Page 64 of King of Temptation

“Hey.” Stepping forward, he plucked the mug from her hands, setting it out of her reach. But she couldn’t find it in herself to be mad about it when he cupped her face in his hands, his touch instantly soothing the ragged edges of her anxiety. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” At least, nothing she wanted to tell him about. “I’m just stressed about this deadline.”

“Seems like you’re stressed about a lot more than that.” Nudging her head up, he brushed a kiss across her lips. “Tell Daddy what’s wrong.”

The soft command snapped something inside her. “Everything! Everything is wrong!” Jerking out of his grasp, she paced the kitchen, anxiety turning her movement frantic. “I can’t get the chair right, the office is too dark, literally everything about that setup is just wrong.” To her horror, tears filled her eyes. “And I miss my chicken nuggie pillows.”

“Oh, baby.”

A sob rose up, choking her as he pulled her into his arms, her cheek pressed against his chest. To his credit, he didn’t try to tell her everything would be fine, or that she’d just have to get used to his stupid office the way it was. He simply held her, and let her cry until she’d used up all her tears.

When she was done, he kissed the top of her head, his arms tightening around her. “Look, it’s nearly five o’clock anyway and we have dinner at Killian’s tonight. Go upstairs, take a nice hot bath, and get dressed for dinner. You can try again in the morning.”

“I don’t have time⁠—”

Pulling back, he gripped her chin, effectively silencing her and forcing her to meet his stern gaze at the same time. “That wasn’t a suggestion, menace. That was your Daddy, giving you an order. So unless you’d like to eat dinner with my whole family wondering what you did to have you squirming in your chair all night, I suggest you do as you’re told.”

“Fine.” Shooting him a glare, she yanked out of his arms and reached for her mug. “But I’m taking my coffee with me.”

The cup disappeared before she had a chance to actually grab it. Holding it up out of her reach, Brody pinned her with a hard stare. “No more caffeine for you. And tomorrow we are going to set some ground rules about your coffee consumption.”

“Just try to take my coffee away and see where it gets you, O’Rourke.”

“I have a feeling it’s going to get you over my knee on a regular basis. Which is perfectly fine by me.”

She let out a short, frustrated scream before storming out of the kitchen without another word. And pretended not to hear him laughing behind her.

The bath helped more than she would ever admit to him. Even in her own spacious apartment she didn’t have a tub, nonetheless one as large and luxurious as his, and floating there in the bubbles, letting the heat from the steaming water leach all the stress from her muscles was just as relaxing as she’d always imagined it would be.

Another thing from her books that clearly wasn’t bullshit.

“You look rather smug.”

Cracking one eye open, she smirked up at him. “Just thinking about all the things in my books that aren’t, as you said, bullshit.”

Rich laughter filled the space, warming her from the inside out even though the water had begun to cool around her. “Such as?”

“The spankings. Orgasms.” Scooping up what was left of the foam sitting atop the water, she grinned. “Bubble baths.”

“Glad to know I’ve lived up to your rather lofty expectations.”

She watched as he knelt beside the spacious tub, curiosity and arousal wending around her, awakening every inch of her body. “Whatcha doin’?”

A slow, easy grin spread across his face. “Making sure you’re nice and relaxed for my family dinner. Up on your knees, menace.”

Cocking a brow, she snorted, and hoped it sounded dismissive rather than fearful. “I can relax perfectly well without a spanking, thank you.”

His brow cocked, and the fear–curiosity–arousal mixture inside her went nuts, churning in her stomach with such force she could barely think. “I hadn’t planned on spanking you, but that can easily change if you want to be a brat.”

“I’m not being a brat, I’m just stating a fact.”

“Marigold.”

Where he’d sounded playfully stern a moment ago, now there was a real warning in his voice, one that had her heart tripping at the sound. “Brody.”

Despite the warning, his lips twitched. “Up on your knees or I will show you how much worse a spanking is on wet skin.”

Her bravery fled at that, and she slowly rolled onto her stomach, settling on her hands and knees with her ass just above the water. “Happy?”