Page 31 of Dark Secret

“You can thank me later. Give me your hand.” He held his right one out, so I have him my right one. He tied that to a hook on the back of headboard and then tied the other one. By that time, he was straddling me.

He looked down at me with heat in his eyes and leaned down close to my ear. I felt his chest press into mine, through the thin silk of my nightgown, and my nipples responded. His lips brushed at my neck and then just below my ear. I couldn’t help it when I shivered with anticipation.

“You are so eager for my touch, Stephanie.”

“Always, sir,” I responded automatically, though it was the truth. I was always ready for him.

“Good girl. Now, help me roll you over.” He’d added hooks in strategic places on the back of the headboard. He could spread my arms wide, which usually meant I couldn’t move, or he could keep them close together and give me enough rope to turn and move around.

This time, I had just enough room to turn, but I’d have to cling to the headboard to stay up. I would also be forced to stay on my knees because relaxing onto my stomach would be too uncomfortable. Hmm, I thought, he wanted to distract me from my troubles. I wasn’t about to change his mind.

I turned with his help and soon found myself on my knees, my feet spread apart, and my back arched high to rest my head on the headboard.

“Such a lovely round ass, pet.” He moved up behind me and to the left a little. “It just needs a little color to make it prettier.”

His hand came down, fingers tight together, thumb tucked in, and so that when he slapped my ass it made more sound than sensation. The next slap he gave me was mainly with his fingers. That one had a little sting to it, and heat started to rise within me.

“Don’t tease me, Dylan,” I said, a moment of forgetfulness. Or was it?

I grinned when his fingers came down again, harder, on the other side of my bottom. “Don’t sass, pet.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” I wasn’t, especially when his hand came down harder, again, on the left side.

This time, the slap came with a warm palm to soothe the skin. He slid his hand around the red area that I knew must be there now, and the touch soothed the itch that came with the slap. I squirmed, the sting still not quite gone.

“Sir! I’m so sorry, I won’t sass you anymore.” It was only part of the game, and he knew it.

“Are you sure about that, my dear? I’m afraid I’ve had to tell you too many times now.” His voice was stern, and it sent a thrill straight through me.

His fingers dipped lower, down into the wet heat between me. Another slap, and this time I couldn’t hold back a moan of pleasure. My sadness was gone now. There was only Dylan and the desire he made me feel.

Dylan

I thought the sadness would be gone from her eyes when I came home earlier, but it was still there. If anything, it was worse. There was something defeated about the way her shoulders slumped ever so slightly. I still wanted to punch whoever it was that gave her that sadness, that took away some of the light of joy she always carried around with her.

Later, once I’d sent her into orbit more than a few times, I held her close to me. We were both still naked, and she breathed softly against me. I wanted to help her with whatever was wrong but wasn’t sure I could.

“You know, if you need my help, I’m here for you, right? All things aside, Stephanie, I will never let you hurt or be afraid, if I can help it.” I felt her tense in my arms, but I pulled her hips more tightly to mine and ran my left hand down her arm. “It’s okay, I’m not going to make you tell me anything, or try to make you talk, but I do want you to know that I am here for you.”

I paused, but she didn’t speak. I knew she was awake, though. I could feel it in the way she breathed, a little quick and tense.

“You don’t have to fight your battles alone. Not so long as you have me in your life.” I paused again, but she still didn’t answer.

I didn’t think she was going to respond at all and was about to roll away to give her some space when she turned in my arms. Her warm, pliant body melded to mine, and I heard her breath as she tried to control her emotions. The poor thing was tore all out of frame, and I wondered who she really was. Who could leave such a beautiful creature to fight her own battles like this?

I suspected she hadn’t come from the same kind of past that I had. There was nothing about her that screamed impoverished childhood or lack of education. She seemed similar to my adoptive mother’s younger female friends, well-spoken with an air about her that wasn’t exactly superiority but was definitely regal.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt while growing up. I’d found, in my experience, that a lot of these rich families saw their daughters as pawns, tools to showcase their own wealth and power. My adoptive parents obviously weren’t like that, but some of the people they knew had left me gaping with their lack of care for their children. The boys were meant to go out and carry on the family name while the girls were to marry and produce children for their respective husband’s family. It wasn’t something that I ever quite grew used to.

She didn’t cry now, or even speak, she just clung to me until she got her breath under control and had stopped trembling. I’d never seen her so shaken up, and while it made me feel good that she felt safe enough to show her vulnerability to me, it made me feel helpless. I didn’t know who I had to kill for causing this, or how to make it better for her.

We had started this whole thing as a business transaction, but now here we were, all these weeks later, and she was all but sobbing in my arms. I had to wonder if she was attacked, but surely, I’d see signs of that? I knew every inch of her skin, and there wasn’t a mark on it. Would all attacks leave marks? Or maybe something had been said to her verbally.

I didn’t know, and for the first time, I hated the fact that we were so afraid to tell each other our secrets. If we could just be open and honest with each other, I’d know who needed to die right now. I knew most of the fact that we kept things from each other was my fault. It was how I’d wanted this relationship to be. I hadn’t wanted a relationship, and I’d built these walls around us both, but the problem was, there was always a price to pay when you tried to cut yourself off from others.

Was this love? The need to protect, to make her smile again? Was that what love did to you? I didn’t know. I knew about loving my parents, the people who took me in and gave me a real childhood and the real parents who had nearly destroyed me. I knew about loving a puppy or a kitten, pets. I didn’t know a damned thing about romantic love.

Something that I wanted to smother with a pillow, deep inside of me, kept telling me she was the one, but I’d never wanted the one. I’d just wanted a pet to play with. She was that, but she was so much more than that. I’d tried to deny it for a long time, and even now, I tried to find reasons, any reasons, why this couldn’t be love.