Chapter One
I breathe in the darkness.
There is a blindfold around my eyes. There is a collar around my neck. I am sitting up on my knees, naked, trembling. My wrists are bound to the bedposts, stretched out to either side of me.
He is behind me.
I can feel his breathing on the back of my neck. I strain forward, away from him. He is not touching me, but his breath is warm on my skin. I pull harder, but the ties around my wrists hold fast.
The ties around my wrist are silken handcuffs. The bed underneath me is covered in silk sheets. Even the blindfold is black silk.
Black. Everything is black. My eyes are open under the blindfold but I can see nothing. I sit there silently, feeling the air move against my naked body.
“Lacey, my darling.” He breathes the words into my ear from behind me. I gasp as his hand touches my shoulder.
His fingers are long and slim. They are warmer than his breath on the back of my neck.
“Are you afraid of the dark?”
I shake my head. I won’t give him the satisfaction of an answer.
Am I afraid of the dark? No, I want to say. I’ve always loved the dark. Even when I was a child, I didn’t need a nightlight. I didn’t shed a single tear when I broke my arm. I stayed in the haunted barn one night when my brothers dared me, and I didn’t even cry out when my dad spanked me for doing it. My mom always said that I was the bravest girl she’d ever met.
Now, though, I don’t feel brave. Now, in the darkness, I’m scared of what’s going to happen. What he’s going to do to me.
His fingers slide down my back. His other hand grips my hip and I feel the bed move as he shifts his weight closer to me. I grit my teeth.
Despite myself, I feel my body begin to respond as his hands curve down around my waist and pause there. Warmth spreads between my thighs. I clench them together tightly, trying to ignore the pulsing desire inside of me.
Take me. Take me.
No. This isn’t me. This can’t be real.
I jerk my head away at the sudden touch on my neck. Even in the darkness, I can tell that he is smiling behind me. The touch comes again, and this time I’m prepared. His lips press against my neck. I try to sit still, but an involuntary gasp comes from my mouth when he sucks gently on my skin.
“Oh, Lacey,” he murmurs.
His hands come forward, sliding over my stomach and up to my breasts. Again he kisses my neck. Again I gasp. This time it’s his tongue, the hot pressure sending me into near spasms as he cups my breasts.
He shifts his weight again, and now I moan as he sucks my skin and everything sinks into pure sensation—
—his muscled chest against my back, his skin hot against mine—
—his fingers pinching my nipples so hard it sends flames racing through my nerves, his thumb rolling over the hard swollen nubs—
—his lips taking me, his mouth possessing me, his tongue licking my skin—
—his breath whispering softness into my ear—
“I can’t stop myself.”
“Don’t try.”
I hear my voice rasping in the air. Don’t. I don’t want him to stop. Not now. I want him to do everything to me. I don’t want him to hold back anymore.
His hands come down, gripping my thighs. His fingers scrabble needily over my skin. Before I can say another word, he forces my thighs apart. My body recoils, clenching together, but he’s already kneeling between my legs behind me. I can feel his hard cock against the small of my back. It’s impossibly hot, burning hot against my cool skin. I moan as he slides his cock down between my thighs to where I’m already slick with moisture.
“Jesus. Oh Jesus. Lacey.” His voice is a growl that sends shivers through my body. “You don’t know what you do to me.”
My fingers grasp at the silk ties, but they are already pulled taut. My body, too, feels like it’s pulled taut, waiting for his touch to send me into uncontrollable vibrations.
For a moment, before he enters me for the first time, I close my eyes. It doesn’t matter; the blindfold is still on, but this feels like the last decision I make. I make it silently, the words curling through my mind and stopping before they reach my tongue.
Take me. Take me into your darkness.
Chapter Two
“Lacey, please.”
“Say pretty please.”
“Pretty please with cream cheese frosting and a cherry on top.”
My friend Steph looked at me across the cake table with eyes so round and pleading I finally understood why her boyfriend couldn’t ever say no to her. Her red-gold eyelashes fluttered wildly and she gave me a cajoling grin. I sighed and licked the frosting off of the side of my cupcake.
“I wish I could, Steph,” I said. “But I can’t. I start my second job tonight.”