“You didn’t listen,” he whispered.
She flattened her hand on his chest and dragged herself upright as she answered, “I couldn’t.”
Yes, she could have. She’d resisted far more the last few days. But the soft glow of affection in her gaze made him consider she might be telling the truth. That, somehow, she’d experienced the same, unexplainable sharp pang behind the ribs when she’d looked at him and lost all discipline.
The thought threatened to do unspeakable damage, so he pushed it aside.
“I’ll have to reprimand you.”
She blinked, and sated contentment gave way to wary apprehension. “Do what?”
Brad traced a fingertip down one delicate cheek. “You disobeyed me, beautiful. It demands punishment.”
Those gorgeous chestnut eyes went wide. But the panic that stole over her expression didn’t slip into her voice, thank God. He didn’t want her afraid. Apprehensive was good—he much preferred the threat than actually executing a reprimand. He took care to keep his voice anything but gentle. “I won’t hurt you, but there’s a lesson to be learned here. This is who I am, who you asked for when you said no masks. If it’s not what you want…”
The tip of her tongue swept across her lower lip an instant before her teeth grazed the full softness. She shook her head. “No. I want you. I just…”
Her brows furrowed, and her expression took on emotion Brad couldn’t interpret. Regret? Confusion? Hesitation? Close, but nothing he could guess seemed precise enough. He leaned in and pressed a firm, chaste kiss to her mouth. “You just didn’t listen.”
Easing her off his lap, he stood and stepped over the edge of the hot tub. “It’s discipline. I expect you to maintain, because the pleasure is so much more intense for both of us when I choose to release you from it.”
He reached for a towel, stole a glance at where she sat in the hot tub. She watched him quietly, that mysterious emotion on her face having given way to an expression of serene contemplation. He wrapped his towel around his waist and held his hand out to her. “If you’ve changed your mind, I’ll sleep in the other room tonight and leave if the roads are clear in the morning.”
Slowly, her fingertips glided into his palm. She rose to her feet with equal hesitation. “No,” she answered quietly. “Don’t go.”
Chapter Eighteen
Cassie bit down on her tongue to stifle a scream. It wouldn’t help her anyway—Brad had already made it clear that he had no intention of listening to her pleas and guiding her over the final crest. She’d lost count of the number of times she rose to the edge, thought for certain he’d grant her release, only to take his hands and mouth off her completely and leave her hanging until her heart resumed a normal, steady beat, and the fire in her veins ebbed.
She writhed beneath that fantastic mouth, vibrating internally with each murmured sound of appreciation he made, and dug her hands into the sheets beneath her. If this was punishment, it was too delicious to protest, even if she was half out of her mind with need.
Her determination slipped as his tongue speared her deep. She bucked against him, gasping. “Brad…please…”
No smile fringed his eyes as he once again took his mouth off her. Despite the burgeoning weight of his erection that announced he was as primed as she was, he rose to his knees between her thighs then backed off the bed. The firelight behind him cast shadows over his muscular frame that gave him a dangerous, shadowy appeal. A log snapped, and Cassie’s entire body throbbed.
“Stay there,” he instructed hoarsely.
Disbelief seeped beneath her inflamed senses as he turned for the door. He couldn’t be leaving her like this. Before she could offer a protest, he stepped into the hall and shut the door behind him. Not again. The last time he’d disappeared, he’d come back with a bowl of ice and spent a torturous amount of time dragging cube after cube across her heated skin. Using it to create a mind-numbing conflict of hot and cold sensations that turned her into putty.
She edged onto her elbows and drew in a shuddering breath. Waiting. Anticipating. Disconcerted about that missing light in his eyes and the determined way he kept his dimpled grin tucked behind a stoic, unreadable expression.