AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Hey." I turned to face her, drying my hands with a roughness that belied the sudden tremble in them. It was impossible not to stare at her like an idiot. A flowy skirt swished around her tan thighs, and her top clung in all the right places, teasing at what lay beneath. Goddamn, her beauty hit like a gut punch every time.
"I figured you'd be back at med school." It was a lame attempt at normal conversation, but what the fuck else could I say? I cleared my throat. "Your dad said you were a med student." I skipped the part where he'd been afraid she wanted help with tuition.
Mira blanched, her smile faltering. "I'm on a leave of absence." She cleared her throat, fiddling with her hands, staring at the motorcycle parts on the shop floor.
"Oh, babygirl." I instantly wished I could take those words back. She wasn't my babygirl. But those huge, worried brown eyes pulled me in, and I wanted to hug her and make everything better.
"It's okay. Do you know Colby? He gave me a job at his shop, so I'm staying in town while I sort out my mixed-up mind." She gazed up at me, hope in her eyes as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "The Airbnb I was staying in didn't have any reservations all month, so she gave me a great deal."
Mira hadn't stayed in town for me, had she? It was an insane thought, but it made me step closer to her. She gnawed onher lip, clearly wrestling with whatever was eating at her, then glanced back at me.
"What has your mind so mixed up that you need to move?" I asked, keeping my voice quiet and calm.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just, you know, school." Her eyes met mine, then darted away. "It's difficult, and expensive, and…" She trailed off with a shrug.
"If you were mine…" I let the words hang, heavy with implication. Her gaze snapped to mine, a silent challenge. "I'd spank you for bottling up your emotions like that. It'd help you release whatever's eating you up inside."
With a sharp intake of breath, she stepped closer. Too close.
"Would that really work?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it struck me like lightning.
"Usually does. It clears the submissive's mind." My restraint was fraying at the edges. Every cell in my body screamed at me to take control, to show her just how delicious it could be to let go.
"Not sure about spanking, but there might be other things." She couldn't make eye contact as she spoke.
"Other things?" I echoed, waiting for her to look up at me, and sure enough, she did, meeting my eyes. The question hung heavy between us, charged with possibility.
"The kind of things that make my mind go fuzzy and blank," she confessed, her voice low and husky. "The way you speak to me, your control, your touches…"
Holy shit. I sucked in a ragged breath, each word from her lips etching itself into my brain. The air in the shop thinned out, leaving me light-headed, aching with want. My body screamed to close the gap, to claim the offer so clearly laid out before me, but my mind waged war against the impulse.
"Is that what you need? Praise and dirty talk?" I asked, my tone rough like sandpaper. Every instinct told me to keep my distance, to not play with fire. But fuck, I was already burning up. Her first kink was my favorite.
"It might be what I need. I want to find out." She looked up at me, her eyes searching mine.
"Fuck, Mira." The curse slipped out, raw and guttural. I closed the distance between us in two strides, my larger frame looming over hers. I kept walking, guiding her back into the workbench with my body and planting a hand on either side of her, caging her in. She stared up at me, bold and brash. Despite her earlier nerves, this was no blushing virgin.
Or maybe she knew I wouldn't hurt her — couldn't hurt her.
"Tell me to stop, and I will." The promise was as much for me as for her. It was a lifeline back to the world of reason and good decisions.
"I don't want you to stop." Her firm words tugged at the frayed edges of my resolve.
"Fuck." The word was torn from me, and I slammed my mouth into hers, devouring her. And an impossible thought took root in my mind:mine.
And I didn't like it. There were only two people I could depend on in this world: my brother and my grandmother, and even those two were pretty damn flighty. Entanglements didn't suit me, and having a beautiful, doe-eyed younger woman pursuing me was a recipe for disaster.
But kissing her was fucking everything.
Mira
Gunnar broke the kissoff too soon. Though I didn't consciously remember doing it, at some point, I'd wrapped my arms around his neck. The dismayed whine that slipped from my lips was embarrassing, to say the least.
"Are you here chasing after your father, or was it me you were looking for?" His voice was low, a rumble from deep within his chest.
I opened my mouth to answer, a lie perched precariously on the tip of my tongue. But his icy gaze held mine captive, and the words faltered, dying before they could fully form.
"It was you, always you. I entered the contest because I recognized Jay, because I was hoping I'd see you again. I didn't even know my dad was here. That asshole was the last person on my mind." I tugged at the hairband that held his long hair back, wanting it to be free.
