“It’s killing you,” she whispered.
His eyebrows twisted together and pain read on his face. “You wouldn’t understand,” he said. He didn’t say it in anger; it was a simple, factual statement. She was a full-blood human. He was part Beast. And that was that.
Or was it? “So make me understand,” she said.
His jaw set and he turned away. Closing her out. Again. “It’s not that easy.”
No. They weren’t playing this game again. Holly wasn’t going to let him push her aside and ignore her. “Isn’t it?” she asked. Decisively, Holly crawled over the arm of the couch and tugged her pants down, baring her panties. With her ass on display, hips hooked over the arm of the couch, she glanced over her shoulder and said, “Spank me.”
That he couldn’t ignore. His eyes locked on her and his expression shifted. “Holly—”
“I want it,” she interrupted firmly. “Hurt me like you hurt.” She dropped her head against her Winnie the Pooh throw pillow on the couch. She knew he was an ass man and she could feel his eyes on her now, so she rotated her hips in a circle, putting her round rear in full view for him. She could feel his reluctance; she knew he didn’t want to hurt her. But the thought of being so close to him and so far away made a knot form in her throat. “Please, Jacob.”
Finally, relief. She felt his hands on her first and he drew her panties down over her legs. He undressed her slowly, deliberately, and pushed her shirt back. There, he pressed a kiss to her bare skin and she heard, “I love you.”
His voice was weighty and hers felt wafer thin, threatening to crack when she said, “I love you too.”
And then she felt it. A single slap, hard, on her backside. Even though she’d known it was coming, she felt a shock of surprise rush through her, instantly heating her blood. She cried out and her fingers twisted the fabric of the couch.
“Did that hurt?” Low concern permeated his voice.
She felt a low sting and then nothing. He was going easy on her. That angered her, somehow. Would he go easy on her if she were a honeypot?
No. Because he didn’t care about those other girls. He cared about her.
She needed him to care less. Holly shook her head. “I can take it,” she told him. I’m not as weak as you think.
Again, she could feel his hesitation, but then his hand came down on her ass again, and again, taking turns between cheeks. The stinging tingled and became a low, incessant burn that covered her skin. She felt like her whole bottom was on fire and the sensation fell lower, settling between her legs. Holly gasped and gripped the couch. She felt a flush rise in her face. “Oh God, yes,” she heard herself say. “Spank me like one of your honey-sluts.”
Honey-sluts. One of Miranda’s words. It had just fallen out of her mouth before she could stop it. Jacob came to a full stop at that.
Oh shit, she though, panic rising like bile. Oh shit, oh shit. That’s it. He hates me now.
Instead, she heard his voice, a low thunder. “I’ve never done this before.”
That surprised her. “Never?”
His hand rubbed over her ass. The skin was sensitive now and even his gentle touch made her whimper, her foot bucking off the ground briefly. “I told you. I don’t let people get close. I’ve never let anyone see this side of me.”
Those words rushed through her. Holly loved words—novels, poetry, spoken word, she ate it up. But she’d never gotten high off words like she did on his confession. She felt like she was floating. “Harder,” she pleaded breathlessly.
Jacob was getting into the swing of it because the next hit came down nice and hard and made her cry out. Her knees buckled and her hips dug hard into the arm of the couch. She heard him grunt with effort behind her and she felt his free hand suddenly dig into her hair, grabbing a handful and pinning her down.
Oh God…she was melted butter suddenly, soft and malleable in his hands, completely lost under his grip. His blows came rapidly, one right after another, marking her ass. Her blood grew hotter and hotter until she broke out in a sweat. The pain twisted and coiled in her belly until she couldn’t take anymore and she gritted her teeth, her eyes stinging.
“Stop!” she finally cried out and he did, instantly. The second his hand left, she gasped for breath. Her skin was burning hotly in his absence, her heart was hammering hard in her chest, and she’d never felt so—
Powerful. And strong. Instead of feeling weak and pathetic, Holly felt like the force of his blows had snapped a cage around her. When she looked over her shoulder, twisting under his grip, she saw him panting over her, gold shimmering in his gaze. She’d taken the Beast’s rage. She could take anything now.