And then Landen's hand came down on his ass. A sharp, open-palmed crack that rang through the room and sent a shock through Adriel's entire body.
Everything stopped.
Landen stilled immediately. Buried deep inside him, breathing hard, his hand frozen where it had landed. Adriel felt the tension in Landen's body shift instantly from desire to concern; felt it inthe way his grip loosened, in the way he pulled back just slightly, in the way his breathing changed.
"Shit. Adriel, are you okay?" Landen's voice was rough. "I didn't mean to…"
Adriel didn't answer right away.
His face was still pressed into the pillow. His heart was slamming against his ribs, hard enough that he could feel it everywhere; in his chest, in his throat, in the place where Landen was still buried inside him. The sting was blooming hot across his skin, radiating outward from where Landen's palm had landed.
He was quiet for a long moment.
Suspended between the shock of it and something else. Something underneath the shock that he didn't expect.
Because it feltgood.
The realization moved through him the same way it had when Landen tied his wrists that first time; a door opening that he didn't know was there, a hunger he didn't know he had surfacing all at once, sudden and undeniable. The sting was already fading into warmth, and the warmth was spreading, and his cock, hard, aching, leaking steadily against the sheets, twitched so sharply against his stomach that he gasped.
He liked it.
Helikedit.
Adriel lifted his head from the pillow. Turned slightly, just enough that Landen could see his face.
"Do it again," Adriel said. His voice was barely above a whisper. Timid in a way that felt almost absurd given the position theywere in, given what they'd been doing, given what he was asking for. The blush on his cheeks deepened as he heard himself say it. He couldn't believe he'd said it. Couldn't believe he was asking for this.
Landen went very still behind him.
Adriel felt the man's grip tighten fractionally on his hip. Felt his cock throb inside him; a deep, involuntary pulse that made Adriel's breath catch. A beat of silence. Two. The room was absolutely quiet except for their breathing, ragged and uneven.
Then Landen exhaled.
The second slap was harder.
The crack of it echoed through the bedroom, sharp and loud, and Adriel moaned, loud and unguarded, the sound torn from somewhere deep in his chest. The sting was immediate, bright, shocking. And underneath it, blooming just as fast, was heat. Pleasure so intense it made his vision blur.
His cock jerked against his stomach. Leaked again, a fresh pulse of precome soaking into the sheets beneath him. He was suddenly, vividly aware of being harder than he had ever been in his life. Harder than he'd known it was possible to be. His whole body felt like a live wire, every nerve ending firing at once.
"Fuck," Adriel breathed.
The word came out ragged. Stunned.
Landen groaned behind him.
"God, you're incredible," he said. And then he started to move again.
Pulled out slowly. Pushed back in hard.
Each thrust seemed to land deeper, hit harder, send new waves of pleasure through Adriel's already overwhelmed system. And punctuating it, unpredictable enough to keep him gasping, was the crack of Landen's palm against his ass.
Each slap sent a fresh jolt of stinging pleasure through him, and each jolt made everything inside him tighten.
Landen's voice came low and rough against his back.
"So good for me." A slap. Adriel cried out. "Taking it so well." Another slap, harder, and Adriel's arms buckled briefly before he caught himself. "Look at you. Fuck."
His mind was a storm.