Chapter 5 #2
I hate that he was so sure of me that he bought rings. I hate that mine is a princess cut diamond that’s simple and elegant and exactly what I would have chosen for myself. I yank my hand from his. “I’m not going to the Underworld tonight.”
“You don’t have a choice.” He unbuttons his shirt in slow movements. “Unless you plan on hiding in this room like a coward for the rest of your life, you have to play the game. You know that, so stop wasting both our time fighting over something that you know you can’t win.”
I watch helplessly as he shrugs out of his shirt. “What are you doing?”
“Showering.” He kicks off his shoes in the approximate direction of the rest of his clothing. “Want to watch?”
With how the shower’s set up, I won’t have a choice, and he knows it. I paste a bored look on my face. “I’ve seen the show. I’m not interested.”
“Ah, but this one’s different.” His hands fall to his pants.
I almost lick my lips before I catch myself. “Why is this one different?”
When he speaks again, the amusement is gone from his voice, leaving it deeper. “Because this show is for you.” Hook walks away before I can come up with a response to that, which is just as well because I don’t have a response to that.
I stumble to the bed and sink onto the edge of it. The moment I do, I get a whiff of the clean scent of laundry soap, and I almost laugh. The bastard cleaned his sheets in preparation for me. Of course he did.
The water comes on in the bathroom, and I look up to find that just as I suspected, I can clearly see the outline of Hook’s naked body as he steps beneath the spray and tilts his head back.
Holy shit.
I’ve seen him naked before. Impossible to participate in the Underworld’s public activities without seeing others naked. It’s different now. There’s no one else here. He’s putting on this show for me and me alone.
I bite my bottom lip as I watch him soap himself up, running his hands over his body in slow, methodical motions.
All the fear and frustration and turmoil of the last couple days switches to pure lust as he takes his cock in his fist and gives himself a rough stroke.
I don’t have to see the minute details to know exactly what it looks like.
Long and thick and perfect for the rough kind of fucking I crave.
My body goes tight and hot, and I press my thighs together.
It doesn’t relieve the feeling. It only makes it worse.
He’s teasing me on purpose, hoping to stoke me into a lust-fueled frenzy that ends with me on my knees and begging.
Depriving myself would only give him what he wants, right?
The logic is hazy at best, but I kick off my heels and shift back farther onto the bed.
Before I can think of all the reasons this is a terrible idea, I drag my dress up and delve a hand into my panties.
I circle my clit in time to Hook’s strokes, each touch sending my pleasure spiking higher. The fact that it feels absolutely forbidden to be doing this while he’s jacking his hand half a room away only makes it hotter.
“Tatiana.”
I jump and press hard against my clit. I have to fight back a moan, but my voice comes out breathy when I answer. “What?”
“If I walk in there right now, am I going to find your hand in your panties?”
I start circling again. His pleasure-roughened voice only pushes me closer to orgasm. “Yes.”
His curse makes me smile, just a little bit. Hook is so much, all the time. It can be frustrating as hell, but he’s not one to play games and pretend disinterest. He wants to fuck me, and he’s not shy about letting me know.
He turns and braces a hand against the glass, a perfect imprint of five fingers and his palm. With his other hand, he resumes stroking his cock. “Always the dirty girl. Always fucking teasing me.”
Suddenly, my fingers aren’t enough. I want more.
Goddamn it, I want him, and I hate myself for it as much as I hate him for making me feel this way.
I try to pull back, but I’m too close. My body has a mind of its own now, my hips rising to press against my fingers.
A moan remains trapped on the inside of my lips through sheer force of will.
“Get that pretty pussy of yours ready, Tatiana.” He growls my name and, for the first time, it doesn’t make my chest tighten.
It sounds sexy and forbidden and, holy fuck, what is he doing to me?
We’re not even in the same room, not really, but it feels like he’s whispering directly into my ear.
He curses. “Come for me, beautiful girl. Take the edge off so I can take care of you tonight.”
I come before I can stop myself, responding to the rising desire as much as to his rough words. I watch helplessly as he follows, his strokes becoming rougher as he finishes with a muttered curse I can’t quite make out.
I barely get my hand out of my panties before he shuts off the shower and walks in the room with a towel wrapped around his waist. He hasn’t bothered to dry off and water drips down his chest in tiny rivulets that are the most tempting kind of invitation.
If he was a different person, if we were in a different situation, I’d want to trace those same pathways with my tongue.
The look he gives my bare legs sends heat bolting to my core despite my orgasm.
Hook’s one of the only people who knew me when my body was considered “ideal” by society’s standards.
I gave that shit up a long time ago in my quest for me.
I don’t care what he thinks of my abundant curves and softness.
Except the way his eyes get hot and he licks his lips is really, really hot. Knowing it’s because he likes what he sees … I’m not immune.
I’m an asshole in my own right, because I use a single finger to drag my panties to the side and let him see the mess I made of myself.
He moves a step closer and then another, his gaze glued to my pussy. A quick glance at my face and he kneels at the edge of the bed. “Tell me your safe word, Tatiana.”
I can’t quite catch my breath. “You don’t need my safe word if you’re not going to fuck me.”
His lips curve. “Beautiful girl, you know better. There are thousands upon thousands of things I can do to you without ever penetrating that pretty pussy.”
I don’t want to tell him. But changing the safe word I’ve used for five years because I don’t want to admit it is as cowardly as he accused me of being. I grit my teeth. “Pirate.”
Hook’s grin is downright blinding. “Pirate,” he repeats slowly. “I see.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Mmm.” He releases me from his gaze and narrows his attention on my pussy again. “Are you ready to be on your knees?”
If I say yes, if I go through with it, then he’ll fuck me right now. The intent is written all over his face. He wants this as much as I do. More, maybe.
If I say yes, I lose what little leverage I have.
“No.”
“So be it.” He snags the wrist of the hand I used to masturbate and drags me forward.
I watch with wide eyes as he sucks each individual finger into his mouth, one at a time.
His tongue slides against my sensitive skin, and I can’t quite stifle a whimper.
Hook releases me and drags his thumb across my palm.
“Your stuff will be here in the next few days. No one in the house will mess with you, but it’s wise to stay in this room until we’ve gone public with the marriage.
Once everyone knows you’re mine, they won’t touch you.
” He grins. “Unless I ask them nicely and you’re down for it. ”
I blink. He’s moving too quickly, switching subjects with ease when I’m still hung up on the way he makes my skin buzz.
But then, it’s just a game for Hook. He’s like every other territory leader in this city, moving the pieces about in his eternal quest for power.
I’m just a pawn in another person’s game.
My only value to him is that Peter won’t let me go.
Marrying me, rubbing our so-called relationship in the public’s face, that’s destined to piss Peter off.
That has to be part of the plan. A plan I need to remember, because Hook is not for me.
He’s everything I very much don’t want in my life.
I’ve walked this path before, falling for a man more in love with power than he could ever be with me.
If I had a single choice in the matter, I wouldn’t go down it again.
Peter was a monster before he was powerful, but that old saying about power corrupting a person isn’t wrong.
The more power he claimed, the more monstrous he became.
No one is immune to the seductive temptation of more. Not Peter. Not Hook, either.
If he’s not a full monster now, he will be in the future.
“You’re saying I’m trapped here.” I carefully withdraw my hand from his. “Is this another joke of yours, because you can’t possibly be serious.”
“I am serious. It’s safest for you here, at least for now.” He hesitates for the briefest of moments and then pushes to his feet. “Be ready at nine.”
I manage to keep my temper locked down until the elevator doors close behind him. How dare he? I am not a toy he can use and toss away when he’s not in the mood any longer. He wants a wife, but not until the right time, not until he can use me to his best advantage.
I drag my hands through my hair. I can’t do this. I can’t be trapped like this. It’s a different house, a different room, a different man. It doesn’t matter. Hook knows my history, and he still essentially locked me up here.
My gaze lands on the mess of clothes. That fucker wants to lock me up?
He’ll have to pay the price.