Summer faded into fall, and before I knew it, it had been two and a half months. That was how long Ryland and I had been playing his game.

It was strange how things had evolved between us. We had a routine now. My weekends belonged to him, and they were spent at his home on Belvedere Island. We still had our hotel visits too, usually twice a week. He was a busy man, and it didn’t leave him a lot of free time. What little he did have, he spent with me.

I didn’t have any illusions. It was still a game to him. But I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep my heart out of it.

I never knew what to expect from him. The sex could be anything from sweet and gentle to downright insane. Ryland had dark days. Days when he needed to exorcise his demons, and he would use me to do it. I accepted the pain he doled out with open arms. I was long past being ashamed of it. When he was in one of those moods, he could fuck me for hours and never stop.

For some reason, those times were the most intimate between us. Those sessions were crazy and addicting, and I got high even thinking about them. But they scared me too. Ryland’s darkness was a double edged sword. The very thing that held us together was also the thing threatening to tear us apart.

He spoke of it as though it were an entity that lived inside of him. And if that were true, then like all unwelcomed house guests, I thought surely it could be banished. But when I looked into his tormented eyes, I didn’t want him to change. I wanted him to find happiness. Even if it was only fleeting.

 

***

 

 

Ryland was on the phone when I walked into his office, and I hovered near the door uncertainly. He gestured for me to close it, and then come to him. I did.

The minute I was within reach, he pulled me into his lap. My head fell against his chest and his fingers feathered over my back while he continued to speak. He sounded irritated. Something hadn’t gone his way at the meeting today.

When he finally got off the phone, his head fell back against the leather chair with a groan.

“You called for me?” I asked.

“I did.”

He was still stroking my back, his eyes closed.

“I have another meeting in thirty minutes,” he said.

He didn’t need to tell me what he wanted. The tension in his body made it clear. The devil inside of him wanted to come out and play. Thirty minutes wasn’t a long time, but I was certain he had every intention of making them count.

I crawled onto the floor and positioned myself between his legs, dragging my fingers over the erection beneath his trousers. It was like waking the beast.

His eyes opened slowly, and then they fixated on me. There was a rapturous hunger there I only glimpsed in moments like these. Where he was the hunter, and I was the prey. Where I was the virtuous innocent who looked upon him like the monster he wanted to be. He craved these moments, I could see it in every inch of his soul. If there was one thing I knew how to recognize, it was an addict.

And Ryland Bennett was addicted to me.

I released him from the confines of his pants and sucked him into my mouth. It was too gentle, and I was well aware of it.

I smiled when his hands threaded through my hair and pushed me down onto his groin.

“You’re so fucking perfect,” he groaned. “You always know…”

His words drifted off as he force-fed me his cock. There was an odd assortment of sweetness mixed in with the harsh words that flew from his mouth during these sessions.

He told me I was his dirty little angel and I loved it when he degraded me like this. That I loved being used by him. Then he would tell me how sweet and beautiful and pure I was. I didn’t believe for a second that any of those things were true, especially since I did love what he was doing.

He nearly came several times before he pulled away, his breath ragged. He stood over me, his cock jutting out from between his legs, still glistening with my saliva. God, he was sexy when he was like this.

“Get up,” he demanded.

I rose up on shaky legs, and he spun me around and flattened me over his desk. He lifted my skirt and pulled my panties to the side before pressing his body against mine. His arousal dug into my back when he leaned forward to whisper in my ear.

“You’re going to feel me every time you move today.”

His hand wrapped around my throat and held me down while his palm reverberated across my ass. I yelped, and then he did the same to the other side.

“I own you, Brighton.”

I whimpered.

“Say it.”

I smashed my lips together and smiled beneath the curtain of my hair.

“Don’t deny me,” he growled.

I did, but only because I knew he liked it.

“Goddammit,” he grunted. “Now I’m going to have to show you.”

I heard the sound of his belt being tugged from his pants, and I shivered. He’d trained me to like this. And I did. God, did I like it.

He held me down and fucked me fast and hard as he lashed my ass with the belt. He was breathing so hard he couldn’t catch his breath. I’d barely be able to walk out of this office, but it would be worth it. I liked taking his pain away.

What was wrong with me?

“Fucking hell,” he grunted, slapping his hips against mine. “Why do you push me like this? Just say it, baby girl.”

I finally relented, giving him what he wanted.

“I’m yours. You own me.”

It wasn’t a lie.

He fell on top of me as his cock jerked inside of me, filling me with everything he had. I clenched around him and whined when he pulled away.

He fixed his clothes, and then mine, the same way he always did. Then he pulled me back into his lap. My ass was sore as hell, and he smirked when he saw me wince.

“I’ll take care of that for you tonight,” he said softly.

“Okay.”

He always took care of me afterwards. That was how I knew he did have a heart. I leaned back against his chest just to feel it, and he kissed my neck.

“Brighton?”

“Hmm?” I murmured sleepily.

“Thank you.”