Page 61 of Dark Horse

“You’ll just use them against me.”

“Foryou,” I counter. “Do we have a deal or not?”

“Fine. We have a deal. Tell me.”

“Making a man come in his pants. Hot as hell under the right circumstances.”

“Which circumstances are those again?”

“Making you come like that is hot under any of them.” I grin brightly, and he shakes his head but amusement dances behind his blue eyes.

“Noted. Next?”

“Being tied up. Even though I was cranky at the time, I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“As I said… I don’t mind that one at all.” He smirks.

“Nicknames. Especially when you call me them.”

“Definitely noted that one already. Can’t say I’ll ever get used to it, but if it makes you happy, then I’m happy to do it.”

“The whole deal with the devil thing we have going on. It really backfired on you because the idea of being forced to do all these sexy little photos and videos for you… I actually like it. I’ll never admit that in public, and if you’d asked me, I would have said hell no. Never. Especially not with Grant Stockton.” I run my fingers over his tie. “But I like you telling me what to do. How to do it. Giving over control to you. I’m not sure if that’s a separate one but that too.”

His brow pushes higher. “If you had told me that Dakota Hartfield likes to cede control anywhere…”

“It feels good with you. Like I can let go for that little bit of time.” I spin the knight in my palm. “And the way you react to it… You got softer.” I look up at him. “It makes it feel safe.”

“You’re always safe with me. You know more than anything that’s my priority.” His tone shifts back to business.

“I know.” I nod, and then I give him an expectant look. “Now… your turn. I’ve been asking for weeks.”

“I think you might have given me a daddy kink. It wasn’t something I liked before, but fuck… the way you call me it… I shouldn’t though. It’s fucked up.” He shakes his head.

I can’t help the grin, but I try to smother it anyway. He clocks it, and his lips flatline in admonishment.

“What?” I say defensively. “It’s just… kind of a thing for me too now. Again, I would have hated it with any other guy. But with you…” I trail off before I say something shockingly vulgar. “Anyway—what else?”

“Watching you touch yourself. Playing with your toys. Knowing you’re thinking of me while you do it. Doing what I tell you while you do it.”

“I figured that one.” I smirk.

“Yeah, but I’ve just started to realize some things that I didn’t before,” he muses.

“Like?” The smirk fades to a questioning smile, and I raise a brow.

“Like.” He stands and snatches me up. He carries me to the far side of the room where there’s a bar stretched across the back wall. He lifts me on top of it, and his hands fall over mythighs. I wore this dress for him, a little summer sundress I thought would get his attention, and his eyes track over the frilled hemline as his fingers tease me there, pushing it higher.

“When you did this at the bar, I thought you were trying to humiliate me in front of everyone—thatthatwas maybe your kink with all those guys. But now I realize why you did it.” His eyes trace over my skin as he speaks.

“Why was I doing it?” I ask, setting the knight down on the bar next to me and leaning back on my palms to watch him.

He reaches over the bar, grabbing a bottle and a fresh glass. He pours a couple of fingers of whisky, sets it down on my other side, and then sinks back onto the stool to look up at me again. A devilish grin spreads over his face.

“Did you wear panties?”

“No. You told me not to.” I watch him carefully, trying to get some read on him besides the fact that he’s up to no good.

“Perfect. Spread wider for me. Like you did at the bar.”

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