Page 54 of Cardinal

Ghosting his smirking lips across mine, he let out a chuckle so deep and feral that I nearly came in my panties right then and there. A trail of burning pleasure followed in the wake of his lips as he moved across my cheek to my ear. "We'll see about that." His words rumbled in my ear, making me shiver with a delightful excitement. "Let's see how many spanks it will take for you to change your tone with me."

"What?"

Did I hear him right?

"W-wait, you're not serious, are you? You're going to spank me? Here? Now?" Aaaand there went all the confidence out the window.

"Yes." Shoving me off his lap, he dragged me over his knees and shifted the hand around my neck to my lower back. "We're going to see what your limit is."

"Luciano, this is—"

Smack!

A sharp gasp left me as I flinched in response to the sudden snap against my backside. "Luca! You did not—"

Smack!

"Ah!" Leaning down, I gripped the leg of his pants. "We are having a conversation! This is not the time to be testing my limits out!" I protested with my words but was more than compliant with my body.

"We can talk while you are being tested." He replied nonchalantly as his large hand groped my ass.

"You know, I'm not gonna lie, you coming in like that and being all demanding and confident was really hot." He remarked with a proudness to his voice.

Lifting my head up, I craned it back to look at him, smiling at the sight of his warm and prideful smile as he looked at me with such adoring and appreciative eyes. "Y-you're not mad about that?"

Chuckling wholeheartedly, he shook his head. "No, I would never be mad at you for standing up and speaking out for yourself, even if it is against me. I know I can be a stubborn asshole, and I am sorry for upsetting you as much as I have the past few days." Reaching down with the hand that was on my back, he cups my face and runs a tender finger across my lips. "And I keep forgetting that you are just as formidable as me, and I am sorry for that."

His eyes softened with nostalgia as he continued to smile down at me. "Sometimes, when I look at you, I make the mistake of thinking you were the broken girl that my car hit." It was so easy to lose myself in the shine of his proud eyes. "But you have grown into such a beautiful and strong woman in such a short amount of time that sometimes I find it hard to believe that you two are the same person. That the woman I have the privilege of calling mine was that girl a few months ago."

Supporting my neck, he pulls me into a deep, electrifying kiss. "I will always want to protect you and shield you from this world, amorina. It is a natural thing for me when it comes to you. Even though you have been wronged so much, I want to make you forget it and live a good life free of all your demons." Keeping our foreheads together, he chastely kissed my lips with a heavy breath. "I know it is not fair of me to try and control your life like that, as I haven't even tried much ever since it became clear to me that you are your own spunky brat of a person." Chuckling dryly, an apology flashed through his eyes. "But I still try unconsciously to do so because I want you to have the best life."

With a sad but happy smile of my own, I reached up and ran a hand through his hair. "Luciano, I have the best life with you, Syndicate and all. I can't trick myself into thinking the world is full of sunshine and superheroes when really it's cloudy with villains. I have to learn to live in the ugly world as it is, and as long as I have the devil by my side, I have nothing to fear." Gripping the back of his head, I press him into another kiss.

"I will apologize better for my behavior and treatment of you tomorrow and in the days to come, I promise." He whispered against my lips with a shudder. "And I will let you in on it all tomorrow." He said with a voice full of sincerity.

His lips tensed against mine as they pulled back in a snarl. "But I don't want to deal, think, or talk anymore about it tonight. I am way too fucking stressed and done with it right now." Pulling back, all I could see was my dominating Luciano with his powerful and playful eyes.

"What's the safe-word?" He asked once he sat up fully and looked down at me.

"Tap out." I breathed out excitedly with a nervous smile. "And if I can't talk, tap you repeatedly."

"Good girl." Was all I got along with a glimpse of his devilish smirk before he pushed my front side down and settled his hand back on my lower back to keep me anchored.

"Since we are just testing the waters out, you let me know if something is too much or if you can take more, alright?" He asked while palming the globe of my ass.

"Yes, sir," I replied with a nervous gulp, gripping his leg to brace myself.

Thankfully, Luciano started out light, almost playfully so that they felt more like taps than actual spanks, but then, as time went on, the force behind his hand grew until it actually stung a little.

Smack!

"Ouch! That hurt!" I cried out a yelp from the sting of the impact on my covered bottom.

"A good hurt or bad hurt?" Luciano asked while palming my stinging ass cheek. "Remember, we are seeing what your pain threshold is, and yes, a lot of it is going to hurt to some extent, but there is a fine line between pain and pleasure." He reminded me with a hard squeeze of my round globe, making me suck in a deep breath.

"Well, it doesn't really hurt now…" I murmured, squirming in his lap so his leg didn't dig into my stomach too much. "C-can you do it again?"

The warmth of Luciano's hand left my yoga short-clad ass briefly before it came back down with the same force as before. My body flinched and yelped reflexively with the impact, my eyes stinging a little with tears from the ache. "Again?" Despite the pain, an underlying pleasure bloomed from the ache and sting.

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