Innocence (Tales of Olympus #1)(49)

But then he was touching her and the world went hazy. He took his time, palming her knee and positioning her thighs wider, treating them to tiny strokes that seared her core. He inspected her often like this, and she submitted. She was always wet, and when he stopped, she always undeniably wanted more.

She shook her head, unable to reconcile the ugliness of her situation with the beautiful things he made her feel.

“Poor neglected pussy,” he mocked, swiping his thumb over her folds gently. She’d object to the tone, but didn’t want him to stop. Maybe, since he was talking to her again, it meant he’d finally stop torturing her. But she didn’t dare ask out loud. No, her begging was all silent.

Don’t stop. Keep touching. Right there—

“Close?” His long eyelashes flicked up to her face. Her hips danced and his left hand steadied her. He leaned in, pinning her left leg under his elbow as he bent his head close—so close— He was— Oh gods—

His tongue swirled over her slick skin, finding the needy points, soothing them, increasing the ache. Her hips bucked and he chuckled, hot breath puffing over her sensitive flesh.

“Marcus,” she wanted to grab his silky hair and tug him close but didn’t dare. “Please—”

A few more licks and she was so close. So close—

Marcus scooted back in his chair.

No!

And lifted her back to the cushion at his feet.

NO!

He meant to leave her unsatisfied again.

She glared at his shiny black shoes underneath the desk. Her jaw locked. He pulled the laptop to the middle of the desk and started typing again, like nothing at all had just happened.

Cora’s fists clenched. He could toss her away so easily. He made her mad with want but he was Mr. Unaffected.

Marcus saw her family as strong. These uncles Cora had never known about.

But Marcus saw her as weak, merely a pawn to play against them.

It didn’t matter that she didn’t even know her uncles. Or her father. Her father who had killed an innocent girl.

That was the blood running through her veins. A murderous father and mother so overprotective, it bordered on abusive.

Cora scoffed. Who was she kidding? It had gone over the border on more than one occasion. All the time, in fact. She hadn’t even known how abnormal it was until she got out into the world and learned how other people lived.

And now here Cora was, falling back into her same old patterns. Head down, yes ma’am, yes ma’am, whatever you say, Mom. Except replacing her mother with Marcus. Better to follow the rules than endure the punishment.

Cora shook her head and looked down at herself.

The chains might be new but the slavery wasn’t.

She thought she could change. She’d sworn she was changing. Had changed.

But here she was again with her head bowed down, waiting for someone else to decide her fate.

And then she got a crazy idea.

An absolutely fucking absurd idea.

She looked towards Marcus’s legs underneath the tall desk and felt like giggling hysterically. Well, he certainly wouldn’t be able to ignore her existence if she…

Images flashed in her head of Marcus walking around the bedroom each night after he’d showered. He liked putting his body on display for her. She thought back to the past few days and the hungry way he’d lapped at her sex. He hadn’t been indifferent then. It wasn’t just to ‘punish’ her. Even now, she could see his cock straining against his dress pants.

Cora’s insides tingled thinking about it all.

Thinking, that was the problem. Or rather, overthinking.

So she decided to stop. Thinking. Overthinking. All of it.

It was time to take action.

She crawled underneath the table.

Between Marcus’s legs.

She’d been married for over a week and hadn’t even gotten to touch him. To touch it. So she reached for his belt buckle.

He jolted in his chair when she made contact and began to undo the buckle. But that was all. He didn’t say a word or move to stop her.

Was this a game of chicken? Who would flinch first?

It wouldn’t be her. Not because she had nothing to lose. She had plenty to lose still. She wouldn’t flinch, though, because she was actually curious to see this through.

Curious and afraid, but that was nothing new.

So when she finished with the belt, she quickly moved to unbutton and unzip his pants.

The audible hiss he expelled above her? Now that was gratifying.

Here was power. Was it a fucked up way of getting some back? No doubt. Wasn’t stopping her.

She reached into his pants and slid her hand between the slit in his boxers.

In a sudden motion, his strong hand came down and clenched around her wrist.

She took a page from his book and ignored him, saying not one word.

He was thick and round and firm in her grasp. Soft over steel. It was dim underneath the desk but she could still make out the basic shape of him.

And her eyes went wide.

It wasn’t the first time she’d seen it. But seeing and touching were two different things. And the way it hardened and grew in her grasp—

Her gasp escaped before she could muffle it.

As quickly as his hand had taken hold of her wrist, he released her. Interesting. He was going to allow her to continue her explorations.

Was it because he was male and it was true what they said, that no man would turn down sex? But he’d had her at his mercy for a while now and other than that first night, she hadn’t even seen him take himself in hand.