Page 32 of Worth the Risk

Chapter 8

HER EYES OPENED TOdarkness, a common occurrence because so often, nightmares disturbed her sleep. Tonight, it was because she sensed something was wrong. Or rather...different because she wasn’t alone. Bella didn’t move, not wanting to wake him. The dark sky out the window told her sunrise was still a way off.

The air conditioner kicked on and, a few seconds later, cool air rushed through the vents. The sheet was tangled around their legs and bunched up beneath them, the comforter kicked off the bed during their Flying Wallendas sex marathon. But she left her rumpled linens where they were. Pressed against his side, his body heat was like being cuddled up with a furnace and kept half of her toasty warm.

With her cheek on his chest, she listened to his slow, steady heartbeat thudding in her ear. She could get used to waking up this way; it was most pleasant.

In her head, she replayed last night and the best sex she’d ever had. But she couldn’t help wondering if he could say the same. She was even less than a newbie; she was uninitiated and hadn’t so much as peeked inside the dungeon doors. He’d had her without restraints or spanks or the least twinge of erotic pain. She appreciated him going slow, but what did that do for him? Would what she thought was the best sex ever even make his top twenty?

What she knew about sadomasochism, she could fit in a thimble. But she knew last night was not it. She tipped her head back and looked at his profile. Despite the early hour and the predawn darkness pervading the room, the glow from the plug-in air freshener nightlight in the short hall between her bedroom and bathroom illuminated his face enough to see his eyes were closed, his breathing deep. In sleep, he looked no less handsome, but the tiny lines on his face were less noticeable, especially at his temples. She wanted to touch him, to memorize his features with her fingertips, but she didn’t want to wake him.

Bella settled back, pillowing her cheek on his chest once again. She tried to sleep, too, but her questions and worries plagued her. He had promised to make it good for her and exceeded her wildest expectations. She couldn’t imagine adding BDSM making it better. What if she didn’t like it? Was it like asparagus, an acquired taste, which she’d detested vocally as a kid, but over time, after it kept appearing on her plate, she’d learned to tolerate, and as an adult, now loved?

Maybe the same desensitization would work with clovers and his flicker—whatever those were. The first chance she got she was doing a Google search. If that’s what it took to keep getting phenomenal sex and multiple orgasms, she’d endure the pain. Or fake it.

No, that would definitely piss off the dom in him and most likely rile the sadist.

Surely there was a way forward because they had obvious chemistry, and not only in bed. Too much so for a little pain to get in the way. Images of what she’d learned during her online research session popped into her head. Scary stuff like fists going places that surely must be anatomically impossible, and face fucking with a lot of gagging and choking. Then there were the really frightening, shocking things involving knives and blood. She’d abruptly ended her search after a few of those images. Surely, the generous, kind, protective man sleeping beside her wouldn’t want to cut or whip her until she bled. It would mean a full one-eighty personality shift, like when Dr Jekyll transforms into Mr. Hyde.

Bella rolled to the edge of the bed. She got up gingerly, trying not to wake him, and headed to the bathroom on tiptoe. She brushed her teeth and hair and cleaned up. Then stared at her reflection in the mirror for a long time. Dan Ogilvie was a unique brand of man. She could easily fall in love with him, and maybe had just a little already.

As she stared at her face, her cheeks and jaw pink from the scruff of beard on his jaw, she imagined other marks on her body, from his sadist tools, and faced the possibility that she may have traded the devil she knew for the devil she didn’t. She knew the mob. How they reacted when wronged was pretty straightforward. With a sadist dom, she was completely out of her element.

There was a soft knock on the door. Before she answered, it swung inward. Dan appeared, hair tousled from sleep and her fingers, broad chest bare, his tattoo, which turned out to be a beautiful, intricate half sleeve, revealed in the light. He’d taken the time to pull on his boxers; otherwise, he was bare to his feet.

“Everything all right?” he asked in a sleep-husky voice.

“Yeah, I just needed to clean up and brush my teeth.”

He held his hand out, and she took it, letting him lead her back to the bed. A few minutes later, with him spooned against her back, his face in her hair, a muscular arm around her waist, his deep breathing told her he slept again. Bella slid her hand down his forearm and pulled it against her chest. Then she closed her eyes, reveling in his nearness, hoping beyond hope if a monster lived inside him, it was a big blue furry Pixar version rather than Michael Myers who traded in his hockey mask for black leather.

With a shiver, and a vow never to watch horror again, she pushed those thoughts from her head and tried to sleep. Fingers of light streaked across the dark sky before she did.

***

BELLA WAS DEFINITELYnot a morning person. What she was, however, was hot as fuck all warm and soft and rumpled from sleep. But her one-word answers and perpetual frown made him want to kiss her into a better mood or turn her over his knee for an attitude adjustment. Regrettably, he didn’t have time for either.

He took the coffee mug from her hands.

“Have you got a death wish, big guy?” she muttered, shooting him an affronted look.

He moved into her space and sank his fingers into the hair at her nape. As he bent forward, he tugged steadily until her head fell back and she was looking up at him. “Stop being such a grouch. I need to be at work, and you’ve gotta kiss me goodbye.”

Her eyes slid sideways and back. “It’s only 7:45.”

“Yep, and if I don’t hurry, I’ll be late. Kiss me, Bella.”

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