Under the Lash Read online

  The ache he was creating in her wasn’t capable of simply existing within that tender bud, though, and it had already made its way to the very spot he had forced her to discover the truth of earlier, rekindling the same strange longing that had her wishing she could clamp her legs shut, but he had skillfully managed to place one broad, bare thigh between hers, denying her that avenue of relief as he continued to flick and rub and torture her nipple.

  But soon he bent her further back of his own accord, over a strong arm across her back, forcing her to present and display both of her glorious breasts to him, as if beseeching him to do with them what he would. But Anjel had found that what got him hotter than simply pursuing his own pleasures was encouraging hers. He knew she had no idea just how loudly she was responding to him, or he had a very good idea that she would have done anything she could to repress it, the contrary chit.

  He decided to concentrate on her, tightening that arm another notch around her waist and forcing her to thrust herself into even more prominence while he claimed one nipple as a delightful mouthful and continued to worry the other as incessantly as he had begun, feeling himself awash in her mewls and groans, bathing him in her reluctant cries of the pleasure he was forcing her to experience.

  Suddenly, it was no longer enough to stand with her and address one beautiful inch of her at a time. Anjel reached down and lifted her onto the bed, bearing her down onto the luxuriously thick mattress and chronicling her descent with his more than eager lips and hands, claiming every naked part of her he could reach, leaving wet trails from breast to breast and goose flesh wherever his curious fingers cared to dally.

  Just in case she got a disobedient notion into her head, which he had already learned wasn’t at all an impossibility, he murmured as he nibbled teasingly at a firm breast, “Keep your hands at your sides, Cassie. You don’t want to add any more to the spanking you’re going to receive before I let you go to sleep, now, do you?”

  Her guttural groan was his answer. She had wholeheartedly hoped that he would forget about that, but she guessed she shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up. This man never seemed to forget anything that had to do with humiliating her, and he was used to an instant obedience that was anathema to her character.

  He certainly knew how to make her regret that character flaw and conjure an exquisite stinging in her backside, but right now she was just as concerned about how easily he had managed to bring her to her knees with a bliss so strong it was almost more frightening than the man who brought it to her. Cassie didn’t know what to do with it any more than she knew how to handle the absolute devastation of being punished by him. The feelings were uncomfortably close in nature, and she felt powerless to handle either of them.

  And she wasn’t at all sure which was worse. Dealing with a sore, swollen bottom that was created in a manner guaranteed to make her feel embarrassingly like a naughty child, or being subjected to this overwhelming, undeniable ecstasy that seemed to radiate from any lascivious, heretofore private part of her helpless body that he decided to explore, reducing her in a humiliatingly short amount of time to a common tramp who craved that kind of attention from him.

  Indeed, she was self aware enough to realize that despite any protests she might have lodged – however nonverbally – that if she were allowed to speak, she might well not have been able to prevent herself from begging him to continue his sensuous exploration of every possible nook and cranny of her person.

  As it was, all she could do was moan and writhe, and not even in a manner that conveyed any modicum of protest, but with an alarming amount of encouragement in her tone. She couldn’t prevent herself from arching her breasts into the fingers that tugged determinedly at her already aching nipples, nor could she stop herself from kissing him as he had taught her just a few minutes earlier, welcoming his deeply probing tongue and daring to meet it – however tentatively – with her own.

  Anjel found himself getting an inordinate amount of enjoyment from watching her blossom beneath him, hearing and seeing her give way to his will and the ecstasy he knew was building inside her. He could no longer keep himself from drawing her tight to his side, holding her virtually immobile as he kissed her, hoping to prevent any affronted outburst as he allowed his hand to trail down from where it had cupped her jaw, along the delicate column of her neck, across collarbones that were too visible for his tastes, then over the damp, swollen tip of each breast to center itself on its journey down over her flat tummy, culminating at his ultimate goal as that big paw forced her to accept its presence in the very place she least wanted it to be – cupping the red gold curls between her legs as if he owned them.

  And he was quite sure that he did.

  “Open your legs, Cassie,” he ordered huskily against her lips.

  She was again letting him know in the only way he would allow that she was supremely unhappy at his audacity, struggling slightly within his hold and screeching as best she could behind his mouth.

  But she had learned not to delay her response – at least not as much as he knew she wanted to. Her legs began to part immediately, if slowly, and he eagerly claimed every new inch of her as his, even more so, he bet than she ever had herself, if her reluctance was any gage, and he was beginning to think it might well be.

  Was she a pampered virgin slave? Perhaps of someone who had much the same designs in mind for her future as Rory had had? He didn’t know, and he didn’t care. She would never be any but his now, he vowed. He wanted – demanded – to know every inch of her, to teach her the pleasures of the flesh himself, and he would settle for nothing less.

  There it was, he thought as his big broad middle finger sought and found the undeniable evidence of her own desires. Even with a bottom that was burning as badly as hers must be – if the evidence of her moans when he had set her down on the bed few minutes ago – and the threat – nay, promise – of another crisp spanking before all was said and done this evening – or perhaps more accurately because of it – to say nothing of his intimate exploration and invasion of her most sacred, womanly parts, she was still able to gift him with her dewy nectar, fairly drowning him in it until he had wet his finger most thoroughly and brought his treasure to the place he knew she would appreciate it the most.

  That first self confident stroke of his well slickened digit over that not so tiny any more bump had her arching up from the mattress, nearly grinding herself against him in the heat of her response, making him chuckle softly at her eagerness which unfortunately seemed to break the spell he’d conjured for her.

  Cassie swallowed hard as tears dribbled out of the corner of her eyes at how far she had fallen in so short a time. It was only with supreme effort that she managed to keep her arms at her sides. Her hands literally ached to cup him where he was, silently encouraging – begging – him to continue those teasing traces around that spot only he seemed to know she possessed.

  She was afraid to think of just what depraved heights she could be driven to in this manner, but there was little in her mind beyond the desperate thought that she could not allow him to stop.

  Of course, as soon as she realized that that was her worst fear at that particular moment, he did stop, leaving his hand in place right where it was as he gazed down at her, whispering, “Touch me.”

  She brought her hand up from between them, almost afraid to do as he said, not knowing exactly where it would be considered, in this situation, proper to put it. He was as naked as she was, and finally decided to cup his cheek, much as he had before his hands began wandering.

  Anjel smiled, chuckling softly. “You’ll have to be braver than that, Cassie.”

  She met his eyes and opened her mouth to reply to him, but closed it again, her eyes slipping away from his, remembering his rule.

  “What were you going to say?”

  “That I’m not feeling very brave at the moment, Sir.”

  There was mischief in his eyes when he teased, “Well, unlike one of us, I don’t bite.”

/>   She smiled then, the first time he’d seen her really smile, and it was blindingly beautiful, and managed to tug at heartstrings he would have sworn he didn’t own.

  But her hand hadn’t moved an inch despite his encouragement, so he captured her wrists – not roughly or angrily – and slowly moved them down to his chest, and was nearly unmanned by the sound of her quickly indrawn breath in reaction as her small fingertips settled into the light covering of black hair there, then spread out and seemed to luxuriate in the very feel of him.

  Cassie was thinking that it was no wonder he could heft her around like he did, and hold her tight enough with so little effort that she couldn’t move. She could feel the leashed power of the muscles beneath his skin. His chest was frighteningly close to massive and touching him seemed to be sending bolts of lightning to that intimate area he held so closely. Her fingers seemed to want to roam of their own accord, and when they encountered a raised ridge of puckered skin, she looked up at him questioningly.

  “Sword fight,” he supplied matter–of–factly.

  And then she discovered another.

  “Knife fight.”

  “Gun shot.”

  “Knife fight.”

  The last one she found before she stopped cataloging all of his scars was a long line that looked uncomfortably like a burn, and she was amazed to see him turn bright red when she looked at him with curiosity in her eyes.

  “That one...well, that one was the result of a misunderstanding between myself and a...lady friend of mine. She took a hot poker to my ass and missed.” But she did leave a good sized remembrance of herself on his side, instead.

  Sick of having her ferreting out all of his flaws – especially when he could find none on her fair skin and also because as far as he was concerned if they got close enough to leave a scar, then he’d done something very wrong during the battle and he wasn’t very fond of being reminded about his mistakes – he brought those wandering fingertips right to where he’d intended they go in the first place – his nipples.

  Surprised to find that he would enjoy that as much as she had, Cassie nevertheless began to touch and flick and rub him at least as eagerly as he had her. Not with quite as much skill, but with a surprising amount of raw talent, goosed on in very much the same way as he was by her, following the sounds of his caught breaths and long, low growls.

  Unfortunately, as much as Anjel would have loved to allow her to indulge herself more fully in that particular pursuit, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to last very long – if at all, he realized suddenly.

  When he moved, it was so lightening fast for such a big man that she was startled out of her reverie. She had been very thoroughly enjoying herself, teasing and tempting him and learning what it was to touch him.

  Suddenly they were no longer on their sides. She found herself pressed flat on her back, her bottom squashed uncomfortably into the bed as he positioned himself carefully between her parted legs, his sheer size forcing them almost painfully wide. He can’t keep himself from slipping just slightly inside her, his cock overeager to be buried within her woman’s warmth, and it was only then that he felt that small barrier that really shouldn’t – definitely should not – have been there.

  But there was no hope for it once he got a taste of her sweet, unbearably tight innocence. It was all he could do to reach down and slip his arms behind her knees, forcing her to open herself even further to his invasion and literally suspending her in mid air so he could mount her with as little interference from her as possible. His voice a desperate, guttural thing, with desire sharpening its claws on his back, he ground out, “It’s going to hurt a bit. Just . . .” he had been going to say, “Try to relax,” but then he realized just how stupid it would be to say that to her and changed his mind. “It won’t hurt for long, I promise. Just don’t fight me. It will only make it harder on yours – ”

  Whether or not she was ready, he was; he could hold himself back no longer. Anjel tried to console himself with the fact that she was most definitely ready, even if she didn’t realize it herself, based on the copious amount of lubrication she was naturally producing. And although he did his level best not to ramrod himself into her, the reality was that it wasn’t much better than that. He was much too far gone. If he had known how completely chaste she was, he could have made things better for her – much better – but it was too late now.

  As he wasn’t able to take the time with her that he would have preferred in this situation, Anjel decided that the best thing to do was to get it over with in one swift movement, rather than prolonging her pain. So he made sure that he was as well positioned as he could be, and, with a quick glance up to see how she was begging him not to hurt her with her eyes and biting her lip till he could see blood, he plunged inside her, to the hilt, all at once. He heard her tiny, strangled scream and saw her press the back of her hand to her mouth to suppress any further expression of how he was making her burn and stretch inside somehow, in an action she was no doubt entirely unfamiliar with and thoroughly degraded by.

  It was one of the few times in his life that he had cursed the virulent strength of his libido, but his body didn’t much care that she was crying, or that he’d probably never forget the soul ripping look on her face until she closed her eyes, as if doing so could blot him and what he was doing to her out of her life forever, and it bade him continue on the few embarrassingly short strokes necessary to send him into spasms of pure delight that he nonetheless cursed vilely – and silently – throughout.

  When he had drained himself within her, and although the only thing he wanted to do at that moment was collapse in a heap beside her, he instead dislodged himself from her almost immediately and vaulted across the room to find a cloth, which he wet with some of his precious fresh water, grabbed a jar of ointment from his dresser and brought both items back to find that she had rolled away from him to the point on the bed that was the furthest she could manage and still stay in it.

  But she hadn’t run, he noted. Hadn’t bolted for the door. Instead she chose to cling to the edge of the bed and rock while piteous sobs leaked out despite the fact that he knew she was doing her level best to suppress them.

  He reached over and dislodged each of her fingers individually, which ratcheted up the sounds of her wails considerably, but he was resolute. He brought her back to the middle of the bed where she tried to remain curled in a mass of inconsolable misery, but he wouldn’t allow it. Anjel forced her legs down, so that she was lying flat, threatening her with a spanking when they shot right back up again, watching her slowly bend to his will as they straightened out again. Then he began prying them apart, which had her sitting up as best she could, begging him not to touch her there again.

  Although he knew that she would probably quite heartily disagree with him on this point, it was not in his nature to be truly sadistic, beyond delivering punishments that he considered necessary, usually to women who were self confessed lovers of such things. He had done his best in his life not to use intercourse as a weapon against the fairer sex. His early experiences with his mother’s friends had taught him better than that, and it made his gut hurt to hear her beg him so plaintively, when the situation could have had such a different ending if he hadn’t been so greedy for her and had coaxed a little more information from her, or even had just taken the time to do a more thorough exploration of that luscious body of hers.

  But he had let his baser side rule him, and this was the result. She was near to hysterical, and all he wanted to do was help her feel better, and then go and get mightily hammered for the next month or so. With a grimace he realized that the first thing on his list was doubtful, and the second was definitely not going to happen.

  Talking to her didn’t seem to be much of a possibility; she was too terrified, so he resorted to that which he seemed to have used a lot on her in their short acquaintance: raw force. He threw himself across her body and used his arms to force her legs open, quickly moving himself into
a position that wouldn’t allow her to close them again around him.

  “Pleeeeeaaaasssee no!” she wailed on a gut wrenching sob.

  But Anjel ignored her in favor of doing something for her that he knew would soothe the hurt she was feeling – at least the physical portion of it, anyway – using the cloth to clean up the unmistakable signs of her virginity and his brutality, his jaw clenched. Then he dug three fingers into the jar of salve he’d brought with him, and proceeded to hold her nether lips open with one set of fingers while the other applied the balm.

  Chapter Six

  As mortified as she was – and that was plenty mortified – Cassie had to admit that whatever it was that he was using on her was definitely helping. The soreness went away almost immediately, at least until he slipped one bold finger inside her in order to soothe there, too. That made her start and tense which only made what he was doing hurt more.

  “Relax, Cassie. Stop clenching; I bet it hurts, and anyway, it’s not going to stop me from doing what I’m going to do, so you might as well help yourself begin to heal and let me help you by trying to relax some.” He could feel just how tense she was, fit to snap his finger right off. But he kept speaking in a soft, quiet tone – as if he were soothing a fractious filly – until he could feel her muscles give way, if only from sheer exhaustion. “Good girl,” he praised, continuing with his ministrations, making sure he generously coated every bit of her with that healing salve.

  Once he’d tucked it away again and rejoined her on the bed, noting that she hadn’t even moved away this time, although she had closed her legs modestly, he sat down at the head of the bed and reached to pull her into an already horribly familiar position over his lap.