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He shook his head slightly. “Probably not.”
“Then let's have it all. Then I’ll tell you what I will accept and what I will not.”
“Baby—”
“Monroe, I’m saying I’ll compromise, but that’s it.”
“Woman, I’m getting my rubber paddle out. This is only about your safety.”
“Fine, and if you don’t sit down and work this out with me, I won’t compromise, and I’ll use it on you.”
Monroe stood still and stared at Mallory. “That,” he said with measured tones edged with humor, “won’t ever happen, baby.” She shivered.No, it wouldn’t.
“And if you don’t work this out with me, then your fun time won’t ever happen until you do.”
Mallory sat on the couch and crossed her arms and legs. Monroe got close enough that the rumble in his chest rippled hers. Her tummy tightened, and that telltale release of arousal was leaking onto her panties again. His eyes dilated and darkened. She knew her pupils were dilating as well. This man did it for her, and sometimes that was a damn annoyance.
“So, you are willing to give up my tongue on your clit, bringing you to the top of the mountain just so you can get your own way? Using sex as punishment or reward can backfire, sweetheart. If I don’t get any, neither do you, and I know just how to heat your thermometer without breaking the glass. Do you want to see how well you can handle that?”
Her stifled moan was answer enough. “Please, let’s just talk this out?”
“We will, and then you get a spanking.”
“What? No way. There are no penalties for voicing my own opinion about my rights in this relationship.”
“But you don’t get to yell it. Ten. Nor do you get to use sex as a weapon. Ten more.”
“With your hand.”
“Okay, but if you do it again, I’m adding more with my paddle.” His raised eyebrow punctuated his statement.
She sighed loudly. “Not fair, but I’ll agree so I can go back to work.”
Monroe had been playing, and it got her off sexually, but she needed him to see her point of view. When Monroe sighed and dropped down next to her, Mallory knew things were going to work out. She prayed she was making the right decision. She still had nightmares most nights and was afraid that going back to work after less than a month would worsen her nightmares. It was as though he read her mind.
“These are the concerns I have. You still have nightmares, and I’m worried this will make them worse. You don’t know what your triggers are, so you don’t know to avoid them. I have another big job coming up next week, and if you are freaking out at work, I need to know that you have someone there to take care of things. I won’t be able to concentrate on my work if you don’t have that.”
Mallory pulled her legs up under her and leaned into the broad chest of the man she needed more than anyone. More than anything in her life, she wanted Monroe and who he was when he was with her.
“What if I can’t go back?” she whispered, her fear loud in her words.
“Then we figure something else out, or we try another place. It might not be the job. It might be the place. Sweetheart, I have no idea how you’re going to react to being back at work in the place where you were kidnapped. I don’t think we can do more than guess until you do it. I hate to let you out of our total protection, but if we don’t, we will never know. So, as much as I hate to say it, I’m okay with you trying to go back, but you must know that I will have you yanked out of there in two seconds if there is any sign either you or those around you can’t cope with being there.”
She spoke, her voice muffled in his chest. “I can deal with that.”
“Can you deal with the fact that we have to stay at my place for a while? Sharlee and Kaden have scrubbed you from the internet, but that doesn’t mean people didn’t already check out where you live. I don’t want to give them any opportunities to get to you.”
“How long?”
She was comfortable in her townhome, but honestly, since all of this happened, and she learned what being the center of someone’s world really felt like, she didn’t want to go back to living alone. It was a bluff when she said she would go there because it was the last thing she wanted to do. Mallory needed a compromise, though. Giving up one’s singleton life wasn’t as easy as it had first sounded when she was looking for a partner.
“Do you mean how long will you need to live with me, or how long will you need to stay out of your place?”
“Both?”
Monroe gathered Mallory into his lap and helped her curl back in comfortably. “Baby, don’t you know how much you mean to me? How special you are to me? I never want you to leave my side. Mallory, I’m falling in love with you. We can stay at your place or mine, but I’m leaning towards mine because we have better security there. And we aren’t in the middle of everyone when we want to get a little loud.”
“But what would I… wait—” Mallory sat up, jostling his jaw slightly. “Did you say you were falling in love with me?”
