Hearing the words out loud and how they confirm everything swirling inside me doesn't make me feel better. It does make me feel seen, though.
Pulling myself up from the bed, I turn around and look at Marcus. I'm sure I look fucking ridiculous. Mascara running. My eyes puffy. And because I'm an idiot, I wore something to tease him again.
I didn't know that I would be confronting my father when I got dressed. Otherwise, I wouldn't have put this on.
The white button-down shirt I'm wearing is long-sleeved, but I've unbuttoned the first three buttons, leaving my cleavage very exposed. I'm not especially endowed, but it gets the job done.
Especially when you pair it with the fluttery black skirt I'm wearing. It's something right out of a school uniform, and I know that it barely covers my ass.
I fully intended to be something tantalizing that Marcus had a hard time resisting. Because watching him sweat and get hot under the collar turned me on more than I thought possible.
Wiping my face, I meet Marcus's stare, rolling my eyes a bit.
"It's hardly surprising. I think we both knew that. That's exactly the kind of thing my father would say. He's been pretty clear on what takes priority around here."
"Well, that doesn't change my job. I have one responsibility around here, and that's to keep you safe. So I think you're going to listen to me this time. No sneaking out through the patio. Norunning off outside. If your father won't come clean, we're going to have to deal with this the hard way."
I don't know what it is about being told what to do, especially from Marcus, but I don't like it. Well, maybe that's the wrong term.
It provokes me. It challenges me. And my first reaction is to throw everything back in his face, offer that sass he's so fond of accusing me of.
He's not wrong, either. I know I'm being a brat. I just can't help it. He brings it out in me. I do everything I'm told, all day, every day. But when it comes to Marcus, I want to be naughty. I want him tomakeme.
Sitting up straighter, I eye him hard. "I can do what I want. If you want to keep me in this bed, you're gonna have to find a damn good reason for me to stay."
I cock a brow at him. Marcus's nostrils flare as he stares at me, and I can see the tension ringing through his body. He squeezes his hands into fists, taking a few steps forward.
I watch the muscles in his jaw work as he clenches it. My body grows hotter and hotter, my pussy clamping down around nothing.
"You know, princess," he takes a few more steps toward me, his eyes dark and menacing, "I think it's about time someone taught you a lesson."
Immediately, my body hums with anticipation. I want to feel him all over me again. I want him to take control, to take what he wants from me.
But I don't move because I want him to earn it too.
"I'd like to see you try."
With that undeniable speed and strength, Marcus surges for me. It is unquestionably impressive. He reaches me in a flash, grabbing me by the legs and hauling me down the bed.
"Hey! What are you doing?" To say I'm surprised by the fact that Marcus is hauling me over his lap and pulling my skirt up is an understatement. "Oh my God! Let go of me! Put me down or I'll?—"
A hard smack comes down on my ass cheek, and my words die in my mouth. Heat warms the skin as it stings. If I could see myself in a mirror, I know my eyes would be flared so damn wide.
Marcus just spanked me.
And I fucking loved it.
"Don't have so much to say when you're taking your punishment, do you?" Marcus rubs the warm skin of my ass right where he smacked me. "Is that what the princess needed? A good spanking so that she'd listen?"
Squirming in his hold, I realize that I have no desire to get free. Marcus kneads his fingers into my skin, and I can feel the anticipation building. My heart is fluttering harder, my breath coming short.
I want to feel that sting again. To have him make me feel this way. So alive and free. And feisty.
And naughty.
"So what, you're just going to bend me over your knee like this? You think I can't handle a little spanking? You're the one who seems to not be able to keep his hands off me."
Marcus's long fingers wrap around my neck, squeezing just enough. His hand is so big and strong, and I can't help but remember how his fingers were buried inside me.
