“I make them occasionally,” he admitted, his lips quirking up in the left corner. “Don’t be so surprised each time.”
She cupped his cheek, pressing her finger into the dimple in his chin. “You should smile more often,” she whispered, leaning in closer. “It’s hot.”
“You don’t know what you’re starting.” He stiffened and grasped her wrist, smile slipping away. “Stop playing, before it’s too late.”
“No.” She climbed onto his lap. “I liked what you did to me earlier. I liked it all.”
He grasped her waist, but he didn’t push her away. He held her there. “I’m no good for you. You deserve better. I know it, and you know it. But I can’t keep resisting you if you keep touching me. Or if you keep looking at me like that.”
&
nbsp; “Like what?” she murmured, jerking on the hair at the back of his neck. “What’s wrong with the way I’m looking at you?”
He pressed her down against him again, while surging at the same time. “You’re looking at me like I’m this guy who could treat you right, but I don’t think I am. Not anymore. Please, Tara, walk away.”
“I don’t want to walk away. Tell me about your rules.”
A small, almost broken sound escaped him, and his hands tightened on her hips. “I’m not going to warn you away again.”
“Then don’t.” She rolled her hips against his erection. “Tell me your rules.”
“You’ll listen to me. I’ll be in complete control. If I tell you to stop, you stop. If I tell you to drop to your knees, you’ll do it without asking why. If I tell you not to come, you won’t fucking come.” His hands snaked up her back and threaded into her loose hair. He lowered her face so that their lips were almost touching. “In bed, you’ll answer to me without thinking twice. If you can do that, you’ll be very, very happy. I promise you that.”
Her stomach twisted into a tight knot at his words. God, he was so alluring. So damn…dominant. She’d never have thought that would turn her on, but it did. “What exactly does doing everything you tell me to do entail? What if it…if it…hurts?”
“I would never hurt you, Tara. I promise,” he vowed, latching gazes with her. “Not like you’re thinking. You’d like everything I did to you, but you should still walk away. Save yourself, Tara, because I can’t do it anymore. I’ve been trying to get over you for years, but I’m too far gone to try anymore. Run, Tara. Run away.”
He’d been trying to get over her for years? The knowledge sent a heady rush of excitement shooting through her. “I’m not going anywhere.” She strained to get closer, to kiss him, but he pulled back. “What? What’s wrong?”
“You need to say the words.” He gave her a narrow look. One that clearly implied he wanted her to answer him first. “There can be no doubt.”
“I accept your terms. Now kiss me, already.”
He rubbed her hair between his fingers, tugging playfully. “First rule? Don’t boss me around. You’re allowed to beg and plead all you want, but never give me an order. That’s my job. Got it?”
She moaned, his command coiling around her tight as a fist. Her stomach hollowed out, and she knew without a doubt she’d submit to him. She’d obey him. But only for him. No one else. “Y-Yes. I’ve got it.”
One second she was on his lap, and the next he tossed her over his shoulder. Her face ended up in the close proximity of his ass, and her arms hung loosely over her head. When she tried to lift herself up, to get off of him, he slapped her on the ass.
It stung a little, but it was pretty amazing, too.
“You’re not allowed to move right now,” he said. “Lie back down.”
She fell back to her position, swallowing past the protest that automatically came to mind. She hadn’t known exactly what she’d been agreeing to when she accepted his terms, but she’d done so. And she would follow through, because she wanted that incapacitating pleasure he had promised her. “Fine.”
He kicked a door open. It appeared to be his bedroom. It was painted light blue, and a huge king-size bed sat against the middle of the wall. There were a few personal items scattered here and there, but that was it as far as decorations went. She forced her attention back to Jake. Or, more specifically, Jake’s butt, since that was all she could see.
He headed right for the bed, and then she was flat on her back, his body covering hers. Pulse racing, she grabbed the back of his neck. This was a huge step for her—a leap into the unknown. She’d never felt more alive, despite the nerves such a leap of faith inspired.
When he grabbed hold of her wrists and hiked them high above her head, just as he’d done at the carnival, she let out a sharp breath. Her entire body tightened in anticipation of what he would do to her. What he would make her feel.
For the first time ever, she didn’t fight to be free.
She wanted him to take control.
He transferred both of her wrists to one hand and reached into the nightstand beside the bed. When he pulled out a pair of metal handcuffs, she stiffened. “Uh…what are you doing?”
He slid the cuff over her wrist and tugged it to the headboard. She forced herself to hold still as he closed the cuffs over her, effectively securing her. Her heart leaped into her throat, choking her, but at the same time her stomach tightened with desire. “This is strictly for kinky purposes, right? Not to kill me, Dexter-style?”