Page 58 of The Pack

She tilted her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“Can an injured man really do that?” she asked, her voice soft, but edged with sass.

My jaw tightened, and I felt a smirk pull at my lips despite myself.

“You’d be surprised what I can do, love,” I warned.

The sound of the fire crackling filled the pause between us. My hand twitched at my side, the urge to reach for her nearly overwhelming. I wasn’t the type for theatrics, for grand displays of anything resembling romance, especially not in front of the others.

But she was testing me, and I was failing.

“Thorne, are you actually going to smile?” Killian’s voice rang out from the other side of the fire, cutting through the haze between us.

“Not a chance,” I replied, my tone clipped, but dry enough to draw a laugh from Callum.

“I think she’s got him close,” Callum said, grinning.

“Close to what?” Tobias muttered, his dark eyes unreadable as he leaned back against a tree.

“To losing that iron control,” Magnus said, his mouth edging up in a smirk.

I ignored them all, my focus locked on Zara. She hadn’t moved, hadn’t faltered. Her smile deepened, and she leaned forward slightly, her hand brushing my knee.

“You’ve never done this with them watching before, have you?” she asked, her voice so low it was meant only for me.

I was usually private about these things. The others had a thing for showing off, but not me. The women I’d been with, I liked to spoil. I’d never shared before, so this was something entirely new.

“No,” I admitted, the word heavier than I expected.

Her fingers traced a slow line along my knee, her burning stare never leaving mine. “Then let go. With me.”

She was dangerous, this woman who’d stumbled into our world. She’d slipped past every wall I’d built, and carved out a space for herself in my heart where I hadn’t even realized there was room.

“Zara,” I said, my voice quieter now. “We should?—”

“Go somewhere else?” she finished for me, her smile turning sly.

It was the obvious answer, the rational one. The one that would let me keep some semblance of control, some distance from the prying eyes of the others.

Before I could agree, though, she shook her head, her fingers curling slightly against my leg.

“Let them watch,” she said softly, and something inside me snapped.

I reached down without hesitation, my hand gripping her wrist as I hauled her up and over my knee. She let out a startled squeal, her hands flying to balance herself when I tipped her forward enough to lift her ass high in the air.

“Thorne!” she protested, her voice half a laugh, half a gasp.

“You wanted to see what I can do,” I said, my voice low and edged with warning. “Now you’re going to find out.”

I felt her squirm against me, her small hands pushing at my leg as she tried to find her balance. She was warm, soft, and so dangerously close that my pulse quickened and my cock throbbed, but I didn’t let it show.

With purposeful movements, I reached underneath her hips for the waistband of her pants, tugging them down just enough to bare her bottom. Her squeal turned into a sharp intake of breath, and when she looked back over her shoulder, I saw that her cheeks were flushed pink with embarrassment.

Goddamn, she was fucking perfect.

“Thorne!” she hissed, twisting her head to glare at me over her shoulder.

“Be still, naughty girl,” I ordered firmly. “This is what happens when you tease.”

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