Avenger (Impossible #3) (7 page)

His eyes were wide and shining, and a single tear spilled over and trailed down his cheek.  I wiped it away gently, as he had done for me so many times.  When he spoke, his voice was hoarse with emotion.

“Claudia, I…”  He trailed off, and I waited for his next words with bated breath.  Was he really going to say what I thought he was going to say?  And was I ready to hear it?  He swallowed hard, and something shifted in his eyes.  “You’re amazing.  Everything you’ve done for me, everything you’ve given to me…  I never imagined that I…  Thank you.”

His hand closed around the back of my neck and he crushed his lips against mine.  The roughness with which he took my mouth contrasted sharply with his soft words.  I reveled in the dichotomy.  He was exactly what I needed: sweet and caring yet harsh in his possessiveness.  The feeling of being needed, craved, had been a completely foreign concept for me before I had met Sean.  And my need for him burned just as brightly.  He had awakened me, brought me back to life after my long years of solitude.  The process had been painful, but I wouldn’t trade him for anything.

His hands were at the hem of my black dress, pulling it up my torso and over my head, and I kicked off my shoes.  My own fingers fisted in his t-shirt, tugging at it insistently.  He deftly unclasped my bra and freed my breasts before briefly releasing me to tear off his own shirt.  My fingertips roved over his perfect body, so muscular and strong.  I knew that I was completely at the mercy of his raw power, his strength which could so easily overcome even my most determined struggles.  But as much as I enjoyed our power-play, I didn’t want to struggle today.  I wanted to show that I welcomed his dominance of my body, needing to demonstrate how badly I craved it.

He shoved me hard, and the wind was momentarily knocked from my lungs at the impact with the mattress.  Now he was the one straddling my hips, his weight pinning me down where he wanted me.  That cocky, lopsided grin that I loved so much was back in place, his turmoil and grief absent from his eyes, overcome by that dark flame that flickered in their green depths.  The sight of it made me shudder in delight as I realized that he accepted my words; he had let go of his feelings of uncertainty, of self-loathing.  He was embracing the sexual dynamic that gave both of us such unsurpassed pleasure.  He was accepting himself.

His expression turned more serious as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out something that glinted silver in the late afternoon sunlight that filtered through my curtains.  He watched me carefully, gauging my reaction as I realized what he was holding: handcuffs.  My heart skipped a beat and my breath caught in my throat as fear fluttered in my belly.  Memories of my cruel captivity at Bradley’s hands flitted at the corners of my mind.

“I don’t want you to be afraid, Claudia,” Sean said soothingly.  “Use a safe word if this is too much for you.”

I stared at the silvery cuffs, and I couldn’t deny that I was afraid.  I tore my eyes from the restraints to meet Sean’s gaze.  The concern that I saw warring with lust softened my heart.  I remembered the intense pleasure I had experienced when he had tied me up, and I realized that I trusted him implicitly.  Besides, I wouldn’t let the memories of Bradley’s cruelty control my life.

“No,” I said definitively, lifting my chin.  “I don’t want to use a safe word.  I trust you.”  A thought struck me.  “But why do you have those?”  I shot him a mock-censorious look.  “It was rather presumptuous of you to assume that I would have sex with you.”

His brow furrowed slightly.  Despite my joking tone, he was clearly worried that he had crossed a line.  When he spoke, he looked chagrined.  “Honestly?  I was prepared to restrain you if I had to in order to force you to hear me out.”

I knew that I should be angry, or at the very least indignant, but all I felt was amusement.  His eyes widened in surprise when a giggle escaped me.  “You’re a ruthless bastard, Sean Reynolds,” I accused.

He shot me a hard-edged grin, and his relief was evident when the tension visibly left his body.  “You should watch your language, sub,” he warned.

Sub. 
A delighted shiver ran through me at the word.  I had been uncertain about the term at first, thinking it demeaning, but now I knew that it was an expression of Sean’s affection for me.  He was vocally asserting his claim over my being, and I gave myself willingly, reassured by the knowledge that I likewise owned him in my own way.  He was claiming me as his own, but at the same time it was a pledge that he belonged to me as well.

A wide, silly grin spread across my face.  He cocked his head at me.  “You look far too pleased with yourself,” he informed me.  “I won’t tolerate insults.  I’m warning you not to push your luck.”

I tried to wipe the smile from my face and look properly intimidated, but there was still a pleased curve to my lips.  He
tsked
at me.  “It seems a lesson in respect is in order.  Arms above your head, sub.”

I complied with alacrity, eager for the pleasure that I knew he would bring both of us.  A shot of residual fear returned at the sound of the first cuff clicking closed around my wrist, the cool metal encircling it causing unpleasant memories to surface.  Sean noticed my distress instantly, and his hand was beneath my jaw, tilting my head back so that I was locked in his gaze.  “Stay here with me, Claudia,” he ordered softly.  “I’m not going to hurt you.”  It was a promise.

I swallowed hard and nodded, my muscles relaxing as I melted under him.  His thumb tenderly traced the line of my lower lip.  “That’s a good girl.”  He smiled down at me in gentle approval.  My clit pulsed at his words, and the heat that bloomed within me spread from my core to my fingertips, driving away the lingering fear as lust engulfed me.  Already my mind was going to that wondrous, blissful blankness as I ceded all control to him.

His attention returned to my restraints, and he looped the cuffs’ chain around my bedpost before closing them around my free wrist.  I tugged tentatively, testing their hold.  The metal was unyielding, threatening to bruise my delicate skin if I offered any form of resistance.  My nipples hardened almost painfully, and my panties became damp with my growing wetness.

His hands pressed down on my forearms, holding them against the mattress, as he kissed me deeply.  His lips moved from my mouth to the hollow just behind my ear.  The warmth of his tongue against my skin there, gentle yet firm, sent sparks dancing over my skin.  He pulled back slightly and blew cool air over the inflamed area, and goose bumps pebbled my flesh as the sparks crackled and popped, pinging against my skin.  Then his teeth bit sharply into my earlobe, tugging at it.  I gasped as the slight, unexpected pain further stoked my need.  His lips were sucking away the pain, this hot tongue soothing the place where he had bitten me.  I writhed beneath him as he awoke yet another erogenous zone that I had never known existed.  His low, satisfied chuckle rumbled through me as he skillfully manipulated my body, drawing forth my submission with every touch.

His kisses were feather-light as he moved lower down my neck, between my breasts, leaving a burning trail in his wake.  He paused when he reached my sternum.  A shocked cry escaped me as his tongue traced the curve of the underside of my breast.  The sensation was exquisite, and my eyes rolled back in my head at the decadent pleasure of it.

“Look at me,” he commanded.  “I want you to watch what I’m doing to you.”

My eyes snapped open as I instinctively obeyed his order.  I desperately craved for him to continue touching my breasts, but he abandoned them, resuming his trail of kisses as he progressed down my abdomen.  By the time he reached the upper edge of my black lace panties, my clit was pulsing madly in time with the beating of my racing heart.  It took all of my determination to stop myself from thrusting my hips up toward his hot mouth.  I gritted my teeth and held back, confident that he would soon touch me where I wanted it most and finally slake my need.  A frustrated whine escaped me as he pulled away.  His expressive eyes glowed with a cruel satisfaction as he smirked down at me.

I couldn’t hold back.  “Bastard,” I hissed out through clenched teeth.  His hand was a blur just before the pain hit.  The intensity of the sting on my inner thigh took my breath away, trapping my shocked cry in my chest.  Before I could gasp in air, his palm came down on my other thigh, and this time a strangled yelp escaped me.  I tried to close my legs to protect myself, but he ruthlessly shoved them apart, positioning his knees between my legs so that I was held open for him.  Blows rained down in sharp succession.  The pain as he abused this sensitive area was almost unbearable, but after a few moments, I realized that it was doing funny things to my insides.  The sting was awakening a delicious warmth that curled upward from my thighs to tease at the edges of my pussy lips.

“Please,” I begged, and I wasn’t sure if I was asking for the pain to stop or for him to touch me.

He glared down at me forbiddingly as his hand came down on me once more.  “What did I tell you about using such language?  You will address me with respect.”

“Sean!”  I gasped.  “I’m sorry!  Please…”

“I want you to address me as ‘Sir’.”

My mind went momentarily blank with shock.  He couldn’t possibly be serious.  I bit my lip, uncertain.  He raised his hand threateningly, and my resistance cracked.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” I whispered.

His grin was twisted and positively evil as he brought down his hand.  But this time he didn’t strike my thigh.  The harsh blow landed directly on my clit.  The pain intertwined with sweetest pleasure as he finally touched my aching bud.  I screamed as I shattered, my inner walls contracting around nothing as the world went white.  As much as I wanted to lose myself to the bliss, I blinked hard against the urge to allow my eyes to roll back in my head.  Sean had ordered me to keep my eyes on him, and I wasn’t about to disobey him again.

When my vision cleared, I could see that he was naked above me, his glorious body fully exposed.  His wolfish grin was still in place as his hands fisted in my panties.  With a jerk of his powerful arms, the delicate material gave way.  I moaned at the eroticism of the act.  The aftershocks of my orgasm were still racing through me, but my need flared to life once again as I craved for him to fill me.

His harsh expression told me that he could no longer hold himself back.  I watched as the overwhelming possessive need that he had described took over.  All vestiges of his careful self-control vanished as he drove into me to the hilt in one thrust.  My sex was still hyper-sensitive from my orgasm, and I let out a strangled cry as pleasure washed over me again.  I came immediately, my muscles fluttering around him and heightening his own pleasure.  He let out a low growl as he took me roughly, a primal, animalistic urge driving him as he pounded into me.  The ripples of my orgasm were fading, but bliss was still coursing through my veins.  I was high on pleasure and adrenaline.  I could feel him beginning to jerk within me, heralding his own completion.  He leaned into me and bit down on my hardened nipple.  The pain sent me over the edge a third time, and my entire body began to shake.  The motion caused me to jerk against the cuffs, but the pain of their unyielding bite only heightened my ecstasy.  Sean’s howl mingled with my delighted scream as we found our ultimate pleasure at the same time, our bodies in perfect tandem with one another.  It seemed to go on and on, completely consuming my body as I shook beneath him.  Eventually, Sean collapsed atop me, breathing hard, and my shudders abated, my body too exhausted to manage anything but small shivers as the occasional residual shower of sparks brushed against my skin.  Sean kissed my forehead, my eyelids, my cheeks, before finally tenderly brushing his lips against my own.  I let myself go completely, sighing up into him happily.

I felt him release me from the cuffs, and he brushed kisses against my tender wrists.  He pulled me into him, and I wrapped my arms around him, snuggling into his chest and breathing in his familiar, comforting scent.

For a short, blissful time, he had erased my emotional pain through combining physical pain and pleasure, allowing me the release that I so desperately needed.

Chapter 7

Sean and I followed the FBI’s directives and remained holed up in my house for our own protection.  We spent the following three days in each other’s arms, and I found solace from my grief in his touch.  I was still devastated about Clayton, but Sean brought me fleeting moments of happiness when he took me, releasing me from my worries.  And I couldn’t begin to express how much his presence comforted me.  After the agonizing days of dealing with the weight of my grief and guilt in cold isolation, finding succor in my easy companionship with Sean helped me maintain my sanity even in my darkest moments.

Although I accepted his comfort, I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him about Clayton, and mercifully he didn’t press me on the matter.  He didn’t understand the depth of my relationship with Clayton, and I didn’t want to deal with voicing my tangled emotions over what I had shared with him.  I was scared that I would hurt Sean, and the last thing that I wanted was to drive him away.  It was selfish, but I couldn’t bear to lose him again.

On our fourth night together, I broke my silence. 

I heard the crack of the bullet rending the night air, saw Clayton falling.  He lay broken on the ground as he bled out beneath my hands.  I had to save him, I had to.

“It was worth it.”

But I wasn’t worth it.  He shouldn’t be dead.  His usually tanned skin was so pale.  Unlike on that night, his eyes were open.  I watched in horror as the light slipped from them, his face going slack.  He was looking at me, but he couldn’t see me.

Someone was grabbing my shoulders, trying to pull me away from him.  I fought against them, not wanting to leave his side.  But tendrils of darkness were twining around Clayton, creeping over him with insidious intent until the shadows hid him from me completely.  I screamed in fury at the loss.

“Claudia, wake up,” Sean’s voice was shaky as he called me back to reality.  I could feel the wetness of tears on my cheeks as my eyes fluttered open.  I could just make out Sean’s face in the early dawn light that was filtering into my bedroom.  I flung myself against him, and he tenderly kissed the top of my head as he held me to him, allowing me to sob into his chest.  He rocked me gently, murmuring reassuring words that didn’t quite penetrate my mind.  But the low, rumbling sound of them eventually calmed me, and I gulped in ragged breaths.