“What if I didn’t come through your door voluntarily?”
River chuckles softly. “That’s five.”
His words send a shiver through me because I know exactly what he means. “With your bare hand or the crop?” I taunt.
“Keep talking and you’ll find out. Ten. Add that to the ten you’re already getting for running and that’s before I’ve taken into account the burner phone–”
“Melon,” I blurt out. “My safe word is melon.”
“See, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” River releases me and steps back. He crosses his arms and with his shirt sleeves rolled up I can see just how strong he is, the ridges of his muscles sharply defined. He tilts his head in a slight nod.
I know what he wants but I’m not sure how he’s going to react when he sees my scars. I trust Jude and Oz not to have told him which means he doesn’t know what he’s asking me to do right now. How much trust I’m about to put in him. I swallow and pull my t-shirt over my head.
River doesn’t make a sound. Doesn’t move a muscle. But I swear the room gets colder. He scans my body, like he’s cataloguing every crisscross mark, every raised angry slash. His cheek twitches. “Your father?” he asks.
I nod.
River’s voice cracks. “We’ll catch him Freya. I promise you that.”
I don’t answer. I just step off the bed and unbutton my jeans. I strip till I’m standing naked in front of River.
He’s still fully clothed and the power shift in the room is surprisingly seductive. Vulnerability prickles at my skin but the way River’s gaze strokes over me, the heat in his eyes, reminds me I’ve got power of my own here.
He steps towards me like he’s in a trance, the palm of his hand caressing my hip then dipping low to brush over my ass.
I reach up and twist my fingers through his hair at the back of his neck. I graze my teeth over my bottom lip then guide him down for a kiss.
He’s an incredible kisser, leading just enough to show me he’s in charge but letting me explore his hot mouth. A satisfied hum settles in my chest, but I pull away, trailing the tip of my tongue along his jaw till I can whisper in his ear. “Do you really think I’m going to let you spank me?”
River’s hand drops to my pussy and he draws a single finger through my folds. I’m so turned on my knees almost buckle, and I grip his shoulder to keep steady.
“Are you really going to pretend you don’t want me to?” he counters.
The challenge settles in his eyes, and I stare up at him. “I don’t.”
River tuts, his fingers playing with my soaked pussy. “Such a pretty little liar.” Too fast for me to react, River hooks his foot around the back of my ankle and takes my legs out from under me. I’m falling back onto the bed, but before I make contact River grabs my hips and flips me onto my front.
I bring my arms up, the air knocking out of me as I land on my stomach.
The smack comes before I can stop it. A sharp stinging pain that pulses through me and settles in my core. I push up on my arms and glare at River over my shoulder. I open my mouth, but he cuts me off.
“Unless the next word out of your mouth is going to be melon, lower your head back to the bed and shut up.”
For approximately three seconds I think about disobeying, but River’s eyes darken. He goes still, like a snake about to bite and raises a single brow.
I grit my teeth and lower myself back down.
“So you can obey. Good girl.”
The praise sends heat rushing through me then River’s palm hits my ass again. The initial contact isn’t so bad, but the pain continues to radiate and each spank smarts more than the last.I stay angry for the first five. By the tenth I’ve melted into the duvet. Five more and my ass is on fire and I’m squirming with need.
River rubs his hand over my burning skin, and I groan into the bed.
“You have no idea how many times I’ve pictured my handprint marking your skin like this,” River says, his voice a little gruffer than usual.
I close my eyes and hide my smile in the bedsheets. No way am I admitting that knowing River’s been thinking of me makes my chest glow. “I’m so glad one of us is happy,” I say dryly.
River chuckles. The mattress dips as he climbs onto it. He lifts me further up the bed and rolls me over onto my back. “You did well, darling,” he says then presses a soft kiss to my lips.
