“Yes, Sir,” I said automatically.
 
 He smiled, shook his head and cursed. “You’re so good at this, girlie. Just like I remember.”
 
 I didn’t reply, just bit my lip. Why did I love it so much when he called me that?
 
 “Look at you spread out like my own personal feast.” He undid the button of my jeans and then tugged the zipper down slowly. “Fuck, I can’t wait to taste you again.”
 
 I nodded eagerly at him.
 
 “Still good?” His brow quirked up in question.
 
 “So good.” I rolled my eyes back. “So fucking good.”
 
 He chuckled darkly. “Such a dirty mouth.” He reached forward, pinching my nipple and I squealed at the bolt of lightning it sent through me. “Be a good girl and watch that filthy mouth or I’ll have to wash it out.”
 
 Damn.This was the dark, demanding Wes from my memory that lit me up. But how far would he go?
 
 Danger. Danger. Danger.
 
 I opened my mouth and stuck my tongue out flat as if in a dare. He chuckled and this time it was extra dark, so dark in fact, that shivers rolled through me leaving me tingling everywhere.
 
 His mouth quirked up on one side, and he grabbed my hand pulling me back up to a sitting position. He released my hand and took my chin instead. “Are you sure you don’t want to take that back, brat? You’re moving into dangerous territory.”
 
 I shook my head even though frisson pulsed through me. “Everything about you feels dangerous, Daddy.”
 
 Releasing my chin, he put his hands under my arms, lifted me off the table and set me on my feet. “Good dangerous?” he asked, his thumb and forefinger pinching my chin while his penetrating gaze shifted from one of my eyes to the other as if he were reading my mind. The heat and need dancing between us was palpable.
 
 I swallowed hard. This man, equal parts soft and rough, sweet and stern, deep and playful—he saw me. And dammit, I suddenly didn’t want to be seen. I didn’t want him knowing how being strong, being responsible, doing it all, was killing me. That this moment with him was the brightest moment I’d had in so long, I’d likely have the worst sub drop of my life when our twenty-four hours were up.
 
 He tipped my chin a little higher before releasing it to run his hand down my neck to grab my throat.
 
 “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours, girlie?” His stern voice penetrated my overthinking brain just as his hand took a firmer grip on my throat.
 
 A bolt of heat shot through me. “Green, allfuckinggreen,” I said on a gasp and then he kissed me. The kiss was not a mating of tongues, there was no union, it was an invasion, hard and punishing, and I whimpered into his mouth.
 
 When he released my mouth, I felt raw but alive and filled with the kind of anticipation I only got from a real scene. Something with stakes.
 
 I gasped as he released my throat to fist my hair instead. Lowering me to my knees and then to sit back onto my calves, he gave me a crooked smile. “Time for some consequences for that filthy mouth.”
 
 His words evoked a full body anticipatory tremor. My pussy pulsed, moisture pooling in between my folds. He reached over his shoulder, took the collar of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Rising, I reached for his belt, unbuckling it with trembling eager fingers.
 
 He was the perfect man. No,myperfect man. My body had never reacted to another like it did for Wes. Cleo would probably kick my ass for putting him in the friend category, and maybe someday, when I was ready for a relationship, I’d kick myself too. Because you couldn’t come back from something like this. You couldn’t suddenly rewind and start dating if you changed your mind.
 
 Could you?
 
 Nine
 
 Mira
 
 He grabbed me, pushing me back onto my haunches, firmly but not roughly. “Clothes off,” he demanded. “Except the panties. I like them. And, girlie? You ask permission before you move, got me?”
 
 I scrambled to obey, shoving my jeans down and off, kicking them to the side. Wes lowered, bending his knees to get closer to me. Cupping my face in his palms, he tilted my head up, so I was looking him in the eye.
 
 “Gorgeous.” He stood then. Looking down at me, he unbuttoned his pants as his belt jangled where it hung loose from my handiwork. Unzipping his pants, he ran his tongue along his bottom lip. Another shiver shot through me as he lowered his pants and boxers. And his magnificent cock stood tall and hard against his abdomen. It lurched as I admired it.
 
 “This is how I deal with a filthy mouth, yeah? You remember that?” He kicked his garments aside and fisted his cock, stroking it once before letting it bounce back against his stomach. “Take it.”
 
 My eyes were wide as I touched his smooth cock. He felt huge and rock solid in my hand just like I remembered. I squeezed, testing its hardness, and swallowed at the strength of him. His eyes flared heat as his gaze bounced back and forth between my eyes and my lips.