Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
He slapped her ass again, and her eyes dilated. The tension in her arms eased ever so slightly. She tried to look up to avoid his gaze, but he saw right through her.
“You like it when I punish you because it gives you a form of penance you can process. You want to be punished, don’t you? Because you feel horrible about cutting me with that knife.” He loosened the chains, providing enough slack to push her hand over the gash on his side. “You want to match my darkness, darling? Match my pain?”
He swung his hand again, cinching the chains tight once more and deepening the red handprint that already showed on her lush flesh.
She cried out, lips parted, eyes hooded, and whispered, “I’m sorry, sir.”
“Have you had enough? Are we even now?” His nails scraped slowly over her sensitized flesh.
She shook her head. “No. I deserve more.”
“Deserve or want?”
“Both.”
His cock was rock hard as she teetered before him, arms restrained overhead, and her lush ass puffy and ready for the taking. “Beg me.”
“Please, punish me for what I did. I want to be a good girl again.”
He slapped her ass several more times until she was reduced to a panting mess. Groping his swollen cock, he stroked it against her bare thigh. “And what should we do about that dirty mouth of yours?”
She bit her lip and looked at him repentantly.
He chuckled. “Suddenly quiet as a mouse.” She met his stare but remained silent. “Good girls do as they’re told.” He stepped back and looked down at the gash in his side. Her gaze followed his. “Tell me why you did it. The truth, now.”
Her lips pursed as her eyes squeezed shut.
“Are we back to acting childish? You know I can see you when you close your eyes. You don’t actually disappear.”
Her chest lifted with each labored breath.
“Tell me why you wanted to hurt me.” She had a hundred valid reasons, but he needed to hear her motive. He wanted to understand what finally provoked her to rebel after relinquishing so much.
“You left me here all alone!” she finally snapped. “You took everything I had, then left!”
“I was coming back.”
“How was I to know that? You sent Gideon—”
“Gideon?” He scoffed. “You use his first name as if you’re old friends.”
“He’s more a friend to me than anyone else on this ship.”
“Careful, darling. Any kindness Gentleman Starr has shown you has been at my command. Let’s stay on topic. You were upset I left…”
Her eyes glazed. “That’s it.”
“That’s it? I left, so you tried to stab me?”
“Yes!”
“Not because I fucked you or called you names.”
“No. I did everything you asked, but you punished me anyway.”
He frowned. His taking some air was not meant to punish her. It was meant to bring clarity about her purpose here. And why was he suddenly justifying his choices? She was lucky she didn’t nick an artery or hit his kidney.
“The only thing your outburst proved is that you can’t be trusted alone. That’s going to complicate matters for you.”
Her lips formed a firm line, and she shook her head. Did she regret not doing more damage now that her predicament had changed?
He pushed her, letting her twirl on her toes while he thought about what to do with her next. “I took exactly what you offered.”
She scowled, but pain hid in the depths of her stare. Pain he put there by not fully considering her feelings.
His memory flashed to a time when he’d been left utterly alone in a frightening place, his family and comforts long gone. The recollection knocked the wind out of him. He remembered crying—not because of his lashings or empty stomach but because he didn’t understand why his mother or Sister Nagina couldn’t love him. Their neglect was never their fault. He’d always internalized it and made it his own.
Was that how he made her feel? Abandoned and undeserving. He’d threatened to break her, but never in that way.
He lowered the chain, taking the strain off her arms. “Take a deep breath.”
As much as she might hate him, she still obeyed and took a long breath. He could hear her dismay through the jagged way the air entered her lungs.
“Let it out slowly.” Her brow softened as she looked up at him. There was so much longing in her eyes that he found it hard to deny her anything in that moment.
Tracing his fingers over her cheek, he lowered his voice. “Good girl.”
It was the praise he vowed not to offer, but she was a good girl, doing exactly as she was told, accepting that he was in total command, and she deserved a reward more than she deserved any punishment.
Her lashes lowered, and she nuzzled into his hand, soft and utterly trusting.
For a split second, he imagined what it would feel like to have her there by choice. He quickly shoved the insane thought away. She would have never stolen that knife if she wanted to be here.