“Raise the bet to five questions?”
“Make it ten.”
I smiled, not even trying to make it look friendly. “Corbin, my questions aren’t going to get easier.”
At first he played like he always had, but then something changed. He was smoking me. Panicked, I tried to catch up, but… “You hustled me!” I slumped back on the sofa. “I don’t believe it. That’ll teach me to bet against a—”
“Chef,” he said lightly, smoothly, saving me from embarrassing us both. He smiled. “And the best part is, you can’t even ask because you’ll never win.”
“You cheated.”
He veered in close, his eyes teasing. “Really, Audrey? I said I’d played it a few days ago. You didn’t ask if I’d played before or after that.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Beer?”
“I’ll get it.”
While he was in the kitchen, I turned off the video game; clearly he’d played a lot, and I didn’t like being the one fighting to keep up. He’d probably been laughing at me all along. I rolled my eyes. And there I was, gloating.
“You’re like a goddamned chess player,” I said when he handed me my beer.
“Where did that come from?”
“Oh, good, question number one.” I drained half a beer while I waited for him to retract the question, but he didn’t. He had nine more questions; he could afford to squander one.
He merely tilted his head back and finished his beer. “I’m waiting.” He picked up a fresh beer, and I counted the bottles. Six.
Damn. I was drinking faster than he was. “It’s obvious why I said you’re a chess player. You set me up, and I didn’t even see it coming. You let me gloat!”
He smiled. “You’re charming when you’re excited.”
“And you’re drunk.”
“Am I?”
“Yes. And that’s question number two.” I held up two fingers and wiggled them. “Two. It comes after one.”
He grabbed my fingers and lowered my arm gently, his eyes staring into mine. Heat flashed from where he touched me, and I did my best to ignore it, hoping it wouldn’t reach my cheeks. He released me. “No, it isn’t, because you didn’t answer truthfully. I’m not drunk. I’m not even buzzed. So. Question number two. How long have you been following me?”
I sighed. These questions weren’t fun. “Since the card store. I didn’t follow you. I looked your car up, saw you on the list, figured it was fate.”
He picked at the label of his beer bottle. “Yeah. Fate. That was stupid, you know, trying to drive out here like that.”
“Is that a question?”
“It is.”
I gritted my teeth. “Yes, I know. Believe me, I didn’t intend to almost get myself killed.”
“Do you regret coming?”
“Answer four is no.”
“Why not?”
“Because maybe I’ll still bring you in. After the truce is up, of course.” I stared at my bottle. “But even if I don’t… I don’t know. I guess this is an adventure.”
“Did you enjoy kissing me?”
Oh, he knew how to make me blush. He could have been merciful and accepted my response as his answer, but instead he cleared his throat.
“Did you enjoy kissing me, Audrey?”
“Yes.” My voice was a whisper. I looked defiantly at him. “Yes, I did. Next question.”
“Question seven. How many people have you killed?”
“None.”
“How many bad guys have you taken down? I mean hardened criminals, not people who jumped bail and then hid out at their own homes.”
“None of your business.”
“If you don’t want to answer, then I’ll allow you to substitute a dare.”
“What dare?” I was hoping it would be something slightly sexual. Or maybe really sexual, like give him a hand job while I rubbed myself.
“I dare you to renounce your claim on me.”
I made a face. “Renounce my claim? What is this, the 1800s?”
“Audrey, please don’t take this the wrong way, but you aren’t going to take me anywhere.” He caught my chin in his hand and turned my face toward him. “I won’t hurt you, but I don’t want you to somehow get hurt. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“Why do you care?”
“Guess everyone has a weakness.” He stood. “You can think about it. I’m reserving my last questions or dares until later because it’s past dinner time.”
I started to get up, but he gently pushed me back. “No. You rest. I’ve got this.” I resisted a moment, weighing my dislike of cooking against my dislike of being told I needed to rest.
But I was tired. I stretched out on the couch and turned on the news. I closed my eyes as the news anchors stressed how many records the storm had broken and how much of the state had no power.
~~~
Dinner was some kind of exotic stir fry.
“All these ingredients, I’m surprised no one noticed you before,” I said, then shoved a forkful of tangy goodness into my mouth.
“Had someone shopping for me.”
“I’m even more surprised you would admit that.”
“I’m leaving here, and I can’t come back, not now. You know that.”
I did. So why did his words make me feel strangely sad? Maybe it was the alcohol, but a little voice whispered the answer back to me. I liked this man. Yes, I wanted to fuck him and rub myself all over his sinfully perfect body, but I didn’t want to walk away after. And there wasn’t any reality where I’d be able to be with him, lingering in the kitchen while he cooked something delicious, or relaxing in his arms on the world’s most comfortable and stylish sofa. He couldn’t even be my fuck-buddy.
Truly, I would never see him again.
For some reason, I found myself talking about my childhood, about how surreal it was growing up the child of a bounty hunter. “Sometimes, when I was really bad, my mom said she was going to have my dad turn me in for a ‘bad kid’ bounty. How cruel is that? I was terrified of being arrested, so that always made me behave.”
“Which is why you always follow the rules.”
“You make me sound boring.”
“Believe me, you are not boring.”
I thought about my cramped, dingy, dark apartment, full of cheap, broken appliances. I wasn’t so sure. “What about you? What was your childhood like?”
“Nice, actually. Middle class. Upper middle class to be precise. My parents were lawyers.”
“I wonder if they know my parents.”
“Doubtful. I’m not from here. Didn’t you read the file on me?”
“Um…”
He set down his fork. “Do you even know why I’m wanted?”
I shook my head, and Corbin threw back his head and laughed. At first I was baffled, but he laughed harder and harder, and by the time he finally slowed, I was furious.
“What’s so funny?” I said between clenched teeth.
“Audrey. It’s just…” He started laughing again.
I’d had enough of people laughing at me. A girl bounty hunter? No, asshole, a woman, and yes, a bounty hunter, so what? But you’re so little! But you’re so sweet looking. How are you going to apprehend anyone?
I shoved back my chair, and Corbin got up, still laughing, and caught my arm. “Fuck you,” I hissed.
His laugh died, and he wrapped a hand around my hair and pulled my head back. “Would it hurt you to be polite?” The amusement was gone from his eyes.
I swallowed and pushed my body against his for a brief moment, teasing him even as I continued to glare.
He pressed his mouth against mine. I fought him because I was still hurt about being rejected earlier, but then I yielded because the hours of being near him had worked me into a feverish, greedy black hole of desire.
He thrust his tongue past my lips like he was supposed to be there, like I was a sure thing, like he owned me. I wanted to be offended, to shove him away and regain my dignity,
but it would have to wait until my head stopped spinning, which wouldn’t happen while he was kissing me like that, all hungry and determined. When he did pull away, I moaned.
“Do you want this, Audrey?”
I nodded.
“Say it. Say that you want this.”
“Guess I do,” I said, unwilling to commit to more than that.
“Try again.”
“Wow, you get off on making women beg for it or something?”
“Yes.”
His direct, unapologetic answer made me quiver inside. One night with this man. I’d never have to come across him in a bar. Never look at his smug face and know that he’d made me beg for sex. There was power in ignoring men I’d previously seduced, but I would never be able to act indifferent around this man. He reduced me to an insecure, fumbling mess with just his kisses. Sleeping with him would be stupid. And yet… “I want you to fuck me.”
The moment the last word crossed my lips, he grabbed under my ass and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around him, kissing his neck as he carried me into the living room. I expected him to head to the couch, but he carried me up the stairs. I felt safe in his strong arms, but I tightened my legs around him.
He opened the door to the bedroom and gently laid me on the bed. “Say it again,” he ordered.
I smiled seductively. “Fuck me.”
He smiled sadistically. “Maybe.”
I’d always had a strange relationship with foreplay. When guys didn’t want to do it, I got mad because they were lazy. When they did, I got mad because they were taking too long. It was one of many reasons I preferred to be in charge.
So when Corbin reached into the table next to the bed and pulled out a condom, I figured I had a few minutes of good pounding ahead, and that would be the end of it, but he dropped the condom on the pillow next to mine. “I’m not sure I’m going to fuck you,” he whispered into my ear as he slipped a hand under my shirt.
He had no trouble getting my bra unhooked, but then, he’d gotten practice the night before, hadn’t he? He pulled off my bra and my shirt at the same time, both going over my head.
Now that was a new one. Good. I liked a man who knew his way around a woman. He grabbed a handful of my ass, squeezing it inside of my tight jeans. I moaned and arched up, trying to rub my achy nub anywhere on his hard body, but he held me away.
“Patience.”
“You’re the one who made me ask for it. Twice.”
“Twice so far.” He dipped his head and nibbled from my chin, slowly down my jaw, and brushed his lips over my jugular. He inhaled, smelling me, I supposed, and I remembered the way he ate, carefully, aware of every scent and texture. I was expecting him to continue the gentle kisses, so I was all the more surprised when he fitted his mouth over my neck and bit.
I whimpered. This was primal and dominant, and it made me even wetter while scaring the hell out of me. Because truce or no, Corbin was a dangerous man, and I was in the most vulnerable position possible.
But no, not the most vulnerable. That would surely come later, when he was inside me. I pulled at his shirt and he peeled it off for me. Our hands were on each other’s pants. I fumbled. He undressed me.
Fuck. I used to be good at this.
He helped me get his pants off, and in the dim light, I got my first glimpse of his bare chest. A dark trace of hair started just below his granite pecs, stopped at his abdomen, then resumed below his belly button and continued until it merged with the thatch of hair around his balls.
It was his cock that mesmerized me, though. He was longer than my hand, and so swollen that the taut skin almost looked wet. He was thick, too. I reached out to fist him, and he pushed my arm over my head, easily holding me as he indulged in another long kiss that left me breathless.
“If the situation were different, I would tie you up,” he said. “You would be beautiful like that.”
I’d never been tied up, and while the idea excited me in the abstract, I wasn’t sure that I’d like it. “What do you mean, different?”
He smiled. “If we had more time together. It’s a long and complicated sort of sexual relationship.”
Had he really said that? “So what do you do for one-night stands?”
“Forgive the crudeness, but I’m going to fuck you like you stole something.”
Hm. Punishment sex, and I was going to be on the receiving end. That was… different. “I don’t know that I’ll like it.”
“I do.” He flipped me over and spread my legs before I even realized what was happening. One of his fingers entered my pussy, and a second one pushed into my ass. “Hey—” The protest was lost as he finger-fucked me, slapping fast into both my tight holes.
My entire body tensed, and my face went hot. Usually it took quite a few more drinks for me to get off so fast…
He stopped just before I came, and I turned my head. “Hey, I didn’t get off.”
His lips grazed my ear. “I know. Really, what kind of men have you been letting into your bed, little girl?”
I tried to bite him, but he moved back too fast. Mercifully, he was ripping into the foil packet. A moment later, I felt the prodding of his stiff cock between my legs, and I arched my back, tilting up to give him access.
He pushed me down. With one hand on each of my ass cheeks, he held me still and secure for him. No man had ever touched me like that before. It was hot. I just wasn’t sure I liked how much I liked it.
“Ask again,” he said.
“No.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” His hand swatted my ass. I was so shocked that I went rigid. Then he smacked the other cheek. “Open your legs wider.”
Stunned, I obeyed. God, it was so hot… if I’d known that letting a guy be in charge could turn me on so much, I would have told someone to do it. Except… Corbin hadn’t asked if he could be in charge. He simply assumed that role. Just like he’d decided he would cook for me. Just like he’d accepted the responsibility of saving my life.
There was a word for a man like him. Competent.
There’s another word, a little voice in the back of my head whispered. “You’re a dominant, aren’t you?”
He shoved a finger deep into my ass, and I squealed.
“What clued you in?” he asked, his voice gruff.
“The big D sewed into your underwear.”
He brought his other hand over my mouth. “If you’re not going to beg for it, you might as well be quiet.” I couldn’t tell if he was mad or pretending to be mad. I decided it didn’t make a difference.
He fucked my asshole with his finger. That was also new. I’d had anal a few times, but nothing like this. Within thirty seconds, I was so horny I really thought I was going to die. The sensation was so close to fucking, and so close to where it needed to be, but I wanted more.
I tried to grind my hips against Corbin’s luxury sheets, but he smacked my ass again, hard this time. “Don’t be a dick,” I hissed. “Fuck me already.”
“That’s not how we ask for things in the bedroom, Audrey.” He smacked my ass again, and I yelped, my face going hot, and the whole time he finger-fucked my ass. It was humiliating and so very delicious. When I tried to rub my clit on the sheets again, he pulled me over his lap. His erection poked me in the stomach.
“It doesn’t go there,” I gasped.
He laughed. “I was going to adjust, but I think you need to learn that it goes where I want it to.”
It was uncomfortable, that thing jabbing into my stomach, and he had my hips positioned so there was nothing but air under my poor, neglected pussy. Then that merciless finger was in my ass again, jammed deep and jackhammering into me.
It felt so decadently dirty. I curled my toes and kicked my feet, fighting him. He held me easily and continued what he was doing.
“Stop that,” he grunted as I tried to thrash side to side. But I didn’t stop. I bit at his arms, his thighs… anything within reach. I couldn’t help but challenge him, to see what he wo
uld do, how far he would go.
He slapped my ass so hard that I screamed. “Hey! That fucking hurt.”
“That was a warning. The next one won’t be so gentle.”
I was obedient for all of two seconds. The truth was I loved his attention. I squirmed even harder.
“Bratty sub,” he sighed.
“I am not submissive,” I hissed.
“Let’s see. You’re bent over my knee, your naked ass in the air, I’m sodomizing you and you can’t get away. This might be the most interesting form of domination I’ve ever seen. Mistress.”
He pulled me farther over his lap so that my upper body was perpendicular to the floor. I braced my hands on the cool wood, worried I was going to fall on my head.
He lifted my hips, then settled me down again, his thick cock between my inner thighs. Frustrating. I tried to scoot back, to rub myself on him, but he anchored his arm over my lower back.
I was trapped. I had an excellent view of under his bed and from what I could see in the dim light, it was clean, just like the rest of the house.
“I warned you, Audrey.” His free hand was rubbing in circles around my ass, and I gave silent thanks for the relatively dim lighting in the room because the last thing I needed was him to get an eyeful of my imperfections. Though he’d surely seen everything the night before. “If this gets too much for you, say ‘snowman.’”
“Are you giving me a safe word? Pathetic.”
He heaved the sigh of the long-suffering. “Why am I not surprised that a woman irresponsible enough to try to come after me in a blizzard, driving a go-kart, would mouth off to a man who has her under his palm? Say ‘snowman’ if you need to, and I’ll stop.”
“My car is not a go-kart!”
The hand on my ass moved away, and I tensed. When his palm connected, I saw stars. Holy fucking shit, it goddamn hurt.
“Irresponsible, Audrey. Let’s see if I can spank some sense into you.” The next slap hurt even more. I had no idea that an open palm could inflict so much pain.
I squeezed my eyes closed and bore his punishment stoically. What made it easier was his swollen cock between my thighs; each time he struck me, my body shifted away, then back, and my slippery clit rubbed on his erection. I was gushing wet, probably dripping all over him.
Trapped by a Dangerous Man Page 6
