Chapter Nine
Hunter leaped out of his chair, rage guiding his movements. He’d had enough of her lies. She wouldn’t meet his gaze yet she chose to stand behind her lie. Lila was like the rest of the women in his acquaintance. No. She was far worse because she’d nearly had him believing that bullshit she’d been spouting.
He yanked Lila out of her seat and led her out of the dining room, moving so fast she had no choice but to follow him, otherwise she would have fallen.
She tried to pull away, slapping at his arm. “Stop this right now, Hunter! It doesn’t have to be this way.”
He turned to shoot her a glare before continuing on. “Yes it does. I promised you punishment and now it’s time to pay the piper.”
“No! You misinterpreted my words. If you would have given me a chance to explain why I couldn’t do as you asked then maybe you’d calm down.”
“Don’t bother. My bullshit tolerance is extremely low, and I’m not in the mood to hear any more of it.”
Digging her heels in, Lila halted. “What do you plan on doing to me? A-a-are you going to spank me?” she croaked.
Hunter smirked. “As tempting as that sounds, I’ve thought of something much more fitting. For every action, there’s a consequence and you’re about to find out what yours is.”
“Hunter if you go through with this—”
“What? You’ll hate me? I’ve heard that before, remember. It’s time you came up with some new material.” For a brief moment, he caught a glimpse of what looked like fear swimming in her eyes. Guilt surfaced inside of him. She had to know he wouldn’t hurt her physically. But he wouldn’t relent on what he planned on doing. He would make her eat her words. “I would rather you hadn’t tested me on this, but you’ve made your choice so now you’ll have to deal with it.”
Lila’s struggles renewed. Hunter wrapped his arms around her waist and carried her the rest of the way to his bedroom. He dumped her unceremoniously on the bed and then walked over to his closet and pulled out a box he hadn’t used in ages.
He looked over his shoulder to see her watching him, her expression wary. “What is that?” Her eyes darted from side to side as if she were staking out an escape route.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
She tried to scramble off the bed, but he intercepted her, using his body as a blockade.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Hunter opened the box and removed a length of nylon rope and then tossed the container aside.
Lila took a step back. “I won’t let you tie me up.”
Instead of answering her, he laughed menacingly. “Take off your dress.”
“No.” She moved further away from him until her back hit the wall.
Hunter placed the rope on the bed and slowly made his way toward her not stopping until he was only a few inches away.
She held up her hands. “Okay. I’ll do it.” Her anger was palpable.
“I’m glad you’re beginning to see things my way,” he taunted.
“Do I have a choice? If I refused, you’d find a way to bully me into it anyway.”
“Don’t try to worm your way out of this.”
“I’m only voicing the truth. You’re a bully and I despise you for it.”
“You’re starting to sound like a broken record. Do you keep saying it to convince me or yourself? Perhaps you do hate me, but you love what I do to your body, don’t you?”
She placed her hands over her ears. “Shut up!”
He grabbed her arms and pulled them down roughly. “Hit a nerve, didn’t I?”
Lila lashed out at him, her palm connecting with his cheek.
Hunter closed his eyes against the sting of her blow, almost welcoming the physical pain to replace the internal torment.
She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sure you’ve been itching to do that for a long time, haven’t you?”
“I still shouldn’t have done that. I abhor violence.” She trembled and he wondered if it was because she was truly sorry for what she’d done or because she was scared of what he might do to her because of it.
“I don’t want your apology, I want you to undress. Do it now!”
Her lips quivered for a moment and she raised that stubborn chin of hers again before reaching behind her and unzipping her dress. She pushed it down until it fell at her feet. Looking straight ahead, she balled her fists at her side not attempting to cover her naked flesh.
Hunter’s dick sprang to attention at the sight of her delectable naked body. It was insane how he could want a woman as much as he did her. “The panties, too.”
Lila hesitated for the briefest of seconds, but then complied.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the magnificence of her feminine curves, but he wouldn’t allow them to sway him from his course of action. He had to show her who was boss, teach her a lesson. For all the people who’d shunned him, the women who’d hurt him, Lila was the embodiment of them all. So beautiful on the outside, but inside she harbored the heart of the biggest hypocrite.
“You’re no different from anyone else. When these three months are over, you’ll go back to your life and feel better about yourself because you did a noble thing. I know your kind, Lila Saunders. You’re a do-gooder out tilting at windmills and preaching your ‘We are the World’ bullshit. And in the meantime, you sit around patting yourself on the back, wondering how these ignorant people could have possibly gotten along without you. I think it suits your martyr complex to be here right now, doesn’t it? Going toe to toe with the Beast? Do you see yourself as some kind of savior? You’re no better than me.”
Her mouth opened slightly then closed before she spoke. “That isn’t true.”
“Of course it is. Even now you can’t stand the sight of me, but that’s okay, because I intend to break you out of the habit.” He retrieved the rope from the bed. “Give me your wrists.”
Hunter expected her to argue, but instead her shoulders slumped and she slowly presented them. Still, she wouldn’t look at him. That only served to piss him off.
Taking her wrists, he wrapped the rope around them. It had been a long time since he’d included this in his sex play, but with her tied to the bed, she couldn’t turn away from him so easily. Once he was sure the knots were secure, he led Lila to the bed. Where had her fight gone? Why didn’t she protest?
“On the bed,” he ordered.
Again, she complied without another word. Hunter took the end of the rope and looped it around the post, raising her arms above her head.
She lay completely motionless, her lids lowered. He realized the game she was playing. He wouldn’t stand for her passive-aggressive defiance and he knew just how to deal with it.
Once the rope anchoring her arms to the bed was tied to his satisfaction, he undressed with hurried motions, anxious to possess her. He vowed by the time he got through with her, Lila would know who the master of her body truly was. Standing naked, Hunter perused every inch of her frame, contemplating where he’d start first.
He sat down beside her, the bed depressing under his weight, and stroked her cheek. “Look at me,” he whispered softly.
“You have me where you want me and the power to do anything you’d like. Why do you have to keep pushing the issue?”
Hunter clenched his jaw muscle. The gauntlet had been tossed and this was a battle he intended to win. He grazed her flat stomach and then cupped one well-shaped breast. Lowering his head, he flicked her nipple with the tip of his tongue. The little bud came to life, puckering to a taut peak. He took it fully into his mouth and then fondled her breast in his palm.
“Oh,” Lila sighed, her body writhing beneath his ministrations.
His body tightened at her responsiveness. He loved her naturally passionate nature. Tugging the hard tip between his teeth, Hunter applied enough pressure to make her cry out, but not enough to cause serious injury.
Lila’s skin was so soft and tasted so good. Hunter gave her other breast the same treatment until Lila was moaning incoherently, her body wildly wiggling.
Hunter lifted his head then. “Look at me.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, but he wasn’t about to give up. He’d have her surrender by the end of the night if it killed him. Slipping his arms underneath her body, he flipped Lila onto her stomach.
He then pulled her to her knees, forcing her to use her restraint as leverage. She began to tremble. Her apparent fear wasn’t something he wanted, but at least it was an honest emotion. Deep down, he wished it could be different between them, but he was the one who’d made the rules and he’d have to abide by them.
Running his hand down the curve of her back, he didn’t stop until it rested on the seat of her ass. “You have beautiful skin. When I first saw you, this is what I wanted to do.” He placed a light kiss on her shoulder then pushed her hair aside and pressed his lips against the nape of her neck.
As he moved his mouth over her satiny skin, Hunter slid his hand between her legs, pushing them further apart. The inside of her thighs were wet. A small smile touched his lips when he saw this evidence of her arousal. Even if she wanted to fight him, her body would always be her Judas.
He dipped his finger between the cleft of her pussy and rubbed her dewy clit.
“Hunter,” she moaned, squirming against his touch.
“That’s it, sweetheart. Say my name. Know that I’m the one who’s doing this to you,” he whispered against her skin. He rolled the hot button between his thumb and forefinger.
Lila bucked her hips. “Oh God!” She tugged at her restraints as though trying to break free, but Hunter knew it was her fiery nature making her writhe so wildly. It was one of the reasons he’d tied her up in the first place, because a woman as passionate as she would barely be able to stand being bound, unable to use her hands as she willed.
Hunter knew his touch was driving her wild and he loved seeing her so turned on and ready to be fucked. The very scent of her arousal was driving him to the brink of insanity. He’d set out to conquer, but feared he might be the one to succumb to her charms.
He removed his fingers and grasped her ass, spreading her cheeks apart as he studied the beauty of her tight hole resting above her pussy. One of these days, he’d take her in that forbidden place, but tonight he had other plans. Eager to sample her fragrant cunt, he moved behind her. Parting her slick folds, he shoved his tongue into her tight passage.
“That feels so good,” she sobbed, pushing back against his mouth.
Hunter slid his tongue in and out of her channel as he reveled in Lila’s tangy, musky and tantalizing flavor. He could easily get drunk from the very taste of her.
Her body started to shake and he realized her climax was near. Though he wanted to continue, Hunter pulled back.
“Please don’t stop.”
He ran his tongue over her pussy lips to capture the last bit of her cream and sat back, watching her suffer with wanting him.
“Hunter?” Uncertainty making her voice wobble.
“Yes?”
“Why…why did you stop?”
“It’s part of your punishment. You don’t come until I say you do.”
“And when will you say?”
“When you beg for it.”
She gasped her outrage. “I won’t.”
“But I think you will.”
“If you believe that, then you’ll have a very long wait.”
Hunter smirked. “Somehow, I doubt it.” Sliding his fingers into her pussy, he pushed them deep. He could tell she was fighting the urge to respond but soon gave in just as he knew she would.
Lila relaxed her stiffened stance and moved against his thrusts.
Hunter fingered her slowly and then leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “All you have to do is say the words and this can be my dick. Admit you want it, or I swear I’ll stop.”
She bit her bottom lip. It was obvious she was trying to decide what to do. “Yes,” she finally spoke so softly he could barely hear her.
Hunter hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until the tension from waiting on her answer eased out of his body. “I didn’t hear you.”
“Yes!” she yelled, her resentment clear. “Just stop torturing me. I want you. There. Are you happy?”
He was certainly getting to that point, but he was much too horny to gloat. With a swift movement, he flipped Lila on her back again and pushed her knees apart. Without hesitation, he positioned his cock at her entrance. “Look at me.”
When she turned her head, he wanted to pull back, but knew he would be hurting himself as much as her. Hunter pushed into her tight channel with a loud grunt.
Her walls tightened around and gripped his shaft, sucking him so deep, he felt like he would shoot his load right away. His eyes squeezed shut, he moved within her, relishing the feel of her.
“Hunter.”
Hearing his name on her lips was like music to his ears. He opened his eyes and noticed hers were still shut. Something within his snapped. A primal urge to demonstrate his supremacy took over.
He slammed into her so hard, Lila cried out. Hunter continued to plow relentlessly into her, fucking her with a combination of lust, anger and a perverse need to make her pay for making him feel inadequate—like a hideous monster she couldn’t bear to look at.
Despite his rough savagery, she moved with him, taking all he dished out until her body tensed and shook. Lila cried her climax. Her pussy gushed around his cock, but Hunter wasn’t finished with her, not by a long shot.
Gripping her face to ensure she couldn’t turn her head away from him, he rode her even harder. “Open your eyes.”
When they remained closed, he forced her hand. “Open them!” he bellowed, clenching her face in a vise. “Now!”
Slowly her eyelids rose.
“Do you see me? I’m the one who’s fucking and giving you pleasure. Take a good look at me Lila. Can you honestly say that looks don’t matter now?”
She didn’t answer, but the unshed tears in her eyes said it all.
Releasing her face, Hunter screwed her until his orgasm hit him like a series of fireworks going off in his body. He shot his seed deep inside her hot hole. As he gasped for breath, he rolled off her, horrified at what he’d just done.
Why had he let his temper get the best of him? Despite what he thought of her, she didn’t deserve his rough treatment and shame kept the apology lodged in his throat.
Lila lay so still beside him, Hunter wondered what was roaming through her mind. She was probably wishing she was anywhere but here with him at the moment.
He moved to a sitting position and untied the rope from the bedpost. She offered her wrists without being asked and he undid the knots. Hunter then rolled off the bed and grabbed his boxers off the floor, quickly donning them.
It took him a moment to speak as he searched for the appropriate words to say. What could he say after what he’d done? With a frustrated sigh, he raked his fingers through his hair wishing he could go back in time to before he’d ever met her, and then at least he’d have most of his sanity still intact.
“I assure you, this won’t happen again,” he began gruffly.
If he was any kind of gentleman, he’d let Lila out of their agreement, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. The very idea of her walking out of his life and never seeing her again caused him pain. It was ridiculous feeling this way about someone in so short an acquaintance, but Hunter knew if she left, it wouldn’t be something he could get over easily.
“My behavior was inexcusable and for that, I apologize. If you would like to stay in this room tonight, I’ll go to one of the other bedrooms, or you can return to your room whenever you’re ready.”
Lila sat up, massaging her rope-burned flesh. For the first time since she’d arrived, she was looking at him without his directive. “I think I’d like to stay here for the night—with you.”