“I meant back to your place.”
Vaughn didn’t look happy about me changing direction, but he didn’t comment on it. “Come on.” He got out, but I didn’t follow him. Instead, I sat back with my arms crossed. I just wanted to see my little love butt and go to sleep.
Unfazed, as if he expected me to be stubborn, Vaughn rounded the hood of the car. I tried to lock the door, but I was too late. He got the door open, so I started screaming instead.
“Help! This crazy Neanderthal won’t take me back to his cave!” I slapped his hands when he tried to unbuckle my seat belt. When he finally succeeded, I quickly crawled into the back seat.
“Goddamn it, pip-squeak!” He yanked the backdoor open before crawling inside and slamming it behind him. It took him a few seconds to notice that I wasn’t trying to escape. “Wha—”
I didn’t let him finish that sentence before grabbing his face and kissing him. I felt his body tense before he realized what was happening and taking over as I knew he would. Call me crazy, but it worked for me. I craved his domination even when I cursed it.
I had his suit jacket off and was tearing at his tie and the buttons on his shirt before he could even slip me the tongue. “Please fuck me, Vaughn. Right now.”
“Is bipolar one of your new personality traits?” He’d whispered it against my lips as he continued kissing me. Despite his question, he was already ripping at my clothes.
I wasn’t sure what had gotten into me. I just knew I needed to erase tonight, to erase the feel of all those men peering at me and caressing my skin when the bouncers weren’t looking. I knew the only one capable of that was Vaughn.
And then there was the other reason.
The fact that I simply needed him.
It had been two weeks since I sealed the fate of our relationship. Parents to River—that was what I had reduced us to. Two weeks of establishing a routine, sharing a space, and passing each other in the hall, never looking too long at one another for fear of what might come tumbling out. But then tonight, when he saw me dancing for him and his friends, and I saw the promise in his eyes to punish me, I knew we weren’t through. Not by a long shot. A part of me wished he would make me pay. To offer me that solace, the knowledge that he’d never give up fighting for me.
As if reading my mind, Vaughn sat back once I was naked. I wasn’t worried about being seen in the dark and the nearly empty parking garage. I felt him gripping my arm and yanking me forward until I tumbled over his lap. For a moment, I stared at the back door in shock before peering over my shoulder at him. Vaughn wasn’t looking at me, though. He was staring at my ass. “What are you doing?”
“Did you really think I’d find you in that club and not make you think twice about going back?” Before I could answer him, he finally met my gaze. “This might hurt a little.”
I didn’t get the chance to ask him what he meant before I felt the sting of his palm hitting my backside. I turned my head as I cried out. My nails gripped the fabric of my seats, threatening to tear holes in them. I couldn’t think about that, though. All I could think about was what Vaughn was doing to me.
His fingers gripped my hair, and then he turned my head around, forcing my gaze to meet his. “Eyes on me. Watch me punish you.”
“Vaughn—”
He spanked me again before I could finish my plea. This time, he soothed the ache with his palm as he stared into my eyes.
“What kind of a man do you take me for, Tyra?”
I slowly shook my head because I genuinely didn’t know. Somehow, I still loved him. I never thought I’d live to see the day where that wasn’t enough. I couldn’t trust him, my broken heart wouldn’t allow me to, but I could have this—with him.
I felt his palm on my ass again and again until I was a crying, blubbering mess. Vaughn soothed the ache each time only to spank me harder. I could already feel his erection pressing into my stomach, so I moved my hips, hoping to divert his needs elsewhere.
His hand paused in midair.