“Fine.”
I hooked my fingers in my panties and pulled them down slowly to aggravate him. The deep chuckle near my ear told me he had noticed, but it didn’t hit its mark. I expected him to issue out some scathing remark or to punish me with his high-handedness, but instead, he lifted my sponge from its hook and squirted body wash on it.
“What are you doing?” I snapped. It came out a little harsher than necessary, but I was a little on edge. It was becoming a natural state for me. His hand had paused above my breast for a small space of time before he began bathing me.
“Are you trying to piss me off?”
“Is it working?”
“You can say that, however, the end result might not be what you had hoped.”
“You know nothing about my hopes.”
“Maybe not,” he whispered low in my ear as he skimmed a finger across my puckered nipple, “but I know you.”
“It would be kind of hard not to since you made me who I used to be.”
“Used to be?”
“I’m not afraid of you anymore, Keiran.” I didn’t miss the brief way his hand froze from rubbing small, soapy circles over my stomach.
“Oh?”
“Are you surprised?” I stretched my neck to see his face, not wanting to miss his reaction, but his expression was as closed off as normal. I knew he cared or else he wouldn’t be here. He once told me he needed the control he had over me and would do anything in his power to keep it. So what was I doing?
“I can’t say I am too surprised considering the reason I’ve been locked up the past two and a half weeks.”
“I hope you didn’t come for an apology.”
“I came for much more than that.”
“I’m not going to sleep with you.”
“You will if I want you to, and I do want you to, Monroe. So how do I get you to say yes?”
“I’ve never said yes.”
“But you have. When I seduced you, when I was inside of you, when I asked you if you needed more…”
“Semantics.”
He laughed again, and I couldn’t help but smile at the rare sound. “You’re really adorable when you get like this.”
“Adorable isn’t—” A shocked gasp escaped my lips when he dipped the sponge beneath the water and skimmed it between my thighs.
“This reckless behavior of yours is only going to be a major disappointment on your part. You see, I have no intention of letting you go again. I tried, Monroe, and do you know what you did?” He continued to use the rough material of the sponge to stimulate my clit as he growled his words in my ear. I began writhing against him, seeking more and at the same time, wishing I could end the feelings he was stirring within me. “You sucked me back in. Was it on purpose? Did you turn me in because I let you go? Were you getting your revenge?”
“I turned you in because—” My screech of pain when he wrapped his hand around my throat and squeezed cut off my remark. He never ceased caressing me with my sponge.
“You know how I feel about your lies, so fucking tell me it was for those two scumbags. I dare you.” He let go of my neck but continued to torture me. “You did it because I hurt you. I hurt you worse than I ever have when I let you go. If I wasn’t so angry, I would say I was impressed.”
“Keiran, you killed—”
“Let’s play a game of don’t talk until I tell you to.”
“Bite me,” I spat. I didn’t intend for him to take me so literally.
His teeth sunk down on my cheek and wouldn’t let go no matter how much I begged and cried. The pulsing between my legs increased as he continued to use the sponge against me.
“Keiran, please. You’re hurting me.”
“I want to fucking hurt you,” he said when he released my cheek. “I want to hurt you and make you scream.”
“Oh, God.”
“Just let go.”
“I can’t,” I whimpered.
“You will. Come for me.”
“Keiran, please don’t do this to me.” I pressed against his hand, creating waves in the water around us.
“Should I give you my dick instead?”