Page 65 of Unwrapped

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Well in that case…triple letter score and double word. Boom!” I lay down my pieces watching him sweat. We wagered on this game. If I win… I get to tie his ass up to my bed posts and if he wins…I have to sleep in his bed naked. My plan was to win, tie him up and let him sleep alone. Or tease him with my body and leave him needing release. Cruel I know. But I need to get the upper hand somehow.

“Kapus?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m calling B.S.”

“Fine.” I shrug handing over the dictionary.

“Motherfucker,” he curses as I add up my score and grin.

“Told ya.” Just as I gloat the lights flicker before going out.

“Are you afraid of the dark?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Good. But if the power doesn’t come on… we’ll need to sleep by the fire.

“Phew. In that case…I just might let you win.”

“But I’ll still need you to cuddle with me.”

“Why? For body heat? The fire will be warm enough.”

“No. Because maybe I’m scared of the dark.”

“You?” I snort, “not likely.”

He turns, pokes the fire with an iron rod and throws two more logs on the flame. “…I had a rough beginning. My mother was practically a kid herself. Got herself knocked up in high school. Hell, she didn’t even know who my father was.”

I cringe, as he continues.

“She had bad habits and tastes. One man…,” he stops swallowing hard. “He…beat the shit out of me one Christmas. It was the best and the worst Christmas Day I’ve ever had.”

“Why is that?” Moving from my place on the other side of the coffee table, I kneel by his side on the floor, place my palm on his forearm as he stares into the fire, telling me more.

“Because…my best Christmas was the one where I met Roger. It was also the worst because later that night my mother’s boyfriend beat me so bad, I ended up in the hospital and social services took me away for good. I never saw my mother alive again. She overdosed over New Year’s.”

“I don’t even know what to say.”

“Then don’t say anything.” He turns, with glowing fire in his sheen-filled eyes. I move my hands to cup his face and place my lips tenderly on his. But tender doesn’t last. The attraction between us is too visceral. He growls, taking control. His hands move to my fac, holding me still as his kiss consumes me. Our tongues dance. Our hearts race. Mine stumbles more than once but I’m determined not to let it fall.

He moves back, grabs a blanket off the couch and spreads. “Lay down.”

“Yes, master.” I joke but his eyes widen and his nostrils flare. He’s not thinking about the ghosts of Christmases past anymore. He’s here. In the present with me. I do as he commanded and lay down, staring up at the alpha towering over me.

“Take off your sweater.”

My hands move, fulfilling his wish.

“Bra next.”

He hisses as my naked breasts are bathed in fire light.

---