Chapter 147 - 0147: This Is Your Choice, Bambina

Chapter 147: Chapter 0147: This Is Your Choice, Bambina

Jaxx’s Point Of View

I dragged my thumb over her bottom lip, watching the way her mouth parted, the way her pink tongue darted out to wet her lips unconsciously. The sight alone sent a violent jolt of electricity straight to my gut, my cock twitching in my pants, hard, throbbing, aching with a heavy, relentless heat that demanded to be inside her.

Every nerve in my body seemed to narrow to this single point of contact, to the tremor I felt beneath my fingertip. I had wanted plenty of women before her, but never like this... never with this consuming, obliterating need that made everything else in the world fall away.

Fuck, she was driving me insane. But as much as my blood roared for her, as much as every dark, possessive instinct in my chest screamed at me to pin her down and claim her, I wasn’t going to force a damn thing.

I wanted her... completely, unreservedly, but only if she surrendered every single piece of herself to me because she craved it just as badly. I would take everything she offered, but I wouldn’t steal a single touch she didn’t freely give.

That line mattered to me more than she could possibly know, more than I had ever admitted to anyone before her. Somewhere along the way, control had stopped being about power and started being about her, and that realization alone should have terrified me more than it did.

"Open," I commanded, my voice rough, unyielding, scraping against the silence of the room like gravel.

She hesitated for a second, those big, defiant eyes flashing with a spark of her old fight, and for a moment I wondered if she might refuse me outright, might finally find the strength to tell me no.

Some reckless part of me almost hoped she would, just to see if that fire still burned as bright as I remembered.

But then... fuck, she parted her lips, slowly, reluctantly, surrendering that soft mouth to me. I pressed my thumb against her warm tongue, watching the way her lips wrapped around it.

She was timid at first, barely tasting the salt of my skin, her uncertainty written plainly across her face, but as I groaned, low and dark, the sound echoing deep from my chest, she grew bolder.

Her mouth tightened around my joint, sucking gently, pulling my thumb deeper into the wet furnace of her mouth, and something in my chest cracked open at the sight of her surrender.

It was such a small thing, and yet it undid me more thoroughly than anything else she could have done.

"Just like that, Princess," I rasped, my thumb sliding over the slick roof of her mouth, feeling the incredible heat of her, the velvety texture of her tongue, the way her lips closed around me... tight, perfect, utterly addictive.

When I slowly pulled my thumb back, the wet sound of her mouth popping off my skin was obscene, filthy, a brutal promise of what those sweet lips would feel like wrapped around my cock.

I could see the flush creeping up her throat, the evidence of her own arousal betraying whatever hesitation still lingered in her eyes. She looked caught between shame and hunger, and I found I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to feed more.

I leaned in closer, until the broad wall of my chest was ghosting against her bare, goosebump-covered breasts. My mouth brushed the shell of her ear, my breath hot, my words dropping into a low, rumbling growl that vibrated straight through her spine.

"I’m not the kind of man who plays games, Elena."

I pulled back just enough to see her face, to watch the way her breath hitched in short, ragged gasps, the way her pupils dilated until the dark irises swallowed the light, drowning in a volatile mix of lust, fear, and raw, undeniable need.

I wanted to memorize that expression, to keep it burned into my memory forever, proof that I hadn’t imagined the way she wanted me despite everything holding her back.

She was fighting herself as much as she was fighting me, and something about that battle made me want her even more.

"I don’t hesitate," I continued, my voice low, dangerous, ringing with an absolute certainty that left no room for doubt. "Hesitation means weakness. It means second-guessing. And I know what I fucking want."

I paused, my calloused fingers tracing the delicate line of her jaw, my touch firm as I tilted her face up to mine. I forced her to look at me, to lock onto my gaze, to see the sheer intensity burning in my chest, to understand that there was no lying here, no hiding behind gentle pretense.

She deserved that much honesty, even if the truth terrified her. I had spent my whole life learning how to conceal what I felt, and yet with her, I found myself wanting to strip every wall away.

"And right now? It’s you I want. All of you. Your body, your screams, your ruin."

Her breath caught, her swollen lips parting as a soft, helpless whimper escaped her, but she didn’t pull away. She couldn’t. I could see everything written in her eyes... the terrifying ache, the wild desire, the paralyzing fear of what handing herself over to a man like me actually meant.

I recognized that fear because I had seen it in others before her, though never had it gutted me quite like this. There was something about her hesitation that felt sacred, like a fragile thing I could either cherish or shatter, and I refused to be the reason it broke wrong.

Slowly, deliberately, I removed my thumb from her mouth entirely. The slick, wet sound echoed between us in the heavy air, filthy and intimate, a stark reminder of how completely exposed she was right here in front of me.

"And you should know this," I murmured, my voice dark, unyielding, settling over us like a heavy velvet cloak. "I’ve told you before. But you need to hear it again before we take another step."

I stepped back a full foot, intentionally letting the cool air hit her bare skin, stripping away the smothering heat of my body. I wanted her to feel the sharp, sudden absence of my touch, the agonizing loss of my warmth, so she would know the difference between being trapped and choosing to stay.

This distance cost me something too, a physical ache that settled low in my chest, but I needed her to choose freely, without the fog of my body clouding her judgment. Restraint had never come easily to me, yet for her, I would learn to master it.

"I’m not soft, Elena," I growled, my eyes burning into hers, tracking the shudder that ran through her frame the moment my hands left her skin. "I’m not roses and sunflowers. I don’t know how to whisper sweet, gentle lies to make a woman feel safe while I take what I want. I’m rough. I’ll ruin you."

I paused, letting those words sink deep into her mind, letting her weigh the danger, letting her see the unvarnished truth in my eyes and the dark promise of what my hands and body would do to her if she stayed.

Some small, buried part of me almost hoped she would run, if only to spare her from whatever damage I might inflict. But another part of me, louder and far more selfish, prayed she wouldn’t.

"Sure," I continued, my voice softening just a fraction, though the intensity in my chest only burned hotter. "I’ll hold you when we’re done. I’ll wrap you up in my arms, wipe away every tear, give you all the aftercare you need. I’ll treat you like the princess you are."

My fingers reached out, brushing gently against the flushed curve of her cheek, a soft, tender caress that completely contradicted the dark brutality of my words.

The contrast wasn’t lost on either of us; I saw it register in the slight parting of her lips, the confusion mixing with her desire. She looked at me like she was trying to reconcile two versions of the same man, and honestly, so was I.

"But when I’m inside you?" My voice dropped into a pitch-black register, low, lethal, an absolute vow. "When I’m taking what you give me, I’ll fuck you so raw it’ll feel like I’m trying to break you. I’ll make you scream until your voice gives out. I’ll make you beg for mercy. I’ll make every muscle in these pretty legs shake uncontrollably."

Her breath hitched violently, a violent shiver racking her entire body. Her chest rose and fell in fast, erratic surges, her eyes wide, dark, swimming with an intoxicating blend of terror and desperate, agonizing arousal.

I drank in every reaction, every twitch of her muscles, cataloging them as if I might never get the chance again. I wanted to remember this exact version of her... fearless and afraid all at once, teetering on the edge of a decision that would change everything.

"I’ll keep going," I whispered, stepping close enough for my mouth to brush her ear again, my words a promise, a threat, a dark invitation. "I’ll keep driving into you until you’re sobbing from too much pleasure, weeping and begging me to stop... when you and I both know you want more. When you know your body is screaming for every single inch."

I pulled back completely, crossing my arms over my chest, watching her reaction with hawk-like focus. I watched the rise and fall of her chest, the flush spreading down her neck and over her collarbones, the way her tongue darted out again to wet her lower lip, trembling under the weight of the choice before her.

The silence between us stretched taut, thick with everything unsaid, everything hanging in the balance. Even the air between us seemed to hold its breath, waiting for her answer.

"This is your choice, Bambina," I murmured, my voice turning quiet, serious, dropping all the taunting and leaving only the stark reality between us. "I want you so bad my teeth ache, but I will never force you. If you want me as much as I want you... if you’re ready to let go of everything that kept you small and quiet, you’ll accept my terms and give yourself to me."

I paused, letting the heavy silence hang in the air, letting her feel the massive weight of the decision, the absolute finality of crossing this line with me. My own heart pounded against my ribs, a rhythm I hadn’t felt in years, proof that this moment meant more to me than I cared to admit aloud.

I had built my entire life around control, and here I was, handing her the one thing I never gave anyone... the power to undo me completely.

"But if you have doubts," I continued, my voice steady, unyielding, offering her the exit she deserved if she wanted it, "if you want something soft, or if you want to walk out that door right now and never look back... then you’re free to go."

I took another step back, giving her physical space, giving her time to breathe, giving her full ownership of her own soul and body.

Whatever she decided, I would live with it, though the thought of her walking away already carved something hollow into my chest. I told myself I could survive her rejection. I wasn’t entirely sure I believed it.

"I won’t stop you."