Page 43 of Dark Holiday

Tears catch in my throat at his words. I want to mean it. I crave the intimacy that comes with being his good girl. I so desperately need his care and guidance, but can he actually give that to me? “I’ll mean it once you act like it.”

He leans back onto his heels, the anguish shining in his eyes. After several moments, he stands up and walks away. This time, the clack of his shoes against the wood feels final.

Over.

My heart breaks into two as he steps away, my brain whirling in all different directions. I knew this was a bad idea. Just as I start to accept that he’s going to leave me here, tied up for some other guy, he’s back between my thighs, his rough hands spreading my legs even wider.

Daniel doesn’t say a word, but his hands say enough.

Anger.

Lust.

Resentment.

All of it vibrates across his skin as he pulls my hips up and threads some rope around me. I want to ask him what he’s doing, but I don’t dare break his concentration. Minutes fly by as coil after coil wraps around me, cocooning me. Before too long, he hoists me up in the air, the ropes holding me like a hammock.

I’ve seen pictures of rope play, of the intricate designs swirling over the models’ skin. This is not like that. It’s rough, haphazard. It does its job, allowing Daniel a free hand as he walks around me. The silence between us is palpable. Should I break it?

Without much preamble, he pulls on the anal hook, gentle as he tugs on it. Once it’s out, I once again feel hollow. He walks it back over to where I assume the other toys are and stays there for several agonizing moments.

“What do you want from me?” He sighs, coming back into view. I’m not exactly sure what I wanted him to say, but it wasn’t that. “I’ve tried my hardest to forgive you, to move on, but you refuse to meet me halfway. I want nothing more than to be your Daddy, your Dominant. What does it mean to you for me to ‘act like it,’ as you so eloquently put it.”

“Fucking what?”

“Language, young lady. We’ve talked about this before.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not your assistant anymore, Daniel. So you don’t own me or my mouth.” As the words leave my lips, his mouth crashes down onto mine, hungry, feral. His tongue slides out, running along the seam, and I open for him, letting him devour me.

The combined taste of him and my arousal explodes into my mouth, making me groan. The wet scrape of his beard against my skin is a sensation I never knew I needed but now can’t live without. I touch his tongue with mine, and electricity sparks between us, so hot I can almost see it as an arc behind my closed eyes.

He feels it too. The moans he makes as he thrusts deep inside, only to pull back and thrust again, a weak mimicry of what we both would rather be doing, tell me everything I need to know. I match his groans, pouring out my own hunger and need into that kiss. That one passionate kiss that’s everything I’ve been dreaming of.

He pulls back as we both gasp for air. “No. You’re not my assistant. I should have fired you the day you stepped foot inside my office, but I couldn’t.”

“Why? Why couldn’t you? You should have just forced me outside and turned your back on me just like you did at winter formal. But no, you let me into your office, your fucking life. You teased me, tormented me, gave me a glimpse at what I could have, and then you yanked it away. Just like you did ten years ago, worse, actually. I wish you had fired me. Then I wouldn’t be crying over you, yet again.”

“You fucked my friend. Did you really think I was going to take you to the dance after that, much less share my life with you?”

I freeze for a moment, staring at him, trying to understand his words. “I - What?”

“Don’t you dare deny it,” he sneers, pulling back away. “I saw the pictures, Cindy. They texted them to me. I saw you and Mark -.”

I cut him off, a bark of hysterical laughter climbing my throat. “Mark? That idiot? Why in the hell would I want him?”

“I don’t know. You looked pretty happy with him taking you from behind.”

“I never slept with Mark.”

He sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. “It’s been ten years. Can’t you just tell the truth this once?”

“I am. I - I.” I look around, desperate to find some way to convince him. Swallowing, I look down at the floor for a moment. “I couldn’t. Especially not with Mark, for God’s sake.”

He sighs and cups his fingers around my chin, holding me in his immovable grasp. “For once, please, Cindy. Just stop lying to me.” The pain in his eyes, the raw emotion in his words, bring tears sparking.

Is this what he’s held against me all these years? No wonder he hates me. “I’m not lying. I know for a fact I haven’t slept with Mark because I haven’t slept with anyone. Ever.”

CHAPTER 24