His Old-Fashioned Love (Old-Fashioned Series) (9 page)

Together they went rolling on the ground in a flurry of fists and grunt
s. A siren sounded and Holly admitted to a deep sense of relief as it grew closer.

“Holly, get out of here
!”

She glanced over in surprise to find Brax on his feet, glaring at her. “Get to your hotel room, now.” The Philips brothers were lying on the ground, groaning.

Despite the fury in Brax’s voice, she couldn’t just leave. “But—”

“Now.” The command in his voice had her turning away,
despite her misgivings. Climbing into her car, she found she was shaking as she drove away. Her teeth chattered as she put all of her focus into making it back to her hotel room in one piece.

*****

Brax stood outside Holly’s hotel room, and raised his hand to knock. It was three a.m.—she’d be asleep, just like he should be. He wasn’t really fit for company. His temper was short, his body ached from the beating Mason had managed to inflict and he was cursing himself for being a fool.

He
’d known going to Philips’ place would end badly, but he’d gone anyway. And he had ended up spending half the night down at the sheriff’s office. In the end Mason hadn’t pressed charges. He was probably worried Brax would press charges for the other night. No doubt Mason would want to keep his nose clean after having spent time inside recently.

God, he had accomplished nothing. He was usually smarter than this. Of course, Mason was going to deny
everything. He might be a bully but he wasn’t stupid.

Then there was Holly.

What the hell had she been thinking by following him? How had she followed him
? He had left her at her hotel and he knew she couldn’t move as quickly as he could. How did she manage to catch up with him?

He should turn away, go home and cool off. Because the way he was feeling right now… Well, he wasn’t too happy with
Ms Latham and he certainly intended to let her know it.

Suddenly the door opened and Holly stared
out at him from large, gorgeous blue eyes.

“I got tired of waiting for you to knock,” she explained, stepping to the side to let him in.

“I think I should just go home,” he said, tired.

She frowned up at him, her eyes f
illed with concern. Dark crescents had formed under her eyes, which hadn’t been there a few days ago. Her skin was pale, an almost sickly gray. She’d been waiting up for him. She hadn’t even changed into her pajamas.

Following his gaze, she glanced down at
herself. “I thought you might need me to come and get you.”

“I’m sorry, Holly. I should have called.”
He hoped she hadn’t been worrying about him this whole time.

She shook her head. “No, no, you had more important things
going on. Are you okay? Here, let me go and get some ice for that eye. What did the police say?”

Nervous energy filled the room as she tried to move past him. He grabbed her arm,
gently, and tugged her back, sitting her on the bed. “Sit, sweetheart. I need to talk to you.”

She plopped down, running her hand over her face. “Did
Mason Philips press charges? Did he say anything about what’s been happening out at the building site?”

“
No to both. I think he was scared I’d press charges for the other night if he did and he denied any knowledge of the things going on at the job site. I mean, what did I think? That he was just going to confess? I really wasn’t thinking tonight.” He looked at her sternly. “That seems to be the theme of the night, because I can’t for the life of me understand what you were doing there tonight. What the hell were you thinking, Holly?”

Holly swallowed heavily and looked up into Brax’s angry eyes.

“I wanted to help you.”

“Help me?”

“I didn’t want you to face Mason on your own
. I was worried about you.”

“And you thought
having you there would actually help me? If I’d known you were there, I’d have been so worried about you I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate. Keeping you safe would have driven my every movement and thought. What if he’d seen you? What if Eddy had seen you? What would you have done then?”

S
o Eddy had been the other brother.

“But no one saw me
. I was careful.”

Brax
paced around the room, his movements without his usual grace. He turned to her. A twitch had developed beside his eye.

“How did you get there? You weren’t following me.”

“No,” she replied, even though it hadn’t been a question. “I looked up Mason’s address a few days ago and used my GPS.”

His gaze narrowed and she squirmed, feeling like a naughty teenager caught out after curfew.

“Did you follow me there the other night?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

He cursed under his breath. “Don’t you realize how dangerous that was? You could have been seriously hurt. You had no business being there, Holly. None at all.”

“I was trying to protect you. If I
hadn’t been there tonight then Eddy would have caught you by surprise.”

Brax just shook his head. “It wasn’t worth risking your safety.”

It was to her.

He stared at her for a long moment. “Holly, I want your promise that you will stay far away from Mason Philips and his brothers.”

She bit her lip.

“Holly,” he growled.

“Okay. I promise.”

“
And I expect you to keep that promise, or…”

“Or what?” she asked
, curious.

“Nothing.” He turned away, running his hand throug
h his hair. “I’m going to bed. You need to do the same.”

“Brax, wait.” She grasped hold of his arm.
She couldn’t let him leave like this. “Don’t leave like this.”

“I told you to keep out of it.” H
is whole body was stiff, angry.

“I know.”

“You disobeyed me.”

Well, she didn’t quite see it that way. But, okay.

“I thought I was doing the right thing.”

He turned, eyes stormy and dark. “The right thing was to keep yourself safe. You keep doi
ng these sorts of things and one day you’re going to end up hurt, Holly. You need to start thinking first. Just be thankful you’re not mine to discipline.”

That phrase hit her like a ton of bricks, stirring her insides as her clit throbbed.

“Why? What would you do if I was?”

He just shook his head.

“Brax? Tell me.”

“I’d spank you. I’d turn you over my knee, pull those pants and panties off you then I’d spank your naked butt until you begged me to let you go.”

She took a deep breath. “Maybe you should do that then.”

“What?” He stared down at her in shock.

“Spank me. You should spank me.” Dear Lord, what was she saying?

And yet, she wanted to know what it was like. Plus, this was Brax. The man she was incredibly attracted to. This was who he was.

Her n
erves made her feel slightly ill, her hands and feet tingling in shock.

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” he dismissed. “Just because you’ve read a few romance
books doesn’t mean you want this.”

“But it
’s part of who you are.”

He opened his mouth then shook his head. “I’m not having this conversation with
you—it’s ridiculous. BDSM is the latest ‘in thing.’ I see it at the club. There’s been a surge of interest that will die as soon as something else comes along. I’m not interested in someone who is just going along with a craze. I want a woman who is serious about placing herself under my control.”

“You-you’d want total control?” she asked. She wasn’t sure she could give that.

“No. I’m not after a master-slave relationship. But I want a woman who has the same ideals and beliefs I do. I can’t play it vanilla and I can’t turn my needs off at the bedroom door. If you were mine you would be all mine. I’d spank that ass whenever I thought you needed it. Believe me, I’m not what you want. I’m not rich. I’m not a city boy.”

“I don’t need those things,” she insisted. But he didn’t seem to be listening.

“When I think of everything that Mason could have done to you…” He shuddered.

“So punish me. I care about you, Brax. A lot. I feel awful about the way I scared you tonight. You’re
right—it was a foolish thing to do.”

Brax continued to shake his head until she reached for the top of her pants with trembling hands and pushed them down.
She’d taken off her brace earlier. She took in a sharp breath as his gaze was caught on her scars. She was completely exposed and she could only pray he didn’t turn away in horror.

But she had faith that he wouldn’t. Brax wasn’t a shallo
w man.

“Ahh, baby.” He kneeled in front of her
and, in a surprising move, leaned forward and kissed the largest scar.

She let out a laugh. “Trying to make it
all better?”

“I wish I could, honey. I wish I could.”

She could feel the emotion in his voice; she knew he meant every word. Holly placed her hand on his head hesitantly then moved it through his silken hair when he made no protest.

“It’s okay. I live with it.”

“You live in pain.”

“But I’m alive.”
That’s what she told herself during her recovery, when it had all seemed just a bit too much. She was alive and she wanted to live.

He
hugged her tight, his face against her stomach.

“I’m all right, Brax.”

“I know.” He stood and held out his hand, his gaze firm. “You really sure about this?”

She took a deep breath. “Yes.”

Brax sat on the bed and drew her closer. He helped her steady herself as she lay on his lap.

He ran his hand over her bottom. Oh Lord, what had she been thinking
? He now had a prime view of her dimply thighs, her most hated body part. She tensed.

“What’s wrong?”

Besides lying over the lap of a gorgeous guy, my white, wide thighs on view about to get my butt tanned? Why nothing.

“Just a bit nervous.”

“Understandable. If you need to stop me, yell out Red. But be very sure you mean it. I will always respect a safe word. You will need to keep quiet, no need to wake up the people next door.”

Just how much noise did he expect she would make?

“Say ‘Yes, Sir’, so I know you understand.”

“Y-yes, Sir.”

He slipped her panties down over her bottom, running his hand over the skin before smacking his hand down heavily on her butt.

Shit! That hurt.

She nearly jolted off his lap as his hand landed again. Though it damn near killed her, she tried her hardest to lie still as his hand spread fire over her bottom.

Tears dripped down her cheeks as he moved down to the sensitive skin of her bottom. “Please,” she cried, unable to help herself.

“Please, what? Please stop? You put yourself in my hands, you asked for this.”

Would he believe her if she pleaded temporary insanity?
“Forgive me!”

His hand stilled. “
Baby, I already have. Please start taking care of yourself. I would hate it if anything happened to you.” As he spoke, he didn’t once hesitate, his hand continuing to make contact with the burning skin on her butt and thighs. “You are so precious. So sweet. You deserve to be cherished and protected. You need to allow others to take care of you.”

Finally, he stilled as she sobbed quietly into the bedspread. He ran his hand over her back as she tried to get herself under control.
Then his hand moved lower and she held her breath as he cupped her mound. Instant warmth infused her and pain morphed into pleasure.

“You’re so wet,” he whispered.
Using two fingers, he parted her lower lips then slipped one long digit deep inside her. Holly clenched around it with a groan, wanting more.

“You’re so warm, so soft,” he told her huskily, pulling his finger in and out in long, slow movements that drove her crazy. She thrust up, trying to get him to move faster when he smacked her butt. Hard.

She cried out, shocks of pleasure-pain surging through her.

“You liked that.”

Brax drew his finger free.

“No, please,” she begged.

“Shh,” he told her. Then his finger swirled around her swollen clit and she grabbed the bedding beneath her, searching for an anchor as he drove her wild.

His free hand rubbed her throbbing bottom, sealing in the heat.

“Come for me, Holly. I want to hear you cry out in satisfaction. Come for me.”

Holly was being driven out of her mind, she’d never felt anything like this. She was so close, so close…