I shudder and try to process what he’s saying.

That he wants me to break?

That he?—

“Carter has a key,” he says softly. “But he doesn’t like to climb on top of you while you sleep and fuck you like I do. He says he marked you, and I want to know where it is.”

“Stop.” I grip his shoulder, but he doesn’t. “Stop moving, just—I need to think.”

“I need to see this mark,” he growls.

“No, you don’t.”

He pulls out and drops my legs. In an instant, my hands are on the tree and my face is nearly pressed to it, too. His hands cup my ass cheeks, and the sudden rip of the bandage shatters me.

I close my eyes.

He whistles under his breath.

“Penn?” I glance behind me. “I?—”

His gaze crashes into mine, and it’s a whole new level of terrifying.

“Hold on to that tree, princess. I’m going to turn your ass black and blue before you get to come on my cock.”

He seems to be waiting for something. A rush of adrenaline hits me, and I nod. I don’t want it, but some dark part of me is intrigued.

He nods back.

I grip the tree, my nails digging into the bark. He rubs my ass cheek, the one with Carter’s name, and then loses contact.

His palm connects in a sharp smack. Shock chills my skin, but the pain blooms in its wake is hot. His other hand braces my hip, and he spanks me again.

I keep mental count.

Two.

Three.

Four.

When he switches cheeks, I cry out. I close my eyes and lean into the pain, bracing my forehead on my arm. My legs are trembling, but every touch seems to heighten my arousal.

Six, seven, eight.

His fingers move down and thrust into my pussy, twisting and scissoring inside me. I bite my lip and draw blood again. He brings me right to the edge so fucking easily, it’s like he read the manual on my body.

When he withdraws, I’m hollow.

Nine.

I cry out. It’s harder than the others, directly over the cuts. And, strangely, I’m right on the fucking cusp of something insane.

Coming from pain instead of?—

Ten—

My mouth opens, a silent scream, and he thrusts inside me so hard, I almost hit my face on the tree. My orgasm smashes through me, every part of me on fire. He keeps fucking me, his hips slapping my sore ass with every move. The friction of it is delicious, deserved agony.