She opened her mouth to argue, but Brain just shook his head and said, “He’s gonna be ticked at me for saying as much as I have, but I don’t care. You needed to know, and he needs to stop hiding the real Duke and be more honest with you. Go talk to your man, Gen. You and I are good, you need me for anything, let me know.”
Gen reached for her phone. “You done with this?”
He nodded and she stood. “Thanks for taking care of it. Anything you need to tell me, any heads up you think I need, I’m only a phone call away.”
“Works both ways, Duchess.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gen was prepared to talk to Duke when he arrived. Amy had made lasagna but hadn’t cooked it, and had garlic rolls ready for Gen to put on a tray and stick in the oven as well. She told Duke to be there at seven, and she put the lasagna in the oven at six fifteen.
Duke arrived ten minutes early, and Gen handed him a glass of wine as she invited him to sit in the living room.
He looked at the wine, sat it on a table, and said, “How much time until we eat?”
“About twenty-five minutes. I need to put the rolls in about ten minutes before the lasagna comes out, but that gives us fifteen minutes to talk.”
He shook his head. “We need to talk, and we will, but I need to fuck you now. Pull your skirt up and bend over the back of the sofa, Beautiful.”
Gen shook her head. “No, Duke. We need to talk.” She didn’t tell him not to say the eff word, because she’d taken Brain’s advice to heart, and needed to talk to Duke about what it meant. Until then, she wasn’t going to tell him what to say, but she wasn’t going to bend over the sofa so he could do her, either.
“Here’s the way it works, Gen,” he told her, his voice soft and gentle, in contrast to his words. “I’ve claimed you as my woman, that means your body is mine. When I want it, I get it. Now, pull up your sexy skirt and bend over the back of the sofa.”
Gen glared at him as she asked, “Are you going to spank me if I don’t?”
“No, Genesis.” His voice was so low, so feral, Gen felt like a child afraid of the bogeyman — an unrealistic fear of monsters, which was ridiculous, because this was Duke.
“If you deny me when I want you,” Duke said, his voice even softer now, as if he were trying not to scare her, “then you’ll get me off without getting orgasms. I’ll take it easy on you now, seeing as how we’re still getting to know each other, so if you don’t bend over and make yourself available, you’ll get me off three times before I give you another orgasm.”
Gen picked up her wine and headed towards the kitchen. “I can’t talk to you about this. I’m not bending over and letting you…” She shook her head. “Never going to happen, Duke. This isn’t the middle ages. Women are no longer property.”
* * * *
Duke had intended to let her watch him jerk off if she denied him, but decided they really did have a lot to talk about, and there was no need in pissing her off that much more.
He went into her downstairs bathroom and envisioned what he was going to put her through, and the pleasure he’d get watching her fight with the reality of orgasm denial. It didn’t take him long to get off, and he washed up and joined her in the kitchen.
* * * *
Gen wondered what was taking him so long in the bathroom, but not enough to check on him. She sat on a bar stool with her wine glass on the island in front of her, and looked out her kitchen window at her magnificent view.
She heard Duke walk to the kitchen, but didn’t turn to look at him.
“I dated someone for a year and a half,” he said. “At some point she started gettin’ off on the fact I’d protect her, and she kept doin’ shit that made me have to come to her rescue.” He shook his head. “So, yeah, I spanked her when she did something dangerous. And once, when she created a situation that got one of my brothers hurt backin’ me up to save her ass, I bared her ass in the clubhouse and turned her over my lap. She isn’t the only woman I’ve spanked, but she’s the only one I spanked in front of my brothers.”
Gen finally turned to look at him. He’d leaned against the doorframe, his large, muscled arms crossed over his large, muscled chest. Gen wasn’t afraid of him, exactly, but didn’t appreciate the stance, as if he were trying to intimidate her.
“You ever walk into a gang infested bar and call me to rescue your ass, I’ll spank it once I’ve saved it. I find out you’ve met a stranger to show them a house and you didn’t have your piece and your pepper spray? I’ll spank your ass. However, one of the many reasons I like you is because you think smart, you think safe. Since you don’t do stupid shit, I don’t see me needing to spank you.”