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I shrugged. “I’m not known for my humor. I’m stone-cold serious. You’re not walking this road. End of discussion. So, decide how you want to get home and do it now, before I decide for you.”
She huffed and glanced away at the crashing waves hitting the rocks below.
The moment gave me a chance to study her, up close and personal. She was as stunning as always, more so, since I was so close I could see the points of her caramel lashes and the faintest dusting of freckles over the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her eyelashes spiky and wet. The Ice Queen was upset. Was it the remains of that panic attack in the closet? It had been too dark in there to see what her face had been doing while she’d nearly hyperventilated, and she’d taken off afterwards like her ass was on fire.
“Why do you care if I die, Martino? You’d get your revenge on the girl who wronged you, right?” she muttered with a twist to her lips that could have either been a grin or a grimace.
It was like she was daring me to leave her there, in harm’s way, pushing me, testing me. Driving me fucking crazy.
At that moment, when anger could have overwhelmed me, I noticed the way a pulse was pounding in her delicate neck and how her smart chin was tilted up like royalty. The anger transformed into malevolent amusement. I chBuckled darkly. She was trying to salvage her pride after I’d turned her offer down.
“You really are begging for a repeat of last night, aren’t you? I knew you enjoyed being spanked and tossed around, but I guess I underestimated how much. Do you want me to do it again? Just beg me, baby, and you’ve got it.” I brushed her hair back, and she slapped my hand away, scowling.
“If you’re asking if I want you to break into my house and threaten me with a knife again, the answer is no, obviously.”
“The only thing I threatened with the knife is your hair…besides, maybe I just think you’d look good with a shaved head.” Honestly, she’d look good in sackcloth and ashes.
Her eyes widened for a moment, and then she laughed bitterly. “You’re insane, has anyone ever told you that?” she challenged.
“The real question is…has no one ever told you that? Considering you just offered me full access to you and your parents tells me not. Aren’t you scared I might offend the royal family of Hade Harbor? Do you think I’m someone you can play games with and emerge unharmed? Because I can assure you, I’m not.”
“I was going to pay you, like a service. You need money. I have money.” Her words made dark annoyance flicker across my face. She read that emotion easily and smirked. “Don’t be so sensitive. It’s not a weakness to need money. Everybody needs money.”
“Is that what your daddy tells you when he refuses to leave work and spend any time with you? Things never got better for you after Parents’ Day, did they? You’re still the inconvenient daughter.”
“What would that make you? The unwanted son?” she challenged right back. No one could rip a chunk of me like she could. No one would dare. I glared at her, anger scorching down my spine.
“What?” she asked, a hint of nerves appearing in her eyes. Even Winter could tell when she’d gone too fucking far.
“I’m considering hauling your bratty ass into the bushes at the side of the road and whipping it with my belt,” I told her frankly. I could just see it now. “I think your ass would really suit being blistered.”
“You have a screw loose…there’s something wrong with your brain,” she snapped.
I shrugged. “Maybe you should consider that fact more carefully before you piss me off. Don’t forget, you just offered me the position of fake boyfriend…and the complete access to you that implies.”
“I never offered you full access to me — I’d rather die than endure your touch,” she said primly.
“Is that right? Should we go test if my belt makes you as wet as my hand did, and examine your little lies, see if they hold up to reality?” I leaned in, resting my forehead against hers. There was nowhere to go. She couldn’t escape me. The thought was a turn-on. A captive woman had never been a turn-on before, not until now. Until Winter. I would take my time humbling the spoiled brat and uncovering that woman I’d glimpsed twice so far. I’d enjoy every second.
Her eyes held mine, and she must have read my dark intentions, because she blinked first. In the game of chicken we were playing, I scored another point. Maybe sometime soon, Winter would realize that I’d always win, because I had no boundaries I wouldn’t cross, or personal space I wouldn’t invade, to succeed.
“So, are you taking me home or what?” she asked, her voice subdued.
“Get on the bike and keep quiet before I change my mind.” My tone was solemn. I’d had enough tangling with Winter for tonight to test my restraint. She got under my skin like no one else. One more provocation and I really would end up whipping her behind with my belt, and I wasn’t confident she was ready for that.
“Well, don’t do me any favors,” she muttered as she climbed on behind me, and tugged on the helmet I passed her.
“Hold on,” I told her, kicking off the stand of the bike. Her hands were only just touching my hips, nowhere near enough hold for an inexperienced rider.
I leaned back and grabbed her ass, and she scooted suddenly forward so her front was plastered against my back. I wrapped her arms tight around my waist.
“I said to fucking hold on.”
I took off as soon as her soft tits pressed into my back, and her arms immediately tightened. She held onto me like her life depended on it, and I drove as fast as I dared down the winding coastal road that led to town from Cliff Point.
I turned down her road and pulled to a hard stop outside her stately gates. Her arms remained tight around me for a few beats after we’d stopped moving.
“Get it together, unless you’re trying to hump my back,” I tossed over my shoulder.
