Page 48 of Summoned
I dig my nails into my palms. Once again, Gaetano has thrown me into a vulnerable, degrading position, like some wild animal beneath his display of dominance.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” he growls behind me.
I register the change in his lilt. It’s just a nuance, like a breath caught short. Whatever its cause, it triggers a tremor in my gut.
Gaetano tightens his grip on my wrists, fingers digging into my skin. The pressure causes my spine to twist, pressing my face further into the pillow.
“Let me go,” I grit out.
He leans in, his body molding over mine. His weight blankets me, the air between us thickening into something suffocating. “You think you can summon me whenever it pleases you?”
I bite down on my lip, fighting for composure. “You ruined my date. You broke our agreement—”
His chin scrapes my cheek. “You dare to hold me accountable? I’m a five-hundred-year-old witcher, and you’re just one little human.” His lips barely graze me, and my stomach clenches. Electricity sizzles low beneath my skin.
I shouldn’t be reacting like this. He’s a goddamn bastard who crashed my date and is now acting unhinged for no reason—like he’s furious I was with Branimir.
Like he’s…jealous?
I tense, fighting to break free. His grip is merciless—fingers like iron shackles clamping down on my wrists, his body a solid cage that doesn’t budge.
I twist harder, forcing space between us, desperate to reclaim control. That’s when my backside grazes him. Heat surges up my neck, flooding my face. No.No.I grit my teeth. What the hell is this? I don’t fucking blush!He freezes. Just for a second, but long enough for my heart to skip a beat. Then he laughs. Low, dark, triumphant. The sound rumbles through me. “Easy, Baroness. Or I might start thinking you’re trying to seduce me.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I bite out.
The weight of his body lifts, but his hand remains on my wrists. I’m about to kick him when—
A sharp crack slices through the air.
A slap.
Heat bursts across the back of my thigh, searing into my skin.
What the hell?
My heart stutters before it slams into a furious, panicked rhythm. I twist my head, glaring up at him in disbelief.
He…spankedme?
“What the fuck are you doing?” My voice pitches high, cheeks flaring with a fresh wave of outrage.
He tilts his head slightly, eyes gleaming. “Rule number one. I warned you—three strikes, and you get punished.”
“If you think—”
Slap.
The second smack is just as unexpected as the first. Mywords vanish on the tip of my tongue. A sharp, searing heat spreads across my skin, leaving a burning imprint, like a visceral reminder that I’m not in control. He is.
My hands curl into fists behind my back. “You’re a pervert!”
“And you, Baroness,” he murmurs, punctuating his words with another slap, “are at my disposal. To do with as I please. You don’t have a choice but to obey.”
“I’ll never obey you,” I grind out.
I’ll ruin him! I’ll make him regret every second he’s kept me in this humiliating position.
My nails dig harder into my palms as fury coils inside me. I won’t scream—my parents finding me like this would be worse than death. I can’t overpower him, either.
