Page 210 of Deadfall

His hand moved to wrap around my throat. Firm pressure—a gentle warning that lit my blood on fire and made my breath catch.

“I call bullshit. When you had the chance, you hesitated.” His voice was a low rumble I felt straight between my legs. “In fact, I think you hesitated three times.”

I let my lips brush his. “I must have sensed it then.”

“Sensed what?”

“That you were different.” I leaned into his hand. “That you were mine.”

“I thought you didn’t belong to anyone?”

I shrugged. “I think you were right,” I said. “Maybe it was inevitable.”

His eyes flashed in amusement, and his lips lightly met mine. “Say that again.”

“It was inevitable?”

“No, that I was right.”

A small laugh burst free. I tried to slap his chest playfully, but he caught my wrist and pinned it to the door by my head. A low laugh vibrated through his chest, and that delicious smile hovered tantalizingly close. His hand tightened around my throat.

“I’m not saying that again,” I said breathlessly.

“Kiss me then,” he said, and moved his lips to mine in a searing kiss.

I didn’t have to be told twice. Griffin pressed in close and I melted into him. Hard muscle burned hot at all the points we touched, and his thigh pressed between my legs. I shamelessly rubbed against him. He pulled back just enough to speak.

“What’s your safe word?” He demanded, sounding rather breathless himself.

I kissed his jaw, and he tilted his head for better access. His stubble felt like heaven against my lips.

“I don’t need one,” I mumbled.

His hand around my throat tightened, and he held me still as he pulled back farther. The darkness in his eyes was potent and seductive.

“Yes, you do,” he growled. “This time you do.”

“Why?”

He lifted me up by the backs of my thighs. I wrapped my legs around him and dug my fingers into his hair. His lips found my neck and he nipped at my skin.

“Because I’m going to ruin you,” he said. “But, you need to know you can stop it at any time.”

He moved over to the bed and my world fell away as he tipped me backward. I inhaled as my stomach dropped, only for him to catch my exhale when he held himself above me.

“Green is all clear,” Griffin said. “Yellow slows it all down. And red means everything stops immediately. Understood?”

“Yes.”

Griffin grabbed my ankles and flipped me onto my stomach. He pulled my pants off and his hands found my ass. His thumbs teased down between my cheeks until I thought I’d explode with the need for him to touch something. I gripped the sheets with each pass, and my breath caught with anticipation, only to be let down each time. A whisper of a whine escaped, and he chuckled.

“So needy,” he whispered.

His hands disappeared, only for one of them to come back down in a loud slap. I startled, but the sting only made me rub my thighs together in search of friction that wasn’t there. He did it again—and again and again, in rapid succession, until I cursed and writhed against the bed. My breath caught at the burn of his hand.

Griffin rubbed over the sting and moved to the other cheek. He brought his hand down, hard. Over and over and over again, until I cried out into the pillow and shifted my hips in an effort to elude the pain. But, we both knew what I had to do to stop it, and I wasn’t about to do that when the moment the spanks stopped, his caress made it all exquisitely better.

I panted into the pillow, feeling every single inch of hot skin. His hands massaged, and this time when his thumbs dipped between my legs, they pushed against my pussy.