21
I FORCED MYSELF to picture the numbers, and began to recite them in a trembling voice. It pitched upward when he touched my clit, and something slipped inside my pussy. It wasn’t buzzing this time, but I recognized it from before. The black U-shaped vibrator.
“Shit,” I said, realizing I’d lost my place.
“Start over.”
I lost my place a second time when he uncapped the lube and smeared more of the cold, thick liquid on me. “Wait,” I pleaded, so nervous my throat closed up.
“Focus.” His hand rested at the spot right where my cheeks began, and there was a noise as his other hand lubed himself, preparing. “I want to hear how far you perfectly memorized it.”
“Three point one four,” I whispered, drawing in a deep breath.
And then he was there. Not just with his dick pressing against me, but with his words, reciting the numbers along with me. The pressure built and the burning stretch was worse this time, but his voice was steady, keeping me on track.
Distracting me as he pushed the head of his cock inside. I gasped at the aching discomfort, but he pressed on, chanting the numbers in unison. I tried to reach back to stop him, but the cuffs held me still. I came to the end of the string of numbers, unable to think of anything else. Only the sensation of him owning me.
“Jesus Christ, it’s so fucking tight.”
I was going to fall apart. Fracture into a million pieces until there was nothing left. But he moved in slow strokes, pushing just a little deeper each time.
“It hurts,” I whispered, not sure what good it would do. He’d told me to tell him that our first time, so maybe—
Holy fuck.
He reached between our bodies and squeezed the vibrator, activating it. The steady buzzing was a magnifying glass on my pleasure. A cry tore from my parted lips, filled with surprised enjoyment.
Luka’s breath came and went, deep yet rapid. I didn’t have to ask if he liked this, it was evident by his moans, and he didn’t have to ask me either. The vibrator shook away the discomfort, and as he buried himself all the way inside, I felt the first wave of pleasure threatening.
I could like this. Holy crap, I could come from this. The longer he continued to ease his dick inside and out, made me believe. Powerful need consumed and took over. I gasped as he found a rhythm we both seemed to enjoy.
“Does it hurt now?” he whispered.
“No.” I answered as quickly as possible, focusing on the heat building in my core. I hungered for the release clawing its way up. I didn’t give a fuck about how wrong or dirty it was. He had me pinned down, completely at his mercy, and the sordid part of myself liked everything about this experience.
My moans swelled as he moved faster. My body was firing on all fronts, heading toward ecstasy, ready for him to cast me over the edge. When I swiveled my hips, I found I could press the vibrator up against the padded bar and position it exactly as needed. Oh, shit!
I might have groaned it out loud, but paid no attention.
His punishing tempo made it hard to breathe, and then his filthy words caused it to stop all together.
“I wish you could see how good it looks, watching your ass eat my cock.”
Jesus! My stomach twisted, and the muscles low in my belly contracted, and it was enough to catapult me into my release. I screamed as I came, my voice hoarse and dry. The room was a sunbaked desert. Luka’s heat had sucked all the moisture from the air.
He followed me into my orgasm. His hand clenched tight on my shoulder and he convulsed, pulling himself from within me right as he started to come. Thick, heated liquid struck my clit, and flicked onto the backs of my legs, dripping down as he gave a tremendous sigh.
“Fuck!” His cry of satisfaction was intensely hot.
It took us both several moments to recover. When his breathing was under control, he set about undoing the bindings at my ankles. As he freed my wrists, his mouth was on mine, kissing me seductively. His languid kiss was the most powerful one in his arsenal. He helped me rise up off of the bench, and then lifted me up in his strong arms, tucking me against his chest.
Luka carried me into the bathroom, where we showered together under the stream of hot water. Would it scald away the filth he’d put on me?
I hoped not.
It was buried under my skin, too deep to come clean. He rubbed my aching shoulders, and massaged away the marks left by the cuffs. My eyelids grew heavy as he shut off the water and handed me a towel, banding another one around his hips.
“Stay here.” He pushed open the shower door and disappeared.
The exhaustion in me whined. I wanted to collapse into bed, not go another round, which was what I assumed was going to happen. I eyed the small seat in the shower. If I sat down, would I still be awake whenever he returned?
The door swung open. “Come on,” he said.
Surprise made my feet clumsy and I tripped as I stepped out, latching a hand onto his shoulder.
His eyes widened. “Okay?”
“Fine.” Although, not really. Luka held out a long, white bathrobe for me. I glanced from the soft, fuzzy looking garment to him, and back again.
“You’re always cold.” He said it plainly as he helped me slide it onto my shoulders, then tied the sash at the waist. He kept his grip on the ends and bound me in place. “You won’t sleep in this room anymore.”
My pulse quickened. “Where am I sleeping?”
Luka’s eyes were black ink. “With me.”
“Why?” I had to lick my lips to combat my dry mouth.
“Because this part of your training is over.” He tugged on the ends of the robe, cinching it tighter and pulling me close. “Monday we start a new phase.”
“Which is?”
“You go back to class.”
π
I was back two weeks before we had our first issue. I settled into my new routine almost seamlessly. Vanessa drove me to class and stayed with me wherever I went, and after school was over, she delivered me back to the house. I never considered escape. I told myself I was in it for the long run, until Luka truly let me go.
It’d been weird at first with Vanessa, but Luka said she was there for my protection as much as his. If word got out that he was handling his uncle’s finances, his family’s enemies might show interest in me. That was scary as hell, but he reassured me I was fine. The likelihood was microscopic, and Vanessa was working for him to support her amateur MMA career. She made an excellent bodyguard, he’d said.
Bodyguard.
I didn’t ask, but Luka volunteered the information. When his cousin had gone to prison, the Russians saw an opening and took it. Every month they pushed further into Markovic territory, both the guns and sex trafficking business. It turned my stomach, and I was overwhelmingly relieved when he didn’t offer specifics. No wonder Luka wanted nothing to do with his uncle’s real trade.
Despite my fear, the arrangement with Luka worked out better than the first half of the semester, because I had my own space to work without Avery around, a chauffeur, and a personal chef. Whenever I was working on homework at night, Luka either left me alone or sat quietly beside me, on his iPad or phone.
It’d been more of the latter this week. We tended to gravitate toward each other. I’d sit on the couch in the office while he worked at the desk, and when I was done, he’d take me upstairs to what had become our room.
Not every night was filled with sex. A week after returning to class, my period arrived. Luka and I stayed up late, just talking. He seemed fascinated by my boring, normal life. We had conversations about all sorts of things, but he’d only let me pry so far before finding other uses for my mouth.
I tried not to dwell on how quickly I’d adjusted to life with him, or how easily I had bent to his will. The shocking truth was I didn’t hate my time with Luka. Sometimes I even looked forward to it.
It was a Thursday when I sat on the couch with the quilt on my lap, reading a textbook. The far-off growl of the garage door signaled he was home, and I straightened in my seat, quelling my smile. But footsteps thundered loudly up the hall, much too fast to be anything but angry. I bolted up from the couch, concern flooding through me. What had happened?
My suspicions were confirmed when he threw open the office door and his eyes burned. I backpedaled and collided with the desk at the same instant his hands seized my shoulders.
“Tell me what you did today, Addison.”
I stared at him with total confusion. “Nothing! I went to my physics lecture, and organic chem lab.”
His dark eyes were narrow. “Tell me about your lecture.”
My brain filtered through the morning, trying to figure out what had set him off. “It was what you’d expect—” Then, it clicked. “This is about the coffee?”
“Yeah,” he snapped. “It’s about the fucking coffee.”
I almost laughed, but caught myself in time.
I hadn’t made many friends in college, but I’d gotten to know most of the other pre-med students who were on the same track. Gavin was bright, and friendly, and like me, a bit awkward. After two years of seeing each other at nearly every class, we’d become friends. We sat next to each other, exchanged lecture notes, and had a friendly competition on our tests.
Vanessa had mentioned he was the first to ask what had happened to me when she showed up in my place, requesting to video the lectures. She’d told him I was sick. Once I’d returned to class, he’d lingered even closer, offering to help catch me up.
“Luka,” I said softly.
“You think a guy hitting on you isn’t noteworthy? Did you not make it clear you’re unavailable?”
His possessiveness was stunning, and if I was honest, I sort of liked it. I was petty and stupid, but I enjoyed knowing he didn’t like anyone challenging his claim. As if they could.
“He bought Vanessa and me both a cup of coffee this morning,” I said. “He was just being polite.” Luka’s scowl intensified, spurring me on. “He didn’t buy the coffee for me.” It’d been apparent right away how badly Gavin was smitten with Vanessa. “He’s such a nerd, and she’s a badass. You should see them together, they’re adorable.”
Gavin had been waiting for us this morning in the lecture hall, three cups of coffee resting on the long table before him. He was sweaty and nervous as he’d passed them out, trying to sound casual and failing. I’d watched him attempt to flirt with the woman with whom he had hardly anything in common, but he did it anyway.
I’d been proud and envious to see my friend take a risk and go after what he wanted. In spite of all that had happened, a part of me wished I had done the same with Luka.
“He’s interested in Vanessa?” Confusion painted Luka’s face.
I gave a light smile. “Oh, yeah.”
“I had her describe him to me,” he said, releasing me. “It sounds like she could snap him in half with one finger.”
My smile grew. Gavin was a twig. “He’d probably like that.”
It took Luka several seconds to adjust to the information, and I was surprised at how much emotion he’d displayed. It was disarming, and I shut off my mind, avoiding all consequences. My hands gripped his strong jaw, and I pulled him to me, planted my lips tentatively against his, showing him he had nothing to fear.
“You’ve made me say it enough times,” I whispered.
He blinked, looking affected by my kiss. It was the first time I’d ever initiated it. “What?”
“That you own me. I understand that, Luka.”
His kiss was powerful, deadening my thoughts, all except for one. Would I ever want to own him?