A Beautiful Prison (15 page)

“I understand why you looked me up, but you didn’t think it was imperative information for me to know?” His smile faded, but he didn’t respond. “I have started to feel connected to you, that you and I share something that no one else does.” He opened his mouth to say something, but she continued talking. The look on his face told her that pissed him off. Well good, because she was pissed, too. She moved off of his lap too quickly for him to react. His easygoing expression morphed to annoyance, and then anger when she started to back away. “You may have purchased me, but I thought you saw me as something other than a piece of property.”

“Ruby, I suggest you calm down.”

“I was calm until you made me feel unworthy.” Maybe she was overreacting, or maybe she had finally let all of this built-up energy escape.

He stood quickly, and his face took on a frighteningly hard mask. “I have never fucking made you feel unworthy. In fact, I have always made it known that you are worthy.” He was yelling now, and she shrank inside a bit. He advanced on her slowly. “You’re acting like a child right now, Ruby.”

She wiped away the angry tears that fell, hating that she couldn’t control her emotions. “Maybe that’s because I am a child, Gavin.” He made a low sound and a chill worked over her body.

“You sound ridiculous, Ruby. You’re not a child, but you’re sure as fuck acting like one.” The warmed glass stopped her retreat. “Tell me exactly why you are so angry, and don’t lie to me.” He said the last part as if he were trying to stay calm, trying to make sure she didn’t disobey him, but it didn’t smooth out the rough exterior that made him up.

Honestly, she couldn’t even answer that. She knew her reaction was ridiculous, but it was like something had snapped inside of her. In a move she hadn’t anticipated, which was her own stupid fault for not being prepared, Gavin slammed his hands on either side of her head with so much force the glass shook.

He leaned in close and she smelled the Irish cream he had put in his morning coffee. His blue eyes flashed with his unrepressed anger. “Don’t fucking make the mistake of thinking that I won’t punish you for the way you are speaking to me. This little outburst will not go unnoticed, and the fact you can’t even tell me why you are upset pisses me off more.”

In a gush of words she said, “Because my life was shit, Gavin—shit, and you went and dug around. I didn’t tell you about it because I hated it, hated what it tried to turn me into.” She was breathing heavily now, with her fear pounding through her veins like an erratic drum. But of course her traitorous body grew pliant just being around him. He was huge and towered over her, and although he was furious with her he was hard between his legs. His cock pressed right into her belly, reminding her that he might hate that she acted out, but he also loved it.

He gritted out, “You are embarrassed over your former life, and you thought the best way to discuss your feelings with me was to act like this?”

She swallowed down the nervousness in her throat. When he said it like that it sounded ridiculous, but she hadn’t been able to control herself. It was like a dam had broken inside of her and there had been no stopping it. He didn’t speak, but she watched his eyes take in every part of her face. He leaned back an inch.

He wanted her, just as much as she wanted him at this moment. Both of their emotions were high, his annoyance and anger, her rage over the fact that she just needed to realize that she was who she was, and nothing could change that. She was foolish to think that he might never know about her life with her mother. But she still hadn’t answered him, and she knew that angered him even more.

He made another low, almost animalistic sound, and grabbed her upper arm. He was then striding out of the sunroom, through the various rooms of the house, and finally moving with her up the stairs. He pulled her up into his room, shut and locked the door behind him, and stared at her. Ruby didn’t miss how he kept clenching and unclenching his hands at his sides. But over the last two weeks she had come to read him very well. He was barely holding on to his control right now, and that was a very, very frightening realization.

“I think I need to show you that you are worthy, and that acting out like that over frivolous things means punishment.” He grabbed the hem of his sweater and started to pull it off. He wore a stark white t-shirt underneath, but the thin material did nothing to hide the raw power that he exuded. He continued to stare at her as he undid his belt and pulled it from the loops of his slacks. She expected him to toss it aside, but instead he wrapped the leather around his hand. “Get undressed, Ruby.” Voice low, but holding so much control, Gavin lowered his head slightly and stared at her, demanding she obey him with that look alone.

“What if I said no?” God, she was playing with fire, but she wanted to get burned, wanted to feel the flames lick over her skin until that was all she could feel. All she could think about was her mother’s shitty little trailer, about how Gavin had looked into all of that, and knew how crummy her life was. All the pain, anger, embarrassment, and affection she felt was too much inside of her and all she wanted was to feel something else.

The corner of his mouth slowly lifted, but it wasn’t a smile of amusement. It was one of sadistic satisfaction. But what he didn’t know was that
he
was playing into
her
hands. He took a step forward.

She lifted her hands and touched the first button of her blouse. He stopped his advance and watched her continue. Her shirt was silky and smooth under her fingers. Popping the first button free of the hole, she continued up and did the same with each tiny mother of pearl button until the blouse hung open. Underneath she didn’t wear a bra, but she did have a lacy camisole on. Slipping the shirt from her shoulder, she pulled the camisole up and over her head until it joined the shirt on the floor. The skirt she wore was tight, long and formfitting, and she reached behind to unzip it. Fear was still a heady emotion inside of her, and she wasn’t foolish enough to think that she shouldn’t be afraid of Gavin just because she felt more in control in this moment. When she was out of the skirt and only in a pair of stilettos that Gavin had especially picked out, she waited for his next move.

He came closer, walked around her, and she swore she could feel his hands on her when he wasn’t even touching her. His presence was so intense that she couldn’t help but hold her breath. Hands shaking from the turbulent emotions inside of her, she opened her eyes and stared up at him. Even in her heels he was so much taller than her, and his broad shoulders blocked out the room behind him. They were all alone, but even if they had been in a roomful of people she knew she would have still felt as if it were just her and Gavin.

“You know, darling,” he took a step closer and her nipples budded up from the heat that came from his body. “I find it quite amusing that you think you are in control of this situation.” Ruby didn’t move, because there had been a part of her that knew nothing got by Gavin, and that she had been stupid to think that she had any kind of control over what was about to happen. “And the fact that your anger stems from your embarrassment that I looked into your life angers me to the point I am blinded by it.” She swallowed at his harsh voice. “No one’s life is perfect or glamorous, even with all the money in the world.” She looked down at the belt that was still wrapped around his hand, and wondered if he would beat her embarrassment and all of the other turbulent emotions out of her. He looked down, and when he lifted his head there was a sadistic smile tugging at his lips. “I know you’re thinking how far I’m going to go.”

He took a step back, and reached behind him to grab his shirt and pull it up over his head. His dark hair became slightly disheveled from the act. Right now he looked almost unhinged as he stared at her. She watched the hard, huge muscles of his chest flex. He was still in those loose slacks, but for some reason that made him seem even more dangerous than ever before. The air around him was heated, and there was a glint of excitement in his eyes.

“Yes.” She answered him, but her voice cracked on the last letter from her fear, arousal, and deep-rooted need to see exactly how far he would go.

Ruby knew she should be scared to death, fear for her life even. The man standing before her could easily snuff out her life as if it was nothing, but the part of her that she always thought was sick and deranged to want the things only Gavin could give her, wanted everything. It had taken her time with her beautiful captor to make Ruby realize that she wasn’t sick at all. There was nothing wrong with her needs, even if they weren’t ones that were considered “normal.” She wasn’t alone in this, and as she looked at Gavin, she knew that she had found the missing puzzle piece of her life. The strange thing was she hadn’t even realized it had been missing until she was thrust into this situation.

“You wanted this, Ruby, and I’m about to give you far more than you think you can handle.”

F
or several long
seconds all Gavin did was stare at Ruby as she stood before him naked and looking so fucking good that he was starving for her. He kept tightening his hold on the belt wrapped firmly around his hand, and the images of bringing the smooth leather down across her ass and the back of her thighs had his cock hard and throbbing. “Turn around and press your chest to the wall beside you.” His room was set up for the things he liked to do sexually, and he was about to experience Nirvana with his female. Even from a distance he saw the way her pulse beat wildly at the base of her throat, and he wanted to kiss and lick at her flesh, and feel the beat of that fear and anticipation under his tongue.

He titled his chin to where he wanted her to go, and stayed where he was as he watched her turn and make her way toward the wall. Her ass was lush even for her small frame, but the firm, high globes moved seductively as she walked to where he wanted her. She looked so good pressed against the ice blue and black damask wallpaper. When he saw the side of her breast press against the wall he moved closer to her. He bent and removed her shoes, and although he loved the way she looked in them with nothing else on, he didn’t want her to have the extra height for this little fun they would have. Above her was a pulley system. The cord that adjusted the height was hidden beneath the headboard of the bed, and he walked over to it and grabbed it. Moving it so that the leather was lowered, he heard her increased respirations as she glanced up and saw what he was doing.

“What is that?” The shaky quality of her voice turned him on even more, because it was that hesitance and unknowing of what he was going to do that had the monster deep inside of him coming forth with a vengeance.

“It’s for you, my pet.” He took her hands and lifted them up so he could attach the leather around them. He took a step to the side, adjusted the height so she was forced to raise up on her toes in order to keep her balance, and then secured it so she stayed in that position. Gavin moved several steps back until he had an unobstructed view of the glorious scene in front of him. Because she was on her toes her entire body was stretched long, and all he could think about was running his tongue along every inch of her. She looked over her shoulder and he snapped his eyes to hers. “Turn the fuck back around. You do not move or speak without me telling you to specifically do just that.” Her eyes widened, but she turned around and rested her forehead on the wall.

“Am I supposed to call you something? Master, Sir, something like that?” He let the belt unravel from his hand and took a step toward her. Without responding to her question, he pulled his arm back and brought the strip of leather forward. The sound of it hitting her flesh, and then of her gasp of pain, had him closing his eyes and groaning in pleasure. The red line instantly popped out along her creamy flesh, and his cock jerked forward at the sight. He brought the leather down across her ass once more, and she cried out, her head tilting back. He moved to the side so he could see her face, and saw her eyes close and a tear slide down her cheek.

“The first one was because you spoke when I specifically told you not to.” He gave her a moment to breathe through the pain, but he also knew she was aroused, saw the way she clenched her thighs together, and was anxious to give her more. “And the second one was just because I loved the way your skin became red when the leather connected with your body.” He moved closer to her and smoothed his hand across the two lines along her ass. Her flesh was hot and slightly raised where the belt had struck, but as much as he knew that it had probably hurt like a bitch, he could practically smell the arousal coming from her.

He got on his haunches, grabbed her cheeks, and pulled them apart. He still had the belt in his hand, but he wanted her to feel it pressed to her leg, wanted her to realize that he wasn’t nearly done with her yet. “Open your legs wide, Ruby. I want to see the pussy that belongs to me.” She complied instantly, and he curled his fingers into the flesh of her ass. “Good girl, Princess.” The scent of her arousal slammed into him. He stared at the sight of her slit, glistening from her cream. Her pussy hole was slightly open from the way he was holding her, and he didn’t deny himself tasting her. Gavin leaned down and ran his tongue down her cleft, pressing the muscle to the tiny opening. Over and over he swirled it around her hole, licking and swallowing her juices, and needing more. Groaning against her slickened flesh, he pulled away, forcing himself to back off or he wouldn’t be able to stop, and Gavin wasn’t about to end their fun right now.