Page 79 of King of Temptation

Well, that threat did absolutely nothing to douse the needy ache between her thighs. “Oh, no, that would be awful. Please don’t spank me, Sir.”

Snorting out a laugh, he dumped more fruit into the blender. “Who said anything about spanking you? Keep acting like a brat and you’ll be holding wall squats until you can convince me you’re ready to be my good girl again.”

Horror welled in her chest as she stared at his back. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

The suggestion was punctuated by the roar of the blender, giving her some time to calm the racing of her heart. Wall squats were not sexy, but she was also really fucking curious to see if he’d actually follow through.

Not quite curious enough to keep pushing him right that second, however. She did have a teaspoon of self-preservation, it seemed.

Her resolve to be good lasted right up until she noticed the concoction he was making had turned a sickly shade of green. When he poured a glass and set it in front of her, she couldn’t stop herself from wrinkling her nose in disdain. “I am not drinking that.”

“You’ll at least try it, or you’ll lose your sweet treat for the day.”

“I’m not a child, Brody.”

Brow cocking, he pushed the glass closer to her. “You’re certainly acting like one. Try the smoothie, menace. If you truly can’t stomach it, I’ll make you something else for breakfast.”

“And if I don’t?”

She knew. Even before his gaze hardened and he sighed, she knew in her bones what her disobedience would get her. “You already know the answer to that. But I’d be happy to go get my belt and give you a demonstration if you need some encouragement to do as you’re told.”

Before she even registered her own reaction, the glass was in her hand and halfway to her lips. Clearly her subconscious had already gotten the memo that they didn’t want to push him quite that far.

At least not yet.

Ugh. Why did it have to be green? She almost asked, but then realized at the last moment that she probably didn’t want to know. Whatever he’d put in the smoothie to turn it that gross shade was likely to have her gagging before she even tried the damn thing and then she’d probably have to drink it anyway after he spanked her.

Dragging in a deep breath, she lifted the glass all the way to her lips. A sweet scent wafted up, allowing her to relax somewhat. If it didn’t smell gross, maybe it wouldn’t taste too bad.

Tilting the glass, she took the smallest sip she could manage. “Okay, I tried it. Can we go get my donut from Rev and Roll now?”

“Marigold…”

“But it’s my morning ritual! You can’t just change my morning ritual like this! What if I can’t write without my latte and my donut?”

That seemed to bring him up short. Frowning, he stared at her, and she could practically see the wheels turning in his mind. “Do you really think you won’t be able to write?”

“I don’t know.” To her surprise and horror, unbidden tears pooled on her lashes. “It’s just… a lot of change all at once. Nothing in the office is right, and now I don’t have my usual breakfast, and you said I couldn’t have coffee and⁠—”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t have any coffee. I said we’d be weaning you off it. Slowly. Going cold turkey on caffeine would do more harm than good.”

Well that was something, at least. “Okay, fine, but my point is that it’s a lot and I’m feeling… I don’t know. I woke up kind of pissy and this stupid smoothie isn’t helping.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

Swiping at the tears slipping down her cheeks, she barked out a bitter laugh. “I’m glad it makes sense to you because it doesn’t make a damn lick of sense to me.”

“We had a hell of a scene last night, baby, and you crashed right after. Your hormones are still adjusting. It’s completely understandable.”

“What do I do about it?”

Leaning forward, he gripped her chin, nudging her head up so she was forced to look him in the eye. “You trust Daddy to make it all better. Can you do that for me, menace?”

She was pretty sure trusting him was actually the stupidest thing she could do. But staring into those pale, serious eyes, there was only one answer she could give.

“Yes, Daddy.” Seeing an opening, she flashed him a hopeful smile. “If you let me go get my donut and latte.”