She stomped over to my side and painted Entitled Dick.
Then she grabbed her bag and went to the spare bathroom in the living room, most likely because the en suite bathroom was on my side.
I let her fume for the rest of the night, went back to my computer, and got to work on the code she’d used to break through JUNIPER.
A few hours in, the silence of the wilderness closed in on me. My mind wandered to her. I was losing my edge, and I wasn’t sure I wanted it back.
While she slept soundly, I rummaged through her luggage and found her spray paint. I put Dollface above her head. She woke on the last letter and squinted up at me, leaning on her side to do it. Then she smiled like I’d made her whole life, like this was normal behavior.
No words were spoken between us. She rolled over under the comforter on her side of the damn red line and snuggled in.
I stared at her for far too long before I growled and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. If I was going to indulge the red line down the bed and across the room, I was happy that the bathroom was on my side. I knew I’d be jacking off to her more than once on this retreat. My dumbass split-second decision to have her stay with me was already backfiring. Indulging the jealousy that coiled through me at seeing her with someone else should have been an indicator to back off.
I turned out the lights as I entered the room and pulled the blankets up over her shoulder, staring at how her dark hair fanned out across the light pillow, how her lips parted with a breath, how her small neck was so delicate that I could steal her life in a second and make sure she enjoyed the feeling the whole damn time. And I fucking wanted to do the latter instead of the former more often than not now.
I swore before rolling over to my side.
The red line wasn’t going to last, but I’d give her tonight. She wouldn’t get much more than that.
12
Izzy
Of course I’d gone to bed before Cade. He’d disappeared into the living room as if he wasn’t at all perturbed by my spray paint outburst.
Damn, that was going to cost me some money. I knew I’d need to comp them for that, but it felt good to let go, to make it known that I wasn’t here to take anyone’s crap, that I could toss it right back at him.
I’d felt like me for a moment, acting out and embracing the spark that flared to life. Well into the night, though, I’d woken to see him smiling as he spray-painted Dollface over my headboard too.
Something was wrong with us.
We definitely had issues, but when I cracked my eyes open the next morning to sheets rumpled on his side and no Cade in bed, I chuckled to myself. He’d actually slept on his side of the line, he’d indulged me when he didn’t need to.
I stretched and grabbed my makeup bag to go shower. I didn't bother with avoiding the painted barrier now. It was the principle of the matter, quite frankly. So I took my time brushing my teeth in the en suite bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. I ran my finger across the bite marks on my neck.
I hadn’t realized how rough we’d been the night before when he got me off at the table. My nipples tightened as I stripped off my T-shirt and underwear to get into the shower. My skin reddened with the thoughts of last night.
No man but Cade could irk me so much and turn me on at the same time. He pushed me so close to the brink of my emotions that I wasn’t sure how I’d survive keeping a lid on them throughout the rest of this retreat.
I turned on the water and let the water droplets run over my head until they were so hot, they nearly scalded my skin. I needed the heat, the pressure, and the privacy now. I needed to get the vision of Cade working my pussy, biting my neck, and sliding his hands over my body out of my head.
My fingers dove into my folds, and I moaned softly at how wet I already was. I needed the release to focus. The water heated my skin, dampening it along with the sweat as I worked myself up.
I imagined his cock, how hard it got when he stared at me, how the metal would rub against my most sensitive spot exactly the way I wanted, how he knew I wanted him to take control, to steal my breath so long I’d almost panic.
I rolled a finger over my clit, and it was right then that the shower curtain flew open. I jerked my hand away from my center and gasped, “Cade!”
“Don’t stop on account of me. No reason to when you were imagining me fucking you anyway.”
“I’m in the shower, you asshole!” I tried to jerk the curtain away from him, but he didn’t let it go. So I stood back and crossed my arms over my breasts, standing tall. Gerald might have said I needed to lose weight, but I knew Cade enjoyed how I looked, and I did too. I wasn’t ashamed of my body.
“You’re in the shower on my side, right?” he pointed out.
“Are you kidding me right now?”
“Nope. You started this game.”
“Whatever. So what? I’m on your side.” I shrugged.
“New rule—when you’re on my side, you do what I want.” He held my gaze, and that look told me he wasn’t going to let me leave.
“And if I don’t?” I left one arm over my breasts and cocked a hip to prop up my other hand.
“You know I enjoy punishing you, Izzy. I have no problem doing that now. I think this retreat will serve a couple new purposes.”
“Like what?”
“Like teaching you who’s in charge. Maybe a way for us to get each other out of our systems too.” His tone lowered, his eyes darkened, his demeanor changed. Cade wanted me to rebel, and my pussy responded. I could feel how much I wanted to be a brat and not listen.
“Get real,” I whispered, challenging him. He was right, though. I needed him out of my system. My response was breathless, excited, and a little too eager.
He stepped back with one side of his full lips rising up. That smirk told me the cat was out to play and he wanted me to be his mouse. “Go ahead then, dollface. Try to leave.”
I glanced at the doorway, knowing I could try to make a run for it, but I’d have to move past him. Cade was an immovable tower—a suited-up, dark-haired, very good-looking, very muscular tower—that I eyed up and down.
Him and his stupid three-piece suit was starting to get infuriating even if I saw the outline of his hard cock. I wanted to see the skin underneath as I stood there naked with water droplets rolling down my body. And the only way to get it was to push him like he pushed me. “You wouldn’t know how to punish me the right way if you tried.”
I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. He didn’t move a muscle other than the one in his jaw, which ticked rhythmically.
Maybe I’d read him wrong. Maybe he would let me walk right by him and he didn’t really care.
But as I took one more step toward the door, his hand slammed down on the frame. “You came to my side to play, didn’t you?” he asked quietly. His eyes focused on only my center then. “Face the mirror and play with that pussy. Matter of fact, let me help you.”
He grabbed my hair and turned me roughly toward our reflection, standing behind me and forcing me to bend at the waist. I caught myself on the counter, but he shoved me down farther until my ass was out for him to grind his cock against. I couldn’t stop myself from moaning.
He tsked over and over as he rolled his suited cock against my pussy, and I arched my back trying to create more friction by moving my hips with him. “You’re going to ruin my suit, baby. That pussy of yours can’t even handle my cock this close to it. It’s weeping for me, crying for its owner to come home.”