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"Good Do you knohat this is?"

Wide strands of sos as she raised up, trying to extend the caress

"A flogger"

"Deerskin, yes Has anyone ever used one on you?"

"No, Sir"

"Wielded properly, it’s not an ier, no But his intent was another story If he’d gone out of his way to point out that the instrument didn’t have to hurt, she didn’t think he intended to test her pain threshold And Sean had promised her a reward Callie had a suspicion she knehere this was headed

It scared the hell out of her as ive in tonight, see if she could separate her body fro paradise others called subspace Just this once

"I hatever you’d like to give me"

She sensed more than felt his approval "Fine, then Don’t count"

The words had barely cleared his lips before the tails of the flogger struck the fleshiest part of her ass in a slow thud Sean repeated the motion--full across her butt, in the low curve of her spine, up her back and down again Never hard, never evenwas like a slow dance cradling her in its ar but the way heher skin

Callie didn’t have to work very hard to block out thoughts Sean perfectly understood her body, exactly when, where, and how hard to work the falls over her

Her head started to say froo for aout to her The sensation was like having a couple of glasses of wine, but heavier and

Darkness swaht have passed Or hours She didn’t really feel her body anymore The earth held her by the soles of her feet and her cuffed wrists, or she would have floated away to beautiful nothingness

Vaguely, she felt Sean’s hand glide up and down her hot, sensitive skin, an acute rise of burn and sensation Her head rolled forward She felt every instant of her slow, deep breathing, al euphoria Hoonderful

"You look stunning, Callie"

A drunk little sive you, lovely, some respite from your head" His lips slipped up the back of her neck He wrapped his broad hand around her and under her chin until he tipped her head back Then he kissed his way down her jaw "I would give you th to open herfrom you Come back to me just a bit," he coaxed

Callie frowned It was the last thing she wanted to do, but the sweet splendor of silence in her head was too te took so much effort

"Let me into your heart, Callie Into your head I’ve asked you for nothing since we began our journey together"

And he’d given her so much

"You drawabout you I don’t want business to take me away from you before I’ve had a chance to learn you inside and out Before I’ve had a chance to truly bind you to hed He plucked at every one of her heartstrings, and she let hiive him a little?

"We’ll start small," he assured "Did you have a pet as a child?"

Pet? The first recollection to hit her brain spewed from her lips "I found a kitten"

"How old were you?"

"Not quite six I couldn’t keep her Moone I cried Mom died anyway"

"I’m so sorry, lovely Of what?"

Callie shied away froile ones back into his fold Dad always said that It still made me sad"

"Of course" He petted her "Do you have any sisters? Brothers?"

Chilled air suddenly s her brain Awareness rushed back into her head Why did he want to know?

"Both" Of course, Dad never knew that she’d heard about his teenage romance that resulted in a son no one ever talked about She hadn’t thought about that in years, but she’d spied on his son once Apparently, being an illegitimate Howe sucked because he’d been a bitter man

"You’re sure?"

Callie tensed Why would he think otherwise? His tone and the enor to most, but if he suspected at all who she was and she didn’t tread carefully, she h to confirm her identity

Would he sell her down the river for the two-million-dollar bounty?

"I’er fell over her back, her ass, alternating, thudding, seeking to calainst her hot skin Then she had to resist the divine slide back into her silent cocoon

"Relax," he crooned

Callie didn’t dare She bit her lip to stay present, but she pretended At least the flogger war

"Did you take any special trips as a child?"