I’d given away too much.
A savvy woman like Noelle would read between the lines.
I couldn’t trust her, and if I couldn’t trust her, I could not, under any circumstances, let her discover the truth about our activities.
I pushed her toward my desk. “Take off your clothes.”
For us to survive as a club, we needed the edge of my being a hard ass.
The members of the Steel Vipers could ride the roads and check on the elderly.
We could sneak around on Christmas and deliver gifts, and we could feed people when needed.
But our rivals could never find out about ourniceextracurricular activities.
They’d all come for us, and it wouldn’t be pretty.
Threats came every other day.
I kept them at bay.
Me.
That was what every club needed at its head if they were going to survive.
They needed a man like me, someone willing to do whatever it took to keep us together.
Noelle shifted from foot to foot, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. “Rafe?”
“You heard me.” I snapped the words at her at the same time that I whipped off my belt in a two-handed motion that caused every belt loop to pop.
Noelle’s eyes widened.
She reached the bottom of her sweater, inching it up toward her midriff while walking away from me.
“What’s happening?” Her hands dipped beneath the sweater and she shimmied the material over her stomach.
A hitch in her breathing drew my gaze up from the expanse of exposed skin to the delicate curve of her lips.
“I’m teaching you a lesson.” I popped the belt against my palm. “And to do that, you will take off your clothes. You will submit to me.”
The wide eyes narrowed, and I saw the thoughts tumbling.
I knew the minute she realized what I was saying, what I had planned.
Her cheeks pinked, and she worked the sweater all the way off.
Her lips quirked as she bundled the sweater into a ball and dropped it into the chair behind my desk.
She started to sit.
“You’re not allowed to sit down.” I pointed the belt at her. “Bend over to take your shoes off.”
She did, turning to show me her ass.
The bootlaces gave her a little trouble, and she cursed under her breath when her fingers began to tremble.
“Too slow, Noelle.” I tapped her ass with the belt, testing her reaction and her tolerance.
