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S o . . .

“Too much? Sometimes I don’t know where the line is. Most of the time, I step over it. Told you that I’m an acquired tas?—”

His mouth hit hers, his hand slipping behind her head to hold her still. When he drew back, she felt almost dizzy, like the oxygen had been sucked from the room.

“Damn,” she whispered. “You can fucking kiss.”

“Seems like the best way to shut you up,” he told her. “And I most definitely like your taste. Put your hands behind your back.”

She slid them behind her back without argument.

“Good girl.” He rewarded her with another kiss. “Seems I’ve also figured out how to get you to behave.” He started undoing the buttons on her shirt until he revealed her lacy bra underneath.

“Behave? Me?” she grumbled.

“Fuck, Gem,” he said on a groan. “Can’t believe you thought I wouldn’t want to touch you, taste you, be with you. You’re in trouble though.” He lightly squeezed her breast, then ran his hand up to the side of her throat.

“Trouble? I think we could skip that part, right?”

“No. We could not,” he told her firmly as he reached behind her to undo her bra. “Take your shirt and bra off.”

He took a half step back and watched as she removed her shirt and bra with hands that shook. Then he took her in.

“Well?” she asked.

“Fucking beautiful,” he murmured. “Cup your breasts, hold them up.”

She held them high, and he leaned down to suck on one nipple, then the other. A whimper escaped her and she wriggled around.

He drew back.

“Don’t stop!”

“Stay still or I will. You’re to do exactly as you’re told, understand me?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, Renard.”

“Yes, Renard,” she whispered.

“That’s a good fucking girl.” He ran his tongue over one nipple before biting down on it. Just a small bite. But that hint of pain was enough to have her clit throbbing as she cried out in pleasure.

“You like that, Gem?” he murmured.

“Like is not the word I would use,” she told him breathlessly.

“You realize you have to be punished, right? Not just for breaking the rules today and all the other punishments you’re owed, which is a lot, but for not telling me what you need.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“No? You can’t just come out and say that you need me to make you come?”

“Well, I thought it would happen again . . . I wasn’t expecting you to take so long!”

“You injured your back,” he growled. “I was giving you time to recover.”

“I don’t need any more time to recover. If I have more time to recover, I might explode.”

“That or your vibrator might,” he told her with a grin.

She slapped her hand against the side of his arm.

“What did I tell you about who does the smacking around here?” he growled in a low, dark voice.

Uh-oh.

“And where is your hand meant to be?” he added.

“Well. Hell.”

Grasping hold of her waist, Renard lifted her down off the counter.

“No, don’t stop! I’ll do better, I promise.”

He turned her toward the counter, pressing up behind her and crowding her in. “Calm down. I’m not going to stop touching you.”

A relief-filled sigh escaped her.

“I’m just going to give you what you’ve been asking for.”

She tensed. “Um, orgasms?”

“Not that. Not until you’ve earned them.” He reached around and undid her jeans, dragging them down her legs. Then he crouched and removed her boots and jeans.

Now, she was just standing there wearing a pair of black, lace panties.

“Oh God, I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” she groaned, finally cottoning on.

“You are trouble, brat,” he grumbled as he ran his finger along the top of her panties. Then he ran it over her firm butt cheek. “Luckily, you’re the best kind of trouble.”

She wasn’t so sure about that. Trouble always seemed to find her and it was never good.

Slap!

Oh hell.

That stung. But in a good way. It sliced right through her brain, cutting off the negative thoughts.

Slap! Slap!

“What’s your safeword, Gem?” he growled in her ear.

“Pickles.”

“You don’t like pickles?” he asked.

“I love them. Nothing like a good pickle, but they don’t like me. I break out in hives so I try not to eat them.”

“Good to know.” He ran a hand lightly down her back. “Remember to use your safeword if you need to.”

She nodded.

She’d never used it before so she figured she wouldn’t now.

Slap! Slap!

“I find out you needed me to stop and you didn’t say it and we’re going to have big, big trouble.”

A shiver ran through her.

How could he possibly read her mind?

“Starting to know you, Gem,” he told her. “And you aren’t a good communicator.”

Do you ever shut up? Well, at least I know a way to shut you up.

“No thinking.”

Slap! Slap!

“You stay here with me. Who are you with?”

“You,” she groaned as he smacked his hand down on her ass again.

God.

That felt so incredibly good. Her ass was starting to heat up. The pain was growing.

“Who am I?”

“Renard,” she said as he smacked her again and again and again.

“That’s it. Who are you with?”

Her mind was drifting, the pain taking everything away. “I’m with you. Renard.”

“That’s my good fucking girl.” His hand came down several more times. “That’s some of what I owed you.”

Christ.

“Remember, you need to slow anything down, you say your safeword.”

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Holy hell.

She definitely wasn’t sitting comfortably tomorrow.

“You wet for me, Gem?” he asked in that husky voice that she loved so much.

“Yes,” she moaned.

“Let’s see. If you’re lying, you’re going to get punished.”

“But you just punished me.”

“Hmm. I did. I punished you for breaking the rules. For telling me that you’re fine. For not telling me that you needed this. Won’t go so easy on you next time, though.”

“Easy? That wasn’t easy.”

“Yeah, it was. You can take more. Think you might even need more. But I’m not going to push you too far this time, Gem. Now, let’s see how wet that pussy is for me.”

She moaned. She’d never been with anyone like him. Not simply because he wasn’t an asshole, but the way he spoke to her . . . the way he seemed to realize exactly what she needed . . . she didn’t know men could be like this.

He stripped off her panties and she stepped out of them. She felt a small murmur of worry start inside her. Opal had never had hang-ups about her body until Stefan.

But he could be . . . critical.

That ass is getting fat.

Your breasts are getting saggy.

You’re getting so old and wrinkly.

Dirty. Ugly. Dumb.

Slap!

Shit. That slap came out of nowhere and it shocked her back into the here and now.

“Don’t know where you just went, Gem. But you stay the fuck here with me, hear?”

“Didn’t go anywhere.”

Ouch!

He smacked her ass several times until she was breathing heavily and nearly in tears.

“Ouch! Shit! What was that for?”

“Lying,” he growled. “I should take my belt to your ass.”

Fear welled inside her. “No belts.”

He froze behind her. “Shit, Gem. Hard limit?”

“Yes,” she managed to force out.

He rubbed her back soothingly. “Any other hard limits I should know about? You said no whips and canes.”

She still felt bad, though because she knew he liked those things.

Then again, he could still use them . . . just on other people.

Only, she wasn’t sure she liked that idea.

“Don’t worry so much, Gem. Everything is going to be all right.”

Yeah. That had never been her experience. Most of the time, everything went to shit.

“I know you went somewhere else in your head before and I gotta say, I didn’t much like it. So every time you drift, I’m gonna bring you back, however I have to, got me?”

“Got you,” she whispered.

“So tell me about any more hard limits that you have.”

“No humiliation. Don’t speak badly about my body or my . . . my brain. Or my clothes. Or my personality.”

He spun her around and kissed her. Hard.

And when he drew back, she could see how dark his face was.

He was furious.

Opal swallowed heavily, expecting the next words out of his mouth to be censure. To tell her that he could no longer be with her.

“How about I just don’t speak badly about you at all? Ever?”

“That works,” she told him.

“Yeah. That fucking works all right.” He ran his hand down her ass and between her legs. “Fuck, this ass.”

She tensed slightly.

“Best ass I’ve ever seen. First time I saw it in a pair of jeans . . . nearly lost my mind. I should get you to wear a sack when you’re around other people. I don’t want other men looking at what’s mine.”

He was full of it.

But she couldn’t say she didn’t like it.

“What about you? Any hard limits?” she asked.

He grunted. “I don’t like humiliation, either. And while I’ll happily make you come at the club if you want, I won’t be fucking you there. I want that to be just between the two of us.”

Oh. She liked that.

He pushed her legs apart and ran his fingers along her slit before pushing one finger inside her.

She slumped against the counter as he pushed his finger in and out of her pussy.

“Oh, God,” she moaned, leaning against the counter as her legs grew weak.

In and out his finger moved. Slowly and steadily.

“You are nice and wet. What a good girl for me.”

That was her. Such a good girl.

Actually, she didn’t think that anyone had ever called her a good girl before him.

Suddenly, he drew his finger out of her pussy.

“Noo,” she cried. “Don’t stop.”

“Not stopping, baby.” Turning her, he lifted her onto the counter.

She squealed as her hot ass touched the cool counter. “Ow! My butt hurts.”

“Good,” he murmured with a wicked grin.

“You are so mean,” she told him.

“Yep. I am.” Placing his hand around the back of her head, he took her mouth with his again.

It didn’t take long until she had forgotten about her sore bottom as he made the world disappear.

“Hands behind you again. I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen if you move them.”

“I’ll do it. I’m a good fucking girl after all,” she said with a grin.

“We’ll see. Not sure you can be all that good for long.”

“Hey! I take offense to that.”

“Do you?”

Nah. Not really. It was basically the truth.

He settled between her legs and moved his mouth along her jawline, then down her neck to where it met her shoulder.

A shiver ran through her.

That felt sooo good.

His mouth moved lower, down to her breasts. Taking one nipple into his mouth, he sucked.

Oh God.

“Please, please,” she begged.

“Please what?”

She wasn’t even sure.

Please more. Please don’t stop.

“I don’t know. Just please.”

He chuckled. “Your wish is my command, baby.”

Well. She didn’t think that was entirely true. If it was, she’d get to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted and she wouldn’t have a hot ass right now.

Whatever.

You liked it.

You like the pain. It helps clear your mind of the junk.

“Ouch!” She glared down at him, moving her hand to cup her breast. “Did you just pinch my nipple?”

He gave her a firm look. “Sure did, Gem. And you know why.”

“I do?”

“Your mind was wandering again. And now your hand is too.”

Uh-oh.

She removed her hand, putting it back behind her. “I’m sorry! Please let me come.”

A wicked look entered his face. “You’ll come. It will just take a while.”

He lifted her into his arms and carried her into the living room.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” she told him.

“You shouldn’t.” He set her on her couch and dragged her hips to the edge before kneeling down between her legs.

And then his mouth was on her pussy.

And it was so damn good that her breath caught. She ran her hands over his head, pushing him into her without meaning to.

“Hands behind you,” he ordered.

She groaned but quickly moved them.

“That’s better,” he told her as he ran his tongue along her slit.

Flicking his tongue against her clit, he drove her higher and higher until she knew she was close to coming.

Then he drew away.

“Nooo,” she moaned. “I’ll be a good girl, I promise. Please let me come.”

“My poor girl.” He grabbed her feet, putting them up on the edge of the sofa, widening her thighs. “So fucking beautiful.”

“Couldn’t I touch you?” she asked.

“No. Not yet.” He grabbed her arms, drawing her hands out and then placing them on her knees. “Keep them there.”

Seriously.

She’d never met a man like this. One who seemed to enjoy playing with her, touching her . . . tasting her.

He returned his mouth to her pussy, torturing her this time with slow flicks of his tongue. How did he know just where to touch her?

Again, when she grew close, he drew away.

“You. Are. So. Mean.” She narrowed her gaze at him.

“Now, you’re not sounding very apologetic,” he warned. “I thought a girl that wanted to come might speak nicer.”

“You suck.”

He smiled that smile again.

And she swallowed heavily.

Then he upped the ante. The bastard.

Yep. He took his clothes off.