Page 13

It was hard not to imagine they may have been better off never meeting me. I was a magnet for chaos here.

Elias must have felt my shame through the bond, and his tone softened.

“I’m sorry, Mar,” he said, his fingers now massaging my scalp. “I didn’t mean to put all this onto you. I don’t regret for one second that you’ve come into my life, and I don’t blame you for any of this. I blame myself for being too weak to properly protect you. I feel like I’ve been bestowed this amazing honor, a beautiful treasure, my wildest dreams come true, and now I’m being told I had never been worthy of you to begin with.”

I sat up straight. “You think I don’t feel the same way?” I replied. “When you first took me out to breakfast and mildly flirted with me, I couldn’t believe I was getting to eat pancakes with Adonis himself. I still don’t know how you’re mine, and I worry any day now you’re going to wake up and decide I’m not worth the trouble.”

“Never,” he hissed. “Marlowe, don’t you ever think that about yourself. In fact,” he tilted my chin up to look at me, an impish smirkgrowing on his beautiful face. His eyes, green as moss, narrowed as they focused on my lips. He claimed my mouth fiercely, his teeth biting my lip. “I believe that may be another infraction for the list.”

My thighs clenched and I batted my eyelashes. “How many is that now?”

He chuckled darkly, “Oh, I’m going to spank the brat right out of you. Pants off, “he barked.

I stood up immediately, peeling the soaked jeans down my hips and stepping out of them. Elias sat back, rubbing his chin with his thumb, his thighs spreading as he slowly appraised me.

“Show me how wet you are,” he commanded.

I hesitated for a moment, and he barked again. “Now.”

Jumping to comply, I put two fingers inside me and then pulled them back out. Elias grabbed my wrist and brought them to his mouth, sucking my taste right off them. Watching his tongue deftly twirl and wind around my fingers made me even wetter, and he smiled. “Do you want my mouth straight at the source of your sweetness?”

I nodded mutely.

“Use your words,” he growled. “Yes!” I yelped.

His teeth bit down on the tip of my finger and I yelped again. “You will call me ‘alpha’”

“Yes, alpha!”

He dropped my wrist. “Good omega. But that won’t get you out of your punishment. It’s about time you learn the consequences of your actions.” He patted his knee, maintaining eye contact. “Bottoms up.”

I took a tentative step back towards him, but as soon as I was in reach, he grabbed me, forcing me down right where he wanted

me, my legs and arms dangling in the air as he slowly rubbed my ass.

He hummed to himself, and I braced for the sting, but when it didn’t come, I twisted my neck to the side to take a peek at his face, his gaze focused on my backside. “I’m just imagining how good this perfect skin is going to look with my red hand prints all over it.”

Sighing, he finally pulled back his hand. “I need you to count, Marlowe. First infraction—making me wait over an hour to leave for the police station.”

The resounding smack that hit my ass made me bite my tongue in pain, and I cried out a pathetic “One!” in response.

His palm sat over the inflicted skin, soothing me back to pleasure before pulling away again. “Next, for mouthing off to thedetective.”

“Two!” I yelled as he slapped my ass once more, grabbing onto whatever I could to brace myself. I was certainly a fan of rough sex, but I hadn’t thought I’d be the type who was into anything more than a little light spanking, so I was surprised at how much it was turning me on.

With Elias, at least. Somehow, I couldn’t imagine doing this with any of my other alphas.

Well, maybe during role play with Archer.

I focused on the present, trying to push my other alphas from my thoughts as Elias had requested. I wanted this to just be about us.

Elias tutted as his fingers dipped between my legs, feeling how wet he was making me.

“Look at you, enjoying your punishment. I wonder if this will just encourage you to act out more in the future. Are you learning your lesson, Marlowe?”

When I didn’t answer right away, he spanked me again and I yelled out “Yes, alpha!”

“Hm,” he replied, once again comforting my stinging skin. “We’ll continue for now. Where was I? Oh yes. Next—for allowing those officers to lead you away with food. Do you have any idea how worried I was?”