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This was the pleasure she longed for. The denial and the release. She wanted to beg for him to be inside her but knew she had to obey.

“Patience. Some things are worth waiting for.”

He pushed his head between her legs and began entering her with his tongue. Taking her intently with his tongue, circling in perfect delight, that made her body quake. She had never felt this way before and wanted more. Need it.

“This is mine, Isis. You belong to me. You can answer me, then no more words. Do you belong to me?” He started thrusting his middle finger into her while rubbing her clit with his thumb.

“Answer me, woman!”

“Yes! Oh yes, Gage. I belong to you. I’m yours,” she moaned.

“That’s right, that’s what I want. You're mine. Every other man will pale in comparison to the pleasure I’ll give you.” He felt her contracting around his fingers, ready for release. “This feels so good. Now come for your Master.”

He brought his lips back to her and finished her to the point of overwhelming ecstasy while riding out her pleasure with his satin tongue.

Gage instantly pulled a condom from the nightstand and pulled it over him. “Now, I will have you.”

Thrusting his cock inside her in one swift movement, a shrill gasp escaped her from the sudden intrusion: his fullness too much. He stopped for only a moment, allowing her body to adjust to his girth, gently pulled in and out in long, deep. slow strokes.

“It’s okay. I’ll slow down. I forgot this may be a lot for you at once. You’re taking it so well, baby. I bet you can take it all. Can’t you? A little pain for a little pleasure.”

Gage reached up, removed her blindfold, and untied her from the headboard. Leaving her wrist still bound, he pulled Isis’ arms over his head to allow her to hold on to him. While still impaled inside her, Gage lifted Isis’s body from the bed. He stayed on his knees on the mattress, wrapping her legs around him, pushing her deeper over his erection. Grabbing Isis’ hips, Gage thrust her into him with feral need.

“Fuck!” she shrieked in pleasure.

Isis felt him deep inside, full and complete, as her pants became like a breathy plea. Her back arched, taking all of him as Gage pulled her breast to his mouth while she bounced over him.

“Yes, Isis. Go harder, baby. Take it. I’m almost there.”

A deep moan escaped him, and his body shook, filling her. Collapsed over her, he kissed her neck as he came down from his release. Once he regained himself, he raised his head to look at her. He wanted to kiss her, but it would break his own rule. Kissing on the lips meant a commitment, one he wasn't ready for.

Their eyes locked, and it was clear Isis was searching for something. Anything to make her heart equal the way his body made her feel.

“How am I supposed to not fall in love with you, Isis? I want you so much it hurts. I can’t be what you want and it’s killing me.” He dropped his head, resting his forehead on her chest.

Isis whispered, “I could be good for you. I could make you happy if you let me.”

Rubbing her hand over his long hair, Gage moved to lie beside her. Feeling something he didn’t want; love. He had pushed it away for far too long, and now this woman was making him want it more than anything. The love he could never give her. He tried love before, and it broke him. It turned him in this a heartless beast of a man that he wished he could break free of.

At that moment, the music player made an odd sound and switched to the soothing music to the song from the gym she danced to.

He listened to the words of the song while resting silently in her arms. Realizing the song was relaying what she felt that night in the gym, he hated himself for all the pain he caused. Feeling Isis hitched breathing, he could tell she was fighting to keep ahold of her emotions. Gage knew she was trying not to feel it again, and so was he. He knew he wanted to love her that night in the gym, and more so now. His head wouldn’t let him feel what his heart already knew.

Gage hadn’t cried in years. Only the one tear that fell on her cheek in the club from the video shoot. That night he couldn’t explain it. The emotion he had felt since he met Isis was getting too strong to deny. He didn’t understand it then, but he felt it now. He realized why he had been so crazy since he met her. He took a breath, trying to let the pain he was feeling go, but it was too late. He genuinely loved her, and nothing he could do would change that.

“Gage, you don’t have to love me. I will still love you for the rest of my life. Even if you never feel the same. I would rather be with you on your terms than nothing at all. All I want to do is see you happy again. The man I fell in love with years ago. The man people tell me you were then is still inside there. I just know it,” Isis said, as she rubbed his back while he laid across her body.

His arms wrapped around her like he was afraid if he let go she would disappear. Her words showed him what he knew was wrong with him for so many months. Gage had lost the man he was. He was happy once. Not this overbearing control freak. He wasn’t this sexually dominant, overcharged man. He was loving and kind. He lost himself in a path to power, without knowing what he truly needed or even wanted. Now he had it figured out; he was more miserable than ever.

Only this woman, holding him in her arms, was changing him. He wanted to be who he once was. For her. For himself. Gage loved Isis more than words. But the words never came. He tried to gather his thoughts and searched for ways to tell her, but his pride proved too much, and he failed to say a word.

Gage pulled his arms tighter around Isis, burying his head in her chest, and cried, unable to stop himself.

She rubbed her hands over his back, letting the tears come. She said nothing, but she could feel her tears trail over her cheeks, heartbroken by hearing his whimpered breaths. She pulled him close and drifted to sleep with him in her arms. She didn’t need those words. His tears said it all.

***

Gage quietly got up from the bed and headed to the restroom to clean up. Looking to make sure he didn’t wake her, he watched over her like viewing fine art. Isis. His queen. His goddess.

Washing his face in the sink, Gage looked up into the mirror, into his own eyes, speaking to himself.

“What are you doing to her? She is trying everything to prove to you she is a good person. From the start you just had to break her, didn’t you? You know damn well you are in love with her. Why wouldn’t you be? In the time you have known her, she has changed your world. Even on the days you mistreat her, she does little things to please you. Bringing you water when she thought you might be thirsty. Going on little errands for you and the guys. Checking to see if you needed anything for no reason at all.”

He shook his head in disgust at himself.

“The days she was with Wraith and Cyrus, she would text to check on you. Especially you. You damn fool. She’s a superstar and she could ask you to give her the world. IWX would be at her beck and call. Isis never asks for anything in return. Who does that? Tonight, she did something for you she thought would make you happy. She did. It was romantic and relaxing. You still had to turn it into a sexual control thing. You know she wasn’t even expecting it. You’re an idiot.”

He leaned over the sink, looking down at the floor. A few minutes later, a soft voice came behind him.

“Gage, are you okay? Do you want me to sleep in the guest room?” Isis rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the bathroom light.

He turned, finding Isis standing with her arms wrapped around herself. He walked out into the bedroom and got his dress shirt, pulling it around her and buttoning it.

“I’m fine, baby. Come back to bed.”

She said nothing. Afraid any moment his mood would turn back to his demanding alter ego. Isis was afraid that probing him about love went too far. She meant her words, and she just couldn’t stop herself from telling him how much she loved him. This was becoming too hard, and it had only just begun.