Devrim's Discipline - Brianna Hale Page 0,16

has made you paranoid.”

His eyes laser into me with pure hatred.

“Did they beat you in prison? Is that why you think that’s the answer to everything?”

He lunges across the sofa, grabs my wrist and drags me toward him. I wasn’t expecting him to move so quickly, and before I know what’s happening, he turns me in his arms and has me pinned against the wall.

I try to free myself, but his hands are like iron manacles.

I stop struggling and glare up at him. “Instead of terrorizing me, you should be trying to get to know your daughter. She’s desperate to get to know you better. Do you want to lose her?”

His face is close to mine, and those hazel eyes are blazing. “You don’t know anything about us.”

“I know you don’t listen to her. You don’t talk to her.”

His large hands tighten on my wrists and his jaw flexes. Nice one, Wraye. Make him even angrier. I wait for him to speak, but he just glares down at me.

“Get it over with, then. If you could hurry up and ban me from ever attending a ball, I’ll be on my way.”

“No. The Rugovas are one of the First Families of Paravel. Your presence is required, until I tell you otherwise.”

“I don’t feel like I belong. I feel like an intruder who keeps putting her foot wrong at every turn.”

Something flits across his expression, then is gone again. I look at my wrists in Levanter’s grip, and then back at his face. These aren’t the actions of a well-adjusted man.

I lick my upper lip, thinking carefully. Maybe I can talk my way out of this. “You must be finding this experience crazy, too. Hurtled from one world into another, without feeling in control of anything around you.”

I watch him closely, but he doesn’t react.

“I could help you get closer to Aubrey,” I offer. “Maybe in return, you could let me be friends with her.”

Levanter’s eyes narrow. “A bargain, Lady Wraye?”

“If you want to think of it that way.”

He lets go of my wrists and slowly stands back. I let my arms drop to my sides. The Ironclad Archduke can be reasoned with, after all.

In a flash, he scoops me up in his arms and carries me across the room. Instinctively, my arms wrap around his neck, so I don’t fall. “Hey! Put me down.”

Levanter ignores me. His eyes caress my face, as he sits down on a sofa, with me in his lap. He shouldn’t be so sexy at fifty-whatever he is. Or rather, he can be this sexy, but I probably shouldn’t be noticing.

“Are you trying to scare me? It’s not working.” It’s rather lovely being held by him like this. He smells so good, and I feel weightless in his arms.

“If you take your punishment like a good girl, I’ll think about your offer.”

My eyes widen. “My what?”

“Say, yes, Your Grace.”

He’s holding me, but not forcing me down like he was the other day. “Is this what you do with all the debutantes?”

“I didn’t hear you say, yes, Your Grace.”

“You’re a bully.”

“If I were a bully, I’d just do it. I’m asking you to take your punishment.”

“But if I don’t say yes, then you’ll throw my mother and me out of the Court.”

“I already told you, the Rugovas are required at court. No one’s being thrown out.”

Yet. He already hinted he had the power to ban us, and what then? “Prison really screwed you up, huh?”

“I’ll thank you not to talk about things you know nothing about,” he says, through his teeth.

I watch him carefully, gazing into his hazel eyes. I’ve never been this close to a man before. Is this how they’re supposed to make you feel, small and vulnerable, but safe at the same time?

My question is the softest whisper. “How many times?”

“How many times what?”

“How many times do you…want to spank me?” I feel a blush rage into my cheeks. I must be mad to even think about saying yes.

“Until I feel that you’re sorry for all the trouble you’ve caused me.”

“And if I let you do this, I can be friends with your daughter?”

“I’ll consider it.”

“Promise.”

“No.”

Bastard. I lift my chin. “Fine. Do it. I don’t care.”

Victory suffuses his expression, along with something darker. My heart stops beating all together. “Wait—”

But a moment later, he’s swung my legs around and splayed me face down over his lap. I brace my hands against the arm of the sofa.

“You’ve got a funny way of keeping order in the

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