She looked past the tempting erection about to burst Hunter’s zipper and sent him a challenging stare. “I said I was sorry. I admit I should have asked Tyler for help, but this is all the obedience you’re getting from me. Deal with it.”

Hunter moved so fast, Kata barely saw him. But she felt him, massive hands around her waist, lifting her. Suspended in his grasp, she flailed, only feeling solid surface under her belly when he drew her over his lap.

Something hot in Kata flared at the helplessness of her position. Clearly, he liked it, too. His erection, which had grown even larger, prodded her, taunted her, as she wriggled for freedom.

Above her, Hunter nestled a forearm against her nape and another across the back of her thighs, immobilizing her instantly. He leaned over to whisper hotly in her ear, “How far do you think that sass is going to get you?”

Though her pussy ached, her mouth still had a mind of its own. “You mean the truth? Nowhere, clearly. Because you’re being churlish and overbearing.”

“You’re being disrespectful and obstinate. And you know what I think? You’re pushing me on purpose so that I’ll either give up or get so angry that I’ll force my dominance on you, and you won’t have to submit. Neither will happen. Either use your safe word or take your punishment.”

If she was smart, she’d blurt out Ben’s name and demand that Hunter let her go. But that would also leave the rapidly climbing ache inside her unfulfilled. “And give you an easy way to blame this on me? Fuck you.”

“Oh, we’ll get there—after all the punishment you’ve got coming.”

Kata’s body pulsed at his words. She bucked under his touch, though she knew he’d never let her loose. That added to her twisted excitement. Was she some closet deviant?

“I want to be clear,” he said. “Are you refusing to use your safe word?”

She tensed. “Don’t touch me.”

He relaxed his hold enough for her to look over her shoulder at his dark, dirty smile. “You know I will. Just like I know you’ll soon beg me to fuck you, and you’ll come like never before. Since you’re refusing to use your safe word, we’ll start with ten swats, Kata. Count them.”

Before she could prolong the argument, he raised one hand and brought it down across her ass, smacking her hard. She shrieked as a hot sting exploded across the center of her left cheek, searing her skin. A conflagration quickly spread across her ass. Oh dear God! Within seconds, her sex liquefied. Tendrils of desire began curling through her, even as she struggled to process the pain.

“Count,” he insisted. “Or I’ll start over.”

Kata’s entire body trembled. “One.”

“Good. Why are you being punished?”

“Because you’re a—a brute!”

“Wrong answer.” Then he struck the fleshy part of her ass again, this time low on her right cheek, in the crease of her thigh, where she’d feel it every time she took a step.

Agonized pleasure whipped across her senses. A burning flush followed. Her blood turned thick like honey. Gasping for air, she braced herself with flat palms on the mattress, trying—and failing—to push away from him. Her breasts dangled, their nipples desperately tight. If Hunter saw them, he would know this spanking aroused her.

Hunter grabbed her wrists and forced them together at the small of her back, rendering her utterly helpless again. That made her even wetter, damn it.

“Kata?” he held her wrists with one hand and spread his palm across her ass with the other, grinding the burn into her skin.

She gasped, pressing her thighs together for relief.

“Stop that. Or I’ll keep adding,” His low growl warned as he forced her legs apart. “You’ve got five seconds. Count.”

More blood rushed to her pussy. She swelled, throbbed. Drawing in a shuddering breath, Kata wondered how the hell she was going to make it to ten without falling apart. “Two.”

“Good girl. Why are you being punished?”

Hunter’s hand hovered above her ass. Kata could feel its heat, craved the intimacy of his skin on hers. She’d always appreciated a man with large hands, she thought because he’d likely have sizeable equipment. Now she knew why the size of a man’s hands could turn her on. As the ache between her legs coiled ruthlessly, she prayed Hunter would give her more.

“Because I ran from Tyler.”

“Yes.” He smoothed his hot hand across her burning ass once more, priming her, before he spanked her again three more times in rapid succession, strategically striking her flesh in new places: low on her left cheek, high on the right, dead in the middle.

Desire ratcheted up. Now her entire backside felt tender, on fire. Moisture slid from her sex, coating her so that she felt every little quiver of her hips across Hunter’s lap acutely. Her clit pulsed in time with her heartbeat. Her breath caught. “Three, four, f-five.”

Arousal made her voice breathy. Kata squirmed again, then realized she was dampening the fabric of his pants under her pussy. Frantically, she tried to wriggle away before he figured out how much this excited her.

Hunter pressed a palm between her shoulder blades, holding her in place, then slid that hand between her legs. God, no way he’d fail to notice how wet the insides of her thighs were, how swollen her labia had become. Once he spanked her again, he’d likely feel her moisture seeping back between her cheeks.

“Hmm. You going to try to tell me that you’re not enjoying this spanking?”

Enjoying it? Just knowing that she had five more swats coming forced her to bite back a moan. Kata closed her eyes as a shiver of both shame and excitement ran through her, but that didn’t mean she was about to surrender. “You’re entitled to your opinion . . .”

“Stubborn wench.” Hunter’s laugh wasn’t pleasant as he slid a hand between her legs again, gliding one finger over her clit. Pleasure lit her up, a fireball sizzling right there. Kata clenched her fists, fingers desperate, nails digging into her palms. Her heart pounded, her blood blazed, her entire body felt electric.

Instinctively, she ground her hips down into his hand. He pulled back. “Stop. Why else am I punishing you?”

“Because I turned to Ben,” she sobbed out.

He landed another two swats to her burning ass, both in the fleshy parts of each cheek. “That’s right.”

Amazingly, the pleasure expanded, and she felt herself sinking into it, embracing both it and the white-hot bite of pain that hurtled her ever closer to climax. “Six, seven. Please . . .”

“Very good. I love the way you’re sticking your ass in the air, waiting for me to give you more.”

Kata froze. She was? As Hunter ran a warm finger down her hot rear, she arched her back and strained up, anticipating his next blow. Need and confusion poured through her.

He struck her ass with his palm twice more, again with more force than before. “You will never put yourself in danger again. Ever. Are we clear?”

No, she was consumed by the ecstasy just beyond her grasp. The pain flowed through her backside, her thighs, her skin tingling and alive. Her sex throbbed in demand. The sensations licked her with flames of need, torqued her up, driving her close to the edge. She whimpered.

“Kata?”

“Eight.” She exhaled raggedly. “N-nine.”

“Are we clear?”

Hunter wasn’t going to give her that orgasm beckoning with its overwhelming power yet. God, she wanted it. The strength of her desire splintered her. She squirmed on his lap, trying to rub herself on his thigh.

“You can’t stop pushing, can you? I am your husband and your Dom. I say when you come. I say how you stay safe. You will not sneak out behind my back again. If you do, I won’t be responsible for how far I push you or how hard I fuck you. Your role is to surrender.”

The independent woman in her wanted to tell him to go blow himself. The trembling submissive in her lay braced for his last smack, praying it would send her over the edge.

“Ask me nicely for what you want, Kata. And do it right the first time.” Or else there would be no orgasm. She heard the implied threat in his voice.

Nipples and mound both rubbing over the denim covering his strong, spread thighs, Kata held her breath, needing the intoxicating thrill of his hand on her ass again. She’d never imagined that she’d like it. But this stunning pleasure-pain . . . She could almost hate him for giving this to her, making her vulnerable, but she needed him too much.

“Please, Sir, may I have another? Please make me come.”

“Will you consider your safety more carefully in the future?”

“Yes.” She would have said anything for his next touch.

“Will you trust me to take care of you?” He rubbed his hot palm across her ass.

She gasped. “Yes, Sir.”

“Good girl.”

His body jerked, and Kata heard the whistle of his hand as it whipped through the air. She braced herself, but nothing could prepare her for the final blow, again in the center of her right cheek. An inferno blasted across her skin. Tingles sparked from her reddened flesh down, brutally invading her pussy. Need coiled tighter. She hovered on the edge of an orgasm that was both terrifying and essential. Without it, she’d die.

“Please, Hunter, Sir. Please . . .” Her entire body jolted, shuddered, pinging with a towering, unrelieved desire she’d never felt in her life.

Without warning, he released her wrists, lifted her, then rolled her over. Her sore rear rested on his chafing denim. She hissed at the sharp sensation, wishing it was enough to send her over. It only sent her higher.

“Look at me.”

Kata lifted her frantic gaze to him. The unmistakable lust in his eyes added more fuel to her fire. But that wasn’t all. Every moment, every breath, teemed with his possessive fury.

Hunter settled a palm on her knee, then slowly slid it up her thigh, his thumb achingly close to her pussy. “Who do you belong to?”

She whimpered and thrust her hips to him. “You.”

“Will you ever forget that?” His thumb grazed her slick flesh, whispering just over her hard, demanding clit.

“No,” she mewled.

“Will you ever disobey me like this again?”

To feel these million racing sensations again ... this sublime journey into another realm where Hunter put this mind-blowing stamp of possession on her? For that, she’d do nearly anything to please—or provoke—him.

She closed her eyes, sinking into the drowning pool of need. “No. Please.”

“Look at me, Kata.” The second her eyes fluttered open, he murmured, “Now come.” Then he slapped her mound, right above her clit.

It was everything she’d ached for and needed.

Kata let loose a guttural scream as pleasure drew up, in, blood swelling her flesh until she exploded in ecstasy. Her body jerked as she unraveled. And Hunter forced his hand between her legs again, circling her clit, prolonging the staggering clenching of her womb, until she could no longer think or breathe or do anything but feel rapture pour over her.

Though he had yet to be inside her, she felt utterly possessed. He grounded her, became her reality. In the haze of pleasure, his body, his arms, were the only things that seemed real to her. She met his gaze helplessly, losing herself in the commanding blue fire of his eyes. Needing something to hang on to, she grabbed his shirt and silently pleaded with him. For mercy? For more? She wasn’t sure. In response, he shoved two fingers into the tight clasp of her sex, his thumb working her sensitive nub, and shoved her over another towering cliff of pleasure.

After Kata eked out the last whimper of need, she opened her eyes. Hunter leaned over her, knuckles brushing her cheeks and wiping her tears away. She’d been crying? Yes, and she still sobbed as the power of their shared moment hit her all over again. Hunter had taken her apart and turned her inside out, opened her up in a way that left her both terrified and exhilarated. Though limp and weeping in his lap, she felt inexorably tied to him, body and heart, in a way she’d never been connected to anyone in her life.

Gently, he dried her tears again, then lifted her, setting her on her knees between his thighs. “I need you, honey.”

Kata glanced up into his tight, flushed face. His need was apparent and compelling, just like the hard bulge beneath his zipper. As she basked in afterglow, the urge to please him totally sank into her bones. For some reason, she knew she would not breathe easily again until he was every bit as satisfied as she. The feeling was foreign and illogical but undeniable.

With trembling fingers, she worked his zipper, looking to him for approval. Desire flared in his eyes. Hunter’s heavy breaths punctuated the rasp of his zipper as she lowered it. Her heart raced. As she worked his jeans and briefs down, Hunter stood. Kata shifted at his feet, squarely onto her knees, and stripped his garments down his lean legs. He kicked them across the room as he tore off his shirt, leaving his muscled chest, washboard abs, and every amazing inch of his cock bare.