Page 47 of Yours

I inhaled sharply, my heart slamming against my ribs. “Ronan?—”

“You’ve already done the hard part, love,” he interrupted smoothly. He was smiling, but there was nothing casual in his eyes. They were dark, sharp, and utterly certain. “Don’t start arguing now.”

“I’m not—” I started, but the words caught in my throat as he stepped closer.

“Bend,” he said again, his tone lower this time, more threatening.

Every instinct in me screamed to push back, to throw his words at him and walk out of the room with my pride intact. But the sheer presence of him—it was overwhelming.

My fingers trembled as I loosened my grip on the fabric of my skirt. Slowly, I turned back toward the table, my legs shaky as I leaned forward. My hands pressed against the polished surface, the coolness of the wood grounding me as I tried to steady my breathing.

I felt so exposed.

He could seeeverything.

Ronan stepped behind me, his movements slow and deliberate, and I hated how every inch of my body seemed to buzz with the awareness of him, with the knowledge that he was looking…

“You don’t realize how stunning you are, do you?” he said, his tone softening slightly as his hand brushed lightly over my back. The warmth of his touch seeped into my skin, steadying and commanding all at once. “Every time you push me, every time you defy me, you only make me want you even more than I do already.”

My chest tightened at his words, the ache in my stomach growing stronger as his hand slid lower, brushing against the curve of my hip.

“You drive me insane, Kiera,” he said. “But I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

My heart raced as his words settled over me, heavy and unshakable. For all my anger, all my defiance, I couldn’t deny the pull between us—the way he saw me, the way his presence filled every corner of the room and left me with nowhere to hide.

Before I could say anything more, his hand came down sharply, the sting blossoming across my skin in an instant. I gasped, the sound catching in my throat as I gripped the table tighter.

“That’s for not knowing when to stop,” he murmured, his tone calm, as though we were having a polite conversation.

Another swat followed, harsher this time, and my breath hitched as the heat spread across my skin.

“And that,” he continued, his hand brushing lightly over the sting, “is for always needing to push, even when you know better.”

“You’re full of yourself,” I muttered tightly as I forced myself to glare at the table in front of me.

He let out a quiet chuckle, his hand pausing at the small of my back. “You say that now,” he murmured. “But I know the truth, Kiera. I always have.”

The next swat landed harder, hard enough to pull a gasp from my lips that I couldn’t contain. My breath came faster, my chest tightening as the heat deepened, radiating through me.

I bit my lip, willing the cries that were blooming in the back of my throat to keep quiet.

“Still fighting me,” he mused, the words soft, but edged with something that sent a shiver down my spine. “Good. It makes it worth the effort.”

Another piercing crack filled the room, the sting more brutal this time, and my breath hitched again, my body jerking slightly against the table. My fingers curled tighter around the edge, my knuckles white as I fought to stay still.

Then another swat fell. And another. And another until my entire ass burned from the hot sting of his firm hand.

“Ronan,” I hissed, though my voice was more breathless than defiant.

“Keep saying my name like that,” he said softly, his hand resting lightly on my back, “and you’ll get fucked right here and now.”

The next several swats were measured, and they sent a sharp wave of heat through me, leaving my breath short and shallow. My heart pounded in my chest, my pussy clenching tight as he spanked me harder and harder.

I wonder if all the people sitting at their tables outside this room could hear me getting my bare bottom spanked.

I was hovering on the edge of something—tears, anger, surrender. But he didn’t push me over.

Instead, he stopped.

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