“I’ll bet you do.” I lick my dry lips while the monster shifts behind my ribs.
“I shouldn’t be thinking these things.” She pulls back, holding me away from her. “Ioughtto be furious with you.”
“Furious. Withme,” I echo, heart drumming. “What did I do?”
“Itissa,” she purrs, hands curling around my upper arms. “Youknowyou deliberately disobeyed me.”
It takes a moment for my conversation with Lydia to come flooding back. “Oh, that.”
“Yes.” She walks me backward. “That.”
Maida, you snitch.My hands go out behind me when I bump into the desk. Made of solid wood, it feels like running into a boulder. “Believe it or not, my world doesn’t revolve around taking orders fromyou, priestess.”
“Oh?” That cocky grin spreads slowly across her face. “Someone really is feeling bratty tonight.” Her hand cards through the hair at my nape, sending flutters down my spine.
“Most nights. And we both know it thrills you to death, getting a rise out of me.”
“Interesting.” Fingers tightening in my locks, she pins that hard glare on me that cleaves me to the core. “Given all the excitement, Iwasgoing to let you off with a warning. But I’m starting to think you need punished for your insolence. In fact, I think you’re past due.”
Punished. Insolence.My stomach drops out of me, my breath snagging.
“I bet you really,reallyneed bent over this desk. Your hair pulled and your ass spanked until tears roll down your pretty face. Don’t you, Tiss?”
Oh, shit, yes.Lust thickens the air between us, and I’m instantly ravenous.
Full-body pleasure wracks me when she wrenches my hair at the roots. A high-pitched moan fills my ears. I flush, realizing it was mine.
“That’s what I thought.” Nose twitching, she spins me smoothly around.
“For gods’ sakes!” I sputter, momentarily disoriented. Behind me now, she’s got my arm pinned at my back. “I have more pressing things to worry about than your daily revolving whims, priestess.”
“It’s not awhimwhen I set rules to keep you safe,” she snaps, harsher than I’d expect.
“Right,” I scoff, pulling away. “Only because I allegedly told you to.”
With a growl, she yanks me back so hard my ass smacks into her pelvis. She holds me tight against her, her free hand sliding up my throat. Her next words are fierce in my ear: “No, Tiss, you enormous pain in my ass. Becauseyoumean the world tome. Because my worlddoesrevolve around you. My days begin and end with you, damn it. You. Are. My. Everything. Do you understand?”
Adoration pulsing between us again, the confession is delivered with a razor-sharp, protective edge that takes my breath away. All I can do is stutter my comprehension.
“Good. Now bend over and take your punishment. Grab the desk and say please.”
Desire scorches my every capillary at her impeccable control. I hear myself pleading to be disciplined, eager to atone for my wrongdoing.
“What are your codewords?” Her touch is firm but not forceful as she pushes me down, folding me until my elbows are braced and my necklace clatters on polished wood.
“Blue. Purple. Red.”
“Good girl. Mine are the same.”
My skin ignites from the crown of my head to the very crux of me once the praise leaves her mouth.
She gathers the wool skirt and silk petticoat I changed into before we hiked up here, hissing when the garments are shoved roughly past my hips. “Your panties are soaked through. What a naughty, needy little brat you are.”
Her fingers dig into the band of my underwear, and my heart thunders. I wonder if she can hear it resonating off the desk. Then, with an abrupt yank, she tears them clean off.
“Gods!” I yelp. “What was that for?”
She pulls the scrap of fabric from between my legs, casting it aside.
