Page 56 of Hideaway

“You certainly do, but that doesn’t mean Declan is off the hook.”

“Just don’t hurt him. Please,” Kara pleaded as convincingly as she could while still bent over.

“Fine, for now, I won’t do anything to him. I’ll send him to Prague with Jace and let him handle the little bastard. I’ll let you decide if that’s mercy or not.”

Since Jace was involved, Kara assumed it was probably the furthest thing from mercy. Cade was terrifying, but he was reasonable. Jace was an entirely different type of monster. Kara braced herself when she felt Cade sit down on the couch beside her; he grasped her wrist and gently pulled her over his knee. She had agreed to accept her punishment, and she would try to suffer it with as much decorum as possible.

“When you are careless and irresponsible, you put yourself and everyone around you at risk,” Cade lectured as he pulled Kara’s knickers down to her ankles, admiring the faint bloom of pink already spread across her naked arse. “I refuse to allow that kind of immature behavior. Maybe this will help remind you to think before you act,”he finished ominously.

The sickeningly familiar sound of Cade’s belt sliding free from his pants squelched Kara’s ten seconds of submission. She fought him as though her life depended on it, wildly flailing her legs to break free from his hold and digging her nails into the arms holding her down until she was almost certain she drew blood. Cade fought her just as hard, though his overwhelming strength put a quick end to her struggles. He viciously dug his fingers into the bare skin of her hips and dragged her back over his knee, trapping her beneath him with one of his legs as he pinned her down. His hand snaked out and snatched her wrist, twisting her arm painfully behind her back to keep her still. His other hand tangled in her hair and pulled sharply, causing prickles of pain across her scalp. Kara whimpered against the roughness of Cade’s hands; she was truly, terrifyingly helpless beneath him.

“Do not. Fucking. Move,”Cade growled angrily, twisting the fingers in her hair tighter for emphasis, causing her to cry out.

“Wait, please,”she begged frantically, breathless from their struggle and ensuing panic.

“This isn’t a negotiation, Kara. You knew your actions would have consequences. You knew you would be punished. Remorse won’t save you now, love,”Cade answered mercilessly, releasing her arm and reaching for his belt again.

“Stop, please!”Kara pleaded desperately as she felt the brush of leather against her skin.“I know that I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have taken Declan’s phone. I’m sorry.”

“Sayingsorryisn’t enough,”Cade reprimanded sternly before drawing back his arm to deliver the first blow of the belt.

“Please,”Kara sobbed pitifully, distantly aware that tears had begun to fall, but too intent on escaping Cade’s wrath to feel ashamed of them.“Please, Cade, I’m begging you. Please don’t use the belt.”

Startled by the anguish in her voice, Cade stayed his hand. Gently reaching for her shoulders, he lifted Kara up until she was sitting on his knee, grasping her face with both hands to search her expression intently for signs of manipulation or truth. His thumb moved to brush a stray tear from her cheek before slipping down to stroke her full bottom lip.“What’s this, Kara? You’re brave enough to go behind my back, defy my orders, and lie about it, but you’re not brave enough to accept the punishment you deserve?”

“I-I know I deserve punishment,”Kara admitted quietly, stumbling slightly over the words as she tried and failed to avoid his gaze.“But not with the belt, please.”

“I see,”Cade answered thoughtfully, nodding his head as though mulling it over. A ruthless smile crept across his features as he happened upon an intriguing enhancement to Kara’s suffering.“In my experience, begging is most impactful when done on your knees, wouldn’t you agree?”he challenged with a raised brow and a pointed glance at the floor in front of him.

Feeling tears of frustration invade her eyes at the humbling insinuation, Kara swallowed her pride, slipped from Cade’s lap, and slid down to her knees between his open legs. She stared down at the floor, twining her fingers together anxiously as she awaited Cade’s next command. She felt his fingers grasp her jaw and lift her head upward to look at him. His gaze was imperious and almost cruel. Involuntarily, she shivered beneath him.

“Well, Kara?”Cade asked expectantly, his tone harsh.“Beg for mercy.”He stared at her with eyes of ice and stone, cold and impenetrable.“If you dare.”

“Please don’t whip me, Cade,”Kara implored, her voice trembling as she gazed at him with large, pleading eyes.

“You look so pretty in tears, love,”Cade admitted with indiscernible emotion roughening his tone, his features softening barely as he captured a tear from Kara’s heavy lashes and rubbed the wetness across his lips, savoring the taste of salt and fear.“So pretty on your knees to please me.”

Cade stroked her cheek, and Kara couldn’t help but lean into the caress, lulled by the tenderness in his voice and touch. Couldn’t he forget about the punishment and allow her to quell his anger with pleasure rather than pain? Sensing her thoughts, Cade deprived her of his touch and reached for his belt, laying it threateningly across his lap in front of her. Kara eyed the implement nervously.

“Now, why should you be allowed to escape your punishment?”

“I’m not asking to escape punishment. I’m just asking you not to use your belt on me.”

“And why is that?”Cade asked, genuinely interested in why such an unassuming item could inspire such fear in his unshakeable librarian. Sure, he wielded the accessory in more instructive ways than its intended purpose. Sure, it temporarily hurt like the fucking blazes. But certainly it wasn’t more than she could handle? She risked death for a goddamn book, for fuck’s sake. She could handle having her arse warmed a little after the shit she pulled that morning.

“The last time you…”Kara paused to swallow the mortification of having to dredge up the memory of her first punishment,“whipped me, it was too much. Too much pain. Too much emotion. You wrecked me, Cade. And that’s exactly what you meant to do. One lash more than my limit, remember? You used your belt to break me, and not just physically either—no, that would have been too easy.”Kara heaved a heavy sigh before continuing.“Ihave a feeling you went easy on me the first time compared to what you want to do to me now.” Shetook a moment to glance at him accusingly. “I’m not sure I can trust you not to fucking kill me this time.”

“Kara, I have no desire to harm you. You should understand that by now,”Cade answered reproachfully, hurt by her lack of trust.

“Oh, so beating me is just for giggles, then?”

Cade grabbed her jaw firmly, growing increasingly irritated with her attitude.“I don’t punish you to aimlessly entertain myself, I punish you to correct destructive behavior before you cause yourself harm,”Cade answered sharply, inadvertently digging his fingers deeper into her skin.

“I’m sorry, you must have missed the part where I am a full-grown adult capable of making my own fucking decisions,”Kara thundered back, her anger at the ridiculousness of the situation growing rapidly.“I don’t need your correction or your rules or your fucking punishments. I don’t need someone to parent me, so go look elsewhere for someone with daddy issues to exploit.”

“Careful, Kara. You’re meant to be talking your wayoutof a whipping, not giving me a reason to hit you harder,”Cade warned, his voice deadly calm while his eyes burned with fire.

“I’m sorry,”Kara apologized hastily, shrinking back from violent tension in his body. She knew she wouldn’t be able to argue her way out of being punished by Cade if he thought she deserved it. Hell, maybe she did deserve it, but there was no way in fuck she was taking that shit laying down. If she couldn’t appeal to his sense of reason—like he fucking had any—she would appeal to his transactional side. Barter for mercy. Make him a deal he couldn’t refuse.

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