AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The sound she made as she buried her face into his chest wasn't a sob. It was too high, too light. Goddamn it.
He pulled her away and glared at the outrageous glee dancing in her eyes. One look at his face and the little minx couldn't hold it any longer; she burst into infectious laughter, unable to keep her expression sober. "Why, you little—"
"Here, piggy, piggy," she cackled.
The effort required not to grin cost him dearly. His palm was tingling with the expectation of meeting firm flesh, and Jasper had no trouble imagining bending her over the kitchen counter, grabbing hold of that tempting ponytail and yanking her head back, then blistering her butt for making him experience...this.
There was no justification for it. Spanking her for a prank that hurt no one wouldn't do anything but make her wary of being herself around him, and he didn't want that. There was taming the rough edges, and then there was sanding away her personality. Personally, he quite liked the rough edges. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't warm your ass up, Archie."
Her lips folded together into a straight line, trying to hold in the peals of laughter, but she couldn't do it. Evidently, his reaction had smacked her tickle spot directly on the head. "Because you love me, Sir?"
His fingers snagged that bouncing ponytail and, with slow twists of his hand, he wrapped it around his wrist. Dragging her head back until her lips parted on a gasp that had nothing whatsoever to do with laughing. Bending his head, he licked her lower lip until she hummed in agreement, then bit it sharply. Her squeak of shock was gratifying.
The bacon was forgotten as he mauled her mouth, yanking her up onto her tiptoes for easier access. He kissed her until he felt her knees give out, hooking an arm around her waist without pausing. Kissed her until she whimpered for more, until her eyes were nothing more than chocolate slivers amid rose-flushed skin.
When she was boneless, breathless, and begging, he released her.
"And that makes me the lucky one," he agreed.
***
Chapter Fifteen
That damn kiss stuck with her all the way past dinnertime.
Nothing could remove it from her thoughts. The hours she spent on her laptop, muddling through projects were tainted by it. She had to cast aside more than one design because that fucking kiss added a romantic edge to everything she tried to manipulate on the screen. The one project she had made good headway with was an advertising campaign for a new his-and-hers perfume range for an unestablished client.
Her boss would be pleased with that one, she mused.
The memory of Jasper plundering her down to the soul haunted her throughout the afternoon as she sat with Bodie in the living room, fussing over her as their men hustled around the house making adjustments. On doctor's orders, Bodie was to get as much bedrest as possible over the next few weeks, with brief exercise periods allowed, but she didn't want to be stashed away, as she called it.
Rather than moving the television upstairs for her viewing pleasure, Braun and Jasper were busy dismantling one of the guest beds from upstairs to bring it down into the living room.
Anarchy approved, seeing it from Bodie's point of view. Upstairs, she was locked away from everyone—not literally, of course. But visitors could be...wary about encroaching on someone's personal space, and there was nowhere more personal than the bedroom. At least in the living room, visitors could come in and sit with her, and feel comfortable doing so.
She rose from the couch and walked over to throw another log on the dwindling fire. "You need anything while I'm up, sweetie?"
Bodie's head was nestled into a pile of pillows in the corner, her eyes barely open. "I'm good, thanks."
"Get some sleep," Archie murmured, and padded over to her friend. She stroked a lock of black hair from the pale face, then brushed her finger over Bodie's forehead. "I'm going to start making dinner, okay? The guys are upstairs and I'm just in the next room, so shout if you need anything."
Before she headed into the kitchen, Archie switched the channel on the TV, finding NCISand turning it up a notch so she could hear it while making dinner, without deafening Bodie. She needed the company, even if it was just fictional, to clear her mind. As the day moved forward, she'd found herself drowning in thoughts of the kiss, of kidnap, of bad things she didn't need in her head.
She didn't really want to focus on the night ahead, either. Jasper had already made it very clear he intended to use the sjambok on her tonight, and she'd done her research on the damn thing. Given it a title of its own, because damn, it deserved one. Her ass was already crying at the notion of withstanding eight strokes from the unconventional whip.
The hungry glances he'd been shooting at her all afternoon hadn't helped. Whenever he came downstairs, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows so War and Pestilence were boldly displayed, she was assaulted by the heat in his ice-blue gaze. He knew something she didn't, and she was stranded on the edge of being terrified and constantly aroused.
Not worrying about that now. Dinner for four to prepare. Two men with healthy appetites to take into consideration. Pregnant woman with unstable child on board. Nothing spicy. Dumplings?Archie scowled at the closed door of the refrigerator as her thoughts skidded onto food and found purchase. I should have asked if there's anything Bodie can't eat. Jesus, maybe I should order takeout.
No, no takeout. There had to be something in the fucking spaceship-sized refrigerator/freezer she could make for dinner, goddamn it. To hell with it, she was going in. She wrenched open the right-hand side door of the commercial beast and shivered as the chilly blast of air from the fridge section hit her. Perusing the shelves, she discovered that Braun was a manly man who really needed to hit the store for supplies.
Fortunately, he had a few things she could work with, including a tray of chicken breasts she immediately muttered a prayer of thanks for; chicken she knew how to cook.
She settled into a routine quickly after that, setting the tray into the sink while she rooted through cupboards and the fridge. Saucepans and the roasting pan were easy to find in a cupboard next to the oven. Olive oil and herbs in the cupboard above.
Torn between rice or vegetables, she glanced at the clock. Her stomach twisted at the thought of being full of food when Jasper marched her over to Avalon for her punishment. By the time she cooked, cleaned, ate, and got ready, it would almost be time to go.
It wasn't too much to ask if she begged him not to blister her butt, was it? She'd like to be able to sit down in her boss's office tomorrow morning without crying. Damn him, he'd listen to her request, then probably give her a welt across her sit spot just to make his point—no topping from the fucking bottom.
