Ruins of Temptation (Corium University Trilogy 4)

“What do I have to do? All I’m asking for is to sleep in a bed. The floor is the worst. I’ll wake up in so much pain I won’t be able to walk straight.” It’s not a lie. It takes me forever to get my sea legs after sleeping on the floor.

He groans—but sits up, the mattress creaking beneath his frame. Elation, shock? One of those emotions pulses with life inside me.

“The only reason I’m agreeing to this is that I know you won’t let me sleep unless I do. But don’t get too excited. You’ll remain tied up.”

“That’s fine. In fact, it’s great!” It’s a small win. I think I got through to him. He’s gruff, yes, but that cruelty from before is gone.

He’s gentler this time when he helps me off the floor.

“Don’t make me regret this, Delilah. You’ve seen only a sliver of my darkness, don’t make me snuff out the last little bits of light that live inside you because I will, and I won’t even blink an eye of guilt while I do it.”

“I won’t. I only want to get a little more sleep.”

I can’t see his face in the darkness, but I feel his hands on me. He works quickly untying my hands from behind my back, lifting my arms and retying them to the headboard efficiently without hurting me.

My pulse picks up once more as his fingers slide over my pulse. “Don’t even think about telling me this isn’t necessary,” he warns like he senses my thoughts. “I’ll meet you halfway on some things, but you have no say in this.”

“It’s okay.” So long as I don’t wake up in pain.

Not to mention how interesting it could be to share a bed with him. I wonder if he’ll be able to keep his hands off me after a while.

Maybe I can push his buttons a little and make it tougher for him to behave. It might bring us closer, which can only work in my favor. I need to use every tool I have available to me.

Although I don’t think the way my pussy tightens, my panties grow damp when he climbs into bed has much to do with using my tools. More like how much fun it might be to let him use me.

24

LUCAS

“Knock it the fuck off,” I mutter, not for the first time since tying Delilah to the headboard.

“What?” she asks, all innocence.

“You know what. You keep moving closer.”

“No, I’m not.” If I could see her in the dark, I know I’d find her smiling. Even now, she can’t help herself.

“You fucking are, and you need to stop.” I turn my back to her so my erection isn’t visible under the blanket. “Do it one more time, and you’re back on the floor.”

“I really didn’t mean to.”

Tease. I bite back the comment, knowing she’ll only argue, and it will all be lies. I knew bringing her up here was a bad idea, but she would never have shut up.

Even the sound of her legs sliding along the sheet is enough to make me harder than before. Those legs were sliding over my back and shoulders earlier when I made her come. I lick my lips, but the taste of her is gone, even if the memory is fresh. Her moans. The way they turned to screams.

If I don’t stop thinking about this, I’ll never get to sleep. And I’ll never be able to keep myself from mauling her. Even now, when I’m more suspicious of her than ever, her body calls to me. How much louder could I make her scream with my cock buried deep in that sweet pussy?

Even the thought of suffering from blue balls isn’t enough to push thoughts of her out of my head—especially when she brushes against me again. “Sorry…”

She’s not sorry. I want to make her that way, though. Teasing me, pushing me like this. I roll over and find her on her side, her ass angled my way. The nightshirt she’s wearing has worked itself up close to her waist, revealing her lacy thong.

“You think it’s fun to play games with a man?” I growl, taking her hip in my hand and thrusting against her firm globes.

“I wasn’t—” I give another thrust, this time sliding between her cheeks. She moans out the rest of her statement.

“You want to learn what happens when you fuck around?” I whisper in her ear before biting the lobe. She hisses—but pushes against me, wiggling her ass.

I pull back and roll her over. The sight of her there, wrists tied together over her head, sets off that familiar feeling in me. Deeper than lust. That darker side, leaping eagerly to life at the sight of a helpless woman.

With the shirt pushed up over her head, I take her tits in both hands and squeeze until she gasps. “This is what happens.” I lower my head, taking one of her tight nipples in my mouth and giving it the same treatment I gave her clit earlier.