Page 7

Marcus

Relief flooded through Marcus. He didn’t think he’d been spanking Eden hard enough to make her cry like that because of the physical pain, but he’d worried there was some unknown injury or something that he’d hit upon.

Instead, it had been an emotional injury, one inflicted by him…

which meant it was incumbent upon him to make it right.

“You have every right to be mad,” he said softly, stroking her hair.

“There were things I could have done, too,” she admitted. “I was mad at myself by the time our marriage ended. It was my own fault for letting your life and your needs consume mine. I didn’t fight for myself until I realized that nothing I did was going to change your behavior.”

“I should have been paying more attention to you. I should have noticed how unhappy you were.” Instead, he’d been blindsided because he’d been so focused on himself. And that had made him angry and uncompromising. Neither of which had been good.

“I could have told you sooner. I could have gone out and made my own friends… I just, I hit a point where I didn’t know how to separate myself from you without actually separating myself from you. And I didn’t want to be with the person you’d become.”

“I don’t blame you.” The person he’d become had been a pretty crappy husband and an absolutely terrible Daddy. All things he’d made strides in changing after she’d left him. “Losing you was a huge wake up call to me.”

“Even bigger than your heart attack?”

“Much.” Because it was losing her that had motivated him to actually open his eyes to what he’d turned into.

He couldn’t blame his diet or anything else for that.

It was his behavior that had driven her away.

Sure, he’d been angry and had wondered why she’d kept her unhappiness to herself, but he’d also known—deep down—that once she started trying to tell him, he hadn’t been listening.

A lot of therapy had helped him work through all of that and recognize what he could have done. Yes, there were things she could have done, too, but fundamentally, their marriage had needed a big shake-up regardless, and he hadn’t been willing to give it one until she shook herself right out of it.

He sighed. Even though she’d admitted that she had feelings for him, this wasn’t how he wanted her to give him a chance.

He didn’t actually want her to be forced into it.

He wanted her to want it. He’d hoped that sceneing tonight would put her in a position where she’d realize that a second chance was what she wanted.

“Eden… thank you for giving me the chance to scene tonight. I will leave you alone after this, I promise. The ball is in your court, and I won’t pressure you, and I’ll stop trying to antagonize you when we see each other with our friends.”

She shifted on his lap, stirring his cock again—his erection had deflated the moment she started sobbing so brokenheartedly—and he manfully ignored the involuntary reaction.

Eden was not a pretty crier. Now that she was sitting so he could see her face, he could see her swollen nose and red-rimmed eyes, and the way even her lips had puffed up.

It didn’t matter.

She was always stunningly beautiful to him.

“What if I don’t want you to leave me alone?”

Marcus stilled, staring at her, trying to decipher if she was serious or if she was teasing him. But it was Eden. She might be a brat of epic proportions, but she wouldn’t joke about something like that.

“Really?”

She took a deep breath before answering him, as if she was gathering her courage.

“Really. I mean, I’m still mad. Like, how dare you become exactly what I wanted you to be after I left you.” She hiccupped and laughed again.

“But since I am, you might as well give this version a try?”

“Exactly.” She tilted her head, one side of her lips curving up. “I deserved this version before.”

“You did. You won’t regret this, I promise.” He lowered his lips to hers for a kiss, tasting the salt of her tears. Regretting that she’d shed them while simultaneously wanting to cheer that she was giving him this chance.

“Uh huh.” She didn’t have the chance to say anything more before his lips touched hers, which was probably a good thing. He could tell from her tone that whatever response she’d had, it was pure brat, and he didn’t think he could spank her again. Not right now.

The kiss was meant to be gentle. A brush of the lips, a promise for the future…

Her hand came up to wrap around the back of his neck, and she met his lips with unexpected hunger. Marcus’ grip on her tightened as his need roared to life, thrumming through him with heavy demand. That had not been his intention, but once her lips latched onto his, she wasn’t willing to let go.

She wriggled in his lap, deliberately rubbing herself against his growing bulge. Little brat. He should have expected that she would try to take over and push things in the direction she wanted, whatever his intentions were.

Thankfully, he was more than willing to go in the direction she wanted, but they were going to do it on his terms.

Sliding one arm under her knees, he wrapped the other securely around her back and stood. Eden squealed, breaking off the kiss and clinging to him as the stable lap she was resting on disappeared, until she was being held in front of him.

“If you don’t want to continue the scene, now is the time to say so,” he warned her, walking toward the bed.

“If I somehow wasn’t clear enough, I want you to hurry up and do me, Daddy,” she retorted, her fingers stroking over the back of his neck where she knew he was sensitive.

All the hair on his arms stood up in response to the ticklish sensation.

If he had any hair on his head, it probably would have stood as well.

His cock sure as hell was standing at attention again.

Part of him wanted to ask if she was sure, just because he wanted the reassurance, but he knew that was guaranteed to piss her off.

When it came to asking for what she wanted, Eden didn’t say things she didn’t mean.

Asking if she was sure she really wanted to have sex with him was questioning her judgment, and they’d already been through enough emotional upheaval this evening.

“If you’re sure,” he said, which got him an eyeroll from her, but she didn’t get mad like she would have if he’d asked rather than left it open.

“Don’t roll your eyes at Daddy, little girl.

” He tossed her onto the bed, making her bounce, and she immediately rolled to her side with a squeal as landing on her butt reignited all the sting from the spankings.

“Ow, Daddy!” She pouted up at him, and he shook his head because he knew that it was all an act. “My bottom hurts.”

“Oh, no. Poor baby,” he replied, giving her his best mock sympathy. “Here, let Daddy make it all better.”

Grabbing her by the ankle he pulled her toward him so he could finish stripping off her clothes.

Not that he did it quickly. No, he enjoyed baring every delicious inch of her, taking his time to caress, stroke, and kiss the skin revealed as he relieved her of her underwear and rolled her dress up and over her head.

She wasn’t wearing a bra, so he fell upon those pert, sweet, brown nipples like a starving man.

Moaning, Eden arched her back, running her hands over the smooth skin of his head and down to the nape of his neck to hold him in place.

Not that he needed any encouragement to lick, suck, and bite the swollen nubs.

He showered attention on her breasts like the starving man he was.

He hadn’t truly fed since long before the divorce papers had been signed.

Now, she was offering to let him back into her garden, and he fell upon her like the manna from heaven that she was.

Once he was done with her breasts, he moved down her belly, coming closer and closer to her promised land.

His tongue delved into the valley, the taste of her ambrosia exploding on his tongue.

Eden cried out, writhing, her thighs clamping around his head as he swept his tongue between her folds, flicking the tip against the little bundle of excited nerves at its apex.

Her hips moved in time with his tongue. Sliding his hands under her thighs, he pushed them farther apart with his shoulders, wrapping his hands around them to hold her open for his oral assault.

And he feasted.