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Isabella sucked in a sharp breath and squirmed beneath my hold.

The first strike wiped the smile from her face.

I let the sting settle for a few seconds before running my palm over the red mark I’d left behind.

Then I struck the other cheek.

She gasped again, her fingers curling into the comforter.

“Jesus. That fucking hurt.”

“Aye.” I rubbed that one too, slow enough that she had time to register the contrast between the sharp bite of the belt and the warmth of my hand afterward.

“That’s generally how punishment works, Mouse. And I’m barely getting started.”

“For a man who won, you’re awfully cranky about it.”

I laughed under my breath. “Smart mouth.”

Another strike landed across both cheeks.

Her body jerked.

“Color?”

“Green.”

I waited.

She turned her head enough to glare back at me.

“I said green, Lachlan.”

There was my girl.

“All right, Mouse.”

This time I didn’t make her wait as long.

The belt cracked across her again, hard enough to leave another raised line. She cursed, wriggled, then pressed her thighs together as if she could hide the reaction from me.

Interesting.

I set the belt on her lower back and dragged my hand slowly over the heat I’d created.

Her ass was flushed now, pink deepening toward red where the leather had landed. I traced one mark with my fingertips and watched goosebumps rise along her skin.

“You’re enjoying this more than you expected.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No?”

My fingers slipped lower.

She went still.

I ran them between her cheeks and down to her pussy.