Page 56 of Hard Lessons

She sucked in a breath. He filled her vision, loomed over her. Everything else receded. If the clock had been ticking she would no longer be able to hear it.

“I’m responsible for you, Serena. For your safety, your happiness, your pleasure, and your discipline.”

“Discipline.”

“Si, discipline.” He dropped his head lower.

His stubble was denser than ever around his jawline, above his top lip it created a deep shadow. He was so damn big and gorgeous. Before he’d gone into prison and for much of the time during his stint there, he’d been her every waking thought. And now, here he was again. Consuming her mental energy, ruling her body.

The stars sure had a strange way of coming into alignment.

“And now we have the matter of today’s hundred spanks,” he said quietly.

She swallowed, her throat suddenly tight and her ass tingling. Fuck, and why did her nipples pinch and her pussy flutter. That shouldn’t happen at the threat of a spanking.

“The spanks you earned by planning a one-way flight to New York. You do remember that crime, right?”

She nodded.

How long would she really have been able to stay away?

How long would it really have taken Luca to find her?

“So over you go.” He nodded at the table by the window. The one they’d eaten breakfast at.

She glanced at it. “What?” He just wanted her to bend over, offer him her ass?

“You heard. Over you go. The table. Show me your ass, Serena.” He slid his hands to the belt on her robe and tugged it free.

The material hung open, exposing her nakedness beneath. Why, oh, why did a deep primal part of her psyche rejoice at revealing herself to him this way? She was a glutton for punishment, not right in the head. But damn, there was something so fucking sexy about him standing before her all big and dominant.

He smiled and slipped his hands under the top section, sliding over her collarbones. He pushed the material backward so it fell from her shoulders then slithered down her back, arms and to the floor.

Heat from the fire caressed her body and she curled her toes on the thin tartan rug. She willed herself to think straight. To see sense. When she did it seemed she had two options. Run out the door... again. Or bend over the damn table and let Luca spank her behind.

Running was appealing, less humiliating. But she had no chance of escape. Which meant she’d be back in here, within minutes. Sopping wet, cold, and still being smacked severely for her crime.

She dragged in a breath, her breasts rising. She knew what she had to do.

She stepped away from Luca and up to the table, the tops of her thighs already a little slick with dampness. Her body was reacting to his command of her despite her brain resisting.

The surface of the table was stained with years of cup rings and there was a chip out of the top right-hand corner.

“Over you go,” he said again.

There was no point in arguing. No chance of getting out of this. So squeezing her eyes closed, she set her palms on the wood and tipped forward.

The rain lashed at the window to her right, a cool draught coming off it and onto her shoulder.

“You can do better than that.” He was behind her now. Pressure was applied to her mid-back and she was forced flat onto the surface, her breasts pushing into it, taut nipples flattening. A shot of sensation curled from them around her ribs, then down her spine to her buttocks.

Now her ass seemed even more vulnerable and a shiver of anticipation tickled over her skin. She was still sore from the day before; this spanking would hurt like hell from the outset if he used the same amount of muscle. So why the heck was her pussy fluttering?

“Like this.” He tapped her ankles with his foot. “Wider.”

She curled her fingers around the table and spread her feet until they were slightly more than hip width apart. Her pussy lips were on display now, no doubt sparkling with the evidence of her arousal.

I don’t want to be aroused by this.

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