“You should have told me you were in this much pain.” Cedric’s deep voice was gravelly and raw as he spoke, causing Deborah to bring her head up and look at him. His eyes were not on her chest, as she figured they would be, but were ready to meet her eyes with an intense gaze.
“I did not realize how constricting it had become until a moment ago,” she answered.
“No,” he quickly replied, “I am not just referring to the binding; I am referring to your true feelings. This entire time you said this plan of yours was to seek vengeance on behalf of your sister, but it is quite clear that this goes far beyond that.”
Deborah looked down into his eyes, searching for the anger that his curt tone implied. She found none.
“Would you have listened to me if I would have?” She asked softly, “Would you have cared that the woman you purchased was so enraged?”
Guilt slithered into Cedric’s eyes, and she watched as his jaw tightened and his throat worked to swallow.
“I care now,” he rasped after a moment.
Distrust swept through her, and she pressed her palms into his shoulders, sitting back.
“Do not say things you do not mean,” she bit out.
“I am not,” Cedric insisted, his eyes not once leaving hers, “Idocare, Deborah, and trust me when I say that as hard as it is for you to hear it is even harder for me to admit.”
“I do not know how or why I became what I was, but what I do know is that you are the reason that part of me is fading. That my mind is not so focused on chasing my own pleasure but trying to ensure yours and Adeline’s.”
The want to believe him was instant and startling. Deborah winced and tried to look away, but he grabbed her chin and made her stay.
“What you said about me, about all of those men? It was true,” he went on with the same intensity, “I cannot speak for them but I know for me, that I am changing, and that is all because of you.Youareright. You do deserve better.Everywoman deserves better. And I may not be able to do better for them, but Iwilldo better for you and Adeline.”
The seriousness of Cedric’s words struck Deborah deep in her heart. Yet instead of her heart breaking into yet another piece, she felt as if a fraction of it was stitching itself back together.
She bowed forward, suddenly feeling just how exhausted she truly was. Not just in mind, but in body. Her breasts and ribcage, though now free, still ached from the tight wrapping.
“What can I do?” Cedric asked, reaching to the nape of her neck to massage the tension there, “What can I do that, for at least a moment, can help relieve you?”
Deborah relaxed further into his lap, her tension draining from her by the moment. His massaging hand felt heavenly at the back of her neck, and for a moment, she simply reveled in the pleasure it gave her.
Then a wicked thought entered her mind, shooing away even more of her troubled thoughts. A smile twitched on her lips as she struggled to find the boldness needed to speak the words.
“You…” She paused, her tongue darting out to wet her lips as she gathered her courage.
“Yes?” Cedric readily replied.
“You promised me something earlier,” she went on, feeling her cheeks heat, “Or rather, you promisedpartof me something earlier.”
Cedric raised a curious brow.
“An apology? For binding up a part of me?” She eluded.
Sparks erupted in Cedric’s eyes as she felt his hand still on the nape of her neck. His nostrils flared, and his throat worked. Yet his eyes did not fall to her still bare chest.
“I did indeed,” he murmured, a rawness entering his deep voice, “It was a shameful thing to mask such a beautiful part of you.”
Heat pooled into Deborah’s core as she felt Cedric’s manhood stir to life between her splayed legs. She had been so caught up in finally being free from the binding that it wasn’t until that very moment that she realized that by straddling his lap, her sex was now pressed tight up against his own.
“I think I would like that apology now,” she breathed, rocking her hips into him, “I think ‘they’ deserve it.”
Cedric’s breath caught as her hips rocked into his, and a mixture of pleasure and power surged through her veins as his dark lashes threatened to flutter shut at the sensation.
“They certainly do,” he rasped, and with a quickness, he used his grip on the back of her neck to bring her lips to his.
She whimpered as she kissed him as greedily as he kissed her, boldly licking and nipping at his lips as she pressed herself tightly to him. It was only when they were both in dire need of air that they broke apart, gasping, and Cedric’s hand moved from her neck to her back, his other hand coming up to her other side, and he leaned down and nuzzled his face into her breasts.