Savior (An Impossible Novel) (13 page)

I barely stifled a thankful sigh when we finally left the restaurant.  It took less than ten minutes to walk to his apartment, but the wait became more and more agonizing as my pussy pulsed in time with my every step.  Our only contact was Clayton’s arm around my waist, but even that barest touch through my clothes made my skin tingle after being denied for so long.  I felt as though I had been enduring this sexual torment for weeks rather than less than twenty-four hours.  Clayton had said he intended to
tame
me.  The thought sent pleasurable trepidation coursing through me.

He physically demonstrated his intent to control me as soon as we entered his apartment.  Gripping me firmly by the waist, he bent and lifted me effortlessly.  The world blurred around me and I found myself thrown over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift.

“Hey!”  I cried, surprised and slightly indignant.  My eyes widened with shock and I gasped in a sharp breath when his hand came down hard on my ass.  Had sweet, easygoing Clayton really just
spanked
me?  He had promised me punishment, and it seemed he was going to make good on that promise.

“Quiet.”  His voice had the
cool, controlled quality that communicated his confidence in his complete power over me.  The sound of it made me shudder delightedly.

All of the wind was knocked out of me as he flung me down on the bed unceremoniously.  I was momentarily disoriented, and he took advantage.  He flipped me onto my front and straddled my hips, pinning me down with his weight as he swiftly wrapped something silky around my wrists, securing them behind my back.  The material was soft, but when I pulled against the restraints I found that I was securely bound.  I twisted m
y head back, and I realized he had used his necktie to restrain me.  This had barely registered when he shifted me again, easily manhandling my body.  Already he was eliciting feelings of vulnerability as he demonstrated my helplessness to his physical strength.  It made my nipples tighten and my core throb.

He draped me across his knees where he sat at the edge of the bed.  My ass was thrust upward, and my long hair fell around my face, obscuring my vision.  Oh, god.  I knew what was coming next; I had been in this position before.  I gasped at the shock of cool air hitting my sex as he flipped up my skirt and roughly yanked my panties down to my knees.  Clayton gently touched his fingers to my inner thigh, swirling in the wet evidence of my intense arousal.  His soft laugh was slightly evil as I squirmed in his lap.  The movement made me acutely aware of his own desire for me as his erection pressed into my stomach.

When he spoke, his tone was matter-of-fact, almost detached.  “I believe I gave you fair warning that I was going to punish you.”  A lustful groan escaped me as he traced the curve of my ass with a feather-light touch.  I arched my back, offering myself up to him.

“More,” I begged, half-delirious with need.  “Please, Clayton.”

“Not yet,” he told me softly.  “You have to earn it.”

I whined and ground my hips against him, trying desperately to achieve some kind of release.  His hand instantly fisted in my ha
ir, pulling my head back so I had no choice but to look into his eyes.  They were glinting with amusement.

“And that’s not the way to go about it,” he informed me dispassionately.

“I’m not so sure I like this friend of yours who’s taught you these tricks,” I declared irritably, my frustration getting the better of me.

His fingers stroked my ass again, and I shuddered.  “But you like it,” he informed me.  “You can protest all you want, but your body tells me everything I need to know.”  His grin was wicked.

“God damn it, Clayton!”  I snapped.  “Touch me already!”

He
tutted at me.  “If you insist.”  His palm came down on me hard, hitting the sensitive flesh where my ass met my thighs.  My shocked cry was laced with pain, and I stared up at him, wide-eyed and panting.  His pupils dilated at the sight of my visceral reaction, and I could tell he was quickly learning that doling out punishment could be just as pleasurable for him as receiving it was for me.

“I’ve been told that I’m supposed to inform you of why I’m doing this to you.  Otherwise, how will you know what behavior to correct?” 

I swallowed hard as I realized that I was completely at his mercy now.  He was firmly asserting his control over me, his dominance, and he wasn’t going to give me an inch.  No one had ever made me feel so utterly defenseless before.  And no one had ever aroused me this intensely.

“Your actions at the bar last night were foolish and rash,” he continued.  “You put yourself in a dangerous situation.  I won’t allow that kind of behavior.”  His hand came down on me again, and my traitorous body responded lustfully despite the panic that suddenly spiked though my chest.

“No!”  I protested, trying to ignore the way my inner muscles contracted.  “Clayton, that happened outside the bedroom.  You can’t punish me sexually for something like that.”

He tenderly stroked his palm over my stinging flesh, eliciting both an erotic tingling and a sense of comfort.  His expression was gentle, but he still mainta
ined his grip on my hair so I didn’t have the option of looking away.  “I can understand if this is too much for you.  What’s your safe word?”

“Red,” I said quietly.

“Do you want to use it now?”

I bit my lip, torn between desire and fear of what giving Clayton that kind of control might do to me emotionally.  I had promised myself that I would give him nothing more than my body, but this was moving into a grey area.  But Clayton had already overcome my impulses to deny him, and my last vestiges of willpower left me as I ceded myself to him.

“No.  I don’t want to use my safe word.”  My voice was a defeated whisper, and all of the tension left me as my resistance was shattered.  My body and my mind were in Clayton’s hands now; I had entrusted them to him.  The sensation was incredibly freeing.

With my consent, my punishment resumed.  The blows were sharp, and each resultant
crack
that echoed around the room was an audible reinforcement of Clayton’s lesson.  He wasn’t gentle with me, but I didn’t want him to be.  This wasn’t a sensual spanking; it was a reprimand.  I had hated myself for making a fool of myself in front of Clayton by toying with those college boys, and I had been ashamed of the fact that he had witnessed my promiscuous behavior.  The pain he gave me now was cleansing, and as I earned his forgiveness through enduring it, I began to forgive myself.  All of the years of acting rashly, of running from my problems by indulging in lust, had only resulted in the destruction of my own sense of self-worth.  And Clayton wasn’t going to allow me to continue down that path any longer.  The fact that he believed I could change, that he demanded I do so, gave me hope that I
could
be the person who was reflected in his eyes whenever he looked at me.

The tears that spilled down my cheeks weren’t from the pain, but from an overwhelming flood of relief.  When Clayton saw them, he stopped immediately.  His finge
rs untwined from my hair so he could gently wipe away my tears.  He was looking at me with concern.

“Did I hurt you that badly?”  He
asked, his worry evident in his tone.

I gave him a small, watery smile.  “No.  I’m not hurt.  Not really.  I’m… happy.  Thank you.”

Clayton’s eyes widened in amazement.  “I have to admit I wasn’t expecting that,” he said, smiling at me softly.  “But I’m glad to hear it.”

He stroked my enflamed skin to soothe away the burn, and his gentle touch reignited the need that had been pulsing just below the surface as he had punished me.  The complete surrender that the pain had brought forth had only stoked my desire as I reveled in the heady release.

“Please, Clayton,” I begged desperately.  “I’m sorry for what I did.  Will you please touch me now?  I need to feel you inside of me.”

He groaned softly.  “You don’t know how badly I’ve wanted to hear you say that.”  As he spoke, his hard cock twitched beneath me, and I couldn’t hold back my smirk as I writhed against him.

“I think I have a pretty good idea,” I teased.

With a low growl as my only warning, he swiftly maneuvered me off of his lap and positioned my body on the bed so that I was on my knees.  The bindings on my wrists prevented me from supporting myself with my hands, so my face pressed into the mattress.  I was still wearing my dress, but it stayed bunched up around my waist from where he had exposed me for my spanking.  I licked my lips as I heard hip unzip his slacks and tear open a condom wrapper.  We were frenzied in our need for one another.  We had waited for this for a full day; we weren’t going to wait for one minute longer.

I cried out in bliss as Clayton drove into me in one hard thrust.  His movements were harsh, almost brutal, as he was completely consumed by the passion that he had so determinedly held at bay for long hours.  I gloried in it.  Despite his ferocity, I was so wet and ready for him that there was hardly any pain.  His fingers dug into the tender flesh at my waist as he held me with almost bruising force, keeping me firmly in place as he pounded into me, taking his pleasure from my body.  Sharp cries escaped me at his every demanding thrust as I was driven towards the precipice.  Clayton’s raw ferociousness drew out the primal hunger in me, and I jerked against my restraints, longing to dig my nails into his skin and hold him to me tightly.  But the reminder of my complete helplessness was what drove me over the edge, sending me spiraling into the fiery abyss.  My core rippled around him as I screamed out my orgasm, the intensity of my release so acute that it ripped viciously through my body, tearing me asunder in the most ecstatically brutal way.  Rose Baker had been replaced by a being of pure pleasure, and there was nothing but the bliss coursing through me and the feel of Clayton’s cock pumping inside of me as he reached his own completion.

I was a quivering, boneless mass beneath the weight of him as his body collapsed atop mine.  I don’t know how long we lay there, but eventually I became vaguely aware of
an emptiness inside of me.  Time passed slowly as my mind gradually coalesced, returning me to some semblance of myself.  Clayton’s body was entwined with mine.  As I clutched him to me, I realized I had been released from my bonds and he had removed our clothes.  The feeling of his heated flesh against mine was delicious.  I snuggled closer to him, and he tenderly kissed the top of my head.

For the first time in I didn’t know how long, I felt truly happy and safe.  What had just happened between us hadn’t been a cheap thrill.  It had been real.

“Thanks for trusting me, Rose,” I heard him murmur.

Of course I trust you.

I was distantly shocked at the fervor of the words that ran across my mind.  But I was too exhausted to worry about my reaction, and in the morning I didn’t remember it anyway.

Chapter 8

I gently trailed my fingertips over the hard planes of Clayton’s body, taking my time exploring him.  Every time I had seen him naked I had either been too consumed by lust or too dazed from being fucked senseless to fully study him.  As my touch raked across his rippling abs, I noticed a small, circular inconsistency in his smooth flesh.  Peeking under the sheets, I saw that the skin there was slightly puckered.

Clayton groaned softly as my touch roused him from sleep.  I looked up to find him smiling at me languorously.  He reached for me and tenderly cupped my cheek in his large hand, tracing the line of my cheekbone with the pad of his thumb.  “Good morning, beautiful.”

I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch.  It felt good.  Too good.  I was acutely aware of the fact that I was failing miserably at keeping my resolution to guard my heart.  “How did you get this?”  I asked softly as I touched his scar, deciding that allowing myself to fall into his arms right now was not a good idea.

“I was shot,” he said simply, as though it wasn’t a big deal.  I had never fully appreciated just how dangerous Clayton’s job was until that moment. 

All the more reason not to get involved with him,
I thought.  Too many people had abandoned me over the course of my life, and I didn’t want to have to go through that again.

“What happened?”  My curiosity got the best of me.

“My friend Claudia was in trouble with the Irish Mob.  Someone tried to hurt her, and I stopped him.”

I turned this disconcerting information over in my mind. 
Claudia? 
Wasn’t that the name of the woman who he had a thing for?  He had taken a bullet for her.  Had he been in love with her?  I hated the sharp tang of jealousy that arose in the back of my throat, and I did my best to hide my unease.

Wanting to put distance between us, I rolled off of him.  “I should get back to my place.  I have to get ready for work.”

Clayton grabbed my wrist and pressed my hand against his erection.  “Are you sure you don’t have a little time to spare?”  His voice was rough with lust.  The sound of his desire and the feel of his hard cock made my mouth water, but I stood my ground, pulling my hand away.

“Sorry, but I really don’t have time.”  My voice was breathier than I would have liked, but Clayton relented, releasing me.  I was careful not to look at his tempting body as I hastily pulled on my clothes, and I was relieved to hear the rustle of fabric that told me he was doing the
same.  But he looked damn sexy in boxers and a white t-shirt, his hair untidy from our night together.