“Seychelle.” Savage poured a warning into his voice. Damn her, she just couldn’t sit still. What the hell was she doing? Didn’t she know every move she made was pure temptation to a man like him when her body was decorated like that?
She totally ignored him, just the way she did whenever she decided to do what she wanted. She turned completely on the seat, rising up again on her knees, heedless of the sleeping bag sliding down while she reached into the back seat to snag the bag closest to her. It was dark on the road, with only one or two cars coming their way. The headlights acted like a spotlight, because, as she bent over, her ass was pushed out, and those headlights landed precisely on the stripes crisscrossing the cheeks of her bottom. The stripes were thin, dark red, and angry-looking. They were sexy as hell. Gorgeous.
“Seychelle, I’m not playing around. Get back in that seat, right now.” He put a growl in his voice. Total command.
She hung over the seat, unzipping the bag and dragging out one of his shirts, ignoring his orders as if she didn’t hear them. The temptation to spank her ass was overwhelming.
“If you don’t turn around right now, I’m going to smack your ass, and it’s going to hurt like hell.” His cock hurt like hell. What difference did it make if he went that far? He’d already lost her.
She didn’t even look at him or act like he’d spoken to her. He waited, his heart accelerating, his mouth dry, the blood pounding through his cock. Before he could stop himself, adrenaline poured through his body, and he slammed his palm on her perfect round left cheek and then her right, over the long, thick welt that was darker than the others. She jumped and whipped around, her hand coming up like she might cover her bottom, but she didn’t.
She had his tee in her hand. “That really hurt, Savage.”
She gave him her long, spiky lashes. That pouty lower lip he liked to bite. Bog, he needed to pull over and kiss the hell out of her, tell her he needed her, and she could never leave him. She took away his past. Drove away his demons. Gave him laughter and taught him what fun was. She was his world.
“Punishments are supposed to hurt. Turn around and put your fucking seat belt on or I’m going to pull this truck over and you’re going to be hurting a lot worse than you do now.”
Now his cock was so swollen with need he wanted to tell her to lie across the console and put her mouth on him. Fuck him. He really was the devil. Her face was still wet with tears, and they had been driving for miles. It didn’t matter to the monster. If he didn’t have to keep the truck on the road, he would have made his demands. She pulled the tee gingerly over her head. He had to keep casting little glances at her as he maneuvered several curves in the road before he was finally on a straight stretch.
Seychelle struggled to get her arms carefully into the tee and pull the material over her breasts. She made a single sound of muffled pain, turning her face away from him toward the window. Her hands were shaking when she placed them on her knees, which were still inside the sleeping bag.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked again, this time forcing a gentleness into his voice.
“I want to sit up when we talk. I don’t think you’re going to take me seriously if I’m laying down.” She clenched her teeth and dashed at the tears running down her face.
“You’re supposed to be sleeping, not talking. Babe, I put that lotion on you for a reason. You’ve taken half of it off you. How do you expect it to work?”
“I expect you to listen to me.” She lifted her chin at him.
Bog, he loved that little chin lift. “I always listen to you.” He had to clear his own eyes. The fucking road kept blurring.
“Evidently, you don’t, Savage. We talk, I think we’re on the same page and then you pull this bullshit.”
Seychelle didn’t swear. He swore. He thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world. “You knew what I was, Seychelle. I never lied to you,” he said in a low voice.
“Sometimes I want to shake you.” She pressed her fingers to her trembling lips. “We’re supposed to be partners, you asshole. Partners. You don’t get to negate what I do for you. You don’t reduce it to nothing. You took on the rage for your brothers, and I took on the pain for you. That was the pact we made. That’s what we both did. You don’t get to sit in this truck and think about taking your life and leaving me alone because you think you screwed up. That’s not how it works. You make me so angry sometimes, Savage. Why don’t you take on my anger?”