Desire Unchained

“Runa,” he moaned. “Don’t do this. Please don’t do this.”


She braced her forehead against the post and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. “You will do this, Shade. You owe me, and damn you, you will do this.”





Shade’s stomach turned over. Turned inside out and upside down. He did owe Runa, but what she was asking for was beyond his ability to give her. And yet, unlike last time, when she believed he wouldn’t hurt her, now she believed he would. And she wanted it.

The last time, she’d been curious, but this time, she needed it on a level he couldn’t yet understand, and their bond compelled him to give it to her. It was dark, the compulsion, seductive in the way only sin was, and he gave in to it with a shudder.

“Grab the post with both hands.” He hated how his voice shook. “If I have to do this, I will not restrain you with the cuffs.”

For a moment he thought she’d argue, because he was rapidly learning that Runa’s new backbone wasn’t the only uncooperative bone in her body. But eventually, she did as she was told, grasping the post so tightly her knuckles flushed white.

For the first time ever, he wished he had Wraith’s gift. How he’d love to get in her head and make her think he’d given her what she wanted.

His gut churned even as his body hardened at the way she had exposed herself to him, her lithe form braced against the wood, her hair tumbling in wild waves to the middle of her back. Gently, he brushed her hair forward over her shoulders. She gasped, a quiet sound of hunger. Gods, she wanted this. He hissed in response, his own hunger rising no matter how hard he tried to tamp it down.

Maybe he could distract her, give her the illusion of pleasure and misery … heavy on the pleasure.

He allowed himself to relax, to hope his plan worked. She wasn’t stupid, his Runa, and he’d have to be convincing.

“Square your shoulders,” he barked, and she jerked in surprise. But she obeyed. Nice. As a reward, he skimmed his fingers over her high, round butt. Slowly, he circled her, letting his hand trail around her waist, his fingertips just brushing her mound. When she sucked in a breath, he smiled. “Humans are the most vulnerable when they are naked.”

“What about demons?”

“Some are. But not me.” He peeled out of his restrictive clothing. “I’m most powerful when naked.” He stopped in front of her on his second pass. “No more talking. You will not speak unless I give you permission.” From her enraged expression, he guessed she hadn’t expected that. “What’s the matter, little wolf? Did you think this would be entirely physical?” He brought his mouth close to her ear. “What I do to females takes place as much in the head as on the body.”

He inhaled, took in the heady, mixed scent of irritation and desire.

“That’s not what I want,” she snapped.

Good. Maybe she’d give up on this insanity. He hoped it would happen before he got sucked in too deeply. Right now he could still think, but the more she wanted something, the more clouded his mind would become, until he would be little more than an animal operating on instinct. Instinct and her wishes.

“What did I say about talking out of turn?” He slapped her bottom hard enough to leave a nice, pink handprint. He rubbed the spot he’d slapped, caressed the hot skin until she began to moan and push back into his palm.

Damn, but he loved to touch her, to stroke her. Loved hearing the little sounds she made when she was aroused. He inched his hand lower, between her legs. Silken honey coated his fingers as he slid them back and forth, finding an easy rhythm that made her breath come faster.

His cock turned to steel, and he had to clench his teeth against the desire to take her like this. “Your safe word is shadow. Say it. Remember it.”

“S-shadow,” she whispered, arching into his hand.

“Good. That’s very good.”

This was going to be easier than he’d thought. He smiled as he eyed the toys on his wall and selected the bat, a leather-wrapped stick with a flap of soft leather on the business end. Wielded properly, it left a pleasant, gentle sting. Used in conjunction with reward, it gave great orgasms disguised as punishment.

He slapped the flap against his palm, and she jumped at the crack of leather on skin. “You’re going to tell me what drives this desire of yours, aren’t you?”

Her eyes flared in surprise. “What?”

“Eyes down,” he said sharply, and delivered a whack across the front of her thighs.

She cast her gaze at the floor. “I won’t tell you anything. Not like this.”

“That’s how this works, Runa.”

“I’m not stupid,” she murmured, still looking at the floor. “I tell you, which releases me from the guilt, right?” Her gaze snapped upward, slamming into his. “But you have to beat it out of me.”