Page 21 of Saving Meri

A storm brewed behind her eyes, emotions colliding, her body taut with defiance. "I don’t want or need your rules."

Bear leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his knees. "Yes, you do."

Her breath hitched.

"You need structure," he continued, his voice calm but absolute. "You need someone strong enough to tell you what’s going to happen so you don’t feel like the world is spinning out of control."

Meri pushed to her feet, fists clenched. "Fuck you."

Bear moved fast. One second, she was standing, staring him down with fire in her eyes. The next, she was across his lap, her body trapped beneath his arm, her bare thighs vulnerable against the solid strength of his legs.

Meri sucked in a sharp breath, her body tensing. "Bear…"

"You’re safe," he said, his voice steady, his hold unshakable. "But you behave, and part of that is not swearing at me."

Her muscles coiled like she wanted to fight, but she didn’t. Because deep down, she needed this, and she damn well knew it.

Bear slid his hand up the curve of her hip, over the soft fabric of his shirt. She was trembling, her breath erratic, but he didn’t rush. Didn’t force. Didn’t move until she let out a single, shaky breath and stopped resisting.

That was the moment. The one he’d been waiting for. The sharpcrackof his palm against the underside of her ass was loud in the quiet room. Meri gasped, jerking slightly, her fingers fisting the fabric of his pants, but she didn’t fight… didn’t try to bring her hands back to protect her backside.

Bear didn’t stop. He landed another firm, measured slap against her flesh, feeling the heat bloom beneath his touch. Notenough to truly hurt—but enough to remind her exactly who was in charge. Another. Then another. By the fifth, she was squirming, her thighs pressing together, her breathing ragged.

Bear’s grip tightened around her waist. "Be still."

Her body locked down, obedience warring with rebellion. He knew she was fighting herself, fighting the part of her that had once craved this. Not degradation. Not cruelty. But discipline. Control.

Bear smoothed a hand over her warmed skin, soothing where he had punished, and leaned down just enough for his lips to brush against her ear. "You don’t push without consequences, little one."

She made a sound, something breathless, something unsteady. Bear turned her, lifting her effortlessly onto his lap, cradling her against his chest. Her body was warm, her pulse hammering against his skin.

Meri didn’t meet his eyes. Her fingers curled into his shirt, holding on to something she probably didn’t even understand yet. Bear tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him.

"You’re all right. You’re safe. Are you all right?"

She swallowed, her pupils blown wide. "I don’t know."

He nodded, accepting the truth in her words. "You will."

Her breathing slowed, her body melting against him despite herself. Bear let her stay there, held against his chest, his hands steady on her back. No rush. No demands. Just his presence, his dominance, and the quiet promise that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Meri had spent months being told she belonged to men who had no right to her. It was time she learned she belonged to herself. And maybe in time, she’d learn she could belong to him, too.

6

MERI

Meri couldn’t breathe. Her heartbeat drummed a frantic, erratic rhythm against her ribs as she sat curled on Bear’s lap, her body betraying her in ways she couldn’t reconcile. She was supposed to be angry. Supposed to hate the fact that he had put her over his knee and spanked her like a misbehaving child. But instead, she was hot all over, her skin hypersensitive, her pulse thrumming with something unfamiliar.

She had never liked impact play. Not in the way others in the scene did. She had preferred Shibari, suspension, the violet wand and some other things. Sure, she’d accepted the occasional playful slap on her ass when she was deep in a scene, but it had never done much for her, stirred nothing more than the briefest sting before fading into the background of the moment.

But this? This was different.

Her breath was still uneven as she rested against Bear’s chest, his hand a solid, steady presence against the small of her back. He wasn’t speaking, wasn’t pressing, just waiting. Watching—always watching.

That was the worst part—how well he saw her. How easily he cut through the layers of defiance and survival instincts, how he refused to let her hide from herself.

She swallowed, her throat tight, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt before she forced herself to let go. He had stripped her of every excuse, every barrier she had thrown up since the moment he had dragged her out of that hell.

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