Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
A full-body shiver shot through me. “Can I just say how much I love the way you talk.”
He breathed heavier. “You like me being honest?”
“I like that you hold nothing back.”
“I’ve learned not to. It took time, I won’t deny that. Speaking so crudely comes with its drawbacks, but it also comes with great reward. Why should I censor myself when I’ve got my tongue in your cunt, and you’re the most delicious flavour I’ve ever tasted? Why should I stay silent on how fucking good you feel as I drive inside you? Words have a power all of their own. I can’t tell you how explosive they can make sex when a Dom talks to his sub—not to demean or belittle her but to praise and reprimand her. To tell her exactly how hard she makes him by giving him everything that she is.”
“You’re making me wish I was at your big top.”
“Fuck, me too.” He groaned. “I’m stroking myself and could come right now if you said you’d travel up here and pay me a visit.”
“I have work in the morning.”
“Have you never heard of a sick day?”
I laughed. “I’ve never pulled a sick day in my life.”
“What? Ever?”
“Nope. Not even at school.”
“God, no wonder you needed to be ruled so badly. You’re fighting a lifetime of restrictions chaining you down. Let me guess...you never did anything bad as a kid, right? Never sucked off the wrong guy at school when you were meant to be in a math test? Never smoked weed with the rebel crowd? Never tried to seduce your teacher for better grades?”
“Eww.” I giggled. “My teachers were all old.”
“And I bet at least one of them spanked himself to thoughts of you.”
I shivered. “Why does that make me feel powerful when I ought to be grossed out?”
“Because we’re just human. Driven by instinct. Part creature, part monster, part saint. Knowing that someone in a position of authority wanted to fuck you takes back some of that power they have over you. You realise you hold all the cards, all the time. You realise men are nothing more than beasts, panting for a smile, aching for a touch, and ready to die for the barest chance to sink inside you.” A rustling sound as if he stroked himself. “Fuck, I want you. I’m so close.”
“Hunter...I—”
“I know.” He cut me off. “You didn’t call me to hear me jerk off in your ear.”
The swift change of subject made me flounder.
I shivered for an entirely different reason. “It’s okay—”
“No, it’s not. I’ve stopped. I won’t take advantage of you in any capacity. You called me to ask about him.” Sighing heavily, his clothing rustled again as if he tucked himself away and removed his hand. “Do you want some advice? Even though I gave it to you that night?”
I nodded far too eagerly. “Yes. Yes, please. Tell me how I can forget him. Tell me how I can get over him. If he’s running away, then he doesn’t deserve me. I should have more self-respect than wondering how I can change his mind. If he can’t love me, then—”
“He does love you. He’s a fucking idiot, but he does love you. Even if he hasn’t fully admitted it to himself yet, he has an inkling. Believe me.” Hunter’s voice softened. “You didn’t see his eyes when he was flogging you. Each lash he gave you absolutely shattered him. He fucking adored it, but he adores you more. He could barely stand upright; he shook so badly. He looked as if he wanted to get on his knees and marry you then and there, all while forcing you onto your knees so he could come all over your beautiful face.”
“How on earth can you say such dirty things and make them sound so romantic?”
“Talent?” He laughed. “But seriously. I get it. I get him. I hoped he wouldn’t have to go through what I did, but...it seems as though honourable guys just can’t accept that they house a beast within. We want to be perfect for you. We want to wrap you in cotton wool and give you every diamond imaginable. We want to keep you safe. Keep you happy. So when we have dark, dirty thoughts of making you bleed and cry and scream, that can mess with a guy’s head. It can make him run away...just like I did.”
“But you eventually accepted who you truly are. You ended up using your truth to help so many others.” I dropped my voice. “I know I would never have had the courage to ask a man I met by usual dating methods to tie me up and bruise me. God, just the thought of that conversation sends me into hives. It was the knowledge that I’d never see you again. The recklessness of one dirty night that gave me just enough strength to surrender myself to you.”