I leave my arms at my sides, aware of every naked inch of me.
He taps something absently against one leg. A leather strap. The same shadows that play over his face from the fading afternoon light slip over the outlines of the strap. I know what that’s for. I’ve been part of enough whispered conversations at school to know. I fold one arm behind my back, nipples peaking. Leo wears all black, tailored black. Expensive. Like he might be going out somewhere soon. Like he might be coming back from somewhere. He even has shoes, and every button, every lace, makes me feel more exposed.
“What the fuck,” he says conversationally, “do you think you’re doing?”
I know enough to know there’s no right answer. “I didn’t have clothes, so I stayed in.”
His eyes glint. “I should have been more explicit.” Explicit sounds forbidden in his mouth. Dirty. “You’re not some Constantine princess on vacation. There are no more trays to your room, no more sitting here all day. You’ll come downstairs whether I’m there or not. Clothes or not.”
My cheeks burn with how unfair this is. How wrong of him to do. He toys with me. Humiliates me. I’m out of my mind with it—with how much I hate it, and how much I don’t hate it. The sickest, most secret part of me wants to please him. And not just because pleasing him is the only way to save my father. I want that for myself.
“I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”
Leo stands. “Yes, you will. Bend over the bed.”
My heart thrashes inside my rib cage, frantic for a way out, and I lose my grip on being cool. On going along with it. “You didn’t say.” I clench my fist behind my back. “You didn’t say I had to come downstairs, and now you’re going to punish me?”
He smirks, eyes lighting up. “You’re so fucking cute when you’re angry. Yes, I’m going to punish you, but not because you spent the day in your room.”
“Then why?”
“Because I like it when you cry.”
I grind my teeth together. “Good luck, then.”
He moves around the bed and reaches for the remote. The fire blazes to life behind me, bathing the whole room in a heated glow. It makes him look warmer, too, which is cruel. It’s the cruelest thing about this moment. In the firelight, Leo is so beautiful that a person could believe he’s good. The heat from the fire wraps around me from behind, taunting. If Leo does what I think he’ll do, then my skin will do more than burn. It will bruise.
“Already making it worse,” he sings. Leo comes back around to the foot of the bed and points to the spot with the strap. “I don’t mind, to be clear. But you will.”
On leaden legs, conflicted between terror and want, I cross the room and stop at the bed. Bending seems impossible. I’m already naked, already trapped, but bending for him is awful. It’s awful, how much I want to do it.
Leather skims across my ass. “I can do it while you’re standing, but if you fall, I’ll start all over.”
I bend.
Leo disappears behind me and kicks my legs apart. This is worse. Yes. This is worse. My heart pounds, my chest beating against the blanket. Each thought freezes into a useless droplet and shatters. Fear closes my throat and makes my knees tremble. I expected pain. Of course I expected pain. He’s a Morelli, and they never sign deals that don’t hurt. I just couldn’t look at this future head-on. I couldn’t face it. And now it’s happening.
“So you haven’t been fucked.” Leo slides the strap across my ass. I can’t relax, but I can’t stay so rigid. “You’ve only had my fingers in your tight cunt. And the fear in your eyes tells me you’ve never been punished. That changes now.”
He stands to my left, gliding the leather across flesh that’s never been strapped. Never been spanked. Hardly touched. My next breath isn’t a full one, and the one after that is even less.
It’s so fast. Half a heartbeat. The leather lifts away and cracks down in a searing line. I suck in enough air to scream.
Leo laughs. “No, the Constantine brat hasn’t been punished.” With one foot on mine, he pulls my legs apart again. “Point those toes in. Good girl. You’re a natural.” The strap cracks again and this time I bite the scream in half. I’m not going to be the one who breaks