Shayla Black - Theirs to Cherish

But Sean had a huge chunk of her heart. What sucked more was that caring about either—much less both—of them was not only futile, it could be deadly.

THORPE couldn’t take his eyes off Callie’s reddening ass . . . just like he’d never been able to in the past. He took a particular pride in knowing she wore his mark, even temporarily.

God, he was a sick fuck. But that wasn’t going to stop him.

He had to discipline her. More important, he had to give her a reason to stay.

Her body perched over his lap, her every muscle tense. She panted. Her skin flushed. Callie might be angry as hell with him, but one thing was clear and sent a jolt of electric desire to his cock: She hadn’t stopped wanting him in the last two years any more than he’d stopped craving her. And if she was going to rescind Kirkpatrick’s collar, now might be his only chance to touch her. If she still ran, it would hurt like hell—but he couldn’t let this chance slip by.

Dragging in a ragged breath, he brought his hand up and smacked her ass again, repeating the gesture the second the count left her lips. Slowly, her body thawed until she sank into him, her responses turning breathy.

Ten, eleven, twelve . . . He slipped into a rhythm, slow and meaningful, deliberate, measured, strong. Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen . . . Why was it so fucking easy to get into his Dom space with Callie? He never had to try. The moment he touched her, it was there, a boundless pool of it. He felt her needs as if they were his own. With her sprawled across his lap, he could read her utterly, each and every nuance.

She wanted him. Yes, she’d been thinking about that goddamn Scot earlier. She was likely also wondering how she could have feelings for two men at once. As much as he disliked Kirkpatrick, Thorpe wondered that, too. But that bastard was no longer important. This tempo, his punishment, her peace—they both needed it. Then he’d bring her against his chest and care for her, cuddle and shower her with worship, find out what she needed to stay.

Callie might not be his, but he’d do whatever it took to keep her here.

“Twenty,” she whispered, absolutely limp against his thighs.

Thorpe had no doubt her head was floating. Her defiance was gone. Her ass throbbed a fiery red. Her cunt seeped a sweet musk. His hand tingled. His mouth watered.

Just like the last time he’d spanked her, he was dying to fuck her. Like the last two years of avoiding every opportunity to touch her had never existed.

Letting out a harsh breath, Thorpe dragged his stinging palm over her burning backside, slowly soothing out the ache.

“Time to apologize, pet.”

“I’m sorry, Sir.” Her voice was slurred.

Callie sounded mostly sincere. He smiled, despite the shitty mess he found himself in.

How long could he keep this girl believing that he didn’t want her with every breath he drew?

On the other hand, what else could he do? Melissa had upended his world after she’d promised to love him until death parted them, then suddenly served him with divorce papers. And that just topped the stinking pile of shit. As much as he adored Callie, he couldn’t risk his heart, especially for a woman with one foot out the door.

Minus any easy answers, Thorpe gathered the pliant beauty into his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder. With his chest tight and aching, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, savoring her nearness.

“What did Sean say to upset you?”

“That he loves me.”

Thorpe winced. He’d known that, but hearing her admit it still jabbed him. He forced himself to smooth his features and lifted her chin with one hand. “Why did that make you cry?”

Slowly, she blinked, opening her eyes, and focusing that dazed blue stare on him. “I shouldn’t love anyone.” Callie lifted her hand and cupped his jaw, smoothing her thumb over his cheek. “But it’s too late. It has been for a long time.”

His heart lurched. Jesus, her feelings weren’t a surprise, not really. The unspoken emotions between them had been the neon billboard in the room for years.

He wrapped her hand in his and drew it away from his face. “You have feelings for Kirkpatrick, too?”

“Yes.” Her eyes clouded over. Tears leaked out. “I’m so confused.”

Of course she was. She didn’t have the life experience to deal with this shit. Hell, he was significantly older and he didn’t feel equipped to handle it, either.

Sean’s words haunted him. She needs tender guidance. Thorpe had guided her, all right. But he’d never been able to do it tenderly. Boundaries and protection he could give her without compromising his heart, but seeing the love in her eyes now as she pressed her fragile body against him . . . Everything about her was killing his resolve to remain aloof.

“Callie, pet. You can’t leave me.” His voice croaked, and an unfamiliar sting prickled his eyes.

He slammed his lids down. Damn it, he could not afford this weakness.

“Better for you if I do.” She sounded so damn sad.

Thorpe shook his head, holding her closer. “You’d ruin me, pet. In fact, I think you already have.”

Callie threw her arms around him, her breath warm against his neck. He gripped her tighter. Normally, he’d wish he hadn’t spilled his guts . . . but he would try if any bit of the truth kept her with him.

“You’ll be my biggest regret,” she whispered.

Goddamn it, that hurt.

Maybe he should simply admit that he knew she was a fugitive. Almost as quickly, Thorpe dismissed the idea. If she was insistent on running now, he suspected that divulging what he knew would only make Callie more determined to flee.

He held her tighter, taking in everything that made her uniquely Callie. The firm little curves of her body, those long lashes against her fair cheeks, her fingers digging into his shirtfront as if seeking reassurance. This close, he smelled her citrus shampoo and the remnants of the hair color he knew she used as a disguise. Her signature pink polish colored her petite toes, spritzed with glitter. And the soft little shudders of her body as she cried ripped out his heart.

“I won’t give you a chance to regret me, pet. I sure as hell refuse to wish I’d done something different while I had you with me.” He was already going to regret the last four years. “Lie back.”

She gasped softly, her gaze shooting up to his. She swallowed. Desire mingled with despair and wracked her face. “Thorpe . . . I can’t.”

He tensed. “Because of Kirkpatrick?”

Callie nodded.

“You’ve said you’re rescinding his collar. If you’re leaving here, you’re obviously leaving him, too.”

“I know.” More tears clouded her eyes.

If it wasn’t just about misguided loyalty to the Scot, what else was she hesitating about? The hurt from his desertion two Decembers ago? Christ, that had to be it. Remorse wracked him.

“I won’t walk away from you this time without giving you pleasure. I give you my word.”

Callie stared, breath held, the moment frozen. Thorpe watched her face as a thousand thoughts zipped through her head. And he saw the second she decided that if she was severing her bond with Kirkpatrick and fleeing, then she’d rather have him once than never at all.

With a sad smile, she climbed out of his lap and onto her bed, lying across it. Thorpe turned to watch her as she held out her arms to him, a silent siren call he had no idea how or if he could resist.

On the other hand, he had his answer about her parting gift to him. Tonight, she intended to give all of herself. Her body. Her heart. Her soul.

Her response both touched and infuriated him to the core. The girl was often so damn unpredictable. Right now, he’d have to be the same.

Standing, Thorpe shucked his suit coat. Then he doffed his cuff links, setting them on her nightstand. He draped his shirt over his coat at the head of the bed. Then he checked the pockets of his trousers. What he needed still rested inside. With a bracing breath, he turned to Callie.

“Robe off, pet. Spread your legs.”

Her fingers trembled as she worked the knot around her waist free. With a little lift and an arch of her graceful spine, she pulled it away from her body, gathering the silk in one hand, then letting it puddle on the floor. He would never get over how beautiful she was and the visceral reaction she elicited in him every damn time he came near her.

Callie slowly parted her thighs. His heart chugged. Technically, he should walk away and leave her untouched until she formally severed her relationship with Sean. Putting his hands on another Dom’s sub wasn’t ethical. The fact that he suspected Kirkpatrick of being a deceitful douche bag wasn’t relevant. Thorpe realized it was possible he’d convinced himself that these were extenuating circumstances because he wanted Callie so badly. But he couldn’t make himself care. This was likely his last chance to persuade her to stay. If he had to risk his reputation in the BDSM community to keep her safe from a man who might be trying to snuff her out or lock her in prison, so be it.

Her bare pussy splayed out in front of him, pink and swollen and tantalizing. Even if she remained at Dominion, this opportunity would probably never come again. If she wasn’t with Kirkpatrick, she’d be with someone else. Callie wasn’t cut out to spend her life alone, and he shouldn’t punish her because he’d resigned himself to solitude.

Thorpe refused to take from her now, but he would gladly give.

He lowered himself to the bed between her legs. Her stare never wavered from him, but he heard her indrawn breath. As he engulfed her hip with his hand, she shivered. Then, settling himself on his chest, Thorpe took her other hip in hand and dragged her closer, until her pussy was a breath away from his lips.

“Thorpe, you said . . .”

“You assumed.” He corrected. “You’re not dictating the terms, Callie.”

“I know.” She thrashed beneath him.

“Problem, pet?”

Callie bent her knees, writhed, lifted her hips restlessly. “You make me ache.”

Thorpe couldn’t help but smile. “You do the same to me. Relax.”

“Hurry.”

“Always topping from the bottom,” he chided. But that was part of her charm.

Before she could reply, he set his mouth over her pussy and began consuming as much of Callie as he could. He’d dreamed of her. Her scent had driven him to obsess about her flavor day after day, seemingly forever. But the moment she hit his tongue, it was like tasting a delicacy he constantly craved. Like Callie herself, her pussy was sweet and tart and soft . . . with just a hint of something he hadn’t encountered in any other woman. And doubted he ever would again.

Her soft gasp went straight to his cock, and he raised up on his elbows, his thumbs parting the swollen lips of her sex. He lashed her hardening clit with gentle, rhythmic strokes, concentrating on growing her need. Her skin turned a rosy pink. She grabbed at the sheets with restless fingers. Her hips moved in time with his mouth. Her gasps became moans.

Lifting his lips for a moment, he nipped at her thigh and tended to her engorged bundle of nerves with sure fingers. “Does that feel good, pet?”

“Yes.” Callie thrashed under him. “Please . . . More.”

Thorpe smiled, eager to indulge her. He bent to her again, raking his tongue through her sultry sex. This time, he didn’t bother with a slow courting of her flesh. He seized her, sucking at her clit, drawing her deeper into pleasure, wordlessly demanding her orgasm. If he had one chance to taste her, he planned to shove her to the brink, take her power, then drive it back into her so she never forgot this night.

Her moans shortened, went up an octave. Under his hands, her thighs clenched. The rest of her body tensed. Her fingers found their way into his hair and pulled. A shudder slammed down his spine. She’d be a hellcat to fuck, an active, clawing, screaming lover he’d want again and again.

And if he didn’t stop thinking that, he would rip his pants off and find out for himself. Staying on course and making her feel treasured was more important than getting off.

Thorpe slid two fingers inside her. Oh, fuck, was she ever tight. He gave grudging credit to Kirkpatrick for lasting as long as he had. Being inside Callie’s little sweltering cunt was one of his favorite fantasies. When he was alone and tired of all the women who joined Dominion because they’d read some fucking book and had no clue what submission actually meant, he escaped to his shower, stroked himself, and imagined her.