Tower in the Woods Read online

  But protectiveness was the instinct that won. Feeling the tight walls of her sex clenching around his finger, Dane was forced to accept that this wasn’t going to be easy or particularly pleasurable for Nel. On top of that, he was likely to come within the first five seconds of being inside her. “We can stop now, if that’s what you want,” Dane offered as his penis indignantly protested by rising even higher.

  The blue-eyed gaze that met his was pensive. Clearly, Nel had reached the same conclusion that he did after looking at his erection. After what seemed like an eternity, she asked in a soft voice, “Have you done this before?”

  There seemed to be a short circuit in Dane’s brain that made him give the stupidest answer. “Yeah, quite a few times.”

  “Just a few?” The voice was slightly more high-pitched, her hesitation clearly growing.

  “Er… I was being polite. More than a few. Closer to a lot,” Dane replied.

  “How many times exactly?” she asked.

  There really was no good way to answer that particular question. “More than I can count. Sex was a good method of relieving tension. Why?” He didn’t think this was the best time to elaborate on the fact that all his sexual encounters were short-lived affairs, conducted with partners who were as emotionally unavailable as Dane. He chose his lovers mainly because they shared his predilection for bondage, not because of any real connection he felt to them.

  Nel made a face that told him she thought the answer was obvious. “I need to make sure you know how to have sex properly.”

  Dane took umbrage at that statement. “Sweetheart, let’s just agree that I have infinitely more experience in this matter than you do.”

  “And you’re sure this will work?” Nel asked, pointing her chin in the general direction of his very erect penis.

  How he could be this aroused while having such a ridiculous conversation, Dane did not know. He sighed, opting for honesty, even though it wasn’t in his best interest. “It’ll work. I’m offering to stop because it’ll be painful for you, and I’m probably not going to last that long.”

  Nel had an adorably confused look on her face. “If it’s going to be painful, isn’t it a good thing that you won’t last very long?”

  She had a point.

  “And when we do this again, will it still be painful and will you still not last very long?” she continued to ask in an inordinately inappropriate matter-of-fact voice.

  “We’re doing this again?” Dane questioned like an idiot.

  “Not at the rate you’re going,” she replied. “But if we consider the fact that the storm is going to continue for a few more days, thus preventing you from leaving, isn’t it logical for me to assume we would want to have sex again? Or do you think it’s going to be so horrid I will be scarred for life?”

  Feeling a little light-headed, Dane answered, “You won’t be scarred for life, and no, it won’t be as painful or abrupt after the first time.”

  Nel’s eyes narrowed, as they often did when she was thinking. Finally, she looked directly at Dane’s face and firmly concluded, “Okay. In that case, I think we should get the first time over and done with, don’t you?”

  *

  “Spread your legs for me,” Dane ordered. He had a frenzied look in his eyes, which wasn’t doing wonders for Nel’s confidence. But she obeyed nevertheless, knowing that in this particular situation it was probably better to let the more experienced person take charge.

  Nel trembled as she parted her thighs and tried to relax against her restraints. They were actually proving helpful, as she wasn’t distracted by thoughts of what she needed to do with the various parts of her body. Dane was in charge, and she realized she rather liked it that way.

  Clearly unsatisfied, Dane placed his large hands under her buttocks and spread her wider. “Don’t move,” he commanded as Nel gazed helplessly up at his face.

  “It’s not like you left me the choice,” she couldn’t help but point out. She might be bound, she might be in a sexually submissive position, but that didn’t mean she would always back down.

  Those dark brown eyes glowered at her. “Next time, I’m going to gag you.”

  Surprised, Nel lifted her eyebrows. “Then how would I suck your—”

  Dane’s index finger pressed up against her lips. “Now is not the time to remind me about the blowjob.”

  Unable to speak, Nel cocked her head to the side inquiringly.

  “Your mouth swallowing my cum ranks at the top of my list of erotic memories, and it would be best for me not to think of it right now,” Dane answered her, correctly interpreting her silent query. “In fact, why don’t you just stay quiet until I tell you otherwise.”

  Nel rolled her eyes even as she decided to comply. This man was definitely the oddest of creatures, but he always succeeded in making her smile.

  Dane had clearly decided not to take any chances on her compliance, for he immediately closed his mouth over hers. The bold probing tongue immediately thrust Nel back into the state of arousal that had preceded their conversation, and she let out a satisfied moan as her body softened against his. Closing her eyes, she let sensations simply sweep over her, no longer trying to dissect the intertwining of emotions and physical intimacy and simply immersed herself in the feeling of his skin against hers.

  Nel realized she had always admired strength, and Dane’s body was the embodiment of the word. His shoulders were broad and muscled, and his chest was hard and defined. Those strong arms so gently cradling her could easily subdue her, and yet he had rarely used his physical superiority to overpower her. This had been her decision, and at every turning point he had made sure she knew the choice was hers. He wanted to possess her, needed to do so with every male instinct in him, but he never forced or coerced her into submission.

  Her surrender was one of her own doing, one borne of an instinct that even the WITCH couldn’t train out of her. She was giving herself to this man, body and soul, and it was her choice and her choice alone. The future didn’t matter at this moment. All that did was that Dane’s callused hands roamed all over her body, squeezing her breasts and buttocks as he pressed his body against hers. He lowered his head to her nipple and sucked, slipping a finger inside her as he did so, the sliding sensation coercing a creamy wetness from her folds to ease his entry.

  Dane did know what he was doing, Nel realized as his tongue swirled and sucked her areola, teasing her nipple into a tight bud as a second finger pushed into her opening. She was too aroused to care that she was being stretched uncomfortably, too enthralled by the heat encircling her body as he bit and sucked her swollen flesh to notice he was preparing her for his ultimate possession. She heard rough sounds coming from his throat as he switched to her other breast, felt the tautness of the muscles against her belly as he leaned over her. Not simply burying himself inside her was taking all the control he had, and she was utterly grateful that he cared enough to make sure she was ready for his penetration.

  “I won’t break,” Nel whispered as she felt Dane hesitate. He hadn’t been able to insert a third finger inside her, which was probably not the best of signs.

  A chuckle rumbled through his chest as Dane rose over her to playfully nip at her lower lip. “Why did I ever think you were a quivering virgin I needed to protect from myself?” he asked with a defeated smile.

  “Because you’re delusional?” Nel suggested as she invitingly lifted her hips. “Trust me, I can handle this.”

  Lowering his forehead against hers, Dane grabbed on to the rope circling her chest and tugged. Nel gasped as the coarse material bit into her skin, the coil around her breasts tightening so they appeared even perkier. “In that case,” Dane bit out, “I want you to spread your legs wider.”

  Once more Nel shimmied her hips upward, clearly signaling what she now wanted as desperately as he. She pulled her ankles apart as wide as she could. Pain or no pain, it was time for him to fulfill the promise he had given her with their first kiss, to fill the empty
yearning that had built inside Nel since the moment they met. It was time, and she was more than ready.

  The tip of Dane’s shaft parted her soft, wet folds, and Nel closed her eyes against the flurry of sensation that this slightest of contacts caused. His flesh felt as if it were burning against the sensitized skin of her opening. Hard, slick, and invading, the male member demanded entry as she fought the instinct to escape, to remove herself from the extremely vulnerable position in which she had placed herself. Steeling her spine, she breathed deeply and commanded her body to remain absolutely still, ordered it to relax as he slowly pushed himself inside her.

  She almost failed, but then Dane tightened his hands over the rope, twisting it so Nel was distracted by the sudden lack of circulation. At the same time, he kissed her, his lips coercing hers apart, his tongue swirling to send shards of heat pooling to the stretched point of entry. He released the rope, his left hand rising so he could pinch her nipple as his right palm reached between their bodies, his thumb circling the bundle of nerves that had only just propelled her into orgasm. Moisture seeped from her tissues to coat his member, and before long he moved farther inside her, stretching her beyond the point that she thought she could endure.

  There was pain, as she knew there would be, but the pleasure was so intense Nel quickly was able to ignore the discomfort. The burning shaft filled her so completely that the friction heightened the pulses of electricity Dane’s hand expertly sent through her. She heard sharp, pleading cries she only later realized as her own, felt her body arch as her hips lifted, the motion an act of supplication older than time. She wanted more of him, more of this possession that made her body tingle with desire. Instinctively, the walls of her channel clenched around the impaling source of pleasure, her body’s involuntary plea for fulfillment only he could give her.

  A harsh sound erupted from Dane’s throat as his hands suddenly clenched around her hips, holding Nel in place as he hammered into her with hard, pounding thrusts. The sudden shift in pace startled her out of the haze of pleasure, the relentless invasion forcing her to become intimately aware of the feel of his hard flesh sliding in and out of her untried sex. The dichotomy of pain and pleasure, the uncomfortable stretching coupled with the building cascade of sensation, forced a soft whimper from her throat as she helplessly strained against the ropes holding her body immobile. She struggled as she tried to grasp for something just beyond her reach, as lightning scorched her overexcited nerves each time he buried himself to the hilt. The fact that she was physically prevented from moving enhanced the eroticism of what she was experiencing.

  Dane shifted her beneath him, splaying her wider and tilting her hips so she was even more open to his thrusts. His mouth closed over her nipple, sucking and biting, as she struggled not to arch her back in a way that would tighten her bonds. She writhed as the combination of sexual stimulation and pain turned into a white molten fire that seared her from within. Each time his slick member surged into her the ridge of his shaft brushed against the collection of nerves that abutted her opening, feeding the flames that consumed them both as she heard herself cry out his name, her soft pleas begging him for release.

  Then Dane’s entire body shuddered, and he spasmed violently as hot liquid filled her in intense pumping bursts. Nel heard herself scream as pleasure exploded inside her, the tight coil of need deep within snapping to engulf her quivering body in indescribable ecstasy.

  Chapter 9

  Numbly, Nel stared out the window as she watched the last swirling flurries of snow. The storm was dying, the clouds slowly parting to let through the sun’s rays. As her eyelids fluttered, she felt hot tears trickle down her face, and she hastily wiped them with her hand as she continued to look out at the white landscape. She didn’t want Dane to see her cry, didn’t want him to see how much his desertion was going to hurt her. She didn’t want him to hesitate, didn’t want him to make a decision he may later regret.

  Nel had understood the rules when she’d chosen to enter this tryst, had known her time with Dane was but a brief interlude in the bleakness that was her life. He couldn’t stay, and he didn’t want her to follow him. He had been clear that night she gave him her body that he couldn’t offer her anything more than physical pleasure, and she had no intention of asking him for what he wasn’t willing to give.

  But it wasn’t a single tumble on the floor. It hadn’t been a single night that they fell asleep with sweat fusing their naked bodies together. Dane had stayed with her for seven pleasure-filled days, and they had spent every moment learning every intimate detail about each other. Though neither of them wanted to admit it, their bond was based on more than just sex. They had talked and laughed, shared meals and stories, cuddled by the fire after spending the night pleasuring each other. There wasn’t an inch of her body he hadn’t touched, there wasn’t a detail about her past he didn’t know. He had taken her over, utterly and completely, and Nel didn’t want to think about the day she would wake up without him beside her.

  And even as Dane slowly gave her pieces of himself, tales from his childhood and glimpses of his ambitions, Nel knew he held a part of himself back, that he was readying for the day when they would forever say good-bye. The day was now, the day when the snow ceased and the sun turned ice to water, the day when her heart would surely break into a thousand pieces.

  “I’ve never seen you cry,” Dane whispered against her ear as his arms closed around her waist. The warmth from his body seeped into her back, only this time the feel of his skin against hers failed to ease the icy chill at the pit of her stomach.

  “You still haven’t,” Nel replied as she fixed her gaze at the horizon, blinking rapidly to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

  Dane nuzzled her neck, and she felt herself losing the struggle against her emotions. Hot drops of liquid seeped down her cheeks, and Nel had to clench her hands over the windowsill to stop herself from sobbing.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Dane murmured as his arms tightened around her. “I never meant to make you cry.”

  *

  “If you don’t go now,” Nel said as she gazed off into the distance, “you won’t be able to hide by the time Mother Gothel gets here.”

  Dane’s hands clenched around her waist. He had never revealed his mission to Nel, never told her why he had come and what he was meant to do. But now she was talking to him as if she knew all his secrets, as if she had taken one look into his eyes and seen into his soul. He suddenly felt the need to confess, the need to convince her that what he was doing was right and just, the need to beg for absolution for leaving her in this place, not knowing if he would return. “Nel, I—”

  “Don’t,” Nel warned as she crossed her arms in front of her belly, wrapping her fingers around his forearms. Reassuringly, she squeezed her hands over his tightening muscles. “There is no need for you to break your rules. No one gets lost and wanders into the WITCH’s woods. No one without years of training could have climbed up the Tower using nothing more than a rope of hair. I’ve guessed what you are here to do. I’ve guessed it even before we slept together. I don’t need or want to know the details.”

  Dane closed his eyes as regret washed over him. Telling her his mission long ago would have been a gesture of trust, a way he could have shown her that his feelings ran deeper than he was willing to admit out loud. Now it was too late. The damage was done and he had been forgiven. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words, couldn’t make himself ask for Nel’s heart when he could offer her no future. It was torturous to hold someone he so deeply respected, the woman he feared he may have already fallen in love with, and not promise her that he would be by her side for as long as he lived.

  “If I make it out alive, I’ll come back for you,” Dane swore as he turned Nel around in his arms and cupped her face. Her blue eyes glistened with tears as her gaze bore into his, and a few drops trickled down her face as she shook her head.

  “I can’t live the rest of my life waitin
g for you to save me,” Nel said even as she rose on tiptoe to kiss him. Her lips were soft, yielding and coercing, her body warm and pliant. She nestled into the warmth of his arms even as her words purposefully increased the distance between them. “Let’s not ruin this by pretending there is more to us than what is.”

  Dane clenched his teeth at her words. He desperately wanted to correct her, but he couldn’t. The chances of him surviving, the chances of him coming back to this tower to save her were less than 50 percent. It wouldn’t be fair for him to say the words that would woo away her heart only to break it by dying a day later. When he came back for her, if he came back for her, he was going to teach Nel exactly how wrong she was.

  “This tower is the safest place for you to stay. There are enough supplies here to last you at least two years. Promise me you won’t randomly decide to take your chances in the woods,” Dane practically ordered before he kissed Nel again, his lips and tongue desperately seeking hers as he felt his heart fill with worry.

  Dane had never cared for anyone this way; the welfare of another person had never mattered this much. He needed to know Nel would be safe, and he needed to know it more than he needed to breathe. He was wasting precious time, time he should spend infiltrating the WITCH, but nothing could make him go before hearing her answer.

  So he kissed her into submission, crushed her against his body as he sought solace in the feel of her small frame plastered alongside his. In this moment, for a few minutes more, he knew for certain she was safe.

  “Promise me?” Dane asked one more time as he forced himself to break the kiss. From a distance, he heard the roaring of a car engine. If he was going to carry out his mission he had to leave now.

  Tremulously, Nel smiled, her sky-blue gaze meeting his dark one with surprising calm. “I’ll stay safe, Dane. I promise. Just focus on making it out of the WITCH alive.”