With her hair pulled up in a scraggly ponytail, a smudge of white paint on her face, a pinched frown between her eyes and her cute bare feet showing below her long skirt, Mitchell’s first glimpse of Lillian all week struck him like a sucker punch to the stomach. The paint-spattered, loose flannel shirt she wore untucked from the denim skirt was a sloppy deviation from the winter wool slacks and dressy sweaters he’d seen her in before. And yet, his quicksilver response was the same.
All week he’d checked his schedule and watched the clinic’s doors for her to keep the appointment she’d promised him. More than concern for a patient had prodded him into obsessing over her continued absence, and he’d fought against confronting her until closing today. Giving up the battle, he figured she would argue she didn’t need the x-rays or checkup, thus giving him a good reason to put her out of his mind once and for all.
Instead, she shook him with that small taunting smile and admitted her fault. Why couldn’t she act in a predictable manner and make dealing with her easier? Like at the cabin, one minute she would berate him for being bossy and the next, start a playful snowball fight without warning. He sure as hell wasn’t prepared for the gleam that entered her eyes and tilt of her head as she smirked with a comeback that rattled his control.
“Gee, Doc, do you want to spank me?”
Mitchell could tell she didn’t take that comment seriously, but he did. His palm still tingled whenever he recalled the warmth of her soft buttocks after he’d delivered those light smacks at the cabin and it itched now for a repeat. He needed to turn the tables on her fast and delegate her to the status of every other woman he’d scened wi
th since losing his beloved Abbie. That of a submissive acquaintance.
Taking a step forward, he cupped her chin and held her head up, keeping her eyes on him as he replied, “In the worst way, pet. I enjoyed playing with your ass before and wouldn’t mind another chance, especially if it leads to you keeping your end of our bargain and getting those x-rays.”
Surprise and a flare of heat entered her direct gaze, but he could see her fighting against remembering the arousal his touch had produced. She jerked against his grip and he released her. The rapid fluttering of her pulse in her neck was enough to prove how much he’d affected her.
Her slim brows dipped into another frown. “It was an honest memory lapse, not a deliberate attempt to go back on my word. I’m not one of those women who wants to kneel at your feet and let you dictate to me.”
Lillian took a step back and Mitchell moved forward, refusing to let her off the hook yet. “Afraid you won’t measure up? You needn’t be. I don’t compare.” Her shoulders went rigid and back, a telling sign she didn’t back down from a challenge. Good to know.
The taunting smile returned. “I’m not afraid of any man. Just ask my ex.”
“Don’t mention that ass to me,” he warned in a hard tone. The bruises might appear almost gone, but he would always remember his first look at the trauma inflicted upon her delicate features. She took another step in retreat, and he followed. “If that’s the case, then I can only surmise you’re afraid you’ll like it. You didn’t complain or stop me last time.” Mitchell questioned his sanity in needling her but couldn’t seem to stop himself.
Bumping up against the couch, Lillian waved a hand with a shake of her head. “That was foreplay. Is that what you’re suggesting? Because I might go for that.”
Mitchell chuckled, enjoying the back and forth with her. It was something he hadn’t done with a woman since his preference for dominant control took over his sexual encounters about fifteen years ago. He could tell she couldn’t decide whether to be peeved or amused by the suggestion. His chest tightened as he once again found he needed to put her in the same category as the others, even if she wasn’t a submissive.
In a move that caught her unaware, he snatched her hand, sank down onto the couch and yanked her over his knees, taking a chance this would do the trick for both of them. “I’m thinking more along the lines of a disciplinary lesson that will help you remember to keep your promise the next time. Lie still.”
She stuttered on a laugh, whipping her head around to look up at him with bright eyes. “This is ridiculous. A grown woman lying over a man’s lap like a recalcitrant child.”
“I figured you would berate me for being bossy again.” Placing a hand on her butt, he kneaded the soft flesh through her calf-length skirt and watched her eyes darken with arousal as she stiffened. “You’re definitely not a child.” He never claimed to play fair.
Lillian struggled with dual responses to Mitchell’s highhandedness and coaxing touch. It was difficult to discern which was strongest, the hot gush pooling between her legs from that intent gaze and fondling hand, or the need to prove she didn’t go for the dominant, bossy type as she’d claimed. He settled the matter in the next second, while their eyes were still locked and he slid down her thigh to inch up her skirt. The cool air wafting over her exposed legs didn’t temper the heat spreading from her face to her toes.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea.” Before, he’d caught her in a vulnerable state of grieving and she’d assumed that accounted for giving in to his touch so easily. Yet now, the brush of that calloused palm up her bare thigh was enough to stir her arousal to the same feverish pitch, negating that excuse.
“I suggest you decide quickly.” He inched further up her leg and rested his hand at the crease where thigh met the under curve of her buttock, one finger swiping the sensitive skin just under her panties. “You’re not afraid, right?”
Lillian narrowed her eyes at the provocation. Growing up, it had always been she who loved issuing challenges, especially to her more timid sister. There was a heady rush, she was learning, to taking on a dare just to prove a point.
“Like I said, Doc, I don’t fear any man. Do your worst.” Flipping her head back down, she wiggled her hips and held her breath.
“You couldn’t handle my worst, pet,” Mitchell drawled as he lifted his hand and smacked her cheek. The slight sting came and went, leaving behind a warm pulse that curbed her tongue. “But let’s see how you take a little more than the taps I gave you before.”
I’ll show him. I can… “Ow!” Lillian reached around and rubbed her butt where he delivered a spank hard enough to burn. Shoving aside her hand, he caressed the pain away, that soft rub going a long way in defusing her annoyance and dampening her sheath. That’s just not right, she bemoaned as her pussy fluttered in a cream-drenched response.
“My memory hasn’t failed me,” he said as he spanked her again. “Your ass has an enticing bounce and your muscle tone,” he squeezed one globe, “is firm but still soft. I like that.”
Lillian gripped his calf as he lowered her panties and bared her buttocks. “Gee, I’m so glad you approve of my butt.” She had intended sarcasm but her voice wobbled with the lust slowly roiling through her veins when he cupped her naked flesh.
“I would say I’m an ass man but there’s nothing about a woman’s body I don’t like.” He took a moment to trail his hand down one leg and back up the other, his light touch raising goosebumps in its wake and her awareness of her vulnerable display by the time he returned to her cheeks. “Take a breath.”
She bristled at the command and then swore as his hard hand connected with her bare skin with enough force to demonstrate the difference between teasing slaps and a real spanking. Heat blossomed across her buttock, the sting once again sliding away as fast as his hand had landed. If the pain lingered longer, went deeper, she was sure she could have fought off responding to it. It went against everything inside her, everything she’d ever believed about herself and her desire to feel her pussy swell and spasm with the next smack. Heat flooded her sheath along with another gush of cream as the next slap echoed along with her gasp. She wiggled her hips again, this time seeking relief from the increasing waves of throbbing, hot pulses moving up and down her vagina in tune with those rippling across her buttocks.
Mitchell gave her one more smack and then casually roamed over the flesh he had just reddened. “You tempt me to push your limits, Lillian, and that’s not a good idea.”
No, it’s not. She hadn’t been prepared to respond so strongly this time, and that was before he shifted his caressing hand down between her legs and trailed a finger over her slit. This wasn’t like her, to lie docilely over a man’s lap and let him do whatever he wanted, but, damn, she craved that finger moving inside her drenched, aching pussy.