Page 91 of Hunt Me, Daddy

“What did you mean?”

His expression went still. The air between us tightened hard enough that I could feel it under my ribs.

“I meant,” he said slowly, “that if you put yourself in danger to prove a point, I will stop you.”

“By taking me into custody.”

“If necessary.”

“And if I don’t behave in custody?”

His thumb paused beneath my chin.

There.

There was the wire.

I had touched it on purpose this time and I knew it.

He knew it too.

The knowledge moved between us like flame.

His voice dropped lower. “Then when the immediate danger is past, I will put you over my knee and spank you until you understand that your life is no longer something you get to risk just because grief asks nicely.”

My mouth went dry and my knees did not weaken.

They absolutely did not.

But a defiant heat rolled through me so fast I almost hated him for being there to see it.

Almost.

His eyes narrowed just a bit.

“You are very close to making this worse for yourself,” he murmured.

I swallowed.

“That sounded like a threat.”

“No.” His thumb brushed my jaw once more, and I had to lock my spine to keep from leaning into the touch. “That was a warning.”

“And if I test it?”

His gaze dipped to my mouth again and for one suspended second, I thought he might kiss me.

Worse, I thought I might let him.

His hand remained under my chin, steady, warm, maddeningly careful. His body was close enough that I could feel the heat of him through the cold morning air, close enough that I could smell him, close enough that if I shifted forward by one inch,the line between warning and something else would vanish completely.

He did not move.

Neither did I.

“If you test it,” he said softly, “then I will catch you and you will find out how much a real spanking will sting on your bare ass.”

My breath came in too shallow.