Page 59 of Theirs to Tempt: The Marriage Claim

My men introduce me to more people than I can keep track of.

Being here makes me feel as though there’s an alternate reality that I never imagined.

When we finally have a moment where we’re alone, Lucian leans toward me. “Are you ready?”

“Ready?” I face him, frowning a little.

“To go to the dungeon?”

Chapter Nineteen

Sophie

My stomach plunges as the elevator descends.

I can’t believe I’m doing this. Why, oh why, aren’t I demanding that they take me home?

Since I’m not sure I want to know the answer to that question, I shove the unwelcome thought aside.

Back in the foyer, Miss Watson is helping others, and Caleb pushes open the massive door that I noticed earlier.

The bass thumps up through my heels, vibrating into my calves and higher, in a way I don’t expect.

Long shadows are cast across the cavernous space, and the air is thick with scents of leather, a hint of incense, sweat, and raw arousal.

Moans echo from every direction—layered, broken, needy—punctuated by the sharp crack of palms meeting flesh in rhythmic spankings.

Everything, every detail, cuts me off from my ordinary life and plunges me into something completely unexpected.

My breath comes in full, deep pulls as Lucian guides me forward, his palm firmly at the base of my spine. “We’ll give you a few minutes to acclimate.”

The three of us pause near a wide leather bench where a submissive woman pouts and squirms away from her Dom’s hands with deliberate, sparkling defiance.

Still, she’s arching her body toward him even as she twists, clearly craving the attention her behavior demands.

Is this what Piper was talking about when she mentioned bratting?

The Dom captures her wrists in one large hand, pinning them above her head with effortless strength.

He cracks his palm sharply against her bare ass, each swat firm and measured, turning her skin a deepening pink.

She gasps and wriggles, but there is no real fight—only playful challenge met with steady dominance. He pauses to stroke her heated flesh, fingers dipping between her thighs to tease her, making me stifle a moan.

Lucian’s breath brushes my ear, his body pressing closer so I feel the hard line of him against my hip. “There are many ways to handle a brat.” His rich and intimate voice slides through me.

Then Caleb speaks. “Bratty behavior is often a request for attention. It can be generously given…or skillfully withheld until she’s aching for it.”

I shake my head.

I would never want to be in that woman’s position. Never.

And yet…

“Watch,” Lucian commands, as if I could ever look away.

The Dom continues to spank the submissive, and her protests become tiny whimpers of need.

He strokes a finger inside her.