Chapter Thirteen

Ella

 

I turned over in bed and looked into Beckett’s face. We lay side by side, staring into each other’s eyes, neither of us in a rush to break the silence between us. Something had fundamentally shifted between us, and as cliché as it felt to admit to myself, I felt different. That type of physical contact I had denied myself for so long, that part of myself I had never given to a man, I had given it willingly to him. There was still a dull ache between my legs but it wasn’t unbearable, not compared to the toe-curling pleasure he had given me.

“Did I hurt you?” Beckett stroked his fingers from my shoulder up my arm, touching my wrists lightly. I lifted my hands in front of my face and saw the red marks where he had gripped me, holding me still as he moved inside me. I shook my head.

“No, I feel good. I promise.”

Beckett rolled over and walked around the bed to my side where he bent down and scooped me up into his arms. He carried me across the bedroom into the bathroom where he placed me in the enormous tub and turned on the warm water. It started to pool and collect around me, I wriggled my toes in the stream.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Beckett murmured. He stepped in behind me, pulling my body against his. I sighed as the water lapped against my skin, rising as it filled the tub. It felt incredible and I relaxed against him. Beckett ran his hands over my body, his gentle touch so different from the rough way he had just taken my virginity in his bed. I always thought that I would be afraid, life had taught me that men were brutal and to be feared. There was a brutal side to Beckett, a strength and power to him that was intimidating, but I didn’t fear him. It was the opposite, he made me feel safe. As Beckett wet a cloth and moved it over my body, I closed my eyes and sighed in pleasure while he wiped me down.

“When do you have to go?” he whispered in my ear, his jaw nestling in the crook of my neck as he kissed my earlobe.

“Well, since you told my boss and friends that I would be gone for a while I guess I’m not in much of a rush to go anywhere.”

“You can stay here as long as you like Ella.” Beckett ran the cloth over my breasts, down my stomach and softly between my legs. I let him wash me, surrendering into his arms. I had waited so long to know what this would be like, and I was glad it was him who was my first. He knew what he was doing, he had an intimate knowledge of women’s bodies that I didn’t want to dwell on. I tried not to think of how many women Beckett Carter had slept with, I felt triumphant that even though he had tried to turn me away this had happened between us.

“What would you like to do today Ella?”

I smiled then wriggled my butt against him, rubbing myself between his legs. He gave a low moan and gripped me tighter.

“I’ve created a monster,” he chuckled darkly.

“When we were in bed, you said you’d chain me up if I kept moving my legs. You were kidding, right? You don’t actually do that, do you?”

Beckett ran his fingertips from my neck, down across my chest giving my breast a slight squeeze in his firm grasp.

“I like control Ella. I also like to inflict a bit of pain. I don’t know why I am the way I am, but when I get worked up there’s a violence to me that I can’t suppress.”

“So… it gets rougher?”

I felt him stiffen behind me.

“It doesn’t have to Ella,” his voice was laced with regret. “I don’t want to do anything to scare you. But, I can’t lie to you either. I’m into sex that’s rough and hard. I need to let the dominant side of me out.” He sighed. “I should regret that this was your first sexual experience, but I’m a selfish asshole. The day you walked into my office to write your article, I wanted to bend you over my desk and fuck your brains out.”

I felt my cheeks flush at his blunt honesty. My body was humming, pressed against his muscular chest. Beckett had awoken something in me and, even though I was nervous, I was also overwhelmingly curious about what he wanted to do to me. I turned around until I was facing him, the water lapping at my skin.

“I’m glad I was assigned that article and met you.”

He cocked an eyebrow and his lips pressed together.

“Oh, don’t think I’ve forgotten about that stellar piece of journalism you’re responsible for. I’ve wanted to punish you over it since I read it.”

I bit my lip nervously, squirming at the way he was looking at me. There was an unmistakable threat in his voice, but an edge that hinted that whatever he did to me, I would enjoy it. That I could trust my body in his hands, whatever they were capable of.

“If you hated that one, just wait until you read my feature piece about the Phantom,” I teased. “It’s really going to blow you away.”

Beckett shook his head.

“You’re really asking for it Ella.”

“I can see the headline now,” I continued. I raised my hands in front of me, as if framing my words. “Beckett Carter’s double life revealed.”

Suddenly he stood up, water dripping off his tall muscular body, and he reached down then gripped me around the waist. He threw me over his shoulder and I yelped in surprise, my skin wet and slippery against his shoulder. I kicked my legs, giggling and squirming against him as he marched through the bathroom and into the bedroom. He headed for his closet and yanked open the door, walking inside and pulling a black leather belt out of a wooden drawer. I eyed it cautiously as he carried me back to the bed, setting me on my feet and pointing at the bedpost.

“Put your hands forward.” His voice was deep and husky, his eyes severe as he stared into mine. My heart was racing, my survival instincts telling me to turn and run, but my feet remained planted on the floor while droplets of water beaded on my skin. He watched me, waiting, and I felt my arms moving forward until they were on either side of the thick wooden post.

Beckett placed my wrists together, wrapping the leather belt around them and looping the strap over and over again, pulling it tight. He gripped my arm and shook it, checking that I was secure. There was a wicked glint in his eyes. He was enjoying this.

“Now, Ella, what was it you were threatening me with?”

I bit my lip again, studying his face. The sweet, sensual side of him that caressed me just moments ago in the bath had been replaced with something dark and powerful. I shivered, swallowing the lump in my throat. There were two sides to Beckett Carter, and they both thrilled me in different ways I couldn’t completely understand.

His hand flew through the air and connected with my ass, his palm against my damp skin causing a loud sharp slap to crack in the quiet room. I shrieked and my eyes went wide.

“I asked you a question, Ella,” he drew out each word slowly, a smile on his lips.

“I’m not going to write the article,” I assured him.

His hand connected with my flesh again and I gasped. The pain was sharp, my skin stinging and growing hot.

“When you met me for the interview, when you got your quotes. You should have realized, even then, that I was a man not to be crossed. But you know that now, don’t you Ella?”

His hand came down against me again, I gasped, my ass tingling, my nerve endings on fire. His eyes drilled into mine, a satisfied look on his face. He was liking this. He ran his fingers down over my sore skin, tracing the curve of my marked buttocks until he was swirling against my clit. I groaned and closed my eyes as he stroked me, teasing, until without warning he shoved a finger deep inside me. I bucked against the post, twisting my hands but helplessly held in the position he had placed me in. Beckett leaned his body against mine, his erection grinding against me, as he whispered in my ear.

“Tell me you’re mine,” he growled, then nipped at my neck.

“I’m yours,” I answered, my voice thin and strained as he worked me with his fingers. It felt impossibly good, better than I ever imagined this could feel. I never thought I would let a man touch me, let alone slap and punish me for his own pleasure.

With a shove of his hips Beckett pushed his thick length inside me and I dug my nails into the leather of the belt at my wrists, gasping at the tug as he stretched my body. The painful, delicious, indescribable fullness of him as he pushed steadily inside me. Beckett gripped my hips and started to pump, returning one hand to rub my sensitive clit in small circles, his fingertip moving effortlessly through the slickness between my legs. There was no hiding it, no denying it. My body responded to Beckett using me, to the way he manhandled me over and over again.

His fingers digging into my hip I stabilized myself by putting my shoulder against the wooden beam as Beckett hammered into me, the bedframe shaking with each powerful thrust. I bit my lip, feeling a building inside me. I was too sensitive, his touch was too much, I squirmed and tried to close my legs but he kicked them apart. I shuddered then my mouth fell open as I came, my entire body going slack as electricity moved from my aching bud through my entire core.

Beckett grabbed my hips, holding me up and refusing to let me fall to the floor. My ears were ringing as he slammed against my body, I was dizzy with lust and slick with desire while he easily slipped into me over and over again. His fingers tightened painfully into my hip, grazing the sensitive flesh where he had struck me, as he made a low grunt deep in this throat. I felt his member tremble inside me, then, a new slickness moving through me. Beckett held me against him as he came, a powerful shudder rippling through his entire body as his hands held me firmly in place.

When he was still, he leaned his forehead against my back, trailing his lips across my shoulder to my ear. When he let go of my hips I sank to the floor on my knees, my legs too weak to stand. Beckett reached forward and untied the belt, setting my hands free and scooping me up into his arms. I looked into the seemingly endless depths of his eyes; my rescuer, my captor, my growing obsession.

“I think I have stockholm syndrome,” I told him, trying hard to catch my breath.

Beckett looked down at me with a look of triumph and ultimate possession.

“They’re going to need to come up with a whole new term for what we are, Ella.”