The Bellmonte is a completely renovated 1920’s hotel in downtown Miami. It’s quaint with its ivory pillars and miniature gardens placed strategically around the indoor-outdoor lobby. I’m staying in a standard room with a queen size bed on the sixth floor. Nothing too fancy, but I can’t complain. I chose it because it’s walking distance from the recording studio and far enough away from Wolf to avoid any distractions.
I’ve done my best to convince myself that this isn’t me being overly dramatic or a ploy to get Wolf’s attention. But the truth is, it’s both. Wolf is the one set on being angry with me, so I’m more than willing to give him the space he says he wants. But it’s not just that.
When he rented out the mansion, he did it without saying a word to me about it. I can’t exactly invite myself to live with him and the band. Maybe he assumed I would just show up. That I would take a guest room and endure another week of torture, suffering in the silence that has become our new normal.
No. I’d rather keep my dignity. And since the hotel room was already booked in my name … why not?
I toss my duffel bag on the bed and dig through it to find my shower kit. After stripping down to nothing, I step into the bathroom and turn on the water, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I’ve got a tangled knot of wavy brown hair on top of my head, and my makeup is smudged in black halos around my eyes, making me look like I haven’t slept in days.
Sighing, I grab a wipe to remove the residue of foundation, eyeliner, and mascara from my face. By the time I’m done, the bathroom feels like a sauna. I let down my hair and step into the steady stream of hot water.
Being alone isn’t as horrible as people make it seem. It has its benefits. I’ve never been one to let myself be alone with my thoughts for long, but tonight, it’s necessary. I feel like the shitstorm that’s been my life has only been building to whatever waits on the horizon. How do I weather this storm? Do I plant my feet and endure what comes? Or do I make like a bird and head for safety?
I’ve never had to make that choice before. Living on the road has provided me the luxury of constant change and zero time for analyzing. I’m not scared of change like most people. I embrace it and always make the most of whatever comes my way. It’s planting my feet that scares me. It’s standing in one place, being forced to deal with the tornado as it encircles me, throwing my life into disarray.
After my shower, I towel dry my hair, brush out the tangles, and let it fall in loose waves around my head. My body lotion is still in my duffel bag, so I wrap myself in a towel and walk out of the bathroom.
Just as I’m covering the last inch of my legs with moisturizer, three steady knocks pound my door.
My heart jumps. There’s no doubt in my mind those knocks belong to Wolf. But how? Why? Melanie and Terese are the only two who know where I’m staying, and when the van dropped them off at the mansion, they swore to me they wouldn’t say a word to Wolf. No matter what.
I swallow and take hesitant steps forward, my heart now beating into my throat. “Lyric, I know you’re in there,” Wolf’s voice booms through the walls.
“Jesus,” I mutter under my breath as I peek through the hole in the door. Wolf stands there with his hands in fists by his sides, his eyes fierce, and a slight twitch in his jaw.
I sigh and send a silent prayer to up above for whatever is about to happen. It looks like distance won’t work. He’s coming for a fight.
With a flick of the lock and a turn of the knob, I’m facing a heated Wolf. My stomach muscles clench at the sight of him, so angry and so damn hot.
“You found me.” My voice is low, but confident. I don’t know why he’s here, but I’m glad he is. Whether it’s to argue or make amends. I’ll take either option as long as it means we’re moving forward.
He shakes his head, nose flaring, and then steps into my room. As the door shuts behind him, he doesn’t make a move right away. Neither of us speaks.
The energy between us is just as intense as it’s ever been. I can feel it compounding around us like a dynamite stick before it’s triggered at the base.
He steps forward, his forehead only an inch from mine. I swallow. “Let’s get one thing straight, Lyric,” flicking my name off his tongue like a curse word, all while magically maintaining a hard jaw and his hold on my heart. “Where the band goes, you go. No detours, no private hotel rooms. Not while you’re on my dime. Got it?” He lowers his voice for the last part, the words sending a rush of chills down my spine.
My eyes narrow, knowing exactly where this is going. I roll my shoulders back, raising myself an inch to combat his warning. “I’m not your property, Wolf.”
His nose flares and he pulls me forward with a tug, drawing my body closer to his. My feet shuffle forward to keep up. Looking down, I find his good hand tightly gripping my towel where it’s folded together.
“Really?” he challenges, his voice a whirlwind of husk and desire. His upper lip curls at the corner, and I swear the only reason I’m still standing is because he’s got a good grip on my towel. His eyes scan my face, drawing an invisible line down my neck to the space between his hand and my heaving breasts. “Your body says different.”
I whimper as he leans in, his nose skating along my jawline in one smooth stroke. It’s impossible to ignore the dampness between my thighs. It’s painfully obvious just how much I want to be his property right now. How much I need it.
Teeth find my neck and drag down slowly, digging in at the base. “I think you wanted me to find you,” he murmurs against sensitive skin. I shiver at the truth of his words, and I can feel his lips curl in satisfaction. “But Lyric,” he starts, his voice low, “you have no fucking clue how angry I am right now.”
He licks where he just bit and then presses his mouth into the spot just below my ear. My eyes roll into the back of my head.
“Show me,” I say, trying to keep my voice even but failing miserably. I would sell my soul for this man.
Wolf’s tongue freezes on my skin, and he pulls away slightly. “What?”
I let out another breath through my nose and move my head so our eyes connect. My eyes narrow. “Show me how angry you are, Wolf. You think you own me?” I raise my eyebrows. “Then shut the hell up and show me.”
I can see it in his eyes. A switch flips and Wolf’s entire body goes from warning to full-on threat in less than a second.
A rush of adrenaline thrills through me as Wolf uses his grip on my towel to move me against the wall. He’s not trying to be gentle. He’s got something to prove. I feel the impact of my back meeting the wall, but it barely registers compared to the desire that’s raging in Wolf’s eyes.
The hand on my towel loosens, and with a single finger he unknots it, letting it fall to the floor. My nipples are already hard and very much the focus of his attention. He smiles wickedly and bites his bottom lip. “Oh, Lyric. I bet you hate that you can’t control the way your body reacts to me.” He brushes a thumb across one nipple and then he sinks to his knees. He nips the inside of my thighs, and I cry out from the delicious pinch of pain that lights up my core.
When his hand runs up the length of my leg, I’m already shaking. His mouth is so close, but his finger is inside me first, dipping and then reaching my depths in one effortless movement.
Three months with Wolf, and he’s gotten to know me pretty well. Not just the way I come for him best, but the things that tug at my heart. It was the little things that made me fall hard and fast for him. It was his attentiveness and his generosity and the way he always ensures those around him are taken care of before he is. Even now, when he’s mad as hell, he’s tending to me first when it could have easily been the other way around. That’s how I know this is more than just an angry fuck. This is Wolf telling me that he still cares. But he’s going to make me pay first.
With a smirk, he releases his finger and places one of my legs over his shoulder, easing up to me and examining me like I’m fine wine that needs to be inhaled, then appreciated in just the right away. He pulls in my scent through his nose. My entire body shakes as I watch his relax. He tastes me—I gasp—swirling his tongue—I swallow—and then he completely devours me.
His tongue laps relentlessly before pushing flat against my center. I let out another cry, this time all pleasure just as his finger sinks back into my core. He flicks and sucks on my clit, sending me full throttle into the quickest orgasm of my life.
My legs feel like Jell-O, but I know Wolf, and he’s not done. When his hooded eyes find mine, I might start to fall, but I wouldn’t know because he’d never let me. His hold is firm under my leg and on my waist. “Turn around,” he demands.
He unhooks my leg, setting it on the floor beside him. His other hand moves to my waist, and he spins me before I can do as he says. “Wait for me.”
This time I listen, my palms firmly pressed against the wall, happy for something to support me as I’m still reeling from my orgasm. I hear the sound of a zipper, followed by the shuffle of clothing getting tossed to the side. And then I feel him pressed against my back, length hard between my ass cheeks. God, I’ve missed him.
Wolf runs his injured hand down the length of my arm, onto the dip of my waist, and then down my hip. He slides around to my front and doesn’t waste a second before he’s massaging my wet opening.
“Your hand,” I moan, praying he’s miraculously healed.
“I don’t give a damn about my hand right now, Lyric. I’ve always been gentle with you,” he warns.
His fingers at my head move through my hair, twisting and gripping so hard I almost cry out. The thrill of adrenaline races through me, and I swallow before he tugs at the ponytail he’s made with his fist.
“Don’t be gentle,” I beg, just above a whisper.
He chuckles behind me, low and raspy, sending a flair of heat between my legs. He didn’t need my permission. “I don’t plan on it.”
His mouth finds the back of my neck again and he sucks, marking me as his. The finger on my clit moves away to my hip, tugging slightly while tilting my ass out and spreading my legs with his knees. His thickness fills me quickly until I’m dizzy with him, clenching around him in ecstasy.
He grunts in response and pushes deeper while pressing my cheek flat against the wall. Every movement is rough but controlled, like he’s a man on a mission. A mission to show me just how much I fucked up. And with each drive of his hips, I’m inching closer to the edge.
I try to press my ass into him, to meet him halfway, but my muscles submitted a long time ago. His hips stop thrusting, and he slowly slides out until his tip is all that’s left inside me. So I try to move again, but he holds me down with a firm grip on my waist.
Oh, fuck.
I brace myself, breath held, mouth open, and that’s when he charges forward, slamming his entire length into me, hard and deep. I scream out in pleasure at the impact as everything inside me coils.
Before I can manage the shock, he’s doing it again, each thrust driving into me with such force I’m glad there’s a wall to stand against. Without it, I’d be flying.
The air is filled with his grunts, my screams, and the slapping of skin on skin in the most erotic sexual experience of my life.
Why hasn’t Wolf ever fucked me like this before? It’s like he’s trying to tear me apart to reach the deepest parts of me. Like he needs me to feel every inch of him deep in every inch of me. He’s demanding in the sexiest way. Hungry as he tastes the sweat rolling down my back. Punishing as he brings us both to the brink of pleasure, as if I wasn’t already ruined for all other men. He ruined me a long time ago, but this … this is pure dominance.
And I love it.
Maybe I’ll never admit it out loud, but Wolf was right. He does own me—every inch. Every beat of my heart is his.
He releases my hair and moves both hands to my breasts, kneading and using them as leverage as he rocks himself into me. And then he’s pulling out and spinning me, lifting my leg up, pushing it against me and driving into me again and again without a beat lost.
His eyes connect with mine for a second, and in that moment I see everything his body is trying to tell me. Nothing is lost. He’s still a badass with a heart that beats only for me, and I’m still his in every way.
His mouth slams against mine and I bite against his bottom lip. He grunts and pushes himself deeper into me. My head is spinning.
He growls, gripping my ass with his good hand and lifting me off the floor. I wrap my legs around his waist and kiss him back as he takes me to bed. It’s like we’ve practiced this dance a hundred times before. Hands gripping and scratching, legs tightening and squeezing, mouths tasting and biting. Neither of us misses a beat, every chord right on tune.
The only gentle moment between us is when he places me on the bed and hovers above me, breathing heavily. I’m certain Wolf will have scratch marks by the time this is all over—bite marks, too—but I don’t care. I nip his lip and he howls.
He sits up slightly, disconnecting our mouths and reaching past me to the pillow. He’s up to something, but I’m not sure what. While he busies himself emptying a pillowcase, I wrap my hands around the many inches of his cock, stroking it and loving the way his stomach muscles clench under his perfect skin.
Suddenly, Wolf grips my wrists and lifts them above my head. I feel soft fabric wrapping around one hand, and then I feel a tug as my wrists clamp together. He’s tied me up, and now he’s pressing my hands into the sheets. “Keep them there,” he commands as he uncases another pillow and ties my feet together.
It’s like I weigh nothing when he flips me onto my knees, presses them together, and pushes my chest flat into the bed, my hands straight above me.
He nips at my ass before licking my core and moaning with pleasure. “I’ll leave your ass for another day. Right now, I just want you to take all of me.” His fingers sink in deep, and then he removes them with a chuckle. “Tight and soaking. Perfect.” He runs a palm on my backside, and I feel his body shift. “Get ready, baby.”
But he doesn’t give me time to get ready. Wolf inserts his length, this time slowly, letting my tightness wrap him firmly until I’m so full of him I gasp for air. There’s a growl of satisfaction behind me as Wolf’s hands run the length of my hips, waist, and back. And then he’s curling over me. I can feel his weight and the sticky heat of his breath as it floats across my back before he begins to move.
Well, move might be the wrong word. No, he’s ramming me like it’s punishment, which only intensifies the pleasure. He’s gripping the sides of my breasts as if they’re his last chance of survival in rocky waters. And he’s groaning like he’s fighting to hold onto his release, because letting go could mean the end.
My insides clench on his next plow and everything starts to build quickly after that. I have no chance to stop it or slow it down since he’s tied me up. I can’t control a thing. I’m just here to take his anger, inch by angry inch.
“Wolf,” I warn, but it’s the guttural sound of my insides uncoiling that tells him he’s won.
His hands slide up to my mouth to muffle my screams as he continues to slam into me, never relenting his pressure or speed. So I bite down on his ring finger.
Wolf growls in response and pushes into my center harder, and then faster.
My eyes tear when his next thrust sizzles through me, catching fire and blasting through me like an inferno. I’m convulsing around him, and he’s filling me, every drop surging into me like the rush of a wild river, and I’m crashing … falling …
And when I fall, I can only hope that he’s right there to catch me.