When I'm with You (Because You Are Mine #2)(15)

“Do you have to?” she asked shakily as she felt him lower her panties.

“Always,” was his reply. He released the skimpy underwear and it bunched next to her pants at her knees. She squeezed her eyes tight when she felt him lift her chef’s smock, fully baring her to his gaze. Mortification swept through her. Lucien would never believe it if she told him—so she didn’t say a word—but she wasn’t used to such intense intimacy.

She trembled with excitement when Lucien’s hand brushed against the sensitive skin of her right buttock. He cupped the flesh and squeezed. Liquid heat rushed through her *, the strength of her response confusing her. It was as if her body had a mind of its own. Her brain certainly hadn’t given her permission to find his possessive touch on her ass so arousing.

“You’re lovely. I will find it exciting to punish you. Very,” he murmured. “You may find it arousing as well, but it will also sting. That’s the consequence of your behavior. Even though I will enjoy this, today it will only be a punishment. As I mentioned, we will take things at my pace.”

She turned her chin. He saw her bewildered expression.

“We won’t be having sex after I finish,” he explained patiently. “That will come another time.”

She listened to all of this in anxious amazement.

“Elise?” he prompted. “Am I making myself clear?

“Yes,” she croaked.

“I will spank you with my hand twenty times. It will burn, but you need never fear that I will cause you any lasting harm. It isn’t my intention, now or ever, to harm you. Do you understand?”

No, she didn’t understand. She couldn’t comprehend anything that was happening. Why was she letting him do this to her?

Discipline. Need.

She recalled him saying those words last night and bit her lip, her anticipation more acute than she’d ever experienced in her life. Was it true? Was that the reason she’d come on her flagrantly rebellious mission today? Hadn’t he hinted what would happen if she stayed with him last night?

And she’d returned, determined to provoke him . . . into this?

“Elise?” he prompted.

“Yes, I understand,” she said in a choked voice.

He lifted his hand from her ass.

Smack.

She whimpered at the burst of sensation. He spanked her again, a brisk slap of skin against skin, and her eyes sprang wide.

Oh. It stung, but it was also exciting to feel Lucien’s hand come into contact with her bottom, that quick flash of sensation. It was intimate, too, something about the secretiveness of what he was doing here in the midst of a business—the fact that she was letting him do something so personal to her, so illicit—was also thrilling.

She stared sightlessly at the blotter. His hand landed again and she suppressed a gasp, not of pain, but of an incendiary emotion she couldn’t name or control. It was as if his spanks were causing some friction in her, forcing something to the surface with his blows that she’d rather keep buried. He paused with his hand on her, his light caress almost as volatile as his punishment.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she grated out, hoping he heard the anger in her voice and not the other bewildering feelings brewing in her chest.

He spanked her again. She bit her lip to stop herself from moaning. He knew what he was doing. His slaps were quick and brisk, meant to sting, not bruise or harm. He smacked her on the lower curve of her right buttock twice. A cry flew out of her throat. She shifted her hips instinctively, trying to avoid another swat on her prickling flesh. He bracketed her hips with his hands and kept her steady.

“Hold still, or you’ll earn more,” she heard him say, his voice thicker than before. Was he getting turned on? Arousal pinched at her clit for some reason. She crunched her eyelids closed in rising bewilderment. He rubbed the patch of flesh on her bottom as if in apology for making her nerves sizzle. Her ass felt hot beneath his big hand.

He smacked her again. She gasped. Distantly, she realized he’d turned on the stereo to muffle the sound of her spankings. His office was already remotely situated in the restaurant, the door was thick, and the luxurious furnishings and paintings likely muffled interior sounds.

Did he punish women in his office often?

The disconcerting thought fractured when he landed another spank. She was horrified when a tear burst from her clenched eyelids.

“Mario was right. You are a devil, Lucien Sauvage,” she accused, shifting her bottom. He popped the moving target with increased force.

“If you don’t keep your ass still, you will discover what a devil I can be.”

She bit her lower lip as she forced herself to still. He smacked her again. Her ass was on fire, and her * was growing wet. The nerves on her behind stung, but it was nothing compared to the pleasurable tingling of her clit. At the same time, she was truly humiliated by the fact that she was allowing Lucien to spank her bare-assed.

Yet . . . she wanted it. Needed it.

“Just get it over with, please. I can’t take much more,” she said brokenly when he paused to soothe her burning flesh with caressing fingertips.

“You will take what I give you.” He raised his hand again. The music swelled in her ears.

Smack, smack.

It was as if he were pushing something out of her with his punishment, building friction, trying to create a fire of feeling in her flesh. It was too much. Emotion exploded out of her. She shuddered uncontrollably.