Safeword

KAIA

A dull throb pulsed at the base of my skull, and a weighty sensation pressed down on my eyelids, making it a struggle to lift them.

I groaned, pushing the discomfort aside, and attempted to stir my body into action.

My eyelids fluttered open slowly, but all I could see was an abyss of blackness.

A gasp escaped my lips when I realized that the soft fabric obstructing my sight was a silk blindfold.

“Choose a safe word,” Aleksandr’s deep voice echoed from somewhere in the room.

I drew in a sharp breath, his intoxicating scent filling my nostrils, but it did little to soothe my jangled nerves.

In fact, with my sight taken away and my other senses heightened, I felt like a hunted animal.

I squirmed on the bed, only to discover my arms were bound above my head and my bare skin was being caressed by the cool sheets beneath me.

I moistened my lips and tugged at the restraints, trying to keep my rising panic at bay.

“Untie me, Aleksandr,” I managed to whisper, my voice raspy.

It wasn’t the nakedness or the bindings that made me feel exposed.

It was the loss of my sight. The darkness triggered a flood of memories, threatening to submerge me under their weight.

Unaware of my internal turmoil, a blunt finger traced the contour of my swollen breast, then slid down over the curve of my hip, as if committing my form to memory.

“Choose a safe word, Kaia.” His voice was more forceful this time. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

I bristled at his tone, hoping my disapproval was evident in the tight line of my lips.

“I’m not one of your club girls, pakhan,” I shot back, mustering a courage I barely felt. “Perhaps you should seek them out if you wish to engage in these games.”

A charged silence filled the room.

When he finally spoke, his voice was almost indifferent.

“Did Doctor Costa inform you about that?”

I scoffed, noting his lack of denial.

“Does it matter who told me? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

The bed dipped slightly as if he had taken a seat near my hip.

“Those girls are insignificant. Merely a transaction, nothing more.” His finger gently stroked my cheek, a stark contrast to the authority in his voice.

I turned my head, letting his fingers fall away from my skin.

A surge of jealousy coursed through me.

“Is that your view of sex, Aleksandr? A mere transaction?”

“Before you? Yes,” he responded without hesitation.

My heart pounded at his implication.

“And now?”

The bed shifted again as he rose.

I didn’t need to see to know he was glaring at me. I could feel the intensity of his gaze, heavy like a blanket.

“Now, it’s a need I can’t suppress,” he admitted. “A relentless, fucking ~desire~.”

He didn’t sound pleased about it.

But I was, because I felt the same.

The sound of rustling clothes indicated he was undressing.

I knew my time was running out. If I didn’t want to provoke his anger, I needed to provide him with an answer.

“~Zula~,” I blurted out.

He paused, presumably to glance back at me.

“Zula?”

I exhaled a shaky breath.

The mere utterance of that word sent chills down my spine.

“My safe word,” I clarified.

There was another pause, as if he wanted to inquire about the significance of the word, but then decided against it.

“All right.”

More rustling ensued as he continued to undress.

Then I felt him part my legs wider to accommodate his weight between my thighs. His muscular form was so rigid, I could feel every ridge pressed against my body. His breath ghosted over my skin, causing my nipples to harden.

“Let me be clear, Kaia. Use your safe word with caution. Once you utter it, I’ll stop and it will never happen again, understood?”

In other words, I held all the power.

I could halt this with a single word. But stopping meant I’d never get to relive this experience.

Was that what I wanted?

I was frightened, yes.

Frightened of the unknown. Of what Aleksandr intended to do to me. But I was also intrigued. I couldn’t deny that being bound for him didn’t arouse me. All he had to do was slide a finger between my folds and he’d find me drenched.

I had to keep reminding myself that Aleksandr was the one in control, not the monsters that haunted my dreams.

I trusted him, even in this vulnerable state.

“I understand,” I whispered, giving him my consent.

There was no warning, no time to brace myself.

Just the sudden, sharp pain as Aleksandr’s teeth clamped down on a sensitive nipple, causing me to cry out.

He repeated the action on the other nipple.

My whimpers echoed in the room.

“Does it hurt?” His voice was dominant, a tone he often used in bed.

I nodded.

“Yes.”

“Good. Now you know how it feels every time you disobey me.”

He did it again, but this time my back arched off the bed as the pain transformed into something else.

Something almost enticing that drew me toward a darker side.

“~Please~,” I begged.

Aleksandr’s hands skimmed my sides, cupping my breasts, squeezing them as his mouth continued to tease my nipples.

First with his teeth, then with his tongue until I was writhing on the bed.

My hips pushed against his hard cock, craving him inside me, realizing I could climax from this stimulation alone.

“~Aleksandr~.” I wasn’t above begging. “~I need you~.”

In that moment, the fact that he was trying to impregnate me was a distant thought.

All I wanted was him inside me. Consequences be damned.

I felt his growl against my collarbone before he nipped at it, adding another bruise to my skin.

“You’re forgetting you’re being punished, kotik,” Aleksandr said, lifting his body completely off of me.

A rush of cold air washed over me, causing goosebumps to prickle my skin.

I protested a second before a whirring sound filled the room.

I sucked in a breath, my head instinctively turning toward the sound.

Was that a toy?

I could hear him adjusting the settings, the whirring getting faster or slower with each click of a button before it went completely silent.

“Leaving the house tonight was dangerous, Kaia,” Aleksandr said, moving closer to the bed. “Do you understand that?”

I licked my lips and pressed my thighs together.

He always made me nervous when he used my name.

“I was with Stasya and Kir was with us—”

I was cut off abruptly when a large hand clamped on my thigh, pulling my legs apart roughly.

Something hard and smooth was pressed against my clit the same time Aleksandr’s lips pressed against my ear.

“Wrong answer.”

He pressed a button and the toy came to life with slow pulses against my clit.

I moaned and my hips shifted of their own volition, trying to move the toy where I needed it most.

My body lifted off the sheets, thighs straining to reach that peak, and then the bastard moved the toy.

“I’m sorry!” I wailed.

“You should be,” he said, somewhere from my side. “There are rules to keep you safe, Kaia. If you break them, bad things happen.”

With my orgasm being denied, I couldn’t help being snippy.

“I agreed to be your wife, not your prisoner.”

The toy buzzed back to life, harder this time, and devil that he was, he moved it back and forth along my soaked slit, almost making me scream.

“Being my wife puts an even bigger target on your back,” his voice turned to steel. “I will not let history repeat itself.”

The strange tone in his voice got through to me. ~Regret~. He was worried something might happen to me like it did to Nadya. He wasn’t trying to be a controlling bully. He was truly concerned for my safety.

Just like that, my anger evaporated.

“I won’t do it again,” I gasped when he pressed the bulbous head even harder against my clit.

“Give me your word, Kaia.”

I grit my teeth and tried to focus on the conversation and not on the building pleasure between my legs.

“I promise,” I rushed out. “~Please Aleks~…I need to come.”

I heard his swift intake of breath and then he was cursing.

The toy was moved again, but this time I couldn’t complain because his mouth covered my clit and my body completely shattered at that first rough swipe of his tongue.

I was still shaking when Aleksandr’s hands grabbed my waist, flipping me over until I was on my knees.

The blissful haze I was in lifted abruptly, replaced by a chilling fear that crawled up my spine. Suddenly, I was back in that dark place. Hands, rough and unyielding, grabbing at me. Pushing me. Pinning me down. Ripping at my clothes.

I found myself gasping for air.

“Wait, Aleksandr…”

But he didn’t. He forced my face into the pillow, his hand gripping the back of my neck, his body heavy on mine.

Tears escaped from my eyes, trailing down my cheeks.

“No, wait!” I tried to protest, but my words were muffled by the pillow.

His knees forced mine apart, just as I managed to turn my head and let out a scream.

“Zula!”