Surrender to Me (Wicked Lovers #4)

She braced her hands on her hips. “You don’t think spanking is condescending?”

“Am I offending your feminist sensibilities with the truth?” Jack raised a dark brow. “Look, we know you’re women, not children. But the spanking isn’t all for you, cher. When a Dom feels his woman has endangered herself, sometimes he needs to reassure himself with your skin under his hand and your cries in his ears. We’re only a few thousand years from cavemen. In evolutionary terms, the blink of an eye...”

He hesitated, then levered himself up to shut the bathroom door—blocking out Ben’s soft snores. He lowered himself to the mattress again, hovering over her, his stare drilling into her in the shadows. “I’m going to take you alone tonight.”

“I know.

“Repeatedly,” he vowed.

“I spoke vows to love, honor, and cherish you. That includes protecting you.” He leaned closer, spoke softly in her ear. “So if I have to tie you to my goddamn bed and keep you naked and busy until we catch this guy, don’t think that will bother me one bit.”

AFTER a quick trip through a nearby drive-thru for a burger and a stop at the video store, Kata settled beside Tyler on the sofa as he cued up their movie.

“When I said cuddle up on the couch after Luc left, this isn’t what I had in mind.” His pained expression said he’d rather be boiling in oil. “Are you really going to make me watch this?”

Hot, funny, attentive without being overwhelming, Tyler was everything she normally went for in a guy. Sure, they’d flirted. It was like breathing for him, both constant and automatic. But she wasn’t feeling a serious vibe between them—which was a relief. Usually, she loved flirting, too, but Hunter had invaded every last brain cell and filled it with thoughts of him.

“I’ll take your silence as a no.” Tyler reached for the remote.

She yanked it out of his hand, then had to laugh at his mock pout.“I love Edward and Bella. Have you even seen any of the movies?” she challenged.

“Hell no. She looks constipated, and I swear he plays for the other team.”

Kata stifled a laugh. She really shouldn’t encourage him. “It’s called angst. Guess you’ve never felt any.”

Tyler leveled a hard stare on her that told her she was dead wrong. Then he saved her from muttering an awkward reply by starting the movie.

She stifled what she’d planned to say, since his life was none of her business and she was in no shape to be giving advice. Instead, Kata focused on the familiar Bella Swan voice-over that began the film.

About halfway through, he shuffled into the kitchen for popcorn, and Kata noticed that while it popped, his stare barely left the screen. Pulling one of the sofa’s throw pillows to her chest, she smiled.

“Oh, come on,” he groused. “Helen Keller and Stevie Wonder could both see this love triangle coming. And this movie made how much money?”

Kata threw the pillow at him. “Shh!”

“Don’t shush me, woman, or I’ll take you over my knee.”

She froze. “You roll that way, too? What am I saying? Of course, you do. You’re friends with Hunter.” And didn’t she feel stupid for failing to figure it out sooner?