“DID YOU HAVE any trouble finding it?” Declan asks as I step aboard his luxury performance yacht.
“Dock K. Slip 47. Just where you said she’d be,” I say with a shiver as the biting wind gusts off the water.
“Let’s go inside.”
I follow Declan into the saloon that’s fitted with a white, linen sofa and chairs that surround a large, wooden table.
“Quick tour?” he suggests as he takes my hand, and I give him an agreeing smile as he leads me through the galley and down the stairs. After showing me the starboard cabin and en-suite, along with the guest cabin and bathroom, he leads me down to the owner’s stateroom and master en-suite. The room is sleek with rich, cherry wood, a small seating area to the side, and a large bed in the center.
Declan doesn’t waste a second when he turns me in his arms and kisses me. Relaxing into the kiss, I let him move me to his liking, and when he finally pulls his tongue out of my mouth, I grin.
“What’s so funny?”
With jest, I say, “No conversation?”
Running his hands possessively down my neck and over my tits, he squeezes them in his hands before responding, “We’ll talk after I’ve had my cock inside you.”
He then grabs my hips, lifts me up, and tosses me on the bed. He climbs on top of me and between my legs with a breathy groan as I grab his face and kiss him again. Our lips crash, and we’re a blur of quick moving hands, fumbling off each other’s clothes. When he slips my shift dress over my head, tossing it aside, I know my shopping trip was worth it when his eyes flare as he takes in my French knickers and matching bra.
With both of us up on our knees, he pauses as his eyes roam over me, taking me in. It’s awkward to have a man look at me the way Declan does, with intense want and desire.
“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” he says softly, taking his hands and slowly running them down my ribs and stopping on my hips where he gently tugs the silk of my panties.
“Stop,” I whisper, wanting to deny his words.
“Stop what?”
“When you say things like that . . .” I start, dropping my head to break the intense eye contact, “it makes me uncomfortable.” I look back up into his eyes, adding, “I don’t know how to respond.”
“I don’t need any response, darling. But you shouldn’t be uncomfortable, not with me. I love looking at you. I love the way you look naked, your flawless, milky skin,” he says as he starts to slowly move his hands over me. “Your perfect tits,” he continues, unclasping my bra and slipping it down my arms. “Your pink nipples. It fucking makes me so hard when I see them tighten up just for me.” And then he covers my one bud with his mouth, sucking it in and swirling his tongue around before moving over to my other breast to do the same.
I run my fingers through his silky hair, and he lays me back. He begins to lightly trail the tips of his fingers down, over the swell of my breasts, and along the very sensitive skin of my abdomen, sending a shiver up my body.
“And then there’s this,” he says smooth and low as he hooks his fingers under the waist of my panties and slips them off. “Open your legs for me.”
I do, spreading them apart and exposing my bare pussy to him. As he watches me, he releases a guttural moan. He sits between my legs, and with his hands on my knees, taking in the sight of me, he says, “Touch yourself.”
Wetting my finger in my mouth, I keep my eyes on him as I reach down and slip it between my lips, dragging my slick arousal up to my clit and begin rubbing slow circles. I watch as Declan’s eyes dilate in molten, black lust. He shifts to remove his bottoms and then moves back between my bent knees before he takes himself in his hand and begins pumping his thick cock over me. The sight alone causes me to grow even wetter, which surprises me. I’ve always struggled in the past, but with Declan it’s different. My body always responds to him, even when I try to fight it.
“Dip your finger inside and give me a taste,” he demands, and I do, sinking my finger inside the heat of my pussy and then reaching up to offer it to him. He grabs ahold of my wrist and lowers his head, sucking my finger into his mouth. “Fuck, I need you.”
He leans over and grabs his discarded necktie.
“Do you trust me?” he asks as he looks down at me and I give him a nod.
I’m used to Declan’s need to restrain and control me. There’s only been that one time we had sex when I asked him not to that he didn’t, but that’s been the only time.
“Say it.”
“I trust you, Declan,” I tell him as he wraps the tie around my head, covering my eyes in a makeshift blindfold.
“Lift your head,” he whispers and then knots it in place, leaving me in darkness.
It’s now that I feel my heart begin to race. After spending most of my childhood locked in a darkened closet, I have been claustrophobic. I hear movement, and feel Declan getting off the bed, only to return a few seconds later.
“I’m going to tie you up, okay?” he says and I can feel the heat of his body above me as I lie here. He takes my hands and holds them together as I feel a prickly, coarse rope being looped around my wrists. As he continues to secure my wrists and tie me to the headboard, he tells me, “This is a natural fiber rope. It’s all I have, so if you fight the restraint you’ll hurt yourself. Understand?”
“Yes,” I respond and when he’s done I try adjusting my wrists, only to have the coarse fibers poke into my skin.
“I’ll be right back,” he says and then the bed shifts, followed by the click of the door closing.
He’s gone, and the darkness begins to consume me. The only noise I can hear is the lapping of the water against the boat. My wrists begin to rub against the brittle rope as I shift around. My breathing picks up, but soon becomes labored with my increasing heartbeat. Suddenly, I feel the room caving in on me, swallowing me up as the air grows thick. I plant my feet flat on the bed; I can’t seem to sit still anymore. And then I smell it. That familiar smell of Carl’s cigarettes.
“Declan?” I murmur, but all I hear now is the muffled TV on the other side of the closet door. Confusion begins to swarm, and my head grows unbearably turbulent with the increasing smell of cigarettes.
Fear and confusion take over when I realize I’m naked. Carl has never locked me up naked before, and I begin jerking my hands, trying to break free. My entire body goes numb and tingly as I start thrashing around, desperate to find light and escape. Nothing feels real as my head floats, and I hear the echoes of screaming. The pressure of the walls caving in on me is so heavy, collapsing on my chest. I struggle to breathe, yanking and jerking, doing everything I can in my sheer panic to get loose.
Someone grabs my hands, and light filters in. Opening my eyes, I realize the pressure on my chest is a man and the screams are coming from me. Tugging my arms violently to get away, I shriek, “Let me go!”
“Hold still, Nina. Calm down.”
Who the fuck is Nina and who is this guy? Where am I? Where’s Carl?
“Get off me!” I wail through my burning screams. As soon as my arms are free, I bolt, leaping quickly off the bed only to be tackled down.
“Nina, breathe!” the man shouts as he pins me in his grip. I struggle to fight my way off of his lap, but he keeps his firm hold on me from behind.
“Let go!”
“Breathe, baby. Please, just breathe.”
He holds me tight as he continues to talk, slowly bringing me back into my body. The fog in my head filters out, and I begin to remember where I am. Finding my way out of the tunnel I felt I was just in, reality appears, and I realize I must have been hallucinating. The pounding of my heart shakes me, and when I look down, I’m covered in blood, sparking another spike of panic.
“Oh my God.” My trembling voice is barely audible.
“It’s okay, baby. You’re okay,” Declan soothes.
“There’s blood.”
“Shhh, baby. It’s okay,” he whispers. “Just breathe with me.”
I slack into his arms, my back snug against his front, and focus on the rise and fall of his chest as I try to parallel my breathing with his. After a few moments, he lays me down as he sits over me.