Page 61 of Forgotten Vows

"Lachlan—" Her voice breaks, and I can see the tears welling in her eyes.

"You don't have to say it back," I tell her quickly. "But I need you toknow. I need you to understand that this—" I gesture between us, at the bed, at the rope still tied to the headboard. "This isn't just sex. This is me claiming you. This is me telling you that you're mine, and I'm yours, and nothing is ever going to change that. You can fight me, and you can hurt me, but at the end of the day, all the power in this is yours, because I can never be anything but that. Yours, Adriana, and no one else's."

She's crying harder now, and I wipe the tears away with my thumbs, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. "I'm scared," she whispers. "I'm so scared, Lachlan."

"I know." I brush my lips against hers. "I know you are. But I'm going to keep you safe. I promise you that. No matter what it takes."

I hear a knock at the door a little while later, and I get up and pull on my pants without bothering to do more than shove my cock inside and zip them halfway, then go to the door. Rian is standing there with a black case in his hands, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"You're insane," he says flatly.

"Probably." I take the case from him. "Thanks."

He shakes his head, but he doesn't argue. "You need anything else?"

"No. Go back to bed."

He leaves, and I close the door, locking it behind me. When I turn back to the bedroom, Adriana is watching me.

"You're really going to do this," she whispers.

"Yes." I set the case on the bed and open it, pulling out the machine and the supplies. "But only if you still want me to."

She looks at the equipment, and I can see her swallow hard. But then she nods. "Yes," she whispers, her voice shaking.

I set everything up carefully, making sure the needle is clean, the ink is ready. I've done this a few times, tattooed myself when I couldn't afford to pay someone else to do it. I know what I'm doing.

"Lie back," I tell her, and she does. She's naked and vulnerable, and the trust in her eyes makes my chest tight.

I position myself between her legs, and I can see her tense. "Relax," I murmur. "This is going to hurt, but I'll be as gentle as I can."

She nods, and I lean down, kissing the spot where I'm going to put my name. Her skin is soft and warm, and I can feel her trembling beneath my lips. "Ready?" I ask, and she nods again.

I turn on the machine, and the buzzing fills the room. I see her flinch at the sound, but she doesn't say the word. Doesn't tell me to stop.

I press the needle to her skin, and she gasps, her free hand clutching the sheet and gripping tight. But she doesn't push me away.

"Breathe," I tell her. "Just breathe through it."

She does, her chest rising and falling rapidly, and I work as quickly as I can, tracing the letters of my name into her skin in script, bold and permanent. Tears are dripping down her cheeks, but at no point does she use the safeword.

She's letting me do this. Letting me mark her. My cock is rock hard again, jutting out of the open fly of my pants, the tip leaking pre-cum against my belly. "Almost done," I murmur, my voice thick. I need to fuck her again, desperately. I finish the last letter, then turn off the machine and set it aside.

The tattoo is raw and red, the letters stark against her pale skin. It's perfect.

"Look," I tell her, and I help her sit up as far as the other rope allows, angling her so she can see it in the mirror across the room.

She stares at it, and then she looks at me. "It's real," she whispers.

I push her gently back onto the bed. "I need to taste you again," I murmur. "Right now. You're going to come for me with my name still raw on your skin." My cock throbs, more pre-cum smearing against my tense abdomen, but I need this even more than I need to be inside of her.

Her eyes widen. "Lachlan, I can't?—"

"You can." I'm already moving down her body, kissing my way down her stomach, avoiding the fresh tattoo. "And you will."

I settle between her thighs, pushing them gently apart. I can see the evidence of what we've already done, can see how swollen and sensitive she is, but I don't care. I lean in, my tongue sliding through her folds, and she cries out, her hips bucking off the bed. I hold herdown, my hands on her thighs, and I devour her, licking and sucking and biting until she's screaming my name. I can taste my cum and her arousal mixed together, and I kick off my pants, grinding my hips into the bed as I lick her desperately, needing friction. The taste of us mingled is more arousing than I could possibly have imagined it would be.

Her back arches, her moan rising into a shriek as she comes hard on my face, writhing against me. "It's too much," she sobs. "Oh God, Lachlan, it's so good, I didn't know it could be this good… it's so much…"