Page 99 of Slaying the Shifter Prince
“You hurt me,” I told him between gritted teeth.
He nodded.
Just nodded.
That simple acknowledgement angered me more than any denial or excuse. And the way his eyebrows crept together in contrition irritated me even more.
I slapped him, the sound ringing through the room.
It swung his head to one side, and when his gaze returned to me, he nodded again. “Thank you, love.”
I didn’twanthim to thank me; I wanted him to beg me to stop. I wanted him to end this. Because I couldn’t—or wouldn’t. I wasn’t sure which.
“You collared me in front of your entire court.” I swept the same hand in a back-handed strike that stung my knuckles and whipped his head the other way. The red mark it left bloomed in me, loved and loathed.
When he straightened, he looked up at me with something close to adoration. “Thank you, love.”
I didn’t want fucking adoration. Didn’t deserve it.
Hate.
Hate was easier to give, easier to take, easier to withstand, and easier to understand.
This? I didn’t know what this was. What he was doing to me, what he was asking me to do to him, or whyhe wanted it.
It had to be a trap. Eventually, I was going to overstep a line he’d drawn in his mind and he would surge up and stop me and then he’d turn the punishment on me. It was all part of some fiendish plan. Maybe this entire plot to bring the list of suspects here and capture the killer was an elaborate scheme he’d concocted in order to truly, painfully, punish me. A punishment for trying to kill him and for cursing him.
Fine. I’d push him to that line. I needed to know what he was really up to, because the wrongness of all this crawled up my spine, setting every instinct on edge.
He kneeled up, waiting.
I placed a foot on his shoulder and shoved him down on his heels. “Take off your clothes.”
“Yes, love.” He obeyed, revealing his golden body.
“Bend over that table, hands behind your back.”
“Yes, love.” Again, he obeyed, no hesitation.
I slapped his arse as hard as I could, leaving a red imprint of my hand on his striped skin.
His tail jolted straight with the impact, but he only thanked me.
I did it again and again, hitting the same spot. He had to stop me at some point. Soon? Now?
I didn’t like marking him like this. It had to hurt.
“Thank you, love.”
When I looked up from the bloom on his arse, I found him watching me in the dressing table mirror. He inclined his head, prompting me to continue.
The slithering darkness in me rose, gripping my throat. “What is this, Sepher?” I choked out. “What are you doing?”
His gaze lowered like he was an obedient servant. “I told you. I am yours to punish and to command.”
“Liar.”
“I cannot lie.”
