Page 54 of Wicked Knight 2

My eyes fluttered closed when he nuzzled my neck. A phone call would end it all. How could I explain to him that I never wanted to leave him? That after two years of being apart, I couldn’t stand the thought of losing him again. “I don’t want to spend another day without you.”

“Neither do I.” He puffed out a breath. “Which is why this is necessary.” He reached around my waist and undid my pants. In one swift motion, he pulled them down along with my underwear. “How many times?” He kneaded my ass.

“What?”

“Tell me, Mrs. Belov, how many times have you tried to escape. That’s how many spankings you’re getting multiplied by two, so my point is very clear to you.” He tightened his hold on my waist, pushing me harder against the backrest of the sofa.

“You wouldn’t dare.” I glared at him over my shoulder.

“How many?” He buried his nose in my hair and inhaled. “The day I was still convalescing from my shotgun wounds, you tried to climb over the wall. That’s one. The day after our wedding night, you succeeded in climbing out of our bedroom window. And today, after you promised you wouldn’t leave, you came into the library to call for help.” He kissed the nape of my neck. “How many is that? Answer me.”

“Three.” I squeezed my legs together to ease the fire threatening to consume me from the inside out.

“Times two.”

“Six,” I whispered. “That’s too many.”

“Count for me.”

In retrospect, I had done way worse things to Luca in the past ten years than try to escape his house. On more than one occasion, I saw that look in his eyes. As if he wanted to teach me a lesson, spank me until I understood all the bad things I’d done to ruin his life when he was a young high school teacher.

Maxim had the same urge. Except he wasn’t trying to control it. Not only that, but he also felt it necessary. The first blow landed between my cheeks. I stood on my tiptoes and absorbed the impact.

“Count.”

“One.” My voice quivered as tiny pricks danced across my skin. When the heat set in, he delivered the next one. Wanting to get it over and done with, I counted before he asked me to. “Two.”

“That’s good a girl,” he whispered in my ear.

As a reward, he massaged both cheeks with strong and slow strokes. A part of me was angry that he would dare treat me like this. But the way he held my entire bottom in his large hand had my whole body tingling with ecstasy.

What? No. What the hell was I thinking? This wasn’t hot. It was humiliating. I was half-naked, bent over a sofa in Papa’s library. Anyone could walk in and see me with my ass up in the air for Maxim to do with what he wanted. I’d locked the door. But who knew who had a key to this room. No doubt Papa did.

“You can’t do this to me.” I gritted my teeth when another loud smack broke the silence in the room.

“Keep going, Mrs. Belov.” He nibbled on my earlobe.

“Three.” I braced my hands on the cushions and pushed up.

“We’re not done.” He pressed his hand on the middle of my back. “Do I need to bend you over my knee?”

The picture of me naked flung over his thigh while he spanked me flitted through my mind as if I were watching it on a movie screen. It played on repeat until my nipples got hard and the spot between my legs ached with need.

“You’re so wet for me already.” He captured my mouth. “But first, we have to finish it.” He smacked my bottom again. And again.

“Four. Five.” I swallowed as he let the burn seep deep into my skin and my core. “Don’t stop now.” My body dropped heavy on the sofa while my feet hovered over the floor.

“You’re going to be a good girl from now on?” he asked, lightly brushing his fingers over what I assumed were red blotches on my ass. “Say it.”

“Yes. I’ll be good.” I clenched my jaw bracing for the last blow.

Somehow, I knew he had saved the worst for last. He wanted me to remember my punishment and humiliation forever. So that the next time I thought about leaving, I would only think of his hands on me and the sting of his disappointment.

When he struck, his hand landed somewhere between my pussy and my thighs. “Maxim,” I cried into the decorative pillow. When he didn’t move, I gave him what he wanted. My pride didn’t matter anymore. I needed him now. “Six.”

“Fuck.” He bent down and kissed my shoulder and my back as he unbuckled his belt.

I inhaled. Before I released my breath, he thrust into me—his cool skin against my burning bottom. He fucked me harder than he had in all the other times we’d been together. But somehow, this raw display of desire didn’t feel like punishment. It was him letting me know how much it hurt him every time he saw me trying to escape, how much he needed me here just like he’d said.

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