Free Devil's Bargain by Jade Lee

show their opinions but force them on everyone else. She must have learned early how to hide her thoughts from them. A bright girl would never be allowed to flourish near such heavy-handed arrogance.
    He would have to choose her bridegroom carefully. Unless nurtured or at least allowed expression, her unique spark would wither and die.
    And as all these thoughts flitted through his mind, he waited silently for Lynette’s confession. Thankfully, he did not have to wait long. Soon her head dipped in telltale acknowledgment. “My apologies. You are correct. I was awake.” A plaintive note crept into her voice. “But how could you have known?”
    He released her, though his body was reluctant to do so. He saw her rub at her arm, as if trying to brush away his touch. Years ago, that would have angered him. Now he knew how to turn that emotion into instruction, her fear into passion.
    “I knew you were awake, Lynette, the same way you knew I was here. You felt it. You heard it.”
    She was silent, but in the deep shadows he thought she bit her lip in contemplation. He wanted to see more. He wanted to see what kind of imprint herteeth made in her bottom lip. One of her front teeth was chipped. Did that part of her tooth touch her rosy bottom lip? Did it make a jagged line? The urge to light a candle was almost overpowering.
    He resisted. There was much to learn in the darkness.
    “Close your eyes, Lynette.”
    He knew she hesitated. He waited silently, knowing that in the end she would accede to his demand. After all, she was the student. Still, he had to hold his hand directly in front of her eyes to block her sight before she complied. And the slight brush of her long lashes against his palm was the most erotic sensation he had ever felt.
    “Listen to me.”
    The silence stretched out. He heard the near silent whisper of her breath, felt the heat of her body skating across his skin, and knew of the faint tremors that still gripped her insides. He knew it as surely as he heard the blood rushing through his own body, pooling in his groin.
    “Do you hear it?”
    She shifted uneasily. “You said nothing.”
    “Correct. But what do you hear?”
    Once again he let the silence wrap around them.
    “I hear people on the street. A drunk.”
    “Inside, Lynette. What do you hear in this room?”
    “The curtain in the breeze as it rubs against the chair.”
    “Closer, Lynette.”
    Again she shifted uneasily, unable to still herself as he pushed her to face what she was too frightened to acknowledge.
    “Nothing!” she suddenly cried out softly. “I cannot hear anything.”
    He pulled his hand away from her face, letting it drop into his lap. It was too soon. He knew it was. And yet he could not stop himself.
    “Do you hear your heart beating?”
    She waited a moment, then her voice drifted to him, whispered in agony.
    “Yes.”
    “Hear your breath as it comes in and out of your body. The movement is rough, harsh. Your blood is pumping, your body tightening.”
    “Yes,” she whispered, though agony throbbed through the sound.
    “Your skin tingles. Your breasts are heavy and tight.” And her core, her woman’s core, would even now be thickening, tightening. Trembling.
    “Yes.” Her word was a soft gasp that heated his blood even more.
    “That is desire, Lynette. Awareness. Feel it. Remember it. Want it.”
    She shook her head in one simple, almost violent movement. “No!”
    “Keep your eyes closed!” he ordered.
    She obeyed instantly, probably not even realizing she had opened them. But now she squeezed them firmly shut, just as her body pulled taut with nervous tension.
    “Years from now you will need to remember this. You will want to recall every little detail. You will relive it time and time again in your memory. Do you feel the weight of my body on the bed?” He leaned close, not touching her but bracing himself on eitherside so she knew she was surrounded. By him. “Do you feel me?”
    She made a soft mewl