“She should have a safe word,” Jack murmured Julian’s way as he watched them.
“Fine. Danielle, select a safe word. This is a word you say if you wish for everything to stop. If you say this word, I will stop what I am doing and walk away. It should be a word that you wouldn’t normally say during intercourse, so try to avoid yes, no, god, and please, please, please.”
She laughed at his unwavering confidence. It lifted her spirits and made him even more attractive. “How about hippopotamus?” She hoped that word wouldn’t float through either of their heads when they had sex.
“Excellent.” He patted his knees again.
No more procrastination. She was either in or out. She really wanted to be in. She could lie to everyone else, but her pussy wasn’t lying. It was throbbing in a completely foreign way at the thought of Julian’s hand striking her ass. She undid her belt. Her fingers went to the fly of her borrowed jeans. She wished they were alone, but it was obvious this was a test of sorts. She meant to pass it. She shoved the jeans down past her hips and quickly lowered herself over Julian’s lap, hoping Jack Barnes didn’t get a view of her cootchie.
Julian’s hand smoothed across the flesh of her ass. She felt him start at her waist and trail all along her skin down to her thighs. Every nerve stood at attention, as though waiting for his further consideration.
“You are lovely, Danielle. I can’t wait to see you naked.”
That deep, dark voice was completely serious in its intent. He wasn’t teasing her. He really wanted to see her naked. He wanted to see her without her bra or panties. He wanted to see her breasts and her pussy. No one had ever simply said he would like to see her. She wiggled her ass, unable to remain still.
She felt his cock get hard against the side of her torso. “Yes, that’s what I want, little one.”
She squealed as his hand struck the fleshy part of her ass. If he was holding back, she couldn’t tell. It stung harshly. Her eyes watered, her breath hitched.
“I need you to count, Danielle. I wouldn’t want to lose track.”
Bastard. “One.”
Immediately she felt the second blow. She hissed as her other cheek went up in flames.
“You’re doing very well for a novice, little one.” His soothing tone slid across her.
“Two.” She wasn’t about to disappoint him now. She could handle this. The fire that started on her cheeks had warmed to a deep heat that sank into her flesh. It felt almost pleasurable. He struck again, and her eyes watered. “Three.”
His hand struck again, merciless in its intent. She felt her head sag. She gave over. She’d made the decision not to give in to the pain, and now that pain was turning into something else. She allowed her whole body to relax. Her knees softened, and she felt boneless against him. Her hands found his ankles, seeking something solid.
“Four.” Her voice was the only thing with a lick of will now. Her ass was on fire, and damned if that didn’t feel interesting.
His final blow landed along the crease of her ass. She simply sighed and waited for the pain to turn to something more. She let the rest of the world go and concentrated on what she felt. This was a special place. Nothing existed here except her feelings.
“Little one, I need a count.” Julian’s amused voice pulled her out of her warm, safe place.
She stiffened. “Five.”
Strong arms pulled her up. Gray eyes looked into hers. “I am so proud of you. You did very well.” He kissed her soundly. “Now pull up your pants and apologize so we can go and have dinner. Tonight I will thank you properly for your very good behavior.”
She managed to force her way up to standing and quickly rearranged her jeans. Blushing furiously, she turned to Jack Barnes. “I am very sorry, Mr. Barnes.”
Jack was flushed. He nodded shortly. “Apology accepted.” His eyes shifted to Julian. “Dinner should be served in thirty minutes. I might be late, you bastard.” He practically ran from the room.
Julian was grinning broadly. He sat back, not bothering to hide the enormous erection he was sporting. “Sit down beside me, little one. I believe our host will be awhile. We can sit and cuddle.”
She sank down next to Julian Lodge. His arm came around her shoulder, and she leaned into his heat. She let her head rest against his chest and felt safer than she had all day. She fell asleep to the steady beat of his heart.
Finn sat in the bridal room with his head in his hands. The air conditioner came on, filling the room with cold air that didn’t penetrate his body. He couldn’t seem to make himself care about what was going on around him.
He didn’t even know where she was or who she was with. A slow anger started to build, pushing through the sadness. She’d run. She’d jumped into a stranger’s car and fled as he called out for her. That idiot fiancé of hers had stood back, but Finn had sprinted, trying to catch her. Finn could understand her leaving Jimbo behind, but he couldn’t fathom why she would leave him.
She’d never left him. Not even when they were kids. Not even when she’d found out just how different he was. She’d been the first one he’d come out to, when he was so confused he wasn’t sure what he was. She’d stood by him when everyone else turned against him. Why had she run today?
With a bitter feeling in the pit of his stomach, he gathered her things. No one else would do it. They were all too busy gossiping and eating pie. It was what these people did. They had started whispering the second it became apparent the wedding wasn’t going to go as planned. The buzzards had started to circle. Those old ladies who moaned about their hips had moved pretty damn quick to get a good view of Dani’s escape. He’d had to make his way around them to follow her. By the time he’d gotten back to the church, they were all sniping about how they knew she wouldn’t come to anything. After all, she was thirty and only had a job because That Woman took pity on her.
He hated them. Not all of them, of course. It wasn’t like he’d never found a moment’s kindness here. There were teachers who had encouraged him. The town librarian had always given him a place to hide when the bullies got to be too much. But through it all, Dani had been his anchor.
When they had graduated from high school, he’d been the one who had left her behind.
Finn shoved her sneakers into the small travel bag they had prepared the night before. She and Jimbo hadn’t planned much of a honeymoon. They were supposed to spend the weekend at a casino in Shreveport. He’d shuddered when she’d told him. A couple of nights in some smoke-filled casino wasn’t his idea of a romantic trip. If he’d married Dani, he would have taken her to Europe. He would have let her plan the trip of her dreams. Italy, France, England. He would have taken her to all the places they’d dreamed of visiting when they were kids.
This was his fault.
“It’s your fault, you know.”
Finn turned at the sound of Val’s voice. Dani’s sister was seven years younger, but had ages of conniving bitch experience on her. “Thanks for your input, Val. Feel free to go back and gossip to your heart’s content. I’ll clean up in here.”
It would give him something to do. He couldn’t imagine that he would get a wink of sleep until he figured out where Dani was.
He sighed as he found her cell phone. There went one shot at reaching her.
“They’re starting to clean up in there,” Val said with a sniff.
No wonder she’d come looking for him. Val had always managed to get out of any kind of work. Finn couldn’t stand the sight of her. She was almost sickly thin. Though both she and her sister were natural blondes, Val had bleached out the honey color to a full platinum. Both women had green eyes, but somehow Val’s were harder, colder. Finn didn’t like Val, never had. Even as a small child, she’d been deceitful and cruel. She’d taken everything Dani had to give and, as far as Finn could see, gave nothing at all back.