Page 14 of Compelled Obedience

He inhaled, slowly cocking his head to the side, taking the blow in stride while I cringed, yet his hold remained possessive. When he slowly returned his gaze to mine, I was pulled into the dark desires shimmering in his eyes as a jolt of current seared every nerve.

“I assure you that I’m looking forward to my visit, Miss Bettington, as much as I’ll enjoy seeing you in your natural environment. However, if you ever decide to act out in that way again, I assure you that your bad behavior won’t go without punishment.”

“Excuse me?” I demanded, shoving further away from him. “Is that a threat?”

“I don’t make threats, Kerri. I make promises. If you’re disobedient, you will receive a hard spanking.”

Shock tore through me. First, because he’d dared act as if he had any control over me and two, because there was no way he spanked women into submission.

The thought was both terrifying and tantalizing, my nerves shot while my mouth watered. Filthy visions rushed into my mind of being pulled over his knee and I sucked in my breath. Oh, I needed to get away from this man before I said something that I’d regret for a very long time.

In a surprise move, he lifted his hand, curling his fingers as if he was going to brush them across my face. I purposely shifted my head to the right, trying to control my breathing. My caustic mouth had probably ended my career, but I refused to be labeled a homewrecker or worse.

I did have scruples after all.

Even if the desire for his touch tingled every muscle.

“You horrible… womanizer. How could you?”

With that, I stormed away. If he dared show his face inside my school, I’d have him tossed out on his carved, sexy butt.

CHAPTER 5

Grant

Hate.

The girl really hated me.

She should. You’re a boorish jerk.

“I fucking kissed her.”

I wasn’t entirely certain I’d said the words out loud, but it felt like I had. And kissing Kerri had sent bottle rockets off in my brain. Just thinking about the woman kept my dick hard as a rock, filthy visions parading through my toxic brain at a million miles an hour. It was obvious we were oil and water but that had made me want her that much more. I hadn’t experienced quite a heavy shutdown from a woman in a long time.

Maybe I was an arrogant asshole after all. The jury was no longer out. I’d accepted that badge months before.

Hell, yeah, I wanted to sink my teeth into her thigh, licking up every drop of her sweet cream as she writhed underneath me.

“Excuse me?” I heard Candace stutter, but the sound faded away quickly.

My thoughts were centered solely on the dark-haired beauty with relentless curves to die for.

The woman was fire and brimstone wrapped up in a soft velvet blanket that I craved peeling away, exposing the prize underneath.

A caustic mouth with a killer body.

A ballbuster.

A woman I hungered for.

I laughed at the thought of the banter I’d entered into with Kerri. The fact she’d taken an instant dislike to me gnawed at my testosterone. She hadn’t been faking like I’d experienced before, women who wanted me to chase them. Most had no substance, no verve whatsoever, which bored the fuck out of me.

Kerri embodied hustle, intelligence, and passion even though she was an angry young woman, far too young for me. That made the electricity have a taste of the forbidden. I wanted to strip away her defenses, finding the source for her haunted eyes. I craved the vulnerable side she was dead set on hiding. Then I craved training her, tasting her, fucking her then building up her resolve.

What the hell was I thinking?

I’d inhaled her perfume and had been instantly intoxicated but it had been her defiance that had kept my cock throbbing. Even now, the ache remained, making sitting on the hard stool uncomfortable as hell.

---