CHAPTER 14
Sarah was giggling by the time she raced inside the front door, Dante following close behind.
“Wait,” he told her sternly.
Sarah stopped and stood by the door until Dante had looked around the house and switched off the alarm system. When he came back, he snatched her by the hand and pulled her into the living room. “Show me.”
“Here?” she squeaked innocently.
“Here. Right now,” he said demandingly.
She knew exactly what he was waiting expectantly to see. After kicking off her shoes, she shimmied the fitted skirt over her ass and up to her waist, her breath hitching as she heard Dante’s low-pitched groan.
She turned around slowly, revealing her bare ass cheeks to him. The minuscule panties were a thong—not her usual underwear of choice, but she’d worn them for him.
“Perfect for what I’m going to do to you,” he threatened as he stepped toward her, eyes blazing. “Sometimes I like it rough, Sarah. I think you want that, too, or you wouldn’t have asked for it.”
“I do,” she breathed softly, her pussy clenching with need. She wanted this man’s hands all over her, and she wanted his intensity right now. “But you’ll have to catch me first,” she called over her shoulder as she sprinted to the kitchen. After exiting through the sliding glass doors, she headed for their one safe area, a place Dante had allowed them to go: the dock on the small private beach behind his house. It was long and narrow until it fanned out at the very end with a sitting area. Dante could see anyone approaching, so they’d started sitting outside at the end of the dock when she needed some fresh air. Sarah sprinted across the short expanse of sand, her feet hitting the wooden dock at a mad dash. She ran full speed until she reached the end of the dock, panting.
Dante was right behind her, his long legs eating up the distance down the dock. He stopped before he reached her. “You shouldn’t have run outside like that. Nowhere to go. What are you going to do now? You can’t get past me, and I don’t think you’re planning to jump into the water.”
Sarah’s heart was racing, her pussy flooding as she watched Dante stalk her. “I can swim,” she informed him, stepping closer to the edge of a dock she had no intention of using to leap into the ocean. The dress she was wearing had been one of Emily’s picks and probably was quite pricey, and really, she had no desire to run very far from Dante. There was no way she was swinging her leg over the waist-high slatted fence around the end of the dock and plunging into the Atlantic Ocean.
Dante prowled closer, removing his suit jacket as he moved slowly forward, and then started unknotting his tie. “You aren’t jumping.”
He knew her all too well, but Sarah stepped closer to the edge, so close that her ass bumped into the wooden railing. Grasping on to it, she said confidently, “I might.” Not!
“Take the dress off, Sarah,” Dante demanded sternly. “Now.” He hit the switch on the tiny lamp at the end of the dock, flooding it with dim light. He pulled the gun out from the small of his back and set it carefully on the wooden dock in an area that wouldn’t get wet, within reach but out of the way.
Her nipples hardened at the sound of his harsh order, but she wasn’t ready to give up yet. “Make me,” she challenged him, sending him a defiant look.
His expression turned stormy as he lunged forward and trapped her body between the railing and his muscular form. He grasped both sides of the halter and jerked, the dress splitting completely down the front. “I just did.” He pulled roughly at the halter tie, making the bow come loose and the garment slide from her body to the dock floor. “I can make you do anything I want right now,” he informed her gutturally, pulling the pins from her hair and letting the curls fall to her shoulders.
Sarah hardly noticed the dress. She was too busy being mesmerized by his unyielding gaze. Her body quaked as she suddenly felt her wrists being restrained. She glanced down and saw he’d used his tie to wrap both of her wrists together, the ends of the tie flapping in the light breeze. Tugging against the restraint, she found herself bound tightly enough so she couldn’t separate her wrists. “Can you?” she asked in a sultry, low voice that she couldn’t control.
Dante slowly dropped the zipper on his pants and let them fall, stepping out of them to leave him only in a pair of black silk boxers. “I want you to get down on your hands and knees on the blanket, and I want you to do it willingly.”
There was a blanket spread out in the corner of the dock, one that they always left there to sit on as they felt the spray of the waves on their faces and the light, cooling breeze of the ocean through the open slats of the fencing.
Sarah hesitated, but somehow she knew he wanted her to do this without him forcing her into it. He wanted to know if she wanted to continue to play or stop. “Punishment time?” she asked, her nipples hardening to painful peaks.
“Pleasure time,” he answered gruffly.
With her hands still tied, she walked to the blanket and went down to her knees, excitement making every nerve ending in her body come alive. “What now?” In her heightened state of arousal, she was ready to give him anything, everything.
Dante lowered himself onto the blanket beside her and demanded, “Bend over.” He made a pad for her elbows by wadding the blanket up to protect her skin.
Sarah went down with Dante guiding her. She squirmed, her body more than ready for him. The anticipation was nearly killing her.
“Spread your legs,” he insisted hoarsely.
Sarah could hear the need vibrating in his voice, and she knew that her sexual obedience turned him on even more than her defiance. She parted her legs, her heart pounding as she trembled with need. “Please,” she begged, not even knowing what she wanted.
His hand moved to the cheeks of her ass, stroking the bare skin. Sarah could feel the gentle rocking of the dock and the light mist of the waves that was starting to make her body slightly damp. Every crashing wave just seemed to increase the wildness in her soul.
She moaned loudly as Dante’s fingers delved underneath her panties and stroked through her folds.
“Jesus, you’re wet. Does this make you burn, Sarah? Do you want me?”
Oh, dear God. “Yes,” she panted, her ass wriggling high in the air as she tried to manipulate his fingers where she wanted them.
“Should we talk about your teasing now?” he asked her, his voice heated with arousal and passion, as he stroked his fingers through her folds. “Or should we discuss the fact that you ran out of the house tonight without even looking around first?” He finally gripped the flimsy panties and yanked them from her body in one strong pull.
He had complete access and he took advantage of it, stroking her clit lightly, sending waves of pleasure through her body before he firmly smacked her ass. “Oh . . .” she moaned, the sting on her butt cheeks making her even wetter.
Smack.
Smack.
Smack.
Smack.
Her body jerked with every connection of his palm to her ass cheeks. He wasn’t gentle, and the firm strokes stung. Sarah let her head fall forward as she felt him delve between her thighs again, the combination of pleasure and pain about to drive her mad. His palm stroked her heated rear gently as he asked, “Are you sorry for teasing me?” His finger slid over her clit again, applying even more pleasure.
“No,” she moaned, knowing her denial would get her more of his irresistible dominance. She was giving him permission to take this as far as he wanted to take it.
The strokes to her ass came swift and heavy, and it stung so good. This time, when his fingers teased her clit, stroking through her wet heat, she heard him groan. He slid two fingers into her channel and pumped hard. “Are you sorry now?” he grunted.
Sarah moved her hips back to meet the deep strokes of his fingers, needing him to fill her now. “Yes. Just fuck me, Dante. Please.”
He didn’t. Instead, he lay down on his back and pulled her hips back until she was straddling his mouth and he squeezed her fiery ass, devouring her pussy at the same time.
Sarah’s scream rang out into the dark night, mingling with the sound of the waves crashing to the shore. Dante squeezed and lowered her pussy flush with his face, using his whole mouth, nose, and tongue to consume her, to feast on her as she moaned with ecstasy, her body trembling from the intensity of her pleasure. The combination of the pain of his grip on her blazing ass and his fierce hunger for her pussy were pushing her way over the edge of desire and into insanity.
“Oh, God. Dante!” She shuddered and let go of a hoarse cry as her climax seized her body and wouldn’t let go. Riding the waves of pleasure, she gripped the wadded-up blanket, trying to hang on to anything that would keep her from flying off into the stratosphere.
Moving urgently, he plunged his cock into her from behind as her channel was still clenched from her orgasm. Sarah heard him groan harshly as he buried himself balls-deep inside her. A corresponding moan escaped her lips as he stretched her, making her take every single inch of his cock so deeply that the satisfaction was almost too much to bear. In this position, he went deeper, filled her harder, and he grasped her hips and pounded into her, slapping her ass with every forceful stroke.
“Come for me,” he commanded, his deep, graveled voice full of uncontrolled arousal.
Sarah shook her head, her body so aroused, so sensitized that she didn’t think she could come again without losing her mind. “I can’t.”
Dante grasped a lock of her hair and pulled her head up. “You can, and you will.”
He insisted that she climax again with every deep thrust of his cock, his groin slapping against her ass with every strong entry. One of his hands left her hip and slid between her thighs, brushing over her clit with rough fingers. Gathering the bud between his thumb and index finger, he pinched her clit lightly, exerting pressure as he slammed into her channel over and over, frenzied.
Sarah imploded. Her body shuddered hard, her climax pounding through her body, almost in sync with the roaring of the waves hitting the shore. She heard Dante’s coarse, guttural cry as he found his own release, pulling her hips hard against his and burying himself deeply as he growled, “Mine!”
Her chest heaving, Sarah relished the word, feeling like she’d just been thoroughly claimed.
Leaning against her back, Dante quickly slipped the knot that was holding her hands and then collapsed on his back, rolling and turning her with his muscular arms around her waist until she was sprawled over his body.
Sarah could hear Dante’s heart pounding in the same rapid rhythm as hers as she laid her head on his chest. The swaying of the dock and the gentle mist that cooled their heated bodies lulled Sarah slowly back into reality. Dante lifted her chin and kissed her gently, wrapping his arms around her body as they both lay there on the dock, completely sated.
Finally he spoke huskily, “Sweetheart, you aren’t going to be able to sit down comfortably tomorrow.” He ran his hand gently down her back and caressed her bottom.
“Your fault for getting so kinky,” she told him with a sigh.
“I think you have a kinky streak yourself,” he said with a hint of amusement.
She had to admit, “I think I do, actually. But you said you’d teach me everything. I’m a fast learner.”
Dante chuckled. “So now you know what happens when you tease me.”
Sarah smiled. “I think I’ll do it again fairly soon. I think I like it when you go all crazy dominant on me, sexually. Just don’t try going that far outside of our sexual relationship or I’ll knee you in the balls.”
Dante’s booming laughter rang out in the humid night air, a sound that made Sarah’s heart squeeze tightly in her chest. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” Dante choked out while he was still laughing.
“Good.” Sarah knew Dante was an alpha male, but he respected her. However, she wasn’t going to complain if he decided he wanted to go completely controlling dominant again in the bedroom someday. He stirred a wildness in her that she had never known existed.
“Are you cold?” Dante asked, concerned.
She was damp and had just noticed she was shivering. “A little,” she admitted.
Dante slipped out from under her and started picking up his clothing, holding up the remnants of her red dress and tattered panties as he muttered, “I think you’ll need a large supply of these.”
“I don’t usually wear thong underwear. They annoy me,” she mentioned casually.
“Then why wear them?” he asked with a frown.
“Because I wanted to turn you on,” she admitted.
“Here’s a news flash for you, sweetheart: you turn me on no matter what you’re wearing.” He grinned at her sinfully as he offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet. “Hold these.” He handed her his pile of clothes with his Glock sitting on top of them.
She looked at the gun and took the pile gingerly. She squealed as he lifted her up in his arms, her body clad in only the garter and stockings. “Careful. I have your gun,” she said nervously.
“Sorry. I don’t exactly have any place to put it at the moment,” he replied mischievously.
Sarah laughed as she wrapped one arm around his muscular shoulders and held his bundle with the other. “In that case, I think I’d better hang on to it.”
Dante strode down the dock, his long legs eating up the distance. Sarah opened the slider and Dante walked in, looking around the house and deactivating the alarm again to give himself time to turn Sarah around so she could lock the door.
After resetting the security system, they sprinted up the stairs, and he took the pile of clothing from her before lowering her gently to the bed. Then he set his Glock on the nightstand before he knelt and rolled the damp stockings down her legs. He stripped off the wet garter belt and wrapped her in a blanket from the closet. “Better?” he asked anxiously.
“Better,” Sarah agreed, smiling at him as she wrapped the blanket around her body. Dante was amazing, and had so many beguiling facets to his personality. He had been giving her a rough, screaming orgasm just a short while ago, and now he was showing his nurturing side. There were so many others that it astounded her: dominant, demanding, bossy, tender, sweet, protective, and totally possessive. Each one touched her in a different way.
She watched as he rummaged through the drawer, pulling out a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and putting them on. Sighing, she mourned as he covered his powerful legs and tight ass. But she still ogled his six-pack abs and muscular chest.
He’s so damn perfect.
His bruises had faded, and his other wounds were nearly healed. He’d always have the scar on his cheek, but even that would eventually fade until it was barely noticeable. Dante grew facial hair fast and had a five o’clock shadow well before it was actually five o’clock. Once his face was covered in stubble, the scar wasn’t noticeable at all. Even when it was visible, it just made him more rugged. Men definitely wore their scars better than women.
“Are my scars really as bad as I see them sometimes?” she asked Dante quietly.
He sat on the bed beside her, frowning. “How do you see them?”
“Ugly. Sometimes I don’t think they’re really that bad, and that they healed pretty well. Some of the cuts were jagged, so I know they show. But I guess I see them as glaringly hideous and deforming at times. Emily always swears she can hardly notice them, and only if she’s really looking for them very closely,” she confided.
“I thought you were over that. I thought you realized that nobody notices them,” Dante rasped. “What changed?”
“Something my mother said today. It’s not really important. I just wondered.” Sarah wished she hadn’t even mentioned it. For the most part, she was over feeling unattractive because of some of her scars. Dante had helped her considerably not to be self-conscious. Unfortunately, her mother had hit a vulnerable spot today.
“What did she say?” Dante asked angrily. “Talk to me.”
“She said that I need an intellectual man to see past my scars, someone who isn’t as interested in sex,” she admitted in a rush.
“No, you don’t. All you need is me. And I’m very interested in fucking you on a daily basis, more if possible.” He paused before asking, “Do you want the honest truth?”
Sarah took a deep breath and nodded.
“I don’t see your scars. I never really have. I thought you were beautiful from the first time I saw you, and that’s never changed and never will. I crave you like a goddamn addiction, and it wouldn’t matter what kind of scars you had,” he finished solemnly.
Sarah looked at his earnest, stubborn expression and sighed. “That’s because you’re crazy. The scars are there.” Her heart melted, belying her words. Dante was special, and he already saw past her scars. He always had.
“Emily’s right. If I try to look at you without a raging hard-on—which almost never happens, by the way—they’re not noticeable.” He tipped her chin up and Sarah looked into the depths of his eyes. He was telling her the truth, his truth. “We all have scars, sweetheart. Some are on the outside, and some are so deep inside us that they never heal. Yours did heal, and they’re a symbol of just how brave and resilient you are. Never be ashamed of them. They’re part of who you are.”
Dante’s words were so eloquent that it made her want to cry. “Are you forever scarred inside because Patrick died?” Sarah asked gravely, wondering if he’d ever get over the death of his partner.
“No,” Dante answered honestly. “I still hurt, and I’ll always miss him, but I think he would have wanted me to live my life the best way I can because he can’t anymore. He was a good man who didn’t deserve to die. But I’ll keep taking care of his wife and son the best way I can. I think that’s the best way to honor him.”
Sarah nodded. “I think so, too. How are they doing?” Sarah knew that Dante called Karen and Ben almost every day.
“Surviving,” Dante said regretfully. “Karen’s strong for Ben. And Ben’s an exceptional kid. Every day will get easier for them. They have each other.”
“Did they know you’re a billionaire Sinclair? Did anyone?” She’d wanted to ask him that since the outpouring of pleas had come in through her answering service. Now she understood why everyone had called. Dante Sinclair was an extraordinary man.
Dante shook his head. “I never wanted anyone to know, and after a while, it wasn’t important. I didn’t want to be judged worthy because of the family I was born into. I wanted to be judged on my own merit.”
God, he was amazing. Sarah couldn’t imagine any other guy who wouldn’t want to flaunt the fact that he was incredibly rich and born of one of the most prestigious families in the country. “Why do I have a feeling you somehow made sure Karen and Ben were going to be fine for the rest of their lives?”
“I did. I donated some money to them anonymously. I know Karen. She’ll invest the money, and she’ll have money from the police department. She’ll be fine financially, and Ben will be able to go to any college he wants, pursue his own dreams. Karen’s educated, and she wants to go back to work now that Ben is almost grown.”
“You’re amazing,” she told him reverently. “Do you miss your job? I know you can’t stay here forever.”
“I’m staying until this asshole is caught. I’ll be on leave from the department as long as necessary.”
The thought of Dante leaving ripped her heart to pieces. “It could take forever,” she told him sadly.
“Then I guess you’ll have to put up with my ornery ass for a very long time,” Dante grumbled.
She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. Sarah decided to let tomorrow take care of itself. Dante was a gift to her, and she’d enjoy him while he was still here. She’d never regret being with him or the time she’d spent with him, because Dante had taught her so much, awakened her soul. She would always be grateful to him, even if it meant she’d suffer the pain of disconnecting from him later. Whatever the future outcome, she knew Dante had changed the way she looked at herself and life. Her brain told her that what they had experienced together would have to be enough, even though her heart was telling her something completely different.