Page 84 of Through the Flames
Hunter
A hoodie was draped over the back of my chair, there was a tube of lip balm rolling near my keyboard, and a half-empty iced coffee was sweating onto my mouse pad.
I’d known her chaos was going to spread into my room, but the bra hanging from the corner of my monitor felt a bit excessive.
The halo of the warm bedside lamp was fighting with the tech’s sharp light, the shadows pooling under the desk like secrets.
Ella crawled into my bed without asking, and the beast inside me purred at her obedience, at her taking her rightful place without fighting me.
Settling under the covers, she shoved her icy feet against my legs with a little mock-innocent whine. “Oh no, big bad hacker man can’t handle a little cold?”
Despite myself, I felt a shiver run through me and silently cursed at how obvious it probably was.
My body went rigid, like a wire pulled too tight. She just kept pushing and pushing.
“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or is this against Rule Four:No Unauthorized Feet Contact?”
When she draped her bare thigh over me, I snapped — any pretense of calm gone. Flipping her onto her back, I pinned her wrists hard enough to make the mattress groan.
My face was inches from hers, my chest rising rapidly, but my voice was dead calm. “You want to find the edge so badly? I’ll show you the edge. But you’ll beg me not to cross it.”
Dragging her to the side of the bed, I flipped her onto her stomach first like I was restraining a suspect.
“What do you think you’re–oh, fuck!” she shrieked when my palm hit her ass with a deafening crack.
“Keep going, baby. I can’t wait to see my handprint on this ass.” I massaged the cheek, a red mark slowly blooming on her creamy skin.
“You’re gonna have to hit harder than that if you want to impress me, Big Guy.”
“Big Guy? What happened to Robot Boy?”Crack.
“You motherf–”
Crack.
“What? You didn’t think I caught on to your little nickname?” My palm connected with her flesh again, enjoying the distinct shape of my hand taking form on it. “I know everything, remember?”
My hands slid up to her hips, fingers digging in like I owned every inch.
“If you know everything, then you know you’re still not hitting hard enough.”
Fuck, she just knew how to rile me up.I took pride in my ability to stay in control, but my girl was an expert at pushing mylimits. Delivering one last blow, watching her ass jiggle, I flipped her over.
Tugging my shirt off slowly, I enjoyed the way her eyes roamed over my skin, a blazing trail of fiery sparks, before grabbing the waistband of my sweats.
My cock had already been tenting the gray fabric and was now springing free, veins standing out, the tip already leaking.
The piercing was gleaming in the low light, immediately drawing my girl’s gaze to it like a magnet. Curiosity and heat flared up in those green depths. Exactly what I wanted to see.
Yeah, totally worth it.
“Careful, baby. Keep running that mouth, and I’ll make sure you can’t sit down for a week.”
My blood was a deafening roar in my ears, all control slipping like sand through my fingers.
Her legs dangled, so small in my hands. She was laid out in front of me like a fucking feast, her head tipped back on the mattress, hair spilling everywhere like a halo of flames.
Hooking my hands under her thighs, I picked her up like she weighed nothing and tossed her higher onto the mattress.
