"I said no." She straightens, rubbing her wrists where I held them. "You can threaten me all you want, Dante. You canintimidate and manipulate and use my mother against me. But I'm not moving into your room. Not tonight. Not ever."
Something in me snaps.
"Fine." I grab her arm, not roughly but firmly. "Then I guess you need to learn what happens when you push me too far."
"What are you?—"
I pull her toward the bed, sit down on the edge, and before she can process what's happening, I pull her across my lap.
"Dante!" She struggles immediately, trying to push herself up. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Teaching you a lesson about obedience." I pin her wrists at the small of her back with one hand, holding her in place. "You want to act like a defiant child? Fine. You'll be punished like one."
"You can't be serious?—"
"I'm always serious." I rest my other hand on the curve of her hip, feeling her tense beneath my touch. "You were warned. Multiple times. And you ignored every single one."
"This is insane?—"
"This is necessary." I slide my hand down to the hem of her modest skirt. "Count them. We'll start with five. If you lose count, we start over."
"I'm not going to?—"
The first strike lands firm across her backside, the sound sharp in the quiet room.
She gasps, more from shock than pain.
"I said count."
Silence. Defiant silence.
"That's one," I say for her. "Since you seem to have forgotten how."
The second strike is slightly harder. Her body jerks against my lap, and I feel her breathing change.
"Two," she grits out finally.
"Good girl."
The third strike makes her inhale sharply, and that's when I notice.
Her skirt has ridden up slightly from her struggles, revealing the edge of her underwear.
Black lace. Completely see-through. The kind that hides absolutely nothing.
The contrast is striking—modest, proper schoolteacher on the outside, this underneath.
"Three," she whispers, her voice strained.
I let my hand linger this time, feeling the heat through the thin fabric of her skirt. "Interesting."
"What—"
"Your clothes." I trace the edge where modest meets revealing. "So proper up here. But underneath..."
I push her skirt up higher, revealing more of that black lace, and her entire body goes rigid.
"Don't—"
