Page 112 of Bound By Hate (Born in Blood)

She stares at me for a moment before doing as I said. The sight of her naked body is glorious. It never fails to make me hard.

Slowly, she lies down on her stomach, her ass to me. I palm it, making her hiss. “I’m going to push your body, Viktoriya. This is for your own good. No more hiding from me.”

I walk over to the wall and grab a cane. It’ll be much harsher than a paddle or my hand. I’ve never pushed Viktoriya like this before, but today has shown me she needs it. There’s a fear in her eyes I need to help remove.

I tap the cane against her ass. “You will lie there, and I will punish you. Once we’re done, you’ll be forgiven for leaving, and you will open up to me, Viktoriya. No more holding back.”

“What if I can’t open up?”

“That’s not an option.” Then I smack the cane against her ass. She cries, scrambling against the mattress to get away. I grab her hips and pull her back into position.

“Stay still,” I growl. I bring the cane down again, leaving a red welt on her skin. She screams like I’m murdering her. Good. She needs to let everything out.

I smack the cane against her ass in quick succession, one after the other. She screams and bucks her hips, trying to get away, but I don’t let her. Viktoriya has been keeping things in for far too long. I won’t allow her to keep her feelings for me a moment longer.

“Do you trust me?” I ask.Thwack.

She winces. “Alek, I?—”

“Don’t think. Just answer.”Thwack. “Do you trust me?”

“I don’t know how!” she shouts.

“Do you trust me?”Thwack.

“Alek, please!”

“Do.”Thwack. “You.”Thwack. “Trust.”Thwack. “Me?” I bring the cane down hard against her.

“I want to!” she sobs.

I set the cane down. “Then why can’t you, Viktoriya? What’s holding you back?”

“It’s all too much. Everything is too much.”

I grab her ass, making her wince, then knead her skin. “Focus on me. What’s too much?”

“I want to dance, but I’m no longer good enough.”

“What else?” I squeeze her ass harder.

She shuts her eyes, even as a few tears slip through and fall down her face. “I think I have feelings for you, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Why?” I ignore the slight jolt that goes through me at her words. Now is not about me. It’s about her.

“Because I’ve never let anybody in before. But you’re trying to break down my walls, and I want you to do that, but I’m also scared because I don’t know who I am without my walls. I’m supposed to be perfect. I don’t want to disappoint you.”

I let her ass go and place my hand on her back. She lets out a long, shaking breath. “Why do you think you could disappoint me?”

“Everyone hates me. Men hate me for my ego. My sisters tolerate me. Even my mom and dad didn’t like me. I was never good enough for my father, and my mother preferred the company of Sofiya over me. I’ve never been good enough. Dance was the one area I was the best in, and now that’s been taken from me.”

I could comfort her. Tell her she’s perfect in my eyes. But it would be a lie. Viktoriya is messy despite pretending she isn’t. She can be a real bitch sometimes.

But I have a soft spot for her. I always have. It’s because I know I’ve fallen in love with her.

I lean down and kiss the back of her neck. “Thank you for opening up to me. That was all I needed.”

“Take this pain from me,” she whispers. “Please.”

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