AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I pushed his buttons, and he responded. I marked up his arms with my nails when I was freaking out. It wasn’t okay, but I spiraled. I was rude to him and Tatum. Not my best day.”
“Out of everyone we know, Jesse’s buttons are the last ones I’d ever push. It doesn’t usually bode well for the other party.” Giving me a stern look, he seemed to be waiting for me to elaborate.
“I guess.” I shrugged, not sure what else he wanted me to say.
“Is this the first time he’s spanked you?”
“Yeah.”
He grabbed my chin and tilted it upward, not allowing me to shy away from my feelings. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really, but I needed it more than I thought,” I confirmed, though it was hard to admit. “He and Tanner used to keep their eyes on my behavior when we were in college, but I wasn’t in a relationship with either of them. Nothing was formal.”
“Did you want a relationship with Tanner and Jesse?”
“I don’t know. I sort of set myself up to fail. I wasn’t over you.” I pulled away from his reach since memories were flooding my brain and I didn’t want to do something I’d regret. I wanted to be his girl. To be with him and Tanner would be the icing on the cupcake. “I chased Jesse, begging for his attention, but I didn’t want a relationship with him.”
“What about Tanner?”
“I wanted to be with Tanner, and he knew it.” Shaking my head, I fought back another round of tears. There was no way I had any left to cry. “Chasing after men who didn’t want me,” I scoffed. “The only thing I’m good at.”
“I can’t speak for Tanner, but don’t talk down to yourself. I wanted you.” His voice was thick with emotion. “If I had any idea that my parents were dragging me around the world and away from Falcon Creek, I would have told you immediately!”
“You didn’t even try to stay in touch with me much.”
“My parents dumped a stack of business proposals onto my head the next morning. I couldn’t do anything else until I secured a contract.” Dane grabbed my hands. “It took me an entire year. I didn’t have experience navigating corporate policies. Hell, I barely knew how to navigate life yet.”
“All I’m hearing is excuses,” I said mournfully. My heart and my head were fighting. I wanted him to throw his arms around me and promise that we would make it work. That no matter what happened in the past, we would be together. The other part of me wanted to run screaming from the bathroom and never look back. “One text message takes thirty seconds of your life. Any communication would have been better than the endless ‘how are you’ texts that never said much.”
“Well, I didn’t have all the answers. I suppose a letter might have worked. But how the hell could I heal your heart when mine was broken, too?”
“Dane…” I tried to swallow around the lump in my throat to continue what I’d been poised to say and failed.
He pinned me against the wall, bracing his hip against mine. Dane raised my hands over my head, restraining my wrists with his right hand. “Do you forgive me?”
“No.”
Crushing his mouth to mine, he kissed me possessively, claiming me like we hadn’t spent the last ten plus years of our lives not talking to one another. I moaned into his mouth, loving the way he tasted, and my body yielded to his touches.
“Will you please forgive me, sunshine?”
“Maybe.”
Lifting me effortlessly, he pressed me against his chest, one arm under my ass. I wrapped my legs around him, linking my arms behind his neck. Dane carried me into the hall, occasionally pausing to kiss me.
We entered the guest room, and I was aroused by the promise of something more. Setting me down on my feet next to the bed, he wasted no time in stripping me bare. He ran his hands over my naked body, caressing and rubbing my soft skin. He kissed me a few more times until we glanced over at the bed. Together we undid the sheets, carefully folding each layer until we reached the fitted sheet. It was almost comical, but I was running out of patience. Gingerly sitting on the mattress, I waggled my eyebrows. “Are we going to talk about the thread count of your sheets?”
“No,” he answered, chuckling. “But I’m admittedly surprised that your brat has this much sass left. Do you know what Tanner’s favorite game is?”
“I don’t care,” I sulked. “I want to keep going.”
“It’s called tame the brat. His belt. Your ass.”
“Oh. So, I’m on home base at the moment? Safe!” Giggling, I loved the amusement sparkling in his eyes. “And you’re not gonna tell him.”
“We haven’t discussed any rules yet, sunshine.” Dane dropped his towel. Before I could appreciatively ogle his muscles, and the rest of his body, he was climbing on top of me. “But, in here when it’s you and me?” He gestured at the space between us. “I’m the one who leads. Do you want to keep going?”
“Yes, yes, keep going.”
