Chapter 13

THIRTEEN

All the women are now claimed by their masters, and the men are visibly giddy with their shiny new toys. They should be, considering the money they spent to obtain them illegally. Erotic tension swirls like a thick fog around our group as I sit on Dark’s lap, where he’s ordered me to remain. We’re no longer in the dining room but on the covered side of the pool deck, next to the outside bar. After applying liberal amounts of sunscreen, most of the women are currently skinny dipping in the saltwater pool as their owners watch in various states of undress from their loungers, where their oversized umbrellas provide little protection from the bright, mid-afternoon sun. The breeze is perfect on the calm, open water, as we float in the middle of nowhere, not a bird to be seen or another boat for miles.

My back settles against Dark’s front. A smile draws to my lips as the brine of the salty air tickles my nose, and my head rests on his bare, muscular shoulder. He unbuttoned and shrugged off his shirt when we claimed this spot. It was a perfect choice, with just enough shade to keep from burning, yet close enough to hear everyone’s conversations. Dark drapes each of my legs over his, and my dress draws up, exposing the white lace of my panties underneath. I gasp, wanting to tug the hem down, but I remain unfazed, knowing this is what is expected of me. To follow his lead. He explained as much when we sat in my living room the day he briefed me on the mission.

A tattooed arm wraps around my middle as Dark sets his other elbow on the armrest and draws lazy designs across the side of my breast. His warm breath tickles my ear when he whispers, “You’re fuckin’ perfect in my lap, babe.”

I swallow hard.

How am I supposed to respond when nobody is actively listening? Do I giggle? Do I play shy? Do I play hard to get? There’s no way to act natural when none of this is natural. Cameras are all over the boat, so we can’t break character. Somehow, this feels a lot like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, without the us being together part.

Trailing his tongue across the side of my neck, I stiffen in Dark’s lap as my heart leaps into my throat. A hard cock I’d recognize in any lineup thickens against my spine.

“I’ve got you,” Dark rumbles hotly before his mouth finds purchase on my neck and sucks hard, so hard my toes curl in my gladiator sandals as I grip his thigh and bite back a traitorous moan. I can’t believe this is happening.

Squeezing my eyes shut, Dark’s rich scent, mixed with bergamot and lavender, makes me want to scream at him for not preparing me for this closeness, for this level of acting, as he envelops me in the familiar cocoon of his body heat, I was not prepared for.

Because I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t think.

I’m stupid. So damn stupid.

I should have known.

I should have expected it, given Darmond’s reputation and the nature of our job.

Because I have no other choice, I play along as my cheating ex-husband sucks welts at the pulse point in my neck. His hand guides between my parted thighs, and I try to clench them shut, but he doesn’t let me. Widening his posture widens mine and exposes even more of me to the onlookers, if they’re even paying attention.

Dark drags a finger along the seam of my panties. “I’ve got you,” he repeats, as if I need a reminder that he has me. Sure, he has me in his lap. He’s branding my throat in possessive hickeys, and I hate him for it. I hate him for everything.

When his finger nudges the scrap of fabric shielding my pussy, my eyes slam shut in equal parts mortification and need. I haven’t gotten off in forever, and I haven’t been touched like this in… nine-plus years. He knows me. He knows which buttons to push. He knows what my body needs and how it needs it. Sex was never an issue in our marriage. Nothing really was beyond the normal marital problems everyone has.

Cuffing his hand around my throat, Dark locks me in place as his finger glides beneath the lace of my thong.

Goosebumps break across my flesh. I gasp at his boldness.

The pad of Dark’s finger slides effortlessly through the wetness and into my core, where he stuffs not one but two fingers. A deep rumble battles in his chest, vibrating through my back as the pressure around my throat tightens.

I die a little.

Because this is too much.

I… I don’t know if I can do this here, with him.

“I’ve got you,” he vows again, as if that changes anything. It doesn’t. We aren’t together. This is my body, and I know I agreed to follow his lead, but this wasn’t what I had in mind.

He was the man I loved.

The man I planned to spend the rest of my days with.

But he’s not anymore.

After his deception, I vowed I’d never let him touch me again, not like this. Yet here we are. I’m at his mercy.

Dark’s fingers curl inside me and press against the spot that leaves me gasping for breath as a ripple of intense pleasure forces me to shiver against my will.

“I-I…” Words stutter from my lips, but I die a painful death when I can’t think of a response that won’t break character. Instead, I sink my nails into Dark’s forearm and scream inside my head for him to stop, to cover me up, to let me go. But as I apply pressure to his arm, his fingers start to thrust in slow, torturous pleasure as the palm of his hand presses down on my clit.

The bastard kisses the side of my face. “I’m sorry,” he utters as the steel rod against my back bucks, and he fucks me in front of everyone. Plunging his digits in and out of my core, Dark puts on a show, giving Darmond and his group of sickos exactly what they want, what they expect.

Eyes rake my form from the deck. I sense them like ghostly fingertips brushing my skin against my will.

“Let go,” Dark encourages.

I can’t.

I’m mad at him and myself for this. For everything.

The top of my dress is ripped down, exposing both of my breasts to the crowd. The cool, salty breeze caresses my nipples, setting them to stone. My center clenches around Dark’s fingers.

“That’s it, babe. That’s it.” He squeezes my throat until my head spins and the world blots out. Heat coils in my pussy, coaxing, coaxing, coaxing that special spot to come.

“That’s it,” Dark rasps again as I go limp in his arms. Only then does he release my throat enough to let the blood flow freely, and I’m a goner.

Slamming his fingers home, my back arches off Dark’s chest as a scream rips from my throat. Wetness gushes from my pussy. Quaking in his embrace, Dark doesn’t relent. He plays my body like a fiddle and fucks me harder, beating that special place like a maestro.

Someone gasps nearby.

The sound barely registers over the pounding in my ears.

“Another,” the bastard declares.

And I obey.

A Pavlovian response, my body bows to his command as a tidal wave of ecstasy tears another scream from my broken soul, and I come and come and come with his fingers inside me and his palm grinding against my clit.

“Fuck.” Sinking his teeth into my shoulder, Dark grunts as his body thrusts like it has no control over itself. Air bursts from his nose as he trembles, sending violent ripples through us both. The fingers inside my pussy still as the thighs beneath me stiffen and wetness soaks through the back of my dress.

I just…

I….

I exhale an emotional breath.

The hand around my throat drops to cup my breast as Dark nuzzles his nose to the mark on my shoulder and the brands around my neck. “Fuck.” He kisses me everywhere, sweet pecks of satiation, as the body beneath me goes lax as if he’s been tense all day, and coming in his pants was just what the doctor ordered.

I can’t believe… never mind… it doesn’t matter.

Head resting on his shoulder, I stare up at the wooden ceiling as my ex plays with my nipple and draws his fingers out of my core to rub my clit.

I gasp.

He laughs like a menace.

“Wanna go again, babe?”

I shake my head. No. Definitely no. This was enough—too much. Later, when we leave the yacht and return to our lives, we’ll have words, heated words. Until then, I’ll play the part. I’ll smile and be the submissive pet. I’ll be Dark’s. Tomorrow, when we’re riding home, I can break. Because this, him touching me, reminding me of what we once had and what he stole away, will wreck me. I sense it brewing below my breastbone. It aches. The wound, mostly scabbed over and healed, has been ripped open. Now, it’s gaping. Bleeding. I hate him for it, now more than ever before. How could I have ever been so stupid?