growing pinker with each blow. He pressed his fingers to her pussy, overwhelmed by how wet she was.
Darcy forcefully pushed back, trying to draw his fingers inside her. He pulled them away as she cursed.
“Dammit, Ryder!”
“Bad girl,” he said with a grin as he peppered her ass with a half dozen more spanks.
“You have to fuck me. Now!”
He untied the knot around her wrists, dragging the silk away, and tossing it to the floor. Then in one quick motion, he flipped her to her back and climbed over her. He was still fully dressed, that fact lost on neither of them.
“I don’t have to do anything.”
She blinked several times. “Don’t stop.”
“I don’t plan to. Unless you keep trying to take control. At which point, I will dress you, put you in your car, and send you home alone.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
He lowered his face to hers, kissing his way along her cheek until he reached her ear. “Try me,” he whispered.
Darcy started to raise her hands—clearly worried about his threat, one he feared was definitely empty—intent on holding him.
He dragged her to the center of the bed, reaching for two more ties. He used them to bind her to his headboard before lowering his head and taking her nipple into his mouth with a suction he knew was painful. He repeated the action on her other nipple, letting himself imagine putting her in nipple clamps.
“God,” she breathed. Her eyelids slowly drifted closed, almost dreamily. Darcy liked bondage. And pain. And being spanked.
He’d brought her here, determined to prove to his sweet little innocent that she was in over her head. Instead, he was the one getting schooled. Again.
Time to slow this down, to try one more time to grasp the reins.
Ryder rose from the bed, reaching over to open Darcy’s legs even more. “Don’t move. Don’t speak.”
Her body was flushed with arousal, the insides of her upper thighs slick, betraying how ready she was for him. He stood there, soaking her nakedness in. Memorizing every curve of her body. His gaze traveled the entire length of her, slowly, leisurely. Then he made the return trip.
She was completely naked, while he was fully dressed. He’d placed her in a vulnerable, submissive position, standing over her, asserting his authority, making sure she understood they were working on his timeline, with his game plan.
Her breasts rose and fell as she struggled to catch her breath. She licked her lips, then opened her mouth. He narrowed his eyes for a split second, warning her not to say anything, not even to plead, which was obviously her intent.
She closed her mouth, biting her lower lip in a way that was as endearing as it was seductive. Everything about Darcy called to him. He wanted to mark her, claim her, make her swear that she’d always be his.
Only his.
But he knew that possession was a two-way street. He couldn’t take her without offering himself.
Mine.
Yours.
He didn’t allow himself to say either word.
Instead, he offered what he could. Darcy watched as he slowly stripped away his clothes.
“Did you take your pill this morning?”
She frowned as she nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “But if you—”
“No. Nothing between us. Ever.”
Her legs parted even farther when he moved to join her on the bed.
Reaching into the nightstand drawer, he withdrew a tube of lubrication.
She gave him a shy, slightly embarrassed grin. “I don’t think we need—”
“Shh,” he admonished. “No talking unless it’s too much and you need to say stop.”
Darcy tilted her head curiously, and he knew she wanted to ask questions. He’d accused her once of asking too many. However, the wise woman held her tongue and waited patiently. The word trust floated through his brain again. She trusted him. And with every single action in his bed, she was proving it.
He lifted her legs, bending them until her ankles rested on the mattress near her ass, then he pushed her knees outward. Uncapping the lube, he squirted some on his finger. When he pressed against her anus, her eyes widened, her mouth parted. He waited for her to tell him no, but she said nothing, just fought to suck in as much air as she could.
“Will you give me this virginity too?” he asked.
She licked her lips, taking her time to respond. He was glad. It meant she was thinking about it, not just giving him the answer he wanted to hear.
Finally, she nodded slowly.
“Not tonight,” he said. “You’re not ready.”
A smile crept onto her face, and he realized what he’d