Page 17 of Yours

“You’re unbelievable,” I mumbled.

“No,” he said softly, his voice carrying an edge that sent another shiver down my spine. “What’s unbelievable is you thinking you could call me, drag me into this, and not answer for it.” He leaned in slightly, his tone dropping. “I told you this was goingto happen, Kiera. And now, you have two choices: you can make this easier on yourself, or you can make it worse.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words caught in my throat. The look in his eyes made my stomach twist again, and I realized, with sickening certainty, that he wasn’t bluffing.

I was going to get aspanking.

Here and now.

“Fine,” I said at last, my voice barely above a whisper. “But you’d better fix this Benedetti thing, Ronan. All of it.”

His lips twitched, and for a moment, he looked almost pleased. “That’s the first smart thing you’ve said all night. Now strip like a good girl.”

“But…” I tried one last time.

“You’re going to get naked in the next ten seconds or I’m going to put you in a collar, then leash you and make you crawl completely bare in the middle of Central Park to a park bench where your spanking will finally take place instead of in the privacy of the backseat of my car,” he warned, and my heart dropped to the tips of my toes.

For a second, I froze.

And then he started counting.

“One.”

I rushed to pull my coat off, then dropped my fingers to the hem of my sweater. The fabric was soft against my palms, but the weight of what he wanted me to do made me feel like I was dragging myself through molasses.

“Two.”

I could feel him watching, his gaze searing into me. I closed my eyes and yanked the sweater over my head.

Heat bloomed across my cheeks, and I felt like I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs. My thoughts were spinning out of control, a chaotic tangle of humiliation and anger and something else, something I didn’t want to admit.

Desire.

I heard him inhale slowly, and the sound sent a rush of arousal pooling low in my belly.

“Three.”

The sweater hit the floor of the car, and I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to keep myself steady. His gaze was a physical thing, like a touch that made every inch of me burn.

“Four.”

I hesitated for a split second, realizing that I was actually doing this, and then I fumbled with the buttons of my jeans, pushing them down my hips and then past my knees as I kicked off my shoes.

“Isn’t this enough?” I asked quietly.

“Five,” he counted.

My hands shook, and the sound of my own heartbeat roared in my ears as I slid the denim off the rest of the way.

I felt naked.

Exposed.

And, God help me, it wasn’t from being nearly bare. It was the look on his face, the hunger in his eyes as his gaze roved over me. Biting my lip, I reached behind my back and unclasped my bra. The cups pulled away from my breasts and my blush deepened.

I couldn’t believe I was doing this.

That he was making me do this.

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