Chapter 129

“H-holy shit,” Cole thought to herself. She tried to imagine what else he could do to her—but her brain was dopamine dazed and came up blank. He withdrew and his touch became soothing again, which she was pretty sure she didn’t want at all. “We can stop at any time. You’ve already given me more than—”

“No.” Cole flattened her forearms to the sofa and shoved her hips up. “Take it all. Take everything.”

For a moment, he was so still she thought he was going to say no or something. But then he shifted his grip from her neck, laying his palm flat across her shoulders in a way that felt both ominous and reassuring.

And when he hit her this time, it hurt in such a real way that she heard herself say “Ow” in a ridiculously surprised tone of voice. It would have been funny—pain hurts, no shit Sherlock—but it was like his hand had knocked everything out of her except the capacity to respond.

A few strikes later and even “ow” was gone. Instead, these breathy c