“Hands above your head, Princess,” he commands. His voice is cold steel, hard and uncompromising--I obey.

He leans over the side of the bed and pulls out a black piece of fabric. I realize it’s a hood just as he pulls it over my head. I try not to panic, but I suck in quick, frantic breaths that pull the fabric against my mouth. I feel like I’m suffocating, like I can’t breathe. My hands instinctively come down to pull at the mask, but he pins them still.

“I’m here,” he says softly. His voice is close and comforting. “In and out. You can breathe perfectly fine, you’re just surprised. Easy. Easy.”

His hand splays across my chest, pressing down slightly and helping me focus on my breathing. Calm. Controlled. Normal. After a few seconds I realize he’s right, I can breathe completely fine.

“Sorry, I jus--”

“Do you remember the safe word?” he asks.

My heartbeat quickens. Why is he asking me this now? What is he planning? “Yes, Sir,” I say.

“Good. I’m not tying you in this position, but if you move, I will be forced to punish you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Sir,” I whisper.

I feel the bed shift under me and bounce back as he leaves. His bare feet slap softly against the tile and get quieter as he walks to the other side of the room. A wooden drawer that’s well made and barely audible glides open. He picks up something heavy and then something lighter, plastic, maybe.

I hear a sharp snapping sound and can’t place it at first, not until I smell the faint odor of smoke and burning wax. A lighter and a candle. But why?

Something hot splashes on the small of my back and my body reflexively tries to curl in on itself. I hold firm though, remembering his command. But if this isn’t punishment, what is?

“Pain and pleasure are easily confused,” he says slowly.

Another drop of wax lands between my shoulder blades. I scrunch my eyes against the brief heat.

“We understand it as children, but seem to forget as adults. It’s the same way love and hate are so near to one another. A girl likes a boy, and...”

A drop right above the crease of my ass this time. My mouth opens slightly and my eyebrows draw down. The skin there must be more sensitive, because the brief explosion of heat is more intense.

“And the girl shows the boy she likes him by chasing him and teasing him on the playground. One powerful emotion mingles with another, and instead of canceling the other out, they only intensify. The two together are greater than they would be apart.”

Another drop lands on the back of my thigh. I press my legs together, breathing out slowly and focusing on his words, the sensual sound of his voice and the way it washes over me.

I nearly gasp out loud when his hand slides up the inside of my thigh. The movement is slow, seductive, and has every inch of my skin tingling in response.

“The pain intensifies the pleasure,” he says, as if in explanation. “Hot and cold. Fire and ice. Your body will try to grow accustomed to the stimulation. If I give you only pleasure, the sensation will lose its intensity. But,” he says softly just as another drop of wax drops against my calf. “Even the slightest pain can reset the dial.” His fingers move against my slit, which is hot and wet for him, throbbing with need.

His touch is like an explosion. The slightest movement makes me shudder and dig my fingers into the pillows, biting down. “Oh, God,” I gasp.

Jackson’s strong hands flip me over and press my legs apart. The hood is pulled off my head and I squint against the now-bright light. My vision doesn’t adjust immediately, and his powerful body over mine is hazy and a blur. The light behind him halos his silhouette making him seem like something divine. And as the detail comes back bit by bit, I’m not so sure he isn’t. His skin is temptingly smooth, cut and carved with muscle. There’s not an ounce of fat on him.

My eyes trace the endless rack of abs and the sharp V of muscle pointing toward his very large, very erect cock.

I can’t move. I’m not bound or tied to the bed in any way, but I might as well be. His power over me in this moment is so absolute that I couldn’t move if I wanted to. I’m his. I’m at his complete command.

My muscles tighten when he plants his hands beside my head and lowers himself over me, bending his neck to kiss me tenderly. He pulls back just enough to look me in the eyes. “Stay with my voice. Focus on it. Be with me, here. Nowhere else. Just here,” he says, kissing my cheek and the side of my neck. “Only here,” he whispers as I feel something press against my opening.

My heart races. My chest heaves. It’s going to happen. It’s really, finally going to happen. I expected to feel so many things, but the fear and doubt are completely dulled. My entire body tingles like an electric current is flowing through me, and everywhere Jackson touches is a point of perfect, white heat that relaxes me. It’s impossible to be afraid when he’s in control. He’s my dom, and all I need to do is submit to him. It’s so simple, but in the simplicity is a freedom, a perfect release.

“My voice,” he repeats between kisses. “Focus on it.”

I do. I listen as he whispers commands in my ear, studying the sound of his words, the deep rumble from his chest and the smooth way the sounds leaves his mouth. When I listen hard enough, I can almost feel it vibrating within me, part of me.

His cock still sits just against my opening, the only movement his mouth against me.

“Now,” he says. “Let your body focus where it will.”

He falls silent and drives his hips forward. It’s a slow, but purposeful movement. There’s a slight pinching at first as my walls have to stretch for him, but it’s gone as quickly as it came. I feel something give with a brief jolt of pain as he pushes deeper, and then it’s only pleasant, unbelievable warmth and fullness. The sensations he ignited in me come flooding back all at once. I throw my head back and my mouth opens in a silent gasp.

I cum like I’ve never cum before. I convulse in on myself, digging my fingers into his arms to keep anchored, as if I might be washed away with the force of this moment. When I finally manage to fill my lungs, I hear a sound coming from my own mouth I don’t recognize. I can’t stop it though, and I moan shamelessly, working my hips into him, desperate for more friction and more sensation, feeling my core clenching around him.

I force my eyes open and look into his. He looks down at me with an expression I can only think of as possessive, like he has claimed me and he’s proud to know I’m his. Like he has marked me. I’m surprised to find a pride of my own to be owned by him.

“I’m sorry,” I say when the last of my orgasm has finally faded.

He’s still inside me, huge cock pulsing with his heartbeat. I could lay like this for hours, just knowing we’re joined so intimately, savoring in the sensation and the knowledge of his presence.

“Never be sorry for what just happened,” he says huskily. “You were more perfect than you can ever know.”

“But I only lasted like two seconds before I…”

He silences me with a tender kiss, grinning as he pulls back. “Princess, you did exactly what you were supposed to do. Besides, it’s only guys who need to apologize if they cum too fast. If you thought you were only going to have one orgasm tonight, you’re in for a surprise.”

I raise my eyebrows and then let my head fall back into the pillow. He starts to move himself inside me again, and I realize it’s going to be a long, unbelievable, and unforgettable night.