Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
He stared a few seconds, made a huffing sound, and popped his knuckles. It was a habit I knew he did when he was irritated.
“Do you understand why I’m disappointed in you, angel?”
Angel—that was a good sign. Wasn’t it? “Because I wasn’t honest with you.”
He reached out, took my hands and held them in his much larger grip. The grasp was tight enough that I couldn’t escape, even if I’d wanted to…but I didn’t. His touch had always been more than a means of arousal for me—it’d always been my security blanket as well. Everything about Eli calmed the craziness inside of me, anchoring me to the real world.
“That’s one reason—honesty is very important in a relationship.” I arched my brow in surprise when he called what we were doing a relationship, but the thundering of my heart kept me from responding. Excitement bubbled inside of me, giving me hope. “There’s more than that, though. I could have hurt you, Ari. I could have easily damaged the body that I cherish…even if you might not cherish it. On top of that, your first time should have been special—not a rough tumble in the middle of the day.”
His words made sense. The thoughtfulness threatened to bring tears to my eyes. I regretted not being honest with him, but I didn’t regret what had happened. I hadn’t wanted to be treated special, all that kid-glove stuff I’m usually handled with. I had wanted to be a man, and I’d wanted to be that man with Eli.
So, instead of apologizing like Eli wanted me to do, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I don’t regret it and I’m not sorry.” There. He wanted honesty. I gave him honesty. My ass still tingled in the loveliest of ways and I didn’t intend to allow guilt or Eli’s misgivings to interfere with the heat buzzing throughout my body.
I’d expected a frown or a flash of anger, but I’d gotten neither one of those. Instead, an evil grin spread across his face…making me suddenly doubt the intelligence of my words.
“You may not regret it or may not be sorry, but you do deserve to be punished.”
Heat that I shouldn’t feel because I didn’t get into that BDSM crap like Seth and Baker…and supposedly Eli…spread throughout my body, causing most of my blood to start racing toward my cock like it was in the final stretch at the Kentucky Derby. Motherfuck.
“I…I…told you I wasn’t into that stuff, Eli,” I stammered.
“I know,” he answered, evil grin still firmly in place. “That’s why it’s punishment. Not pleasure.”
Absolutely not a drop of blood was left in my brain. I’d never been more thankful for baggy sweatpants in my entire life. “You will not spank me like I’m a child, Eli! Absolutely not!” At the moment, my cock hated my mouth because of the words coming out of it. What. The. Fuck? I was so not into that kind of shit. A spanking was the very emblem of everything I tried to avoid in my life—being perceived as a child. Of course, according to the bits and pieces of information I’d managed to overhear, Seth spanked the skin off Baker’s ass on a regular basis.
“Hmmm…I didn’t mention a spanking,” Eli said thoughtfully. “I was thinking more along the lines of a short essay on the negative effects of lying and how it skews the entire universe.”
What? “Are you serious?”
He laughed—it was the old Eli laugh that I’d missed so damn much. Another protective shield fell away from my heart when the noise tickled my ears.
“Of course, I’m not serious, angel. Writing is such a waste of time when we both know actions speak much louder than words. Yes, a spanking is what I had in mind. Nothing too hard…but hard enough that you’ll think twice before lying to me again.”
He was so full of shit. There was no way on earth I was going to allow him to spank me. It simply wasn’t going to happen, regardless of how much my cock obviously approved of the idea. “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you at least ten times that I’m not into the games that Seth and Baker play. Pain isn’t my thing.” Liar, liar—pants on fire.
“And I’ve told you that I don’t play the games that Seth and Baker play, either. Most lovers enjoy some non-vanilla foreplay as part of their sex life. Secondly, you must be into pain more than you think if you allowed me to fuck you without the whole I’m a virgin warning.” He leaned forward, putting our bodies closer than I was comfortable with because when Eli was close—I couldn’t think straight.
“Angel, I very much enjoyed fucking you, and I know that I’d enjoy making love to you even more.” He arched a questioning brow at me. “Did you enjoy it?”