Page 10

ROMAN

W ith one quick movement, I looped the leather belt around her throat and pulled it tight.

Not tight enough that she couldn’t breathe, but I wanted to make sure she was reminded of who exactly was in charge.

I kept getting the strangest impression that she thought she was.

It was kind of cute, in the same way a kitten hissing at you was cute.

She fought; of course she fought.

Zoya was always going to fight and would not be easily tamed.

Breaking this little wildcat was going to be fun.

It only took me a second to unlock the shackles around her ankles, and when I removed the ones around her wrists, I expected her to lash out and slap me.

She didn’t.

Instead, her survival instincts kicked in and her hands went to the belt around her throat, clawing at it, trying to rip it free.

I pulled on it, forcing her to her feet. Still, she didn’t lash out at me.

I led her around to the other side of the room where there was a small wooden desk that was just the right height, placed near the fireplace.

Not close enough to feel the heat from the flames, but close enough that the warm firelight flickered and danced over her.

Then I bent her over the desk, pressing her down until her ass was in the air, just like it had been in her office.

Fuck me, this was a sight I would never tire of.

Her fighting me, heat and anger coming off her body hot enough to burn, and her tight round ass in the air just begging for my attention.

Who was I to turn down such an inviting offer?

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to sink my teeth into the round muscle or get down on my knees and worship the cunt that I knew was wet and aching for me. Or did I just want to mark her?

So many options, so little time.

I bet her pale skin would glow under my attention, together with the firelight. Red stripes lining those perfect curves, the blush of my handprint, telling the world this was mine. I craved it more than I had craved anything in my life.

Would the bite of my hand be enough to tame her? I hoped not.

But there was only one way to find out.

I grabbed the back of her black pants and ripped the silky material down, exposing her white lace panties. As I pushed her shirt up, revealing more of her skin, I ran my fingers from the top of her spine down to the small of her back.

She tried to suppress a shiver, but couldn’t hide it, her back arching into my hand. I gave the leather belt around her neck a little tug when she struggled against my touch.

Her back arched harder, this time not in pleasure but in defiance.

“You fight like a wild thing, printsessa ,” I said, not bothering to hide the dark amusement and desire radiating through me.

“And you handle me like a man who doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing,” she shot back.

Her anger made my cock throb. I wondered if the rage heating her face made her cunt just as hot.

Taming her was going to be the most challenging thing I had ever done, and I was looking forward to every second of it.

Her audacity, and that smart mouth of hers, were going to get her into trouble. I couldn’t wait to test her limits and push her so far past them they were barely a distant memory.

I yanked the belt again, forcing her to bend backward, her ass pressing against my cock as her back pressed to my chest.

She still fought, every thrash giving me more delicious friction against my cock.

She pressed against me harder, as if she could push me away, her fingers back on the belt, pulling at it.

She was testing me, teasing me, daring me.

I certainly wouldn’t let that challenge go unanswered.

Need coiled low in my stomach, tight and demanding.

With one hand still holding the belt taut, I pushed her back down over the desk, keeping my cock pressed to her tight core.

“Have you ever been punished, my bad little girl?” I asked.

She refused to answer.

I trailed my hand down the smooth delicate skin of her back again, but this time when I got to that little triangle of lace, I wrapped my fingers around it and tore it from her body.

Now there was nothing blocking her from me.

I took a step back, just enough to take all of her in. The long slender curves of her back, the way her spine arched, and the flawless porcelain skin that covered the surprisingly firm, round curve of her ass.

Placing my hand back at the top of her spine, I traced down to that curve again, reveling in her further shivers of desire as I continued over her crack until just before I got to her cunt. Then I slammed my hand down on her ass cheek hard enough the smack echoed in the small room.

I expected a yelp or a scream, or even a long line of profanity to spill from between her lips.

Instead, there was a sharp gasp—not of pain, but something else.

She twisted around and glared at me over her shoulder. “Is that all you’ve got? I’m supposed to tell you all of my secrets because of that?”

Challenge accepted, little pet.

I was going to enjoy making her eat those words.

I slapped her ass again on the other cheek, and she arched into it before laughing.

“I hope that’s not how you were planning on breaking me.”

The sound of her laughter was grating, taunting.

She didn’t think I could break her.

I was going to show her what it meant to piss off an Ivanov.

My control snapped.

I pulled the belt tighter, restricting her air as I spanked her again. Over and over, using the front and back of my hand. After a dozen spanks, her skin was flushed red and warm to the touch.

I was right.

Her skin glowed so beautifully in the firelight for me. The only thing that could make this sight more breathtaking was my cock buried between those red cheeks.

I loosened my grip on the belt just enough for her to take one deep, shattering breath.

Zoya’s nails went from clutching at the belt to digging into the wooden desktop, and I expected to hear a sob, maybe a plea for me to stop.

Something to prove I had won. I had broken her.

Instead, she laughed again.

“You like this,” I muttered, dragging my hand over her heated flesh.

I wasn’t even mad. I was amazed.

She took her punishment as a reward. This girl was stronger than I thought.

She didn’t even try hiding the shiver this time.

“Maybe you’re not as untouchable as you pretend to be,” I whispered.

She didn’t reply but laid her head on the desk as she tried to catch her breath.

I had to know. I slapped her ass again, making her jump, then I slid my fingers between her ass cheeks, ghosting over her puckered hole down to her cunt, which was — just as I had hoped — hot and dripping wet.

“Is this why you are such a brat? Looking for the right man to come along and give you the attention you need?” I mocked her, teased her.

Her head whipped around, blonde hair flying across her back to her other shoulder, sending a delicate floral fragrance into the air.

“It doesn’t matter what you do. I’ll never break. Not for you. Not for anyone.” The fire in her eyes matched mine, and she had no idea of the gauntlet she was throwing down, but I would happily pick it up.

“Let’s see about that.”

My hand went to my pants, and she didn’t stop me.

She said nothing as I took out my cock and stroked it.

Her eyes widened as she watched me over her shoulder, but her pretty little lips stayed clamped shut.

“Last chance to be a good girl,” I said, stroking my cock.

“Go to hell,” she spat, and I yanked the belt, forcing her head to snap forward.

I pressed my cock to her clit, moving it up and down. Fuck, she was dripping wet and so fucking hot. Her body was going to squeeze me like a velvet glove.

Her hips rose, meeting mine, begging for more.

I’d rather hear begging coming from her sweet lips, but this would work.

Just as I lined myself up, her muscles went rigid, like she was bracing herself.

I pushed in, ready to fuck some obedience into her.

She hadn’t said no. She hadn’t said yes, either.

But her body was begging for it. That had to be enough—for now.

I craved to claim her like a fucking animal.

Hot, feral, and fucking brutal.

She wasn’t going to walk right for a week.

She would beg for me. Beg me to stop and beg me to fuck her again and again.

When I was done, she would be addicted to my cock, and I was going to love every fucking second.

I thrust the head of my cock into her tight hole and shifted my hips forward, knowing I would have to first ease her body into accepting the thick girth or I risked tearing her.

And that was when I felt it…

Resistance.

I froze.

There was no way.

She had been married. Then it clicked. Yes, married. But to a sick bastard with one foot in the grave.

Christ. She was virgin.

A virgin.

Untouched.

Until me.

The very idea that my cock was the first to feel the sweet tight clench of her pussy sent a bolt of something dark and primal ripping through me.

Not just arousal. Possession.

I was going to be her first.

Her only.

The impossible thought came unbidden—and yet, I couldn’t shake it.

Her only.

She was mine now.

“You’re still a virgin?” I asked. It came out as more of an accusation.

Zoya turned her head, her green eyes flashing with something lethal, something more than hatred or embarrassment.

I didn’t care. This was more important.

“Your husband didn’t fuck you on your wedding night? How is that possible?”

Her smirk was sharp, wicked even. “Maybe he could have gotten his flaccid dick up…if I hadn’t slit his throat first. He bled out so quickly, I don’t think he even had the chance to pop that little blue pill.”

I laughed.

The hatred and the vitriol in her voice mixed with this undeniable quick-witted snark was incredible.

Because of course she had.

Everyone assumed one of her father’s enemies killed her husband, or maybe some jilted lover. Hell, even I assumed that without a second thought.

But no.

This little minx took matters into her own hands.

Her husband would have never seen it coming. He would have had no idea that her father had sold him a black widow.

Well, that wasn’t true. Black widows fucked their mates before they killed them. She just slit his throat. Vicious and efficient.

I backed away from her, tucking my cock back into my pants before turning her over then wrapping my hands around her narrow hips, lifting her into a sitting position on the desktop.

She winced as her freshly spanked ass hit the cold, dented wood of the desk.

I took a little pride in that wince.

Her legs were still open, inviting, and goddamn, I wanted to drop to my knees and worship that perfect little virgin cunt. To get it ready for me to claim.

Instead, I grabbed her jaw, forcing her eyes to meet mine until our lips almost brushed, the sexual tension thick between us.

“Is that supposed to be a warning? If I try to fuck you, are you going to slit my throat, too?”

She bared her teeth in something between a snarl and a grin. “It’s a promise.”

I barely jerked my head back in time when she snapped forward, her teeth trying to sink into my bottom lip.

I almost let her do it.

“Fiery little thing,” I muttered, releasing her and taking a step back.

My fingers trailed over the belt still wrapped around her throat before I unfastened it and replaced it with my hand.

I gave her a slow, predatory smile. “We’ll see about that, printsessa .”

She was still panting, her eyes burning with fury and something else, something deeper, darker. Like ignited desire.

I knew mine reflected the same thing back at her. Before she could lunge for me or try to attack me in any way, which I knew she was planning, I sat her ass back down on the chair and secured her wrists and ankles in the shackles.

Zoya fought me with every move.

She screamed at me, spewed curses and even tried to bite me a few more times. I considered letting her just so I could feel her teeth sink into my flesh and her lips touch me again.

It was only fair.

She had felt the sting of my hands; I wanted to feel the bite of her teeth.

Soon.

Instead, I turned my back on her to leave.

Her angry shouts followed me out the door.

I didn’t hear them.

I was more focused on how stunning she looked as she fought me and how incredible she would feel when she finally submitted to me.