Bound By Desire (The Acadian Curse) Read online

  He laughed. The low sound sent her pulse racing. “Don’t worry, love. You’ll get what you’re after, but only when I’m ready to give it to you. Not a second before.”

  His grasp on her loosened, but the reprieve was short. A moment later, she was being pushed forward and down. Sarah bent at the waist and her arms flew out to break her fall, but instead of landing hard on the concrete floor, as she feared, her torso fell across the plane of the card table. She tried to stand, but his hand cupped the back of her neck, as unforgiving as any metal collar, and held her down. Sarah pushed as hard as she could with her arms but it was no use. The creature was just too strong.

  “Go ahead and wriggle all you like now,” he said. “Only I’d be careful not to thrash too hard. There’s a nasty pile of broken glass in the middle of the room, and you wouldn’t want to accidentally throw yourself into that. Would you?”

  Sarah stilled instantly. She was bent over with her ass high in the air, totally at his mercy.

  “I did say you were a smart girl,” he said. “Now let’s see if you’re a good one.”

  He spread his free hand out on the small of her back. Sarah could feel the warmth of his skin penetrating through the thin cotton of her shirt. He slid his fingers down until they gripped the waist of her skirt. In a single, violent motion, he yanked it down. The torn fabric slid down her calves and tangled around her feet.

  He hissed in a loud breath as his wide palm glided over her backside. “Lace panties. I always liked those best—so fragile, so delicate. Are you wet underneath them?”

  Sarah shivered under his touch. She struggled to draw breath, waiting for what came next.

  He followed the curve of her ass down to the junction of her legs. Her pussy ached for his touch. She imagined just one of those long fingers pushing inside her. A little pleading sound escaped her lips.

  “You are a good girl, aren’t you? You didn’t waste any time getting nice and wet for me.”

  His fingertips moved in slow, deliberate circles over the wet spot in her panties. The friction of his touch was too light to be anything but teasing. Sarah rotated her hips up, pressing her mound into him. His hand pulled away. She bit down hard on her lip to keep from crying out at the loss.

  “Tell me, which excites you more—the fear or the helplessness?”

  Sarah sucked in a breath and held it. She was afraid to speak, afraid of the answer.

  “Tell me.” The grip around her neck tightened.

  “I don’t know,” she said in a rush.

  “Then take your time. Figure it out.”

  A single finger stole beneath the seam of her lace panties. He stroked it down the length of her labia, just once. Sarah hissed in a long breath. Her body burned for him. She wanted more. She needed it. But the creature inside Grant seemed content to only dole out merest taste of what she wanted, leaving her hungrier than she was before.

  Sarah had never felt this aware of her body before. In this total darkness, she had no hint of what was coming, of what his next move would be. Every muscle in her body was tense, every nerve standing attention, awaiting his next move.

  His hand came down hard on her ass. His fingers dug into her flesh, testing her. Searing bolts of sensation raced through her, not quite pain, but close. Sarah cried out all the same.

  “Your answer, Sarah.”

  “Both,” she said. “One feeds the other.”

  He gave a little approving grunt. Apparently, she’d given the right answer. It was the truth. He rewarded her by plunging the length of his finger inside her. She gasped at the invasion, even as the walls of her pussy tightened around him, begging him not to leave. He pumped his hand once, twice, three times before pulling out and away.

  She heard his mouth open and the unmistakable sound of sucking. He was tasting her. Sampling her, she realized. Trying out all that her body had to offer before deciding if he wanted more.

  “Your cunt feels small,” he said, after he was done licking her off his finger. “I wonder if it could take me. Would you like to find out?”

  Sarah’s heart sped. She knew just how big he was, how she had struggled to fit even a portion of him into her mouth. But the thought of him pressing into her pussy, filling her up to the point of pain, made her ache with longing.

  She nodded as best she could.

  He guided her up from the table with his hand still wrapped around her neck and pushed her down to her knees.

  “You had better make me good and wet then.”

  Sarah grasped onto his hips for support. He tangled his hand in her hair and pulled her open mouth onto his cock. Her tongue slid down the length of him. The crown collided with the back of her throat. He held her there for a long moment until she struggled for air. Her scalp burned as he pulled her back off.

  Again and again, he repeated the movement. Her pussy grew wetter with every swipe of her tongue and every growl of pleasure it drew from him. She reveled in the way the muscles under her hands flexed and tightened. Her jaw began to ache with strain but she didn’t protest.

  After a few minutes of this delicious torment, he wrenched her up to her feet. Fingers still curled tight in her hair, he pulled her against him. Her breasts crushed against the hard plane of his chest. His lips crashed against hers. Sarah’s eyes widened even though all she could see was inky darkness. His kiss was as savage as the rest of him, but it was also surprisingly intimate. He ran the tip of his tongue over her lower lip, making her shiver. He wasn’t just readying a fuck. He wanted her.

  He released his hold on her hair and went for the hem of her shirt instead. She didn’t resist as he lifted it over her head. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body flush with his. That electric sizzle that always seemed to happen between them when skin touched skin traveled down the length of her. He felt warm and strong and hard. She kissed him with long strokes of her tongue. She could have gone on like this forever.

  But he was done waiting. He twisted her around and pushed down across the table again. He gathered her wrists together in one of his hands and held them tight just at the small of her back.

  “Are you ready?” He pressed his cock against the opening of her pussy. Sarah gasped as he began to slide the full length back and forth against her slick folds. Desire built inside her, overwhelming the last of her fear.

  “Yes.”

  Sarah tensed as he pushed the tip inside her. She waited for him to bury himself with a single brutal thrust, but instead he moved mercilessly slow, forcing her to feel every inch of him stretching her wide. Her first instinct was to clench the walls of her pussy tight around him, but he kept going, demanding her submission. Even as wet as she was, the friction was so intense it bordered on torture.

  She tried to press back, hoping to take him all at once and be done with it, but he pinned her down tight. She couldn’t wriggle, couldn’t move an inch. He commanded everything—her movement, her pleasure, her pain.

  He groaned in triumph as his hips finally pressed against hers.

  “Now you are mine,” he growled.

  He slid out fully before plunging back in, again and again. With every stroke he increased the tempo. Sarah gasped for air as pleasure bombarded her body. Little moans escaped her throat with each exhale. The sound of his flesh slapping against hers echoed off the walls. The table shook with every slam of his body until she feared that it would collapse beneath her and send them crashing to the floor.

  Without warning the tension inside her broke. Blinding white pleasure racked her body, and for a moment nothing else filled her mind except glorious sensation.

  The afterglow was short-lived. The second that her body relaxed, he pulled hard on her arms, yanking her off the table. He held her at an odd angle. His cock was still buried deep within her. His arms held hers outspread, supporting her full weight. If he let go she would fall into a heap at his feet.

  “Did I say that you could come?” His voice was harsh.

  Sarah shook from head
to toe with the strain of trying to keep her balance. “I didn’t know that I needed your permission.”

  He stretched her arms tighter. “Then you haven’t been paying attention. In this place, Sarah, you are mine. I am your master. Everything you do, everything you feel, is mine to grant or deny. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes, what?”

  “Yes, master.”

  “Good girl.” He pulled out of her and gently let down her arms. He twisted her around and lifted her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. He pivoted his hips, plunging his cock back inside her. “Now, kiss me.”

  He controlled the movement, guiding her up and down on his shaft. The delicious friction began again. With every movement she ground against him—her lips against his, her breasts against his chest, her swollen clit against his groin. The sweat of passion and exertion slicked both their bodies.

  Once more pleasure built to breaking inside her. Sarah tried to hold it back. She focused on her breath, her heartbeat, anything to slow the shattering at her core. None of it did any good. In the end, it was only the strength of her determination that kept her from the edge. But how long could her resolve last?

  “Please. Please may I come?”

  “No,” he said through clenched teeth. “Not yet.”

  He pivoted so that her back crashed into the wall behind her. She cried out in both surprise and frustration. If she moved an inch, if she shook too hard, the rough texture of the wall would abrade her back.

  He picked up the pace, pounding into her with an intensity that bordered on brutal.

  “Please, please, please.” Sarah was only half aware of the words falling from her lips. A constant plea. A prayer.

  “Soon. Not yet,” he said, as breathless as she was. He was just as close. If she could hold on just a little longer.

  The strain of holding back became unbearable.

  “Please, master, please!”

  “Yes,” he said. “Now.”

  Everything inside Sarah splintered, fragmenting into a thousand shards of light. Her fingernails dug into his skin, but he kept going, hammering into her. He kept pushing her past the edge of reason until she went limp in his arms.

  A moment later his primal roar deafened her. A weightless flutter filled her belly as the creature pushed away form the wall and crashed down to his knees. His cock pulsed deep within her, again and again.

  Sarah had no idea how long they stayed like that, clinging to each other, spent and exhausted on his basement floor. After enough time had passed for the sweat on their bodies to cool, he leaned over and drug one of the blankets that had tumbled to the floor. He lay down and tucked her next to him. Sarah settled her head on his outstretched arm. His other arm curled over her possessively.

  She was his. The thought fluttered through her mind as her eyes closed. If it had been any other time, any other man, the idea would have terrified her. It would have had her clawing and scratching to get away. But at that moment, nothing had ever pleased Sarah more.

  Grant woke to the sound of the thick steel bolt that had held the basement door closed sliding free. His eyes popped open, but he was still surrounded by blackness.

  Of course he was. He’d broken the only bulb last night. He’d done it so she wouldn’t be able to see him as he stalked her from across the room, and so that all of her other senses would be heightened when he took her.

  The memory stirred his sleeping cock, and it pressed against the warm sleeping body nestled in his arms. Her body fit against his perfectly. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so well. Not even the hard basement floor bothered him. She had snuggled against him and fallen asleep almost instantly. She’d trusted him. She’d been a fool.

  Grant knew better than anyone that the monster that lurked in the men of his family couldn’t be trusted. It was just a matter of time before something went wrong. Hedonistic beasts were not known for their control after all.

  Except that last night he had. Grant had never allowed the cursed creature inside him even a taste of pleasure. It had taken every ounce of resolve he possessed not to come inside her with that first thrust. Somehow he had held on until she had orgasmed…twice.

  “That’s a hell of a way to wake a girl up.” Sarah’s groggy whisper sounded louder than it was in the silent room. She wiggled her ass and Grant realized how hard his cock had become. “Not that I’m complaining.”

  Grant got up and headed for the door. He pulled it open a crack and a sliver of light sliced across the floor and illuminated Sarah’s face. She raised an arm to shield her eyes.

  He felt a strange clutch in the vicinity of his heart as he looked down at her. She clutched the blanket to her chest with her free hand. There were a few faint red marks showing on her wrists and shoulders.

  “I have a terrible feeling that I owe you another breakfast,” he said.

  She smiled up at him, a wide, utterly unselfconscious smile. Grant had never seen anyone look so beautiful in his life.

  “And a new outfit too,” she said, shooting a pointed look at the pile of torn clothes next to her.

  She gathered the blanket around her and followed him from the room. She paused at the top of the stairs.

  “Do you mind if I use your shower again?” she asked.

  “Of course not.”

  She lifted herself up on tiptoes and kissed the corner where his lips met his cheek. It was a sweet gesture. Playful. And Grant had no idea how to react to it.

  A part of him wanted to pull her close and force her to meet his lips full on. Another part wanted to push her off and scare her away. Still another part, a calm, contented part that he was almost wholly unfamiliar with, whispered that he should just relax and enjoy the attention she showed him. In the end, he stood there, still and stiff, and waited for it to end.

  Grant stared after her as she turned and disappeared down the hall. He didn’t have to show her where the shower was. Of course not. She already knew the way. At this rate, she’d know his house better than he did by the end of the week. For some reason, the idea wasn’t as upsetting as he was hoping it would be.

  He thought for a moment about joining her. He’d never seen her naked after all. He knew the feel of her skin, her mouth, her sex, but he had yet to have the pleasure of watching her undress. Just the thought of the sight of her lithe body surrounded by steam, water cascading over every curve and hollow, made him harden.

  Damn. No, he wouldn’t do it. It was better to leave that one last intimacy undone. He would do one unselfish thing today and let the poor woman bathe in peace.

  He went to his own bathroom and turned on the shower. He turned the knob all the way to cold. His blood was hot enough already.

  Sarah tried not to linger in the water this time, but it was no use. Her muscles were sore in places that she didn’t even know existed. The hot water just felt too good. She had some marks on her shoulders and hips, a few of them looked like they were turning into full-on bruises. Nothing serious. They were all superficial. If it had been any other situation she would have been upset to find herself in such a state, but right now all she felt was pride. She could take it. She could take him.

  She kept stealing glances at the door, hoping it would open, hoping Grant would walk in, slide the shower door open and offer to wash her back. But eventually the hot water had started to run out, and Sarah had to admit that it wasn’t going to happen.

  She tried not to guess at the reason why as she dried herself with one of his oversized fluffy towels. He hadn’t looked happy this morning, but at least he hadn’t tried pushing her back to her truck first thing like he had yesterday. He’d been the one to offer her breakfast this time. That was something.

  She had no right to expect sudden change from him. She had shown up out of nowhere and challenged the whole way he’d lived his life. She could hardly expect him to jump up and down in gratitude. At least she had proven herself right about the curse. He was no monst
er. She had spent the whole night locked up with him and survived without a scratch. Well, maybe a few scratches, but nothing serious.

  Sarah wrapped the towel around her and went out to find Grant. He was in the kitchen again, pouring coffee. His hair was damp and clung to the back of his neck. He’d had time to fully dress for the day. He was even wearing shoes, like he was going out, and the stovetop looked cold. Sarah pushed down her disappointment.

  “No home cooked meal this time?” she teased from the doorway.

  He turned around with a mug in his hand. His eyes swept up her body, lingering on the place where her legs disappeared under the towel. One look and the heat came surging back inside her.

  It had been a long time since Sarah had felt this way, like a woman fully present in her body. Not that she was unhappy with her life, far from it. She was proud of all that she had created. She was a good doctor and a good professor, and she was a damn fine friend to a lot of people, but at this very second she did feel like any of those things. Right now she was just Sarah, a woman who could make a man as hot and complex as Grant LaCroix stop and stare, and that was just as satisfying as every other aspect of her life.

  “I had planned on making us steak and eggs for breakfast, but I think it might be better if we went out.”

  Sarah leaned against the doorframe. “Why the change of plans?”

  “We need to talk.”

  “And we can’t do that here?”

  “No, I don’t think we can.” He stared pointedly at her hand holding the top of the towel closed. Sarah looked down. She was unconsciously rubbing her thumb back and forth across the swell of her breast.

  “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” She gave him a guilty smile. “Do you mind running out to the truck and grabbing my spare set of clothes?”

  “Of course not.” He downed the last of his coffee in one giant swig and put the mug in the sink. He headed out of the kitchen, but stopped just past her. He turned around and caressed his hand down the length of her arm. His eyes were swimming with concern, but at least there wasn’t the same amount of terrible self-loathing she had seen yesterday morning. “Are you all right?”