Page 49 of Devoted

If Nico wasn’t propping me up, I was pretty sure I’d be on the ground, my body trembling so badly, I could barely keep myself upright.

“Tell me the truth, Emberline, because I’ll know if you’re lying,”—another criminally slow drag of his tongue up my neck—“and if you lie, I will punish you.”

“I want it all,” I admitted, thankful he was behind me, and I didn’t have to say the words to his face. “I want you to tie me down, and I want you to… use your shadows on me.”

He hummed against my skin. “That’s the right answer. Do you have a safe word?”

“A… what?” My brain stuttered over his request because even though I’d read enough books to know what a safe word was, I’d never expected to have to use one.

“Pick something simple to remember but nothing that you might say during sex. So… God, Nico, you’re the best lover I’ve ever had, is obviously off the table.”

“You are seriously an idiot,” I muttered. Before he could respond, I added, “And no, that is not my safe word because I expect to say it multiple times in the near future. How about… red? Isn’t that the usual one?”

He went still behind me. “How do you even know what a usual safe word is?” There was danger in his tone. Danger and a hint of jealousy.

I shivered in pleasure, knowing he didn’t completely have the upper hand here.

“Because I read books in my spare time. Very informative books.”

“Then yes, red will work,” he murmured. “And since that’s your word of choice… hmmm… yes, I think I know exactly what clothing to choose for this scenario.”

“Don’t you mean scene?” I teased, then caught my breath when his shadows curled up my body, my skin prickling at the cold sensation. They faded away, leaving me completely…

“Oh, are you kidding me?” I glared down at the red, see-through negligee skimming the tops of my thighs, and the lingerie underneath was… actually really nice. A dark, rich red with lots of straps, and the way the bra pushed my breasts up and the skimpy thong… Nico’s cock throbbed against my almost-bare ass.

“You look positively edible.” My heart pounded as Nico’s fingers traced the top of my panties, his hot breath skating across the nape of my neck. “Get up on the bench, princess,” his voice was a rough demand. “On all fours, facing away from me. Now, or you’ll be punished.”

“You seem to be talking about punishment an awful lot,” I tipped my head to the side, well aware I was playing with fire and not caring one bit.

This was a dream, and in dreams… anything goes.

Crack. Nico smacked me on the ass, his expression all of a sudden dark and forbidding. I rubbed the spot, heat blooming, along with a big, red handprint.

“That hurt, Nico.”

“And you’ll get another if you keep being a brat. On the table, Emberline. Open and ready for me. Right fucking now.”

Suddenly nervous, I eyed the raised platform, those metal rings, sturdy and slightly menacing as I thought of all the ways they could be used. But I was burning up from the inside, my panties already soaked, breasts so throbbing and heavy that I obeyed, crawling up to where he indicated, the padded surface giving slightly beneath my knees and palms.

“That’s it. You are so fucking perfect,” Nico murmured, slowly running his hand down the curve of my stinging ass to the back of my thigh. “I want tonight to be something you remember. An experience you treasure. Like your… very informative books.”

I turned to look at him, and he slapped my other ass cheek, hard enough the crack rang off the stone walls. Hard enough I yelped.

“No, princess. You’re not in charge here. Eyes forward.”

Normally, I would have argued, but I was a slave to that flush of heat and pleasure settling between my legs, the gush of arousal that grew even wetter when I rubbed my thighs together, chasing down that delicious friction.

“Stop being a brat, Emberline, or I’ll turn that beautiful ass red,” Nico warned, and all I could do was shiver in return.

Shadows flowed up onto the bench, licking at my breasts, my stomach, the insides of my thighs, leaving a trace of cold behind. They wrapped around my wrists, black bands that tightened and squeezed. Then they captured my ankles and pulled, slowly spreading me apart until my pussy was barely hidden by the scrap of red silk, and my cheek was pressed flat to the leather, my arms pulled tight.

More shadows pushed my hips up, lifting my knees off the platform, suspending me in front of Nico, spread open and dripping wet and perilously vulnerable.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything but lie there as he ran his fingers along the back of the thong, down through the seam of my ass, gently dragging his fingers along my pussy, staying on the outside of the silk.

“You’re fucking soaked already. So fucking slippery for my cock. And you smell…” He inhaled loudly. “Absolutely delicious. My only question is… where to start? This gorgeous pussy… or somewhere else?”

He rubbed back and forth on the outside of the panties, so frustratingly lightly I growled deep in my throat.