I frowned. “What does that mean?”
His smile was vicious but not quite mean. “I’m quite intrigued by the idea of turning your little ass red.”
I inhaled sharply. “You want to spank me?”
“Right now?” He leaned closer. “More than anything.”
“Because I walked off?” I huffed a laugh. “That’s just stupid.”
“No, what’s stupid is you avoiding the conversation. Something I said bothered you. Rather than talking it out, you stormed off. That’s stupid.”
I tried to form words but couldn’t.
Ian released me, took my arm, and led me over to the bed.
“Bend over,” he ordered, his clipped words telling me he was serious.
“If I don’t?”
He took a step back. “Then I’ll walk out. All forgotten.”
It sounded to me as though he was leaving this in my hands. While I’d been taken aback by his high-handed behavior, I had to give him credit. That whole domination thing was quite hot. It did strange things to me.
“If you want to see what punishment feels like, Heaven, bend over the bed. If not…” He motioned to the door to the guest room.
“You’re throwing me out?”
With a resigned sigh, I turned and bent over the bed.
I could hear him breathing behind me. He didn’t move for the longest time. I thought for a second he was going to talk it out.
He didn’t.
No, the big, bad Dom was going to hold true to his word, and my ass was going to hurt before this was over.
He took a deep breath, exhaled. “Strip.”
I turned my head, glanced his way. “What?”
“Don’t make me tell you again.”
He moved then, taking a seat behind me.
I pushed off the bed, turned away, looked back. Did it several times before I huffed again but proceeded to strip. Before I could turn back to the bed, he patted his knees. “Over here.”
I walked toward him, never more aware of how naked I was.
“Bend over my lap.”
I wanted to ask him if he was serious, but I knew he was. The look on his face was fierce.
“Count for me.”
I didn’t quite understand, but then he smacked my ass with his hand and it didn’t matter. I sucked in air. That hadn’t been a playful swat. My ass stung.
“I can’t hear you,” he growled.
“One,” I bit out, realizing that was what he’d meant by count.
He spanked me again, this time his hand moving slightly, not in the same spot but just as painful as the first.
“Two,” I snarled.
Again.
“Three.”
We made it all the way to seven before I sobbed, tears leaking from my eyes. The pain was intense, but I didn’t try to move away.
His hand smoothed over me a second before he landed another.
“Eight,” I cried, the dam breaking, emotion flooding out of me. Anger, embarrassment, remorse. Not just from this encounter, but from everything I’d been holding in for the past few months. Danny, his infidelity. It was all there, coalescing into a storm that ripped through me.
Just when I thought Ian would spank me again, he pulled me up, settled me on his lap, and wrapped his arms around me. I held on to him, not willing to talk or look at him, but I held on, burying my face in his neck and openly sobbing against him.
His hands were warm, gentle as they slid over my back. He held me just as tightly.
We remained like that for several minutes. Long enough for the tears to stop.
“Look at me, Heaven.”
I didn’t want to, but I managed to pull back, look in his face.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“For what?”
“Indulging me.”
“If my ass didn’t burn, I’d say you’re welcome.”
He grinned. “Believe it or not, it’s the tears I was going for.”
“You wanted to make me cry?”
“I wanted you to let it out. I can tell you hold everything in. You need to find a way to decompress.”
His big hands cupped my head, brushing my hair back from my face before settling on both sides of my neck. His thumbs brushed over my jaw. “I’m going to miss you, but I hope you’ll keep in touch when you’re gone.”
“Me, too,” I said, realizing it was true.
ISAAC
I had lain in the dark while Everly slept, letting the minutes tick by while listening to her breathing, thinking about the three words she’d said before she succumbed to exhaustion.
That had been hours ago.
My brain was racing, making it impossible to relax. On top of that, my heart was beating hard, like I’d just returned from a jog, but it wasn’t physical exertion that was causing it. No, the credit for that went to those three little words my fairy princess had whispered before she had drifted off. I couldn’t stop replaying them in my head, relishing the peace that had settled over me.
At some point, I had drifted off, waking when she shifted, moving closer. I dragged my fingers over her soft skin, pressing my lips to her forehead.
