Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
“You did what?”
He shrugged. “I did. I hated the idea that you were with someone else, so I made sure they knew what would happen if they screwed around on you.”
That brought her to something she’d liked to address with him. She couldn’t forget what she’d learned. “Like you did with Dennis?”
“Dennis?”
“My prom date.”
A satisfied smile came over his face, like he was recalling a nice memory. “Oh, yeah. Kala and I got that asshole good. I still wish I’d ruined him. Hey, how did you find out about that? Even back then I was good at covering my tracks.”
“Because I’m dating him.”
Fire flashed in his eyes but his jaw tightened, and he seemed to take a steadying breath. “That didn’t take long. I guess you meant what you told me in Australia. All right. Good, then I’ll get to kill him like I wanted to. My folks have a big backyard. It’s waiting for a couple of bodies. You know it’s not a Taggart homestead if there aren’t a couple of places you’re never supposed to dig.”
He was doing an excellent job of distracting her from her anxiety since now she was more irritated with him than she was worried about the future. “You can’t do that.”
“Watch me. I assure you I can and have. Not killed anyone, exactly, but I do keep tabs. Hey, now that I know you’re kind of a freak, too, have you ever surveilled the women I hung out with?”
“No.” Who did he think she was? Or the better question was who the hell was he?
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that since I’m not planning on seeing anyone except you, so you will be responsible for my celibacy if we aren’t allowed to follow our instincts and do what Doms and subs do.” He held up a hand. “But you need time. When you make the decision, let me know.” He stood and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I’m going to take a shower. You want to join me?”
“TJ.” His name was a warning. For who was the question.
He held up his hands, and he had that cute-boy look on his face, the one the girl inside her had never been able to resist. He was careening from sexy, possessive asshole to the boy she’d always loved. It was disconcerting. “I was thinking about saving water. You should think about saving time because this thing between us is inevitable.”
“It never has been. I’m supposed to believe you just up and decided to…” She’d been about to say fall in love with her, but he hadn’t mentioned love. This was about lust. “Want me because I killed a man.”
The truth slammed into her. She’d known it as an intellectual fact. She had been the one to stab him and therefore was responsible for a human death.
She’d killed a man. It wasn’t like she’d never seen it done. She had. She’d backed up all of them at one point or another. She’d helped dispose of bodies.
But she’d never done the deed herself. She’d never had blood on her hands. Fresh warm blood from a man whose eyes had faded as she’d watched.
“All right. You can hate me for this later.” He sat down and offered up his lap. “Right now, Louisa. Over my knee.”
It was oddly easy to do. She felt like she was in a fog. It was all right to kneel and place herself over his lap, to let him drag her skirt up and her panties down, exposing her naked ass to the air.
And somehow when that first slap came, she felt the walls shake.
The pain was…not really pain. It was sensation and heat.
He slapped her ass a dozen times, but he was holding out on her.
“Harder.”
“Lou,” he began.
She was over his knee, but she felt the power she had. “You promised me. You said you would do whatever it took. I need more. Or should I get another Dom? There are at least two others here.”
Cooper and Zach, neither of whom she would ever ask for a session. She was being a bitch, but she knew she was on the cusp of something and couldn’t stand the idea that he would hold her back.
His hand found the nape of her neck, fingers sinking into her hair and tugging. Just enough to light up her scalp. Just enough to make her damn pussy clench. “You better tell me to stop if I’m really hurting you. I can’t trust you if you won’t put boundaries in place.”
“I know what I need.”
This time when his hand came down, fire lit through her. Again and again until tears squeezed out of her eyes and a sob caught in her throat.
He picked her up and turned her over, not bothering to fix her skirt. She was sitting in TJ’s lap with her ass hanging out and it didn’t matter. Not if they were who they said they were—a Dom and sub. They could keep this contained, and maybe they would find a way to still be friends on the other side.