Need You Tonight

TWENTY-EIGHT





The belt came down on Tessa in a ruthless pattern of blows, never quite hitting the same spot, but sending a continuous wave of burning, humming energy over her body. She wouldn’t be surprised if she glowed in the dark. Pain had become something unrecognizable by the fourth or fifth swat, and now the throbbing kept time with the pulsing ache in her *. Everything was sensitive and on high alert, even the parts of her that hadn’t been touched.

She wanted to claw at the sheets, but her hands remained trapped beneath her, desperately shifting the vibrator from spot to spot so as not to explode in orgasm. She’d never felt such a grinding need to come. But Kade seemed to be in no hurry to give her the go ahead.

She peeked back at him, hoping to distract her from all the sensations, but seeing him looming above her in nothing but an unzipped pair of jeans had another flood of arousal slicking her thighs. Her gaze drifted down the planes of muscle in his chest and abdomen to the thick outline in his boxer briefs and back up to his face. God, every part of him was beautiful. It was as if the universe had forced him to bloom late because high school girls wouldn’t have known what to do with this version. But she’d sensed it in him back then, beneath the stringy hair, hunched shoulders, and stutter. That quiet intensity and unshakeable strength had always been there. She’d been drawn to it even when she hadn’t quite been able to pinpoint what was drawing her.

His focus flicked over to her face, his eyebrow lifting. “Enjoying the view?”

“You have no idea,” she said, her voice strained from the still coiling tension inside her.

He dipped his hand inside his underwear, freeing his erection. He gave it a long, slow stroke that nearly sent her over the edge just from watching. “This is what you do to me, Tess. Seeing you like this, knowing it’s turning you on, too.”

He set the belt aside and glided his hand along her fevered skin. She could picture the welts rising on her back beneath his fingers, but somehow the image didn’t appall her. Instead, every sensation racing through her amplified, her entire being ready to burst open. “Please, Kade.”

His hand grasped the back of her neck. “All the way on the bed. Grab the headboard and get your ass in the air for me. Legs spread.”

His movements were rough, his commands coarse, as he guided her along the mattress, but the manhandling was kicking up some unknown hunger inside her. Her mind was tumbling down a path she didn’t understand, one where she pictured taking it even further, imagined him grabbing her hair, tossing her down, holding her against the bed and making demands.

But before she could get freaked out by where her mind was scampering off to, Kade gave her a pop on the thigh right over the angry belt marks. “I said, legs spread.”

She gritted her teeth at the sting, wishing the vibrator was still against her, but managed to get in the right position.

“Good girl,” he said, as he pulled his pants and boxers off. He donned a condom and climbed on the bed with her.

She expected him to immediately enter her, wished for it—because Lord, she needed to come—but instead the soft, wet heat of his tongue ran over her. She jolted and almost lost her grip on her headboard.

“Mmm,” he said, his breath tickling her labia. “You have the sexiest cunt—so sexy and pink. I could spend all night torturing you with my mouth.”

At that, he parted her with his thumbs and his tongue slid inside her. Everything broke apart. She couldn’t stop it. Orgasm, bright and powerful, overtook her and she cried out with the force of it. Kade didn’t let her squirm away. He worked her harder, holding her against his mouth as he f*cked her with his tongue, the scent of her arousal filling the room.

She gripped wood slats of the headboard with all her might as she let the orgasm envelop her and take her down.

Kade pulled back after her gasping breaths ended. “I don’t remember giving you permission for that.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice cracking. “I tried. I really did.”

“You’ll find another one for me. He leaned over to her bedside table and grabbed something else from her drawer. He gripped her thighs and positioned her again since she’d sagged to the mattress.

“I’m not sure I can—”

He gave her thigh a smack, and the sensation went straight to all her throbbing parts. “I wasn’t asking you. I’ve been waiting to claim this ass since the first night. You’re about to be very, very happy that you keep that little bottle of K-Y in your drawer.”

Oh, God.

Without preamble or finesse, he dripped the cold lubricant along her back entrance. She clenched automatically but when he pushed a finger in, everything went quivery inside her. Good God.

“Reach down and grab the vibrator to hold against yourself. That will help things.” He held her steady while she got into a workable position. She pressed the vibrator lightly against her *, still too keyed up to take the full stimulation, and Kade positioned himself behind her. He felt huge and like there was no way he’d ever get inside her.

“Kade—”

But the pressure increased as he moved forward. “I need you to relax and push back against me, baby. Let me in.”

She closed her eyes and focused on doing what he said. The vibrator hummed softly against her, making the discomfort bearable as he pushed past the ring of muscle. If she hadn’t been so keyed up with arousal and near orgasm again, it probably would’ve hurt. But as soon as he got past the initial resistance and slid deeper, she knew he’d been right when he’d said she could come again. Every nerve in her system roared at the edgy invasion. Sensations she didn’t know existed crackled through her with every inch he added until he was seated all the way inside her. She had to breathe through the fullness of it all, the sexy forbiddenness of the act.

He didn’t ask if she was okay. This was not about her. But she wouldn’t have told him to stop if he’d asked anyway. She felt overtaken in the best way possible.

Instead of thrusting into her, he gripped her hips with harsh fingers and dragged her back and forth along his cock in a slow glide, handling her like she was simply some inanimate object to use as he pleased. Her one-handed grip slipped from the headboard and her muscles turned rag doll as he handled her. Her chest lowered to the bed, her nipples dragging back and forth along the comforter with his motions. Every part of her felt both alive and separate, a thousand entities trying to cooperate at once. Her mind began to fuzz, launching her into some dreamy, sensation-filled state.

“I can feel your f*cking surrender, baby,” Kade said, his voice roughened with his own restraint. “You’re all mine now, aren’t you? All you’re here for is to give me what I need.”

“Yes, sir,” she said in her haze, the words sending desire coiling tight inside her.

He pulled her thighs from under her and put her flat onto her stomach, then worked the vibrator between her and the bed. He braced a hand next to her and pressed the other to her face, his palm spanning the side of her head. The move made her feel pinned and insignificant, like he couldn’t even bother to look at who he was f*cking. And the idea should’ve pissed her off, somewhere in her foggy brain she knew that, but instead the hold, the vibrator, and the feel of him filling her had her barreling into hyperspace.

He increased his speed and rocked into her ass without reprieve as she clung to unraveling threads of her self-control, trying to keep from coming again without permission. For all the foreplay, she’d expected this part to be short, but Kade seemed to be in complete control of his own release.

“Come, Tessa,” he demanded.

The words sliced right through those last threads and she moaned, low and long, as a second, sharper orgasm hit her. He didn’t slow his pace and if anything, he plunged even deeper and harder. The pressure of his hand on her head increased.

Soon, she was gasping and writhing beneath him, the stimulation almost too much, but he wasn’t letting her go.

“Now you f*cking do it again,” he said, his voice hard. “You aren’t done.”

The vibrator was trapped against her *, Kade’s body weight holding her against the bed, and she whimpered. Her muscles were quivering and her skin felt electrified. It was all so much. So much. There was no way . . .


Kade moved his hand away from her face and dropped to his forearms above her. His lips touched the curve of her shoulder, and she thought he was going to kiss her, but instead his teeth sank into her skin, holding her like an animal as he tunneled again and again into the most private part of her.

She shattered, a silent scream searing her throat, as she launched into some other dimension where she no longer had conscious control of her body. Kade let go then, too, sinking deep and pouring his release into her with unintelligible words and coarse, groaning pleasure. But even when he was through, he held her in place beneath him. Her orgasm went on and on, like light trails from fireworks, leaving afterimages and scorch marks on her psyche.

She couldn’t stop. She could barely breathe. She bit the sheets to try to hold back the screams.

But when she started to cry from the overwhelming bigness of all that feeling, Kade gently rolled off of her, taking her with him and getting her off the vibrator. Sobs overtook her as he tucked her against his side, flipped the comforter over their bodies, and kissed her hair. “Shh, just let it happen, baby.”

She had no idea why she was sobbing, but she couldn’t seem to quit. She tucked her face in the crook of his shoulder and cried without reason or understanding. Through it all, Kade simply held her, stroking her and giving her silent support. Unlike many men, he seemed completely at ease with her tears. He didn’t try to talk her out of them or fix them or ask her why. That alone made her want to never get up out of this bed.

When she finally got her breathing and emotions mostly under control, leaving her a sniveling, swollen-eyed disaster, Kade looked down at her with a soft smile and wiped the streaks from her cheeks. “Still with me?”

She made some sound that could’ve been a laugh if she wasn’t so hoarse. “I feel like someone else has taken over my body and brain.”

He touched the tip of her reddened nose, amusement glittering in his eyes. “Someone did. Me.”

“I—” With what little strength she had left, she pushed herself into a sitting position, but her sensitized backside protested the movement. She quickly changed to lying on her side. He followed, mirroring her. She attempted to put into words what she was feeling, to ask the questions hovering at the edges of her mind, but nothing would come together. She let out a frustrated breath. Everything felt fragmented.

Broken.

She looked to Kade, but before she could speak, he cupped her cheek. “Hey, why don’t I get you something to drink and run a bath. Give us both some time to come down. We have all night to talk if we need it.”

She sagged against the pillows and nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.”

Over the next hour, Kade did exactly as promised. He brought her juice and put her in a bathtub, washing her body and her hair with gentle hands, then letting her soak while he took a quick rinse in the shower. She didn’t have to say or do anything. He took care of it all. The intense dominance from earlier had sunk back into the soil, and now he was all kindness and care. Even though the two sides of him appeared to be so very different from the outside, the combination worked.

After drying her off, he forbade her clothes and led her back to the bed. He left for a few moments and returned with a glass of water and some ibuprofen. “You’ll thank me for those in a few hours.”

She took the pills and swallowed them back. “This definitely goes on record as the first sex I’ve had that required medication afterward.”

“Gold star for me.”

The completely shameless grin he gave her made her laugh. “Hey, I’m the one who’s not going to be able to sit down tomorrow. Don’t I get some stars?”

He climbed in the bed next to her. “Tess, I’d give you all the stars in the sky right now if I could.”

She turned to him, expecting to see that cocky smile, but his expression was intent. He wasn’t feeding her a pretty line. She sighed and tucked her arm beneath her head. “I’m not going to pretend I understand this. If I look back at tonight or any of our nights together with my logical brain, I should be kicking your ass out of the house.”

“A lot of women would,” he said, facing her. “My ex did. I didn’t even have to show her this part of me. I just talked about some desires and that was enough to send her running. It’s scary shit to most.”

She met his gaze. “It is scary.”

“I know,” he said, reaching out and brushing a lock of hair from her face. “But you’re still here. Want to tell me why?”

She closed her eyes and rolled onto her back. The sting was almost welcome. “Isn’t that the question of the month? I thought I understood this whole thing. It’s role-playing, fun and games, a kinky thing to check off a list. But tonight . . .”

“Tonight?” he prodded gently.

She stared at the ceiling, trying to process everything that had happened. “Tonight felt real, Kade. This wasn’t like that night at The Ranch with the roles to play and the costumes. That was an exciting fantasy. But whatever you did to me tonight, put me in this place . . . like I really was a slave to you, an object. It morphed something in my mind.”

He shifted next to her, but didn’t say anything, giving her time to put her thoughts in order.

She turned to meet his patient gaze. “You make things I should be repulsed by seem appealing.”

He considered her. “And that scares you.”

A statement, not a question.

“Yes.” She sat up on her elbow. “Of course it does. If you had hauled me off the bed and slapped me for coming too soon, I probably would’ve let you and gotten more turned on because of it. You covered my head with your hand like I was some whore you didn’t care to look at, and I nearly came from it. You made me want the ugly parts. Why would I want that?”

His eyes went soft. “Baby . . .”

“I mean,” she continued, unable to stop talking now that the anxiety was bubbling up. “I spent a marriage with a man who treated me like I was less than, who had the ability to make me feel worthless with one well-placed insult. I don’t understand why I’d want to be bullied in bed. Shouldn’t I want a guy to worship me or something?”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Maybe you do, but that worship looks different than what you thought. In my world, nothing is more precious to a dominant than his submissive. I would break someone’s fingers if they tried to lay a hand on you without permission. I did what I did with you because I enjoy it, yes, but I also did it because it’s what you needed and craved tonight.”

She lifted a brow. “I needed and craved to be beaten with a belt and sodomized?”

“You asked to be broken. Kissing you from head to foot and telling you how pretty you are wouldn’t have done that. You don’t trust people who are satisfied with the surface. You’ve catered to them but you don’t trust them. It’s one reason you’ve been so scared to put full trust in me. I needed to get to the woman beneath all those coats of gloss you’ve put on. And you needed to see what I’m like underneath it all, too.

“So take a good look and see, Tess. I’m a nice guy, but I’m also a sadist who gets off on seeing those welts on your back. I’m a guy who likes grabbing you by the hair and treating you more like property than a person in bed.”

She looked away and he grasped her chin, turning her gently to meet his eyes. “And you’re a nice girl who didn’t deserve to be treated like you were in your marriage. But you’re also the woman who gets turned on by being manhandled and likes a little dose of humiliation in bed. A woman who just came three times because I forced her down on the bed, f*cked her in the ass, and demanded she obey. And there’s nothing to be ashamed of about it because it’s real. And maybe this friend or that neighbor would think it’s deviant or demented, but who the f*ck cares? I love this side of us. Because where else in life do we get to indulge in the darkest parts of ourselves without fear of judgment or censure? You couldn’t tell me one thing you want that would weird me out. Truly. Even if I’m not into that particular thing. This is a safe place to be exactly who you are—even the portions others would label wrong. You won’t scare me away. And I’m not going to try to fit you in some box to suit my needs. It’s why I waited for you to open the door to more before I just ran roughshod over you, demanding you handle whatever I wanted to mete out.”

She stared at him, his speech seeping into her skin and settling into her bones. Acceptance without judgment. No predetermined expectations. It was a completely foreign concept to her. She’d jumped from box to box all her life, trying to morph herself into whatever other people expected her to be.

And this man had just burned down the box.

“I don’t even know what to do with all that,” she said honestly.

He leaned over and kissed her, then tugged her closer to settle her against his chest again. “You don’t have to do anything, Tess. Just close your eyes and rest. You can worry about the rest tomorrow. Right now we simply bask in the afterglow.”


She smiled at that, but when she snuggled closer and let her eyes drift shut, she knew she had far more to worry about than her newfound sexual desires.

She was about to get faux engaged.

To a man who was inspiring anything but faux feelings.

She was falling for him all over again.

And she wasn’t sure she had the strength to fight it anymore.