Ruby

 

 

 

I can see him battling. He's pacing up and down the living room like a caged tiger, trying to figure out how to solve his dilemma. There's only one way I'd expect him to do it, one way that I'm hoping for, but he needs to get there on his own.

"You know things have changed," I repeat, watching him from across the room. "You can't ignore that."

"I'm not ignoring anything," he says. "I know my brother won't let this go. I know this is over."

My heart sinks. "This is over?"

He stops mid-pace, capturing my eyes with his. His short hair is ruffled and his face strained.

"You know what I mean," he says. "I can't keep you here any longer, despite what you told him. I'm busted. I have to let you go."

I sigh, my shoulders sinking as the weight of sadness sets in. Why is he being so stubborn?

He looks at me, pained by the dilemma that's tearing him apart from the inside out.

"I don't want to let you go," he says. "I really don't fucking want to do that."

"You don't have to let me go," I whisper, hoping that he gets the meaning behind my words.

I approach him with quick, confident steps, a firm decision carrying me to him. He looks at me quizzically, freezing when I come to a halt in front of him. Our eyes meet, and I take a deep breath before I reach for the leash that's attached to the collar around my neck, and hand it over to him.

"I want you to be in control. I need you to exert control over me, just as much as you crave my submission," I say in a low voice, as his hand slowly closes around the end of the leash. "I have no desire to pull the rug out from under your feet, master. No matter what happens, I will never tell anyone about this. I will not go to the police, and I will not destroy your life. I will not destroy our life."

His eyes widen in cautious relief and he sighs.

"Why wouldn't you, though?" he asks. "After all I've done to you..."

"You know why," I say.

Our eyes lock, unspoken words hovering between us as the silence grows and stretches.

"You can trust me," I say.

"I know," he says. "I know I can trust you, and I want to. I'm just not sure if I can trust myself."

He gently pulls at the leash, beckoning me to come closer.

I follow his lead, stepping up on my toes when he leans down so our lips can meet. The kiss is cautious and gentle, as if it's our first kiss after a long period of flirting and dancing around each other. He never lets go of the leash, pulling me even closer, until the collar begins to tighten around my throat, not really choking me but keeping me in place.

I moan when he wraps his other arm around me, pressing my body against his hard-muscled frame. His warmth embraces me, comforts me, and envelops me with heated shelter. There's a devotion in that kiss that he hasn’t shown me before. It's as if he's the one sinking in my arms, and not vice versa.

It's as if he's finally willing to let go, not of me, but of himself and whatever has been holding him back.

He breaks our kiss reluctantly.

"I don't want to lose you," he whispers, his eyes still closed and his lips so near mine that I can feel his hot breath brushing my skin.

"You're not going to," I whisper. "I'm yours, Loran."

I place a soft peck on his lips. "I'll always be yours. If you let me."

My eye search for his, and finally, after a few more minutes of solitary contemplation, he's ready to face me. His eyes open, seeking mine, and a smile appears on his face - a smile finally void of darkness.

"We have some things to take care of," he says.

I nod. "Yes. We do."

His grip around me loosens and his hands wander down to my ass, lifting the negligé and squeezing my naked cheeks greedily, the leash still encompassed in one of his hands. I can feel the hard leather pressing against my skin as he kneads and massages my ass.

"We have to go to the agency," I say randomly. "They need to know where I am."

He nods. "We will do that, my toy."

It's all the admission I need at this point. He's not ready to let me go, but he's ready to leave this part behind us.

He's ready for something else - with me.

"I will take you there first thing in the morning," he promises, before leaning in for another kiss. His lips only touch mine for a moment, before he moves further, inching along the side of my neck as he grabs a fistful of hair at the back of my head. I let out a needy sigh when he pulls my head back, his other hand still locked on my ass while I lean into him.

He's overpowering me and I'm melting in his arms, my heart beating with anticipation as I hollow my back for him, the collar tightening around my throat. He pulls on it until the tension starts cutting off air. I don't mind. I don't need air. I need him.

Still, I moan gratefully when he lets go of the leash, using his hand to slip between my wet folds, carefully teasing my swollen nub.

Our eyes find each other, mine dazed with lust, his filled with desire.

He's smiling when he invades my core with not one, but two fingers, at once - and so am I.