Sugar

“I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

Her phenomenal wit made me want her all the more. Such a smart, sexy mouth. Releasing her throat, I kissed her, biting her lower lip hard enough that she stopped fidgeting for a moment.

“Noah!” she snapped, possibly pissed because she was enjoying it.

“Avery,” I mimicked, smiling.

She huffed. “What are the conditions of the deal?”

She was as curious as a fucking cat.

I met her stare and grinned. “Every time you let me fuck you the way I want, I’ll give you one hour to play Little Miss Control Freak with me.”

I was curious to see what she’d actually do with all this authority she claimed to need. Part of me still believed it was all an act, sort of like a cute Chihuahua that thinks of itself as a Great Dane. I could survive an hour of that.

She stilled, her expression instantly sobering. “Are you serious?”

I ground into her. “Does it feel like I’m serious? Whatever it will take to keep you from hiding from me, I’m down. We can take turns.”

“But you get to fuck me however you want in exchange?”

“That’s right.” Just like I was doing now and like I’d done last night.

It took one second of being inside Avery Johansson to realize she would easily rank as the best sex I’d ever had. With her, there was no shame, no limits, and no modesty. Just unrefined, animal instinct.

I’d never experienced such raw eroticism before. I never felt so free to experiment with my own sexuality, and I planned on taking full advantage of our deal—should she agree.

“What about hard limits?”

“We’ll figure them out as we go.” I didn’t want to be the cliché, but we needed a safe word if we were going to do this. Every forum I read insisted on starting there. “What’s a word you hate?”

“What?”

“Something you never talk about or say.”

Her expression shifted like a mask falling into place. “Blackwater.”

I definitely needed to know about the home she left. And a better man would take the opening now, but I wanted to close the deal first. The story about Blackwater would come in time.

“Okay. You say Blackwater, and we immediately stop whatever we’re doing. Same goes for me. Deal?”

She looked suspicious, as if she expected a monster to jump out of the closet at any second. “Deal,” she repeated slowly.

Her agreement came so easily I felt slightly played. Yet she did the whole skepticism thing so well. Who exactly was the player here? Maybe there wasn’t one. No, there was always a strategizer in every deal.

Sleeping with someone as cool and open-minded as Avery was wild. Maybe she wasn’t bluffing, and this was just cute to her.

Fuck. Maybe she was used to men striking deals with her.

How was it, the more I got to know her the more she proved a mystery? I laughed to myself. I’m going to figure you out, Ms. Johansson...

“Something amusing?” And that snark…

She definitely got hot from rough play, but I was starting to get off on her bitchiness. “Just relishing our negotiations.”

She rolled her eyes. “Where would the world be if men didn’t take time to stroke themselves after a job well done?”

I stilled, taking her jab as a challenge. “You’ll be the one stroking me now.”

“Tit for tat. You better stretch before I get my turn.”

Oh, it was like that was it? I needed to crank it up. I could tell she expected little from me and that just wouldn’t do.

I wanted to be the best she’d ever had. I didn’t know my limits yet, because right now, I was solely focused on her. She was the goal. I wanted to live in every crevice of her and leave her wearing my scent like a tattoo. I wanted to be all she thought of, even long after we part ways. I wanted to shock her.

I pulled out and she frowned.

“What are you doing?”

Time to push her. “On your stomach. I want to play with your ass.”

“What?”

Grabbing her ankle and wrist, I quickly flipped her to her stomach and pried her cheeks apart.

“Wait!” She squirmed out from under me. “We need lube or something!”

I dragged her across the bed. “That’s what spit’s for.”

Her face hardened as she glared over her shoulder. “You fucking spit on my body and I’ll rip your eyes out of the sockets. I have some in the drawer next to my bed.”

Most women kept magazines in their nightstands, but okay. Convenient.

I reached for the drawer and pulled it open. “Holy fuck.”

“Just get the lube and get out of there.”

She had a fucking arsenal. “This is just for you? What the hell are you doing with these?” I lifted the box of clothespins.

She chuckled. “You’ll find out when it’s my turn.”

I glanced down at my body. “You’re not pinning my dick or my balls.”