chapter Thirty-Six
In the early dawn light, Rafe walked back into his room and found Ari moving on the bed, her sleeping form trying to find comfort. He’d left her for a couple hours, wanting to punish her, needing to reprimand her for her behavior.
Knowing she was so close, knowing she’d welcome the thrust of his hardening staff inside her heat made it impossible for him to stay away any longer. He could once again pleasure himself without giving her satisfaction, but he didn’t enjoy the orgasm nearly as much.
He stripped off his robe as he made his way to the bed and slipped the covers down so he could admire the full softness of her beautiful breasts.
His fingers glided over her nipples, which instantly hardened beneath his touch. With just that light touch, his manhood stood up fully, ready to plunge deep inside her. He opened the nightstand and sheathed himself before pulling the blankets the rest of the way off her gloriously naked body.
Spreading her thighs, he moved his head between her legs and woke her up as his mouth encircled her flesh.
“Oh, yes,” she cried, her aroused body instantly waking, seeking the orgasm he’d withheld from her earlier. “Please don’t stop,” she sobbed. “Please…”
She struggled against the ropes as his tongue swirled around her flesh. When he brought her right to the edge, he pulled back, making her scream in frustration.
He climbed up her body and gripped her head with his hands as his hips thrust forward and he buried himself inside her hot folds with one precise thrust.
Her cry of pleasure echoed in his mouth as one hand moved down to her hip and he gripped her, holding her securely in place so he could plunge quickly in and out.
He felt her walls convulse around him as she reached her peak, her scream filling the room as she tumbled over the edge. With a deep thrust, he buried himself so deeply he didn’t know if there was a single place on their bodies not connected together.
A cry ripped from him as her body gripped him, pulling every bit of pleasure from him one pulse at a time. For the briefest of seconds, his hand caressed her flushed cheek and their eyes connected. Hers were dreamy and satisfied, sucking him into their gaze. He started to bend forward to softly kiss her lips when he stopped himself.
As her eyes closed and she drifted back to sleep, Rafe jumped from the bed. He was getting too attached, turning the sex into something it wasn’t. He didn’t believe in making love. It was sex – just sex.
He paced for several moments before he made his decision. He never let his mistresses stay with him. It was a solid rule. Because he wanted to break that rule with Ari, he forced himself to call his driver.
*****
“Ari, time to go.”
Ari struggled to open her eyes. She was foggy as she drifted between wakefulness and sleep. Rafe? It sounded like him.
“Ari, you need to wake up. Your ride is here.”
Finally, Ari managed to get her eyes to open. She stretched her body and realized it was sore. As her foggy brain processed the moment, the night flooded back with the force of a tornado – the club, shower, and then the bed.
“Ride?” she asked, still not understanding.
“Yes, we’re done for the night. I’ve arranged a ride home for you.”
His cold tone of voice finally sunk in, along with his words. He’d gotten what he wanted so it was time for her to leave. Instant hurt filled her. She immediately pushed it away. She had no right to be hurt. Rafe had never lied about what he expected.
He was clear from the beginning that he only wanted sex, nothing more. Right in his contract, it stated that his mistresses didn’t sleep in his home. It was all laid out in black and white so she had no reason to be surprised.
Just because she hadn’t signed along the dotted line, didn’t change the rules in Rafe’s mind. She may have seen moments of him acting more human over the last few months, but the bottom line was that Rafe was who he was. He didn’t put on a show, didn’t pretend to want anything other than sex and control.
“I’m ready,” she finally said as she got up, grateful he’d undone her ties.
Neither of them said a word as she found her clothes from the night before lying on the foot of the bed. She didn’t bother concealing herself as she dressed. What was the point? He’d seen her, gotten what he wanted, and was done for the night.
She needed to get out of there before she cried.
“I have the contract if you’re ready to sign.”
Ari didn’t allow her body to tense, didn’t allow herself to show any emotion to his words. Rage and hurt were dancing around for dominancy inside her, but she made sure her face remained blank as she slipped on her shoes.
She said nothing else as she made her way from his room. She heard the sound of his feet moving behind her, probably to make sure she left for the night – that she didn’t try to hide somewhere and then sneak up and stab him through the heart.
It was actually a very real threat.
“Think about it,” were his parting words as she stepped out his front door and climbed in the backseat of his car. Humiliation was present as Ari refused to meet Mario’s eyes. How many times had he taken Rafe’s mistresses home? How many had he given the very last ride to? Ari was just one more in a long line of women.
There was no reason for her to feel the melancholy that had settled over her, but she couldn’t seem to shake it. Rafe’s torture had been affective. If she was in a relationship with him, she wouldn’t want to defy him – wouldn’t want that build-up of pleasure to be for nothing.
As Mario pulled onto the street, Ari fought her tears. She wouldn’t cry in front of Rafe’s employee. Mario was obviously loyal to him and would report back that Ari had fallen apart. She would be home soon and then she could cry, though she didn’t see what good it would do her.
Thankfully, Mario kept quiet, even gave her enough respect not to look at her in the rearview mirror. She like Rafe’s driver and normally would’ve tried to break the silence, ask him how his day was, but Ari couldn’t speak. If one word slipped from her mouth she knew she’d become a blubbering mess.
She managed to make it all the way home without a breakdown, then dealt with the insistence of Mario walking her to the door. She got inside without the key giving her too much trouble, then calmly walked to her bed. Only when she knew it was safe to do so, did she allow her knees to buckle and her heart to break.
Somewhere along this journey, she’d developed feelings for Rafe. She wouldn’t say she was in love with him, but she’d grown to anticipate his arrival, look forward to their sparring matches, and desire his touch. She’d been stupid enough to begin falling for a man who made it more than clear he wasn’t available for anything but what he wanted.
It wasn’t enough for her. She would lose herself in him if she kept seeing him. She would give herself this one morning to cry over Raffaello Palazzo, then she’d make sure to avoid him no matter what it took. If she slept with him again, she wouldn’t recover. If she kept seeing him, she’d end up having sex with him.
Sleep finally removed her from her misery, and when Ari woke up in the late afternoon she had a firm resolve to listen to herself. She’d just have to take it one step, and one day, at a time for now.