Chapter Fourteen
AXEL watched the sway of Mystery’s hips as she sashayed out of the kitchen. The room was small and frilly and dated, but somehow welcoming. He’d also bet it was well stocked. If Gail Leedy liked baking, then she’d have drawers full of pervertables. Axel wished like hell that he’d brought a toy bag, but he’d only managed to throw a few necessities in his duffel before the Santiagos’ plane had been fueled and ready. He didn’t like being unprepared, but he’d figure out how to adapt, improvise, and overcome.
Quickly, he found a wooden spoon, a few clothespins, a plastic container of rice, and a cutting board. He bypassed the twine probably used for things like tying turkey legs together. That stuff was tough on human circulation, and he wanted Mystery tightly but safely bound for what he had in mind.
Just as he perched the smaller items on the block of wood to take upstairs, he heard the back door creak open and slam shut. Axel cursed under his breath. Heath. Talk about bad fucking timing.
When the other man stormed in the kitchen, he didn’t look like the fresh air had improved his mood. Axel wished the asshole would give he and Mystery some breathing room.
Heath glanced at the bundle in his hands and cursed. “Are you joking, fuckwit? You’re going to paddle her with a wooden spoon like a naughty little girl for protecting her heart before you could crush it.”
Axel raised a brow. “And you helped her right out Dominion’s door, didn’t you?”
“She was upset,” he defended.
“She was vulnerable,” Axel growled in his face. “You took advantage of that because you’re dying to stick your cock in her and fuck her into next week. But Mystery is mine now. Get used to it. I intend to keep it that way.”
Heath ground his teeth together. “I shouldn’t be surprised you assume I have the most lascivious motive possible. I care about that girl—”
“That makes two of us.”
“I would lay down my life for her,” Heath argued.
“I did that when I barely knew her. I’d do it again. Are you trying to convince me that you’re not interested in having sex with her?”
“My personal feelings are none of your concern. Mystery’s safety and happiness are what I’m paid to upkeep, and frankly, I’ve given you too much latitude.”
“You haven’t given me shit except a hard time,” Axel argued. “Mystery and I talked through our problems just now and we know where we’re heading. I think I can make her happy. I have no intention of leaving, straying, or hurting her. You still got a problem with me?”
“And your girlfriend?” he challenged.
“Not my girlfriend. I already hashed this out with Mystery.”
“You truly have feelings for her?”
Axel was fucking tired of this guy being in his way all the time. “More than I can even express. I will never let anything happen to her as long as there’s a breath in my body.”
Heath sighed. “I need to talk to her.”
“Not going to happen right now. She’s waiting for me.”
“And everything in your hands?” He glanced at the items Axel had been balancing on the cutting board.
“What’s your point?”
Heath shook his head. “Forget it. We can argue later over Mystery’s love life. While I was walking about the farm, I started sorting through this tangle of events. There’s something about this setup I don’t like. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up. Besides the three of us and Mystery’s aunt, who else knows we’re here?”
“My boss, Mitchell Thorpe, and the Santiago brothers. I think that’s it, and they would never tell anyone or put Mystery in danger. What about your stops on the drive along the way?”
“I concealed her with a baseball cap and some sunglasses in case people recognized her, but no one even glanced her way, and we did our best to stop a few miles from the freeway, at small establishments without many security cameras. I think we were safe.”
“So what’s making your hair stand up?” Axel asked. Because he had a few concerns that chafed him, too.
“First, we still don’t know who broke into her room and left the photo inside.”
True, and Stone was no doubt way busier with Sweet Pea than hacking into the hotel’s security recordings. He’d also probably crashed at the club last night, then had a five-hour drive home. With a grimace, Axel pulled his phone from his pocket and texted Stone. Right away, he got back a promise of information “soon.” What if that wasn’t soon enough?
Firing off another text to remind him that a life hung in the balance, he pocketed the device again. “I’ll give him another two hours before I bug the shit out of him.”
And Axel had to admit again that if Heath were guilty, he probably wouldn’t be pursuing that security footage from the hotel. If the film caught him sneaking into her room, his jig would be up. Sure, the stiff Brit could have paid someone to put the picture there, like the maid who usually provided turndown service or a maintenance worker. He’d be too slick to leave a trail leading back to him.
With a shake of his head, he filed that fact away until Stone came back with the film. “Something else bothering you about her stalker?”
“Everything. But what troubles me most is that he’s in control right now.”
Now Heath was speaking his language. “Agreed. I know Mystery wants to visit her aunt, but we’re cornered here. I’m not sure how the hell we solve her mother’s murder that took place in Southern California sixteen years ago while we’re stuck in rural Kansas.”
“Divide and conquer?”
As much as Axel would love to get Heath far away from Mystery, he shook his head. “It won’t be long until whoever’s terrorizing her realizes she didn’t hop a plane back to London. I’ll bet we’ve got twenty-four hours—tops—before this dirtbag gets suspicious. Where’s the first place he’ll come looking for her?”
“Here,” Heath answered grimly, gripping his chin. “Bloody hell. So both of us need to stay here for her protection, it seems.”
“If you want to go investigate, I could call some buddies—”
“I can’t leave her side,” the Brit insisted. “Her father paid me to stay with her. I made a solemn vow that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her on my watch.”
Knowing what he knew about Heath now, Axel supposed the guy’s insistence had something to do with his wife’s murder. He couldn’t fault the Brit for that. “Totally get it. That means we’re cornered here. Nifty.”
“Indeed. With no new leads to follow.” Heath sighed.
Well, not exactly . . . Axel weighed how much he could trust Heath versus his need to solve this case. Figuring out who had killed Julia Mullins and might want Mystery dead trumped everything.
“I got something fresh about an hour ago.”
That perked the Brit up. “Really? Enlighten me.”
Axel set his pervertables down on the counter and whipped out his phone again, then brought up the picture Joaquin had sent him. “Julia Mullins at the place of her death, less than an hour prior. She wasn’t alone.”
Powell peered at the picture. “Who is the man with her?”
“No idea.”
“He doesn’t look familiar to me, either.”
That wasn’t great news. It also wasn’t unexpected. “I definitely plan to ask Aunt Gail in the morning if she knows who her sister might have been close to back then. But . . .” Axel grimaced. “I’m torn about showing it to Mystery. She might have information.”
“She also might start a one-woman crusade to catch her mother’s killer.”
“Exactly.”
Heath shrugged. “Well, I think we show her. Then we’ll have to contain Mystery and do our best to solve this murder before the killer comes looking for her.”
And she deserved the truth. Axel agreed. “I don’t see any other plan.”
“I don’t, either. Damn it all.” He rubbed at his dark eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “I’m fucking exhausted.”
“We all are. Go to bed. We’ll tackle this after we’ve all slept.” Axel reached for his makeshift sex toys.
“You’re not going to leave her be tonight?”
Axel shook his head. “If I thought that was best for her, I would. She needs reassurance that I want her above all else. It’s the truth, so it shouldn’t be hard to persuade her. Then I’ll make sure she gets a good night’s sleep. I have a feeling it’s going to be a rough day tomorrow. You taking the parlor down here or the guest room upstairs, across the hall?”
Powell raised a dark brow. “Where will you be?”
“Right beside her.” At least he would be if all went according to plan.
The bodyguard dragged in a breath. “I’ll stay downstairs and keep watch. God knows the last thing I want to hear again is her screaming for you.”
“Does that bother you because you’re in love with her?”
“We’ll talk later.” Heath headed for the exit without answering, then turned to glance at the implements in Axel’s hands. “Be careful of the wooden spoon. It can leave nasty welts.”
“You know that from personal experience?” Somehow, that didn’t surprise Axel much.
The other man didn’t answer, just left in near silence, despite the fact that the hardwood floor creaked with nearly every step.
Once he’d gone and shut the double doors down the hall, Axel headed out of the kitchen, all but tiptoeing up the narrow stairs. Despite its dubious “character,” the old house was homey. He liked it here. When he’d been a kid growing up in a run-down double-wide with three brothers and an alcoholic father, he’d imagined that home looked a lot like this. He loved his place now, and was damn proud of it. But it had never felt like a place to stay forever. It had never felt like a place to share love. And now he was getting sappy as fuck.
With a stupid smile, he reached the top of the stairs, passing a big, decorative cross on the wall flanked by pictures of well-known televangelists Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Peter Grace, and a few others Axel couldn’t identify. Mystery’s aunt clearly believed in her preachers.
Turning away with a shrug, he cracked open the first door on the right. Mystery knelt there, waiting, head bowed, naked and pale in the moonlight.
As he set the cutting board and other goodies on the nearby dresser, his breath caught. “Princess . . .”
“Axel.”
He crouched down to her and lifted her chin. She blinked, her eyes opening, focusing on him. They stared at each other in silence. Mystery reached into his chest and tugged on his heart. The uncertainty in her hazel eyes got to him, the yearning for love, the crash of desire all struck resonating notes inside him.
“You’re so beautiful.”
“I’m not.” She tried to drop her gaze.
He gripped her chin, refusing to let her. “You are, and I won’t hear arguments otherwise. Understand?”
A little smile tipped the corners of her lips. “Yes, Axel.”
“Hmm, when you go submissive that sweet voice of yours wraps around my cock.” He held out a hand to her. “Stand.”
Mystery allowed him to help her to her feet and looked around the room, a bit lost, like she wasn’t sure what to do next.
“Relax,” he instructed. “I’ll let you know what I want. You tell me if you can’t handle something. Easy breezy. Just us being us together in whatever way feels good, yeah?”
She nodded and released a breath, along with visible stress. “Yeah.”
“Good. Bend over the side of the bed for me. Stretch your arms up, head to one side. Plant your feet apart.”
She moved slowly, as if she tried to picture the pose in her head. After a long moment, she arranged herself exactly as he’d instructed, then looked to him for reassurance.
Axel gave it readily. “That’s it. What’s your safe word?”
“Red.”
“Good.” He bent over the bed, getting down to eye level with her. “This punishment is as much for you as it is for me. I need to know that you understand that running from me without communicating isn’t acceptable. If something bothers you, we talk. Vice versa. I also need to make it crystal clear that as long as you’re in danger, you don’t leave half your protection to lick your wounds.”
“I know it was stupid,” she admitted. “I was upset. I jumped to conclusions—”
“Understandable, given what your mom went through. I’m not punishing you for thinking it or wondering or worrying. I need to be clear about that. This is all about you leaving without talking to me. We could have cleared this up with a conversation. Now it’s going to take a whole lot more.”
Mystery nodded. “I’m sorry. By the time Heath cut the lights and we left out the back, I was having second thoughts. Once we got outside and the door locked behind us, it was too late.”
Axel stroked her soft curls. “I’m glad to know you were already reconsidering before you’d even gone. Want to tell me why you didn’t call me or answer your phone during the drive? Even your dad tried to call.”
She winced. “Shit. Oh, he’s going to be worried. And mad.”
“He wasn’t the only one. You’d better get used to having another overprotective male in your life.”
“Yeah . . . I think I left my phone back at Dominion. Damn it.”
And Axel doubted Heath would have been in a hurry to lend her his phone so she could call the competition. Shithead. “I’ll find out in a few hours.”
“Thanks.” She obviously sensed the end of the conversation and stiffened.
He petted her back, fingers gliding down her spine. “Deep breath. In.” He waited until she complied. “Out. Good . . . Close your eyes.”
Mystery did exactly as he bid, her lashes fluttering shut. “Now?”
“Clear your head and focus on me. Don’t open your eyes. Latch onto my voice. I’m here.”
She nodded, but before he could correct her, she murmured, “Yes, Axel.”
Blowing out a breath, he centered himself and retrieved the wooden spoon from the dresser. He rested his palm on the small of her back as he leaned over her beautiful supine curves and bent to press his lips to her ear. “You’re going to be very quiet. No matter what, don’t make a sound. I don’t think you want your aunt to know that I’m punishing you.”
“No,” she muttered, sounding so regretful.
Axel understood the submissive need to please and the inherent sadness when she knew she hadn’t. “And then we’ll put this behind us, right?”
“I hope so.” Her voice nearly broke.
“Shh, we will. Count with me.”
Before she could question what he meant, Axel stood tall and flipped on the little lamp on the nightstand. With a glance back, he ensured the door to the bedroom was closed. He noticed that Mystery had already shut the curtains. They were completely, blessedly alone.
He raised his arm over her ass, hovering a moment to judge her posture, take in her tender, unblemished skin. He wasn’t much of a sadist, but he did love the idea of leaving his marks on her—something she could remember him by every time she sat, something he’d recall when she stripped for him again. But he also refused to lose sight of the fact that she was a novice and he couldn’t frighten her away.
With one last brush of his fingers across the sweet curve of her ass, he lowered the spoon with the other hand—a quick sting before he jerked up again.
“One,” she breathed out.
He struck the fleshy part of her butt again, this time a bit harder, gratified to see the first blush of red spreading across her skin.
“Two.” She squeezed her eyes shut more tightly.
She looked beautiful spread across the bed, at his mercy, but the slow pace drove him fucking mad. He had to change this up.
“Mystery, you’ve done well so far. You don’t have to count anymore.”
At his words, she utterly relaxed, the tension draining from her face, her body, as she let out a long breath.
So she thought they were done? Not even close.
Axel pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled to his playlist. Immediately, the sounds of Nirvana filled the room. Though he kept the volume low, the beat remained steady, something he could zone in to. Perfect.
Matching the pace of the music, he took the spoon in hand again and began whacking her butt in a soft, stinging rhythm. Under his tempered torment, Mystery tensed, grabbed the quilt in her fist, and gasped.
He leaned over her again, taking her long tresses in his grip and urging her up until his lips brushed her ear. “Not a single noise or I add more.”
She nodded frantically, at least as much as his hold allowed. He tested her immediately, standing tall again and whacking her with the spoon. More red bloomed across her ass. He’d nearly covered the width of her backside. The lovely shade of her freshly spanked skin made his cock jerk, and he desperately wanted to cast the spoon aside and lay siege to her bare ass with his palm, but that would make too much noise and wake her aunt. Damn it. The moment he got her alone and naked . . . Axel smiled. Such a beautiful backside needed attention, and he’d give her plenty.
The music segued into a mellower Evanescence tune, and he adjusted the rhythm. He’d lost count. He’d bet she had, too, especially as he watched her body slowly melt into the mattress. Her fists unclenched around the quilt. Her eyes slid shut. Her breathing evened out. Her cheeks began to glow with his ministrations.
Axel smiled. She’d fly off into subspace for him someday. This little torment had merely refocused and calmed her—exactly what she’d needed.
As the song shifted from verse to chorus, Axel set the spoon aside and crawled on the bed over her, rubbing one palm over her heated butt. “How are you feeling?”
“My skin is hot. I feel so alive. It might sound odd but I’m more relaxed. My head is . . .”
“Quieter?” he prompted.
“Yeah.” Her lashes fluttered open, her face glowing. “That’s it.”
Could he want her any more than he did now? Axel didn’t think so. But he wanted to give her an experience that would allow her to put herself entirely in his hands and prove she could trust him. But this was still punishment.
He grabbed the container of rice off the dresser, spread it over the cutting board, and hid the rest of the pervertables. “Stand and face me.”
He waited until she did, then glanced down at the floor. “Kneel on the cutting board.”
She frowned. “Why is it covered in rice?”
“So you’ll remember that running off without telling me what’s troubling you is unacceptable.”
Mystery shrugged, as if assuring herself that rice was plenty benign. Axel merely smiled. She’d find out otherwise quickly enough.
He held out a hand to help her down since he hadn’t found a wide cutting board and kneeling with grace was something completely new to her. On her way down, Mystery glanced up at him, those sultry hazel eyes wide open in thanks.
The second her knees hit the cutting board covered with the hard pellets, she sucked in a breath. Her eyes widened in shock. “What the hell?”
“It’s punishment.”
She nearly choked. “The cruel and unusual kind. The rice digs into your skin. Holy crap!”
“Quiet,” he reminded softly, striking his open palm with the wooden spoon to drive his point home.
“You sure you’re not a sadist?” she hissed.
“No.” But he definitely intended to give her an experience she wouldn’t soon forget. To do that, he needed a few more implements. After a glance around the room, he had an idea or two.
“Stand.”
Relief crossed her face, and when he held out his hand to help her up, she placed her fingers in his palm. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now come over here.” He pointed to the other side of the cutting board, facing away from the bedroom door. Once she’d complied, Axel brushed a hand from her nape to the base of her spine, petting her softly. “Kneel again.”
“Are you kidding me?”
He leaned in with his most intimidating glower and grabbed her chin until they stood nose to nose. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
Mystery hesitated a long moment, and he wondered what thoughts spun around her head. “What happens if I use my safe word?”
“Then I know you’re unable or unwilling to submit. I’ll back off and leave you alone for the rest of the night.”
She bit her lip, and Axel wanted to take the plump red flesh between his own teeth and give her a playful nip. Hell, he wanted to fuck her into next week, but if all went well now, that would follow.
Finally, she held out her hand to him. As soon as he balanced her, she knelt on the cutting board again, hissing as her knees bore her weight on the little white hard granules.
“Wow, that’s uncomfortable.”
“That’s why it’s punishment.” Axel watched for a moment as she winced and tried to shift her weight, then he decided to throw her a bone. “You know . . . the more you move, the more uncomfortable it is.”
“Staying still is no picnic, either,” she complained. “It’s like kneeling on glass.”
Normally, Axel wouldn’t put up with backtalk and bitching. But she’d endured a lot today, and he had to admit he found her adorable, no matter what she did.
“It’s not supposed to feel like feathers,” he shot back, casting his gaze around in search of a few extras he needed. “Does anyone sleep in this room?”
“No. Aunt Gail lives alone. It used to be my mom’s room when she was a teenager, but it’s all been redone. I think my aunt uses it now as storage and an occasional craft room.”
Which explained the sewing machine, the bolts of fabric, and the shelves of plastic bins filled with stuff he couldn’t possibly explain.
“Anything in the closet?”
Mystery shook her head. “I think she uses it to store her off-season clothes. Why?”
Axel didn’t answer, just prowled to the closet—and found exactly what he needed. He grabbed everything that might prove useful, then curled them in his fist and wrapped them around his hand.
He turned back to Mystery. “Rise and kneel on the bed, facing the window, away from me.”
She turned to stare at the items curled around his fingers, then met his stare. That one glance of her hazel eyes sizzled down his spine and settled in his cock. Weirdly enough, something a lot like happiness took up residence in his chest, too. Then she brushed the residual rice from her knees and gave in to his demands. Axel gobbled up the sight of her lush breasts and thighs before she spun around to give him the visual of her lean spine, graceful hips, and rosy ass.
For years, he’d been stationary, living in Dallas, taking care of Sweet Pea, working for Thorpe. He enjoyed his life and liked knowing he did right by his friends, but he’d never been too close to anyone, never allowed himself to really latch on, much less fall in love. He didn’t want to be that sad sack hugging his bottle of gin on Christmas day, trying to forget that he had four hungry mouths to feed and no helpmate to cook, love, or keep him warm at night.
In a flash of clarity, the truth hit him like a two-by-four in the face. He’d drifted into Dominance not only because he enjoyed giving women what they needed but to control his interactions with them. After all, if he kept a tight leash on everything, he couldn’t lose his heart, his hope, or his future, right?
This one woman had shown him that was just an illusion. She’d knocked his world on end with one pickup line. She’d made him crave her like an addict after a single afternoon fix. She’d dug her way into his heart in one late-night rave. Or maybe what he felt had been years in the making. Whatever.
Mystery Mullins was in his heart for the rest of his fucking life, and he couldn’t control a damn thing about it.
“You want to know what I’m going to do to you?” he murmured against her neck as he stepped up, blanketing her back, and set all the items in his hand on the mattress beside her.
“Yes, Axel.”
“Steal your control.” He shouldn’t be alone in that. “Put your hands behind your back.” Instantly, she complied, clasping her fingers together just above the sweet curve of her ass. He set her hands side by side, then wrapped an ugly green and tan scarf he’d found in the closet around her wrists, knotting it off. “Can you get out of that?”
She wiggled her hands and tried to work her way free. “No.”
“Comfortable?”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“Move your fingers,” he demanded.
She did as he bid. “I’m fine.”
“I’ll be watching. If they turn numb, you stop me immediately. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Axel,” she breathed.
Almost as if she felt the submissive urge, she released the tension from her shoulders and bowed her head. Did she have any idea what the fuck that did to him? After everything they’d been through since she’d picked him up in that bar, to see her trust in him made his cock ache and his heart flip. A spanking wouldn’t stop her from being the one woman he couldn’t forget, and he didn’t want to change her.
He wanted to devour her.
“If this hurts or pushes the limits of your ability to endure, say ‘yellow.’ You got it?”
“I understand.”
He uncoiled one of the belts he found in the closet, a thin shiny yellow number that would provide just enough give but still be plenty secure. He buckled it around her forearms, pulling it a bit tighter. Her shoulders lifted, and Axel had no doubt that if he stood in front of her, he’d have seen those beautiful breasts thrust out for his greedy stare.
“Too tight? Am I straining your shoulders?”
“No.” Her voice sounded even more soft and thready than before.
He adjusted himself in his jeans, aching to take them off. And he would. It better be really damn soon or he’d combust.
“Good.”
And because he couldn’t help himself, he moved the long fall of her dark curls over one shoulder and pressed his lips to the curve of her neck. She smelled like wanton woman. The musk of her pussy combined with the sweetness of her skin to waft into something so intoxicating, Axel had no idea how the hell he was going to keep himself from pouncing on her in the next two minutes. The urge to not only take her, fill her and give her pleasure, but claim her rode him hard.
He nipped her gently with his teeth, scraping over her skin so she couldn’t possibly forget that he touched her. He listened to her moan and smiled in masculine satisfaction.
“Not a sound,” he warned, then took the wide tail of the next belt and gave her hip a little warning snap—just enough to get her attention.
Mystery wriggled and pressed her thighs together, sending him a frantic nod.
“None of that, either,” he growled in her ear, reaching around her to tuck a hand between her thighs. “Spread your legs apart.”
She hesitated, writhed a bit more, then finally complied.
“A bit faster next time, princess.” He slid another scarf, this one a pink paisley, over her eyes, doubling the long strip around her head to ensure she couldn’t see through the delicate silk. He flashed a hand in front of her face. She didn’t flinch. “Anything?”
“No. What are you doing to me?”
“Making you give yourself completely. Want out?”
She took a moment to answer. “I probably should because I have no idea how you and I are going to work this out from different countries, with different lives, but . . . no.”
Yeah, he didn’t have the answers she sought, but right now, he didn’t give a shit about logistics. According to her, she loved him. His feelings were damn strong, too. As far as he was concerned, this woman settled him, intrigued him, made him want to take a chance with his heart for the very first time.
“Good.”
The quiet of the house wrapped around them, solemn, almost reverent. He circled her body, heard her swallow down nerves, listened to her deep breathing.
He cupped her cheek, grazing his fingers down the soft skin there. She tilted her face, nestling into his touch. Mystery giving herself to him nearly fucking undid his restraint.
Axel grabbed the next belt in the stack, a thick black number that belonged with a stylish coat. Soft leather covered the hard boning underneath, absolutely ideal for his purposes.
As she sat back on her heels, he shoved the belt under her knee and jostled it down to her shin, almost to her ankle. Then he buckled it high on her thigh, securing her bent leg together.
“Is that uncomfortable? Your feet numb or your knee hurt?”
“Why are you tying my leg bent?”
“Answer the question.”
“No, I’m fine. I just don’t understand—”
“This is where trust comes into play, princess.” Since she didn’t have any physical difficulty with the right leg, he moved onto the left, securing it with a similar belt in red.
As soon as Axel finished, he stepped back and admired his handiwork. Bound for him, trembling, hair hanging over one shoulder and flirting with her nipple, legs spread to show her bare pussy, Mystery looked like his kink fantasy come true. But he suspected she was much more—the dream his heart had been too afraid to wish for.
The fact she couldn’t touch him in return right now completely turned him on. Yes, he liked it when she put her soft fingers on him, stroked his body, and wrapped them around his cock. But in this moment, he was totally in control. He owned her.
Axel swallowed down a lump of lust. But the damn blood rushed south anyway, jetting into his cock, leaving him light-headed.
Just one thing missing . . . He crossed the room, toward the pile of pervertables.
“Axel?” Her voice shook.
He plucked up two clothespins with a wicked grin, then hustled back to her side. “Right here,” he assured. “I didn’t go far. I never will.”
When he cupped her breast, she gave a breathy little jump, then settled again with an embarrassed smile. He brushed his thumb over the dark berry of her nipple, fascinated with the way it engorged and tightened, the tip lengthening, the areola bunching. His mouth watered.
Axel bent to her and suckled one of her succulent nipples, taking a long pull on her sensitive flesh before he swiped his tongue over the nub. Her body twitched, her shoulders jerked, as if she wanted to reach out and touch him, cup him closer. But all trussed up, she couldn’t do anything more than allow him to do his worst.
With a stinging little nip of his teeth, he withdrew from that nipple to direct his attention to the other. As he took the neglected one onto his tongue, he groped around for the first of the clothespins. He licked gently at the hard nub in his mouth, moaning low at the feel of her hardening around his lips, even as he pressed the clothespin open and slowly closed it around the first nipple he’d prepared.
Instantly, she sucked in a hissing breath between clenched teeth. The sound eventually turned ragged and breathy, becoming a whimper.
“Quiet,” he reminded. “Breathe.”
“It hurts.”
“Give it a minute,” he crooned, then resumed toying with her unadorned nipple. When he was satisfied it, too, was ready, he grabbed the other clothespin and applied it. “Breathe through it. Wait for it . . .”
Soon, the makeshift clamps did their job, trapping the blood in her swollen nipples. Suddenly, her little whimpers turned to startled gasps, one after the other. She thrust her nipples at him.
Axel dragged his lips in the warm, musky valley between her breasts. “What do you feel?”
“It hurt at first.” She breathed out, as if trying to empty her lungs enough to suck in a whole breath. “Then it tapered to a sweet stinging. It was as if all the nerve endings in my body rushed to my nipples and . . .” She didn’t finish the sentence, just gave a plaintive sigh. “My entire body is on fire.”
Because she liked a little bite and loved being restrained. Because he’d fucked with her body and her head, making her wonder and feel and ache.
Damn it, he intended to punish her, leave her needing and begging for a while so she’d know what it felt like to wonder where he was and what he intended to do. But the sight of her turning rosy and arching closer, dragging in choppy breaths just couldn’t wait.
He ripped off his shirt and shucked everything below his waist in record time, then grabbed a condom and tossed it on the mattress before launching himself on the little bed, wincing when the box springs protested. The squeaking might wake up Aunt Gail but being this close to Mystery, he was beyond giving a fuck about that.
Once he settled himself in the middle of the bed, he reached for her, wrapping his hands around her middle. When he lifted her, Mystery yelped.
“What are you doing?” she whispered feverishly.
He held her suspended above his body. “I won’t drop you.”
“I know. But this feels so . . . weird.” She tried to flail but could only move her torso.
He held her, biceps and forearms bunching and working, as he stabilized her. “Stop. Be still. You’re in my hands. Give yourself over to me.”
“But if I fall—”
“Will I let you?” He zipped the question at her.
She stopped fidgeting, relaxed, sighed. “No.”
“No,” he assured as he lowered her to straddle his thighs. Then he took her cheeks in his hands, brushing stray tresses from her face and breasts. “I’m not going to do anything but make you come so hard, you’ll want to scream the walls down.”
Her breath caught, turned jagged. She nodded. “Okay.”
Smiling at her, Axel leaned in and captured her mouth. This. Right here. He belonged in whatever space she inhabited, with his mouth on hers, tasting her, being one with her. Every time he touched her just reinforced his belief.
He groaned as he nudged her lips apart and surged inside her mouth. He circled her tongue with his own, stroking, caressing, teasing, pulling back, then plunging deep again.
Exactly like he planned to do with his cock.
Axel brushed his fingertips over the clothespins dangling from her nipples, jostling them on her sensitive flesh. Instantly, she gasped with the shock of sensation.
“You’re so beautifully restrained and totally at my mercy, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “Yes, Axel.”
The thin syllables went straight to his cock. “Are you wet?”
“Yes,” she answered even more quickly.
“Do you ache for me?” He caressed her thighs, his thumbs rubbing so close to her cunt.
“Yes. Help me.”
Mystery sounded downright desperate, and that’s exactly the way Axel wanted her.
“Do you want me to touch you?” he taunted, dragging his knuckles up the pad of her pussy before trailing his fingertips down, nearly to her clit.
“Please. Now,” she pleaded. “Yes.”
“I like your enthusiasm, but . . .” He stopped just shy of probing her wet folds and withdrew his touch.
She mewled in protest. “Axel!”
He nipped her earlobe in warning. “If you can’t be quiet, I can’t touch you anymore.”
“I will,” she promised. “Just don’t leave me like this.”
“I have something in mind.”
Mystery sent him a frustrated grunt but didn’t protest otherwise. He took her silence as assent and smiled at her. She couldn’t see him, but if she could, she’d know she should worry.
Axel gripped her around the waist and lifted her again. As she gasped and tried to flail a bit once more, he leaned back on the pillows and held her above him.
“Mystery . . .” His voice lashed the air between them in warning.
Instantly, she stilled and fell silent. She bowed her head, looking somewhere between chagrined and beautifully submissive.
“Good. Remember to be quiet.”
Leaving her to ponder his meaning, Axel lowered Mystery on top of him, settling her thighs on either side of his head. He raised his face to her pussy and raked his tongue through her wet folds.
“Axel!” she squealed, a high-pitched cry full of sensual panic and need.
In answer, he devoured her clit, flicking it with the tip of his tongue, then laving the sensitive bud with the flat. He reveled in the way she squirmed on top of him, looking for either control or relief. He didn’t allow either. Instead, he gripped her hips in his hands and eliminated her ability to move. Mystery might be sitting on top of him, but Axel wanted to make sure she didn’t have any illusion that she held the power. He set the pace. He provided the sensations he chose to give her. He alone determined when she orgasmed . . . or if.
When he clamped his fingers around her hips, restraining them as fully as the rest of her body, she panted and struggled harder.
He dug his fingers into her flesh and withdrew his mouth from her cunt. “Are you giving yourself over to me? Or fighting for what you think you want?”
Mystery let her head roll back on her shoulders and sucked in a breath. “Fighting. I don’t know how to just give myself up.”
“You’re going to learn, princess. Whether we’re talking about pleasure or danger, I’m always going to do what’s best for you. But you have to let me. Relax. Let your mind go and give your will to me.”
She gnawed on her lip again, her entire body strung tightly. Finally, she dragged in a couple of long breaths and let them out in controlled exhalations. Then she nodded. “I’ll try.”
“Just surrender.”
Above him, she relaxed her thighs and forced her breathing to even out.
She gave in.
With his dick aching and his patience running out, he lifted her back over his face and surged up, latching onto her pussy again, tormenting her clit with his tongue.
This time, Mystery didn’t fight against his rhythm or silently demand more. She put herself in his hands, quiet, still. As he raked through her folds and nipped the sensitive bud of her nerves with his teeth, her body tensed. She spread her legs wider, gave more of herself, allowed him to control her utterly.
Her breathing picked up speed, and he watched the rosy flush cover her skin. Against his tongue, her folds engorged. Her clit turned harder than stone.
“You’re close, princess.”
“So close,” she breathed.
“Have you been good enough to earn this climax?” he taunted.
“I’ve tried. Please . . .”
On the one hand, Axel really hoped that she’d learned that fighting him and insisting on doing everything her way wouldn’t get her what she wanted. So maybe she’d think twice before she picked up and left without talking to him again. At least he hoped so, because he was damn desperate to get inside her.
Shit, he needed to tamp down this impatience. Axel didn’t remember a woman ever stealing past his control so easily or thoroughly, and he’d have to be diligent in the future so she didn’t figure out that she could wrap him around her finger with that pretty pussy. But that was a worry for later.
Right now, he wanted to taste her essence on his tongue.
“Quiet.” He released her hips and pinched the clothespins around her nipples open. “Come for me.”
A breathy sigh turned into an almost animal whine as Mystery tensed and shuddered on top of him. Using his fingers, he twisted and toyed with her sensitive nipples. As the blood rushed back into the tips, her entire body jolted. He laved her swollen pussy through the long, trembling climax, relishing the way she opened her mouth in a long, silent scream and opened to him completely.
As her clit slowly softened, her body sagged. Axel petted her with his tongue, sinking beyond her clit, to the tight opening he hoped to invade soon. He scooped her against his mouth, then prodded her clit with the tip once more.
Mystery shivered and let out a little moan. “I’m so . . . Ohmigod.”
“Sensitive?” he asked against her pussy.
“Uh huh.” She nodded, squirming.
He loved reducing her to nearly incoherent syllables. Later, when he didn’t need to be inside her so damn badly, he’d do it again for the sheer joy of watching her melt in his arms. Now, he needed more.
Axel settled her thighs back on his torso and eased her torso down until her breasts rested against his chest, until she buried her face in his neck and glided kisses across his jaw, jacking up his desire even more. He felt around the mattress for his condom. He couldn’t see his cock past her body draped over his, warm and damp and welcoming, but he could sure as hell feel his aching erection as he tore the foil apart with his teeth and wrapped his arms around her to sheathe himself.
As if she finally caught on to what he had in mind, she paused, her body still. “Axel?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” She didn’t hesitate.
“Do you want me?”
“Always.” Mystery sounded even more certain.
“Then let me take you the way I want. I need that. I need you.”
* * *
AXEL’S words made her bite back a gasp. What the hell could he possibly do to her when she was all trussed up, hands and arms bound together behind her back, legs bent and restrained, her heels nearly digging into her ass.
But Mystery had no doubt he would show her exactly what he had in mind. Even though her shoulders ached a bit, she knew she’d love whatever he did to her.
“I’m all yours,” she murmured.
He lifted her into the air. Though she couldn’t see, his sheer strength in raising her off the bed from something near a supine position amazed her.
“Princess . . .” He began lowering her again—and she felt the head of his cock prod her hungry opening, now gaping with the need for him to fill her.
As he shoved her down on his cock, he lifted his hips, rising beneath her to plant his erection deep, as if embedding himself in the place he considered home.
“Fuck,” he hissed. “This is mine. You’re mine. You’re always going to be mine.”
His growled words sparked need inside her, even as his stiff length tunneled deeper, tripping across every nerve ending. Mystery tossed her head back, lacing her fingers together behind her back because she had nothing else to hold on to. He controlled everything. She could do nothing more than allow him to fuck her. And she drowned in the experience.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yours. I think I always have been.”
“Then take what I give you.” He pounded inside her, withdrew, and thrust up again relentlessly. “All of me. Every inch. Everything I have.”
His possessive insistence lit something inside her. No way could she keep any emotional walls or barriers up between them. Whatever happened tomorrow, she was all in right now—so deep Mystery felt sure she’d never escape. She was totally at peace with that realization.
Under her, he continued to lift her up his cock as he tilted his hips into the mattress, then lunged up as he yanked her down again, plunging deeper inside her than ever. The slow rhythm incinerated her. His harsh breathing. Her pounding heart. The squeaking mattress. Every thrust into her scraped the head of his cock against her most sensitive spots, over and over, until she felt dizzy and breathless and ready to scream.
“Oh, fuck . . .” He sounded hoarse, as if someone had ripped the words from his chest. “So good. That’s it. That’s . . . Fuck!”
His pace picked up, relentless and totally beyond her control. He took her at will and played her body like an instrument he’d learned well. Sleep, danger, duty—none of it mattered in the face of her desire for this man.
He strained to get deeper inside her, and Mystery felt the trembling of his body under her own. Her sensitive flesh burned with need as he impaled her again, filling her so full she stretched wide to accommodate his girth. He managed to stimulate every bit of her channel with each frenzied push up and rapid retreat back. She tightened around him as climax coiled low in her belly, groaning softly into the rise of bliss.
“Axel . . .” She wanted to reach out and touch him, steady herself, grab onto him and never let go. But as he had from the first moment they’d met, he held her safely in his grip and he would take care of her.
“Come for me, princess. Let yourself go and give everything to me.”
No way she could refuse that.
With his next stroke, the gathering sensations inside her converged. Blood rushed. Her heart roared. Her entire body felt alive as he swelled inside her. He groaned, possessing her deeper than ever. And in one dazzling moment, she released the entire torrent of need into his keeping. The sensations ripped through her body and seized her heart, melting and remolding her. Changing her.
From this moment on, she belonged to Axel. Even if he didn’t want her tomorrow, Mystery knew she’d be in love with him forever.