Chapter 10

Ophelia’s father had been right. Glacier National Park was the most beautiful place Luke had ever seen. With each turn on the trail, the view grew more and more breathtaking.

That morning, they’d driven up Going-to-the-Sun Road to a mountain pass where they’d left the car and started on their trail. The drive itself was a spectacular array of views. As it twisted and turned through the mountains, waterfalls fell onto the road from the cliffs, creating rainbows in the sunlight. Below them, steep mountainsides covered in forest gave the drive a treacherous feel. The road was narrow and hugged the edge of the mountain.

The Highline Trail was even better because they were outside, tasting the air, feeling the freshness on their faces. And once they were out of sight of civilization, it felt like they were in the very soul of the earth.

Every time Ophelia turned to grin at him, he got the overwhelming feeling that they were sharing some sacred private moment. He had no idea he’d get so swept away by the place.

“Hurry up, slowpoke,” Ophelia said over her shoulder. She was a good few yards ahead, lengthening her strides up the rocky path.

In some ways, he was glad she was faster than him. It gave him ample opportunity to stare at her ass—a perfect heart shape, even in the khaki hiking shorts. It had caused him to lose his footing several times.

“How are you so good at this?” He hated that he sounded winded. “Have you been practicing or something?”

She turned around and smirked. “Pole-dancing fitness classes.”

He felt his eyes go wide. After clearing his throat, he said, “You’ll have to show me some of your moves later.”

Laughing, she turned back to the trail.

His gaze lowered to her ass again. Mmm. He itched to spank it again. He’d have to find a reason later. Was there somewhere private enough to put her over his knee, just for fun? They hadn’t seen another hiker for at least twenty minutes.

Her sassy smirk only egged him on. He longed to hear her small cries of pain, while he gave her a very sorry red ass. He sighed at himself. He was a twisted, twisted man.

Ahead, he spotted a flat boulder behind a bush. Smiling manically, he took several large strides to reach her.

She yelped when he grabbed her hand and tugged her off the path. “What are you doing?”

“Taking a little break.”

He pulled her behind the bush, then sat down on the boulder.

“Oh. Are you tired?”

“No,” he lied. At least not too tired to do this. Gently, he coaxed her toward his lap, but she resisted, frowning at him.

“What are you doing?”

“Spanking you,” he said simply.

She sputtered. “But . . . why? I didn’t even do anything!”

He tightened his grip when she tried to pull away. “Sure you did.” His mind worked quickly to think of an excuse. “You’ve been taunting me with your hot ass for hours.”

“Ugh. That’s bullshit!”

“Hmm.” He arched a brow. “Now we can add swearing at me to the list.”

The girl dared to roll her eyes. “Swearing? Seriously? And you can’t spank me here. People will see!”

“What people?” He waited for a safeword while she bit her lip and peered around them. Would she let him spank her? It was pretty ballsy for him to push for this, but she’d surprised him several times with what she’d let him do.

When she didn’t respond, he put his hands on her hips and guided her over his lap. That she went willingly, albeit reluctantly, made his dick hard. Fuck, she was perfect.

She covered her face with her hands and mumbled, “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

Still no safeword. He smiled, staring at her bottom. He wouldn’t take her shorts down just in case someone happened to walk by, but he could have fun anyway.

“Are you a bad girl, Ophelia?”

“No!”

He smacked her once and she yelped. “Hmm. I think you are.”

Another slap. The shorts made the sound more of a thud, which was less likely to draw attention, but he’d bet there was no one around for at least a mile.

“I think you like to tease me,” he said, spanking her a few more times before pausing for a response.

“What are you talking about?” She wiggled but he held her still around the waist.

“Last night . . .” His dick pressed painfully against his zipper. “You were a naughty girl.”

She’d pranced around in her lace panties, pretending to be coy. It hadn’t taken long for him to throw her down on the bed for a quickie. He’d meant to have her again before the night was over—slower and with more appreciation—but she’d fallen asleep on his chest. She’d looked so goddamn adorable he hadn’t been able to bring himself to wake her.

“Last night?” She whimpered as he struck her three more times.

“Yup.” He rubbed his hand over her shorts, wishing he’d pulled them down so he could see her pink skin. His hand strayed down to stroke her bare thigh, too, because . . . it was right there and why not? “You were dancing around in your sexy underwear on purpose.”

Silence, and then she chuckled.

“See? I knew it.” He spanked her until she kicked and squealed, but he knew it didn’t hurt that much. In fact, he was pretty sure the buttons from her shorts stung his hand more than his hand stung her ass.

As he spanked her, he chastised her for being a better hiker than him, for buying sexy shorts, and for choosing a trail without much privacy.

By the time he was done, they were both laughing. He pulled her up and she stood in front of him, her cheeks bright red.

“That was rude!” she said in mock indignation. “Anyone could’ve seen us!”

“Yes, there’s a horny bear somewhere over there.” He gestured vaguely, smiling.

She scowled at him. It was so adorable, he couldn’t stop himself from standing up and kissing her. Her mouth moved eagerly on his, reminding him of other things she could do with those lips.

He pulled away and sighed loudly. “You’re too distracting, woman. Get moving before I throw you down and fuck you. This boulder is the perfect height.”

Eyes wide, she scrambled back to the trail.

He wished the trail was wide enough to walk side-by-side so he could hold her hand. Instead, he settled on alternating between watching her ass and the scenery again.

Soon the dirt path slanted upward. They were far from the scrub brush and trees now, and on a narrow strip surrounded by steep cliffs. Ophelia trekked confidently up the rocky trail, but the fact that one slip could send her over the edge made all his protective instincts rise to the surface.

She slowed and squinted at something in the distance. “Hey, what are those white things over there? They look like rocks but I think they’re moving.”

He followed her gaze where the trail cut across the mountainside. Sure enough, several white blobs moved in a line toward them. He searched his brain for an answer.

“Goats!” she cried, clapping her hands. “They’re mountain goats.” Turning to grin at him, she added, “Our first wildlife encounter!”

He wouldn’t exactly call this an encounter but he nodded along in support.

“We should pick up some binoculars before we go out again tomorrow.” She resumed the trek and he followed, contemplating her suggestion.

“You don’t want to head home tomorrow?” he asked, thinking of the messages from his cousins.

“Already?” She spun on him, brow creased. “One day is too short.”

“Okay.” It wasn’t exactly a hard sell. He didn’t want to leave yet either.

“Do you have somewhere you have to be?”

Fox and Atlas were probably ready to kick his ass, but leaving her here alone went against his nature. He’d volunteered to accompany her and he’d damn well follow through. Not as if it was a chore. In fact, leaving her side tomorrow or the next day or the day after that felt so . . . wrong. A month from now would be too soon. Forever would be too soon.

Whoa. Slow down.

The thin air of the mountains was getting to him.

“You can go,” she said sadly. “You’re not obligated to stay.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist and gazed down at her. “I have no interest in leaving, and it has nothing to do with feeling obligated to stay.” And that was the truth, even if he was shirking his responsibilities. “But, I should probably let my business partners know when I’ll be back. How long are you thinking you want to stay?”

She shrugged. “A few more days? I . . . have things I need to figure out.” Her lips turned down and her eyes lost their sparkle.

Way to ruin her fun, idiot.

Now that he’d brought it up, though, he felt like he couldn’t just leave things that way. “Like what?”

Wincing, she shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

So she had secrets too. Maybe he should’ve been offended but it only made him more interested. There were layers to this woman. She wasn’t just a pretty face. “Fair enough. But I’m here if you change your mind.” He hoped she would open up to him eventually. He may not have answers, but he was a good listener.

“Thank you.” She smiled shyly.

He’d bet it had to do with her dad. The whole trip seemed to center around him. Was she still grieving? She hadn’t even told him how he’d died. A quick Google search would answer that—it was probably all over the media—but he’d let her tell him when she was ready. Snooping around for information she didn’t want to discuss wasn’t his style.

“Let’s get going,” he said, turning her to face forward. “I don’t want to be on the trail in the dark.”

“Speed up then, old man,” she said, then skipped ahead before he could smack her ass like he wanted to.

Just as she rounded a corner, she stopped short.

“What’s wrong?” He followed her gaze down the trail and spotted what had frozen her in place. A hulking mountain goat less than half a football field away, right on the trail, blocking their path.

The goat faced them, its horns looking much sharper than they had from farther away. Its body was thick and muscular, like it ate steroids for breakfast.

Since when did goats get that big? This wasn’t a cute bell-wearing farm goat, that was for sure.

Ophelia seemed uncertain but he walked in front of her and glanced over his shoulder. “It’ll move when we get closer. They’re more afraid of us than we are of them.”

She nodded. “O-okay.”

They started forward, then he heard her stop again, and she grabbed his arm. She backtracked, then pushed him behind the jutted rock that made a corner. She pressed her back up against the cliff.

When he stared at her dumbfounded, she yanked him back against the rock too. “It saw us,” she hissed.

He chuckled. “So? It’s just a goat.”

“There’s a baby there. Animal mothers don’t fuck around!”

“Neither do human ones,” he muttered, then peered around the corner. “Come on. I’m sure it’ll move off the trail.”

She shook her head, her face ghost white. “I don’t think so. You didn’t see the look in her eye. She’s not afraid of us. She’s out for blood.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. Let’s go.”

“No.”

“What do you think it’s gonna do?” He chuckled. “Bite me with its razor sharp fangs? Kick me with its massive hoofs?”

“Ram you off the cliff!” she retorted.

He scoffed. “I’m bigger than the goat. It’ll get scared once it sees that.”

“Go ahead then.” She shrugged. “Let me know when it’s clear.”

Riding the high that came with protecting her, he marched back around the corner, determined to stare the goat down until it moved. The goat spotted him at once then lowered its head.

He turned to Ophelia, who was peeking around the corner. “See? It’s already recognizing I’m superior.”

“Uh-huh. Keep going, George of the Jungle.”

Feeling a little silly, he tried to make himself look bigger and took a step closer.

The goat charged. It picked up speed and lowered it’s head so its horns were leveled at Luke’s crotch.

“Shiiiiit.” He stumbled back around the corner then turned and pushed Ophelia back down trail. “Run!”

He took a quick glance at the cliffs above the trail and below, but there was nowhere to go that was off of the path. Not without rope and climbing gear. They ran a few paces down the trail before he spun to check behind them.

No goat. There was a decent-sized boulder just below the trail that pushed out far enough to see around that corner. He jumped down onto it and leaned to check on the goat. It’d given up the chase and now herded its young down the cliff, off of the path.

He climbed up the loose rock and back onto the trail where Ophelia stood hovering against the cliff, eyes wide. “It’s gone.”

“You almost got us killed!” She smacked his arm.

“Nah,” he said, trying to look unruffled, even though he was still breathing hard from the run. “Might’ve just nudged us is all.”

“Nudged us off the cliff to certain death!”

He’d be looking for something to fend goats off with later tonight. Maybe a stick would do it. In all his years as a car thief, he’d never had an adrenaline rush quite like being chased down a mountain by a goat.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, he smiled at Ophelia. The indignant look on her face was adorable.

“Should we keep going or do you want to go back?”

“Why would I want to go back?”

“I thought you might be scared.”

She sniffed and raised her chin. “I’m not scared. Are you scared?”

“No.” Not once he found a stick. “It was cute.”

“Cute?”

“In fact, I might look into getting one as a pet when we get home.” He winked. “They’re so fluffy.”

“I saw the look on your face,” Ophelia said, her expression amused. “You were totally scared.”

“Nope. That’s classic transference. You were scared, so you think I was.”

She gave him a skeptical look, and he knew he wasn’t fooling her for a second.

“I’ll lead the way for a while.” It would make him feel better if she was safely behind him, even if he did lose the nice view.

With a smirk, she replied, “So I get to stare at your ass now?”

***

As soon as Luke and Ophelia returned to her SUV and started the drive back down the mountains toward the lodge, Luke’s phone started dinging with message alerts. Service cut out about halfway up Going-to-the-Sun road and his cousins had apparently been blowing up his phone with texts throughout the hike. When they reached the lodge, he and Ophelia hit the shower, but as soon as he was clean he left her to finish on her own so he could check his messages.

Most of them were demands to know when he was coming home, and some cryptic talk about a wolf in the chicken coop.

What the fuck?

Concerned, he dialed Fox’s number and hoped he picked up. It rang twice.

“Finally!” Fox said, exasperated. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Hiking. There’s not much service. I’m in the middle of fucking nowhere.” They knew that. Why were they being such pussies about it? They’d never bitched about him being away before.

“Well, while you’ve been fucking around with your little hotel queen, one of Marcel’s idiots has been making trouble.”

Fuck. He’d thought Marcel’s crew had decided to lie low after his death. “What?”

Fox sighed. “Vander. He’s careless and the police have been watching him. And he’s been watching us, which means we’re on the cops’ radar now.”

“Oh shit.”

“We’ve got one cop who keeps bringing laptops by, saying the precinct needs them repaired.” His voice tightened. “Atlas has been dealing with him but . . . I’m wondering if we should just pack up and go before this shitstain takes us down with him.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. His family was in crisis and here he was messing around with a pretty girl and having a vacation. But he couldn’t desert her. Could he? Should he? He wasn’t even sure how he could help Fox and Atlas. If it was just about giving the guy a scare, Fox was the most intimidating of them. And Atlas could bullshit his way through business dealings with the cops.

“God, the timing couldn’t be worse.” He let out a long exhale. “I’m coming back. I just need . . . three more days. Can you give me three days?”

A pause. Was he being a selfish asshole? Part of him worried for his cousins’ safety, but he also knew they could take care of themselves.

“I’m not sure how I could help anyway. If there are cops involved, it’s best to lie low.”

Fox grunted. “Your family is more important than a hot piece of ass.”

“Don’t get all sanctimonious with me,” Luke snapped. “I remember how you were with Addison. You were a space cadet.”

“I loved her. We had a real relationship. I wasn’t chasing some pipe dream across the country—”

“Fuck off, Fox.” His frustration took over. Frustration about the timing, the situation, fear for their business, and the fact that Fox was probably right. Ophelia was a pipe dream and he was wasting his time, but he wanted this. Wanted her. He couldn’t bring himself to walk away just yet. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Look.” Fox took an audible breath. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to insult you. Clearly, you like her. I won’t judge you for that. Just . . . take three days. We’ll be fine. But try to think realistically about this. What’s your future look like with this girl?”

He wanted to tell him to shut up again. Did he have to think about a future? Couldn’t he just enjoy the now?

But a future without Ophelia was starting to look . . . bleak. She was interesting and fun and sexy as hell but that wasn’t even half of it. It was too hard to explain. Fox should understand after he’d been so insane over Addison, but sometimes words just didn’t cut it.

It didn’t matter anyway. In three days, they’d return home and part ways. The adventure would be over. He should start pulling away now. It’d be easier to drop her off at home and walk away if he started detaching ahead of time.

Yeah. That was a good plan.

Luke said good-bye to his cousin, then placed his phone on the nightstand and stared at the carpet design, contemplating his next move. Detach. He could do that. She was just some woman, right? He barely knew her.

The bathroom door opened and Ophelia stepped into the room, a towel wrapped around her body, her hair hanging wet on her shoulders, and her cheeks rosy.

Fuck. All thought of cousins and car theft evaporated. She was lovely and vulnerable, and he really wanted to kiss her. He wanted an army of mutant goats to show up and attack them so he could impress her by fending them off.

He wanted to do every pervy and romantic thing he’d ever thought of to this poor creature.

He settled for pervy, for now. “Well, well. What do we have here?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I just came out to get some clean clothes.” Despite her words, she stood in the center of the room, skin glistening, chest rising and falling too rapidly for the casual air she was trying to exude. She lingered there, her towel slipping down until it barely covered her nipples.

Her gaze wandered the room aimlessly. With another woman he would have thought she was lost in thought, but not Ophelia. She was painfully aware of him, her body alert and full of tension. Like a sweet little bitch in heat, all too aware the dominant male had taken notice.

He let his gaze travel over her, and smiled lazily to let her know he enjoyed what he saw, even though she was pretending not to be watching him. Although they hadn’t known each other long, he was starting to decipher her body language, especially when it came to arousal. This was a signal that she was needy but too shy to ask.

“Come here.”

She clutched her towel tighter, and ducked her head. “Why?”

“Because I want to play with your pussy.”

The pink in her cheeks darkened to red. “You’re so dirty!”

“Nope, just showered.”

“I mean what you say. You can’t just kiss me, you always have to say something crude.” Her grip on the towel shifted, threatening to expose one of her breasts, and he stared there in silent anticipation, willing the towel to droop lower. As though he hadn’t just seen her naked in the shower. There was something about a woman in a towel that made a man sit up and take notice. Some parts even more than others.

“Come here. Let me check how much my crude talk turns you off.”

“What? No!”

“No? Hmm . . . that’s not your safeword, sweetheart. Are you disobeying me in the hopes of getting another spanking?”

“Well . . . no. I . . .” Her adorable, pink-painted toes dug into the plush carpet.

“Then come here, before you get punished.”

A mottled blush spread up her chest and neck to meet the one in her cheeks and extend straight up into her hairline. Little blond girls sure could blush.

She made her way over to him, plucking imaginary lint from her fluffy white towel and inspecting the bedroom carpet. When she reached him she stood an arm’s length away, looking sweet enough to eat.

“Come here and sit on my lap.”

“No!”

“Why not?” He grabbed her wrist and towed her closer.

“I’m too big to sit on your lap.”

Too big? He snorted. “Hardly. Now you have two choices, little Miss Ophelia. Either sit on my lap or lie over it.”

She bit her lip and frowned at him playfully. “But I don’t need a spanking.”

“You also have the option to sit.” He chuckled quietly. “Why am I not surprised you’re more interested in the idea of being spanked than in having a conversation?”

“If I sit on your lap in a towel, I highly doubt we’re going to talk about anything other than what comes up.” She said, glancing pointedly at his jeans.

“Last chance to sit, little girl.”

Her bottom hit his thighs so fast that he chuckled.

“You didn’t like when I spanked you on the trail today?”

“No,” she mumbled.

“No? Why not?” Maybe the chance of getting caught had freaked her out.

“Shut up.”

He raised a brow and she ducked her head, nibbling on the end of her thumb.

“What part didn’t you like?”

She squirmed, and he regretted having put jeans on. He could have been inside her for this conversation. Her pussy was so warm that if the towel hadn’t been between them she probably would have made a mess where she was sitting. Even though she’d just showered, the scent of her arousal was already reaching him. Such a horny little thing, and that suited him just fine.

“Tell me,” he coaxed when her hesitation went on too long.

She traced a finger over the tattoos on his chest, then more shyly over one of his nipple piercings. He had to fight not to react.

“You didn’t pull my pants down,” she whispered, then buried her face in his shoulder.

“You like it better when I spank your bare bottom?”

“Shh! People are going to hear you!” She made a high, distressed noise that was completely adorable.

“They’re going to hear more than that in a few minutes.”

She frowned up at him, and he grinned at her.

“You’re not very nice,” she grumbled.

“Did I ever say I was?”

“No.” She leaned her head against his shoulder again, then grabbed his hand and lifted it to her mouth.

Before he realized what she was doing, she slipped his middle finger in her mouth, latched on, and started to suck. A full body shudder racked through him, and he closed his eyes, surprised at how such an innocuous thing was turning him on. God—everything this woman did was an aphrodisiac.

“What are you doing?” he said huskily, seriously thinking of throwing her down on the bed and shoving his painfully hard cock into her mouth.

She stopped sucking his finger and the sensation and the wet sound of her mouth releasing him made him shift in discomfort. The woman was fucking evil.

“Sucking,” she said. “I like to suck on things sometimes. It makes me feel better. Don’t you like it?” Big brown eyes regarded him quizzically.

His brain stuttered to a standstill, and he watched in breathless fascination as her pretty mouth wrapped around his finger again. Her tongue explored the tip of his finger, the edge of his nail, then she was suckling again and he was in imminent danger of coming in his jeans.

“You’re already good at sucking cock, but if you did it the way you do this no man would stand a chance against you.”

She didn’t respond, other than to turn her sweet gaze to his, and continue her sensual assault on his finger. Apparently it turned her on too, because soon she was wriggling in his lap, towel fallen open, rubbing her sexy ass against his rock-hard dick.

“Ophelia, stop.” When she didn’t comply, he pulled his finger from her mouth and grabbed her by the hips to hold her still. She whimpered and squirmed, and was generally disobedient and distracting. “Stop now or I’m going to punish you.”

She mewled and pressed against him, kissing his mouth.

Such a bad girl. He kissed her once because he couldn’t help himself, then held her away by the shoulders.

“Spankings are only one way to punish a naughty girl,” he warned.

“Do whatever you want,” she replied. The heaving of her distractingly perfect breasts almost threw him off.

“I always do.”

He stood up, dumping her off his lap, but making sure she slid down his body somewhat so she didn’t hurt herself. She squeaked in surprise when she hit the floor.

“Crawl to that corner.”

She frowned at him and tried to rise to her feet. He grabbed her by the back of the hair and forced her back down, watching her reaction in case this was too harsh for her.

“I said crawl, princess.”

Her scowl was hilarious. He didn’t laugh, but he did let go of her hair when she didn’t try to get up again.

“If I’m a princess, why do I have to crawl?” she asked indignantly.

“Because princesses still need to be good little girls.” He swatted her bottom, and she gasped, her arms buckling beneath her.

Ophelia facedown and ass up, presenting everything she owned to him, was almost his undoing. The next blow he landed on her posterior connected with a stinging crack, and she yowled, got back up on all fours and crawled toward the corner. The perfect red outline of his hand stood out on her pale flesh in stark relief.

He followed her to the corner, because how could he not?

“Stand up and face the corner.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

After giving him one last incredulous glance, she got to her feet and did as she was told.

Forcing himself not to give in too easily, he sat in the nearby arm chair and waited, watching. She glanced over her shoulder at him once, but hastily turned her gaze back to the wall.

A few times she sighed, and by the ten-minute mark she was shifting and making sounds of annoyance.

Silently, he rose from the chair and moved up behind her.

“Is there a problem?”

She startled and laughed nervously. “No, Luke.”

“No?”

“Well . . . this is boring.”

“Boring?”

She nodded. “I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Sure you have. Unfortunately for you, it’s not done yet.” He patted her ass. “Brace your forearms on the wall.”

As she complied, he grabbed her by the hips and pulled back until she shuffled backward. When he had her in position, she was leaning on the wall, but her ass was thrust out at him.

Damn. He squeezed his balls, trying to calm his body’s reaction to the way she looked in this stance. Round ass led to long, shapely legs. He could stare at that sweet ass all fucking day. Her pussy glistened, slick and ready, and her tightly puckered asshole begged for his exploration. It took a few long moments to distract himself, but he managed not to just drop his pants and shove his cock into her like an impatient teenager. She shifted, trying to hide herself from his gaze, but he swatted her and told her to stay put.

He traced his fingers over her quivering ass, making her gasp, putting her back where he wanted her. As he neared her anus she shied away.

“Bad girl.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and spanked her twenty times, counting down as each sharp blow landed. She’d gone ragdoll limp in his grasp by the time he was done. His palm was burning. “Back in position now, or you get another ten.”

Shaking, she braced herself against the wall again, but he had to adjust her stance to get her ass and pussy back on display how he wanted them.

“So humiliating,” she whispered.

“You don’t like showing me what’s mine?”

“It’s not yours!”

A trickle of moisture rolled from the slickness between her thighs. He caught it with a fingertip and smeared it across the back of her leg, just to let her know he’d seen it.

“No? Your body says otherwise.”

“Oh, god.” She hid her face against the inside of her arm, but didn’t break position. “Please just have sex with me. Just regular-person sex.”

“Regular-person sex bores you.”

“Shh!” She frowned desperately. “You have a big voice. People are going to hear you.”

Spreading a hand over her lower back, he pushed down so she’d arch. “You said to do whatever I wanted to, so I’m going to take you up on that.”

He knelt between her legs and swept his tongue along the seam of her sex, insinuating it between her labia when she tipped her hips back harder to give him access to her clit. Her scent and her tartness on his tongue made his cock pulse enthusiastically.

Fuck, she smelled good.

As he licked a path back and forth, around the hardened nub of her pleasure, along to her opening, then back, he let his hands stray from their firm grip on her ass.

Questing fingers traced the divide of her ass, trailing down to her anus. She stiffened, squirming but not daring to move with his tongue on its path back to her clit where she so desperately wanted it. He brushed his fingertips over her puckered asshole, enjoying her squeaks and whimpers of dismay, her breathy moans of arousal. For a moment he considering rimming her ass, but he doubted she was ready for that. As it was, her legs shook, and she gasped out bad words. When he moved his fingers away from her ass, she followed them with her body begging for more, probably without realizing what she was doing.

He slicked his fingers with her own desire, and coaxed a fingertip into her asshole, watching as the tight bud grudgingly allowed him entry. Holding her breath, she let him do it, her body taut with need and anxiety. His finger slowly broached her, and he patiently coaxed it deeper.

“Luke, don’t,” she begged. “Why are you doing this?”

“Shh,” he said gently. “Breathe, baby. I did this to you before. It wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“It feels weird.” She complained. Her high-pitched whine made his balls tighten with impatience.

“But you like it.”

“I—”

Whatever she was about to say was forgotten as her body opened to him and he pushed his finger in the rest of the way. She moaned, long and loud, and he gritted his teeth to stay in control of himself. He vibrated his finger and her body clamped down around him. She hissed in a breath, and out of the corner of his gaze he saw her toes grasp at the plush carpeting.

“No . . . no . . .” Her knees started to buckle, and he withdrew his finger, then steadied her.

He walked her to the bed, then laid her facedown, wedging a pillow under her hips. She wriggled against it, grinding against it with sinuous, sexy squirms of her hips. Damn. He slapped her sharply on the back of the thigh.

“Stop that right now, or I’m going to spank your naughty pussy.”

“Please, Luke . . . I need to come so bad.”

“No. You don’t get to come until my cock is in that sexy ass of yours.”

“Okay,” she whispered miserably. “But if it hurts too much you have to stop.”

“Of course. Do you remember your safeword?”

“Duh.”

He swatted her ass right on top of a pink patch and she hissed but pushed back for more.

Nice. There was nothing like a girl who got off on what he liked to dish out.

He ducked into the bathroom to wash his hands. When he returned, he noticed the mirror on the nearby wall, then angled her body so he could see her face in the reflection.

“Isn’t it going to hurt without lube?”

He barked a laugh. “I wouldn’t be doing this without lube, especially not on the first try. I’m not that much of a sadist . . . or a masochist.”

“Where on earth did you get lube? And when?” She sounded incredulous, and possibly scandalized.

“At the pharmacy. I just didn’t put it in with the other stuff I bought. I didn’t want to scare you.”

“Well, that was a bit presumptuous!”

The fact that she was saying so while she lay draped over a pillow waiting for him to fuck her ass was amusing.

He went to his backpack and took the lube out of the side pouch he’d stashed it in. “If I didn’t use it with you, so what? I’d rather be prepared than have to improvise.”

Eyes narrowed, she watched him bring the lube closer as though it was dangerous. “Have you . . . done this before?”

“Yes.”

“With someone who hasn’t tried it yet?”

“Yes. Several times,” he said, meaning to reassure her but wondering if he’d just made her feel like this was inconsequential to him. It actually meant a lot for her to trust him so much, so soon. “If you hate it I’ll stop, but know I can make you like it.”

“You’re pretty full of yourself, you know that?” she said, brows arched.

“It’s hard not to be when I have you where I want you.” He lowered himself to the bed beside her, leaving his jeans on for now.

Rather than rush her, he started over, trailing his fingers up and down her back, loving the way her eyes glazed over when she shuddered. Gradually, he let his hand inch closer to her ass.

Her forehead creased. “I shouldn’t let you do this. It’s . . . shameful.”

Shameful? Some girls knew exactly what to say to make a guy’s dick threaten to explode. Stupid corruption fetish.

“After I made you crawl on the floor and stand in the corner, you’re worried about something this vanilla?”

“There’s nothing vanilla about doing . . . what you’re thinking about.”

Fuck, she couldn’t even say it out loud. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d defiled such an inexperienced girl. Her aroused mortification was so working for him.

“Forget about propriety and let your body tell you what it likes. Lots of people love anal. It’s not even taboo anymore.”

“Maybe not with the people you know.”

He gave her his best evil smile. “Well then, you’d better not tell your friends what you let me do to you.”

She buried her face in the mattress, groaning at the thought of it, or maybe she was just that nervous.

Enough stalling.

When she looked at him again, he kissed her, impressed she didn’t get prissy about tasting herself from his mouth. Ophelia wasn’t uptight at all, she’d just never given herself permission to be dirty, and her willingness to do almost anything to please him was hot as hell.

Sliding his fingers between her legs, he toyed with her slick pussy, making sure not to get her off even though she subtly tried to direct his actions. When she was squirming for him again and moaning into his mouth, he let his thumb stray to her perineum, stroking her there until she stopped squeaking and begging him not to, before moving his attention her anus again. By then she was so aroused she only mewled into his mouth, shuddering and gasping, ready for whatever he had planned.

It probably wouldn’t be very macho of him to excuse himself so he could rub one out in the bathroom. It would only take a minute. His balls were emitting a blue, aching haze of pain, and he was probably going to blow his load on her ass before he even got into her.

His muscles tensed as he worked to stave off his arousal, refusing to be ruled by primal need. He had to make sure she enjoyed this.