Page 27 of Owning Him
Viktor is covered in a light sheen of sweat. He looks exhausted, but the second his gaze lands on me, he stops dead in his tracks.
He looks right at my shoulders, and at the way my arms are locked behind my waist.
"What is that?" he asks.
"Nothing," I say, taking a slow step backward toward the living room. "Just some documents I was reviewing before bed. You're home late. You should get some sleep."
"Valentina," he warns. His massive chest is nearly pressing into my face. "Do not play with me right now."
"Viktor, seriously, go to bed—"
Before I can even finish the sentence, he is reaching for me. He doesn't hurt me, but his grip is rough, easily wrenching my arms from behind my back. The heavy black 9mm and the crinkled paper slip from my fingers.
Viktor stares down at the loaded firearm and the letter. For a fraction of a second, the anger vanishes from his features, replaced by absolute horror. His breath catches in his throat so fast it sounds like a gasp.
Then, the horror twists into pure, unadulterated insanity.
A flush creeps up his neck, his jaw locking so hard I can hear his teeth grind into fucking powder. He looks completely feral as he looks from the gun back to my face.
"You were going to keep this from me?" he hisses. "You were going to hide this? Are you completely out of your mind?!"
"Yes, because it’s not that deep, Viktor!" I snap back. "Threats are normal in my line of work. It happens all the goddamn time. I'm surrounded by security, most of whom you personally vetted. You are already exhausted, and you didn't need this."
"I don't need this?" he roars, grabbing the front of my silk robe, using it to force me to stand on my tiptoes and look up into his crazed eyes. "No one threatens you, Valentina. No one gets to send a bullet to your house and tell you to die!"
"You are already working yourself into an early grave, and I am trying to keep you from losing your mind over a pathetic piece of paper!"
The vein in his neck bulges with every pulse, violent enough that for a second, I swear it’s about to tear free from his skin and crawl across the floor. "If someone puts a hole in you, Valentina, all your millions won't help you then. And you were going to sit here, alone in the dark, and look at it without telling the man whose entire purpose is to protect you?!"
"I don't need a keeper!" I yell, desperate to regain my slipping control. “I handle my own shit!"
"You handle nothing when it comes to this!" he growls, the sound rising from the absolute depths of his chest. "You are an arrogant girl who needs to be taught a lesson."
"Viktor, calm down—"
Suddenly my feet are no longer touching the floor. I let out a startled gasp as he hauls me up like I weigh nothing. He drops onto the couch and drags me face-down across his lap hard enough to knock the air from my lungs.
“Viktor! Put me down right now!” I shriek, my nails scraping against the cushions as I try to push myself up.
One thick forearm crushes across the small of my back, forcing me deeper into the couch until I can barely move. With his free hand, he shoves the silk of my robe up my thighs, exposing my black thong.
Crack.
He just fucking spanked me. And it hurt like a bitch.
My eyes widen in shock. "Viktor, stop!"
Crack.
"You are a fool," he spits above me as his hand comes down a third time.Crack. "You want to prove you do not need me? You will learn to let me look out for you, even if I have to spank it into your stubborn skin."
At first, I fight him with everything I have. I twist my hips, kicking my legs, my face burning with humiliation. No one has ever touched me like this. No one has ever dared to ‘punish’ me.
But Viktor doesn't give an inch. His hand keeps coming down.Crack. Crack.
And then, somewhere around the seventh strike, the protest inside my mind just... stops.
The stinging heat radiating across my skin starts shifting into something different. Arousal. His spanks hitting my skindon’t feel humiliating anymore. To my warped, overwhelmed brain, it starts to sound like church bells.
