Page 59 of Hideaway

Carefully balancing a large plate on each hand, Kara reentered the dining room with dread. Cade and Finnian looked at her expectantly, and she tried not to falter as she brought the plates before them. After she set the food on the table, Cade summoned her with an imperioussnapand pointed down to the floor beside him. Kara rolled her eyes as she followed his command and stood at his side.

A single raise of his eyebrow suggested that she should not be standing.

Gritting her teeth to keep from saying anything that would earn her further punishment, Kara kicked off the ridiculous stilettos and slipped into position on bare knees and feet. This time, she was marginally more comfortable. Cade looked amused at her dismissal of the formality of shoes in the dining room, but he didn’t address her further.

The men conversed about art while Kara counted the number of streaks in the marble floor to keep from focusing on the uncomfortable twinges of pain in her knees. Cade was clearly well-versed in many, unconventional forms of torture. It was almost enough to make her more receptive to his rules and requests in the future.

Almost.

Her aimless mental tallying was interrupted when she heard her name being called. Kara looked up from the floor to see Cade waving a forkful of food in front of her face. She shook her head in refusal, any appetite she had momentarily obliterated. There was no way she was going to let Cade hand feed her in front of a stranger while she knelt at his feet. The act was too infantilizing and embarrassing even without an audience.

“Kara, eat,”Cade commanded, bringing the food to her mouth.

“No thank you, sir,”Kara responded bitingly, turning her head away.

“It was not a request. Eat.”

Choking back repulsion and shame, Kara opened her mouth and allowed Cade to feed her. She chewed, the food tasteless in her mouth, and swallowed dutifully. Cade continued to feed her intermittently with himself, taking great pleasure in watching her swallow her pride with every bite. He noticed that she was very receptive tothatcorrective approach. Beating her seemed only to stoke the fires of her anger and rebellion, but humiliation left her silent and compliant. In the future, he would keep in mind that her pride was more easily chastised than her body.

“More wine please, Kara,”Finnian requested in a slightly accented voice, lifting an empty glass and gesturing toward the bottle on the table.

Kara looked at Cade, as if for permission, and he nodded his approval. She rose and walked on bare feet to where Finnian sat. Keenly aware that the man was scrutinizing her every move, she lifted the wine bottle gently and filled his glass as carefully as she could. As she finished, a single drop of red wine escaped the bottle and landed on the table.

“I’m sorry,”Kara apologized quickly, realizing too late that she had forgotten Cade’s rules for speaking.

“It’s alright. Allow me,”Finnian responded chivalrously as he used the napkin from his lap to dab at the spot before it stained.

Kara stood in stunned silence, unsure if should apologize again for breaking the rules or hope that no one noticed. Judging from the knowing look on Finnian’s face, he was well aware of her misstep. Kara knew she was at his mercy and prayed he was more forgiving than Cade.

“Thank you for the wine, Kara,”Finnian said, dismissing her without reproach.

“You’re welcome, sir,”she replied softly, truly grateful to have escaped unscathed.

As Kara walked back to return to her place on the floor, Cade seized her arm firmly and turned her around to face him. She shifted uneasily as he studied her face with stern, condemning eyes. He lifted his other hand to her warm, reddened cheek, and Kara had the sinking sense that she had traded one perilous situation for another.

“You are flushed tonight,”Cade commented in a tone of thinly veiled accusation.

Fuck.

“Am I?”Kara answered nervously.

“Quite. Have you been drinking?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Of course not, sir. It’s just uncommonly warm tonight,”Kara responded in an attempt to sway him from his suspicions, however accurate they may be.

“And yet, your hands are freezing,”Cade answered damningly, clearly not persuaded by her evasion.

“I suppose the unexpected strains of this evening have left me feeling overwhelmed and overheated,”Kara replied as she tried to pull away from his touch, holding firm in her denial of the truth. She assumed she was safe, in spite of the lie, wagering that Cade would not push her further in front of his friend.

“I see,”Cade answered dangerously.

Had he not promised that afternoon to refrain from physical punishment, Cade wouldn’t have had any reservations about bending Kara over the table that instant and spanking the deception out of her while Finnian watched. As it was, Cade would have to think of a more creative approach to remind Kara that he was not a man to be trifled with. Cade stepped behind Kara, moving his hand from her arm to firmly grasp the back of her neck. His other hand traveled gently up her back, almost like a caress, until he reached the top of her dress. He captured the zipper and pulled it down slowly, leaving her dress completely unfastened and her back bare. Kara gasped, frozen and powerless beneath his hands.

“Remove your dress,”Cade whispered softly in her ear.

“No,”Kara answered in shock, holding her dress tightly to her breasts so it wouldn’t slip off her shoulders.

---