Page 34 of Mine

“No? Where did you grow up?” His gaze was still sweeping over everything, taking it all in. For a moment, he looked even younger.

Fuck.I hesitated. Why did I even mention anything? I didn’t talk about the past or my childhood for a multitude of reasons. “Small town. Where did you grow up?”

He tensed, his expression tightening. “A little outside North Nashville. Let’s forget about any of that.”

I nodded, eager to leave it behind, too. He took me to the shower and opened the door, setting me down gently.

Salt scowled. “How the fuck does this shower work?”

I snorted as I touched a button on the wall, the screen lighting up. The water temperature was already set to how I liked it, and with one more press, the water streamed from overhead.

“Magic,” I said.

My stomach flipped as he stepped closer, slowly backing me against the shower wall. Hot water rolled down his back, licking his thorny vines and rose tattoos as the door shut and steam began to fill the space.

“Are you… are you sure you don’t want more?” I asked.

“I do want more,” he said. “But I also want to take care of you right now.”

“Why? You don’t have any reason to,” I said.

Salt’s eyes danced with a hint of amusement. He didn’t say anything though, instead dragging me to the center, water rinsing down my body. The heat felt good, all of my muscles relaxing. I shut my eyes and tipped my head back, my awareness of him only growing more acute. But the discomfort was slowly fading. It had been a long time since I’d showered with someone else, and while I was painfully aware of the fact that we were standing completely naked together, it didn’t feel as foreign as it had minutes before.

His fingers grazed up my side, cupping my breasts. I whimpered, eyes flying open. The look on his face was one of pure reverence, undoing me completely. I swayed against him, leaning up on my tiptoes to kiss him.

He took control, his tongue sweeping against mine. I wound my arms around his neck, finding myself lifted, legs winding around his waist. He moaned, kissing me harder, his hunger making me wet in other ways.

“Damn it,” he muttered between kisses. “Pepper.”

I didn’t care. I rocked my hips, grinding against him. “I want you,” I whined. “I want to know what you feel like inside me. Only for tonight.”

He hissed between clenched teeth. “I don’t want to do anything you might regret.”

“Would you regret it?”

Salt frowned. “No.”

“Then I won’t either.”

His gaze searched my face, his brows drawing together. “Do you always get what you want?”

“Always.”

“Do you want to know how to get me to do what you want?”

“How?” I asked.

“Beg,” Salt demanded. “I told you earlier I’m not fucking you until you beg for it, Pepper. Beg me for this cock. Beg me to breed your needy little cunt.Begme to fuck you until you forget who you are.”

EIGHT

PEPPER

I knew how to beg.

It’d been a really, really long time since I had to. All that I’d begged for in the past were things I never should have needed to beg for to begin with. The unadulterated desperation was for something I should have never lost.

Everything I’d begged for in my life came roaring back.

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