Page 240 of Once Upon a Fable

If I gave her a dream orgasm, who the hell would she see? What man from her past would give her bliss while I’d only brought her pain?

No.

No fucking way.

If I was going to make her come, then she would know exactly who worshipped her. And she would be grateful. And she would moan my name as she came in my mouth, not someone else’s.

I was done being used.

I was done being nothing.

Swooping up her body, I lay beside her in the grass and cupped her cheek.

“Dream of me, you frustrating fool.”

My mouth crushed hers.

I kissed her hard.

For a second, she froze beneath me. Her lips thinned. Her neck tensed to turn away. But then she sighed, she surrendered, she kissed me back.

And that shattered the rest of my self-control.

I rolled on top of her.

My hips settled between hers, my cock frantic to plunge inside her.

Her mouth opened wide, her tongue lashed mine. The delicious abandonment of a dirty, deep kiss was suddenly shattered as her eyes flew wide and a scream sliced through my faulty ears.

“What thehellare youdoing?!” She turned wild beneath me. Her legs scissored together, shoving me out of the cradle formed by her body. “Getoffme!” Shoving me to the side, she scrambled to her ass and scurried backward, her hair full of grass seeds and late afternoon sunshine. “How dare you!” She wiped her mouth with a shaking hand. “How dare you!” Tripping to her feet, she didn’t seem to notice she was bare as she shoved a finger in my direction, hissing, “I was asleep, you bastard. You strangled me and now you try to rape me?! Argh, when will I learn?God! When will I accept that you truly are the biggest asshole alive!”

“Stop yelling.”

“I’ll yell as much as I damn well want!” She stomped around, pacing with a manic look on her face. “I can’t...I literally can’t understand it. You tried to fuck me—when I was sleeping no less, after Iexplicitlytold you you’d never be welcome to any part of me again!” She threw her hands up. “Wow. I mean...why the hell am I surprised? You’d think I’d have accepted this by now. I mean, it’s not like you’ve been anything but a monster to me. Why do I keep expecting a sliver of good from you, huh? God, why haven’t Ilearned?”

Her livid gaze fell to her ankle and the chain smugly linking us together again. And all her anger just fizzled into despair. She shrugged with a choked laugh. “And you’ve tethered me again. Of course, you have.”

Our eyes locked, and her misery drove a pickax into my heart.

With a despondent nod, she turned away. She gave me her back and her perfectly toned ass as she looked longingly at the cliff. At the escape she hadn’t taken. “I should’ve run. I should’ve ignored all my safety training and climbed naked and barefoot up that stupid cliff and taken my chances with the forest. I should’ve done something,anything,to be free of you.” She buried her face into her hands and screamed.

It was muffled and morose, and I couldn’t fucking stand it.

“I’m sorry, okay?” I spoke quietly and slowly, cursing my pounding head. I stayed where I was, sitting by the river, grimacing against the ringing in my ears. “It’s not what you think—”

“Not what I think?” She spun and laughed icily. “It’sexactlywhat I think. Your cock was almost inside me!”

“I was trying to apologize!” I glowered at her.

“Apologize? Hah, I’ve never heard of rape being used as an apology tactic before!”

“I was focusing on your pleasure. I was going to do whatever you wanted. I was going to be yours...to use however you wanted.”

She stiffened, understanding what I’d offered her even though it cost most of her hate. “I didn’t ask you for anything. I didn’twantanything.”

“And I didn’t want you to keep hating me for doing something I didn’t mean to do.”

She bit her cheek, her eyes narrowing. “What are you saying?”