Lost and Found (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten #2)(53)

Her eyes weren’t on his scars anymore. “What?”

Damn but she was cute when she was confused. He brushed her hair back and leaned in close. “I said grip the couch and present yourself to me. Your ass is going in the air. Before you give me some smartass remark like it’s already naked and air is on it, think because my hand is about to be on it, too, and how hard I slap that pretty piece of flesh is up to you.”

Her mouth came open and then she wisely shut it and turned around. Only when she’d done as he’d commanded did she speak again. “I was curious. I’m sorry.”

“And I told you I don’t talk about my past,” he said, not unkindly. He couldn’t possibly be unkind when he was staring at the prettiest arse in history. At least in his mind it was. Her bum was a thing of perfection, round and luscious. It was going to look even better with a pink sheen to it. “How are you right now?”

“I’m feeling worried that I won’t be okay with this and I might run out on you like she did in that movie, but she used the elevator and we fucked in the elevator, so I should probably take the stairs if I’m going to run, but it’s my apartment. It would be weird if I ran and left you here in my own apartment. And she got her clothes on really fast in that movie. I don’t know that I…”

He smacked her right between her cheeks, the sound cracking through the air.

There was only one way to shut that gorgeous mouth of hers. He’d noticed when she got nervous she could talk a mile a minute. He actually found it adorable, but he didn’t have time to go over all the ways she might run out if she couldn’t handle a spanking.

“Best to get right to it, love.” He slapped her arse again, holding his hand against her silky flesh. “How are you now?”

She gasped like she needed air. One and then two gasps, her body moving with her lungs. “I’m a little pissed. Shouldn’t you give me a warning?”

Another smack, this one slightly harder because her words didn’t match her actions. She wasn’t trying to get away from him. She was holding as still as she could. It was obvious to him she hadn’t made up her mind yet, and she was giving the experience a chance. “I rather thought telling you what I was going to do would be warning enough.”

Another breathy sound, but she was relaxing against the couch, her shoulders lowering as she became more comfortable. “A countdown would be nice.”

He picked the undercurve of her left cheek to smack this time. If he had time he would spend days getting to know every inch of her body. He wanted that time with her. “I’m going to educate you. What you’re doing right now is called topping from the bottom, and it’s going to get you in serious trouble. You don’t get to tell me how to spank you. You merely get to tell me whether it works for you or not. Do you like how this feels? Do you like the fact that my whole being is focused on you right now? Do you like knowing that I’m hoping you’re the type of woman whose body turns the little tweak of pain into pleasure, and that your pussy is already aching for me again?”

Her right cheek got attention this time, and he felt her shudder.

“Yes,” she managed. “Yes, I like knowing all those things, Owen.”

Again and again, his hand cracked down. He gave her a little more each time because she didn’t seem anywhere close to spitting out the word red. He wasn’t even sure she was yellow anymore. “I like knowing how you feel.”

She whimpered at this smack, a wholly sexy mewling sound. “It hurts, Owen. And then it doesn’t hurt so much.”

He brushed his fingers along the pink swaths of her flesh. “And then?”

“And then I ache.”

He was starting to ache for her, too. “Is it a good ache?”

“It’s the best ache ever.”

That was what he wanted to hear. “Tell me something. Have you ever had that pretty arse fucked?”

Her head turned, and there was a shocked look in her eyes. “Arse isn’t sexy.”

He winked her way and gave her another smack. “This one is. Answer my question.”

“I was talking about the word. And no.” She was back to staring straight ahead. “I’m not sure I want to try.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he said. “But I’ll try to change your mind. I’ll try to give you so much pleasure when we’re playing that you’ll trust me to take you anywhere.” He gave her one last smack and then wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her up against his body.

They had all night. His dick was going to explode if he didn’t get inside her soon.

And did he really have to search her place tonight? He should spend the evening building a bond with her. This op required subtlety. If she caught him looking around tonight, she would kick him to the curb and they would lose everything. But a week or two down the line, she would buy most any excuse he would give her because she would trust him with more than merely her body.

“You did well,” he whispered against her ear. He could still smell her. He let his hand drift down and found that pussy drenched in fresh arousal. No, he hadn’t been wrong about her. She’d responded to a bite of pain, and he knew exactly how to give it to her.

Her head fell back against his shoulder. “I liked it. I didn’t think I would. I like how it hurts. I think that makes me a freak.”