6. Ember
EMBER
CLARITY - LERION & CVSS
Not even the familiar scent of my own bedsheets can stop my heart from racing to the beat of a gruelling marathon sprint. With a hiss, I roll over in bed, stuffing my pillow to reposition my head more comfortably.
It doesn’t help that my skull is pounding with a fierce headache. I was lucky to have access to my medication in Briar Valley as we brought all our supplies from the raid, but it’s still been a suspiciously long time since my last episode hit.
“Go to sleep,” I hiss to myself. “Just sleep. Shut your eyes. Count some sheep.”
It’s the same mantra I’ve repeated since we stumbled home in the dusk, exhausted and wrung-out after hours of recounting the Estonia operation for the official record. Most of the details have already been provided to Kade and Hudson. Still, we had to endure the formality of a debrief.
Our return to HQ to discuss next steps—including Blaine’s teammates and their worrying intel—looms in a matter of hours. The impending countdown isn’t enough to make me feel remotely sleepy. I’m wound tighter than an industrial spring ready to snap.
“Goddammit!”
Just as I’m about to call it quits and get up, a creak in the corridor sets me on high alert. I shove a hand under my mountain of pillows to finger the switchblade stashed there. Another creak, then the door to my room quietly clicks open.
Jackknifing up in the bed, I’ve pulled the blade free and cocked it, ready to slice my intruder’s face off, when a low chuckle breaks the tension.
“Are you going to stab me, sweetheart?”
“For fuck’s sake, Blaine!”
Illuminated by a faint light, he lingers in the doorway. Smirking, obviously.
“I’m thinking about it.” Seething, I slowly lower the knife. “You scared me.”
“Apologies. May I come in?”
“Were you going to ask if I was asleep?”
“I don’t usually, no. But seeing as you’re awake, I thought it in my best interest to be polite.”
He skulks into the room, plunging us into darkness by closing the door behind him.
“Usually?” I repeat breathily.
Footsteps inch through the darkness, sounding closer with each heartbeat.
“I find watching you rest peaceful. You never seem to mind.”
“While unconscious? No, I don’t suppose I do mind. Jesus!”
“What?” His chuckle sounds louder in the dark. “It’s not like I crawl between the sheets without permission.”
“Watching me sleep is just as creepy, for the record.”
“Noted. Do I have permission to crawl between your sheets now? Else I’ll be quite content watching from my usual spot. The chair is rather comfortable.”
I’m not sure if he’s joking or simply insane. I’d put good money on the latter.
“Get into bed, Phantom. Before I change my mind.”
He must have x-ray vision to safely cross the room, fabric rustling with each step. I think he’s stripping off. When the mattress dips with his weight climbing on, I shuffle over a little, rolling onto my side.
I’m engulfed by the scent of rich, spicy peppercorns and a citrusy kick of bergamot. The familiar scent seems to cling to his skin. A hand runs over my arm then moves to clasp my waist beneath my oversized tee, pulling us closer together.
“I’m surprised you’re alone in here,” he murmurs into the din.
“Everyone’s exhausted, and I needed some space.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No. I couldn’t sleep anyway.”
“What’s going on?”
“Too wound up after the debrief, I guess. And we have to do it all over again in a few hours, only this time, we get to hear how royally fucked we are.”
The hand on my waist squeezes then begins exploring, his fingertips tracing a delicate path over rising goose pimples.
“Who chased us on the road, Blaine?”
“I don’t know.” His nose runs along the back of my neck. “But I stand by what I said. Your teammates ought to learn not to underestimate my father, or this fight will be short-lived. He’ll kill us all.”
“There’s no way he found us.”
“Who else would chase our vehicle like that?”
“I… don’t know.”
Fingers circle and tease, following the curve of my hip around to the lower half of my exposed butt cheek. I try not to react to the sensation of him curiously mapping the edge of my panties, never daring to inch too close.
“You think there’s a leak in Sabre.” I try to sound unaffected.
“There isn’t a doubt in my mind.”
“The company is airtight. It has to be.”
“Don’t be na?ve like the rest of the team—you’re smarter than that.”
When Blaine eases a hand underneath my panties to skirt over my pubic bone, I can’t suppress my low gasp. He pauses only briefly then continues his exploration, dipping ever closer to where my clit is pulsing in time to his movements.
He’s so close to actually touching me, I can’t bear the torture. One shift is all it would take for him to slide those fingers into my cunt and finally give me the relief I’ve been longing for since he first kissed me.
“Blaine…”
“Easy, sweetheart. You’re tensing up.”
“Then stop messing with me, and make a fucking move. I’m tired of playing this game.”
“What game would that be?” He skims over my throbbing bud.
My hips rise, urging him for more. “Pretending like we aren’t inevitable.”
Pressure bears down on my bundle of nerves, sparking a jolt of ecstasy that races through the sensitive flesh. I buck upward into his hand again. More… I need to feel all of him. Every last scrap of his existence. I’ll tear chunks off him to steal away and keep if that’s all I’ll ever get.
“You’re so receptive.” Blaine’s awe emanates from deep in his throat. “I can feel your little cunt getting wet.”
The force circling my singing clit lowers, easily spreading my pussy lips apart with two well-placed fingers. He locates my slit then circles it, proudly swirling the moisture around.
I shouldn’t be so wound up from a mere tease, but Blaine knows all the right cords to hit. After all this time, my patience is frayed down to the barest bones when it comes to him.
“Dripping for me already, hmm?”
“What did you expect to happen when you tease me so relentlessly?” I moan loudly.
“Me? Tease? I think it’s the other way around. I’ve watched you from afar since the moment we met without acting on my impulses.”
“You’ve been torturing me for weeks now! That’s hardly checking your impulses.”
“I haven’t stolen you away from those men and thrown you against a wall to fuck you into a senseless heap, have I?”
Just the image alone has me clenching tight. He must sense it.
“Though perhaps that’s what this wet pussy really wants.”
Without a clear view of him, I’m reliant on invisible touch alone. His fingers are deft and precise, working me into a panting wreck then finally offering respite by driving inside my pussy in one determined plunge.
“Oh, fuck! Blaine!”
“Hush now. I don’t want to wake anyone up.”
Another digit stretches me open in rapid succession, his hand pulsing, moving from a slow taunt to near-aggressive pumping in and out. This calculating devil is determined to split my self-control apart.
Still curled on my side, I fist the bedsheets in an attempt to stay quiet. Heat crowds my back where he’s snuggled in close to reach between my legs. As I grind backwards onto him, I can feel every inch of promising steel standing to attention in his boxers.
“More,” I demand breathily.
“I warned you what would happen if we crossed the line, Ember. I’m a patient man. If you want to do this, I need to know you’re ready.”
“For what?”
“To submit. Fully. Wholly.”
I’d sooner die than submit to anyone. But in the bedroom? There’s something freeing about giving up control and surrendering my body to another.
In response, I push back to grind into him again. A dark laugh pulls from his chest, then he withdraws his fingers to grip my panties and sharply tug, causing the elastic to snap.
“I want you silent.” His breath forms a hot lick against my ear. “Do you understand? I’ll gag you if I have to.”
“Yes… I understand.”
“Anyone who interrupts me is likely to have their head removed. So if you want to avoid that, you won’t make a sound.”
His hand dances over my stomach and between my breasts until two still-soaked fingers push on my lips. I have no choice but to accept. He glides them into my mouth, smearing my own desire over my tastebuds.
“Perfect,” Blaine hums. “Just like that.”
When he pulls his hand free, I swallow any sarcastic reply. I’m not about to test his resolve. Not when he’s so close to giving me what I want.
“Roll onto your back, sweetheart. Arms above your head. Do it now.”
Once I’ve done as told, I can feel him leaning over me. The room is bathed in low light when he flicks the table lamp on, then he returns, straddling my waist so I’m pinned beneath his hips.
Blaine grabs my T-shirt to pull up and over my head, greedily drinking in the sight of my bare chest. I can sense just how hard my nipples are in the bedroom’s cool air, standing prone for his approval.
“Keep your arms up, don’t move.”
With the T-shirt tossed aside, he retrieves my damaged panties. My mouth falls open in a silent question as he winds the elastic around my wrists one at a time then starts to bind them in the middle with secure knots.
“Multi-purpose,” he whispers.
The cotton figure eight wound around my wrists is fastened to a rung in the bed frame before he ties the final knot, tugging to ensure the bind is secure. I’m bound at a harsh angle, holding my arms high above my head while the rest of my body is splayed and vulnerable.
“You may stop me at any time.” Blaine shuffles back to tug off his tented boxers. “Unless you’re tapping out, that’s the only sound I want to hear. Are we clear?”
My head bobs in a frantic nod.
“Good. Open those legs for me. I want to see what I’ve been missing out on.”
He sits on his haunches, expectant. The sight of him naked, every stretch of scarred skin bared for me to see… It’s an exhilarating honour. He’s breathtaking. Lean, rugged and battle-worn.
I’m itching to trace every last knife slash and cigarette burn with my tongue to steal the memories away. The thought of his father beating obedience into him over decades is a kick in the gut. No one deserves that.