Heated



I had to take a deep breath and replay the words back in my head. “My clothes,” I said stupidly. “You want me to take off my clothes?”

“Oh, yes,” he said, as his gaze drifted over me with the same gleam of anticipation as a man about to unwrap a present. “I want it very much. But first things first. Stand up, Sloane.”

He held his hand out, gesturing for me to rise. I complied, though my legs were a bit unsteady, and once I was upright, he turned away from me and picked up the house phone. I heard him hit the button for the operator and then speak to someone, but the conversation was too fast and too low for me to make out.

Throughout it all, I simply stood there, a little shocked, a little frazzled, and, yes, more than a little aroused.

When he turned back, his eyes were flat, and his mouth curved down in the slightest of frowns. “My rules, Sloane. And though we got a little sidetracked, you did say that you wanted to play.”

I swallowed, but I lifted my chin. My body was flush, my skin hot. My fingers twitched as if reaching for my weapon, but at the same time I could imagine the dress sliding to the floor. Me stepping out of it, going to him, and folding myself in his arms.

Could imagine it—the touch of his mouth upon my breast, the caress of his fingers over my sex—and wanted it.

I was nervous. I was overwhelmed. But god help me, I was desperately turned on.

But we were playing a game now, and I wasn’t ready to concede victory quite yet.

For a moment, we just stood there at an impasse. Then he took a single step toward me.

“There are consequences for breaking the rules.”

I shivered as memories sliced through me, potent enough to cut me to pieces. Consequences. Yes, there damn sure were. But I wasn’t a child anymore. And I wasn’t hiding. Not now. This wasn’t about pain or about fear or about monsters who hid in the dark.

“Sloane?”

That was all he said, just my name. But I heard the worry underneath it. I didn’t want that—didn’t want him wondering about the secrets I held close, and didn’t want him backing off now, afraid that he’d pushed too far. That I’d changed my mind.

I hadn’t.

No matter what else, I wanted this. And not because of Amy. Not because I’d planned an op. But because I liked the way he made me feel, and because I wanted more. Break the rules? Yeah, where Tyler was concerned, I think that’s exactly what I wanted to do.

I lifted my head, managed a teasing smile. “Consequences?” I repeated. Slowly, I dragged my teeth over my lower lip. “Are you going to punish me?”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “I’d say that’s a fair assumption.”

His eyes roamed over me, the worry now gone, replaced by control and anticipation. We were playing now, and knowing that sent swirls of heat reeling through me.

“I wonder if that sweet ass of yours has ever been spanked.”

Oh. I felt an unexpected tingle at his words, but I wasn’t about to admit that. Instead, I casually lifted a brow. “So that’s the fetish.”

“No. Just a delight.”

The dark intensity of his voice kicked casual out the window, and that tingling increased to a low vibrato. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Wouldn’t you?” He closed the distance between us, then stopped in front of me, so close I caught the scent of him. The fading earthiness of his cologne was overpowered now by a sensual musk that made me want to lean closer and taste him.

“Interesting. And I like knowing that mine will be the first hand to redden that sweet backside,” he continued, as he reached behind me to briefly stroke my rear through the thin material of the dress.

I gasped, the sound both pleasure and surprise, and when Tyler smiled, I knew that I had lost this round.

“There’s another rule you broke,” he said. “Don’t lie to me about what you want. About what makes you hot.”

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