Page 28 of Hideaway

“Fuck you,” Kara spat before turning on her heel and storming out of the stables. Kara realized her mistake as soon as she felt the sharp, punishing sting of Cade’s riding crop against her ass.Again. “Ow! That fucking hurts!” Kara screamed at him in unmitigated fury as she rubbed the abused flesh of her backside.

“Good. It’s meant to,” Cade responded without an ounce of remorse. “Now go before you earn another.” He jerked his head toward the stable exit, dismissing her coldly.

With an unbecoming stomp of her foot and a huff of irritation, Kara rushed out of the stable, eager to escape the presence of the insufferable, overbearing, abusive, arrogant, unjustly attractive bastard. She struggled with irreconcilable urges to murder Cade violently and fuck him in the exact same manner. She wasn’t sure which urge was the strongest, the most logical, or the most probable. But she sure as fuck needed to do something to him. And preferably, it needed to hurt.

A figure loomed in the doorway as Kara approached the front steps of the manor. Jace lounged casually against the banister, a lit cigarette in his hand, his eyes unnervingly locked on hers. Kara was more than aware that her appearance was less than presentable—her hair was wind-ravaged, her skin was flushed with exertion and lingering anger, her boots were muddy, and her pants were soaked from the knees down. She was cold, wet, her ass was sore, and she was pissed as hell. The last thing she needed at that moment was to be dealing with Jace’s passive aggressive shit.

“What the fuck are you looking at, Jacen?”

“Looks like someone had a hard ride,” Jace drawled in a sultry voice, his eyes raking over her body and taking in the disheveled state of her hair and clothes. “Or perhapsyouweren’t the one doing the riding?” he questioned suggestively with a raised brow.

“Fuck off, Jace,” Kara answered, the sexual innuendo riling her up more. Because she hadn’t slept with Cade, and she would be lying if she said she hadn’t been pleasantly entertaining the idea most of the afternoon, right up to the moment Cade hit her with a fucking horse whip. “There isn’t a single man in this house that tempts me to anything other than murder and torture of the most gruesome variety.”

“Careful, baby. Some of us would consider that foreplay,” Jace answered seductively, a full smile playing upon his lips.

“You’re deranged,” Kara scoffed with a roll of her eyes. Of course he would enjoy the threat of bodily harm.

Sick prick.

“Quite possibly. Does that turn you on?”

Was he fucking flirting with her? After the shit he’d pulled yesterday? “Not in the least. I prefer people in full possession of their mental faculties, thanks.”

“Don’t knock it till you try it.”

“Yeah, thanks for the unsolicited advice, but I need to get to my room.” Fuck, why did she tell him that she was going to her room alone? “Boss’s orders,” Kara explained, hoping to cover her misstep and remind Jace that Cade knew exactly where to find her.

Jace took a long drag of his cigarette as his eyes burned into hers with a heat that somehow made her shudder. Finally he stepped aside, making room for Kara to pass. “Run along like a good little girl,” he taunted as she scurried past him and through the front doors without another glance.

DARKNESS had fallen before Kara finally heard a knock on the door. Cade had punished her with confinement in her room for nearly eightfuckinghours. During those hours, she’d not even been allowed the courtesy of tea and a biscuit from Mrs. Hughes. Kara was bored, hungry, and fucking pissed.

Without waiting for a response—which she wouldn’t deign to give the bastard anyway—Cade barged in through the door. Not giving him a moment’s notice, Kara remained in her perfectly posed position in the bed, pretending to be greatly enthralled with a novel she’d actually already read. The man would have to forcefully pry the book from her fucking fingers if he wanted her attention because she certainly had no intention of willingly looking upon his hateful face.

“Kara,” Cade said slowly, his tone holding a blatant warning that she better watch her attitude.

Well, fuck him.

Kara continued reading. Or rather, staring at the jumble of words on the page. Because in spite of her best efforts, every traitorous atom in her body seemed fixated on Cade’s presence whenever he entered the room.

“Kara,” Cade chastised, his voice firmer this time. “Put the book down and look at me.”

In spite of her resolve, Kara found her cowardly limbs lowering the book slightly in response to the command in Cade’s tone. She peeked up at him from the top of the pages, raising a single brow as though challenging his goddamn nerve in demanding anything from her, before returning her attention back to the pages.

With an angry grunt of irritation at her pettiness, Cade quickly stormed toward Kara, snatched the book from her hands, and tossed it across the room. Kara’s gasp of disbelief sounded at the same time the book clattered loudly to the hard floor.

“What the hell is your problem?” Kara raged at his audacity.

Clearly unbothered by her outrage, Cade painfully grasped Kara’s jaw and forced her eyes to meet his. “When I tell you to look at me, youfuckinglook at me. Is that understood?” Cade gripped her jaw tighter as Kara remained silent. Testing him for what felt like the hundredth time that day. And at that moment, hereallywasn’t in the mood to be dealing with her shit. “Answer me,” Cade ordered through gritted teeth.

“Fuck. You.”

Before Kara had a moment to think or react, Cade grabbed her arm, pulled her over his lap, and delivered a loud,hardslap to her backside. Kara shrieked in protest as she frantically squirmed to get out of his hold. Cade expertly threw his leg over hers, caging her between his strong thighs, and wrapped his hand tightly around her wrists, stretching her arms out on the bed in front of her. With her properly subdued beneath him, Cade raised his hand and spanked her again. Harder. Kara felt tears fill her eyes at the shock and pain and humiliation of being splayed over Cade’s knee and punished. She trembled against him, her tears washing away any rebellion she might have had.

Kara flinched when she felt Cade’s hand on her again, but that time it was gentle. Silently, he rubbed the sting from her bottom, allowing her a moment to come undone and piece herself back together. Slowly, Cade’s hand drifted to her back as he tenderly coaxed the tension from her muscles like he had the night before. Kara shivered as she felt his hand slip under her shirt and his fingertips lightly trace circles across her bare skin. How could he be equal measures of harshness and gentleness? How could he punish her like a brute and then treat her with the tenderness of a lover the next moment? And why did his intoxicating melding of darkness and light draw her in like a moth to a deadly flame?

“Must you always fight me?” Cade asked softly as he continued to stroke her back.

Kara remained silent. Not out of obstinance, but because she really didn’t know why she always felt the need to push back against Cade, even with the simplest things.

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