“Look at me,” Matt wrapped his hand around her nape in an unyielding grip and forced her gaze to his. “What did that bastard say to you?”

  “Did you also fuck Liv Lawson the night you took Hannah Jamison to bed?”

  He stiffened. He didn’t reply…but the guilt on his face said everything.

  “So, that’s a yes. I guess you also fucked ninety-two other women while we were separated. Tabitha Drake and Isabelle Vázquez, really? They’re my friends. They were at my sweet sixteen party. They went with me, Haisley, Gracelyn, and Charli on our high school graduation girls’ trip. They helped me celebrate my twenty-first birthday. When I go back to Lafayette, I’ll have to look at them and know—” Madison bit her lip, refusing to finish her sentence. “And you didn’t tell me. You didn’t think to mention even once that you fucked half of the single women in Lafayette. God, I feel like an idiot for believing I meant anything special to you.” She tried to jerk from his grasp. “Let go.”

  “Never. Ask me who I would rather have been fucking? And who didn’t give me a goddamn choice because she married someone else?” He yanked her closer until he pressed every inch of his hard body against her, and she hated the excitement that flared in her veins. “Even though you called yourself Mrs. Someone-Else, I couldn’t get over you. No matter how many women I fucked or how much I told myself you didn’t matter, you were always there like the itch I couldn’t scratch. A hunger I couldn’t sate. A craving I couldn’t slake. Not one of those women made me feel like you. Not even close. I. Want. You.”

  Madison studied his implacable scowl. He never once wavered, never once blinked.

  “If that’s true, why didn’t you come after me? I wanted you to.” She teared up. “And you didn’t.”

  “Honey, I was about to roll out of town and drive to DC when I heard about your engagement. That’s no bullshit. Ask Nash. He was there. Better yet, ask Haisley. Despite the fact I could never give you the wealth and power Todd could, I asked her where to find you that night. I was determined to cross the country and claim the woman I believed was mine. Instead, you said ‘yes’ to another man and let him put his fucking ring on your finger.”

  “I never cared about Todd’s money or prestige. I didn’t want any of that.” She’d just wanted someone to love her, and she’d been convinced Matt hadn’t. That hole in her heart had left her vulnerable to Todd’s manipulations, and she had stupidly allowed him to trap her. In fact, she was probably letting him trick her again. But that didn’t erase the hurt she felt in knowing exactly how many women he had given pleasure. “You never asked me what I wanted. You just ghosted me…like every other guy.”

  Oh, god. She was going to cry. She was going to blubber and show him her naked pain. He’d know then just how much he’d crushed her. He probably already did because she couldn’t seem to shut up. He had so much power over her body. He owned her foolish heart. With a few words, he could destroy her.

  Madison tried to wriggle from his grip. “Let go.”

  “That’s never happening again, honey. I told you, I did that once, and it was the worst mistake of my life.” His face softened. “Did you eat lunch?”

  “A chicken salad.” Not that she’d finished it.

  Matt scowled. “You’re eating a good dinner before I take you back to that high-rise prison.”

  “You can’t force feed me.”

  “If you’re going to starve yourself to please a bitch like Agatha Pershing, I fucking will.”

  “And you can’t force me to talk to you.”

  “I’ll be goddamned before I let that dick you married come between us twice. So you’re going to tell me right now why you’ve shut me out. I’ve waited two days to have this fucking conversation, and I won’t let this drag on for even two more minutes.” He lifted her and walked her through the sterile decor of the apartment, marching past a concrete fireplace that served as a partition between the living space and the hall.

  “Stop! You are so infuriating and stubborn and difficult and bossy and⁠—”

  “And too fucking in love with you to let you go again.” At the end of the corridor, he flung open the door to a pitch-black bedroom and kicked it shut. He flipped on a light switch. An overhead chandelier, coupled with LED bulbs behind crown molding, bathed the room in a sexy, saturated purple.

  Madison took in the interior—and gasped.

  Most of the apartment was a stark, spartan white, but this room was its antithesis. Every stick of furniture, every fabric and throw pillow, every floorboard—all were a sumptuous, unrelieved black. A chunky canopy bed dominated the space, draped by soft, inky sheers at each corner. But the O-rings protruding every handful of inches along the thick wooden posts and slats on top, not to mention the padded cuffs built into each corner, saved it from looking even remotely romantic. On the nearest wall, a beam had been mounted. From it hung a multitude of paddles, cuffs, clamps, crops, floggers, and other implements she didn’t even have a name for. A padded spanking bench sat nearby. A gleaming St. Andrews cross took up another wall, while the whole ceiling had been covered in a mirror. And above the entrance hung a sign: Dungeon of Discipline. Leave your will at the door and get on your knees.

  “Oh, my god.”

  Matt didn’t spare the room a glance. He merely tossed her on the bed as he tore off her sandals and flung them across the room, then plucked off her wedding ring.

  She fought his hold. He didn’t give an inch, merely sat on her thighs and pinned her in place. With one hand, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a sitting position. With the other, he yanked her shirt over her head.

  His stare zipped to her breasts, barely covered in cotton and lace. “What is that?”

  “A bralette.” It was comfortable and soft, so she often wore it on spa days. “Stop staring at me.”

  “I can’t.” He cupped her, his thumb sliding over her traitorously hard nipple. “You’re so beautiful, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop.”

  Madison checked the urge to arch into him. After days and days with only the most impersonal touch, she felt starved for him. But she had to stay strong. “Stop. This won’t make me less angry.”

  “You don’t want to feel good?” He shifted his weight over her, kissing his way up her neck as he dragged her arms above her head, caressing one from her shoulder to wrist. “You’d rather have an argument than an orgasm?”

  His seductive tone made her shiver with a fresh rush of desire, so it took a minute for his words to penetrate her brain. By that time, he’d already cuffed one of her wrists to the bed. She fought to jerk the other from his grasp, but he was too fast. In a handful of seconds, the other padded cuff closed around her.

  “You’re being a bastard.” She scowled, bucking against her restraints. “Don’t you dare use sex against me, or I’ll scream.”

  “Go ahead. I’m told the unit is soundproof, and I love to hear you make noise for me, the louder the better.”

  “Matt…” Her tone turned pleading.

  “Are you afraid?”

  Maybe she should be. He was restraining her against her will. Well, against her conscious wishes. Her rebellious thoughts told her to defy and refuse. Unfortunately, her desire was firmly in control. Her nipples throbbed for his touch, and she was terrified he’d yank down her shorts and find out just how wet she was.

  “I’m not talking to you.” She closed her eyes mutinously and turned her face away. “If you’re not going to respect my boundaries, I have nothing to say.”

  “Look at me.” Matt grabbed her chin and forced her gaze back to him.

  That growly voice sapped her of fight, and she opened her eyes, focusing on the hardcore will dominating his face. “Have I hurt you?”

  Would I be angry right now if you hadn’t? She clenched her teeth, refusing to answer, fearing she’d say something that revealed how completely she still loved him.

  “Let me rephrase that. Am I hurting you right now? Is the way I’m holding you down causing you physical pain?”

  “No.” She spit the word at him.

  “Good. I won’t touch you in any other way until we have this out and you beg me to.”

  “I won’t.” But Madison could feel herself weakening. His nearness was getting to her. His scent. His intensity. His hot stare. Against her will, tears seeped from the corners of her eyes. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Because I love you, and because we matter.” He straddled her thighs and settled his weight on his knees. His body heat blasted her, pooling between her legs and making her ache in ways she struggled to fight. “You’re not mad that I want you to eat tonight, so don’t bring that shit up again. You’re picking a fight about it so we don’t have to address the past.”

  “I don’t want to talk anymore about your wandering dick.”

  His eyes narrowed as his grip on her chin tightened. “Let’s be clear; no part of me has wandered since you came back into my life. I want you and only you. Did I fuck up? Yes. Should I have walked away from you after our weekend together? No. Should I have claimed you the second you tapped on my window and asked for my help? Fuck yes. Should I have told you how I passed my time after you got engaged to Todd?” He shrugged. “How would that conversation have gone? ‘Hey, honey, while you were away, I got busy a lot, but I was really thinking of you.’ Until a few days ago, I wasn’t even convinced I mattered to you. And if I had puked the truth all over you, the little bit of melting you’d done toward me would have frozen right back over.”

  “Oh, perfect. So if I don’t like what you’re going to say, then just hide it from me? That totally works.”

  “That’s not what I’m saying, and I’m going to spank the sarcasm out of you if you don’t start listening.”

  She sent him a defiant glare, but his steely expression told her he was absolutely serious. She swallowed down her acidic comeback.

  Matt grunted. “Good. Right now, I’ll take your angry silence over your sharp tongue. At least maybe you’re listening. Honey? None of those women meant a damn thing to me.”

  “Of course they did, or why would you have bothered? They’re beautiful, smart, funny, amazing⁠—”

  “Maybe, but they’re not you. You’re all of that and more. You’re my everything. I tell you all the time that you’re mine, but do you need to hear that I’m yours, too? I am. Totally. Always. Forever.”

  His words went straight to Madison’s heart. She ached to believe him. But what if he hurt her again? Left her? She would survive…but would she ever truly recover?

  “Just drop it.”

  “No. You’ve had a couple of days to stew and assume the worst. You were the one who told me that Todd would do his best to separate us. You’re letting him succeed. Congratulations.”

  His words were the slap Madison needed. She had warned Matt that the snake she’d married would find their weaknesses and use those ruthlessly to tear them apart. Even knowing that, she’d walked right into Todd’s trap. Still, just because her husband was horrible and manipulative didn’t make Matt’s behavior all right.

  “What the hell do you want from me?”

  “What I wanted before we came to this fucking city. You. Your desire. Your submission. Your love. Our future. I can’t take back what happened after you got engaged. I can only tell you that if I knew then what I know now, I would have driven to DC that weekend and kept after you until you ended things with Todd and came back to me.”

  How the hell was she supposed to fight that? And if she was honest, had her decisions really been much better? In the face of what she’d perceived to be his kiss-off after their amazing weekend together, she hadn’t just tumbled into bed with another guy. She’d committed her life to him. Matt had taken other women to bed, but he’d never sought anything that lasted beyond a few orgasms. She, on the other hand, had genuinely tried to love Todd, tried to make him her Prince Charming and the hero of their love story—at least until she’d learned that everything about him was a mirage.

  “I’m scared,” she choked.

  His face softened. “Don’t let him crawl in your head. I know that’s easier said than done, but we both made mistakes. They’re in the past. Focus on our tomorrows. All that matters is our love.”

  Madison dragged in a shaky breath, processing his words. He was right, and she had to get over this fear that gripped her heart or they would have nothing.

  “I know.”

  He brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. “Look on the bright side. We’re in the perfect place to work on our trust, honey. And I’ve already got you half restrained.”

  His sly smile stole her breath. “Matt…”

  “From breathy to panting in a heartbeat. I think you being here and putting yourself in my care is exactly what we both need.” He climbed off the bed and slid her shorts down her hips, past her thighs, then tossed them to the floor. Then he looked up her body, his grin even wider. “Look at you. I’ve barely touched you, and those panties are already soaked and clinging to your pussy.”

  A shocking mix of shame and desire crashed through her. She bit her lip and looked up at him with desperate eyes.

  He didn’t respond by climbing on top of her or even touching the part of her that ached for him most. He grabbed her ankle and secured it into a padded cuff so quickly, she barely had time to gasp. “Matt?”

  “How long have you been this wet?”

  “I-I don’t know,” she lied. The truth was too embarrassing.

  Displeasure crossed his face as he crawled on the bed, pushing her one free leg as wide as she could stretch. Then he made himself at home between her thighs. “Should I show you how I punish liars? Bad girls don’t get to come…”

  And now that they were alone, so close, and his stare was fixed on her sex? She needed the climaxes he was so capable of giving.

  “Have you touched your pussy since that night on the sofa?”

  “No.” She’d thought about it, but every time she’d closed her eyes and sneaked a hand between her legs, Matt had been in her head, the master of her body, reminding her that her pussy was his and that he hadn’t given her permission to play with what he considered his. She was so frustrated and achy. Madison held in a whine.

  “So…you need it?” he asked silkily, dragging his thumb over her wetness.

  As much as Madison hated to admit it and give him more power, she couldn’t help herself. “Yes.”

  “Oh, that little cry in your voice makes me so hard. I spent all last night in front of your door, swearing that I could feel you breathing and needing me through the walls and fantasizing about all the ways I was going to strip you down, jack you up, and make you come apart for me. You want that?”

  “Yes.” Now she was gasping, and she didn’t care. In fact, she couldn’t seem to focus on anything except his hypnotic voice and his insistent thumb petting the pad of her pussy over and over.

  “Then let’s try this again. Last chance… How long have you been this wet?” His stare warned her she’d better be honest.

  “Since I first laid eyes on you at the spa.”

  “I’ve been hard for you since then,” he admitted. “What do we do about that? Should I touch your aching clit?”

  “Please…”

  “Please what?” he barked.

  “Please, Matt.”

  “Should I let you suck my cock?”

  “Please, Matt.”

  “Should I fuck that pretty, pretty cunt you just waxed?”

  She sent him a startled stare. “You know?”

  “I know a lot of things, and I can’t wait to see that baby-bare pussy. You want me to fuck it?”

  That probably shouldn’t turn her on, but… “Please, Matt.”

  His smile undid her as he lowered his head and swept his lips up her stomach, between her breasts, to brush over her lips with a whisper. “Good girl.”

  Then he kissed her, forcing her lips apart and plunging his tongue deep. One hand at her nape forced her to tilt, giving him complete access to her recesses. The other hand drifted down her body to tease her painfully hard nipple with torturously slow strokes.

  He unraveled her in seconds, leaving her breathing hard, arching in offering to him, and bucking her hips in a silent plea.

  “So my hissing little kitten has retracted her claws and now wants to be petted.” He dragged his lips down her neck, to the swells of her breasts, before breathing over her nipple covered only by the thinnest of cotton.

  She shuddered. “Please, Matt.”

  “Patience. We’ll get there. We have just over three hours before we have to return to lockup. I’m determined to savor you every minute I can.”

  Then he didn’t give her the opportunity to reply before he bit at her nipple over her transparent bralette, plucking and sucking and sending pleasure arcing through her.

  Madison twisted up, trying to encourage him to fit more of her needy breast in his mouth and reveling when he fitted one strong arm under her back as if he was desperate to drag her closer. She melted against him, then turned into a puddle when he snarled, wrenched the damp garment from her breast, and all but inhaled her naked nipple against his tongue.

  Head tossed back, she lost herself to sensation, to the feeling of Matt’s possession that filled her every time she was with him. He seemed to know exactly what she needed, when she needed it, how she needed it. Not like he could read her mind, but like he truly understood her body and heart.

  “Matt…”

  “Jesus, I’ve missed you, honey. Trust me?”

  She hesitated a split second, then nodded. “Yes, Matt.”

  “God, I fucking love you. Don’t move.” From his jeans, he withdrew a pocket knife, then eyed her. “How attached are you to what you’re wearing?”

  Why was that question—and its possibility—so hot? “I’m not.”

  The filthiest grin stretched across his face as he settled the flat of the blade under the bralette, between her breasts, then turned his wrist and jerked up. Instantly, the cotton shredded, exposing her to the arctic blast of the air conditioner and the heat of his scorching stare.