this unpleasant one came first. He headed for the bed and sat down. “You’re that anxious to get your butt burned? Okay, come on over here.”
He watched her gulp when he patted his leg. She didn’t move.
“Ummmm…Getting my ‘butt burned’ doesn’t sound good.” Her face flamed. “Couldn’t we talk about the problem? We’re two adults. Surely…”
Two adults who could do some serious adult things. No! Stop thinking about sex! There was just something about her, something more sensually alluring than any other woman he’d ever known. It was in the way she looked at him sometimes. In the scent of her, soft, tempting, all woman. But he had to resist all of that. He didn’t want to want her. His life couldn’t take on more complications. So send her away. Now.
Instead of doing that, he blew out a breath, resigned to not being able to get rid of her…yet. He gave her a stern look and patted his leg once more. “One of us didn’t behave very ‘adult’ today, did she? Come here. Now.”
Still, she didn’t move for several seconds. Then she faced him, naked between her short red T-shirt and the lowered jeans. His gaze immediately went to the patch of curly blond hair at the apex of her shapely legs and he fought to calm the beast in him. Want. Need. Mine. No!
He glanced up and saw her watching him, noted her gaze had landed on the thick erection pressing painfully against his jeans. A wisp of a smile teased her mouth. She walked slowly toward him because of the awkwardness of her lowered jeans. In spite of that, she looked confident in her womanhood, certain he’d changed his mind about punishing her. He almost did. Almost.
When she stopped in front of him, he noticed that her nipples had hardened. She breathed shallowly. Turned on. She wanted him and that knowledge nearly undid his resolve. But he held to his decision and pulled her to his side. Then he took hold of her arm and tugged her over his lap. Her left hip butted against him, making him grimace.
She gasped as she landed and then squirmed until she found some kind of comfortable position. But she didn’t just accept this. Her head craned back; her ponytail moved silkily over her shoulders, revealing her slender neck. A neck he wanted to nuzzle, to lick.
“This isn’t necessary. Really. Whatever you have planned.” She met his eyes. “I’m sorry. I acted…acted…”
Grateful to be distracted from where his thoughts had headed, Seth slammed his open hand down on her creamy bottom leaving a handprint. “Acted like a child, letting those two old women get to you.”
“Yeeouch!” She scowled at him, a crease pinching her forehead. “That hurt.”
He swatted Teri’s tightly clenched cheeks a dozen times, making her yelp. She clearly wasn’t going to be a woman who took her correction stoically. Not that she fought him, but she was vocal. Which made him wonder if she would be a loud, vocal lover too. More dangerous thoughts.
She had dropped her head after the first couple of swats and wriggled her butt in an attempt to avoid his hand. He stopped to judge the color, to determine how she was handling the situation. As she unclenched her buttocks, he rested his hand on the heated flesh. “Spankings are supposed to hurt. They’re given so you will think about misbehaving like you did again.”
He heard a quiet sniff and it sounded sexy to the non-smart side of him. He smoothed his hand over the reddened skin and she quivered. “Sometimes spankings are given before…” He nearly bit his tongue in two as he realized where his thoughts had gone, especially with the way his cock pressed against her side.
Again she glanced back at him, tears in her eyes, as well as heat. “This isn’t that kind of spanking, is it?”
At her hopeful look and the scent of her arousal, he almost gave in to what they both desired. When had he become so weak, so easily distracted from what needed to be done? With his mate—the woman who should still
The Cowboy's Surprise Bride