BEND ME: A Dark Romance Read online

  Minutes passed, and eventually, Fiona stirred underneath him. Maybe she had actually dozed off and was only now coming to, but still, she barely moved, only adjusting her head to turn and look Vince in the eyes. It was overwhelming, watching her watch him, feeling totally vulnerable and bare under her penetrating gaze. Vince almost shivered, just from the nervousness he felt at being watched, but he held himself back, meeting Fiona’s gaze as confidently as he could. This was the moment of truth, when she told him what she felt about what had just happened. She was going to make him or break him, and she probably had no idea how much power she really had.

  Fiona cleared her throat, her eyes darting between each of his for several seconds before she finally opened her mouth to speak. It took all of Vince’s strength not to close his eyes, his heartbeat thudding loudly in his ears as his anxiety spiked, waiting for her judgment.

  “Thank you,” she whispered softly, lifting one hand from under Vince’s stomach to brush against the side of his face, sending small sparks of tingling pleasure down Vince’s spine in the process.

  “What?” Vince said, not comprehending her meaning at first. His brain was still waking up, still forcing itself back to life. He couldn’t understand what she could possibly be thanking him for. If anything, it should have been the other way around.

  “Thank you,” Fiona repeated, petting the side of Vince’s face some more with her lovely, long fingers. “I never felt that way before. I didn’t even know I could feel that way. Thank you so much.”

  Fiona’s words finally cracked into Vince’s skull, dancing around on top of his brain until all of his nerve endings finally sprang up back to life, jumping for joy as soon as her meaning sunk in. Vince had to fight to keep himself from trembling, just from the force of the happy feeling that popped up in the base of his stomach like a bomb going off, sending aftershocks throughout his entire body. He finally nodded slowly, more to himself than to Fiona, and forced out two words, the only answer he could muster up at the moment. “You’re welcome.”

  Fiona smiled, her face practically cracking open as her wonderfully white teeth appeared, lighting up her eyes like the sky on the Fourth of July. She looked beautiful, more beautiful than Vince had ever seen her before, even though she was red-faced and covered with slick sweat. He never wanted this moment to end. He never wanted to forget any single detail of the gorgeous thing that was lying against him, her legs tangled up with his.

  “I never really…liked sex,” Fiona said after a long pause where they just stared at each other. She broke the silence easily, comfortably, like she’d known him forever. It was amazing, seeing how much looser and lighter and freer she seemed after their fucking than before. “I thought it was kind of gross and nasty.”

  “Isn’t it?” Vince asked, smirking a little even as Fiona rolled her eyes and playfully smacked the side of his body.

  “You know what I mean,” Fiona said, the stubborn smile on her face never slipping away. “I just didn’t see the appeal. I thought it was unnecessarily dirty and messy and…” She trailed off, shrugging a little like she couldn’t come up with the words to describe exactly how she used to feel.

  “Uncontrollable?” Vince suggested. “Chaotic?”

  “I guess so,” Fiona said, nodding a little. “Yeah, I guess that’s how I felt. It was just a mess, something else that I’d have to take care of, you know? Something else to worry about. My life was always easier when sex wasn’t involved. I just did it to make the men in my life happy, you know, to make sure that they were satisfied. I barely even masturbate, for God’s sake!” she said with a laugh.

  “But tonight…?” Vince said, his voice going up at the end of the second word like he was asking a question. He supposed that he was, in fact, asking if she enjoyed herself, even though he knew that he already had the answer to that question, just from the way his muscles recalled the trembling vibrations that Fiona’s body transferred to his in the midst of her orgasm.

  “Tonight was different,” Fiona said, her voice firm and confident. She smiled, her eyes rolling up in the back of her head as she squirmed next to Vince, stretching her muscles out until they popped. “Tonight was so different,” she said again, falling into a fit of giggles that made Vince feel like his heart was getting warmer in his chest, like a fire slowly growing larger with each passing second.

  Vince let his hand travel over to the other side of Fiona’s body, tracing lines up and down her back with his fingertips and fingernails, making her shut her eyes and breathe more shallowly as he gently rubbed her overworked body. “You did well,” he said softly, pressing down harder along her spine until she moaned under her breath, still consumed in pleasure. “You did really well.”

  “Thank you,” Fiona whispered back, sighing happily and rolling her shoulders back to let Vince rub at them, carrying away whatever remnants of tension remained in her muscles and bones. “Thank you so much. I was really worried, you know, before I came here. I thought I’d fuck it all up.”

  “You didn’t. You did everything right,” Vince said. He wondered if Fiona was aware that she was letting him perform aftercare right now, taking care of her body as well as reassuring her emotionally. If she noticed, she didn’t seem to mind, practically grinning even with her eyes closed as his hand traveled down to her ass to pet over the places he’d smacked before during foreplay as well as during sex itself.

  They lay like that for several more minutes, Fiona letting Vince take care of her, rubbing away at all the tight spots he found with his fingertips until he finally gave in to temptation and pulled away from her. Fiona didn’t protest the way he expected her to. Instead, she just smiled lazily up at him and reached down clumsily with one hand to find his and lightly squeezed his fingers. Vince looked down to see their hands, their fingers sliding together naturally like they’d known each other for their whole lives. He felt something flutter in his chest, something light yet powerful, and for a second, he just let himself enjoy it before nausea crashed over him, all at once, making him yank his hand away from hers and get up from the desk entirely.

  He bent over to the floor, searching through his pants pocket for his phone to check the time. 11:03. It was later than he thought.

  “You should be getting back soon,” Vince said softly, as gently as he could. He didn’t want to kick her out, but it was important that he maintain boundaries. She couldn’t sleep over, as much as he’d like having her naked body pressed against his for hours on end. He couldn’t afford her to get the wrong idea about them. That was a surefire way to fuck things up, to blur the boundaries that he’d worked so hard to build and maintain.

  But if Fiona was offended, he couldn’t detect it in her face as she nodded and straightened up on the desk, groaning a little as she placed her feet back down on the ground for the first time in over an hour. “Jesus Christ, you really gave me a workout there,” she said with a lazy grin, gradually getting to her feet and stretching down to her toes before she began walking toward the door.

  “Wait,” Vince said before she could reach her destination, putting a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place, even though she immediately obeyed his command. God, that was hot. It was fucking enticing, having her do exactly what he said, exactly when he said it. She was such a Sub.

  “Yes?” Fiona said, looking up at him with wide, curious eyes. She looked so beautiful, all fucked-out with her cheeks still pink and her hair a messy disaster on top of her head and shoulders. It was so tempting to reach out and grab her, pull her into a kiss that she’d never forget.

  But no. He couldn’t do that. Boundaries. The boundaries came first. They were the real Dom around here.

  “I just want to say that I really enjoyed this,” Vince said, brushing some of the random strands of hair away from Fiona’s face. “I want to do it again. As soon as possible.”

  Fiona smiled, biting down on her bottom lip bashfully as she nodded. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

  “Good,” Vince said, rea
ching behind her to lightly pat her on the ass. “Now get on home. You need to get your rest so we can get back to work tomorrow.”

  “Right,” Fiona said with a short nod, smiling brightly at him before she turned to walk out the door, disappearing on the other side of the playroom wall. She was probably getting back into her clothes before heading out. Vince sighed deeply and let his body sag against the desk before he pulled his pants up off the ground, getting back into his clothes so he wouldn’t have to face his naked body. He couldn’t stand looking at himself when he was alone. He always needed to have someone else, to have a beautiful submissive woman look at him and affirm that he was okay, that he wasn’t ugly or evil or bad. That his body wasn’t an instrument of darkness.

  Fiona had done a great job of it tonight, accepting all of him without judgment. But there was some part of Vince that felt shaken-up, maybe even a little bit afraid. It took him a few minutes before he could put his finger on it, and then it hit him. She’d been a little too good at it. It was the best session he’d ever had in his life, and it was the first time she’d ever acted as a Sub. What would she be like when they had more practice together? How could he ever give her up if she was this addicting, this early?

  “Get it together, man,” Vince mumbled under his breath, rubbing his face to try to get his mind back on track. He couldn’t afford to freak out about this, to already be worried about losing her even after fucking her just once. One day, of course, this would end. It had to. It always did for Vince. He was going to have to be prepared for that, whenever it happened. He couldn’t let himself get attached too soon.

  But still, he had no way of stopping himself from aching for her, longing for her touch as though he hadn’t seen her in weeks, even though it had been mere minutes since she’d left. Already, his body felt like it needed hers to survive, needed her touch to live with itself.

  “I’m fucked,” he muttered out loud, grabbing the whip from the floor to put it back in its resting place. “I’m totally fucked.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Fiona was practically bouncing on the heels of her feet as she walked out of Vince’s playroom, wrapping her coat tightly around her body as she headed for the front door, preparing herself for the chilly air outside. “La di dah di do,” she hummed to herself, unable to fight the wide grin that was splitting her face in half as she sang to herself. “La di dah di dah…”

  But before she could make it to the front door, the doorbell rang, freezing her in her tracks, uncertain of what to do. It would feel weird for her to go back to the playroom. Would she have to take her clothes off again, just to inform Vince that the doorbell rang? Or what if she walked back in with clothes on? Would he punish her? A shiver ran down Fiona’s spine as she considered that possibility, but it wasn’t due to fear. The thought excited her, made her turn on her heels and head back in the direction of the playroom, going back to get her ass slapped around some more—

  She slammed right into Vince’s chest, not seeing him in time to stop her movements before colliding with him. “Oof,” she groaned as she backed up, rubbing her head where it smashed against Vince’s muscular torso.

  “You okay?” Vince said, but his voice didn’t have the same soft tenderness as it had in the playroom earlier. Fiona swallowed the vague pained feeling that created in her and nodded, gesturing behind her towards the front door.

  “Um, the doorbell rang.”

  “I heard it,” Vince said a little curtly. He sounded like he was on-edge, a little like he did when they were in the office together. What could be wrong? Fiona suddenly felt a wave of insecurity crash over her. Did she mess something up? Did she not leave the playroom in time? Or did she leave too soon? He seemed like he was mad about something, but she couldn’t figure out what she had done to make him feel that way.

  “Um, okay, well, I guess I’ll just go now…” Fiona started to turn back around, right when the doorbell rang again. She figured she’d let the impatient ringer in to talk with Vince and then just head downstairs and go home.

  But Vince stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, pinning her in place, even as the doorbell rang a third time. “Wait. Head back to the hallway. Across from the playroom is my bedroom. You can wait in there while I get rid of whoever is coming by at this time of night.”

  “I can just go; it’s no big deal,” Fiona argued, flinching a little bit as the doorbell rang again. Whoever was on the other side of the door clearly had no intentions of leaving anytime soon, at least not until they got an acknowledgement from Vince.

  “I insist,” Vince said, his tone hard and unflinching. He wasn’t going to budge on this, Fiona could tell. She just sighed and nodded, walking around him to head for his bedroom.

  She stepped inside the luxurious room, shutting the door softly behind her and taking a look around. There was a gorgeous full canopy bed in royal blue against the wall, with shining mahogany furniture pieces surrounding it. Fiona tentatively walked over to the bed, feeling a distinct heaviness in her head that told her she needed to sleep soon. The bed was just so tempting. She couldn’t help but picture Vince curled up under those covers, all of his defenses falling away as he sunk into the mattress.

  Fiona practically jolted as soon as she realized what she was thinking about. Snap out of it, she berated herself, turning around to face the door instead of the bed. She couldn’t afford to get mushy already, especially since she only just fucked the guy one time. They hadn’t even kissed on the mouth yet, for God’s sake. Why in the hell was she getting all soft-hearted and picturing the guy sleeping? There wasn’t even anything sexual about that. She had no excuse for being such a little bitch when it came to her inner monologue.

  She exhaled deeply and walked closer to the door, putting more distance in between herself and the bed in an attempt to protect herself from the temptation to indulge in more of those mushy thoughts. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to repeat her mantra to herself as insistently as possible, until it truly sunk in. I don’t want a relationship. I don’t want a relationship. I don’t want one.

  But in the process, shutting out all other sensations, she picked up on some noises from the other side of the door. “What are you doing here?” It was Vince, taking a rather rude tone of voice to someone. Judging from the distance of the sound, Fiona figured he hadn’t even invited the intruder in, keeping him or her installed near the doorway of the penthouse.

  “Just checking in on my brother. Can’t I do that, or is that not allowed under the new leadership?” It was Guido. Fiona would recognize that squirrelly, desperate tone of voice anywhere. Her upper lip curled in disgust, and she backed away from the door a little bit, no longer invested in the conversation she was overhearing.

  Still, though, that didn’t keep her from picking up on some of the things that were said in the following minutes. “….you can go now,” Vince said from somewhere on the other side of the wall.

  “I just worry about you, that’s all. Aren’t you going to let me in?” Guido asked, an edge popping up in his voice, like he was beginning to get frustrated.

  Fiona rolled her eyes, checking her phone to see the time. She needed to get home and check on her father. Guido was just holding her up at this point. She was annoyed, but weirdly, she didn’t feel like blaming Vince. If the late-night visitor had been almost anybody else other than Guido, it would have been fine for her to head out the front door, but Guido would be so goddamn smug about Fiona fucking a guy she just met at the office, not to mention that guy was Guido’s brother. On the other hand, he might have even gotten angry, given the fact that he’d spent the last year hitting on Fiona mercilessly without ever reaping any benefit. He’d probably get mad at Fiona and maybe even try to get her fired. She rubbed her own shoulders, feeling a dark cloud of worry descend over her head. She wished that Guido would just disappear already. She didn’t know how she would handle it if he found out about them.

  “You know, I really think about you a lot man,” Guido
said to Vince, his voice a bit softer and more difficult to make out. “You don’t have anybody. I know, I know, you’re constantly fucking girls in the city. That must be nice. But it’s not like me. I’ve got people in my life that I’m close to. You…you just have servants. Isn’t that right?”

  Vince didn’t say anything, or at least not anything that Fiona could hear. She knew he wasn’t going to mention her, though, despite Guido’s baiting. He had almost as much to lose as Fiona did, after all. He’d threatened her not to tell anyone about their relationship; given how gentle and caring he otherwise was, it was clear to Fiona that he was desperate to keep his little “habit” of domination under wraps.

  “Guido, it’s late. I need to sleep. You do, too. We’ve still got a lot of work to do getting Dad’s business in order, not to mention the funeral,” Vince said, a stern edge appearing in his voice.