With a sinful smile, he dove back into the water and powered toward me.

I blinked as he swam around me, breaking the surface only once his arm locked around my waist and his hot mouth licked my spine.

Before I could ask what he’d gone to claim, he wrenched my arms behind my back and secured them tightly.

My senses zeroed in on where he touched me, trying to guess what he’d used as a restraint. I have no idea. My voice rippled around the pool room. “What are you using?”

Spinning me to face him, his eyes captured mine. “The elastic band you aqua train with.”

I squirmed against the tight binding. The thick rubber that acted as a resistance while performing water yoga kept me pinioned. There was no way I could get free.

My heart leapt into my throat. I didn’t mind being bound—I loved it. But never in a pool where drowning was entirely too easy, especially in this large space where the bottom shelved steeply into a deep, threatening tide.

“Don’t struggle. You know I’ll keep you safe.” Q’s murmur danced down my back.

My panic receded as trust billowed fast and true.

Q was born into darkness, but he’d never baptized me in his blackest desires. And because of that, I could implicitly say he spoke the truth. No matter what he did to me, he would never truly harm me.

Q paused, his tattooed chest soaking. His feathered sparrows fluffing off droplets almost alive on his skin. “I told you once never to fall for me. That I didn’t want the curse of breaking your heart while I broke so many other pieces of you.” His hands landed on my breasts, cupping them reverently. “Yet you fought me, just like you said you would. You fell for me, just like you promised you would. And now, you’re willing to give me what I need even after I tricked you and lied.”

I swayed as I fell even deeper for this complex husband of mine. Q was all my fantasies in one glorious lifetime. The fact he finally wanted to share me with his child spoke volumes about his capacity to love.

“I’m so glad you ignored me, esclave.” His fingertips branded my nipples with pain. “So fucking happy you married me.” Pushing me backward, he smiled harshly as my spine met the pool wall. His chest strained as he sucked in a heavy breath. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

My heart hammered in my ears as he kissed me.

His tongue laced with mine, and I sank into the sweet embrace, knowing it would be the last I received tonight. The air crackled with an impending storm. Q’s control frayed every second, his eyes drenching in determination and the salacious need to hurt.

Breaking the kiss, he opened his hand, revealing the other item he’d retrieved.

A tiny pair of silver scissors from the toiletries in the changing room. I stiffened but didn’t flinch. This was Q’s signature. It wouldn’t be sex with him if he didn’t draw a little of my blood.

Gently, he placed the sharp twin blades against my breast just above my nipple. “If I get you pregnant, these won’t belong just to me anymore.” He pressed down, never breaking eye contact. My skin gave way, permitting a small puncture and blood to well. “Do you think that’s fair, esclave?”

I moaned as he ducked his head and sucked the bright red bead. His tongue swirled around my nipple, his teeth biting with ruthless sharpness.

Blood raced faster in my veins, either rushing toward him or running away. I could never tell when he put me in this mindset.

“No, they’ll always be yours.”

“Always?”

“Always, maître.”

Towering over me, water decorated his face as his hand disappeared beneath the surface to my lower belly. I stopped breathing as the scissors teased my delicate flesh.

“I cut you once here. Do you remember?”

I nodded. “Yes. You licked me clean and then permitted me to do the same to you.”

His eyes blackened. “And you liked it? Tasting me? Claiming me?”

My moan was answer enough as he cut me shallow and quick.

We both looked below the surface, fascinated by the slow curl of pink staining from me, vanishing almost instantly into the stinging salt.

“You bleed for me so willingly, Tess.” His lips latched around my ear. “Will you scream for me, too?”

My eyes shot wide as his body crushed me against the wall. My arms bellowed as my bound hands crashed against the tiles. Q ripped my legs from the pool bottom holding my weight as he wrapped my thighs around his hips.

His hand fumbled between us as he angled his cock and shoved deep inside me.

He hadn’t touched me there yet. It made the invasion all that more intense.

His face contorted with furious etches. “I’m tired of lying. I’m tired of fighting how much I want this. I’m tired of pretending I don’t need this from you.” His mouth claimed mine, kissing me hungrily as our bodies connected with no barriers. “I’m giving up. I’m going to do whatever it takes. I’m going to fuck you, love you, win you. And when you’re so fucking tired of me taking you, I’m going to do it all over again. You’re going to give me what I want. Aren’t you, wife?”

His thick cock stole all coherency.

I nodded.

That was all I was capable of. My mouth stretched wide, focusing on the slip and slide of him. The pinch and pain as he fucked me hard. And the glorious pleasure he invoked.

I’d never felt more alive than when we came together. Sex wasn’t just for us. It was about making something from us. Combining our souls to create another.