Page 63 of Insolence (Eisha’s Hidden Codices #1)

Itissa

S omething that can only be described as adoration hurtles down our soul-tie—followed by vicious need. She hums and dips her head, skimming her lips over the sensitive skin of my neck.

“Do you know how badly I’ve been wanting to get you alone again?” she whispers, inhaling me in a way that feels primal. Possessive . “Do you have any idea? Now that I’ve tasted you, all I can think about is taking you in every way I can imagine. And I have a very vivid imagination.”

“I’ll bet you do.” I lick my dry lips while the monster shifts behind my ribs.

“I shouldn’t be thinking these things.” She pulls back, holding me away from her. “I ought to be furious with you.”

“Furious. With me ,” I echo, heart drumming. “What did I do?”

“Itissa,” she purrs, hands curling around my upper arms. “You know you deliberately disobeyed me.”

It takes a moment for my conversation with Lydia to come flooding back. “Oh, that.”

“Yes.” She walks me backward. “ That .”

Maida, you snitch. My hands go out behind me when I bump into the desk. Made of solid wood, it feels like running into a boulder. “Believe it or not, my world doesn’t revolve around taking orders from you , priestess.”

“Oh?” That cocky grin spreads slowly across her face. “Someone really is feeling bratty tonight.” Her hand cards through the hair at my nape, sending flutters down my spine.

“Most nights. And we both know it thrills you to death, getting a rise out of me.”

“Interesting.” Fingers tightening in my locks, she pins that hard glare on me that cleaves me to the core. “Given all the excitement, I was going to let you off with a warning. But I’m starting to think you need punished for your insolence. In fact, I think you’re past due.”

Punished. Insolence. My stomach drops out of me, my breath snagging.

“I bet you really, really need bent over this desk. Your hair pulled and your ass spanked until tears roll down your pretty face. Don’t you, Tiss?”

Oh, shit, yes. Lust thickens the air between us, and I’m instantly ravenous.

Full-body pleasure wracks me when she wrenches my hair at the roots. A high-pitched moan fills my ears. I flush, realizing it was mine.

“That’s what I thought.” Nose twitching, she spins me smoothly around.

“For gods’ sakes!” I sputter, momentarily disoriented. Behind me now, she’s got my arm pinned at my back. “I have more pressing things to worry about than your daily revolving whims, priestess.”

“It’s not a whim when I set rules to keep you safe,” she snaps, harsher than I’d expect.

“Right,” I scoff, pulling away. “Only because I allegedly told you to.”

With a growl, she yanks me back so hard my ass smacks into her pelvis.

She holds me tight against her, her free hand sliding up my throat.

Her next words are fierce in my ear: “No, Tiss, you enormous pain in my ass. Because you mean the world to me . Because my world does revolve around you. My days begin and end with you, damn it. You. Are. My. Everything. Do you understand?”

Adoration pulsing between us again, the confession is delivered with a razor-sharp, protective edge that takes my breath away. All I can do is stutter my comprehension.

“Good. Now bend over and take your punishment. Grab the desk and say please.”

Desire scorches my every capillary at her impeccable control. I hear myself pleading to be disciplined, eager to atone for my wrongdoing.

“What are your codewords?” Her touch is firm but not forceful as she pushes me down, folding me until my elbows are braced and my necklace clatters on polished wood.

“Blue. Purple. Red.”

“Good girl. Mine are the same.”

My skin ignites from the crown of my head to the very crux of me once the praise leaves her mouth.

She gathers the wool skirt and silk petticoat I changed into before we hiked up here, hissing when the garments are shoved roughly past my hips. “Your panties are soaked through. What a naughty, needy little brat you are.”

Her fingers dig into the band of my underwear, and my heart thunders. I wonder if she can hear it resonating off the desk. Then, with an abrupt yank, she tears them clean off.

“Gods!” I yelp. “What was that for?”

She pulls the scrap of fabric from between my legs, casting it aside.

“I don’t recall saying you’d get to wear them out of here. Not after those cute remarks of yours.” The first touch of her hand on my bare ass forces a delectable shudder. She caresses me slowly, tenderly. “Mm. Ready to take what else you earned for yourself?”

I nod, my muscles tensing when her hand withdraws. In the space between heartbeats, she delivers a solid whack that buckles my knees. The lingering sting goes to my clit like a rush of blood to the head.

She squeezes the hair at my nape, her other hand soothing where she struck me. “What color was that?”

“Blue,” I blurt, breathless and aching for more.

Anticipation curls my toes before she beats out three swift blows. Each increases in power until I’m quivering and moaning too loud.

“Color?” She tugs my head back by my hair, and a sharp keen rises from my throat.

“ Blue, ” I wail, fearing I’ll fly to pieces if she stops.

“Goddess,” she murmurs, leaning close. “You’re absolutely leaking pheromones. If you wanted your hair pulled and your ass spanked that badly, all you had to do was ask. I’m happy to oblige.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” I croak, my entire body aflame. “Our system’s working fine.”

With a snort, she releases me to rain down another series of blows. Each one explodes with glorious, gut-wrenching rapture.

“Oh, gods, yes.” My head drops, my hands sliding out in front of me. Forehead pressed to cold wood, I hook my fingers over the desk’s back lip and hang on for dear life.

She keeps going, and I lose count, responding to each blow with a raw, animalistic noise. At one point, my elbow shoves half the stacked books to the floor with a clatter.

She doesn’t relent, the pain building on itself until “purple” begins to form on the tip of my tongue. That’s when she delivers a hard enough slap that her hand recoils from the impact. She swears quietly.

My predator opens its gaping maw to reveal a chasm so unfathomable, it calls to some lethal, primordial place within me. Somehow, I know in my bones the beast won’t release me the next time it takes over.

An anguished gurgle escapes my throat, different from the other noises I’ve been making.

She stops. “Color?”

No other sound emerges. I’m dizzy with want and shock and incalculable hunger. White-hot pain radiates from my hips to my heels. True to her word, tears wet my face.

“I’m calling it. That’s enough for now.” Bending over me again, her breasts brush my back through our clothes. Loose tendrils of her hair tickle my neck and ear. “Have you learned your lesson? Are you going to listen to me from now on?” She caresses my abused flesh with slow, soothing motions.

“I will. I promise,” I whisper. And in this moment, I truly mean it.

An approving purr rumbles from her throat. “You’ve been such a good girl for me. Taking your punishment so well. I need you to know how cherished you are, Tiss. My treasure.”

Delight washes over me, her lavish praise filling me with pride. I reach backward. “Please, I want your touch. I need you.”

We both unleash feral moans when her hand, hot from the beating it delivered, cups my pussy.

“ Goddess. You’re dripping wet. Do you need filled up and fucked now?” Her tone drops, her voice caressing me like black silk: “Screwed slow and hard until you’re screaming? It’s a good thing no one can hear us up here.”

Oh, hell. I’m propped on my elbows again in an instant, pushing my hips backward. She teases and strokes between my legs but uses a frustratingly flat palm. Still, her touch is addictive—to the point that I whip my head around, whining in protest when she pulls away.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m going to take care of you.” There’s that cocky head tilt and insufferable half-grin I’m learning to love.

Chuckling, she leans sideways to reach for something out of sight. The sound of a drawer opening and closing comes from the desk’s right side.

She sets something down in front of me that resembles a gently curving wand with a larger bulb on one end.

A toy , I realize with a hot clench of my stomach. It looks like it’s made of rose quartz and polished beautifully. How in the world would a priestess of Eisha get this?

Slightly longer than my outstretched hand, the smooth handle gleams in pink splintered with translucent white.

“It’s very hard. It will feel very cold and heavy inside you.”

“I want it,” I blurt.

“Mm.” Delight laces her hum. “Hold still while I ease it in. You’ll need to get used to it.”

“Yes.” Delirious with need, I moan, “ Please , Elodie. Fuck me now.”

With a low, dangerous noise that spikes my blood, she kicks my feet further apart. For a long moment her breath ticking up behind me is the only sound. I’m nearly undone when she finally seizes my hip.

I shudder with nerves and eager anticipation as she brings the wand between us, the bulbous end parting my sensitive flesh. The groan I belt out is lewd, the cold stone glorious as it slides between my slick folds. It feels like sweet relief against the scorching heat pooled there.

“I see you like it so far,” she murmurs, pressing the sleek stone slowly forward. “Now take the rest of this like I know you want to, my greedy girl.”

An unhinged moan tears from my throat as she works it past my entrance. “ Godsss ,” I whimper, my legs shaking, fingers curling into the desktop.

It’s as uncompromisingly hard and frigid as a steel rod. The ice-cold weight of it and the smooth, polished texture are euphoric.

Even though she’s going slowly, inching carefully inside me, I can barely think around the extreme mix of sensations. Whining, groaning moans trickle out of me—noises I’m barely aware of making.