The Real Thing (7 page)

“I learned that you’re a
Neanderthal
who like
s to put a woman over your knee
whenever she does something you don’t like.”

“Not all women. Just the ones who act like spoiled brats.”

“I am
not
a spoiled brat!”

His brow rose. “So, you’re saying you weren’t about to throw yourself on the floor and start kicking and screaming? Could have fooled me.”

She
almost stamped her foot, but caught herself just in time when she realized what a field day he’d have with that. She settled on a growl of frustration instead.
“
Just go into your
studio and paint
something, dammit.
”

“
I’ll do that.
Right after I spank you.”

Raine backpedaled, almost tripping over her weekender bag. “You are not spanking me again.”

Logan advanced on her, sidestepping the bag without even looking down. “Oh yes, I am.”

She backed up some more,
but
he
grabbed her arm
before she could take more than two steps. She dug in her heels, but her bare feet hand couldn’t get enough of a grip.

“
Let me go, you Cro-Magnon!”

He spun
around
so abruptly she
had
to take a step back
.
“
I thought you said I was a
Neanderthal.”

“Same thing,” she ground out.

“Not really.” Did he just smirk? “Cro-Magnons are much more advanced.”

She clenched her teeth. “Then that’s definitely not you.”

This time he most certainly smirked. She probably would have slapped it off his face if he hadn’t sat down on
the couch and
yanked
her tumbling over his knee.

Raine shoved
against his thigh
, struggling
to
push herself up
, but
with
Logan’s arm wrapped tightly around her waist, she could
n’t
do
anything more than squirm around
helplessly.

“Let me up, you asshole!
”

“So, I’m an asshole as well as a Neanderthal now?”

“Yes.” She yelped as his hand came down on the seat of her shorts.
“
Damn you, I’ll have you arrested for this.
”

“Go ahead.” His hand connected with her derriere again, harder this time. “Tell the cops
I spanked you. Once they find out what a pain in th
e ass you are, they’ll
say you
deserved it.
They’ll probably want to do it themselves.
”

“You
…
Owwww!”

She should never have provoked him. Then why had she?
If she didn’t know better, she’d think it was because she wanted him to spank her again. But that was crazy.

His hand found the sensitive skin right where her shorts had ridden up, and she squealed.

Why would she want another spanking when it stung so much? Her therapist would probably
say it was because her inner Id was manipulating events to give her what she craved the most.

His hand located the same tender spot on the underside of the other cheek.

Was that it?
Had she secretly been
looking for a guy who wouldn’t put up with her
crap
and take
her in hand
when
ever
she acted up?

Now, t
hat really
was
crazy.

Then why did something inside her protest when he suddenly stopped the spanking?

She
’
d answer that later, after he locked himself in his studio
and she was alone
on the couch nursing her freshly spanked bottom.

But Logan didn’t let her up. Instead, he hooked his fingers in the waist
band of her
shorts and yanked them down.

Raine’s face flamed. She didn’t know why she was so embarrassed. She’d done nude scenes in movies before. But this was different. She was over some guy’s knee with her bare ass in the air—and he was spanking her. Hard.

“Owwww!” Who’d have thought her skimpy shorts would offer so much Protection?
It f
elt like her bottom was on fire.
“
T
hat hurts!”

“Good
.
”
He
smack
ed
her
ass
again. “Maybe you’ll remember that the next time
you want to behave like a brat.
”

She opened her mouth to tell him—again—she wasn’t a
brat, but all that came out was a squeal. She
reached back to shield her burning cheeks, but he grasped her wrist without missing a beat and pinned it against the small of her back
.
S
he
kick
ed
her legs frantically, hoping to get free that way, but Logan trapped her flailing limbs with his own leg,
holding
her captive more effectively than she would
ever
have imagined
. Completely h
elpless now, she lay
there
draped over his knee and
silently
call
ed him
every foul name she could think of while he administered a dozen more spanks.
Ouch. If this was what her inner Id wanted, it needed therapy more than she did.

When he finally let her up, her face was as red as h
er
ass had to be.
S
he struggled to pull up her shorts as she glared up at him.

“You bastard
,”
she spat. “You’re
not going to get away with this.
As soon as I’m out
of here, I’m going to the c
ops and telling them everything.
I—
” 

“You’re even more beautiful when you’re angry, did you know that?”

Logan’s words made her do a double take. “What?”

His dark eyes smoldered with heat. “
It’s true.
You’re sexy as hell when you’
re
mad.
  Almost as sexy as you are when you’re getting your ass tanned
—
you obviously can’t see it, but you have the most amazing wiggle when you’re getting spanked.  Seriously sexy.
”

She stared at him for a long time, speechless.
What the hell was he saying
—
and how the hell should she respond? 
When she finally did think of something to say, Logan’s
mouth
came down on hers before she could get the words out.

Raine was
so
startled at first
that she automatically kissed Logan back.
It was what a woman did when a man this hot put his lips on you. 
His mouth was gentle on hers, his tongue teasing, and she ran her hands halfway up his chest
, seeking the button on his shirt,
before she remembered
where she was and who was kissing her
. She
pushed against his chest with a sound of indignation. Logan lifted his
head, but didn’t release his hold
on her shoulders.

“What the hell do you think you’re
doing
?”
she demanded. “
You can’t kiss me like
that.
”

His mouth twitched.
“Well, if not like that,
how about like this?
”

L
ogan
buried his hand
s
in her hair and
tipped her head back
.
Raine
parted her lips under his, a low moan
of pleasure
slipping out as
his tongue entwine
d
with hers. The anger
she’d felt
disappeared
to be
replaced with a
suddenly
knee-weakening desire to be
completely and totally
possessed by this man. She didn’t care that he
’
d just held her down
over his knee and spanked her.
Hell, m
aybe that was why she wanted him so much.
Or maybe it was because she hadn’t had sex with a guy in a long time—unless she counted that hot and steamy shower scene in her upcoming movie, which she didn’t.
Whatever it was, she’d
never
been so consumed by a mere kiss before. She
swore the heat of his touc
h
would burn right through her
, that h
is kiss would make her explode. 
She slid her hands up his chest to grip his shoulders, partly to keep from collapsing, and partly because she needed to feel those hard muscles she knew were under there.

He dragged his mouth away, his breathing ragged. “I
wanted to do that since I first
saw you.”

Raine wasn’t often speechless, but for the second time that night, she couldn’t think of anything adequate to say.
Words just didn’t seem to be able to convey the emotions that were zipping through her body right then.
So, she grabbed the back of his head and
forcefully
pulled him down for another kiss.
This time, she was just as
aggressive
as he was,
plunging
her tongue into his mouth to
urge his to come out and play.
She didn’t want any confusion about her desire at his point.

Logan groaned,
gliding
his hands
down her back to
grab her
well-spanked
ass. Tingles
chased over her skin
,
and she
jumped.
He chuckled against her mouth, his hands grabbing the bottom
of her tank top.
She
reluctantly broke the kiss to lift her arms so he could take it off. 
He tossed
it on the floor,
then
trailed his hands down her outstretched arms, around the curve of her
bare
breasts and
finally
over the curve of
hips to
push down her shorts.
His gaze, molten gold in the light from the fire, slowly
traveled down the length of her
body
and back up
again. Heat pooled between her
thighs at the hunger in his eyes.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he breathed.

M
en had told her that before, and yet this was the first time she’d ever
blushed at
the compliment
– or really ever believed it
. “Thank you.
Something tells me you’re just as gorgeous und
erneath all
those clothes.
T
ake them off
.
”

It wasn’t a request, and if he waited too long, she was fully prepared to tear his clothes off his body herself.

When he took a half second too long reaching for his belt, Raine’s hands beat
him there. Feeling more feral and animalistic than she ever had in her life,
she grabbed his belt and tugged it open.
Logan
helped by stripping
off his shirt, and her fingers fumble
d
with the buckle as she watched the firelight play over his
chiseled
chest and washboard
abs.
He should be on the model-side of the artist’s palette, not behind the easel.
As much as she wanted
th
e
rest of him
naked, she couldn’t resist running her hands
over all those
glorious muscle
s first
. That was okay because Logan picked
up where she left off, shoving
down h
is jeans and
underwear
in one motion.

Raine
looked down at
his cock as it sprang free
.
Daaaammn
.
He was thick and hard and perfect
—
and so ready for her
.
  He wanted her as much as she wanted him, it was obvious.
Her p
ussy quivered at the thought of
what he was going to feel like inside her.
But first she wanted to wrap he
r hand around
him and see if he was actually throbbing, or whether that was her imagination.