Page 100 of House of Lies

I slide onto a kitchen stool as Ethan heads for an intercom by a door leading off the kitchen. “What would you like?” he asks, hand on the receiver.

“What can I have?”

“Anything you want.”

I swing my feet. “Even pizza?”

“Even pizza.”

“What about nachos?”

“You’d like nachos?” he asks pointedly.

I’m testing his patience. I roll my lips together, looking out at the view for a moment as if considering. “What about sushi…?”

“Cassidy…” His voice comes out as a low growl—a warning. But I’m feeling loopy right now. Maybe from the deep nap I’d had, or the exhilarating rush of waking up in such a beautiful place.

“What if I wanted nachos on a pizza?” I venture.

I squeal when he rushes me, trying to slip off the barstool before he can reach me, but not moving fast enough. He catches me around the waist and turns, folding me over the edge of the kitchen island where I’d been sitting. I’m too short, but he doesn’t hesitate to hoist me up. Flipping up the edge of my t-shirt, he bares my naked ass to the room. His gray silk shirt brushes against my skin, and I break out in goosebumps.

“God, Cassidy,” he rumbles as he slides his hands down my cheeks. “You bruise so beautifully.”

“Not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

“This is for being a smart mouth,” he says, a second before laying a ringing slap on my ass.

I gasp, pushing up onto my elbows in shock. That hurt.

I thought my ass would be at least a little used to it by now. “Ow!”

“And this is for making me want to fuck you again.” He stings my ass with a second slap, and damn it, right on the same spot as before.

I howl out in pain and try to kick him.

“Now behave yourself,” he growls, grabbing my hips and setting me down on the floor again.

I almost pout, but I realize I’ll look like an idiot. So I rub my stinging ass through the t-shirt and make a point of not looking at him. “Can I have a burger?”

“Whatever you want, my little fuck toy.”

“That’s no way to speak to a lady,” I tell him in my most officious sounding voice.

“Would a lady leave a puddle on my carpet and beg me not to take my cock out of her?” he asks bluntly.

I scowl at his back as he saunters over to the phone and orders us each a burger.

I mean…he’s not wrong.

Chapter 40

Ethan

“You keep eating your burger like that, and I’ll have to tie you to the table again.”

Cassidy stops chewing just long enough to throw me a frustrated look. “Now I can’t even eat without getting into trouble?” she mumbles through her mouthful of food.

“Are you talking with food in your mouth?”

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