Page 59 of His Dark Hunger

“Don’t use my first name.” He regretted ever giving her the permission. “You refer to me as sir.”

“I’ll refer to you as the asshole who’s been lying to me this whole time!” She wiped away her angry tears.

“Thatisenough!” He could understand the news was alarming, but that was no excuse for her blatant disrespect. “I know you’re upset, but I won’t accept that language from you.”

“Accept what you like.” She shrugged, attempting to fake nonchalance as she collected the offending paperwork from the floor, but it was clear from the tension in her features, she was seething. “I’m out of here!”

She stalked away, going behind his desk in an effort to avoid him, but it took him less than three strides to reach the door before she did.

“You’re not going anywhere.” He had no idea how he was going to remedy the situation, but letting her walk out of the door was absolutely not among the solutions. “You’re mine, and we’re going to resolve this.”

“I’m not anyone’s!” She stomped her foot against the floor, sending a delightful tremor north to her breasts as fresh tears spilled from her eyes. “And I want to go.”

“My answer is no.”

Blocking her escape, it was easier to be calm. Amy was a lot of fabulous things, but she wasn’t strong enough to maneuver him out of the way. Where physicality was concerned, she had no chance.

“Sit down, and we’ll talk.”

“I don’t want to talk!” She shoved the piece of paper that had inspired so much upset hard against his chest. “How could you not tell me about this? Why did you lie?”

Sir.He willed the word back to her lips but wasn’t surprised to be left unsatisfied. Until he could calm her down, there was no way of coaxing his compliant good girl back to the fore.

“I didn’t lie.”

He didn’t appreciate her aggressive approach but was more struck by the irony of her words. One moment, she said she didn’t want to talk, and the next, she asked him not one but two questions on the subject she claimed not to want to speak about.

“Urgh!” The hand at his chest fell to her side. “Omitting important information is still an untruth, and you know it.”

“What I know is that you found something that didn’t belong to you, and it upset you.” He signaled to the paper. “We’ll talk about this, but only when you’re calmer.”

“How can I be calm?” She turned away, trying to compose herself. “How can I be calm when I don’t know what this means?”

“You do know.” He despised seeing her so overcome with emotion. It was only fun to tease tears from her if his erotic torment was responsible. The current torrid exchange was far from stimulating. “It means I owned the house you used to live in.”

“I know that!” she snapped. “That’s not what I’m talking about! What does it mean for us?”

Kyle blew out a breath. “It means you’re going to have an exceptionally sore bottom if you don’t take a moment to think, little girl.” He wanted to be there for her, to soothe her and offer solace, but he didn’t like the new petulant side of Amy the revelation had revealed.

“So, that’s your answer?” She folded her arms beneath her ample breasts. “You threaten to hurt me because I’m angry about this?” Once more, she thrust the paper in his direction. “Are you mad?”

“Only about you, little girl, but even my patience has limits. You either start speaking to me respectfully, or you pay the price.”

“Pay the price?” Sarcasm oozed from her. “You’re going to spank me, sir? For being a naughty maid who found your dark secrets?”

“You’re just begging for it, aren’t you?” All of a sudden, it made sense—the sulky, rude behavior she’d exhibited since he’d walked back into the room was all a ruse to goad him into asserting his authority. “Is that what you need, little girl? A good hiding to settle you?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” She hissed the words at him. “You think you can conceal important things about your past, then just spank your way out of it!”

It sounded like an ideal plan to Kyle, and the way she was behaving was lining up the perfect justification for what came next.

“I warned you.” He shook his head, keeping his voice even as she physically recoiled. “I gave you a chance to be respectful and speak to me properly, yet this is how you behave.”

“What?” Her gaze darted left and right as though she expected a magic exit to open up in the wall. “What do you mean?”

“Sir!” He bellowed the word, lifting his chin as she flinched. “You’ll speak to me properly!”

“Sir!” She was on the verge of crying again, but the motivation that time seemed more about fear than wrath.

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