The wheels turned in my brain, wondering if I’d get a chance to explore more of the place sans blindfold. It wasn’t likely, but I would bide my time if I had to. It was early in the agreement, so I still had plenty of time to figure this mystery out.
A knock on the door startled me as I was drying off, and I realized I’d been in the bathroom for a long time. Probably pushing the limits, I supposed.
“I have some breakfast for you,” his voice called through the door. “Do you have the blindfold on?”
For a moment, I considered lying and telling him I did. But then I thought of Brayden and what would happen to him if I didn’t play along. I slipped the cloth over my eyes and wrapped the large towel around my body.
“Yes,” I answered solemnly.
The energy in the room changed when he walked into it. There was an aura of power that rolled off of him, even though I couldn’t see it. I could feel it, though, in the way he took up space. The way he handled my body and spoke without apology about his wants or needs.
Perhaps it was that power which attracted me on some small level. It was the same trait that had attracted me to Ryland Bennett when he darkened my porch five years ago. His confidence was unwavering. A man who knew what he wanted with a certainty he would have it too. At the time, I thought that was me. It didn’t make much sense then, and now it made even less.
A warm and solid hand cupped my shoulder as another wrapped around my waist, guiding me back into the other room. This time, he pulled me into his lap in what I presumed to be an oversized chair. The soft velvet rubbed against my thigh, combined with the ever-present heat of my tormentor’s body beneath me.
Something cool brushed against my lips, and instinctively I darted my tongue out to catch the liquid before it dripped down my chin. The sweet taste of melon burst across my taste buds, followed by a soft chuckle beneath me.
“Open your mouth,” he urged.
I parted my lips awkwardly and pulled the melon ball from the fork with my teeth. Nobody had ever fed me before, and it was strange to be allowing it now.
The process continued with forkfuls of eggs, toast, and crispy bacon, which I ate eagerly. I hadn’t known how hungry I was until the food was in front of me.
When I finished, he moved me back to the bed to rest. I insisted I wasn’t tired. But when his mouth found its way between my thighs and gave me a mind blowing orgasm, my body quickly changed its mind.
And so the rest of the day was spent much of the same. My companion fed and caressed me, occasionally stopping to lavish my breasts with his full attention. This almost always led to more of his attention between my legs as well, and by the end of the day, I’d counted five orgasms. I never even thought such a thing was possible, but now I could say definitively it was.
When darkness fell around us, he pulled me into his arms and rested my face in the space between his shoulder and his neck. As sleep pulled me under, I thought I caught the faintest hint of Amber and Cinnamon. I was so certain I was dreaming that I disregarded it completely.
Chapter Thirteen
I was a different person when I stepped off of the elevator on Monday morning. I was so sure it was written all over my face that I’d spent the entire weekend having sex and everybody else would be able to see it too. Of course, they didn’t.
The only one who gave me a funny look was Matt. When his eyes drifted to the side of my neck, I quickly pulled my hair over the other place I’d been marked.
“How was your weekend?” he arched a dark brow at me.
“It was fine.” I fumbled to put my belongings away. “And yours?”
He tilted his head and scrutinized me for a beat before he answered. “Pretty lame. The boss had me putting in overtime on a project.”
“She sounds like a real slave driver.” I jerked my chin towards Nicole with a smile. She was bobbing towards us with a strange expression on her face.
“Hey, Brighton,” she greeted me. “Sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Bennett asked to see you in his office.”
“Me?” I blinked in confusion.
I hadn’t been into Ryland’s office since the first day I started there. And it was beyond me why he’d be calling me in now.
“Yep, you.” She gave me a half-hearted smile. “Unless there’s another Brighton Valentine running around here I don’t know about.”
Matt frowned and exchanged a glance with Nicole. “Can I talk to you a minute?”
Nicole stiffened but gestured to her office. They both gave me a tight smile before I disappeared down the hallway.
Ryland’s door was already cracked but still weighed about as much as the nerves that threatened to pull me under. I smoothed out my black A-line dress and finger combed my hair before I stepped inside.
He was leaning against his desk, absorbed by something on his phone before he glanced up at me.
“Miss Valentine.” He smiled and gestured to the chair in front of him. “Just the woman I wanted to see.”
He was in a particularly friendly mood today, which only served to confuse me more.
I took a seat and folded my hands across my lap. “Is everything okay, Mr. Bennett? Did I do something wrong?”
“Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t know why you called me in here.”
“Please call me Ryland. I think we’ve been over this before.”
“Ryland.” I nodded. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologize.” He walked around to the other side of his desk and shuffled through his paperwork, straightening it as he spoke. “And you haven’t done anything wrong, Miss Valentine. In fact, the reason I called you in here was because I had such good reports on your performance. So naturally, when I heard the news this morning, I knew you were the only person for the job.”
“What job?”
“Stacey’s on medical leave,” he replied. “For at least the next few months. So I need someone to replace her. Do you think you’re up for it?”
“Absolutely.” I nodded, realizing belatedly that I’d shown no concern for Stacey at all. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but really, the woman was a ticking time bomb. I had only wondered when she’d go off, not if.
“But I mean, I hope she’s alright,” I added.
Ryland shook his head in amusement before his phone chimed again, distracting him.
“She’s perfectly fine, Brighton.”
As my name left his mouth, a cold shiver ran down my spine. Because the usual cadence from his voice had disappeared, and I hadn’t imagined what I’d just heard. Ryland had never addressed me as anything other than Miss Valentine at the office, and for good reason. Because when he said my name that same inflection was there. The one that had whispered my name as he fucked me repeatedly over the weekend. The one that said he owned me.
How had he managed to fool me?
My heart exploded against my rib cage as I struggled for breath. My entire body was already shaking from the adrenaline, but I didn’t care. I thrust the chair backwards and tried to bolt towards the door. I vaguely saw Ryland’s gaze snap to my horrified expression before he rounded the corner of his desk. I didn’t know what I was going to do if I made it out of his office. But the only thing I could think of right then was running. I was so close to the door I could almost feel the handle in my hand. My fingers had just wrapped around the metal when his hard body collided with mine from behind.
He spun me around and pinned me against the oak, clasping his hand over my mouth as his eyes narrowed in warning. His breath was ragged, his grip painful.
“Nothing has changed. Remember why you are doing this.”
I blinked back tears and shook my head weakly, not wanting to accept that he had just confirmed what I didn’t want to believe. That my tormentor not only had a face, but he was the same man I’d been so enrapt with over the last five years.
He must have known what I was thinking, because he flashed a smile, baring all of his teeth. The same teeth that had sunk into every part of my body.
“What’s the matter, Brighton?” he mocked. “You said you wanted it to be me, so surely, you can’t be that upset.”
He released his hand from my mouth and pressed his erection into my belly. This was turning him on.
“Why are you doing this?” I rasped. “I would have given myself to you without a fight.”
“Perhaps.” He looked doubtful. “But not in the way I wanted.”
“Let me go,” I pleaded. “Just let me leave. I need time… time to think about all this…”
His lips stole my protests with brute force as he lifted my legs and secured them around his waist. When he unzipped his pants and pushed my thong aside, a mew escaped me before I could stop it. He rubbed the head of his cock against my own demented arousal with a satisfied grunt. And then he was inside me.
I still couldn’t reconcile that this was the same man who had taken my virginity. The only man who had ever been inside of me. But when he started to move, I was certain. Nobody else could ever feel like this. I didn’t care if I had nothing else to compare it to, I knew it in my bones. He had a primitive need to claim me that could never be replicated.
Our bodies slammed against the door as he pushed deeper. I had no choice but to wrap my arms around his neck and hold on as he fucked me savagely. His hands and lips and mouth and teeth were everywhere. Devouring me. He showed no concern about anyone hearing us. When I started to moan around him, he bit my shoulder, leaving another mark for the world to see.