Page 70 of Take

A tear slipped down my cheek and he wiped it away with the rough pad of his thumb. “I love you, too, Jasper.”

He kissed me lightly on the lips and when I leaned into him, wanting more, he abruptly pulled back. “Good because, baby . . .”—his tone hardened as did his grip on me—“you pull shit like that again . . . I will spank your ass so hard you won’t walk for days.”

I dragged my teeth over my lower lip as the undeniable ache heightened. He must have noticed the slight tightening in my body and my subtle change in breathing because his brows rose.

“You like that, sunshine? Does that make you wet?”

Oh, God. I swallowed. Yeah, it made me wet and I wanted him inside me.

No, it was more than that. I wanted to live. I wanted to feel every emotion there was and I wanted to do it with Jasper.

He stood and looked down at me. “Answer me, baby. Are you wet right now?”

I hesitated and I shouldn’t have because Jasper took full advantage of my unwillingness to admit the idea of him spanking me turned me on. And he was quick and agile like a panther as he dove for me.

I did a little girl scream and vaulted off to the side, kicking my leg out to push him in the chest. He grunted and landed on the floor on his back. He looked up at me, mouth gaping and eyes wide, shocked that I managed to outmaneuver him. My advantage was he wasn’t in top form, but that wouldn’t last long.

But seeing Jasper fall to the floor with that expression . . . priceless. I started laughing. I couldn’t help it. And then once I started I couldn’t stop as the unfamiliar feeling took hold of me and wouldn’t let go. My chest hurt and I became dizzy as I inhaled short gasps of air while laughing.

When I finally found some control and looked at him, my laughter stopped. He was up on one elbow on his side, watching me. His grey eyes soft and filled with . . . affection and wonder. His voice was husky and had that sexy Scottish lilt to it as he said, “I’ve wanted that since the day I met you.”

“What?”

“Your laughter. To hear you laugh. And it’s more fuckin’ beautiful than I could ever imagine.” He slowly rose and walked toward me.

“But I was laughing at you.”

He half-grinned. “Baby, I’d do anything to hear you laugh like that.”

“You would?”

His brows flicked up. “What do you have in mind, sunshine?”

I thought about it for a second. “You tied to the bed while I tickle you relentlessly?”

He snorted. “Not happening. Ever. Only you get tied up, baby.”

I pouted, but that totally turned me on. He chuckled before he leaned down and picked me up in his arms and started back to the bed. “I want to hear it again. But first I want to hear you scream my name.” My eyes widened in horror. “And we have an issue to settle.” He sat on the edge of the bed and I was straddling his lap, knees on the mattress on either side of him. I saw the desire blazing in his eyes and I was pretty sure my eyes were doing the same thing because my body was already heated and aching for him.

Suddenly, I found myself lying on my stomach over his knee, butt in the air.

“Jasper!” I wiggled and writhed, trying to get away, but he held me firmly on his lap, his arm across my lower back keeping me in place. “What are you doing?”

“Next time, don’t think about lying, baby. Not about this. Not about what turns you on.” He yanked up my shirt then pulled down my panties with a sharp tug and then his hand was caressing my ass.

I couldn’t stop the moan from escaping at the gentle touch as he stroked the surface. “I can laugh again. Let me up and I’ll laugh.”

“I think you want this more,” Jasper said, his finger sliding down the crease into the folds that were slick with moisture. “Yeah, you do. And, sunshine . . . I will always give you what you need.”

I tried again to move so I could look at him, but the hard slap on the naked surface of my butt had me screaming and arching. It hurt. Shit, it hurt. Jasper wasn’t playing. Well, he was but he was making a point and I tried again to get away.

Slap.

Burning. Aching.

Slap.

Oh, God. It was like an explosion of fireworks going off inside me. It hurt like hell, but it inflamed me. It released me. It made me want to scream and shout, and fight. And I did. I struggled against him, but he easily held me in place as his hand came down on my butt several more times and it wasn’t nice. It was meant to make me scream.