hips up and forced her chest against the mattress, wrapping a hand around her bound wrists.
And with no warning at all, Ronin thrust forward and buried his enormous cock inside her.
Mireille’s scream as Ronin finally plunged himself into her hot, wet warmth was a sound of pure, undiluted pleasure.
Despite her tears.
Despite her rage.
Despite her violence.
He paused, allowing her to adjust to the sheer size of him.
He knew this was what she needed. A safe space to work through her feelings, all the hurt and anger. He wanted to prove he could take everything she threw at him. That he wouldn’t abandon her. That she didn’t need to be perfect to be worthy of pleasure.
She wanted to defy him. Wanted to be punished. And he was happy to oblige. But he needed to ensure she accepted the praise as well.
He understood Mireille better than any female he’d ever been with.
And she understood him too. His need to dominate, his need to strike back, his need to fight , even while they fucked.
His wolf was in ecstasy, growling and barking and howling, running through his mind in a panting frenzy, ears perked and attuned to Mireille’s every sound.
She whimpered into the sheets, wiggling her hips, urging him to move while muttering please over and over again.
The word was blazing fuel for his desire.
He pulled out slowly, her inner walls gripping him. As if she didn’t want to let go. Then he pushed in even more slowly.
“Ronin,” she groaned, and the sound shot straight for his cock.
He fucked her in languid strokes, and she melted beneath him, her thighs quivering as she released mewling coos and rapturous moans.
Her cunt pulsed around him, and High Gods, he could fuck her forever and never tire of it.
He watched his cock plunge past the two perfect spheres of her ass, still awash in that pink flush, her hair a coppery spill of molten metal across the moonlit sheets.
She tightened around him and he knew she was close again. He could’ve edged her at least three more times, but he was honestly worried she might kill him if he attempted it.
He huffed a laugh at the thought as he hauled her upright, her wrists bound behind her, and sat on his heels as he settled her back against his chest, her head on his shoulder.
He massaged her full breasts, kissed the soft mound of skin between her neck and her shoulder, licked the salty tears from her cheeks. All while continuing to thrust up into her magnificently tight heat.
Trailing a hand down her taut stomach, he began circling her clit with gentle pressure. He cuffed a hand around her throat, holding her against him.
He’d listed her imperfections, but in his mind, she was perfect. For him. Her strong, soft body, her flushed skin, her arousing defiance. Everything about her designed specifically to drive him wild.
And for the first time in Ronin’s three-plus centuries of life, he understood the desire to promise himself to a single someone for the rest of his immortality.
He could so easily fall in love with Mireille.
He just wasn’t sure she’d let him.
And he didn’t want to ruin this electric connection with an awkward burst of sentimentality . Neither of them was the type.
So he tried to show her, with his gentle hands and roving mouth, how much he cared for her. How devoted he was to her pleasure, regardless of how she preferred to come by it.
She continued to move on him, moaning against his neck as he drove into her, massaging her clit.
Her inner walls tightened, pulsing around his cock, and her breathy pants accelerated.
“Ronin, please ,” she breathed, then issued her own command that he was helpless to deny.
“Let me come.”
Mireille was putty against Ronin’s chest.
Every nerve-ending scintillated as she rode his thick cock, his callused hands caressing her body.
He was a solid presence behind her, and she leaned all her weight onto him, confident that he’d support her.
“You ready for this, little she-wolf?”
She was incapable of any movement more taxing than a subtle nod.
The ache between her legs was unbearable. Her spent muscles quivered, exhausted from being pushed to the brink, denied, and then pushed to the brink again.
But as he stroked between her thighs, moving inside her at that slow, steady pace, everything coiled again, tightening her toward what she knew would be total and complete annihilation.
Her breathing grew erratic as she matched his thrusts.
He circled her clit with his thumb, pressing harder, and turned her face to his.
And as she stared into his beautiful, golden blue eyes, glowing with lust and affection, something rebuilt inside of her.
Those broken pieces of her heart fused back together, and a single tear stole down her cheek as he whispered against her mouth, “Let go, love.”
He captured her lips in a bruising kiss as her body exploded with scintillating heat, her limbs trembling and her mind shattered.
She shuddered against him as he squeezed her closer, his chest crushed against her back, drinking down her moans.
For one heart-stopping moment, she could’ve sworn her soul left her body. Floated into the Halfway before crashing back into her. Was she still the same person she’d been an hour ago?
As her senses returned, she realized he hadn’t yet climaxed, was still moving inside her.
“What are you waiting for?”
“Didn’t want to distract you.” He smirked, then kissed her nose. “You fucking earned that.”
She’d never felt so used up, so desired in her entire life. Sated in the best way. She leaned her head back against his shoulder, sucking gently on his earlobe. His powerful body trembled, and she clenched around him, urging him toward his own very well earned release.
He kissed across her jaw and down her neck, then clamped his teeth on her shoulder. He increased the pace of his thrusts, tightening his arms around her breasts and waist. His fangs dimpled her skin, holding her in place but not sinking in.
His hot breath tickled as he pounded into her, crushing her against his chest and roaring his climax against her flesh. She immediately came again, aftershocks of ecstasy sparkling through her spent limbs.
Ronin fell forward, curving over her back and slamming his right palm into the mattress as he held her against him with his left. They panted in tandem as he pulled out, then turned her over and settled her against the bed.
“Are you okay?” he asked, adoration a fierce glow in his golden blue eyes.
She cupped his cheek. “Never felt better in my entire fucking life.”
He chuckled, then lowered his mouth to hers, pressing a gentle, reverent kiss to her lips before he pushed off the bed and bounded for the bathroom.
He returned with a towel, cleaned between her legs, then tossed it to the floor and climbed back into bed. Circling an arm around her waist, he hauled her against his warm, sweaty body and threw a leg across her thigh.
His nose roved through her hair as he released a contented sigh. “ Fuck me, Mireille, that was…”
“I know.” She placed her hand atop his on her waist, entwining their fingers.
“Has it ever been like that for you before? With anyone?” His voice was a cracked whisper.
“Never. You?”
He shook his head against her hair.
It was all either of them dared say before Mireille closed her eyes, and, enveloped within Ronin’s powerful embrace, promptly fell asleep.