Page 8 of Dirty Play

That’s why I can’t make a move, and she knows I won’t—so, she’s fucking testing me. Pushing my limits, seeing just how far she can take this little game, and dammit, I'm not sure I'm strong enough to fight her. I’ve had just about enough of this push and pull tonight that I just might cave and give her exactly what she’s tempting me with.

“What are you doing, Cade?” she asks, a small smile turning up the corner of her mouth as she gazes back to the group of guys. “I was just making some new friends. Those fine… gentlemen were just trying to dance with me.”

Anger surges through me. An anger I can’t explain. I just… I hate it. I hate them. I hate that they thought they could touch her. I hate that she might have let them… even if it was just dancing. I hate the way they're still looking at her like she’s something they can take. They can take her from my cold dead hands. Even then, I’d find a way to come back for her, making sure to haunt them for the rest of their lives. They can’t have her.

“I’m aware,” I growl, my hands gripping her sides now, holding her in place. She doesn’t flinch, doesn’t move away from me. Leaning forward, I stop when my lips are nearly touching her ear and whisper quietly, “But if I recall correctly, I thought I heard you tell those little boys no. I don’t hear you telling me no right now… do you want me to stop? Or do you want to stop talking and start dancing with me?”

She pauses, her head tilting in confusion as she stares at me like she’s trying to figure out a puzzle, but the joke’s on her. It’s a giant clusterfuck of a puzzle, filled with every shade of gray possible, a million different shapes, and at least fifty missing pieces that I'm not sure even came in the box. “Well… Mr. Grumps, I wasn’t expecting this. But… if you’re scaring off my prospects, I need more than just one dance.”

It takes everything in me not to pick her up, throw her over my shoulder, and drag her out of this bar to teach her a lesson. She’s pushing all of my buttons tonight, only some of them good. If she starts talking to me about fucking someone else, I might actually lose it.

“The whole night,” I murmur into her ear as her ass grinds into my now very obvious erection, and based on the twinkle in her eyes, she definitely notices it.

“So… until we leave, or until morning?” she asks, and dammit, I can’t tell her no. I could, but not a single part of me wants to in this moment. Right now, I'll give her anything she wants. A car? A shopping spree? The damn moon? It’s hers, as long as the only one touching her tonight is me.

“The whole night, Tink. Now, can we be done talking?” I growl, nipping her ear in an attempt to distract her.

“What exactly is in it for me?” she asks, her eyes alight with mischief—like she knows exactly what I’m promising—as she bites her lip, the hope evident on her face.

Me. That’s what she wants.

My eyes darken, and I feel my cock thicken even further, almost to the point of discomfort, at the promise in her voice. The promise of a night we’d never forget, and I have to hold myself back from pulling her into a dark corner and giving her a taste of what the rest of tonight could be.

But I don’t. Instead, I freeze… nerves slowly sneaking back in.

“It’s okay, Cade. I’m sure Michael over there wouldn’t mind switching places with you,” she says, taking a step forward and turning to face me. My hands still hold onto her, unwilling to let go completely, as my fingers slip ever so slightly into her waistband. She has me right where she wants me, and she knows it—she knows damn well I’m not going to willingly hand her over to another man, especially one like him.

“Is that what you want?” I growl, taking a step toward her. Her eyes widen like she didn’t expect this.

Well, newsflash: neither did I.

“You think that little boy back there could give you what you need? That he’d be able to keep up with you and give you what you crave? Show you a good time that doesn’t end in lies about orgasms that never actually happened? He’s probably never even made a girl come, at least not one that wasn’t an actress.”

“What does that have to do with you?” she asks quietly.

“Me? Tink, I could make you come without even touching you.”

Her breath hitches, and her pupils dilate. I realize in this moment I’m well and truly fucked. But there’s no turning back—I’m giving this woman anything and everything she wants tonight.

Even me.

With her eyebrows hitched she stares up at me. “I thought?—”

“You heard me. It’s a yes or no question.”

“You haven’t asked me a question,” she counters, and fuck, I wish I could bend her over my knee right here, right now, and redden her ass in front of everyone.

“Can we just start by taking those stupid shots you’ve been hounding me about all night?” I force out, trying to keep images of spanking her toward the back of my mind, at least for the moment.

“I thought you said you weren’t drinking tonight,” she says, her head tilted as she watches me, her dark hair falling in front of her face. She’s so fucking pretty I can barely think, let alone manage all of these questions.

“I wasn’t.”

“So, what changed?”

It’s my turn to just stare at her, slowly lowering my gaze down her body, taking in every curve, before making my way back up to meet her eyes.

What the hell does she want me to say? That I’ll drink with her if it keeps those guys away from her? That I’ll keep up this little game we have going on tonight just to see her smile again? Plus, if it keeps their eyes off her and her eyes on me, I’ll take the risk tonight could be. Because she broke me, broke my walls down. Is that what she wants me to admit? That I’d give damn near anything, including myself, because I can’t stand the thought of another man with her even for a dance?

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