Bought His Life by Aleka Nakis Tia Fanning Page B

part of her wanted to see how far he would go with his insistence.
    Would he really hurt her?
    His eyes, his facial expression, his body posture and his demeanor told her that he was more than pissed, so it was a possibility. Yet her gut instinct didn’t think he would do anything to truly hurt her. He wasn’t pointing the weapon at her. It lay slack in his hands.
    “You’re taking too long.”
    Never breaking eye contact, she untied the strings and let the pants slide down her hips. They pooled at her feet. She stepped out of them, knowing that her lace thong provided little cover.
    In a flash, he had a hold of her upper arm. Dragging her to the bed, he collapsed on it and slung her over his lap, belly down. Then gave her a stinging smack with the palm of his hand.
    “You will never, ever—” He punctuated ‘ever’ with another smack. “Do anything that foolish…” Smack. “That childish…” Smack. “Or that dangerous…” Smack. “Again. Do you understand me?”
    Breathless, Kimber couldn’t offer an answer. He was actually spanking her ass. Staring at the red carpet, she tried to come to terms with what was happening. What the relief in her gut meant about her?
    Another resounding smack landed, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. With her ass cheeks burning from the previous series of spankings, the latest hit really smarted.
    “Let me up now. I’m a grown woman.”
    “You don’t act like one,” he retorted. “You play dangerous games with the mentality of a child. You have no sense of responsibility, of consequence, or of survival. Why? What is wrong with you?”
    Her eyes filled with tears and blurred her vision. Oddly, she wanted to tell him the truth, tell him why she was the way she was, so careless with her life—her safety. She was so tired of carrying the dark secrets of her life alone.
    But why tell him something she’d never told anyone?
    “Nothing is wrong with me. I do what I need to do to get things done. This is who I am, and who I will always be. This is me.”
    She waited for the next stinging sensation to form on her poor bottom, but it never came. Instead, she heard him sigh.
    “Who are you really, Kimber?” he whispered.
    Tears spilled from her eyes and dripped onto the rug. “Why do you care? You don’t even know anything about me.”
    He pulled her off him and drew them both to a stand. Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her. “I don’t know why, but I care! You scared the hell out of me tonight. You could’ve gotten killed. And what makes me so angry is that you don’t seem to care.”
    She fought his hold. “I don’t care! I don’t!”
    “You’re not pushing me away. I won’t let you. I said I fucking care. I care enough for the both of us. And if something had gone wrong tonight and you were hurt, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
    She stopped struggling. “If it weren’t for Em and Jen, I would’ve put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger years ago. I hate myself. I hate who I’ve become. And if you knew the truth, you’d hate me, too.”
    “No, I’d never hate you,” he groaned, fitting his arms about her and gathering her against his hard body. “Look at how ridiculous you make me after knowing you for less than a day. I have no idea why, but you make me crazy.”
    No longer able to hold it in, she crumpled beneath the weight of her sorrow, but he caught her in his strong arms and gathered her closer. For the first time in years, Kimber welcomed the heat and security of another body.
    She took a ragged breath. “I just want the pain and the guilt to stop.”
    “Tell me,” he whispered as he smoothed his fingers in her hair.
    “He’s dead because of me.”
    “Honey, who? Who’s dead because of you?”
    “My husband.”

 
    Chapter Ten
     
     
     
    Lawson sucked in some air and rested his chin on the top of her head. He’d never imagined she’d say that, but she wouldn’t be the first wife to do such a