Page 224 of Reign

She turns.

I step behind her and hook my fingers into the waistband of her leggings and panties. I lower them together, baring her slowly. The soft curve of her ass comes into view, smooth and unmarked, and something low and satisfied settles in my chest. I crouch to guide the fabric over each foot. Once they’re off, I fold them once and set them on the chair beside us.

Elena looks over her shoulder. “You folded them.”

“I’m about to put you over a bench and turn this pretty ass red. That doesn’t mean I’m going to throw your clothes on the floor like an animal.”

Her mouth twitches.

I set my hands on her waist and lift her onto the bench, settling one knee and then the other onto the padded rests. Once she’s balanced, I press my palm between her shoulder blades and guide her forward until her chest lies along the angled cushion.

“Hands forward.”

She stretches her arms toward the front of the bench. I secure her wrists in the leather cuffs, checking that I can slide two fingers beneath each one. Then I move behind her, settle her ankles into the cuffs fixed beneath the knee rests, and fasten them apart.

When I straighten, she’s laid out exactly the way I want her. Chest down. Ass raised. Legs spread wide enough that nothing is hidden.

Dios mío.

Soft skin waiting. The full curve of her ass. And right beneath it, her pussy—bare, open, already glistening. Close enough that if I leaned in I could bury my face between her thighs and stay there like I want to. The urge is sharp. Immediate. I ignore it.

This isn’t for my pleasure.

I rest my hand on one cheek and just feel her. The soft give of her flesh under my palm. Warm. Yielding. Mine for as long as I can have her.

Throne would be interested in her threshold. How hard. How sharp. How far she could be taken while she remained green.

My interest is elsewhere.

I want the moment Elena stops preparing to endure the strike and begins wanting it. I want to feel the sting become heat beneath my hand and watch that heat turn into need. Pain is where Throne likes to linger.

I want what Elena gives me on the other side of it.

This arrangement is supposed to give her experiences she can carry to another man.

I have no intention of making this one feel transferable.

“Color?”

“Green.”

I let the first strike land.

The sound cracks through the quiet room. Her breath leaves her in a startled gasp and the soft flesh of her ass jiggles under the impact, already blooming pink beneath my hand.

The sound goes straight to my cock.

I cover the heated spot with my palm and rub slowly, spreading the sting into warmth until her body softens again.

“What do you feel?”

“It stings.”

“And now?”

She shifts experimentally against my hand. “Warm.”

“Do you want it again?”