Page 17 of Puck Me Sideways

“Yeah?” The way his voice lifted left me grinning.

I pushed his shoulder with my thermos. “Breakfast, Solace. I’m talking about breakfast.”

His laugh stayed with me all the way to his car, his hand wrapped around mine. In the end we got drive through with sparkling tea and egg and bacon wraps that I drooled all over, knowing it wasn’t part of his nutritional chart.

Solace threw the whole schedule out the window literally, driving us to the Point that overlooked the bay and the ships coming around the top of the headland.

His arm slung around my shoulder, we ate in relative silence, me snuggled into him, picking cat fur off my bottle green skirt when I ran out of things to do with my hands. After a while he sighed and covered my fingers with his, stopping my incessant picking.

“You know, I have to take you shopping,” he said in a tight voice.

“Why?” I frowned at him and down at my skirt. “I like this one.”

“Yeah, so do I,” he said ruefully. “But if I have to watch the team stare at your bare legs today, I’m not gonna be much of a defender for them, beautiful. Just you.” He kissed the tip of my nose, then my cheeks and finally my mouth, long and slow and deep, laying the seat back until his body covered mine and his hand slid beneath my skirt.

I moaned softly into his mouth, digging my nails into his arms. “We need to get to work,” I murmured, gasping as he flicked my panties aside.

“Yeah, in a bit.” He frowned down at me. “I spent the whole fucking night in this car, you know,” he said slowly, running his fingers through my pussy lips, collecting the copious amount of moisture there. “Worrying about you.” He kissed me hard. “Desperate for you.” Another kiss. “All I wanted was to fold you in my arms, kiss the shit out of you, and know you were safe. Mine,” he growled, a taste of his darkness descending over his eyes.

I opened my mouth to object that his discomfort wasn’tallmy fault, but that was as far as I got.

Two thick fingers speared straight inside me, working fast and hard. Fluid coated the insides of my thighs as I cried out into his mouth that crushed mine. My hips bucked up. I arched, knowing I’d come for him in less than a seco?—

His hand withdrew and he gripped the inside of my thigh painfully, pulling the tender flesh up. Then he released his grip and smacked me with an open palm. The sound ricocheted around the inside of his car.

“Don’t you leave me wanting you like that. Scared for you. Fuck, beautiful,” he muttered dangerously. “I spent the night with a broken heart, not sure you’d want me again.”

“Me too,” I whispered, wincing when he slapped the inside of my other thigh, spotting how far down his finger marks would be. “Whoa, stop,” I panicked. “They’ll see.”

“No,” he ground out. “I fucking well won’t stop. Today you wear my marks. Today you’re mine, Hallie. If they see, then they fuckingsee.” He slapped me again, this time right on my pussy.

I screamed, arching back as his hand clamped around the stinging, swollen flesh. “Solace, please?—”

“Is that what you want, Hallie, for me to give you relief?” Dark eyes glittered above me as his fingers sank deeper into my swollen, tingling flesh. “Beg for relief, Hallie. Beg for Solace.”

My mind swirled as I parted my legs wider, words tumbling from my lips. “Please. Please, can I come, Solace. Please–” I gasped at another slap, this one softer, more playful.

“Rub against me,” he ordered. “Show me how much you want it.”

I whimpered, arching up to push myself against his fingers.There. That spot, right freakingthere.“Oh, God,” I cried, working my hips frantically. “Please, Solace,” I gasped, tipping my head back, needing his mouth on mine.

His gaze bore into mine as his hand drifted away. “No.”

I froze, mid-air hump. “What?”

“No.” His smile was full of sin and an edge of cruelty I'd seen there before. “Fuck, girl. I might love you, but last night hurt. Today you ache for me, and tonight we fix this. Is that understood?”

I stared up at him, remembering his pledge that first night we walked to the bus together.

I’ll teach you denial. How to cry for me.

As if called upon, a single tear dripped free from the corner of my eye. Satisfaction lit his face as he leaned down and licked it up.

“Fuck, you taste good,” he murmured, finally caving and giving me the kiss I needed, holding my legs open but not touching me. “Tonight, beautiful. I promise. We will work this through together, okay?”

I nodded, sobbing out a gasp as he traced the marks he left on my inner thighs. “You won’t let me change or wear tights, will you?” I asked, already knowing the answer and dreading it.

“No.” That same smile played at the corners of his lips, possessive. Obsessive. “You are mine, beautiful. Now they’ll know it.” He straightened my seat, winding my seatbelt around me and tucked my hair tenderly behind my ears, all the while tracing the marks he left on me.

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