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She jumped onto the mattress before I reached her, scrambled across on hands and knees, rolled off the opposite side, and bolted for the door.

“Isabella.”

She was laughing too hard to answer.

Her fingers wrapped around the handle.

My palm hit the door above her shoulder before she could pull it open, slamming it shut again.

She froze, breathless and laughing, trapped between my body and the door.

I leaned in close behind her.

“Got you.”

I caught her around the waist and lifted her clear off the floor.

She laughed and kicked uselessly as I carried her back toward the bed. “You cheated.”

“I’m bigger than you. That’s not cheating.”

“It is when I’m unarmed.”

“You stole my belt.”

“Borrowed.”

I sat on the edge of the mattress, set the belt beside me, and hauled her across my lap. Her laughter broke into a startled gasp as her stomach landed across my thighs and her hands caught the bedding in front of her.

I pushed the skirt all the way up around her waist, exposing the black scrap of lace between her cheeks.

She wriggled over my thighs.

I hooked my fingers beneath the waistband of her thong and yanked it down her thighs in one hard pull, stripping it off before tossing it onto the bed beside my belt.

“Safe word?”

“Orange blossom.”

“Color?”

She glanced back at me over her shoulder, still breathless from the chase.

“Green.”

I picked up the belt, and her eyes followed it.

“Still feeling brave?”

“Still feeling smug?”

“Very.”

Her mouth twitched.

I planted my forearm across her lower back, pressing her securely over my thigh before bringing the belt down hard across the curve of her ass.

The crack filled the room.