Page 93 of Pressure

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“Come on, wake up,” Lance said as he sat on the edge of the bed nudging Marissa. They’d fallen into bed together and fallen asleep after a night of play in the dungeon. His goal had been to make her forget all about their encounter with the scorned submissive, Jodie.

Now, he wanted to take her on an adventure.

She batted at his nudging hand and he chuckled. “Come on, Riss. You know that doesn’t work on me.” His fingers continued prodding her and when she batted him away again, he slid a hand beneath the covers and harshly pinched her nipple. “Up. Now.” His voice held a decidedly dominant bite to it and she rolled to her stomach and raised her head to glower at him. ‘What fucking time is it? We just went to bed.”

“It’s time for you to get up. We’re going hiking.”

“Hiking? It’s fucking October.”

He laughed. “Perfect time to go hiking. We’ll be the only ones on the trail and I can fuck you against a tree.”

She eyed him skeptically. “It will be too cold to get your dick hard,” she muttered.

He tousled her already tangled hair. “I find that insulting. Get your ass up. We’re going.”

She grumbled something incoherent but rolled to the other side of the king-size bed and walked naked to the bathroom. He was already showered and dressed for the day, but he had to fight back the urge to follow her into the shower.

When she emerged ten minutes later, he’d already laid out clothes for her which she scowled at but put on anyway. He shoved a to-go cup of coffee into her hand and motioned for the door.

“I don’t get why you’re so grumpy. You always go for morning runs,” he commented as they made their way to his car.

“A morning run and a hike are vastly different things. I’m not going to get lost in the woods on one of my runs.”

He laughed. “If we stick to the path, we won’t get lost on a hike either. Breakfast now or lunch when we get back? I’ve got snacks in the backpacks.”

“You planned this shit? Enough to have backpacks?” she shook her head.

“I promise to make it worth your while, love,” he said with a wicked grin that sent a gorgeous blush up her cheeks.

Her stomach growled as they slid into the vehicle. “Breakfast it is then.”

He drove them to a nearby diner and laced his fingers in hers as they walked inside.

In the dungeon last night, she'd surrendered to him and they'd connected on a visceral level, but he still felt like she was holding back. Earning her complete trust would take time but the niggling thought that he could still lose her again stayed at the edges of his mind.

At their table, he bent down and fluttered a kiss across her cheek before taking his seat.

They made small talk until an aproned server came and took their breakfast order and filled their coffee mugs.

"We'll have that right out to ya," the woman said as she stuffed her order pad into her pocket and hustled to the next table.

"Do you think Jodie will be back?" Marissa asked as soon as she was gone.

Lance lifted an eyebrow. "It's hard to say. She ruffle your feathers a bit?"

Marissa shook her head but there was something she wasn't telling him. What was it?

He didn't want to ruin their day together, though, so he didn't press the issue.

When their food arrived, Lance encouraged her to eat quickly. It was early and the sooner they got on the trail the less likely they would be to run into anyone else.

As he slid his credit card to the waitress, his phone let out a shrill tone that startled everyone. The card fell to the ground and the server bent to pick it up while Lance whipped his phone out of his pocket. That was the sound of his assistant's emergency line.

At the same time, Marissa was pulling her own phone out.

"What is it?" Lance barked into the phone.

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