Her tongue touched her lip. “What I saw with that woman. That isn’t all you need, is it? You weren’t satisfied.”
He didn’t look away from her, looked right into her eyes, unflinching. “I wasn’t at all satisfied. Not even close. She wasn’t you, and by that time I needed just you. But no, my cravings are much, much darker than even what I did with her.”
“The things you need scare me, Savage. You really scare me.”
“That’s understandable, Seychelle. The things I need during sex to be aroused are very frightening to most women. You don’t just jump into them, but I can teach you to enjoy them with me. I can bring you so much pleasure it will be unbelievable, baby, but there will be pain involved. Only you can decide whether or not I’m worth what you would have to endure in order to learn to enjoy it.”
Her gaze jumped to his face again. He tried not to grip her leg to keep her there, but it was a struggle. That was another brutally honest moment, and he knew he could easily lose her.
“What’s involved?”
He gave a little shake of his head, but he didn’t back off from telling her. “You already have a little idea. I like nipple play, so clamps. Ginger. Spankings. Strap. Cane. Flogger. Whips. I’ll work you up to that.” He continued to stroke her leg, draw his name on her. Write silent little pleas that she would have the courage to love him enough to overcome the fear of what he was asking of her.
Seychelle fell silent again, moistening her lips while she thought it over. “You can really get me to like all that? To find some kind of pleasure in it?”
His heart jumped. He had thought she might order him out. Bog, but she was courageous. He’d thought he couldn’t love her more, but every minute that he was in her company just added to the way that emotion swamped him. “Yeah, baby, there’s no doubt I can do that. I can give you my word that you’ll have multiple orgasms and they’ll be wild. You’ll crave sex with me, just the way I do with you.”
“How do you know I’ll like it?”
“We tried our dirty, sinful sex lesson and you got off, remember? I got a little carried away when I was smacking your ass, because my handprints looked so perfect on you. You just about shattered, and we hadn’t done anything. When I get rough with your nipples, your body responds. In the shower, baby, you were very responsive to nipple play. That isn’t the case with everyone. And you love me. You want to please me.”
“And?” she prompted.
He sighed. “You’ve seen the words branded into my skin. They were put there for a reason. I’m damn good. I was a child learning that shit. I was forced to continue through my teens and early into my twenties and then was able to get out. Telling you that is for later, and you’re the only one I’ll ever give that to. The bottom line is, you’re the only woman I want for myself. I used other women when my cycle got to the point that I needed to get rid of some of the rage inside me, but I never used my skills on them. Never.”
“I don’t understand what you mean. You say you used other women, but not your skills.”
“Anyone can use a fuckin’ whip, Seychelle. A few strikes, get the job done, shove your cock down their throat and get a little relief. That’s what I mean by not using my skills on any other woman. With you, I would want to actually put my marks on you. Patterns. I would lay awake every damn night thinking about it, craving it, wishing for one woman, my woman. You. You’re the only woman I crave to use my skills on. They’re considerable. The minute I laid eyes on you, I started putting in real time making certain I would never make a mistake.”
There was pride in his voice, and he couldn’t keep it out. Maybe there should have been shame, but he was long past that. He had come to terms with who he was, what he was, and now that he had accepted that he was going to claim her, he wasn’t going to apologize. He still expected her to tell him to go to hell and get out. What woman would stay after that confession? But she sat there in her favorite spot, just looking at him with her big blue eyes, making it impossible for him to tell what she was thinking.
“You’ve thought about this a lot.”
“Just about every fucking minute of the day since I met you.” He slid his palm up her thigh. “I look at your skin and know it’s mine.” He dropped his hand over his hard cock. “That’s arousing, Seychelle, just the thought of what I can do. What you would let me do. The tears that you give to me. They’re mine.” He’d said that before to her, but she never asked him what he meant. He’d stolen those tears more than once from her, and she hadn’t stopped him.