Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

LIZZIE

I woke up with a start. Realizing I had fallen asleep on the sofa, I pushed my hair out of my eyes and listened for what must have awoken me. I could still hear the rain and the room was pitch dark so it must be the middle of the night.

I stayed still and listened. After a moment, I heard it. A loud steady pounding on my door.

Oh, God. Richard.

I knew it must be him without even having to look through the peephole. Blindly I searched for my phone. I found it on the floor among the discarded covers. With shaking hands, I activated the screen and hit texts. My text glared back at me. Nothing in response.

Maybe it wasn't Richard.

"Elizabeth, open the goddamn door."

With a start, I dropped my phone.

Fuck.

A wave of dizziness hit me as I tried to stand. Reaching out for the sofa arm, I tried to slow my beating heart. I knew it was fear and not the amount of alcohol I had consumed hours earlier.

No, this was fear. Stark raving fear.

Barely feeling my legs, I hobbled to the small entranceway. Reaching out a shaking arm, I started to lift the cover off the peephole and then stopped, too afraid to see his stormy visage.

Clearing my throat, I tried to sound stern. "I don't want to talk, Richard. Call me tomorrow."

Nothing. Silence.

Blood rushed in my ears as I strained to listen for the sounds of his retreating footsteps. Thinking I couldn't hear them over my racing heart, I dared to step closer. Keeping close to the wall, I leaned against the door and listened.

I heard the scrape of a heel and leaned in closer.

A fist slammed against the door; my hand flew to my mouth, stifling a scream as I flew back against the wall, stumbling as I scrambled to back away.

"You have to the count of three."

Oh, my God.

"One."

"I'll call the police."

Reaching through the darkness, I ran my hands over the kitchen counter before throwing open the drawers, looking for a weapon, anything.

"Two."

Where the hell had I left my mobile? Falling to my knees in front of the sofa, I swiped my hands over the carpet, searching for my phone in the darkness, wishing for a shaft of lightning to brighten the room.

"Please, Richard. We can talk tomorrow," I shouted over my shoulder, over the rumble of thunder, which was so loud it shook the room, stretching my nerves even further.

"Three."

A cold invisible hand clenched at my throat and choked the breath out of my body as I stared wild-eyed at my front door. Using the sofa for support, I stood on trembling limbs… and waited.

The sickening sound of splintering wood rent the silence.

My wooden door crashed open, dangling from only one hinge as it lurched to the side.

Richard stood on the threshold looking like a vengeful god. Gone were the bespoke tailored suits and impeccable attire. His large chest was covered by a thin white T-shirt that was almost translucent from the rain and for the first time since I met him, he was wearing jeans.

On any other man this would have been a commonplace outfit but on Richard it was different. It was as if he had shredded all the superficial trappings of restrained civility to finally appear as the primal hunter he truly was.

Breathing heavily, he took several measured steps toward me. Over his shoulder, I could see the backs of two men dressed all in black fatigues with sidearms on their hips close ranks, blocking the open-door space. A chill ran up my spine. I knew they wouldn't come to my aid even if I screamed.

I was trapped.

Holding up my arms in a supplicating gesture, I tried to reason with him. "You have to leave. It's over, Richard. I've called the police," I added for good measure, praying he wouldn't see through my lie.

Throwing his head back, he let out an anguished howl that tore into my soul.

Like a charging bull, his powerful body lunged for me.

Before I could even run or scream, I was slammed against the wall, his mouth on mine. Gripping my head, he devoured me. Kissing my mouth, cheeks, eyes, and neck even as he spoke.

"I won't lose you. I'll risk hell to keep you at my side."

Pulling away, I grasped his wet shirt and cried, "Why? Why do I mean so much to you?"

I honestly couldn't fathom what was so remarkable about me to have captured the intense fascination of this powerful and rich man. He could have anyone he wanted. Why me?

Piercing me with his gaze, his large hands on the sides of my head tightened. For one dreadful moment, I worried he might actually crush my skull.

"You've unleashed the beast inside of me. I'm not sure how much longer I can control it. This need, this obsession , to devour you."

"I don't?—"

His mouth fell on mine once more. Sucking the tip of my tongue between his teeth, he bit down till we both tasted the sick metallic tang of my blood.

Breathless, he groaned, "You don't see it but I do. Your beautiful innocence. Every time I look at you, your eyes beckon from the past, pulling at my soul. We are meant to be together, Elizabeth. Destined."

Grabbing my knees, he wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me the few feet into the bedroom. Dropping me in the center of the bed, he followed me down, his weight settling between my open thighs.

"I'm undone. Unleashed. There will be no restraint. You understand what that means?" His heated gaze bore into mine, willing me to understand the depths of his need.

I opened my mouth but couldn't form the words. How could I? How could I possibly convey the powerful hum he had started deep within my body, my soul?

To be needed, to be wanted, to the point of madness by this amazingly complex and intense man was… indescribable.

Reaching into the neckline of my V-neck T-shirt, he tore it from my body. Shifting his weight, his mouth closed over one erect nipple as his hand descended to the waistline of my yoga pants. In one swipe, they and my panties were on the floor. I was completely bare before him, in more ways than one.

Straddling my hips once more, he rose up. His entire face was nothing but sharp angles, shadows, and dark piercing eyes. His wet hair had curled slightly as the inky locks fell across his forehead. Reaching down, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and swiped it over his head.

My God.

He was magnificent.

He always looked impossibly, even arrogantly, handsome in his suits but who knew they hid… all of this. His broad chest was heavily muscled from the shoulders down to his ripped abdomen. Holding my breath, I dared to look lower. The hard ridge of his cock pressed threateningly against his jeans. I swallowed, unable to contain the frisson of fear that settled in my stomach.

Keeping his gaze trained on me, he slowly unbuttoned his jeans.

One button, then two… three.

I couldn't breathe.

His jeans opened and slipped lower on his hips as he reached his hand in and pulled his cock free. Even in his sizable hands, his shaft looked thick and massive.

Placing one hand on the side of my head, he leaned over me. Heat radiated off him as his breath tickled the curls near my ear. His free hand gripped my breast, digging the tips of his fingers into the soft flesh. I couldn't hold back a whimper.

Releasing my breast, he stroked my cheek. A small, tender gesture. The calm before the storm.

Placing a knee between my legs, he shifted it high, his denim-clad leg brushing against my already sensitive naked core. Looking down between our bodies, I could see the dark wet stain on his jeans from my arousal.

"Open your legs for me." His voice was low, full of dark promise.

With unsteady limbs, I tried to obey.

"Wider," he commanded. "Offer yourself to me."

Pressing my ass into the crumpled bedcovers, I forced my thighs open wide, feeling both embarrassed and yet empowered to be displaying myself so blatantly to him.

Richard rose up then settled between my legs. His strong forearms caging in my head as I felt the first push of his cock.

"Richard…" High and strained, my plea came out like a pitiful squeak.

His previous finger fuckings had done nothing to prepare me for the feel of his cock at my entrance. My body immediately strained to accept the massive bulbous head.

My mouth opened on a silent scream as my fingernails dug into his shoulders.

Slowly he pushed, till the thick ridge of the head was inside, secure in my tight body.

I let out a sigh of relief as I shimmied my hips, trying to get more comfortable with the feel of him inside of me.

Lowering his brow, he focused on my mouth as he growled, "This is going to hurt, my love."

My eyes widened. "Richard, please, I?—"

Oh, God. My entire body hummed with anxious anticipation.

Arching his back, he pushed his hips forward in one violent thrust, piercing my body with the entire nine inches of his thick, throbbing length.

This time I did scream.

The shock of pain put all my senses on alert. There was nothing I wasn't experiencing. The scratch of his jeans' zipper teeth against my inner thigh. The musky smell of his lust. The power of his deep breathing as he began to thrust.

But mostly I felt the pain.

Oh, God, it hurt.

There was no room inside of my small body for him. It was too much. He was too big. I began to beg and plead as I scratched and clawed at his shoulders and back, desperately trying to escape his assault.

The hulking, muscled weight of his body held me in place as he rammed into me, thrust after thrust. I felt impaled and violated. It was as if by sheer force of will he had fused his body with my own, consuming me.

His mouth sucked in my nipple and began to torture it with bites and licks. Slowly, my body adjusted to his length, the inner muscles stretching and straining to accept him. I could feel an answering warmth unfurl and spread within my core. Shifting slightly, I pushed my hips down so that his shaft pressed closer to the sensitive area around my clit as he bore into me.

"Touch yourself, baby." His words were muffled as his mouth opened on the side of my breast, his tongue tracing the curve.

Reaching down, I stroked my clit as my head fell back on a groan. My thighs began to shake as his immense body kept me spread wide. Still he pounded into me, driving deeper and deeper, bruising my womb.

Without warning, he pulled free and rose up off the bed.

The dramatic shift in my emotions startled me, to go from feeling too full and overtaken by his length to feeling empty and cold in a moment. By pulling free, it was as if he had taken all the warmth with him. I felt barren and drained.

Kneeling on the bed, his hands easily spanned my waist as he lifted me onto my knees, my back pressed against his chest.

"Reach between your legs and grab my cock."

The edge of my hand brushed my clit as I fumbled between my thighs, feeling for his cock. My fingers brushed the soft skin of his shaft. Startled, I pulled back as if I had been scorched. Taking a deep breath, I reached again, this time wrapping my small hand around his cock. It was a hot metal rod covered in silk.

"Now put me inside you."

His dark commands were a raspy whisper in my ear over my shoulder. His hand had brushed my hair to one side, exposing the delicate skin of my neck. Each word was spoken along the column of my throat and just under my ear, sending goosebumps down my arms.

I was so wet and open by now, he easily slid inside. Still, after a few inches, the new angle caused my body to clench and tighten with pain all over again.

"Push back. Fuck yourself on my cock."

Rocking my hips, I used the pain to spur me on. My emotions a twisted sick confusion of wanting to please him despite the agony.

"Harder." Wrapping his strong arms around me, he slapped my right breast, then the left.

Crying out, I pushed back.

"Harder," he yelled, slapping my breasts again. His palm hit them on the undersides, causing them to painfully bounce and sting.

Reaching between my legs, I pressed the tips of my fingers against my pussy as I began to move them in furious circles while impaling myself on his hard shaft.

"Say it," he barked as his teeth grazed my shoulder. "Say it for me."

I knew what he wanted. I knew there would be no going back once I said it. It would be done. The die cast. These words would forever damn me.

"Make it hurt."

The energy in the room changed. A breath held had been released. A harness unbuckled. Deep, deep in my soul, I knew, with that simple phrase, I had just unleashed the beast.

His heavy hand pressed between my shoulder blades, forcing me facedown onto the covers.

"Ow!" I cried out as the movement caused my body to fold, tightening my insides around his cock.

He tugged on my hair as he methodically wrapped his fist, once then twice, in my long hair till his knuckles were pressed against the back of my skull.

Then he began to spear into me. Driving the full force of his bodyweight between my legs. Pummeling me relentlessly, till I could only clutch at the covers and brace for each powerful impact.

My hard nipples were rubbed raw against the sheets as my torso shifted back and forth with each driving thrust. Sharp stings radiated across my head as he used my hair to keep my body prone beneath him.

Each drive of his cock went deeper and deeper into my vulnerable body.

His hand ran over my now sweat-slick back to trace the crease between my ass cheeks.

"Richard! No! You can't."

It was one humiliation too many. One bit of pain too much. I still remembered the feeling of his thumb there from earlier today.

One thick finger pushed into my tightly clenched hole.

"Fuck!" I screamed.

My body tensed. A sickening rush of heat pooled between my legs. Wave after twisted wave of a tortured release was wrenched from my body. I could no longer tell where the pain ended and the pleasure began. As Richard continued to pump his finger in and out of my ass, he began to thrust faster and faster, nearing his own completion.

The power of his thrusts moved us both across the bed till I could reach out and grab the cold iron bars of my headboard.

With a roar he came, pumping stream after stream of hot cum deep into my now sore and bruised pussy.

His heavy body collapsed onto mine, caging me within his heat, his face so close to mine we shared the same labored breath. Reaching up, he ran the backs of his knuckles over my cheeks, wiping away the tears I hadn't even realized I'd shed.

"You're mine now, little bird."

Looking over his shoulder, the gold birdcage caught my eye. An ominous omen.