Cassie had just emerged from the bathroom dressed in a calf-length denim skirt and a sleeveless blue blouse when Marc entered the bedroom and her heart did that disconcerting flip at the sight of him. Jittery with morning-after nerves, she reminded herself this was what she wanted, what she had insisted upon.
“Good morning, darlin’. Sleep well?”
She loved the way he called her darlin’ in his slow, southern drawl. Sometimes she thought she could come from listening to his voice alone. “Yes, but I overslept. I need to get to work.”
“You have time for a quick breakfast. Pancakes are already done, table’s set, coffee’s hot. Come on.” Taking her hand, he led her out to the kitchen where she saw Jack and Morgan already seated at the long counter and digging into their pancakes.
Not knowing how the other couple would feel about her presence, she held back. “I’ll grab a donut at work. I need to go.”
“And miss Marc’s pancakes?” Morgan exclaimed when she saw them. “He put bananas and nuts in them and they’re to die for. Come join us, Cassie.”
“Well, all right, but I must hurry.” She sat next to Morgan at the counter and put a plate-size pancake on her plate, grateful for the other woman’s open and welcoming attitude. “These are huge. How do you flip them when they’re this big?”
Marc took a seat next to her, stacking three large pancakes on his own plate. “I have a big spatula and a lot of experience.”
“So, Cassie, do you fix anything in the kitchen besides sweets?”
“Sorry,” she replied returning Jack’s hopeful look with a rueful grin. “I can bake up a storm and love doing it, but when it comes to fixing a healthy meal, count me out.”
“How the hell did we both end up with a woman who doesn’t cook?” Marc complained to Jack.
“Dumb luck. The good news is we no longer have to do dishes.”
“Let me warn you, Cassie. They make no effort to keep from making a mess when one of them is in the kitchen. I never had dishpan hands till I came here.”
She grinned when Morgan looked at her paint-smeared fingers then at Jack as if it were his fault. “Since I already have dishpan hands from cleaning up my own messes, doing a few more dishes won’t matter. That was good, Marc, but I need to get going. Morgan, if you’ll do these dishes, I’ll clean up tonight.” Taking a last swallow of coffee, Cassie hopped down from the stool.
“It’s a deal,” Morgan answered.
“Hold on, Cassie. Let me grab my keys.”
Surprised, she glared at Marc. “Don’t be ridiculous. Finish your breakfast. I’m perfectly capable of driving myself to town.”
Glaring right back at her, he bit off, “I’m well aware of your capabilities, but this isn’t open for discussion. I’ll take you to work, Scott or one of the deputies will keep an eye on the bakery while you’re there, and I’ll pick you up.”
Fisting her hands on her hips, she stared at him with incredulous, growing irritation, not liking this turn of events. She loved his control for sex, but she valued her independence, something she’d worked hard to achieve. “You’re right, it’s not open for discussion because you’re being ridiculous. This jerk most likely isn’t anywhere around here. I’m going now.”
She didn’t get far before he stepped in front of her, blocking her exit. “My way, Cassie. That was the deal.”
His soft voice and the muscle ticking in his lean cheek made her wary, but didn’t prevent her from arguing. “That was about sex, not about you dictating my every movement and shadowing me night and day.”
“When it comes to your safety, it’ll be my way. Now, let’s go.”
“Marc, this is asinine. You have your own work to do. Stay here and do it, I’ll be fine.” When she made to go around him again, she found herself bent over his muscled arm in a move so fast her head spun in dizzying circles. Squealing, she cried out in mortification when he flipped up her skirt and shoved her panties down, baring her butt to both Morgan and Jack. “Let me go, you moron!” she cried out.
Instead, he swatted her ass with his free hand. “No. I warned you about doing things my way. Now you’ll know how serious I am about it.” Smacking her again and again, he covered her squirming buttocks with hard slaps that left her ass red and his dick hard.
Cassie’s shock at being treated like a naughty child couldn’t compare to the quick, stunning arousal sweeping her from the painful burn spreading over her butt, the pulsing heat encompassing her entire backside zeroing down between her legs. Knowing the other couple watched only seemed to add to her arousal. Whimpering in shame, she quit struggling in the hopes he would stop before she embarrassed herself further. If any of them looked close enough, she knew they’d be able to see the dampness coating her lips, testament of her aroused state.
Marc landed a few more well aimed smacks when she quit fighting him for good measure. Her bright red, warm buttocks felt good when he ran his palm in a light caress over her skin. A quick dip between her legs told him all he needed to know. Holding back his smile of satisfaction, he pulled her panties up, lowered her skirt, and lifted her to face him. Tears she refused to let fall brightened her blue eyes, her face flushed from more than embarrassment.
“Now, are you ready to let me drive you to work?”
Keeping her eyes averted from the other couple, she mumbled, “Yes, sir.”
“Don’t fret, Cassie,” Morgan called out before they left the loft. “I’ve had my share of discipline from these two. You’ll get used to it.”
Too embarrassed to reply, she hurried down the stairs before turning to glare at Marc. “You spank Morgan also?”