Hope woke up first and stared down at her sleeping lover. As she watched him breathe, a wicked thought crossed her mind. Now would be the perfect time to pay him back.

Lifting her hand, she opened his box with magic and called the roped to her. Once his wrists were securely bound, she caught the blindfold and carefully slipped it over his eyes. Satisfied with her handiwork, Hope slid the blankets down his body, scattering kisses across his skin as she moved.

By the time she reached her intended goal, he was already partially aroused, though he slept on.

Staring down at him, doubt crept in. What if she couldn't do this? What if she messed up so badly that he never let her do anything like this again?

With a determined shake of her head, she leaned over and took him into her mouth carefully. He was still somewhat soft, until she dragged her tongue along the tip as best she could. That had its intended effect and soon Ryan was rocking his hips softly, though he still remained asleep.

Well, that wouldn't do. Smirking around him, she dragged her nails down his inner thigh, hard enough for him to realize that this wasn't a dream.

"Hope?" he mumbled.

She released him long enough to say, "Shhh, it's punishment for your bad behavior."

"Doesn't feel much like punishment."

"It will," she promised, then took his length as deep into her mouth as she comfortably could.

Feeling him respond, hearing the soft moans he made, almost as though he couldn't believe she wanted to do this to him, it made her want to destroy whoever had made him feel like he wasn't worthy of pleasure and she redoubled her efforts.

"Oh, god damn, Hope," he groaned.

When he started thrusting in earnest, Hope sat up and he whined deep in the back of his throat.

Leaning down, she whispered against his lips, "Don't make a sound, don't climax until I say. No matter what. Or I get myself off, and I make sure you don't get to until tonight. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ryan fought back a grin, but his eagerness bled through.

"Good."

Hope nipped at his neck and he exhaled.

Reaching over her shoulder, she called a knife to her and pressed the broad side against his chest. He jerked in response to the chill of the steel on his skin, but still, he kept silent.

"Careful. You might hurt yourself." Hope murmured as she traced the dull side around one nipple than the other.

Slowly, she trailed the blade up his throat, to his lips.

"That mouth, the way you use it," she traced the shape of it as she spoke, "whether you're talking or not, it's got a way of getting you into trouble. You know that right? Answer me."

"Yes, ma'am," he moaned.

"No more sounds out of you, unless I say, and you'll obey because you're so good at doing what I say." Hope bit his nipple, then soothed the mark with her tongue.

Ryan wrapped his hands around the ropes binding his wrists and clenched his jaw in the effort it took to please her by keeping silent.

Goddamn it, he had ruined her for anyone else. There was no way she'd be able to take another lover after experiencing the perfection of a partner who submitted to her after challenging her into punishing him.

She dragged the blade down the middle of his chest, leaving an angry red line behind.

"So good." She left open mouthed kisses down the healing wound. "So damn good."

Every muscle strained against the ropes in response and if she didn't love the power his reactions brought her, she'd take pity on him for the torment she was causing him.

Setting the blade aside, Hope kissed him slowly, she took him fully inside her, causing his back to arch. He drew a sharp breath, but as promised, he didn't vocalize his pleasure and when she scratched his chest, he threw his head back, but again, no sound let his lips.

"You're so perfect," Hope hissed as she rode him. "So damn perfect."

Ryan's lips moved as if saying her name, but he managed to keep from vocalizing anything. Desperate to try to break him to make him use his voice, Hope started to ride him in earnest and he writhed against the sheets, but still kept quiet.

"How the hell are you able to obey the way you do? Take everything I do to you so well? Because damn, I can't take it anymore. God, I can feel it. Gonna come, sweetheart. Damn it, I'm gonna come and you're so good at keeping silent."

When she found her release a few moments later, she cried out something that may have been his name, but not even she was certain of that.

When she caught her breath, she looked down at her lover where he lay beneath her, a tortured expression on his face as he desperately fought against the sweet relief letting go would bring.

"Come for me," she commanded, digging her fingernails into his chest as she tightened around him as hard as she could. "I want to hear you."

Throwing his head back, he cried out her name as he let go, his body jerking with the force of his pleasure. Hope watched him, transfixed. She'd done this to him, made him bow to her will completely. He'd trusted her enough to let her shatter him like this.

As he caught his breath, Hope shifted, her movement causing him to slip out of her and he shuddered from over sensitivity.

The door slammed against the wall and Hope turned to find Kol staring at them, wide eyed.

"Bloody hell, I didn't need to know what you was into," Kol shouted.

Instead of saying anything, Hope threw him out and locked the door.

"Again? People just can't leave us alone," she sighed and buried her face against her lover's neck.

"I'll be back in an hour. Make it two, while I get a drink, or three." Then there was the sound of Kol walking away and they were alone once more.

"Hope?" Ryan whispered, uncertainty bleeding into his voice.

"It's okay. Shh, shh. It's okay." She kissed his cheek as she removed the blindfold. "It was just my uncle Kol. If he tries anything, I'll make sure he regrets it.

Gently, she released his hands and kissed his wrists, unable to fight the soft smile as she did so. His limbs trembled as blood returned to them and she massaged him to ease the strain she'd put on them.

As she soothed away the aches she'd caused him, he watched her, his expression so open and vulnerable, that once she was finished, Hope found herself wrapping her arms around him and rolling onto her side, so she could press his face against her neck. He was so much bigger than she was that he should have made her feel small in comparison, but instead, she felt this overwhelming need to protect him, care for him.

Gently, she carded her fingers through his hair and whispered, "What would I do without you? I don't even want to think about it. You fit me, in every way I never knew I needed until now."

"I love you," he mumbled against her neck. "I know you don't feel that way about me, but this is enough."

Tugging on his hair lightly so he'd lift his head, Hope looked him in the eye as she said, "I'm not sure exactly how to describe what I feel for you. But I care about you, more than as just a friend, or someone I like to have sex with. Being with you makes me happier than I'd ever thought I'd be with anyone outside my family."

A genuine smile tugged at his full lips and he tucked his head back against her neck. Hope rolled onto her back, taking him with her so that he was lying across her body, and traced patterns across his shoulders.

"When do you think your uncle will be back?"

"Who knows? With Kol, he'll show up when he feels like it." Hope kissed his temple and pressed her cheek against his curls.

"You don't sound worried."

"It's Kol. If anyone can understand caring about someone they're not supposed to, it's him."

Ryan remained silent, waiting for Hope to continue, so she did, telling him how Kol met and fell in love with Davina Claire, the witch he was supposed to stop at all costs. As she spoke, she continued twisting locks of his hair around her fingers, loving the feel of the silken strands.

Finally, she ended her tale and fell silent.

"Your family has a history of loving people who they're not supposed to."

Instead of replying, Hope shifted beneath him so that she was cradling his hips between her thighs, then she scraped her nails across his back. Something twisted in her heart at his words and she couldn't bring herself to speak. So she responded the only way she could, by using her body to do the talking for her.

Sex was easier than trying to voice what she was feeling, since she herself couldn't even understand the emotions playing through her mind and heart. Giving into her lust didn't require thinking or baring her heart to anyone, even to the man she'd taken as a lover.

"You're doing this on purpose. You're an evil tease." Ryan rocked against her, exhaling heavily as he grit his teeth.

"So do something about it," Hope challenged, kissing his shoulder.

"Minx."

With a sharp thrust of his hips, he was inside her once more, filling her, stretching her so deliciously that Hope knew that she'd be addicted to his body for the rest of her life.

"Damn." He buried his face into her neck as he started to move. "Goddamn."

"You feel better every time," Hope hissed, wrapping one leg around his waist as high as she could and bracing her other heel into the bed so she could match him thrust for thrust.

"You're incredible. Hope. Goddamn, I love you."

He shifted the angle of his thrusts so that he could stroke that place inside her. Nothing felt better to her than having Ryan between her legs, whether she was dominating him, or they were making love like this.

"Yes, just like that!" Hope arched, encouraging him on.

To further increase her pleasure, Ryan pressed his thumb against her clit and rubbed it hard, making Hope scream. She thrashed beneath him, bucking as hard as she could, as she clawed her nails into him, desperate for the ecstasy he brought her.

A shocking realization dawned on her as her climax overtook her. She was in love with him. Desperately, completely, wholly in love with the man known as Ryan Clarke. The emotions flooding her heightened her pleasure and she cried out.

As her orgasm faded, Hope blinked, to find Ryan staring at her, dark eyes wide and vulnerable, on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong?" Hope asked, concerned.

"You love me?" He breathed, his lips trembling.

She'd said that out loud? She hadn't realized it, but judging by the expression on his face, her inward thoughts had been vocalized. Cradling his cheek and brushing her thumb across his lips, she brushed her lips across his forehead.

"Hope. Answer me, please," he begged, his voice cracking.

She smiled now, her heart swelling once more with the knowledge that she loved the man she'd taken into her bed and inside her body. Now, he held a place within her heart. Tracing the furrows between his eyes, she kissed his cheek.

This was the love of a woman, not the puppy love of a girl first exploring romance that she'd felt for his brother, and this change in how she loved was why it took her longer to understand the feelings she had for the man in her arms.

"Yes, Ryan, I love you." Hope kissed him softly, the taste of salt on her lips.