Page 39 of Babydoll

“Remove your hand from that door, babydoll. Right now.”

I don’t. I just eye him, my chest heaving. “Answer me, Copper! Are you going to arrest me? Are you using me to get shit on them? Is that what this is?” I palm my forehead. “Is that what all this has been?” I holler and try to pop the door, my heart raw.

“You pretended to care!” I scream in disbelief. “You deserve an Emmy or Grammy or Golden Globe, or whatever the hell they give to movie stars.”

I click the door, but he grabs my hand, so I use my foot to shove it open. Ripping my hand from him, I stumble onto thegravel, ready to run, too angry to care that I have no clue where I am and that it’s darker than pitch, but my foot catches on a twisted branch on the side of the road and before I can untangle myself he’s around the front of the truck. I bolt, heading for the dark, but he’s too close and grabs me. We wrestle, I kick, curse, bite, yes, I bite, but he wins and I’m yanked against him where we pant, chests heaving on the side of a deserted dirt road.

I see stars again suddenly as he shoves me back, leans down and presses his lips hard against mine. I’m yanked up onto my toes, as he forces my mouth open to take his punishing kiss. I fight it, using my hands to push against his chest, but soon, the kiss becomes too much, too good, too deep and my body melts, turning to some sort of semi-liquid state against his.

When he stops, I have to blink a few times to get my brain back online. An owl hoots from somewhere in the dark and grip his jacket.

“Would I kiss you like that if I was just using you?” His words are hard, demanding a reply but in the light pouring through the open cab door, his eyes are filled with understanding or maybe pleading, as if he needs forgiveness.

“How would I know? Maybe you do this all the time. Using your dick to close cases.”

“I’m not a cop, but I am an investigator. Only, none of this was for a client.” He points a finger back and forth between us. “And none of this was fake.”

I shake my head slowly, still not fully out of the haze his kiss and the adrenalin left me in. “And that’s just what a liar would say.”

He spins me to face the truck and his hand claps off my rear sharply, making my eyes fly wide.

“Damn well listen! I’ve fallen for you, Lu. That’s what’s going on right now.”

“What the—” Another smack lands with a stinging bite, but I can’t move away with his left hand still clasping my arm. “Fuck?” A few more sharp swats brand the seat of my jeans before I cover my ass and he stops.

“That’s for almost putting us in the ditch and almost killing yourself in the process.”

I swallow hard and yank my arm from his grip, placing both my palms over my ass. It’s warm, kind of buzzy, and it does this swirly thing to my insides. As do his words. He’s fallen for me? I should be mad as hell and giving him a black eye, but his firm dirty Daddy routine has me throbbing instead.

“Are you done abusing me, Elvis?” I question angrily, to hide my own desire. He narrows his eyes and before I can register what’s happening, he’s propped his booted foot on the truck’s runner and is yanking me up and over his bent leg.

I’m dangling and scrambling for purchase, when his hand wallops off my backside again and this time it friggin’ hurts! It isn’t leaving a little sexy tingle, and yet, I’m still... er... enjoying it? Nah, that isn’t quite the right description, but let’s just say it causes more throbbing—the needy kind in my lady bits. He must smack my bottom twenty times while I kick and squeal, before he gently lowers me back onto my feet.

“That’s what naughty ladies who throw tantrums and put themselves in danger get, got me?”

I’m gasping for breath and rubbing the fire out of my cheeks when he shakes his head and leans down to kiss me. It’s not a quick kiss, but it’s not a lingering one either. And damn, I want it to be. My middle’s swirling, hot and pulsing, and despite my anger over his spanking and my body’s treasonous reaction to it, I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him back to make it a lingering one.

When it ends, we both stare at each other silently for a moment. And then he points a long finger at me. His mouth, freshly swollen from the kiss, flattens.

“Do that again and one of two things are going to happen. One.” He holds up his pointing finger. “You’re going to be naked and pressed under me in the fucking ditch, or two…” Another finger pops up. “I’m going to take down those jeans and spank the lesson home.”

I swallow hard. Good god. “Can I have both?” I croak, shocking us both. And then he laughs—a real belly laugh and I can’t help but join him.

“Get back in the truck, Lu. I’ll explain everything at the cabin. And you can tell me how the hell you got yourself into this mess in the first place.” He turns, and without looking back, heads to the cab of the truck, trusting I’ll get in. “Now, Tallulah Jane, or Daddy’s actually going to do both of those things for real.”

My brain is muddled, my panties damp, and my nipples are so hard they ache. I do as I’m told, but part of me wants to push for more of his stern correction, so when I get into the truck, I cross my arms over my chest, clench my jaw and stare out the window into the dark.

“You didn’t have to spank me so hard.”

“Sorry, babydoll, just trying to make Elvis and John proud.” He leans over and yanks me to the middle of the bench seat. I hiss a little at the friction, but tuck into him, suddenly exhausted.

Grabbing the lap belt, he clips me in and mumbles, “So help me, you needed that spanking on your bare ass.”

But despite the grumpy tone and my rigid and unhelpful behavior, he leans down and kisses the top of my head. And dammit, I melt inside.

“I’m just a guy who’s had his family messed with by Satan’s Ransom and wants them locked up. But I’m also a guy that’s recently decided he cares about you way more than revenge.”

My shoulders soften and my eyes well. He could have dumped me right there and left. He had what he needed, didn’t he? His cover was blown. And we are both in trouble now.

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