“I’m not leaving,” she whispered, then swallowed hard against his penetrating stare. It was as though he could see right through her, to everything she ever sought to hide from the world, even from herself. It was all laid bare and open for him. She would have been less vulnerable in that moment if she had been naked and tied to a bed.
The clash of wills ended abruptly when he shifted to the center of the truck’s bench seat and pulled her face-down over his lap, exposing her jean-clad bottom to his hand. The first smack made her squeak, then the successive slaps, were as sharp and shocking as the first. These were nothing like the light sensual slaps she’d had a few times in the club. She tried counting in her head, but soon was unable to.
There was only the edge of pain, enough to remin
