A Hurt So Sweet Volume Four - Isabella Starling Page 0,46

and climb between the sheets naked, telling myself it's just because it's so hot. But I know it's a lie... Just like all the nights before this one, I'll be hoping Dex touches me in the middle of the night. And just like every other night, I'll be hoping in vain.

He hasn't even touched me. Up to tonight, he hasn't mentioned or done anything sexual. And it's driving me crazy.

He was right about something - since he made me beg, I've been so preoccupied by my own body and its needs, I've managed not to worry about Reign quite as much. In return, that's made me more focused, and Dex has even let me in on the search, sharing any possible clues they find with me right away.

I now understand he was right. I was utterly consumed by my desperation. Strangely, it seems as if I needed a distraction to let go of my fixation. I can focus a lot better now.

Feeling the cool silk sheets against my skin, I close my eyes and exhale. It feels as if I've been holding that breath for days. I allow myself to relax against the pillows and the sheets. Dex won't be back for a while. He'll spend his evening at Father's office, digging deeper, like he does every day.

The thought that he's away, and Minnie a safe distance away from me, prompts me to start running my hands over my body. I flush as I touch myself, my fingertips trailing along bare skin. I'm getting myself even more frustrated, but I can't bring myself to stop. I have to keep touching.

My fingers tweak both nipples into hard peaks. If I shut my eyes firmly enough, I can almost pretend it's him touching me...

I let out the smallest of moans, arching my back as I do just that. My hands travel down, touching the shaved skin between my legs. I rub. It brings me close in an instant. I don't touch myself. I don't crave my own fingers... I crave Dexter and the punishing touch he gives me, the kind I could never replace. I begin working through the built-up orgasm in my body, thinking of all the things Dexter has done to me since we first met. How he took me, fucked me, used every one of my holes. How he shared me... How he humiliated me. Degraded me. Things that should disgust me only make me rub harder.

The release builds and builds inside my body and I mewl out loud as I start bringing myself even closer.

Dexter would kill me if he found out I made myself come while he was away.

He'd never let me forget it.

But the idea of a punishment is so tempting. He wouldn't hurt me, anyway. He likes me too much... Maybe even...

I snap my head up at the sound of a noise, but it's gone in an instant. Perhaps I just imagined it. There's no one in the room. The curtains billow in the summer breeze. I'm alone.

My eyes close again, my fingers working to that forbidden high Dex won't let me have.

I'm so close. So very close I could just burst any second. Only a little more. A few more flicks, maybe if I turn my wrist just so...

"Toy."

My eyes fly open and utter dread fills me as I find Dexter at the foot of my bed.

His expression is calm, but his eyes are thunderous.

"Breaking rules, are we?"

"No, I-"

"You were trying to," he snaps. "Don't lie."

I'm rendered speechless, left staring at him with a guilty expression.

"Come with me, toy."

"No, I..." I bite my lower lip. "I'm sorry. I'll be good, I promise."

"Of course you'll be good," he smirks. "That wasn't even a question. Now come on. I'll just have to punish you during what I have planned."

"But I... I already got ready for bed."

"So?"

"So..." I touch my hands to my face self-consciously. "I look awful."

"Nonsense. Come on." He opens the door. Shadows line the hallway and my heart skips a beat at the promise of something dark and tantalizing. "I've got another distraction for you, toy. I think you might like it..."

18

Dexter

I take her hand and lead her down the hallway.

Anders is off for the night and the ground floor of the house has been transformed. Minnie is staying with Araminta for the night, and Pandora is clueless to what's going to happen.

For the first time in a year, I feel myself growing genuinely excited. Of course the pain of Reign being gone is