Page 93 of On His Ranch

“Good thing I’m the one who decides what’s necessary here.”

Her lower lip began to quiver at the mockery in his voice. “Chase—”

“Get back in that room, little girl.Now.”

She didn’t have a choice and she knew it. She wouldn’t be getting past him, and she didn’t feel like making him any angrier than he already was. Her eyes not leaving his face, she backpedaled back through the open doorway.

Chase slammed the door shut behind them, clearly not caring about the noise at the moment. “What the hell were you thinkin’?” His sharp question made the first of her pent-up tears fall. “Piper, look at me.”

She wasn’t unaccustomed to his coarse commands, but after having his rare gentleness, it hurt. Still, she forced herself to turn around and lift her head to look at him.

“I asked you a question,” he barked.

Piper flinched, and more tears followed the first. Still, Chase’s face remained a cold mask. “I… I’m sorry.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I…” She swallowed over the tears forming in her tight throat. “I was just trying to help.”

“Bull.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, but she could still see his face and every hard, disapproving angle in her mind’s eye. “I p-promise. I was worried about you. About your grandfather. I thought if no one said anything—”

“You thought you’d do as you damn well pleased, no matter what I had to say about it.”

Piper opened her mouth to answer, but realizing that she had no defense to offer other than the one he’d already shot down, she shut it again. The sound of scraping made her open her eye a crack. When she saw Chase pulling the desk chair in the corner to the middle of the room, both eyes flew open and her mouth gaped open.

“What… what are you doing?”

“Here’s an idea. Why don’t I show you?” Without waiting for an answer, he closed the small distance between them and took her by the arm.

Piper felt her pulse pick up, not to mention her anxiety. She hadn’t counted on this—another spanking. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing? Let me go!” she screeched indignantly.

“Not a chance,” he whispered roughly in her ear. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but we made a deal. You agreed to follow my rules and you know what happens when you break them.”

She tugged her arm, but his grip only tightened. Her anxiety turned into desperation, and knowing she wouldn’t be able to free herself made it morph again, this time into anger. “So what,” she snapped. “When I agreed, I didn’t know that I was following a dictator!”

“You think that hurts my feelin’s’?” he asked as he yanked her dress over her head in two hard jerks. “Well, I’ve got news for you, darlin’. You’re damn right this is a dictatorship. You’re inmyterritory of your own free will, and you’ll obey the rules or face the consequences!”

“What are you doing?” she squeaked.

“You know damn well what I’m doin’, but just so we’re a hundred percent clear,this—” he landed a hard slap to her bare skin, “—is calledconsequences.” With that, holding her by the arm he delivered a quick flurry of sharp spanks to the top of her buttocks.

“Stop it!” she screeched, stamping her foot as pain assailed her fair skin. “Thisis not fair!”

“You earned it, darlin’.” He punctuated every word with a hard spank. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that’s the very definition of fair. When you’re ready to stand still and listen, let me know.” Then he took a seat, pulling her over his lap. Before she could even process the speed with which this was moving, his hand was already bouncing from cheek to cheek as he spanked methodically.

“Stooop!” she squealed.

“That wasn’t very nice,” he remarked without losing rhythm between burning swats. “If you really want me to think about it, you better ask nicely.”

This command wrung out a fresh bout of tears. But when she got ahold of herself—which was pretty impressive given that he was still delivering nonstop scorchers to her beet-red behind—she tried again. “Please,” Piper pleaded, sniffling. “Please stop. I—it h-hurts so b-bad.”

“It’s supposed to hurt,” he responded, his hand flying against her backside. He did lessen the strength behind the swats, however, as if to hear what else she had to say.

“Pl-lease. I k-know you’re m-mad. I’m s-sorry.”

His hand stilled on the small of her back. “You’re sorry I’m mad? That’s what you’re sorry for?”

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