Tower in the Woods Read online

  “Pretty much,” Nel answered as she looked up at him, her small hands rubbing her eyes tiredly. She had clearly completely zoned out while reading, for she looked confusedly around the room. “You’ve been busy.”

  Dane abhorred clutter. When it came to his own life, he satisfied his obsessive-compulsive tendencies by owning as few items as possible. While he understood the sense of security Nel’s hoarding provided, the complete lack of rhyme or reason to the way her belongings were strewn across the room was mind-boggling. So after spending approximately thirty minutes marveling at how anyone could be so utterly impervious to the chaos that defined this space, Dane had asked Nel if he could move some things around.

  Her answer had been an absentminded shrug. Several hours later, the room no longer resembled the state it was in prior to his arrival. The ammunition was neatly stacked on the wall opposite the fireplace, separated by type and expiration date. Dane had fashioned a makeshift cabinet to house the sniper rifle and pistol, along with Nel’s small collection of hunting rifles and semiautomatic weapons.

  On either side of the fireplace, Dane had placed Nel’s copious supply of various foods, categorized by type and arranged in alphabetical order. Using the fragments of wood from the other room, he had cobbled together shelving that was anchored on the walls. He had moved the drying rack to the wall where the window was located, and he placed the soaps and detergents, extra fabric, and medication neatly alongside it. He doubted she even knew exactly how many survival essentials she had collected over the years, but now she would actually be able to find them when she needed to.

  It was a relief to know Nel would be able to safely survive in the tower for years on end if necessary. Dane’s chances at surviving his mission weren’t great, and even if everything went according to plan, he was unlikely to get her out of this prison for a good long while after that. The FMA was going to want to launch a full-scale operation to deal with the WITCH, which meant several months may pass before he would be allowed to return to this tower again.

  However, Dane had no doubt in his mind that he was going to return and rescue Nel one day. No one, especially not someone as hungry for knowledge as she, should spend their life locked away in this prison. And once he rescued her, he was going to have to watch over her closely. She was too softhearted for her own good, which was ironic, given she was the best sniper he had ever met. In the real world, she would get taken advantage of. She trusted far too easily, a character flaw he had benefited from, but one he was going to have to protect her against. It was the least he could do for her after she had saved his life.

  “Making things easier to find in here is the least I could do. Besides, I was bored,” Dane said as he lowered himself next to Nel. He didn’t mention that unless he expended his energy doing something physical, the pent-up sexual frustration was bound to make itself apparent. In fact, it was doing so at this very moment. After catching a single whiff of Nel’s uniquely feminine scent, the lust Dane had distracted himself from quickly made itself known. “Please tell me you’re finally done reading.”

  Yawning, Nel nodded. “This book was particularly technical. It helps to pass the time, though. What do you do when you have time to kill?”

  Dane frowned as he recalled the past decade of his life. “I don’t know. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have something that I needed to do.”

  Nel smiled sympathetically as that blue-eyed gaze met his. “That must be very difficult.”

  “No less difficult than never leaving this tower,” Dane replied. But Nel’s observation was an astute one, for he had been deathly tired for the past decade. It was only now that he was forced to stay in one place that he realized how truly draining his entire life had been.

  “Now that you have my undivided attention, what is it you want to do with me?” Nel asked, scooting even closer. Before he knew it, she straddled his lap, her head leaning forward so she could brush her lips against his.

  The kiss was electric, more so because it was completely unexpected. Compared to what they had shared last night, this brushing of lips was practically chaste. But Dane was quickly reminded that he was drawn to this girl like a lodestone, and the urgency of that attraction quickly demolished the false sense of security he had felt until now.

  Since he woke up Nel had been chatty and friendly but also completely platonic. For the past few hours, it was almost as if last night hadn’t happened, as if they hadn’t shared the two most erotic kisses of his life, as if she hadn’t made him come in her mouth after tasting him for less than a minute.

  And now that her soft body was pressed up against his chest, Dane couldn’t remember why he had purposefully kept that physical and emotional distance; he couldn’t figure out why he hadn’t been kissing her this entire time. It felt incredibly satisfying to have Nel’s body in his arms, to run his fingers through her silky golden hair and delve his tongue into her mouth. Even while his conscience was telling him this was a mistake, that he shouldn’t be doing any of this, he was stunned by how completely right it felt to be with Nel.

  He wanted this kiss; he wanted her touch. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life. Gritting his teeth, Dane did the impossible and broke contact before gently pushing Nel away.

  “Dane,” Nel said as she calmly looked into his eyes.

  “Yeah?” Dane muttered in a gruff voice.

  “My brain is working properly. I am certain of it. How are your cognitive functions?” she asked in a matter-of-fact voice as she lowered herself completely onto his lap. Eagerly, his erection pushed up into the soft notch between her thighs, ignoring his conscience’s attempt to fight its way past the haze of lust.

  Dane blinked, trying and failing to follow Nel’s train of thought. “My brain is doing all right, I guess.” It was the truth. The problem wasn’t that his brain wasn’t working. It was that his penis was overriding his brain.

  “I think we’ve spent a considerable amount of time not engaging in sexual activities, don’t you think?” Nel pointed out. “I’ve washed our clothing, cooked, cleaned, read, and even knitted. You’ve worked out, showered, crafted shelves, and reorganized the entire contents of my room.”

  Dane nodded, not knowing how else he was meant to respond.

  Nel smiled, turning her head slightly to the side as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I don’t know about you, but I still want to have sex.”

  Dane’s mind froze as his entire body went on high alert. Instinctively, his hands clenched around Nel’s waist, drawing her closer to his chest.

  “From what I understand about the male anatomy, you want to have sex with me as well,” she pointed out. There was no arguing with her there. If she wasn’t sitting on his lap, his boxers would probably look like a tent.

  “You don’t want to do this,” Dane argued even as his fingers slid under her shirt. Nel’s skin felt like heaven, all soft and silky smooth.

  “Why don’t you let me worry about what I do or do not want. I’m a grown woman, Dane, and I’m making a very conscious and informed decision to have sex with you,” Nel replied as she lowered her head to run a trail of kisses down his neck.

  Her breath was warm, her lips moist and incredibly soft. Dane wasn’t wearing anything besides his boxers, and he felt every movement Nel made against his bare skin. Her tongue swirled languidly as she made her way from his collarbone down to his pectorals, and a soft purring sound escaped her throat as she scraped her teeth against his nipple.

  “Shit,” Dane bit out as he realized how close he was to losing control. So he took charge of the situation, flipping Nel onto her back, purposefully crushing her as he ground his erection into the yielding flesh between her thighs. His next words came out as a growl. “Are you sure you want a guy like me to screw you, sweetheart? I don’t do promises and happily ever after. Once I leave, I probably won’t be coming back. I want your body, you know that already, but that’s all I want. I can’t go slow. I won’t make this
easy for you. Having sex doesn’t mean anything to me. You don’t want this.”

  Clearly startled by the vehemence of his tone, those liquid blue eyes flickered under the firelight. Dane saw Nel’s hesitation, witnessed the flash of hurt that shadowed her delicate features. He had expected her to slap him and tell him to go to hell. Instead, she lifted her hands and cradled his face. “I know what I want, and I fully understand what you aren’t offering me. This is my decision, and I can handle the consequences.”

  Meeting Nel’s gaze, Dane realized she was right. He had underestimated her. He had seen her as a victim and had tried to protect her from himself. But he recognized the strength he saw in those blue eyes. He could clearly see the intelligence and wisdom, the fortitude and resilience that made her who she was, traits that made her into someone he greatly respected. She wasn’t naive; she simply had been able to survive isolation and betrayal with her kindness and innocence intact. While she had suffered a tremendous hardship, she had emerged the stronger for it. And when he broke her heart, she was going to survive that as well.

  Nel kissed him, her lips tentative but eager, her tongue gently nudging its way into his mouth. Dane understood what she was offering, that she was giving him her body without demanding anything in return. His control snapped, and his tongue pushed hard and fast into her yielding warmth. His fingers clenched around the silky hair against her nape as he tilted her face upward to ease his plundering. He had never been a gentle lover, and he was too on edge to inject any tenderness into the act.

  Grabbing her wrists, Dane lifted Nel’s arms above her head, pinning them together with a single hand as he pulled her T-shirt up and over her head. He left it around her wrists as an additional restraint, continuing to tangle his tongue with hers as he yanked at the fabric around her breasts. The knot easily came apart, freeing her flesh from the tight restraint so he could see her breasts for the first time.

  Releasing Nel’s lips, Dane lifted his head so he could gaze upon the pale, pink-tipped mounds that rose from her chest. Her breasts were small but perfectly shaped, the symmetrical white globes calling out for his touch as she arched her back in a silent plea.

  “Is this what you want?” Dane asked as he closed his large hand over her left breast, his hardened palm completely covering her tender flesh as he caught that pink nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She let out a soft cry that was between pain and pleasure as he pinched the swollen nub, marveling as blood pooled to that vulnerable spot to make it rise even more starkly against her creamy skin.

  “You have beautiful breasts,” Dane murmured as he continued to make Nel writhe under his experienced hand. “Damn, you couldn’t be more perfect.”

  With those words, Dane lowered his head, closed his lips over her other nipple, and sucked. He heard her moan as his tongue circled her turgid nub, and he bit down lightly just to make sure she knew who was in charge. His hand was milking her other breast roughly, his strong fingers kneading as his fingernail continued to scrape over the sensitized nipple.

  She whimpered, her hips rising against his crotch in a silent plea, but Dane didn’t want this to end quickly or easily. He was going to possess Nel so thoroughly she would never dream of giving herself to another man, and by the time he was done with her, she was going to be begging him for release.

  *

  She had been wrong, Nel admitted to her own surprise as another wave of sensation swept over her. This wasn’t just a physical submission; this wasn’t an act she could simply dismiss as a novel experience and move on. With Dane, sexual intercourse was going to be the ultimate surrender. She wasn’t just giving him her body, for he wouldn’t be satisfied with such a paltry offering. He would take everything she had, every part of her that she had kept hidden and contained, his possession of her a consuming fire that brooked no hesitation or resistance.

  The thought of giving herself so completely, the vulnerability that such devotion implied, filled Nel’s heart with fear even as it made her body pliant with need. It was too late to stop, past time for regrets or reservations. This storm had built since the moment they had met, and it was time to see it to the ultimate conclusion. Dane’s touch made her burn, made her writhe with unnamed desires and moan with wanton abandon. She felt his erection even through the layers of fabric that separated them, and she knew it was a matter of time before he gave in.

  “Have you ever touched yourself?” Dane asked as that burning gaze bore into hers. Nel felt a blush creep over her skin as she mutely nodded.

  “Good,” he rasped out as he undid the button of her waistband and yanked down the zipper. “Then you know what is about to happen.”

  Nel wanted to tell him that he was mistaken, that nothing she ever did in the dark of night even came close to what he was doing to her now. Her skin felt as if it were on fire, her body burning as if with fever, trembling uncontrollably as he ruthlessly explored her body. His hands were roughened and callused, so different from hers that the two sensations shouldn’t even be compared. She knew without a doubt that when Dane touched her naked skin it would feel nothing like it did when her own fingers had slid underneath her panties.

  Like he did with her shirt, Dane yanked down Nel’s trousers so they pooled around her ankles, limiting her ability to move. He left her cotton panties on as his hand moved down to cup her mound, his other hand still pinning her wrists in an unrelenting hold. She realized he did this to prevent her from touching him, making sure she wouldn’t be able to hasten what was about to happen between them. Then all thought escaped her as he pressed the heel of his hand against the damp cotton, rolling his palm in a circular motion as heat lanced through her core.

  “Good girl. Come for me, sweetheart,” Dane murmured as those dark brown eyes heatedly watched her, his face smug as Nel’s back arched and incoherent sounds escaped her lips.

  All she could see was white as her eyes closed and sensation overwhelmed her, her body spasming as the most intense orgasm she had ever experienced flooded over her in wave after wave. Her body had been primed for this, her arousal constant and unrelenting since the moment they’d met. It had been far too easy for him to send her over the edge, but Nel couldn’t bring herself to care.

  When Nel finally opened her eyes again, her body was limp and exhausted, her mind still unable to fully absorb the full impact of what was happening between them. Knowing she no longer had the strength to move, Dane freed her wrists to quickly pull off his boxers. Through a haze, she saw his erection from under her lowered eyelids and felt vaguely terrified. He was too big for what she only intellectually understood was about to happen, but even then she didn’t want to stop him. She had started this; she had practically demanded he do this to her, and she would be damned if she backed out now.

  Dane shocked her by grabbing the very rope she had used to pull him up. Then he straddled her much smaller body, pinning her at the waist with his weight, and tied her wrists together. “If you want me to stop tell me now,” he ground out fiercely just before tying the knot.

  Nel thought about it. She didn’t like the idea of being tied up, for it left her completely at another’s mercy. Yet Dane was asking her for permission; he was giving her the option of stopping despite his very clear arousal. Ultimately, she trusted him not to hurt her—at least not too badly.

  “I don’t want you to stop,” Nel whispered as she steadily gazed into Dane’s eyes. He brought her bound wrists down between her breasts and circled the rope around her body, first above her breasts, then under before looping it over her neck and fastening the loose end against the knot between her wrists. Bound this way, Nel’s meager breasts were voluptuously displayed and any movement she made would tighten the noose around her neck. In short, she was completely immobilized and her complete helplessness was utterly arousing. Her nipples tingled, and even without looking, she knew they were tightening into sharp peaks.

  As if reading her mind, Dane pinched the pink, swollen flesh as his brown-eyed gaze surveyed
Nel’s bound body. “Too bad I don’t have clamps on me,” he muttered as he lowered his head and bit down. The sudden pain made her back arch, tightening the bindings that imprisoned her. She heard a chuckle as his lips reluctantly released her.

  An instant later, Dane peeled off the final piece of fabric protecting Nel’s body. Then his hands roughly pressed against her inner thighs, spreading her legs apart as his erection became even more engorged. She felt incredibly vulnerable, her body splayed for his perusal, her entire upper body tightly trussed up. He was breathing heavily, every muscle clearly defined because of how tautly he held himself. She saw the veins on his neck and arms pulse over his skin, and his turgid shaft lifted readily as moisture beaded over the tip.

  But instead of simply burying himself inside her, Dane gently parted the folds covering her opening, his fingers sending lightning coursing through her body as they explored and searched. Then he found what he was looking for and grinned knowingly as he pinched that collection of nerves Nel had only touched a few times in her life. She shattered once more, her entire body drawing taut before shudders rocked her frame.

  When she came back down from her second high, Nel realized Dane had slipped the entire length of his middle finger inside her. She had been so distracted she hadn’t noticed the entry, but now that she did, trepidation broke through the sated haze of pleasure. His bold probing wasn’t exactly comfortable. Considering Dane’s penis was much larger than what he was using now, Nel wasn’t sure she wanted to know what having him fully buried inside her would feel like.

  Chapter 8

  Damn, she was tight. Dane struggled against every male instinct coursing through him. While he almost always abided by his personal “ladies first” rule when having sex, the lengths he had gone through to make Nel wet and ready far exceeded the norm. He had never had a lover as inexperienced as the woman lying naked in front of him, and he had never wanted any female more. He had been close to coming just by watching her writhe in pleasure, and the way those perky breasts strained against her bindings drove his arousal to an all-time high.