Page 40 of House of Lies

She’s even prettier when she cries.

I take a hurried step back, grabbing a pair of sweats from the floor and tugging them on under my towel so I can shove a hand in my pocket and keep my cock flat against my belly. Neither of us needs a reminder of how aroused I am—there’s a fucking damp spot on the towel from the precum my cock leaked with every blow I landed to Cassidy’s plump little ass.

I toss the towel on the bed, trying to rid myself of the memory of how translucent her panties became after a few lashes.

She yanks her nightie straight, smooths her hair away from her face, and turns to me with a frown.

“There. Happy?”

That she won’t be able to sit for a few days without being reminded of my belt is the only thing that’s made me happy for weeks.

I huff through my nose and head for the room’s en-suite bathroom. “Delighted,” I grate out.

Opening the vanity, I take out a tube of ointment. Cassidy straightens and watches me warily as I approach.

I don’t trust myself around her for one more second. She fumbles with the tube of ointment when I toss it in her direction, and then clutches it to her chest, eyes wide.

“It’ll soothe the pain.” I stab my thumb toward the door. “Now get the hell out. I’ll deal with you in the morning.”

Chapter 16

Cassidy

A loud rap on my door jerks me out of a muddled dream. I blink furiously as I try to orient myself in the strange room I went to sleep in last night.

Oh. Right. Ethan Remington’s guest room. How could I forget?

The door opens, and I rush to sit up. But a dull ache over my ass makes me cringe onto my side.

Oh. Right. Remington’s fucking belt.

I lathered nearly half the tube of ointment onto my skin when I got back to my room last night. It definitely helped. I can’t imagine how sore I would have been right now if I hadn’t used it.

Ethan fills the doorway, a dark, menacing light in his gray eyes.

I swear he smiles when my face contorts in pain, but he turns and sets a cup of coffee on the dresser near the door and his face is carved from stone when he turns to face me again.

“Good morning, Cassidy.”

I duck my head a little. “Morning.”

I don’t sound nearly as cheery as him—and he sounds like death warmed up.

“Since Myles deprived me of the cleaner I’d actually hired, and I sincerely doubt I’ll find someone to replace her in time for the open house, you’ll have to do. You will finish the first floor today, and as much of the second as possible.”

He stands there like he’s waiting for an answer, but I’m still processing the fact that I woke up in Ethan’s mansion instead of my own shitty apartment. I had every intention of leaving last night, but what happened after I snuck into his room is like something out of a movie.

Soft porn, to be exact.

He’s dressed in the clothes I laundered for him. A pale blue crew-neck sweater, and dark wash denims. With his slightly disheveled hair and the shadow of a beard on his hard jaw, he looks like a completely different man from the bare-chested hulk who assaulted me with his belt last night.

“Do we understand each other?”

I let out a meek little, “Yes, Sir.”

He turns and leaves, shaking his head like I’ve somehow pissed him off even more.

I hastily put on Olivia’s uniform and shrug into my coat. No way I’m walking around this house half-dressed anymore. I take a sip of coffee and step into the hallway.

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