Page 68 of The Crimson Lily

“Join me in the bedroom, will you?” he orders more than requests.

Man, hearing his voice after days is exactly what I need, but it makes the ache ten times worse.

I do my best to rise to my feet. He stretches a hand out to help me, which I seize with all my strength. I don’t want to let it go. He leads me to the bed and turns to tower above me. He’s taller than Giovanni, who’s already a head taller than me. His eyes are pure silver; I’ve never seen them that way.

His hands come to rest around my face, and he plunges his gaze into mine, sending painful shivers down the nape of my neck.

“I’m sorry,” I stutter yet again.

“Don’t be,” he growls. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

No, Maksim! I did. I kissed another man. I want to argue my case, but he speaks again.

“You can’t change how wonderful you are and how much people want you,” he says before leaning in and taking my lips.

It’s not a tender kiss. Maksim bites into my lower lip, hard, as if he wants to consume it whole. I take a step back to free myself.

“I let him kiss me,” I cry before breaking back into tears.

He shakes his head to dismiss me. He comes closer. It looks like he wants nothing more than to devour me. That silver light in his eyes pierces right through my heart.

“It’s not your fault, Liliana,” he declares.

“Why aren’t you angry at me?” I plead. I feel so guilty; I want him to be angry. I want him to unleash his wrath upon me.

He holds his hand by the window for a minute as if to point at Giovanni. “That man is no threat to me,” he discloses.

He’s right. Giovanni would never come even remotely close to Maksim. A match between the two would be nowhere near a fair game.

I wipe my tears with my sweater’s sleeves, hoping they’ll go away for good. Maksim simply observes me, his predatory stare fixated on me. He then takes a few steps toward me, like a tiger about to jump its prey.

“Do you believe you should be punished?” he queries.

I swallow my tongue, unable to speak. I look up at him, searching for his eyes, but I can only see this voracious mask craving me, so I nod silently.

“Go by the bed,” he instructs. “Take off your clothes, get on your knees, and look down.”

I’m not going to question his orders. I do as he says. I’m naked at the foot of the bed and kneeling. I stare at the floor for a minute, hearing the ticks of his belt buckle behind me.

“Put your hands on the bed and squeeze,” he commands, his voice so low it scares me.

I join my hands on the bed, tucking the sheet inside their crook. My arms are trembling from what’s about to happen because now I know Maksim’s holding his belt in his hand, and I know what he’s about to do.

“You’re going to count to ten,” he blurts.

I don’t have time to understand what he means before the rugged leather of the belt clashes against the skin of my back. The electrifying burst spreads inside me like a shock wave. It hurts. I don’t know how hard it hit me, but it fucking hurts.

“One,” I murmur between clenching my jaw and the bedsheet.

He strikes my skin again.

“Louder,” he roars.

“Two,” I scream, welcoming the pain.

The next slash hits my lower back, which forces me to arch and look up to the ceiling.

“Three,” I gasp.