Jaya watched warily as he walked away, leaving her alone in the washroom to shower. Given how strangely protective he’d been acting since pulling her from the water, she was a little surprised, but grateful to have a moment to herself. Deciding to take advantage before he came back, she opened the shower door and stepped inside. She could barely stand once she was inside the cocoon of big frosted glass, a combination of aftershocks from her near drowning and her encounter with her captor sweeping over her. After a moment under the warm spray she was forced to sink to the smooth tile floor. She leaned her back against the glass and sat with her knees against her chest, her forehead on her knees, the hot water streaming over her. It felt amazingly good, though her mind was in turmoil.

The way Ivan had looked at her, touched her, it made her feel intensely alive and aware of her own sexuality. It also made her feel jittery as a grasshopper being chased by Haty. Her hand crept up to her shoulder where he bit her. She felt the slightly sore spot and the indents where his teeth had left marks; it was like he was branding her. She was reminded of when she’d called him an animal. It felt like weeks ago instead of only the night before.

“Better get my ass up or he’ll come looking,” she muttered to herself.

She finished her shower, weariness rocking her limbs. She could barely lift her arms to wash her hair and she decided to skip the conditioner altogether, despite knowing she’d regret it later when the inevitable tangles sent her to hairbrush hell. But it wasn’t worth the ache and burn every time she moved her arms. She’d forced herself to more physical extremes today than she had in her entire life, especially her upper body.

She shut the water off and reached for a fluffy towel, squealing in shock when she was enveloped in one and lifted off her feet. Ivan set her on the bath mat and began drying her vigorously, despite her protests. Then, ignoring her heated arguments, he wrapped the towel back around her and carried her to the bed.

When she saw where he was taking her, Jaya tried to stop him and climb out of his arms. She gripped one of his biceps and twisted sideways, but he just shifted his grip, his hand sliding under the towel and enveloping her bare thigh. “I want to go to my cage!” she yelped desperately.

He didn’t answer, just grunted in annoyance when her elbow connected with the side of his head. He dropped her on the mattress and when she tried to roll off the other side, he grabbed her wrist and twisted until she yelled in pain and held still. He dropped onto the mattress on his knee. “Stop fighting and lay still.”

She froze and stared up at him, a question huge in her eyes. The towel had slipped sideways, revealing most of her upper body. He gripped the edge and tugged it the rest of the way off, tossing it to the floor. A shiver rippled through her, jiggling her breasts. She tried to cross an arm over her chest while groping for a blanket with her other hand. He took both of her wrists and flattened them on the bed beside them.

“This is happening, Jaya,” he said quietly. His voice wasn’t vicious or hard. In fact he was being surprisingly gentle.

“I’m not ready,” she replied quickly, arching to the side. He blocked her with a knee. He was still fully dressed, though her own nudity made her feel so vulnerable it didn’t matter that he was still clothed.

He shook his head. “We’ve spent weeks together, you’re as ready as I’m willing to allow.”

She frowned, her body still tense beneath his. His fingers curled around her wrists, chaining them. She could feel aggression thrumming through his body, ready to strike out at her. Her own body responded with confusion; part of her warmed and melted for him, her pussy beginning to dampen as though it was trained for this moment while her heart hammered and her muscles tensed, preparing for flight. She felt that he was holding himself tightly in check, rather than simply falling on her and fucking her.

“I’ve been your captive, Ivan,” she whispered. “I still am. Having sex under these conditions isn’t right. The power imbalance is too much.”

His lips thinned into a grim line and he moved his thumb to her face, dragging her hand with him. He ran his thumb over her jaw and then down the side of her neck, drawing a cascade of shivers form her. “There will always be a power imbalance between us, sweetheart. Your captivity has nothing to do with that.”

“And you’ll always make decisions for me!” she snapped at him angrily, straining her body against him. “At least until you decide I bore you and it’s time to get rid of me.”

“That will never happen,” he snarled down at her. “I’m never letting you go.”

Her mouth fell open and the fight drained from her. She collapsed into the mattress. The savage truth written on his face, the strength in his fingers as they pinned her hands to the bed, told her he meant what he was saying. He’d decided to keep her, forever, without her consent. “No!” she gasped.

He didn’t respond verbally. Instead he bent his head and crushed her denial under the storm of a kiss meant to seal his promise of a lifetime together. Though she rejected him with her words, her lips softened and opened under the onslaught of his kiss, giving him access to the sweet depths within. He released her hand and took her head in one enveloping palm, tangling his fingers in the wet strands of her hair and tilting her head back. He took her mouth in a ravaging kiss, sweeping his tongue over her teeth and tongue, nearly gagging her with the heavy oppressiveness of his attack.

She lifted her free arm and clung to his shoulder, gasping for breath when he finally lifted his head for moment. He buried his face against hers and groaned, “You’re mine now, Jaya.”

A high, choked sound escaped her. Her thoughts scattered as she felt him reaching back over his shoulders. Her confused mind couldn’t comprehend what he was doing until she felt the bare skin of his chest pressing against hers and realized he was removing his shirt. Before she had a chance to process his loss of clothing, he was capturing her lips in another searing kiss that stole her breath and sent her heart pattering crazily in her chest. She clung to his shoulders as though she were still in the ocean and needed him to save her from drowning.

He lifted his hips from hers and reached between them. She whimpered at the loss, as her mind also kicked into gear, reminding her that he was preparing to take their already seriously messed-up relationship to the next level. She broke the kiss, turning her head to the side and tried to twist her body underneath his.

“Ivan!” she cried out.

He brought his arms down on either side of her shoulders, trapping her squirming body. He kicked his jeans off the bed and slid one long, muscular leg between hers. Taking her jaw in one hand he forced her head up to his. “Are you a virgin?”

“No!” she gasped, digging her nails into his shoulders. She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t very experienced and it had been years since she’d been intimate with anyone, but the words caught in her throat. She knew her eyes were huge on his face, pleading for mercy, pleading for release, pleading for things that Ivan wasn’t capable of giving her. His own face was set into implacable lines, yet still she felt safe in his arms, despite the quakes of uncertainty still rocking her.

He pressed his body more firmly against hers, dropping his weight. Excitement and fear flooded her. His grip on her face remained firm, his voice was deep and strained when he spoke. “I’ve wanted this since Athens, Jaya. I won’t be able to stop. Do you understand?”

She tried to nod, but his fingers, biting into her chin, held her still. “I think so,” she whispered.

“I won’t be gentle.”

He didn’t give her any more warning. He released her face, reached between them and touched her. She gasped, turned her head to the side and automatically tried to close her legs. His hips, settled firmly between her thighs, stopped her. He used her own lubrication to glide one long, thick finger inside her, no finesse, no hesitation.

“Ahh,” she groaned, clinging to his arms, digging her nails deep where the muscles bulged.

“You’re so fucking wet, woman,” he growled, lifting his finger between them and showing her. He rubbed the moisture between his thumb and forefinger and then stuck the finger in his mouth before returning to her pussy.

This time when he touched her, sliding his finger along her folds and back inside her welcoming passage, she lifted her hips as much as she could while trapped beneath him, meeting the delicious touch, the forbidden pressure he was treating her too. She decided to let her exhausted mind take a break. Physical Jaya was taking over. The woman who craved the touch of her captor, who wanted to know what would happen next in Ivan’s bed.

He dipped his head, taking one of her nipples deep in his mouth and sucking it against his teeth, mercilessly torturing the small bud until she was crying out and wrapping an arm around the back of his head. She held him against her, both begging him to keep sucking her while tugging at his hair and screaming at him to stop. Her pussy flooded and her legs jerked in response. She lifted her hips, a silent invitation that he took without further preliminaries.

Ivan slid an arm around her waist and lifted her against him. Her back arched and her head lolled back. She still clung to his head, her hand threaded through his dark hair. She felt him widen her thighs and press himself against her entrance. The touch, the brush of something against her felt so good it set off a small set of white hot explosions throughout her body. She cried out hoarsely and gripped him, holding him against her.

“You are such a good girl, Jaya,” he groaned harshly. “Keep holding on, sweetheart.”

She tightened her grip just as he entered her, his cock sliding into the depths of her tight pussy, forcing unused tissues to accept his invasion. She shrieked as intense pleasure turned to streaking pain. Before she had a chance to adjust, Ivan gripped her waist in both hands and sliding himself most of the way out, slammed back in, sending her spiralling upward once more, gasping, then reeling in pain again. He thrust over and over, finding a barbaric rhythm. She understood what he meant. He wasn’t gentle, not even a little. But he wasn’t selfish either. He was just spinning out of control, now that he was finally inside her, possessing her.

His hands tightened, his hold becoming brutal as he slammed into her body, his hips bruising her soft flesh. Yet something was happening to her, something in the way he was forcing himself inside, touching her, he was pushing all the buttons just right. She went rapidly over the edge of pain into ecstatic oblivion. While he pinned her upper arms to the bed, his eyes roving over her face, she flung her own head back, straining to reach the sacred place he was dragging her ruthlessly toward.

Each time he slammed into her, he sent her spiralling higher. She tilted her hips up slightly, meeting him thrust for thrust as much as she could. Finally, after what seemed an eternity she reached the peak, gliding over with one glorious thrust. She screamed her pleasure, her hoarse cry echoing in the room. She slitted her eyes and watched the gritted grin of satisfaction he gave.

Ivan continued to fuck her, his hips hitting the cushion of her thighs, his cock sending sparks of orgasmic waves through her vagina with each hit. She stretched beneath him as though reaching for more, glorying in peak after peak as he handed it to her. He let go of her arm and took her face in one big hand, covering half of it with his long fingers. “Mine, forever,” he grunted.

She didn’t say anything, couldn’t say anything. Her breath was completely stolen away by what he was doing to her. He let go of her other arm and took her head in both hands, completely enveloping her, blocking her sight. She felt his lips cover hers just as he thrust savagely into her one last time sending another wave of pleasure crashing through her.

“You are mine,” he growled against her lips, flooding her pussy with his seed.