Page 83 of Big Stick Energy
Darcy looks sad. “I wish she’d figure it out. But some people never do.”
“I’m starting to catch on. You were right when you said that I can’t make my mother behave. I can only change my reaction.”
“Oh God.” She reaches over and gives me a friendly nudge. “Don’t take advice from me! I’m the one who lost her cool today.”
“Yeah, you did,” I say, catching her hand and kissing the palm. “You naughty thing.”
She sniffs. “Tessa had it coming, though.”
“Sure did.” We both laugh, but I don’t let go of her hand. I place it on my chest, instead. “That’s not the only thing you’ve done wrong, baby. You’re actuallyverynaughty.”
She gives me an amused glance. “How do you figure? Have I not been a perfect wedding date? I’m fantastic at scouting out the best appetizers. I cheated in the hedge maze when you asked me to. And then I invited you on averyexciting tour of the local emergency room.”
“Uh-huh. But there are still some issues that need addressing. Let’s discuss, please. I’ll need you to behave and hear me out.” Iswing my legs over the shady side of the chair, and then I pat my thigh. “Come here, honey. It’s lesson time.”
For a second, Darcy looks a little bit startled, and I wonder if she’s going to play along. But then she slowly sets her magazine aside and sits up to transfer her weight onto my lap.
“Captain,” she whispers in a husky voice. “What seems to be the problem?”
Christ.I inhale the scent of coconut lotion and sun-kissed skin, and my blood is already rushing south before I’ve even told her my plans. “We have plenty to discuss,” I purr, running a hand through her hair. “See, you play the part of a good girl, but you’ve actually been very bad.”
“Have I?” she whispers. “Last night?”
I shake my head immediately. “Last night you were perfect. An A+ student at the Tremaine School of Good Times.”
Her lips twitch. “Did I miss an assignment, then?”
“You did. And I’m kind of pissed off about it, to be honest.”
My delivery must be pretty convincing, because her expression turns uncertain. “What could I have possibly done to make you mad?”
“It’s what you didn’t do,” I say simply. “Because youknew, and you didn’t tell me.”
“Knewwhat?” She reaches up to rub a hand against my scratchy chin, and our gazes lock. “I don’t understand.”
“You knew,” I say quietly, “exactlyhow good we’d be together. And you weren’t ever going to tell me, were you?”
Her eyes widen. Then she gives her head a petulant shake. “No. I wasn’t going to tell you. Ever.”
“How come?” I demand. “Only a bad girl would hold out on me like that.”
Her eyes darken, and she strokes a thumb across my jaw. I feel it in my cock. “I wasn’t going to tell you,Captain, because it was so obvious that you should have been able to figure it out for yourself. Youdowalk past my desk every day.”
“Kendrick,” I whisper, leaning in to scrape my whiskers against her cheek. “Are you trying to tell me I’m a dumb jock?”
Her chest shakes gently with suppressed laughter. “You said it. Not me.”
I take her earlobe between my teeth and give it a little bite. When she inhales sharply, I put my tongue in her ear. Her hands turn to liquid on my body, and I can see her pulse flutter at her throat.
“Kendrick,” I whisper. “It’s notniceto call a man stupid. Our egos are very fragile. And you should know that bad girls deserve punishment.”
She shivers slightly, then presses closer to me. I can feel the heat rising off her sun-warmed skin. “What sort of punishment?”
“The teasing kind.” I run my fingertips lightly down her bare back. “Bad girls get stripped down and teased. And tasted.” I slide a hand between her thighs, and she clenches her legs around my hand. “Can I demonstrate? It’s the best way for you to learn your lesson.”
She nods immediately.
“Answer me out loud, Kendrick. That’s how this problem started, right—you didn’t tell the jock what he needed to hear?”
