Part 22 (1/2)

Her wide-eyed gaze shot to his. 'That's not funny.'

He wasn't smiling. 'It wasn't meant to be. I read you the first day. Crispy on the outside. Creamy inside. My favorite.'

'Now you are teasing me.'

'Yeah, I am.'

'I hate that.'

'No, you don't. You've just never experienced it before so you don't know how to handle it. Most people cater to you, treat you with kid gloves because they're afraid of offending you. I just treat you like an equal.'

She crossed her arms. 'I don't like it.'

His lips twitched. 'Are you going to pout?'

'I might.'

He pushed back against the mattress and rested against the headboard of the bed. Lacing his fingers behind his head, his wide chest expanded as he arched his back. 'Go ahead. I'll watch.'

'Derek!' Dammit, he was mean. 'Get out of my room and let me get some sleep.'

'You don't want to sleep,' he said, his eyes darkening.

'Since when do you presume to know what I want?'

'Since I've decided we're so much alike it's d.a.m.n scary.'

She slid off the bed and grabbed for that bottle of water again, uns.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the cap and taking a long swallow. She threw one to him and he caught it one-handed. 'We are nothing alike,' she said. 'You're a bullheaded, opinionated, have-to-have-things-your-own-way pain in the a.s.s.'

'Exactly.'

'Oh, that's not fair. I'm nothing like that.'

'Aren't you?'

She was really going to have to start locking her door. 'Go away, Derek. I don't want you here. Seriously.'

'You're just mad that I'm not kissing your a.s.s and giving in. But that's not my style, Gina, and you know that. You don't always get to have your way. Now come lay down on the bed with me and I'll make you forget all your troubles.'

'You have an enormous ego.'

'Overshadowed by your gigantic one.'

She tossed the empty water bottle in the trash and placed her hands on her hips, leveling a glare in his direction. 'Neanderthal.'

He arched a brow. 'Brat.'

'b.a.s.t.a.r.d.'

He was smiling now. 'b.i.t.c.h.'

She snorted. No one ever talked to her the way he did. No one ever gave her s.h.i.+t or threw her own att.i.tude back at her. Admittedly, she found it rather invigorating. She approached the bed, resting the front of her thighs at the edge of the mattress.

'I'll have you fired,' she teased.

'I'll have you spanked.'

Her eyes widened. Now there was a challenge. She crawled onto the bed. 'You wouldn't dare.'

'Try me.'

The flare of arousal sparked inside her, her body flaming like an unchecked wildfire. The thought of his hands on her, touching her, spanking her. G.o.d, the places her mind went just then.

'Come here, Gina.'

'No.'

Poised for flight, she still wasn't prepared for his quick reflexes. When he lunged at her, she let out a squeal, but he caught her around the waist and dragged her, face-down, over his lap.

'Derek, let me up!'

'Oh, I don't think so. You've been a very bad girl.'

She squirmed, but it sure as h.e.l.l wasn't to get away. Desire coiled heavy along her limbs and in her belly, especially when Derek dragged her shorts down to her thighs, baring her b.u.t.tocks.

'Don't you dare!'

'You want me to.'

His voice had gone dark, dangerous, just the sound of it enough to inflame her senses. When he touched her skin, she jumped, her body antic.i.p.ating and needy. But he caressed her b.u.t.t, smoothing his hand over her flesh, sliding between her legs and tempting her by purposely evading the parts she wanted him to touch.

She bit down on her lower lip, refusing to beg him to touch her there, wondering what he was going to do next.

When he swatted her b.u.t.tocks, she let out a yelp. But he hadn't spanked her hard. Oh, no, that was a love tap, meant to excite, not punish.

d.a.m.n, did it ever excite her. She grabbed a fistful of blanket and held on as he did it again to the other cheek, then smoothed the area he had just swatted with a soft caress, once again sliding his fingers between her legs.

'Open for me, Gina.'

Insinuating his hand between her thighs, he pushed them further apart, tugging her shorts all the way off. But still, he didn't touch her s.e.x, which throbbed in antic.i.p.ation.

Please.

One spank, another tingle of lightning excitement, another sweet caress. And still, he didn't touch her where she craved it most, didn't answer her unspoken pleas.

It was the sweetest, most agonizing punishment she'd ever received. And she knew that when he did touch her, when he did caress her most sensitized areas, she was going to explode.