Vaas finished the last touches on the beautiful bird sprawling across Ashelin's lower back. He put the bamboo needle back in the box and scooped some coconut oil out of a jar and rubbed it in. He smirked at her contented moan.

"What were you going to do to me?" She asked slowly, enjoying the burn of his hands on her back. "When I was strung up before those two guys tried to rescue me?" Her pussy involuntarily clenched around him at the thought.

Vaas grinned, and slid his oily thumb directly into her ass. She shrieked out a moan.

"I was going to tear this little white ass into pieces." He growled, and Ashelin came at his words. She writhed against him and he started to pump his cock slowly, still teasing her asshole. "Does that excite you, Snowbird? I wasn't going to be gentle."

Another orgasm crashed over her and the pirate King laughed maniacally. He pounded her harder, reveling in her groans and squeals.

He pulled out of her and she collapsed into the bed, panting. He flipped her over and spread her knees, taking a good look at her perfection. Creamy chest heaving, auburn hair askew and damp with sweat. He wound his fingers into the patch of red curls between her long legs and twisted, eliciting a squeak of surprised pain from her.

"Is there anything that doesn't excite you?" Vaas asked playfully, circling her clit with his thumb as he continued to tug at her hair.

Ashelin moaned.

"Answer me." He stopped rubbing her and slapped her thigh hard. She moaned again.

"Knives." She shivered, voice hoarse. "I'm afraid of knives." His gaze darkened as he slid his knife from his belt and ran it up her leg. His other hand started to stroke her clit again and her heart pounded with fear and lust, mingling in a terrifying dance.

"I require your respect, hermana." The pirate King growled. "My men respect me because they fear me. Do you fear me?"

"Very much." She admitted. "But fear and respect are very different things." Her voice wavered as he brought the knife to her belly.

"Are you saying you won't give me your respect?" His voice had an edge to it that she felt was a warning, and his clit teasing hand stopped moving.

"Quite the opposite." She shut her eyes and struggled to ignore the blade, pretending it wasn't there. "I respect that you treat me the way I need without judgment. I respect that you could kill me at any time. That you could have left me to your men, but you didn't. That you marked me as your own. My respect for you doesn't come from the fear. The fear comes from the respect."

For the first time in a long time, Vaas was speechless. He was still so surprised by this woman, this enigma. He wasn't ready to admit it to her, but he respected her as well. Her bravery in coming here, to the unknown and essentially demanding what she wanted. The way she'd survived and carried herself through everything she'd experienced on Rook Island. The way she could handle everything he threw at her.

And she was truly obedient. He didn't have to scare her into doing what he wanted. She desired him so much that she shot an innocent man, a hostage stolen from another country, to prove herself.

He was suddenly overcome with the overwhelming need to groom her, coax out that darkness in her, nurture it to mirror his own.

Turn the snowbird into a raven.

"Why knives?" He resumed his ministrations on her clit, bringing the knife up to her breast. "Open your eyes."

Ashelin complied, slowly opening them but keeping her head turned away. She took a ragged breath as he circled her nipple with the tip of the blade, and tried to focus on her words.

"I used to troll fetish dating sites to set up rape role plays with strangers." Her voice was shaking. "We'd always set up clear parameters, and my only limit was that I didn't want to be cut on. This guy agreed, but once he had me tied me to my bed he gagged me and spent hours making small shallow cuts all over me. He told me he did it because he wanted the experience of doing something to me that I wasn't pretending I hated. He wanted the power trip. He didn't fuck me. He just cut me up while I cried and tried to be somewhere else. I even tried to get in the mood, turn it into a positive experience because I crave helplessness." She paused. "But I learned that day that I crave a certain kind of helplessness. That was reinforced yesterday."

Vaas grunted and raised the knife to her throat. "Are you afraid that I'll cut you?" He slid a finger inside of her and she moaned softly.

"Yes." She admitted.

"You should be." He pressed the blade against her throat as he finger fucked her, and she was consumed with the warring lust and fear. "I don't trust easily, hermana. You've proven yourself to me but I don't even trust my men as far as I could throw them. Know that if you betray me I'll slice you into tiny pieces. Starting from your toes." He removed his finger and slammed his cock into her wet pussy. "Do you understand?"

"Yes!" Ashelin cried as an orgasm shattered her. Vaas nicked her throat and tossed the blade to the floor so he could grasp her hips and pound her into the bed. He emptied his seed into her and leaned down to lap up the few drops of blood on her neck.

"Do you understand, Snowbird?" He repeated. Her eyes were heavy, cheeks flushed.

"Yes."