Page 85 of Ruthless Prince

I closed my eyes, trying to fortify my mind against the looming promise of pain. It was hard, because I had no idea what to expect. I’d never been hit before. Never even spanked as a child. Mom was always too busy to discipline me back then, and my father’s idea of punishment was time out in the naughtycorner.

“Remember the rules, Willow,” Logan said. “Not a singlecomplaint.”

“Yes,sir.”

“Five strokes for failing to listen to instructions earlier. Five for being so rebellious when I took you. Five for beingyou.”

I wanted to cry out and argue the unfairness of what he’d just said, but I didn’t dare. It would only make things worse. Instead I went rigid, bracingmyself.

I heard the cane whistle through the air, and a split-second later, my eyes flew open as a red-hot slash of agony raced across my delicate skin. For the first time in my life, I was aware of realpain.

“Ah!” I shrieked, violently bucking and twisting in the chains. It felt like I’d been set on fire or dunked in a vat ofacid.

“I hope that was a scream of pleasure, Willow,” Logan growled behind me. “Unless you want me to add more strokes forinsubordination.”

“It was, sir,” I choked out. “I… I loveit.”

Another fiery slash hit me, making me jerk and howl again. I tried to cover my sounds of agony by shrieking ‘More!’ as if that was the real reason I was crying out and thrashingaround.

“Gladly,” Loganhissed.

He crisscrossed the first two stripes with three more strokes, and a sob tore from my mouth. “Stop!” I cried. I didn’t mean to say it. The word just tumbled out ofme.

“What the fuck did you justsay?”

“Don’t stop,” I said through gritted teeth, tears flooding my cheeks. “I said don’tstop.”

The cane cracked over my sensitive flesh again and again, and my voice rose higher and higher until it cracked, morphing into a pitifulsqueak.

I thought I could handle this. I thought I could bite my tongue and stay silent while I took the punishment, but nothing could’ve prepared me for this agony. Now I knew I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t takeit.

I couldn’t survivethis.

I considered begging Logan to stop again, but then I pictured my brother lying on a soccer field, eyes vacant and wide as blood dripped over his face from a hole in hisforehead.

I couldn’t let that happeneither.

Summoning every last ounce of willpower and strength in my mind and body, I gritted my teeth and went silent, refusing to allow even the tiniest of squeaks to escape mylips.

The blows kept raining down on me, harder than before. I forced my muscles to go slack and dangled listlessly from the chains, praying for it toend.

Finally, Logan stopped. “We’re done. What do you have to say to me?” hesaid.

“Th-thank you, sir,” I mumbled, hating myself for saying it and hating him for making me sayit.

“You’re welcome,princess.”

He rubbed my ass and legs with one hand, making me moan. Every inch of my skin burned endlessly, like he’d doused me in gasoline and lit meup.

He released me from the chains and pulled me out of the cage. My legs were so weak and sore that I couldn’t move without his support, and now that my arms were free, they ached terribly too. Every inch of me was inagony.

“You picked a good one,” Logan said, throwing me down like a piece of trash. “That cane will leave you bruised for weeks. You’re going to have a lot of fun sitting andsleeping.”

A wrenching sob escaped my mouth as I curled up on my coat, trying and failing to find a comfortable position. “Why are you doing this?” I asked in a ragged voice. I couldn’t even muster up the energy to add yet another ‘sir’ to the end of mysentence.

Logan turned and knelt by his bag, presumably to get the food he promised me earlier. “I already told you why you’re with me,” hesaid.

I sniffled. “No. I mean… why do you want to hurt me somuch?”