Sleepless: (Billionaire Bound: Part 2) A Dark New Adult Romance (4 page)

Everyone was staring at her, but Bethany found that she didn’t care at all. She didn’t care if these women all thought she was lying or if they thought she was insane; she was just sick of taking their stares and their disbelief with a smile and swallowing her anger and discomfort, expected to just go and hide in the corner while they moved in on a guy like Ciaran.

“So you know what,” Beth continued as she left the lingerie department, “I think I’m just going to tell him, who owns that Mercedes and bought me a diamond necklace not two hours ago, that stores like this one definitely don’t deserve his business if they’re going to treat those he cares about and finds attractive like second-class citizens.” She stormed away as they all stared, wide eyed, at her, until she was at the front of the store and swinging the door open. Ciaran was still talking on the phone, and she knew she probably shouldn’t interrupt them, but with anger and righteousness still pumping in her veins, Beth reached up and cupped his cheek, pulling him down for a deep, fierce kiss.

His gray eyes were surprised for a moment, staring down at her, but then he was hanging up his phone without pulling away from her and wrapping his arms around her waist. He pulled her closer, holding the kiss as long as she desired so that everyone in the store and everyone on the sidewalk could see, staring at them.

At last, Beth drew back, taking a deep breath and smiling up at him.

Ciaran cleared his throat and straightened, brushing his red hair back as he glanced toward the store a moment, then back toward her. “I take it you didn’t find anything you liked in there?”

“There was one thing I found that I liked, but for the most part, they had a pretty bad selection.” He looked toward the store again, and Beth glanced over her shoulder as well, where everyone, including the redhead was still staring at them. Ciaran chuckled and turned away from the store with her.

Beth tipped her head against the edge of the tub and shut her eyes, listening to the rippling water around her and inhaling the seductive scent of pomegranates. They had spent a while longer in town after her outburst in the store, going somewhere that had employees who weren’t rude and who had actually helped her find what she was looking for. Ciaran had bought a few sets of lingerie for her, including a few very risqué things she never would have bought for herself. Things that weren’t just pretty bras and panties, but actual lingerie. She had a few new dresses as well, although after the kiss she had planted on him in front of everyone on the street, she found it even less likely that he was going to let her go around in anything but that sexy new lingerie.

When they had gotten back to his cabin, just as the sun was starting to set, she had been surprised with dinner set up by the water’s edge, with some perfectly made Irish dish she didn’t even know the name of. There had been candlelight and a violin, and it didn’t take her long to realize that he had taken her to the town largely just to get her out of the way so this surprise could be prepared, even if he had been less than impressed with her wardrobe nonetheless. Beth was more than content with that, though, enjoying the meal with him and feeling better than she had in a long time. She had never stood up to any of the girls who had always criticized her for her weight. Not even Kylie, who was supposed to be her friend. Some part of her wondered if that was Ciaran’s doing, in a weird way. Not just because he found her attractive, but all the rest of it too.

Dinner had ended with Ciaran telling her to go upstairs and take a bath. She had done so, discovering upon her arrival that the claw-footed tub she hadn’t used as of yet—since the shower was separate—had been filled with gorgeous-smelling oils and rose petals, and that from some sound system she couldn’t see, there was more violin music. Beth had been more than happy to undress and slip into the warm water, her curls caught out of the way so they didn’t get soaked, enjoying being lavished this way.

She had a feeling he had something else planned in the room behind the fireplace, so she wasn’t in any hurry to get out of the tub even with the promise of what that surprise would be; she had been in the tub for at least half an hour, when she finally decided that if she stayed any longer, she would probably fall asleep. Beth toweled herself off diligently and returned to her room, where her new clothes and accessories had been left for her. She rummaged through the bags until she found the beautiful, red satin babydoll that she had gotten today, covered with black lace and barely brushing the middle of her thigh. Allowing her towel to drop to the floor, Beth brushed out her hair and then slid into the garment, shivering as the fabric stretched across her breasts and rubbed against her nipples. She debated, for a moment, putting on panties, and then bit her lip and decided against it. In one of the other bags was the collar-like diamond necklace he had gotten for her, and she removed it from its box, wrapping it around her neck.

Glancing at herself a moment in the mirror, she left her room satisfied and headed downstairs. The wall was closed, but she could see the last book-key resting on the mantel of the fireplace and slid it onto its shelf, letting the wall swing open.

Beth blinked when she saw the room empty. With the exception of the ever-burning glow of the fireplace, there were only two candles near the headboard and one resting on a table a few steps in front of her. On it were a number of the things that Ciaran had been using on her the past few days: the bell clamps, the gags, the paddle, the vibrators. She bit her lip lightly, having a feeling that the table was for her to select her own accessories today…

Her nipples grew harder as she stared at the clamps, and she took a deep breath, reaching out for them as her other hand tugged down the top of her babydoll, gasping as she slowly allowed the teeth to close down. Softly, she moaned as she repeated the process on the other one, her thighs rubbing against one another, already aroused. Her breath was heavier as she turned back to the table, brushing her fingers over the vibrating bullet with a remote control. She picked it up, along with the leather paddle and the blindfold, and then moved toward the bed. Beth climbed atop it, spreading her thighs and moaning a bit louder as she slid the bullet into her slit, squirming at the sensation.

She only turned up the remote to the lowest setting, hissing in pleasure as the too-teasing whirring started inside of her. Next came the blindfold, which she wrapped firmly around her head so that she could see only the faintest tease of light, and nothing else in the shadowy room. Beth shifted onto her hands and knees and then lifted the paddle, raising it to her mouth and closing her teeth upon the handle in offering, before she set about waiting for Ciaran to arrive, feeling her arousal slowly, insubstantially growing as she shifted on the bed. Her bells jingled with every movement she made.

At last, many minutes later, she heard a chuckle come from near the fireplace and swallowed as his footsteps became audible on the wood floor. He paused near the foot of the bed, admiring her preparations for himself, before moving around to where she knelt. His hand found the edge of her babydoll and tugged it up over the curve of her rear, and then Beth squealed as the power of the vibrator went up to the next level. “Daring girl, sweet Bethany… You know, for how much you squeal and writhe against it, you do seem to greatly enjoy the bite of pain.” His fingers brushed along her jaw, and she obediently opened her mouth so that he could take the paddle from her.

“Yes, Master,” she whispered, “I do enjoy it… It isn’t like anything I’ve ever experienced before…”

“And yet it alone makes you as hot and bothered as this delightful toy inside your slit.”

He raised its power again, and she moaned. “Y-yes…”

“You were a good girl today, sweet Bethany. You are exquisitely charming, despite how shy you came across as at first… And you did do everything I asked you to, even if the excursion into that particular store resulted in rather interesting things. I suppose that is for the best, though, when I do not think we could have find anything so ravishing as this little thing in that store.” His fingers brushed at the lace near her breasts before he tugged on her clamp and made her whimper.

“I am glad you enjoy it, Master… I’ve never worn anything like it before.”

“Such a shame that is, when you look so good in it… Do you want me to spank you, sweet Bethany?” The leather of the paddle rubbed against her ass cheek, and she swallowed hard.

“Yes, Master. I want you to spank me.”

“Hm… I’m not so sure. You were such a good girl today, it hardly seems like you need punishment. If anything, it is tempting to just let this whir inside of you for a while and watch you spasm…” The vibrator went up again, and she groaned softly, gyrating her hips and twisting her nails into the covers of the bed. “Tell me why you should be spanked, sweet Bethany. Beg me to do it, if you’ve been so naughty as to deserve it.”

Beth ached, desperately wanting that sting of pain, almost more than anything else… “I wasn’t all good today, Master. When you were on the phone, when I came up and kissed you… I interrupted your phone call, Master. I was a bad girl, for interrupting you that way… Please, Master, spank me. Make me cry out, make my ass red. I was such a bad girl for doing that, Master…”

He laughed and tugged her clamp again. “That is true, you did interrupt me. And that was a rather important work call. I had to explain to my associate why I had hung up so unexpectedly later on… An inconvenience, certainly. How many spanks do you think you deserve for your transgression, sweet Bethany?”

She swallowed. “I… I deserve ten spanks, Master. Ten hard spanks. Please, spank me ten times, so I know how naughty I was…”

“Ten it is, then. I expect you to count them, sweet Bethany.”

Smack!

“One!” Beth gasped out immediately when that first spank came without any warning, shuddering at the sharpness of it.

Smack!

“Two!” The vibrator went up another level. There was no waiting in between spanks this time, for her body to relax, for the sting to fade. No, Ciaran intended to truly spank her this time, to make her feel every second of it.

Smack! Smack!

“Three! Four!” Bethany squealed at the surprise double attack, her legs trembling, her breathing ragged as she felt bright bursts of pain over the cheeks of her rear. She couldn’t tell if she was more aroused for the spanking or for the way he made the bullet increase power again.

Smack!

“Five!”

Smack!

“Six!”

Smack! Smack!

“Seven! Eight!” The vibrator was almost on its maximum power, and her counting came out as little more than guttural moans as her body squirmed and bucked, her arousal splattering across the sheets of the bed.

Smack!

“Nine!”

Smack!

“T-teeeen!” The word came out as a scream as the vibrator went up to its max and a truly hard spank shattered down upon her rear, and all at once she was coming, squealing and writhing, her arms collapsing beneath her as she groaned desperately. For a long, long moment, she had no knowledge of anything except that feeling, and then there was silence. Silence except for the crackling of the fire, and she felt Ciaran’s fingers sliding the bullet out of her slit. A moment later, he was rubbing some sort of lotion or cream on the red skin of her ass, and that soothed the pain immensely as she lay there.

Finally, she felt his hand brush through her curls gently. “Take off the lingerie, and the clamps, sweet Bethany, and lie down on your back.”

Swallowing, she was slower to obey than usual, still wracked with pleasure and pain, but she managed to get to her knees. Her rear was throbbing as she carefully removed her nipple clamps and then tugged her babydoll up over her head, discarding it over the side of the bed. Beth shifted, lying down and nestling her head tiredly into the pillows.

“Lift your hips.” She did so, and felt a cylindrical pillow being slipped beneath the small of her back, keeping her sore ass off the bed.

“Thank you, Master,” she murmured, even as he took her wrists and locked them into place on the headboard. He was catching her ankles and tying them spread-eagle to the bottom of the bed, which was, by and large, the tamest of the bondage positions she had been in this week.

Ciaran’s mouth brushed at the inside of her ankles. Beth let out a breath and then stilled as she felt his mouth slowly traveling upward the inside of her leg, kissing at the trembling limb. His hands were on the outside of either, brushing slowly against her skin in a way that made her feel like she was on fire. This arousal… it was different than the ones composed of painful pleasure. Different than the ones where she was aroused just to obey him, to be pleasing him. It made her ache in ways far more poignant, as his mouth skirted around her slit, pressing at the inside of her hip.

“Mm… You have been far more than I had ever dreamed possible, sweet Bethany. You’ve exceeded all of my expectations for you, and this week where you are mine.” His tongue swirled around her navel before continuing upward. He paused a moment, planting a soft kiss on either one of her erect nipples, soothing the lingering bite left by the clamps before nuzzling into her cleavage and kissing further upward. Ciaran’s tongue brushed against her collarbone, and she felt his breath against her throat, beneath the diamond collar.

“I want to keep you, sweet Bethany. I want you to be mine, forever. To have you always at my side, and always ready for
this
…” His lips brushed against her own, tempting her to kiss him as she had earlier that day. “Say yes, sweet Bethany. Say you’ll stay with me. Say you’ll come with me, to Ireland, and everywhere else.”

All at once, Bethany froze. All arousal seeped out of her and she felt a sudden cold.

“Eldredge.”