Page 35 of Sugar Baby

What if I don’t have what he wants?

What if he calls an end to the night, and I haven’t provided sufficient satisfaction?

Not knowing what else to do, I give in to my urge and lower myself to my knees. The moment my knee hits the carpet, he sharpens; his focus, his body language, everything about him becomes tight. But he remains motionless.

Tucking both my feet beneath me, I lower until I sit on my heels and place both my hands on my knees, simply following my instincts. When I’m settled, I keep my head lowered and peek up at him through my eyelashes.

A muscle in his jaw ticks as he stares back at me.

A predator studying his prey.

A hunter.

In a controlled motion, he leans forward and raises his hand to my face. I close my eyes and brace for the impact of his hand landing on my cheek. I jolt, pulse racing, when all I feel are fingertips as they skate over my cheekbone, up and over my ear, and then to the base of my skull and into my hair.

Where his fingers tighten, forming a fist amongst my hair. Tension immediately fills my scalp, and I gasp out in shock.

“Look at me,” he orders, his deep voice barely above a murmur, but that doesn’t remove the undercurrent of steel from it.

My eyes fly open at the command, and I find him only a few inches away from my face. His gaze darts between my eyes before he uses the grip on my hair to tilt my head even farther back, extending my neck uncomfortably.

The heavy feeling in my stomach grows hot, causing a wave of confusion to rise inside of me.

What the hell is going on?

Why isn’t my flight instinct kicking in?

Why am I letting him do this to me?

Why is my pussy throbbing from this?

I’ve been manhandled, and worse, before, but it’s never turned me on like this. Not once.

My hands remain on my knees, not even twitching in an attempt to save me. Nope. All survival instinct has left the room.

Something on my face causes Hunter to smile down at me. A tiny thread of relief starts to unravel in my chest, but it’s cut short when he closes the distance between us and crashes his lips into mine.

My lips part under the onslaught, and I barely keep up with the way he controls the kiss. His grip on my hair tightens, and then there is pressure dragging me up until I’m kneeling. He softens the kiss, allowing our tongues to move back and forth. He sucks on my lower lip and then comes back in for more.

I’m breathless and panting and needing . . . something.

I don’t dare to touch him, in case that will bring this kiss to a stop.

I want to climb up into his lap. I want to feel his hands holding me, digging into me.

I want—

“Ouch!”

My hand flies up to my burning lip as I pull back from the kiss, staring up at Hunter wide-eyed, a metallic taste in my mouth. He smiles smugly as he licks the drop of my blood from his lips, but then the shutters come down and he goes back to reclining into the cushions, arms thrown wide again, as if the last thirty seconds never happened.

I pull my hand away from my lips and see the tiny flecks of blood on my hand. My confusion returns. I’m bleeding. And I’m alone.

My eyes dart to the door.

Should I leave?

“Baby, come here.”