Page 37

“Fine,” I said, my voice laced with defiance, my chin jutting forward. “Let’s get this over with, Alpha. But don’t think for a second that this will change anything between us. I’m not your mate or whatever it is you think I am, and I never will be.”

The second the words left my mouth, I knew I had pushed him too far. His grip on my hand tightened—not painfully, but with enough force to tell me that he wasn’t about to let me run from this, from him. His eyes darkened, and something deep in my chest stuttered when he inhaled deeply through his nose, that muscle in his jaw ticking again.

Then, before I could think, before I could fight back in any way, he pulled me toward him. I stumbled, my balance thrown, my free hand flying out to brace against his chest as he sat down on the bed and dragged me across his lap in one fluid motion.

A yelp caught in my throat, my stomach flipping as my body sprawled over his thighs, my hips pressed into his hard, muscled leg.

Shit.

I had expected the spanking. I had mentally accepted it. Had even braced for it.

But this felt different.

With his left arm firm against my lower back and his hand gripping my hip, he held me where he wanted me effortlessly. My pulse hammered in my ears, my entire body tense as his warmth seeped into my skin. My breath came fast, uneven. I felt my body react, my chest tightening, my stomach flipping.

He was stronger than me. So much bigger.

Infinitely more dominant.

I hated how that sent a shudder through me, how my body thrummed with awareness even as I told myself that I didn’t want this. I didn’t wanthimeven though every instinct inside me was screaming that I was lying to myself.

I clenched my jaw, gripping the sheets beneath me. “Let go of me.”

Silas chuckled. Chuckled!

Like this was funny.

Like my defiance was something to amuse him.

“You’re not my mate?” he taunted me. His hand smoothed down my spine, slow and purposeful, making me shudder despite myself. “That’s cute, Wildcat, but we both know it’s a lie.”

I growled, twisting, trying to shove up on my elbows, but his hand shifted and came down against my lower back, holding me in place easily while his other hand lifted my shirt—his shirt—slowly baring me inch by inch.

Heat crawled up my neck, shame prickling over my skin as the cool air kissed the newly exposed flesh of my thighs, and then my ass. I bit my lip hard, hating how vulnerable this made me, how utterly helpless I felt beneath his hands.

I knew he was looking, knew he was taking his time, drinking in the sight of me laid bare before him, waiting for my punishment. Waves of embarrassment burned through me, my fingers grasping the blankets beneath me. I wanted to cover myself, to run, to do anything other than lie here like this, but he had me trapped. Damn me and my sassy mouth!

His fingers ghosted over my now-bared skin, tracing lightly over the curve of my ass, the backs of my thighs, sending a shiver through me that I hated and adored at the exact same time.

“Let’s see if you still feel like denying it when I’m done with you.”

My stomach dropped. Heat flashed through me—panic and something else—as his hand lifted from my backside.

I had just enough time to suck in a breath before the first loud crack of his palm landed across my ass. That first smack against my bare skin stole the breath from my lungs.

Hot. Stinging. Immediate.

I jerked against him, my hips pressing into the hard muscle of his thigh. Before I could even breathe, the second strike landed.

Harder, more deliberate this time.

“Silas—” My voice caught, breaking between a snarl and a gasp, but I refused to let the pain show.

I clenched my mouth shut, and bit back a sound that wanted to escape, because I would not give him the satisfaction.

Another smack. Then another. Then another.

The next strike landed with mean, blistering force, sending a fresh wave of fire racing across my skin. My breath hitched, my fingers gripping the blankets so tightly my knuckles ached. The sting radiated outward, blooming over the already tender flesh of my ass, the heat sinking deep, lingering in a way that made me grit my teeth as my pulse hammered in my throat.