Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ariana
The instant my mouth met Henry’s, the world narrowed to nothing but him. His taste. His heat. The way he kissed like he’d been starving. It had only been a few weeks since I’d felt him like this, but it might as well have been a lifetime.
Even so, this kiss felt…different. Like I was finally allowing myself to have him. The last time he kissed me, I hadn’t been myself. At least not the person I’d become over the past few weeks.
The person who could choose this, choose him, with clear eyes and an open heart.
Now, I was.
He tore his lips from mine with a guttural sound, his breathing ragged. When his eyes locked on mine, they darkened with the kind of intensity that pinned me in place.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked again, resting his forehead against mine.
I lifted my hand to his cheek, brushing my thumb along the rough line of stubble. “I want this. I want you.” I met his eyes so he could see the truth in my words. “I trust you.”
The groan that tore from his chest was primal enough to turn me to mush. He cupped the back of my head and slammed his mouth back onto mine, kissing me like I’d just confessed something sacred. Maybe I had. Trust didn’t come easily to me. He knew that better than anyone.
When he tore away, he held my face in both hands, breathing hard.
“Pick a safe word.”
A jolt of nerves lit through me. Not out of fear, but from excitement. Anticipation. The realization that I was truly stepping into something new with him.
Becoming who I was always meant to be.
“Hades,” I said, smirking despite the tremor in my breath.
“Hades.” His lips curved, a soft huff leaving him. “I like it.”
Then his expression shifted, serious and steady. “Just so we’re clear, you’re in control here. Not me. You call the shots. I’ll test your limits, but you hold every ounce of power. You say the word, and I stop. Everything tonight is for your pleasure. Your empowerment. Okay?”
I nodded automatically.
His gaze hardened. “Use your words, Ariana. Your voice. Whenever I ask you something, answer out loud. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Good.” He kissed me again before standing and stepping back several paces.
The air changed instantly. His posture, his eyes, his entire presence sharpened.
“Come here, Ariana.”
I started to rise, but his voice cracked like a whip. “No.”
I froze. A shiver shot through me, electric and hot, but utterly free of fear.
“Crawl to me.”
My breath hitched, core clenching, skin vibrating with need.
I carefully sank back onto my knees with my eyes trained on his, unable to look away from the severity etched into his features. My pulse thundered, my chest tight with adrenaline and want.
Slowly, deliberately, I lowered my hands to the floor and crawled toward him. Inch by inch, the tension between us coiled tighter. His eyes tracked every movement, his desire growing, sharpening, devouring.
By the time I reached him, I was trembling. Breathless. Desperate.
I sat back on my heels, obediently waiting for whatever he planned to ask of me next.
Whatever it was, I’d do it.
He reached out and cupped my cheek, my eyes fluttering shut as I leaned into his touch.
“Good girl.”
A visible shiver rolled through me.
“You like that,” he murmured. “You like when I praise you.”
My nod was small, automatic. Then I remembered his rule. “I do.”
“Tell me why.”
I tilted my head back, meeting his gaze. “I like knowing I please you.”
“Is that what you want? To please me?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He dropped his hand from my cheek. “Keep your eyes forward.”
“Yes.” My voice was breathy, thin, eager.
I didn’t move as he stepped out of sight. The soft pad of his footsteps circled the room, followed by the quiet slide of drawers opening and closing. Every sound heightened my awareness as curiosity buzzed through me like static.
But I didn’t look.
I kept my eyes forward.
Like he asked.
After what felt like forever, a warmth brushed my back. Every hair on my body stood on end.
He knelt behind me and pressed a slow, lingering kiss to my neck.
“What’s your safe word?” he murmured against my skin.
“Hades.”
“Good.”
Something in his tone made my pulse trip. Before I could process it, he slipped something silky over my eyes, and darkness swallowed me.
I inhaled a breath, sharp and fast. For a split second, panic clawed up my spine, Victor’s shadow whispering old threats, old fears.
But Henry wasn’t Victor.
Henry would never hurt me.
I wanted this. I chose this. For him and for me.
I forced a slow exhale, then another, grounding myself in the warmth of Henry’s hands and the steady calm of his presence.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes.” My voice came out steadier than I felt.
“Good girl.”
His mouth found my neck again, and I melted into the sensation as he teased me with a combination of his lips and teeth. I was so focused on this one point of contact, I didn’t even notice when he’d taken my wrists and secured them behind my back.
“Okay?” he asked again.
I swallowed hard through the pounding of my heart. “Yes.”
“Good girl.”
He released me, and cool air swept over my skin where he’d been. I listened, every sound in the room amplified. His footsteps. The faint clink of metal. His belt buckle sliding free.
This was trust in its purest form. Terrifying. Thrilling.
Invigorating.
He pressed his hand to my cheek, his thumb brushing my jaw.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” he breathed. “I thought so the first night I saw you. And I mean really saw you. Not as someone’s ornament. But as a person. As a goddamn treasure.”
His voice dropped, turning rough, reverent.
“You weren’t my target, but something pulled me toward you that night. And when I heard your voice, saw your mouth move, I couldn’t stop looking at you. Couldn’t stop imagining those crimson lips wrapped around my cock.”
Warm, bare skin brushed my mouth, his unmistakably hard erection, the bit of pre-cum moistening my flesh.
“Now open those lips for me,” he said, his voice thick with hunger. “And please me.”