"Come in here," he said.
I followed him into his study, a room I hadn't entered before. It was lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves. His desk sat near the window, its surface covered in papers, open notebooks, and discarded coffee cups. It was more disordered than I'd have imagined, given Nate's need for control.
He moved behind his desk, and I stood in front of it feeling a bit like a naughty schoolgirl summoned to the headmaster's office as he silently appraised me.
"Scott flagged a call from a Los Angeles number," he said after a painfully drawn-out silence.
"It was my friend Bea. Beatrice Davenport." He would surely recognize the name. Bea's father owned one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the country. "She's been trying to reach me for days. She was worried about me."
"That's understandable, but you know the rule."
"She called me," I protested. "I didn't call her."
"You didn't check with me that it was okay to take the call, Juliet. What if she says something indiscreet about your situation here?"
"She wouldn't." Actually I wasn't confident about that. Beatrice could be loose-lipped when someone gave her the attention she craved. "And anyway, what does it matter? Garrett already knows exactly where I am. He had people watching us. He's planted stories about us in the press. What possible difference could a phone call with my closest friend make?"
"Probably none," Nate said.
I waited for the rest of it.
"But that's not the point, honey."
Damn, I loved it when he called me honey. It made me all gooey inside even if it was the prelude to telling me he was about to spank my ass.
"Then what is the point?"
"You understood the rule, and you broke it anyway."
He was right. I'd known the rule, but it hadn't even entered my head that I was breaking it when I answered Bea's call.
"I'm not sorry I spoke to her," I said defiantly, before conceding. "But I should have told you first."
He looked at me for a long moment, making his decision.
"Remove your jeans and panties."
"Why? What are you planning?"
"We're going to try the belt again. If it's too much, I'll switch to using my hand, but you will receive eight strokes."
Eight? Had I managed half that many before falling apart the last time he punished me with his belt? I couldn't remember.
"Juliet," he said when I hesitated a moment too long. "Are you going to accept the consequences of your actions or is our agreement at an end?"
I didn't want to think about what it would mean for our agreement to end. I doubted Nate would throw me out on the street and leave me to fend for myself against Garrett. But it would probably mean the end of any intimacy between us.
Already drawing my jeans and panties down my legs, I nodded. "I accept the consequences."
"Good girl," Nate said as I stepped out of my clothing and kicked it aside. "Now, place your palms flat on the desk and spread your legs wide. I want you up on your tiptoes with your ass pushed out."
As I obeyed him and got into position, I realized how different this was from the last time. There was somethingblatantly erotic about the way I posed my body. Nate flipped my shirt up around my waist, exposing me to his view.
"You're going to count," he said. "Out loud."
I blew out a breath. That seemed like an extra challenge I didn't need.
"Yes, Nate."
