Page 86 of Bitter Confessions

He was talking to her, but it was all garbled nonsense to her. When he abruptly straightened and pulled out of her, the flash of pain splashed electric-blue over the red-and-black splatters on her white slate.

“Fuck,” Roth swore before he scooped her up in his arms.

She kept her eyes closed as he stalked through the penthouse. Where he was going, she had no idea, and didn’t care. She wished he’d leave her be. He got his rocks off. Now, it was time for her to float. She hated that her awareness of her surroundings was coming back. The sound of his bare feet on marble and then carpet as he passed through the master suite, and then a hollow echo as he stepped into the shower.

She pushed at him. “Leave me alone.” She was too exhausted to take note of the way he stiffened before he set her on her feet.

He cupped her chin. “Look at me.”

Didn’t he understand the moment she opened her eyes, her connection with this hard-won heaven would be lost? Why was he badgering her? She ignored him and kept her eyes closed.

The shower came on. She knew washing was imperative, so she tolerated as he tended to her aching body. She was forced to lean against him, because her limbs weren’t working right. Thankfully, he got rid of her wet socks, which were bothering her.

“Bed.”

She sounded drunk. She felt it too. Nothing sounded better than burrowing under the covers and drifting off to La La Land, but apparently, Roth had other plans. He carried her out of the shower and across the bathroom before he set her on her feet.

She swayed. “What doing?” she asked fretfully as registered the sound of more running water.

“You need to soak.”

“I don’t wanna.” She sounded pathetic, but she wasn’t entirely in control of her faculties at the moment and had apparently defaulted to her ten-year-old self.

He cupped the back of her head in his massive palm and pressed her face against his naked chest. He must still be coming down from his orgasm. She could hear his heart racing.

“A soak will make you feel better. Let me do this for you.”

His voice sounded odd, but she was too weary to lift her head and see why. The oils he tossed into the hot water scented the air. He wrapped his arms around her and took her weight as he gently rocked her from side to side as the tub filled. By the time he shut off the water, she was half-asleep.

When he stepped into the tub with her, she scrunched up and whimpered as the water lapped against her.

“You’re fine,” he murmured, brushing his lips over her temple. “I didn’t make it as hot as I wanted to.”

He dipped her a few times to get her accustomed to the temperature before he sank with her until she was chin deep. She sighed and reclined against his broad chest. His hand moved over her body, soothing her fractured nerves as she came down from the endorphin and adrenaline high.

When he started to rub her clit, she pushed at his hand.

“Let me give this to you,” he whispered.

“I don’t need?—”

“I need this.”

She didn’t understand what he meant and didn’t have the energy to stop him, so she let him stroke and caress. She thought her body was too depleted to produce an orgasm, but once it sensed another reward on the horizon, her body coiled tight.

“Roth,” she choked.

He butted his face against hers. “That’s it. Come for me.”

Water sloshed over the sides of the tub as she chased her orgasm. He held her tight while she convulsed and when her head listed back to rest on his shoulder, his lips cruised along her jaw and throat. Tears slipped down her cheeks. No one made her feel this way. He was her oppressor and her liberator, her master and devoted servant. He used her hard, but also made sure he tended to her in the aftermath to ensure she was comfortable, comforted, and happy. Sex was a psychological game, and no one fucked with her mind better than he did. Her heart felt full as she reached back and cupped his cheek.

“Thank you.”

The arm around her waist turned to iron. “What?”

“You’ve always known what I need to get to that place.”

“I didn’t hurt you?”

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