I came but I’m not satisfied.
I won’t be.
Not until I have her.
Knowing I need to end the engagement, I just agreed to make myself rush through the shower. The sooner I end this with Daphne, the sooner I can have Mable marry me because she will be my wife. She can kick, cry, scream, and fight me.
She can beg and plead, but nothing will work.
She’s in my grasp now. There’s nowhere for her to go. Eventually, she’ll have to turn to me. I’ll be her safe haven, her embrace, and the man she counts on.
I smile when I turn off the shower, my plan slowly coming together.
I slide the curtain back and Mable jumps, her eyes widen comically as she sees me.
Sneaky little thing, trying to tiptoe in here without me noticing.
I straighten my spine, the water sliding down my body like her eyes. I tilt my head, watching her with a confident smirk; her lips part when she sees my cock.
“Can you hand me the towel behind you, Sweetness?” I point, and she spins around, yanking the towel from the rail, stretching her arm back to hand it to me. “Thank you, Mable.” I wrap the soft cotton around my waist, tucking the corner, so the towel doesn’t fall off. “Is there something I can help you with?” I ask, stepping from the shower until I’m right behind her. I can smell the peppermint from my shampoo in her hair, and as she spins around, the ends of her hair whip my chest.
Mable’s chin hits my chest, and she tries to take a step back, but her foot trips over mine. I wrap an arm around her waist just as her hand clutches the towel. She accidentally pulls it from me, and we slam against the wall, chest to chest.
Our breaths mingle, and an audible gulp escapes her when she feels my cock against her bare thigh.
My fingers tighten in the shirt she’s wearing, twisting it, so I have an outlet to control my arousal. I don’t want to scare her. I never want to scare her.
“What are you doing in here, Sweetness?”
She exhales, nibbling her bottom lip. “I needed to use the restroom. I tried waiting, but I really need to go.”
I lift her hand in mine so I can examine the rope burns around her wrist. They don’t look too bad today, but I’m still not happy her flesh has been marred. My fingers slip down her forearm, and her skin comes to life, goosebumps awakening from my touch.
“Are you afraid of me, Mable?”
She nods her head, her eyes never leaving my lips.
I cage her body against the wall, my palm covering her jaw as I bend down, our lips centimeters apart. “I’m the one thing in this entire world that you do not need to fear.”
“How do you know me?” she asks, her voice shaking the closer we become. She places her hands against my chest, and I know there’s no doubt she can feel the fast beat of my heart.
I can omit one tiny truth, can’t I? To have her love me? To need me?
“Don’t you mean, how do you know me? Isn’t that what you’re so confused about? Do you recognize me, Mable?” My hand wraps around the back of her neck, and I hover my lips over hers, moaning from the warmth of her seeping into me. “Isn’t that what’s bothering you? To know every fucking inch of you awakens for me, but you don’t know how or why?”
“Yes,” she admits out of fear, but there’s a breathlessness about the answer too. She isn’t unaffected by me.
She just needs a little…push.
“What is it that you recognize?”
“Your eyes,” she says, locking hers directly to mine. “I’ve seen them before.”
“How do you feel when you see them?” I drag a finger across her jaw, my cock hard again, which shouldn’t be a surprise with how close I am to the one I desire most. “Be honest.”
“Safe,” she admits quickly. “But I shouldn’t feel safe.”
My hands land on her hips, bunching the shirt in my fist so I can control myself and not slide my hands under it. I don’t think she’d appreciate that. Not yet.
“Why? You’re the safest you’ve ever been. I won’t let anything happen to you.” I inch closer, waiting for her to tell me to stop moving. I feel her body trembling against me, her breath shaking with every exhale that leaves her mouth.
Not wanting to risk another second, I close the distance, pressing our lips together at last. Something inside me shifts; an intricate part of my being, my life, my love, everything I’ve ever learned, everything I was built to be, is different with her lips on mine.
They give, soft and pliant, unsure yet curious, and I devour her uncertainty. It is victorious.
I control the kiss, taking her chin between my fingers, sliding my tongue between her lips, and sighing into her mouth when the velvet glides against mine.
“Fuck,” I mutter, explosions going off behind my eyes.
She feels better than any dream I’ve ever conjured in my mind.
She whimpers, finally opening herself up to me, digging her nails into my chest as she leans into the kiss.
I knew she’d feel like this.
Like mine.
All fucking mine.
I growl, sliding my hand around the back of her head. I want more.
She shoves me away, our lips ripping apart, and then the slap of her palm meeting my cheek sounds.
And it only turns me on more.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” she warns. “I won’t let you manipulate me.”
I lean down to whisper in her ear, “I won’t need to manipulate you. I’ll have your heart soon enough, Mable. Just wait and see.”
“Don’t count it.”
“Oh, it’s the one thing I am counting on.” Without picking up my towel, I walk into the bedroom and turn to look over my shoulder. “Get ready, Sweetness. We have work to do today.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
I stalk forward, pinning her against the wall again, my cock pressing against her thigh hard, and I’m not apologetic about it. “You’ll go where I will tell you to go, Mable. If you ever want to see home again.”
Fear flashes across her eyes, and I hate that I put it there. I also hate the hope I’ve caused her, as she’ll never go home again.
I’ll do what I have to do.
Whether she likes it or not, this is her home now.
I’m her home.