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  He paused to consider her comment and realized she was being sincere. She’d told him way too much about her past love life, as far as he was concerned. It had eaten him alive to hear all the gory details about her being with any man who wasn’t him. Even so, he’d listened and commented and pretended for years that every word she spoke didn’t cut through him like a knife.

  “You never asked me about mine, Riley.”

  “Would you have told me?” she asked. “If I’d looked at you and said, ‘What floats your boat between the sheets, Aaron?’ Would you have mentioned the spankings, the butt plugs, the dominance and God knows what else?”

  Would he have told her? He wasn’t sure he would have. For some reason, he’d wanted that part of his life to be separate from her. He hadn’t lied earlier about wanting everything or nothing from her. Perhaps that was why he’d been so reticent in regards to telling her about his own sex life. Sharing even stories with Riley would have reminded him of what he wanted from her that he’d never expected—until yesterday—to receive.

  “I wouldn’t have told you,” he confessed.

  “Why not?” He could tell his answer hurt her. “We’re best friends, Aaron. I honestly thought I knew everything there was to know about you.”

  “Would you have wanted to know all of this? Why does it matter? Until this morning, you’ve never viewed me as a man you’d want to fuck. I’ve always just been reliable old Aaron—your good buddy, your pal. You want to know what floats my boat between the sheets? I like to be in control in bed. If I tell a woman to get to her knees and suck my cock, I expect her to obey. If my lover is naughty, she can be damn sure I’ll turn her over my knee and spank her ass. I like my pleasure with the slightest hint of pain. I love exploring all the unspeakable places on a woman’s body and pushing her until she cries for mercy.”

  Riley stared at him for several long, painful moments, but he refused to break the silence. She’d pushed him and he’d pushed back. Gone were the days where he handled this woman with kid gloves. It was time she saw, time she understood what made him tick.

  “I’d never cry for mercy.” She rose up until her face was inches from his.

  “What?”

  “I’d only ever cry for more from you.”

  He blinked, trying to decide if he’d truly heard her or if he’d just imagined her response, until she continued.

  “I’d be a liar and a fool if I pretended not to want you. Just be warned, I’m not a woman who’s commanded easily and if you ever try to do anything I don’t want—”

  “Riley, you don’t even have to finish that sentence. You know better.”

  She nodded. “You’re right. I do. So…you think spanking someone is sexy? Why?”

  He grinned. “Do we want to do this show or tell style?”

  She considered his request. “What if I’m not into pain?”

  “Jesus, Riley. I’m not talking whips and chains and leather. Just my hand and your firm, sweet ass.”

  “Firm and sweet, huh? I thought you were a breast man.”

  He shook his head. “T-and-A man, all the way. I could never choose.”

  “What if I hate it?”

  “I stop and we mark it off our list.”

  “We have a list?” She giggled at the thought.

  He shrugged and tapped his head. “It’s in here. We’ll just have to find our way like any other married couple. I can promise you now, though, there’s nothing you could refuse to do in bed that would break the deal. I’m married to you because I love you. Sex is only a part of our relationship.”

  She nodded. “Okay then. I guess we’ll try the ‘show’ route. Do I get to return the favor one day?”

  “You wanna spank my ass?” He wasn’t surprised by her request. He knew deep inside their sex life would be one continual power struggle after another. There was a large part of him that looked forward to that challenge.

  “I’d love to spank it,” she confessed.

  “We’ll work up to it.” He smiled as he spoke the words and she gave him a dirty look.

  “I’ve noticed you say that a lot when you don’t like the way the conversation is going.”

  He tapped his brow again. “It’s all going on the list. I swear.”

  “Mmm hmm. Just so long as you remember,” she imitated his tap on her own brow, “I have a very long memory.”

  He groaned. “Sadly, that is one thing I know about you all too well. Lay down on your stomach.”

  She looked confused for only a moment before she complied. “Don’t you want me sprawled out facedown on your lap? Isn’t the point to make you feel all powerful?”

  “The point is to make you feel all hot and bothered, which is why I’d prefer it if you were sprawled out facedown next to me.”

  He lay down on his side with his head propped up by his left hand. With his right, he softly stroked her bare ass.

  She hummed happily. “That feels nice.”

  He leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I always want to make you feel nice.”

  “You’re doing a helluva good job so far, but aren’t you sort of missing the point of this ‘show, not tell’ event?”

  “You are the most impatient woman I’ve ever met.”

  She grinned. “Thank you.”

  He chuckled—and then brought his hand down against her rear end hard. She jerked and he could see he’d surprised her with his strength.

  “Ouch.” Her voice was low, rather than pained, but he knew his blow had definitely struck some nerves.

  “No good?” He repeated the motion.

  Her flinch was less visible this time and she didn’t respond to the pain his action brought. “Is it supposed to be good?”

  He spanked her three more times, his gaze never leaving her face where it rested on the pillow. He could see her struggling to accept his spankings.

  “How does your ass feel?”

  “Sore.” She lifted her head and looked over her shoulder, down her back. “It’s hot as fire. Are you leaving marks on it?”

  “Hope so. Open your legs.”

  She hesitated.

  “Trust me.”

  She shrugged and then spread her thighs. He rubbed one of her ass cheeks gently before moving his fingers to her pussy. He breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered the proof of her arousal. “You’re wet.”

  “Seems to be my permanent state around you lately.”

  He smiled. “I like that.”

  “Figured you would.”

  He dipped one finger inside her passage and she groaned. He pulled out and then thrust inside her with two fingers several times before removing his hand and placing three more hard blows on various parts of her backside. She jumped in surprise and started to speak. He bent down to kiss her, quickly returning his fingers to her pussy. She moaned into his mouth as his lips claimed hers, as he savored the taste that was so uniquely Riley.

  He repeated the same action several times until she was squirming against his fingers when they fucked her, raising her ass off the bed to meet his hard hand.

  “Feel good?” He massaged her heated flesh. He looked down, enjoying the image of her ass marked by his hand.

  “God, yes,” she answered on a ragged breath.

  He fought back the grin growing, certain Riley would misinterpret it. “What do you want, Riley?”

  Her eyes, which had been closed, opened slowly to focus on him. “I want you inside me.”

  “Bend your knees, lift your ass in the air but keep your head down.” She shivered slightly as he issued his command and he rewarded her obedience with a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re amazing.”

  “I’m horny as shit.” She used the droll tone he loved so much. She might play his games, but she would never stop being herself.

  “Guess I’d better see what I can do to take care of that.”

  “Seeing as how it’s your fault.”

  She reached above her head, her palms lying flat against the headboard
to support herself. She loved fast, hard fucks.

  Lucky him. So did he.

  He put just the head of his cock inside her, looking down to admire her body. Her ass was warm to the touch. He rubbed it, savoring the heat until she squirmed and tried to push against him.

  He placed another smack on her bottom, a hard one, and she groaned. “You will wait for me, Riley.”

  “Dammit, Aaron.” Her words were muffled, her face buried in the pillow.

  He hit her again on the other ass cheek. “I’m sorry. Did you say something?”

  She shuddered and he knew the effort it took for her to bite her tongue. He had no doubt once she’d gotten her orgasm, she would read him the riot act for acting like a superior ass. He smacked her again.

  It would be worth it.

  After several more blows, she gave him the one word he’d been waiting for.

  “God, Aaron, please.”

  To hell with restraint. He wanted her—badly. He pushed in with one forceful thrust. She screamed and he felt the climax he’d denied her earlier start to return. She used her hands against the headboard, working in counter-rhythm to his motions, increasing the power of each incredible shove into her hot body.

  She came, but he refused to acknowledge it. Refused to give up his personal heaven on earth so soon. Over and over he moved into her body, his grip on her hips tight as he pulled her toward him. Harder and harder. Faster and faster.

  Her second climax came, stronger than the first, and he let it pull him into the vortex. “God, Riley.” The words came out on a groan and she mimicked it with a moan of her own.

  “Jesus, Aaron. You’re going to kill me.”

  He pulled free of her body, only to help her flip onto her back. She trembled when he pushed his half erect cock back inside. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew he wasn’t ready to part from her yet. She sighed contentedly and stretched her arms above her head.

  Resting his weight on his elbows, he took her face in his hands and kissed her softly. When they pulled apart, he pressed his forehead to hers, fighting back the grin trying to claw its way onto his face. His eyes must have given him away because she scowled at him.

  “Cocky bastard.”

  “It was good, admit it.” He kissed her again but didn’t give her a chance to escape.

  “It was tolerable.” She shrugged noncommittally as she said the words but he wasn’t fooled.

  “It was awesome, Riley. The best.”

  “Don’t get carried away, sugar.”

  “Say it, Mrs. Young. Say ‘You just rocked my world, Aaron’.”

  She snorted with laughter. “If I say it, will you let me go to sleep, you lunatic.”

  “Only if you say it and mean it.”

  He was shocked to see her face—usually playful—sober up. “You rock my world, Aaron.”

  He immediately noticed she’d changed the tense of the verb. “I love you, Riley.” She hadn’t given the words back yet, but he wasn’t worried. He knew she’d fight admitting that emotion harder than she would the marriage. He didn’t mind. He knew her feelings even if she didn’t, and he was nothing if not patient. He moved off her body, twisting her until they were spooning.

  “Good night, Aaron.”

  “Night, angel.”

  She giggled softly and he could tell by the sound she’d be asleep within the next minute.

  “What’s so funny?” he whispered.

  “I’m not an angel.”

  He tugged her closer and pressed a kiss on the back of her head. “You’re my angel.”

  She sighed and he heard her breathing turn to the quiet, relaxed sound of sleep. He rubbed his face in her soft hair, following her into dreamland with a smile on this face.

  Chapter Six

  Riley came awake with a start and tried to figure out what had roused her. She saw Aaron’s silhouette sitting in a chair by the window, pulling on a sock.

  “What’s up?” she asked, rising. A glance at the clock showed her she’d slept less than an hour. “It’s only midnight.”

  “I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m going to head over to Jacko’s bar, see if I can find Johnny Sparks.”

  Riley’s tempered flared. “And you weren’t going to wake me up?”

  Aaron leaned back in the chair, and even in the dark room she could read the weariness in his posture. “I don’t suppose I can ask you to sit this one out?”

  She shook her head. “You’re right. You can’t.”

  “Riley, you heard Bubbles. Jacko’s is a rough place.”

  “Which is exactly why I’m going. I’m not sending you into a place like that without backup.”

  He chuckled. “We may be in Vegas, but I’m not Grissom and you’re not Catherine and this isn’t CSI. Besides I’m a cop, I go into places like this all the time at home.”

  “Not without your partner.” She had a valid point and she knew it. She rose as she spoke and began putting her discarded jeans back on.

  “It’s not safe and I really don’t want you to go with me.”

  She paused in the process of pulling on her shirt. “Tough shit.”

  She finished tugging the shirt over her head. Her answer clearly annoyed him and she wondered how he would handle this argument. In the past, they’d often disagreed over her doing things he didn’t approve of, but she’d always gotten her way because—as she pointed out—he had no say-so in what she did or where she went. Now that they were married, the rules had changed a bit. Though she had no intentions of letting him control her, she would have to take his concerns into account.

  He stood and crossed the room. She stood up straighter, ready to do battle if needed. Though she understood he was afraid to take her into that bar, he failed to comprehend that she felt the same way about him. His job as a police officer had always bothered her, but she realized now exactly how difficult being married to a cop would be.

  She tried to hide her discomfort at his silence. Arguments with Aaron were hell on her nerves. Damn man never worked on impulse, on emotion, like she did. He was a thinker and she could see him analyzing every flipping angle as they stared each other down.

  “You’re not going to win every argument, Riley.”

  “I know that.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “So you’re gonna have to pick your battles. Decide which ones really matter to you. I know I’ve backed down in the past, but I’m not going to just lay down on every issue.”

  She reached out, placed her hands on his waist and took a step closer. “I don’t expect you to. I just don’t want you to go to that bar alone. Please don’t ask me to stay here. I can’t.”

  Her words seemed to take him aback and he studied her face too intently for her comfort. He cupped her cheek with one of his large palms and she tried not to melt under the gentle touch. “You’ll stick to me like glue and you’ll let me do all the talking. I don’t ever want you more than five inches from me when we’re in there. If you can’t agree to that, I’ll handcuff you to that bed to keep you here.”

  She smiled. “You kinky boy. You handcuff me to that bed and neither one of us will make it to that bar tonight.”

  “I’m serious, Riley.”

  “I won’t leave your side and I won’t say a word. Promise.”

  He shook his head. “Your pop and brothers would kick my ass if they knew I was planning to take you to a roughneck bar to question a pimp who could quite possibly have put a hit out on Trevor.”

  “I’ll never tell.” She ran her finger over her heart in the shape of a cross and he blew out an exasperated breath.

  “When we get back to Baltimore, we’re going to have a long talk about my job.”

  She blinked twice, shocked by how well he knew her. “How did you know?”

  He bent forward and kissed her forehead. “I know you.”

  She shook her head. “And yet you still married me. Crazy.”

  “Come on. The sooner we talk to the pimp, the sooner we can get back in bed.
I’m getting damn sick and tired of having my honeymoon interrupted.”

  She grabbed her jacket and slid her cell phone in her back jeans pocket. “You’re preaching to the choir, sugar.”

  * * * * *

  Jacko’s was everything Bubbles described and more. Aaron suspected even Hell wouldn’t welcome this establishment behind its gates. He tried to ignore the fact there appeared to be a drug deal going down in the parking lot. A guy was puking by the entrance as they walked up, clearly having met his limit of drinks two hours before he stopped drinking.

  As they walked in the front door, he was assaulted by thick, rancid cigarette smoke and the twanging sound of country music blaring from a pair of speakers in the corner. A few tough-looking guys by the bar took his measure before he made it five steps inside, then their gazes landed on Riley and he could see the surprise on their faces. No man with half a brain in his head would bring a woman like Riley into a bar like this. For the hundredth time since they’d left the hotel, he wondered what the fuck he was doing.

  It was her face as she’d looked at him, as she’d asked him not to leave her behind that had sealed the deal on his insanity. She was worried about him. Some foolish part of him had thought if he brought her along, let her see that he could handle himself in dives like this, she wouldn’t worry as much when they returned to Baltimore and he returned to work. While that idea seemed a sound one in theory, the reality of bringing her to Jacko’s was proving to be the most asinine thing he’d ever done in his life.

  She tugged on his sleeve and pointed to the end of the bar. Through the haze of smoke and the crush of smelly bodies, she’d managed to spot Johnny. There was no missing him. Johnny Sparks was exactly as Bubbles had described and in the dim lighting, Aaron would swear he was looking at Wayne Newton in the flesh.

  “Come on,” he said. “Stay close.”

  He stepped up to the bar, catching the bartender’s attention. He gestured for two beers, trying to decide where the safest spot for Riley was. If he put her in front of him, she’d be protected from all the men in the room, more than a few of whom were definitely checking her out. However, that would put her closest to Johnny. Deciding he could defend her against one rather than many more easily, he put her on the stool next to the pimp, while he stood behind her, pressing his chest against her back.