16. CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Marcus

W hen I walked out of the study last night, I instructed Leighton to call me if she needed to use the bathroom.

I was counting on it that she would. Hoped to be there when she pees, to inject myself into every part of her life.

Wished that maybe, just maybe, she'd have a change of heart. Hear her small, pretty voice as she asks me to open up. She'd have threaded her fingers with mine as we explored the dark side. Together.

Always together.

Yet she hasn't.

Can't say I'm disappointed with what she did decide to do.

My dick got so hard as I stood, immersed in the night while watching her in my suit jacket. Her fingers on the spines of the books I bought for her. The awe in her eyes and the pretty O shape of her lips when she recognized the titles.

I had the front-row seats to the show of her gratitude.

Then her rage at the pictures I'd plastered to the wall last year. The ones I couldn't keep at home. The concept of boundaries is foreign to Rylan, and I could've never thrown the pictures away.

It worked in my favor. Leighton received another glimpse into my soul. What goes through my heart when she's close and yet so unattainable.

The torture I've been through.

The torture I go through today. To this fucking moment.

Starting the day without her, when I'm lying on the floor outside the study hurt me on a visceral level.

I did it anyway.

A jog, followed by a workout and a shower. Trimming my scruff, leaving enough to chafe at Leighton's thighs. I had every intention of leaving marks on her the next time I'll eat her out.

I threw on a pair of jeans and a heather-gray T-shirt, then drank coffee by myself while Leighton slept. Watched what my daughter's been up to—nothing, other than typing relentlessly on her laptop.

Later, I roasted vegetables in the oven and fixed everything for the filet Leighton and I will have for lunch.

Unlike yesterday, though, Leighton won't spend the whole day in bed.

She's mine. I'm having her .

The darkness lifts from my heart the second I unlock the door to the study and step inside. Free from jealousy of Milo, I'm ready to face Leighton today.

I'm composed. I'm prepared for an honest, more ethical session.

I annihilate the distance between the door and where Leighton lies.

She's curled up to her side, facing me. Her pink lips are parted, her cheeks painted a healthy shade of red. Beneath her beautiful face peeks out the picture I snapped of her last summer. After emptying myself on her lips.

Honestly, I half expected her to tear this picture in particular to shreds. Instead, my Leighton slept with it.

However strong her denial is, her love for me burns brighter.

I crouch, groaning at the sweet scent of her morning breath. I wrap my hand around her neck, pulling her close and slanting my lips over hers. Probing, Teasing. Being gentle.

"Good morning, beautiful," I grunt against her mouth.

The vibrations of my voice wake Leighton up. Her eyes flutter open, huge, fathomless blues.

"Marcus."

Hope blossoms in my chest. Yesterday, I promised myself I wouldn't break for her so soon. That I'd wait another week, at the bare minimum. Make sure she was sure.

Less than twenty-four hours of thinking this through couldn't have been enough for her. But goddamnit, she's tempting me. If Leighton tells me right this second that she loves me no matter what, my resolve would be in serious jeopardy.

"Little doll." I tighten my hold on her neck, nuzzling her nose. "How'd you sleep?"

"I'm sick." A tear rolls down her cheek.

My stomach roils, panic twisting my insides.

"What's wrong?" I press my lips to her forehead. No fever. My eyes return to search hers, my hand slipping beneath the throw blanket to rub her belly. "Leigh, tell me what's wrong, baby. Something wrong with the food? You need me to take you to the bathroom?"

I push to my feet, ready to launch for the fridge to get her a yogurt and set the water for her tea.

"Marcus, please, listen to me." Her voice creaks. Her slender fingers tug on my jeans.

The uncharacteristic sob that follows is a shot to the heart.

"Leighton, I can't stay."

I curse myself for taking this a step too far. I intended to push her out of her comfort zone. Wanted to sever her connection to the outside world. For her to understand I'm the only one she should give a fuck about.

Having her weak and crying with exhaustion was never meant to happen.

Even the beast inside me howls watching her like this.

"I can't just sit here." I pull my lips in. I kneel for her, my hand delving into her hair, parting the thick strands. "You have to drink tea to get better. Put more food in your belly."

"My body is fine, Marcus." Leighton perches on her elbow, and I adjust the throw blanket to cover her. "It's my head that's sick. This"—she plucks the photo from the couch, waving it in my face—"I like it. I'm looking at it now, and all it does is turn me on. Makes me want you on top of me. It's so fucked up. Why do I like it?"

"That's simple." My lips quirk in a partly relieved, partly wicked grin. "You love my attention."

"This isn't healthy." Her nose scrunches.

I can't help myself. I trail my hand to the nape of her neck, tug her to me, and lick the tears off her cheeks.

"A lot of the things I've done aren't socially acceptable." My lips brush hers, silencing her rebuttal. "Things I've done for you. For us."

"Why haven't you asked me out? Without anyone knowing?" she mumbles. "Why not take me out now? We can do that, be normal."

Normal? Why aren't we normal in her eyes?

I was wrong to think she was ready. She's not. She's getting there, though. She's honest with herself, and that counts for something.

Progress, not perfection.

"We're done playing this ping-pong game." I kiss her nose and stand, distancing myself from her. "That doesn't work for either of us."

My clever girl shakes her head.

"Come on." Outstretching my hand to her, I help pull her up. When she straightens, I level my gaze with hers. "Can I trust you to be a good girl, brush your teeth, and shower without trying to escape? You need coffee and breakfast, and I can't be in both places at once. "

"Yes. I—Marcus." She plays with a strand of her hair, tugging nervously. "I don't hate you."

"Shh." I place a finger on her lips. "We'll talk today. We'll talk fucking plenty. For now, go use the bathroom. I'll have clothes on the vanity for you to wear, so don't worry about that, either."

Her forehead creases, her cute lips parting. "You brought my clothes from home?"

Not brought. Bought . A whole wardrobe of them. A piece of information I'm saving for when the first thing she says in the morning will be anything other than I'm sick .

"You have everything you'll ever need here." When we reach the bathroom, I hold the door open, gesturing for Leighton to get in. "Go on. I'll see you soon."

Wearing nothing but my suit jacket, she does as I say. Her gorgeous round ass peeks from below the hem, bouncing with every step.

Tearing my eyes from her is harder than I thought. I still myself, hands in my pockets, drinking her in.

Not even halfway inside the bathroom, Leighton stops. I watch her shoulders rise and fall. Practically hear her thinking, considering something.

When she spins, a flash of darkness makes her eyes twinkle and her lips curl in a naughty smirk. "What if—"

"Nice try, plaything." I pull my hands out of my pockets, crossing my arms over my chest. "Nothing you say will work, Leigh. You won't trick me into letting you leave or take you out on a date. We're staying here for the time being. "

"I'm not trying anything. You said you wanted to watch me do everything ." Leighton grazes her teeth along her bottom lip, shaking her body along with her head. "So…"

My dick stands at attention. My hands are desperate to touch, maul, mark her.

The cold side of me needs more assurance. "Not feeling sick anymore?"

"I need…something. Warmth. Or normalcy." She huffs. "I need to feel less alone, but I need to be alone. I don't know. I don't know."

"I don't expect you to." I crowd her space, backing her up into the shower. "You're conflicted."

"I am." The invitation in her expression intensifies, winning over everything else. "I also have needs."

"Huh," I breathe out, slamming a hand on the wall. My other hand fists her hair, angling her pretty, seductive face to look up at me. "What kind of needs are those? Feeling empty, little doll?"

"Yes." Moving is a struggle for her. She shrugs the jacket off her anyway.

"Will you do exactly as I say?"

I start the hot water that pours over us. Fuck my clean clothes, I've got dozens waiting in the closet.

"Like what?"

"You'll have to stay so very still for me." My lips brush and bite her wet ones. "I'll fuck you raw, Leighton. It won't be the last time today."

"Okay," she challenges, her voice growing confident. "You want me to accept my sickness? Teach me how. "

Her nipples are taut. When I slip a hand between her thighs, her arousal coats my fingers. Her body is exactly where her heart is—with me.

"Fine," I grunt, turning her around and adjusting her hands flat on the wall. "Know this, though. I won't have you questioning me. No talking back. In this shower, in this moment, you're mine. Understood?"

"Yes." She wiggles her ass, offering herself to me.

For that alone, I slap both her ass cheeks. I pull back, slapping her eager little pussy three more times.

"Why?" Her cry is a moan as she turns her head to look at me.

"Shaking your ass was not"—the next slap splashes water around us—"a part of our deal."

"I—"

"You like it, Leighton." I slap her pussy again while pulling on her hair. "Tell me you don't."

Her lips open and close. I didn't hypnotize Leighton today, and yet here she is, pliant in my arms. Gifting me her body to do with as I will. Fuck me, she's beautiful.

She shrieks when I bite her earlobe. As my teeth play with her skin, the pleasure takes the place of her pain.

"Be my good girl if you want to come." I slither my hand around her, stroking her clit. "Don't, and your orgasms will be withheld for so long, you'll be crawling and crying for me to finish you off."

"Please don't." Her thighs clench at my threat. "I'll be good. "

"That's better." While continuing to fist her hair, I leave her pussy to unbutton and lower the zipper of my jeans, taking myself out. "Look at me, little doll." I line myself at her entrance, my cock stretching her wet pussy. "Keep looking at me while I fuck you. Lips parted and eyes open. Always on me."

Her bottom lip slacking, she gazes at me. Water drips on both of us, trickling into her mouth. She doesn't close it, gagging and coughing instead.

Screaming when I thrust into her.

"Just"— thrust —"like"—I pull her hair harder—"that."

She lets me rut into her, bite her shoulder, pull on her hair. Doesn't matter what kind of pain I inflict on Leighton, she doesn't flinch.

"Be my good girl and come. Milk my cock dry, plaything." I grip Leighton's hip with one hand, slamming hard into her. "You want my cum, don't you?"

Her eyes dart to mine, slightly panicked.

"What is it?" I slow down my thrusts, barely. "Talk."

"My pills?"

"About that." I'm not apologizing. Don't give a fuck. "You haven't been taking your contraception for about two weeks now."

"What?" she shrieks, her thighs clenching deliciously around me.

"Quiet." My thrusts resume their ruthless, insistent pace. "I couldn't tell when I'd take you. I knew I would. I wanted you to be ready for me. Deep down, I couldn' t let you go to New York. Nothing will stand between you, me, and creating a family ever again, Leighton."

"Ry…" Leighton starts, and I shake my head.

My silent threat isn't meant solely for my woman. It means I'll never let anyone come between us. Convincing Rylan would take work. I'll tie her up day and fucking night to force her to accept this new reality. She'll take more convincing than Leighton, naturally, but she'll cave.

Also, Jesus, I don't want to think or talk about my daughter right now.

"No one's here. Just you and me." My cock swells inside Leighton. I'm on the verge of losing it. "I'm fucking a baby into you. We both want it. Both of us."

The questions in her eyes disappear with every confident word I utter. I see the change. I see her warming to the idea. Trusting me that I'll make everything okay for her. For our family.

Then she blinks. One blink of consent.

As if I needed that.

"Good girl." I return to rubbing her clit, faster now. I fuck her harder, bottoming out in her with every thrust. "Come for me, beautiful."

A choked, pleasured sound escapes Leighton's lips. She shudders in my arms, her pussy milking me. Her pretty cunt demands I plant my seed inside her.

"Fuck, you're such a perfect little plaything," I groan as I find my release.

My cum spurts in Leighton's cunt until I'm spent. I kiss Leighton's shoulder blades, her nape. I spin her toward me and press her against the tiles, kissing her mouth, stealing her breaths with my mouth.

They're mine. She's mine.

My fingers curl on the side of her neck possessively, my thumb rubbing her jawline. "Still feeling sick?"

"Ask me in an hour."

A sinister smirk stretches across my face. "Oh, I plan to."