“Ye… Yes,” I said with a shaky breath.
“Or better yet… how about this?” And then he was doing the last thing I expected him to do—tickling me. I gasped and laughed as his fingers dug into my sides.
“I like this playful side,” I said in between pants, trying to catch my breath when he finally stopped.
“I thought you liked my dominant side?”
“Mmmm, yes I like that too. The many sides of Shane.” I pushed off the couch. I was so busy putting my pants back on that I missed the pained look that swept his face when I called him Shane. “You ready to go?”
I turned back around. When our eyes met he nodded, but playful Mack was gone and stoic Mack was in his place.
He wasn’t so withdrawn that we didn’t have an extremely fun time popping my adult-movie-theater-make-out cherry though.
Did you know that if you wear a skirt and sit in the top corner of a sparsely filled theater, you can get away with a tamed version of reverse cowgirl without anyone knowing? Neither did I… until that night.
* * *
Murphy’s was packed to the gills when I walked in. I knew there’d be a few people there with the dart league Jacob and John were on, but I wasn’t expecting this many people. I pushed my way through the crowd and found Kara sitting at a table by herself. Jacob was off to the side with his gaze firmly planted on her while he talked to one of the referees.
“Hi,” I greeted her as I pulled out a chair across from her and sat down.
“Hey.” She stirred her drink with the straw and looked lost in thought.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, concerned by her melancholy mood.
She sighed and looked up at me with bright eyes. “Today makes it a year.”
My brain shifted through memories trying to figure out what she meant. It was obviously something I should know with the way she said it. Then it dawned on me that one year ago tonight she was attacked by her ex, Cory.
“Oh, honey. You okay?” I reached across the table and covered her hand with mine.
“Yeah. It’s just… I didn’t want to be alone tonight.” She blew out a breath and sank further into her chair.
“Why didn’t you call me? We could have had a girl’s night in. If I hadn’t texted you tonight to see if you were coming here, I wouldn’t have even known.”
“You have your own life. I’m just being silly. Jacob was going to forfeit tonight so he could stay with me. I didn’t want him to let down his team. Besides I thought it would be good to be around a lot of people.” Anyone could tell she was playing it down.
“I’m never too busy for you. You know that. I’m a little offended you would even say that.” I knew this wasn’t about me, but damn it, my feelings were hurt.
“I’m sorry,” she said full of remorse. “I really didn’t think about it. I sometimes forget I have people that will help me deal with things I’ve always been used to handling myself. Even though I’ve moved on, there are still times where it creeps up on me. You know?”
“I do.” More than you know.
“Enough pity party. We need to get you a drink.”
The two of us made our way to the bar and ordered drinks. By the time we got back to our table, Jacob’s team was playing.
I watched Kara closely, but the longer the night went on, the more lively and happy she looked. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her at the jukebox cuddling with Jacob and giggling at something he said. It was good that she had such a great man in her life. He was always looking out for her and putting her interests first.
“Is this seat taken?”
I looked up to see my man—well at least I chose to pretend he was my man—standing over me looking delicious in a pair of faded jeans, a white t-shirt and a leather coat. The scar over his lip was more pronounced as he smirked at me. It made me want to lick it right before I licked other things.
“Nope,” I answered trying to be coy in an effort to hide my nervousness and excitement that he was here. I hadn’t seen him in days thanks to the caseload he and Jacob were working on. Too bad crime didn’t take a rest just because I wanted him in my bed.
“Wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight,” he said casually as he sipped his beer.
“Wasn’t expecting to be seen.” He would have to work harder than that to get me to admit why I was there.
“Got plans tonight?” His question would seem conversational to anyone that overheard, but the way his eyes burned into mine let me know exactly what he was thinking.
I shook my head and bit my lip. “Nope. Although I was hoping to wrangle a hot detective into going home with me tonight. I did come alone after all.”
“Speaking of…” He leaned forward, his elbows on the table, and his face suddenly serious. “You know you aren’t supposed to leave the house without someone with you. If you wanted to come here, you should have called John or me.”
“I knew John was already here. It was a last minute decision. Besides we haven’t seen or heard from Ted Yates in months. I think it’s safe to say he’s moved on.”
“Buttercup, when you let your guard down, that’s when bad things happen. Take Kara for instance. She thought if she stayed vigilant while she went to a kid’s house to talk to his mother that she’d be safe. Even though her gut was telling her something was off, she still went without talking to Jacob or me first. Her sick fuck of an ex took the opportunity of her being alone to attack. I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”
“I see your point. Do you really think he’s still a threat?”
“Until we find him, he’ll always be a threat.”
“So does this mean, my job of wrangling a hot detective into coming home with me just got easier?” I joked hoping to lighten the mood.
“All you need to do is look at me with those big, brown eyes.”
“That doesn’t seem too hard,” I sassed to cover up how very much I liked his words.
“I’ll show you hard…” he started, but was interrupted by Kara joining us.
“Mack! You’re here!” She hugged him before sitting next to me at the table. “I didn’t think you were coming.”
“Well, I did have other plans, but when they fell through I figured I’d come see what you guys are up to.” He gave me a pointed look that I didn’t quite get. I shrugged and went back to sipping my drink.
“Other plans huh…” she winked. “Oh that reminds me. How did the date go the other night?”
He choked on his beer, which did not give me good vibes. It was a guilty move.
Who was he on a date with?
“What?” He asked Kara, his brows furrowed.
“Remember you told me you were meeting up with someone?” At his bemused look, she continued, “The night I tried to set you up with Rebecca?”
“Oh…” I watched the light bulb flick on in his head and my anger grew. What the fuck? Who the hell was Rebecca?
“Well? Did it go good? Are you still seeing her? Can we double date?” Her rapid fire questions made him look uncomfortable while making me want to laugh. If I wasn’t so pissed off that is.
“Kara, honey. That was almost three weeks ago,” he gently reminded her.
Any thoughts of me wanting to laugh quickly vanished. Ever since her head trauma, Kara had some issues with forgetting things and spans of time. Jacob had pulled me aside one day when he saw me at the hospital to voice his concern, but I assured him that it was normal for patients to experience that type of behavior long-term and that as long as it didn’t become frequent, he needn’t worry.
“Oh,” she said and I could hear the tremor in her voice. “So did it go good at least?” She rallied.
“Yeah, Mack?” I asked innocently. “How did your date go?”
He raised his eyebrow at the tone of my voice when I said the word date. “She was a firecracker,” he admitted, and I felt a fist close tightly around my heart.
“She was?” Kara asked excitedly.
“Ye
p.” His eyes never left mine, closely watching for a reaction from me.
“So she was a slut, sleeping with you on the first date?” I crossed my arms and glared at him. Much to my dismay he just smirked at me. I really hoped he didn’t think he was getting laid anytime soon. At least not by me.
“There’s nothing wrong with a woman who knows what she wants and goes for it. Like you, doc. I bet you would have no problem fucking some poor schmuck’s brains out in the supply room at the hospital if he flipped your trigger.” His eyes twinkled, knowing he had me there.
What game was he playing? We had agreed to keep things between us and to not readily share our relationship for lack of a better word. Kara’s excitement by the prospect of him dating was the perfect example why we decided that.
“I’m not dignifying that with a response.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Are you still seeing her?” Kara chimed in, luckily not cluing into the reason behind our verbal sparring.
“Actually I am. She’s really quite something.”
“Yay! I’m so happy for you. Am I going to get to meet her?”
“It isn’t like that with us. We’re just having fun.”
“Well that’s disappointing,” she pouted.
“Not really. I’m enjoying myself just fine,” he reassured her. Smug bastard.
“I think it’s time for a refill. You want one?” My chair scraped the floor. I gestured towards Kara’s half full glass.
“No. I’m taking it easy tonight.”
“Okay, I’ll be back.”
The wait at the bar did very little to calm the storm raging inside me. I couldn’t believe how foolish I had been thinking that I meant something to him. God, he was me six months ago—looking to screw and then move on to the next screw. Here I was, some lovesick fool hoping that he could feel more for me like I do for him. I was such an idiot. I should have known. He always warned me he wasn’t in this for anything other than sex. And really? How hypocritical was it that he was with someone else after he made such a big deal about Dean?
So why does he keep taking you out and wooing you? I didn’t have an answer for that, thank you very much brain. All I knew was I needed to guard myself for the inevitable heartache I was going to have when this thing ended. And I wasn’t going to be silly enough to believe it wasn’t going to end.
“It’s you,” a deep voice said into my ear.
“What’s me?” I fought the subsequent shiver of having him so close and focused on my anger.
“She’s talking about you.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that?”
His lower half thrust into my back side and I felt his arousal. Damn man knew how to break down my defenses. “It’s only you, Megan. Since the first night you took me back to your house, it’s only been you.”
“What about your earlier plans?”
“I stopped by your house, but you weren’t there. I thought you might be working, so I came here knowing Kara might want someone to talk to since today is the anniversary of her attack.”
I melted into his body, warm and strong behind mine. His arms came up to cage me in and his chin brushed my hair over my shoulder. “Are you still mad?”
“A little bit.” I was, in fact, totally over it, but I wanted to see where he was going to go with this.
“I can think of lots of things I could do with you that would channel that energy. I have a new paddle I’d like to try out. Maybe I’ll spank the sass right out of you.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I would.”
“But you don’t have it with you.” I have no idea why I was focused on logistics. All I wanted in that moment was for Mack to make good on his promise to bring me to heel.
“My place isn’t far from here, buttercup.” His lips trailed a path across my skin before nipping my earlobe. Man but I liked it when he did that.
“Your place?” I squeaked. This was unchartered territory. He once told me that he never took dates back to his place. Well I called them dates… it was better than the implied fact that he only fucked women, not dated them.
“About to make an exception. I want your ass so fucking red that every time you sit down tomorrow you’ll be reminded what I did to you. You’ve got a half hour to finish that drink and make your excuses to Kara.”
Funny, but now that I had inspiration, I didn’t need a half hour. We were out of there in fifteen minutes.
* * *
Bachelor pad.
That was the only way to describe the loft apartment Mack lived in. It was a spacious room. The kitchen was to the left and featured high-end countertops and appliances. There was an eat in bar with four stools. To the right of that were a large couch and recliner, both angled to face the extremely large television. What was it with men and their electronics having to be ridiculously sized?
Next to the seating area was a doorway for the bathroom and a closet door. To the right of that was a large king sized bed with black and gray bedding.
There were empty takeout containers and clothes littered across the space.
I’d seen worse… maybe. Either way it wasn’t good. I itched to clean it all up. I silently laughed at that. I was pretty sure that me being domesticated in his space would send him running for the hills.
“Nice place,” I called out while I waited for him to come out of the bathroom.
“It’s nothing much. I like the openness of it,” his muffled voice came through the door.
I spied a picture frame on a table by the bed and quickly padded over there as silently as I could. My heart raced as I took in the picture in the frame. It was a much younger Mack with his arms around a woman with light brown hair and green eyes. She was taller than me and she was beautiful. This had to be his wife. Damn, they looked happy.
I was dying to know more about her. I still didn’t even know her name. I idly wondered if he would tell me if I asked while the evidence of her was staring him right in the face.
The doorknob to the bathroom door started to turn so I quickly threw myself on the bed and positioned my body so it looked like I was waiting for him. I smiled saucily as the door opened.
He strutted out in a pair of low slung blue pajama bottoms and nothing else. My mouth watered at the utterly masculine sight of him. Thoughts of the picture were wiped from my brain. What can I say? I had a one-tracked mind most days. Especially when it came to him.
“Strip,” he commanded, stopping at the foot of the bed.
I stood and slowly did what I was asked. I started by kicking off my shoes. Next I shimmied my leggings down. My sweater was pulled over my head after that. I paused for a moment in nothing but see through lace panties and bra, wanting to give him a show. I turned around, my back facing him, when I reached behind to undo the clasp of my bra. Slowly lowering my arms it fell to the floor. Next I hooked my fingers in my panties and shimmied them down my legs as well. I made sure to bend over further than necessary before straightening and turning back around to face him.
His bottoms were now tented with a very obvious arousal. My fingers itched to touch it. To feel him hot and ready in my hand before I took him all the way into mouth. I knew better than to jump the gun though. This was Mack’s show.
“Bend over.” I did as I was instructed. My torso lying flat on the bed. I could hear him rustling in a drawer before the motions stopped. I chanced a glance over my shoulder and saw that his eyes had caught on the picture. The wooden paddle hung limply in his hand as he stared at it. I could see the muscle ticking in his jaw. Not knowing what to do, I turned back around and lightly cleared my throat. It must have worked to draw his attention because he returned a moment later and ran his hand over my ass. My muscles bunched in anticipation, waiting for his next move.
When it came, it was a doozy. I screamed out when the wood hit my backside harder than I anticipated. It was harder than he ever hit me before that was for sure.
“Count,” he said in
a low, dark voice.
“One,” I replied in a shaky one.
The hits kept coming as I counted. This wasn’t like the other times he had spanked me. He wasn’t stopping to tease me with his fingers, which was a first. He seemed detached. It made it harder for me to be in the moment, which meant it hurt like a bitch.
“Sixteen,” I pushed out past gritted teeth. Blissfully, he stopped then. My reprieve to figure out what the fuck I was going to do didn’t last long though. Mack spread my ass cheeks and then plunged into me in one hard thrust.
“Jesus,” he muttered, pulling back and slamming in again.
In no time, my body had succumbed to his, and my pleasure began building. His cock was just that nice.
“Shane,” I moaned when he hit a particularly great spot that sent me from a six to a nine on the pleasure scale in a matter of seconds.
“Mack,” he corrected me.
“What?” I panted my question. I was completely thrown for a loop by the change in name.
It had to be the picture.
“Right now I’m Mack and you’re going to come on my cock like a good little girl.” Damn my body for quivering at his words.
His hand snaked around my hip and he fondled my clit with precision, sending me flying in a million directions at once.
He grunted with each hard, fast thrust until he slammed home, coming in short, hot bursts.
As soon as he pulled out, I scrambled for my clothes. He came back with a wet cloth to clean me and looked confused by my hasty dressing. Was he really that oblivious to the fact that he just fucked me, not even caring who I was or if I was even with him? I hadn’t felt that cheap and used in years. Not since before Rachel died.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to get home. You taking me or am I calling a taxi?” I asked as I stuffed my feet into my boots.
“I’ll take you as soon as you explain to me what your fucking problem is.” He crossed his arms and I really wished he wasn’t still naked because it was too beautiful of a sight to stay mad at.
Our combined juices were no longer visible on his length, but I felt them leaking out of me, and it foolishly made me want to cry. Stupid naïve hopes. I had been so excited to see his apartment, and it had completely backfired. The wall he erected between us while fucking me was unscalable, especially when you were as petite as me. There was no fighting a ghost. The ghost would always win.
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