Page 65 of Grotesque Love

“Yes, there is. You winced just now and your face is still lined in pain. Come here.” I beckon her to me with a crooked finger.

“I’m fine,” she insists. But I don’t hear it, or if I do, it doesn’t penetrate the red mist that’s come down. The one that’s urging me to check if she’s alright.

I circle the table, coming round to her side, and carefully pull her up from her seat.

“Sax, I’m fine. It’s nothing?—”

“Show me,” I grind out, trying not to scare her, but needing to see for myself that she really is okay.

“Sax, she said she’s fine—” Mal tries to interject but I shut him down with a glare.

“Ari, please,” I beg softly. “I need to check. I need to see for myself. You’re hurt. And I can’t bear it.”

The embarrassment on her face softens and gives way tosomething else. Slowly she nods and turns around, presenting me with her back.

“I really am okay,” she whispers, but she doesn’t stop me when I clutch the end of her dress and slowly raise it up to her waist, bearing her beautiful arse to me.

An arse that’s bright red from a recent spanking I’d say, if I had to guess, and already starting to bruise in places.

With a roar of anger, I drop the material and launch myself at Mal.

Before I can reach him, Jas grabs my arm, his voice a low growl that he rarely uses. “Sax, calm down. Mal was right. Ari’s not in pain. She’s fine.”

Ari’s voice trembles, “It’s okay, Sax. It’s fine.I’mfine. It was meant to be a punishment, not permanent damage.”

I take a deep breath, my brain finally engaging. My anger subsides a little. But the protectiveness that I can’t switch off when it comes to Ari still burns in my veins.

“You hit her?” I demand, turning to Mal.

With a cocky grin, Mal meets my glare. “It wasn’t like that. Ari agreed to it.”

I can’t deny that some of the anger I feel is also jealousy. Ari submitted to Mal’s punishment, not me. But I can’t let that consume me. That’s not who I am.

“What was the punishment for?” I ask Ari, my voice calm but laced with a warning.

Her gaze darts between mine and Mal’s. “It was for being late for dinner, for losing track of time and not eating.”

I turn back to Mal, my anger returning. “You were too rough with her.”

“She loved it. You know she did. It’s all we can fucking smell. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a wet patch on her chair,” Mal replies, brimming with smugness.

“This needs attention,” I tell Ari, lifting her dress again for another inspection. “Jas, go to the solarium and fetch some aloe. I want to soothe the sting.”

The obedient one trots off to do as I’ve asked while Mal folds his arms defensively across his chest and snorts like this whole thing’s some big joke to him. His attitude riles me up, and I have to take several deep breaths to calm myself. What if Carver returns? What would he say – what would hedoto Ari – if he saw these bruises? How would she explain them away?

I want to chew him out for it, but I don’t want to mention the Lord of the Manor and risk upsetting Ari, so I bite my tongue until Jas returns.

“Here,” Jas says, passing me a leaf from one of the plants he snapped off. The aloe is already oozing from inside, the gel-like consistency slowly running down the greenery.

I squeeze some onto my fingers and turn back to Ari. “Can you lift your dress up, little dove?”

“You really don’t have to, Sax. I’m fine.”

“Please, Ari? I need to make this right.”

Again, she must hear something in my almost desperate tone, because she sighs, closes her eyes and turns away once more. With shaking fingers, she pinches the edge of the dress and slowly raises it once more.

This time I can see that it’s not as bad as I initially thought, but that doesn’t mean Mal’s off the hook. Hewillbe punished for this. Severely.

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