Page 33 of SNOB

TIL: you can still get goosebumps in a warm shower.

Mac’s eyes dart around my body like a hungry lion before I reach for the curtain to cover it. But he catches my wrist. “No sudden movements,” he says, his voice a low growl. My back hits the cold tile and I wince, my body still sore from the accident … if we’re calling it that. Beau’s cries are still so loud in my head. It makes the rest of the day seem tame.

Is he really gone?

Did Mac really do that?

That bubble in my gut rises and I fight the urge to puke. I can’t stay here. I know how this goes. The rich? He’ll get away scot-free. Not me.

He drops his hand before his finger moves to his lips.

“Quiet?” I ask, my voice shaky. “You expect me to be quiet when you’re bulldozing past everything including my boundaries? When you just—” I still can’t make myself say it, and that makes my voice lower to a whisper. I can’t begin to explain this to Uncle Jake. “Why are you here?” I hate that I whisper in my own home to my intruder. “You’re insane.”

He actually chuckles, proving he is. “Yes.” And he owns it like a maniac.

I gasp when his hand comes to my wrist, his hold tight and firm. He brings my hands above my head, exposing my body to him again. He stalls for a minute, his eyes raking me from head to toe.

Can he see my nipples harden? Can he see my cheeks redden? His smirk confirms it.

“I think you like it.” Beau’s voice circles my head as Mac drops his hands. But mine don’t move.

Looking up, my hands hang from the shower head, tied together with plastic chords. “Fuck off, Mac. Untie me.”

He leans back in the shower and… lights a fucking cigarette. “Oh, you’re not going anywhere.” He puffs as I pull. “Struggling will only make it worse.”

Fuck, he’s right. The plastic digs into my skin, burning my wrists. “Untie me.”

“No,” he responds.

“Mac!” I scream.

His hand slaps over my mouth. “Bad idea.” Tobacco rolls off his breath as he stares into my eyes. “I don’t think the ol’ guy will even hear you. Right now, you’re all mine, Everett. Understand?” A sting comes to my nipple, flutters spreading through my body before I hiss. He’s pinching it andI hate the burst of butterflies that come with it. “Understand?”

My stomach tightens, my thighs clenching as the sting turns to a pleasurable tingle. Then back to pain. He won’t let up until I finally nod. The minute he releases my tingling bud, all the heat from my body dissipates with the pain.

“Good girl,” he smirks.

Beau’s words ring through my head again but I ignore them when his hand moves from my mouth. “I thought you wanted me gone.” It’s hard to speak with the way his knuckle trails over my nipple, like he’s nursing the feeling back to it. I shouldn’t like the way that feels.

“Should’ve left when you had the chance,” he says. His finger flicks my other nipple, hardening under his touch. “Does this excite you, Butterfly?”

“No.” Is Beau right? Can Mac see it too?

“Liar.”

“Mac, let me go.”

“Why? You’re blushing so hard, your cheeks match your hair.” He lets the damp cigarette fall to the tub, the water putting it out before both hands land on my breasts. “How big are these, Everett?”

Closing my eyes, I try to ignore the way my nipples land between his fingers. “What’s your plan, Mac?” My voice shakes when I speak, no matter how hard I try to steady it.

A wet hand comes to my face, a slap sending heat to my core. “Look at me when you’re talking to me, Everett.”

“Fuck you,” I spit.

Slap!

My cheek stings, Mac’s hand lingering near it as if he’ll do it again.“What was that?”

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