Shoving aside the mocking voice, he reached into his pocket and withdrew the cuffs he’d secreted there. Before she knew what he was about, he flicked one around her left wrist, poised above her head. The other cuff he tethered to the metal frame of her platform bed with a jangle.
“What are you doing?” she asked, tugging and frowning when the cuffs clattered.
“Look at me.” He demanded, setting his fingers back over her clit. “And don’t look away. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Her voice trembled. Her body shook. Her eyes pleaded.
With his c**k as hard as iron, Thorpe hissed in a breath and delved deep into her eyes. “Take the pleasure I’m giving you as a vow, pet. If you leave me, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth. There won’t be a place you hide where I can’t find you. I will never stop looking. I will never give up. I will never let you go when I can save you.”
“Thorpe, don’t . . . You can’t—”
He cut her off by working her clit expertly with two fingers devastating either side of the little bud, then alternately rubbing extra friction on top.
“Yes, I can. I told you to look at me. Now,” he demanded. “Come!”
Her eyes turned a dizzying blue, widening with every breath she hitched in, emphasized by the red flush of her cheeks. He didn’t give Callie permission, but she screamed anyway. The sound rang in his ears, echoed off the walls, and no doubt drifted down the hall. It went on and on as her body convulsed and her clit turned to stone under his touch, then pulsed brilliantly again and again.
Callie tumbled into his eyes as the world fell away. Only she existed.
God, she was stunning. When she surrendered, she did it absolutely.
And the knowledge that he had to leave her now because he couldn’t trust himself not to strip off and f**k her was killing him.
Closing his eyes, gathering his will, he kissed Callie on each hot cheek, brushed his lips over her damp forehead, then took her mouth in one last lingering press. He stayed there, struggling to drag in air. A moment, then another. He cherished each precious, irreplaceable second. Callie sobbed, and his chest shattered.
Thorpe broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers, nuzzling her.
“You promised you wouldn’t walk away,” she said through tears.
“I said I wouldn’t before I gave you pleasure. You’re not getting away from me, pet. Don’t make me show you my ruthless side.” He thumbed the wells of her eyes dry with a soft touch. Then he draped the comforter over her, found her purse, and rifled through it until he located her car keys. Pocketing them, he shrugged on his shirt, attached his cuff links, then grabbed his coat and her packed bags.
“Damn it, Thorpe. You can’t undo me like that, then get up and leave.”
He headed for the door. “I’ll be back.”
***
THE second Thorpe let himself out, Kirkpatrick came stomping down the hall, barreling toward him like a man ready for a fight. How the hell had he gotten past Axel?
“What the bloody hell are you doing to Callie? I can hear her screaming all over the club.”
“Do you think I hurt her?”
Sean’s face turned red. “I think you put your f**king hands all over her.”
“Ding, ding, ding. Someone get the man a prize.” He edged away from Sean, intent on reaching his office.
Kirkpatrick jabbed him in the jaw, then followed up with a mean left hook to the gut. Thorpe hadn’t seen it coming . . . but he should have.
He doubled over, and Sean took the opportunity to slam him against the wall. “How dare you touch my collared submissive? I’m bloody in love with Callie. I know you overheard me tell her. I made certain of it.”
Thorpe stared at his unwanted rival, trying to shove him off. Kirkpatrick wasn’t budging. Well, the guy had some game. Interesting note for future reference . . . But he wasn’t going to tell Sean that Callie might not be his collared submissive for long. Saying so was her place—even if he’d love to shove it in the bastard’s face.
“For some reason I can’t comprehend, she has feelings for you, too.”
Sean snorted. “Not too many, I guess, if she decided to go straight from f**king me to you.”
As much as Thorpe would love to let Kirkpatrick believe the worst, he refused to give Sean a reason to punish Callie for his own actions. “I didn’t f**k her.”