The entire meal, I think about Mal peeling my dress to my waist.

Binding my wrists to his headboard.

Spreading my legs and diving between them.

The entire drive home, he keeps his palm placed on my thigh. His thumb strokes my quad. His fingers stroke my inner thigh. They get closer and closer to where they need to be.

When he parks, and pulls his hand back, all that pent up anticipation pools in my core. God, I can't believe it's possible to be this achy. This needy. This desperate.

I'm not sure how I get out of the car and follow Mal into the house. Walking is nearly impossible with the way my sex is throbbing.

He presses his palm against my lower back and nods to the kitchen. "You want something to drink?"

"No."

"To eat?"

"Mal…"

"You want to come on my hand?"

My yes is more groan than word.

Mal's smile is somehow playful and demanding at once. It shouldn't be possible for him to make me feel like it's safe that I'm jumping into freefall, but he is.

His hand slides to my ass as he leads me up the stairs. With every step, my thighs beg for his hands.

Mal pulls my body into his as he leads me into the bedroom. We've been here before, but this feels different.

More intense.

More intimate.

It's in his posture. In his breath—it's steadier, heavier.

He pulls his hand back to his side to take a seat on the bed. He looks inviting just sitting there, one palm planted at his side, his posture strong and confident.

His deep blue eyes fix on mine. "Come here."

I take a seat on the bed next to him.

Mal gives me a long, slow once-over as he drags his fingertips up my thigh. He gets higher, higher, there-

Fuck.

His fingers brush my clit, over my panties.

Oh.

The panties.

His voice drops to something entirely demanding. "You weren't supposed to wear these."

"I know."

He takes my arms and pulls my body onto his legs. My stomach is pressed against his legs. My palms are flat on the bed. My ass—

Fuck.

Slowly, Mal rolls my dress up my thighs. Higher and higher and higher. Over my ass. All the way to my waist.

His fingers trace a line from the back of my knee, up my leg, over the curve of my ass.

His cock is pressed against my stomach. His jeans and my bunched dress are in the way, but there's no denying how hard he is.

There's certainly no denying how wet I am.

Mal lets out a soft groan as he traces the line of my panties over my hips, to the v of my thong, down the seam of my ass, over my sex. "It's not a punishment if you want it."

I swallow hard. I can't believe how much I want it.

"Tell me why I shouldn't send you home wanting."

Every molecule of my body protests. "Mal…"

"You're lucky I don't get off on punishment, baby."

"What do you get off on?"

"That need in your voice."

The zigzags he draws over the thong's fabric send wave after wave of lust to my core. God, I hate this scrap of fabric. Why did I wear it? Those fingers could be on my bare skin.

I'm never wearing panties again.

"Knowing you want me more than you've ever wanted anything." He rubs me over my panties until I'm so fucking close to the edge I can't take it. "Knowing you trust me."

"I do."

"I know." He brings his hands to my thighs, repositioning my body for something—I don't know. "You want me to spank you, baby?"

"Yes."

"Count for me, out loud."

"How many—"

"Ten."

I nod as I attempt to swallow my anticipation. It doesn't work. It seeps into every molecule of my body. My sex, my thighs, my breasts, my lips, my arms, even my fingers and toes need Mal.

He pulls his hand into the air and brings it down on my ass with a hard smack.

"One."

It only barely stings.

He does it again, a little harder.

"Two."

Again. Harder.

"Three."

Hard enough it hurts.

"Four."

Again.

"Five."

The sting of pain only makes me achier. Needier.

"Six."

The next spanking is hard enough it hurts as much as it feels good.

"Seven."

The sting of pain sends endorphins flooding through my body. They wake up my nerves. They amplify my pleasure.

And the feel of his hard cock against my stomach—

Again.

"Eight."

I let out a low, deep groan. My sex is aching. Every part of me is aching.

He holds his hand up in the air until the anticipation has me buzzing.

His palm comes down against my flesh.

"Nine." It's a groan as much as it's a word.

Again, he makes me wait. I press my knees together. I clench my toes. I tug at the sheets as I suck a breath through my teeth.

Smack! His hand comes down hard on my ass. The sting goes out to every inch of my body.

"Ten," I breathe.

He slides my panties to my knees, then he's dragging his fingertips over the backs of my thighs. He spreads my legs a little wider. "You're fucking soaked, baby."

I groan a yes.

"You want it that much?"

"Yes." I arch my back to lift my ass into the air. "Please."

"Please… what?"

"Make me come. Please." My voice breaks into a whine, but I don't care. I'm that desperate.

Fuck, I'm ready to throw a temper tantrum.

My body is buzzing.

My sex is aching.

His fingertips skim the backs of my thighs. The curve of my ass.

He plants one hand on my lower back, holding me in place.

But he's not touching me properly yet.

I squirm.

I shake.

I bite my tongue to keep from whining.

"Fucking beautiful, Lacey." His fingertips skim my inner thigh.

Higher.

Higher.

Almost.

There.

In one swift motion, Mal slides a finger inside me. Then another. A third.

I'm dripping wet, but he's still stretching the limits of what I can take. He pushes deeper. Deeper. Deep enough it hurts.

He pulls out enough to do it again.

Again.

Fuck, that feels good.

I feel full. Whole.

Then his thumb brushes against my clit and a wave of pleasure spreads out through my body.

"Mal," I breathe.

"You want more, baby?"

My yes barely registers as a word, but he must understand. His touch gets harder.

Faster.

He fucks me with his fingers.

He rubs me with his thumb.

My sex clenches.

I'm close.

I rock my hips to meet his hands. I shake. I squirm. I groan incomprehensible things.

"Mal… Fuck… Don't stop."

His response is a low, deep groan. He presses down on my back just enough to remind me of the prize waiting in his jeans.

Fuck, he's hard.

And I want that.

And I want this.

And—

Fuck.

With the next thrust of his fingers, I go over the edge. All that tension in my sex unleashes. I pulse so hard I see white.

Pleasure spreads out through my pelvis, my torso, my thighs.

He drags his fingers down my thigh. With his other hand, he helps me into a seated position.

His arms slide around my waist.

He pulls me into his lap, his cock against my sex but those damn jeans in the way.

The look in his eyes is intense and demanding. He's demanding my body but he's giving so much of himself in exchange.

My eyelids flutter closed as I lean in to kiss him. He tastes good and his lips are soft and his tongue is claiming my mouth like it was built for him.

He pushes my dress off my shoulders and down my chest.

He unhooks my bra and peels it off my skin.

I'm naked except for the dress bunched at my waist.

Naked for him.

His.

Right now, it doesn't matter that I'm only his for a while. It doesn't matter that my entire life is in free fall. It certainly doesn't matter that my feelings for Mal are growing at an alarming rate.

All that matters is his body against mine.

Pleasing him.

Him pleasing me.

His fingers sink into my hips as he pulls my body onto his. I grind against him.

Fuck, the friction of his denim against my tender flesh.

When he pulls back, I'm shaking with desire.

His blue eyes fix on mine. "Go sit back against the headboard."

"Now?"

"Now." He watches as I slink out of his lap and take a spot at the head of the bed. Mal's eyes pass over me slowly. Like I'm a work of art. Like I'm the fucking Mona Lisa. "Take off your dress."

I pull it over my head and toss it aside. I'm naked for him. It's not like when I was naked with Adam. I always felt a little self-conscious, a little like I didn't stack up.

Mal stares at me in a way that convinces me I really am the hottest woman in the universe.

The desire in his eyes pushes away everything but my desperate need for his body.

He shifts off the bed and pulls restraints from under the mattress. His touch is gentle, soft, as he cuffs my left wrist. He drags his fingers up my arm and over my chest, then he's moving onto the bed to finish tracing the line.

He slings his leg over me, straddling me.

He leans down and plants a hard kiss on my lips. I'm only halfway bound. My free hand goes straight to his hair and it tugs hard. That gets him nipping at my lower lip.

Grinding his hips against mine.

When he shifts to my right side, my body whines. Is it possible to die from the weight of desire? Right now, it feels like it.

He finishes tracing that line all the way up my right arm and over my index finger. He's just as slow about cuffing my right wrist. "You know why I'm tying you up?"

I tug at them to test them. They're snug enough to keep me in place without cutting off my circulation. "Because I asked you to."

"Yeah, but you know why I want you bound to my bed?"

"No," I breathe.

He shifts onto the bed so he's sitting at my waist. He drags his fingers up my stomach and over my chest. "It's the only way to force you to take all the pleasure I want to give you."

"Mal…"

"You're going to come until you beg me to stop."

"Then?"

"Then you're going to come on my cock." His eyes fix on mine as he toys with my nipples, the right then the left. His touch gets harder. Rougher. "Spread your legs."

I do.

He plays with my nipples with one hand and slides the other between my legs. I'm already hypersensitive.

The brush of his thumb is enough to make me shudder.

His thumb and forefinger press against my nipple with a soft pinch.

His other thumb rubs against my clit. Harder.

The next pinch is harder.

He rubs me harder.

He stares into my eyes with this look that commands me. It pushes me over the edge. With the next brush of his thumb, I come. My sex pulses with a hard, fast orgasm.

But Mal doesn't stop. He keeps his thumb pad pressed against my clit, making these perfect slow circles.

He holds my gaze as he works me.

Fuck. The pressure in my sex is intense. It hurts as much as it feels good.

I have to close my eyes.

I try to reach for Mal, but my wrists catch on the cuffs. I'm restrained. I'm at his mercy.

And he's torturing me by taking me to the edge again.

With the next brush of Mal's thumb, I come again. Fuck. That's intense. I can feel the pulsing of my sex all the way in my toes.

And his thumb is still on me.

He's still working me.

It's too much. Too intense. I can't take it.

"Where are you, baby?" His deep voice calls my attention.

"Yellow."

He pulls his hand to my stomach. The way he touches me is all softness and affection. He's taking care of me.

Not just my body, but my heart and my mind and my soul too.

My eyes flutter open. I look up at Mal with a nod.

Slowly, he drags his hand up my thigh. Then it's his thumb on my clit. He rubs me with those slow circles.

The tension in my sex builds.

Almost.

There.

I scream his name as I come. I shudder. I shake. I stare back at him with a plea in my eyes. When that doesn't work, I resort to words. "Fuck me."

He presses his palm against my inner thigh and pins my leg to the bed. "Beg me."

"Please, Mal…" I spread my legs wider. I squeeze the sheets with my toes. I'm not sure I can take more sensation, but I don't care. I need him filling me. I need it more than I've ever needed anything. "Please fuck me."

He pins my other leg to the bed.

"Please." My voice breaks into a whine, but I don't care about that either. I stare back at his eyes. The intensity of his expression sets me on fire. "I need you inside me."

"Fuck, Lacey." His nails dig into my skin as he pushes my legs apart. "Look at me."

I do.

"I want to watch the pleasure spread over your face as I split you in half."

He kneels on the bed between my legs. Slowly, he lifts me and brings my body towards his.

There.

His cock brushes against my sex. It's only a hint. Only a taste.

He teases again and again.

He teases until I'm dizzy.

"Mal," I breathe. "Please." I say it again and again. It's the only word in my brain. The only word in my universe.

"Eyes on me, baby."

I force myself to stare back into his eyes. It's intense. Intimate.

With one swift motion, he drives into me.

Fuck, that feels good.

His flesh against mine. Nothing in the way.

It's too much. I have to close my eyes. I relax into his touch, his movements, his guidance.

He keeps his hands on my hips, bringing my body onto his as he drives into me.

I'm already so fucking worked up. I need him inside me. I need him filling me.

But I can't take more.

His next thrust pushes me to the edge.

My hips rock.

My wrists strain against my cuffs.

I look back at Mal, at this beautiful, powerful man who's using every bit of his force to bring me pleasure.

He's fucking perfect.

This is fucking perfect.

Fuck-

With his next thrust, I go over the edge. It's intense. The pulse of my orgasm is painful, but the bliss that follows is divine.

I have nothing left.

I sink into his touch, into his motions.

He can see it. He pins me to the bed and brings his body onto mine. Then it's his lips on my lips.

He kisses me, hard, as he drives into me.

As he thrusts through his orgasm.

As he shakes and shudders and groans against my lips.

Fuck, he feels good pulsing inside me.

Once he's spilled every drop, he pulls out and places his body next to mine. He takes his time undoing my restraints, checking my wrists, my fingers, my forearms.

Then he wraps me in his arms and holds me until I fall asleep.

And it's fucking perfect.