It didn’t take long. His overloaded brain threw in a replay of her sucking his cock, and he was done for. Heart drumming, Hammer threw his head back and pressed his lips together to smother a hoarse cry.
Still panting, he washed himself, then turned off the water and wrapped the towel around his waist with a heavy sigh. Having to jack off like a pubescent teen, not once but twice, totally pissed him off. “And whose fault is that, dumbass?”
His own.
He prepared himself to act as if she hadn’t ruffled him a bit when he saw her around the club. If not, it would encourage her. He couldn’t risk that. Raine had proven that she could wear his restraint down to nothing. He hoped like hell her unruly antics were over because if he had to punish her again—touch her at all—he would cave. He’d spread her open, sink deep, and fuck her into oblivion. Nothing would stop him, least of all his regrets.
Raking a hand through his hair, he opened the bathroom door in a cloud of steam and stepped out—then froze.
In the center of his bed, Raine lay naked, her sleek legs spread in decadent invitation with a hot pink vibrator thrust into her pussy, her head thrown back in sexual abandon. Fuck, she looked so beautiful. His nostrils flared. His jaw locked and his heart pounded. And holy shit, his unruly cock sprang to life again.
Hammer stumbled to the edge of the bed, where her feminine fragrance filled the air and enticed him. He swallowed tightly. He should stop her, but instead, he sank to the mattress, mesmerized, as the toy disappeared between her slick folds.
She squeezed her eyes shut. As her back arched, she dug her heels into the bed, then cried out and shattered before him in a stunning display of pleasure. Hammer could only stare.
After years of pampering him with coffee, his favorite baked goods, and other little gestures meant to please him, this brash behavior, while sexy as hell, came across loud and clear as a giant “fuck you.”
It was obvious that she needed sterner punishment, but it couldn’t be by his hand.
“Before you strive for orgasm number two, I’ll take that.” He swatted her hand out of the way and withdrew the toy from her pussy. His mouth watered. He craved a taste of her.
Raine collapsed on the bed and flashed him a languorous stare. Then her gaze dropped to his tented towel. “Are you going to try to tell me you didn’t enjoy the show as much as I liked putting it on?”
At her razor-sharp question, he speared her with his sternest glare. “I’m very disappointed in you. You’ve blatantly disregarded my punishment.”
Scrambling to her feet, still naked, she blinked away the tears starting to form. “Maybe I’m disappointed in you, too. Somewhere in there, you want me and you won’t admit it. At least I’m honest! I came to you with a genuine desire and revealed exactly how I felt. I gave you every opportunity to take what you want from me. But no! You made me feel like a child, then jacked off because you want it and aren’t man enough to take it. You know what? That’s fine. I think I know someone who is man enough. Thanks for absolutely nothing, Hammer.”
Cut to the core, he wrapped his fist in her silky mane and led her to the wall by her hair, lifting her to her toes. “Hands behind your back. Nose against the wall, girl. Don’t say another goddamn word. Listen to me,” he demanded. “Did you ever think that maybe if you stopped acting like a child, I’d stop treating you like one? I’m not sure what prompted this bratty behavior, but I don’t like it and I won’t tolerate it. Do I make myself clear?”
She didn’t reply, but he knew she’d heard. It was enough for now.
“Tell me, precious, would your mythical Dominant save you from living in an alley, give you shelter and food, put clothes on your back, then finance your education, and never demand a goddamn thing in return?”
The starch left her body instantly. Fat tears trailed down her cheeks, and every one of her sniffles was a blade to his heart.
“My attitude has nothing to do with you rescuing me. I’ve always been grateful. I always will be. Did you need to hear that? Is it not enough that I owe you everything I have? I’m just so goddamn tired of being ignored. Every freaking day, I’m here. You see me, but you don’t see me. Why? Am I not obedient enough? Pretty enough? Smart or cultured enough? Or is it because I’m not a carbon copy of one of your plastic whores?”
Every word broke his heart a little more. Raine finding him with Marlie had, no doubt, kindled this defiant fire. Her insecurities and his own rebuffs had fed it. Was Raine really so broken she couldn’t see that everything about her put Marlie and those like her to shame?
With a sigh, he brought her around to face him. “None of that, precious. I don’t ignore you or look through you. Why would you think such a thing? Because I won’t let you bring me to my knees? Because I won’t give you attention the way you want it? I see the gorgeous, vivacious woman you’ve become, but your behavior suggests that you’re only willing to submit to your own desires. If you’re the one setting the bar, how can you ever blossom into the submissive that yearns inside you? If your tantrum today is because I spent the night with Marlie, then I regret if that hurt you, but you don’t get to choose what or who I do.”
Raine bowed her head and closed her eyes. He could feel a palpable hopelessness wash over her.
“But I can’t compete. I have almost no experience.”
Her little, broken voice ripped at him. Hammer couldn’t stop himself from cupping the back of her head and caressing gently. “It’s not a competition.”
“It is! I don’t get a chance to submit and learn and grow,” she went on with a sob. “No one will touch me because they won’t cross you. I’ve had sex twice in the last five years. I’ve never really scened. Every man here avoids me. I feel...damaged and ugly. If you don’t want me, show a little mercy and let me go.”
Each brutally honest word that tumbled from her mouth burned him like acid. In allowing other Dominants to look but not touch, he’d kept her captive, like a bird in a gilded cage. He could hardly blame her for her submissive shortcomings. How was she supposed to flourish if he constantly impeded her growth and refused to give her up? Liam was right; he’d done her a huge injustice.
You’ve known for years she’s in love with you, and you, you sick, twisted fuck… How long have you cared for her? Ached for her? Guilt burned bitter on his tongue.