Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74035 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74035 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
It's beautiful here. The wind rustles through the leaves, and there's a slight hum of insects in the underbrush, but they don't bother me. It's like background noise in an isolated land, unadulterated or unpolluted with raucous sound or human interaction. Nature’s symphony. The screech of a gull overhead, the fluttering of a flock of birds as they soar skyward, the distant tap of a woodpecker on a tree, and growing closer now, the swish of the waves coming onto the shore. It sounds as if it's a recording, something created to soothe. I could close my eyes and drift off to sleep with a lullaby around me.
"But then every once in a while, you're a spoiled little city girl."
"Hey!"
He gives me a look that's half teasing, half stern, and my heart thumps. "Do you disagree with me?" He’s begging me to defy him. He loves it when I do, I know he does. I imagine him laying down his fishing gear, capturing my wrist, finding a tree stump and hauling me across his lap.
Fine, then. I can play along, too. I ignore the thundering of my heartbeat as I scoff at him.
"You are full of shit," I say, thereby breaking two rules. Not only am I defying him, I tossed in a naughty word. Oh, what's he gonna do now?
Dario comes to a stuttering halt, and I wonder if I've pushed too far. I clench my teeth together to stop them from chattering.
“Wanna repeat that?”
Though he looks almost angry, with his deeper tone of voice, his eyes flinty and hands anchored on his hips, I’m not afraid. It’s the low, seductive tone of his voice. The way his chest expands, exposing his neck. The look of possession and intensity in his eyes.
I can't deny the tingling in my lower body, the anticipation of pleasure that make my breasts feel full and warm as wetness gathers between my thighs. I can hardly breathe.
"I said," swallowing before I continue, “you are full of shit.” He heard that loud and clear.
"And what happens when you swear?"
I look away, withering under the heat of his glare. "I get punished,” I whisper.
"What happens when you're disrespectful to me?" he asks, the same intense expression in his eyes.
I speak a little lower, casually. “Oh, I suppose… the same thing.”
I bite my lip and look for a chance to escape. I haven't run from him yet, but I'm full of energy after a good night’s sleep, and it sure is a nice day…
"Don't you even think about it," he says in a warning growl. I do. I definitely do think about it.
He crooks a finger at me. "Come here, now."
I shake my head. Nope. Not gonna do it. He can't make me.
Actually, more accurately, he totally can, and I want him to.
"If you run from me…" He doesn't finish the sentence. I lick my lips and swallow, imagining what would happen if I do run from him.
I look at him, I look down at my feet, I look at those large, formidable hands of his, that can and will put me over his knee to spank my ass. And I make a dash for it.
I follow the path in the woods that leads to the beach, reasoning that pretty soon it will open up to a wide-open space and he's gonna have to really work to catch me. Of course he will, he's stronger and bigger, and I know I won't get away for good. But that's part of the fun of it.
I run down the embankment, and he curses behind me. "Thought you didn't like swears!" I yell over my shoulder. He curses again.
My feet hit sand, and I run faster. Running is the one thing I've always liked doing for exercise, and damn but it feels good to really let loose.
If this were any other beach on Earth, the sand would be peppered with colorful beach towels, huge umbrellas, beach chairs and swimmers, but there's nothing like that here. Nothing but a wide, bare beach with not a single footprint in the wet sand. I can hear the crash of waves and the distant cry of water birds, but other than that nothing but my panting and his heavy footsteps behind me. I actually think I'm giving him a good chase until I realize that the beach has already almost come to an end. He said it was small, and he wasn't joking.
I look wildly from side to side. My choices are to run deep into the woods, except there’s nothing but a wall of leaves and branches to my left, or run into the wide-open ocean to my right that's freezing cold and probably full of fish. I don't have a lot of clothes to change into, and don't really feel like getting wet.