The Arrangement 12(18)
“Where’s your bracelet?” he asks suddenly, looking at my bare wrist.
“In Gabe’s limo. I shoved it between the seats.” A smile crosses my lips as I think about it. “Black is going to assume I’m stalking her.”
Sean grins at me before leaning down and kissing my forehead. “Good girl. That should give us a few days if the issue originates with her. She’ll think Gabe is protecting you.”
“Uh, I think he is.”
“No!” Sean’s voice is fierce. His entire body tenses to the point he trembles as he yells. “No one is protecting you, except me. I don’t want you to trust anyone until this is over—not Mel, not Gabe, not even my brothers—no one. Do you understand me?”
Touching the side of his face, I nod. “I understand.” My words carry more meaning, and I wonder if he knows how much I understand. He lost everything before and failed to stop it. The death of Amanda fractured his life in a way that he was unable to repair. If Sean doesn’t stop this lunatic from messing with me, it’ll destroy him. The final pieces that hold him together will come unhinged and the monster lurking within him will be the cause of his demise.
Sean’s body shakes with tension that borders on rage. I know what he needs and I want to give it to him. I press my lips together and say the words he has to hear. “Take me, any way you want. Use me, Sean.”
Breathing hard, he looks down, watching me. The fear slips off his face and the part of him that frightens me emerges. There’s no rational thought, no logic in those eyes. It fades to something carnal and out of control. Sean grabs my dress at the neckline and tears it in two. The sudden movement, the sound of the fabric tearing, startles me. Before I can blink, he’s on top of me, ripping off my clothes and tossing them aside until I’m naked. My heart is pounding so hard that I’m sure that he can hear it. I don’t have the nerve to look him in the eyes anymore, even though I want to. I focus on his chest, on the places I want to touch, but I don’t dare. Not now, not when he’s like this.
Sean straddles me, pinning me to the bed and rips off his belt. Quickly, he flips me over so I’m facedown and yanks my hands above my head. Within seconds my wrists are bound together and tied to the headboard. He leaves my feet untethered and I wonder if it’s because he wants to or because he’s changing. Sean is different now, isn’t he? This isn’t like the first time he did this to me. Besides, I volunteered. I knew what I was giving permission for this time. Maybe I’m the one who’s changed.
I feel his breath in my ear before I hear his voice. “Stop thinking.” I try to shove all the thoughts from my mind, but I kind of suck at it. Sean’s hand comes down hard on my bare ass. The sting makes me yelp. “Say, ‘yes, sir.’”
My lips curl into a defiant, smug, expression. “Yes, Sean.”
His hand comes down again, stinging the other cheek. I gasp, and try to look back at him, but I can’t see him very well. He’s directly behind me and I can only make out his location. “Wrong words will get you punished, Miss Smith. I want you to say, ‘yes, sir.’”
An insane urge to defy him rouses inside of me as a smile creeps across my face. I mean, what’s he going to do? Hit me again? I kind of like that a little bit. It makes my girlie parts tingle. I’d be good with another slap. So I chide, “Yes, Mr. Jones.”
Sean lets out a little noise, like he can’t believe I defied him again, but his shock is short lived. He takes a pillow and shoves it under my hips, before parting my legs. I have no idea what he’s going to do, but I like it. Thrill rushes through my veins, making me tug at my restraints. I want to tease him and do everything I shouldn’t. Maybe I’m as messed up as he is.
He holds my legs open wide and with that deep voice of his, gives me another chance. “Stop thinking.”
I’m insane. “No.” The word rings out like someone slapped a gong.
My ass is in the air, thanks to the pillow. I expect his hand to come down on my round cheeks again, but it doesn’t. Instead his open palm slaps me between my thighs, stinging my most sensitive parts. The jolt startles me and I try to crawl away, but Sean holds my hips still. “Say it.”
I bite my lips and feel his hand come down again. This time it brings tears to my eyes, but there’s something else, too. I don’t know how to describe it. My insides feel like they’re on fire and I want to be sated. Am I as messed up as he is? He’s spanking my pussy and I like it. What the hell does that mean? Before another thought can cross my mind, his hand lands between my legs again and I yelp.