Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
She gulped. “You keep pushing me away,” she said, her voice cracking.
Ben swung her up into his arms and walked to the bed, where he sat down, keeping her cradled on his lap. “Does that mean you’ll have me?” he asked softly.
She resisted a smile as a tear streaked down her cheek. “I’ll consider it.”
He nibbled at her ear. “I’m not sure you understand how things work here,” he said, his voice a deep teasing rumble that made her toes start to curl. “You’re mine now. I’ve laid claim to you. That means you’ll never be rid of me, so I suggest you get used to the idea.” He pulled away, looking serious. “I hope you can stand me. I know I’m one hell of an asshole, but I promise I’ll do everything I can to make you happy. You’re all that matters to me. I mean it.”
Unaccountably, she burst into tears, all her pent-up emotions flooding out.
Ben appeared alarmed. “I’m so sorry, Ashley. I can’t undo marking you, but if the thing that makes you happiest is being rid of me, I’ll do my best to stay away,” he said, looking sickened by the thought.
She laughed through her tears. “Stupid wolf,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face there. “I don’t want to be rid of you.” She kissed his jaw, then his lips when he turned and captured the back of her head, his concerned look turning to hungry. She pulled away. “I need more of you, not less. Can you give me that?”
He met her eye. “I’ll give you everything,” he said with the solemnity of a vow.
She laughed and wept more tears, which he thumbed and kissed away.
“Sweet angel. You came into my life like a storm. How did I not know that all I was ever missing was you?”
11
By some miracle, the police seemed satisfied with the story Mark laid out for them. It didn’t hurt that Sandoval was a known drug lord, and the DEA was thrilled to have him out of the picture. Ben feared it put him on their watch list as a contact, but since he had nothing to do with drugs or drug running, he hoped it would come to nothing.
He drove Ashley to her home. “Stay there, I will help you out,” he said when she started to open the car door.
She ignored him and pushed the door open as he walked around, hopping on one foot as she pulled her crutches from the back seat.
“I said stay,” he said, taking them from her hands.
“Woof,” she said.
His heart lurched, remembering their first few days together, the way she had had lit his darkness, her smile quickly becoming something to look forward to, her presence steadying him.
He picked her up, carrying her inside. “It is my job to take care of you, little girl, and I expect your cooperation.”
“I have to learn to walk with these things some time,” she said.
“Not when I’m around,” he said firmly. “And if you need a reminder of how it feels to be over my lap, I won’t hesitate to give you one.”
Ashley squirmed and her body heated in his arms. The idea of spanking her suddenly appealed, not because he wanted to teach her a lesson, but because he knew it turned her on.
He swung the door shut behind him and carried her to her bedroom where he laid her on her bed.
“So is that how it’s going to be with you?” she demanded.
“What?”
“It’s your way or I get spanked?”
He smiled, arranging pillows underneath the knee of her wounded leg. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“So what happens when I’m mad at you? I think you deserve a spanking for biting me and then just leaving.”
He grinned and walked around to stand beside the bed, presenting his ass toward her. “Go ahead.”
She gave him a smack. “Ow,” she said, shaking her hand out as if it hurt.
He laughed.
“No, really, this isn’t fair. What does a she-wolf do to punish her mate?”
He sat down beside her, brushing a strand of her mahogany hair out of her face. “All you have to do is cry,” he said softly. “The smell of your tears will bring me to my knees.”
She studied him, as if trying to see if he was teasing or not. “So, if I want to end a spanking, all I have to do is cry?” she asked. “Why didn’t I try that last time?”
He stroked her cheek. “I don’t know if I would end it, but it would be very difficult for me. Bear that in mind when you’re naughty, little lady.”
“Is that why you seemed so troubled last time?”
He nodded. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said seriously. “It kills me to see you cry.”
Her lips curved into a sultry smile. “I don’t know… I think there were a few times you kinda liked the spanking thing,” she said.