Page 99 of King of Temptation

Could she? Closing her eyes, she focused on her body, on the pain that was already fading to a pleasant if somewhat stingy warmth.

And on the need still pulsing straight to her clit.

“Yes, Daddy.”

“That’s my girl.” The pride in his voice gave her an extra boost of courage as she steeled herself for the next round.

Tears pooled on her lashes as the next three fell, the final stroke pulling a low hiss from her lips when it landed across the tops of her thighs. Fucking hell, it really did hurt so much more there, just like all the books said.

“No more running after dangerous men without backup.” Brody’s tone had gentled considerably now, almost to the point of sounding genuinely sympathetic as he rubbed the sting from her bottom. “You see something, you hear something, you come straight to Daddy. I don’t give a fuck what the situation is, you come to me and we handle it together. We’re a team, you hear me?”

Despite her aching ass, pleasure bloomed behind her rib cage at his words. “We are?”

“Yeah, baby. We’re a team, you and me. For better or worse.”

Her laugh was shaky and watery, but it helped to ease some of the pressure in her chest. “This is starting to sound less like a punishment and more like marriage vows.”

“Aye, I suppose it’s somewhat like that,” he said softly, and her heart gave a painful jolt at his words. “This is me, vowing to keep you safe, for as long as I have breath in my lungs. Will you help me keep my vows, Marigold?”

There was, she decided, not a single human on earth strong enough to resist that kind of plea coming from such a man. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Good girl. Two more for not paying more attention. This is part of helping me keep you safe, because as much as I would like to be, I won’t always physically be there to protect you. And I don’t care how interesting something is, you don’t let your guard down. You listen and you watch and you stay goddamn vigilant.”

Twice more he brought the belt down across that extra-sensitive spot between her ass and thighs, where she knew from her research she’d be feeling it the most every time she sat down for a while.

Did it make her weird to hope she could still feel his discipline in the morning? Maybe. But she couldn’t find it in her to care, not when she was living out one of her deepest, darkest fantasies with a man who loved her.

Holy fucking hell, Brody O’Rourke loved her.

“We’re almost done, baby. What are these last two for?”

A sarcastic retort danced on her tongue, but she swallowed it down. Her ass was already on fire and she still had to take his cock when her strapping was done, so poking him now seemed… unwise to say the least. “For getting sassy with you.”

“That’s right. I love your sass and your wit, but there’s a time and a place for it. And when you’re bent over with your ass in the air, waiting for Daddy to punish you is not the time.”

The last two strokes landed before she could even open her mouth to argue. A lone tear slipped down her nose, splashing onto the sleek wood beneath her. Considering how badly her ass ached, she considered it a personal victory that she wasn’t a sobbing mess.

“Jesus, menace. You have no goddamn idea how fucking sexy you look right now.” Cupping her ass, he squeezed, driving her further up onto her toes as she squealed at the fresh pain flashing through her. “I might have to take my belt to you on a regular basis, just to see you like this. Maybe a weekly strapping will help keep you in line.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, O’Rourke.”

His laughter mingled with the sound of his zipper coming undone and her heart slammed into her ribcage. “Sassy little brat. I love that about you.”

There was a tug, and that odd feeling of being stretched too wide as he pulled the plug from her ass and set it aside. “If you love my sass, why did you spank me for it?”

“As I said, menace. There’s a time and a place for it.” Gripping her hips, he guided the blunt head of his cock to her bottom hole, the tip pushing against the opening. “Getting sassy with Daddy when you’re already in trouble will always lead to more trouble.”

She could barely concentrate on what he was saying with her ass feeling as though he was trying to split it in two. “Hurts,” she whimpered, dropping her head as she tried to focus on her breathing.

“I know, baby. If we were doing this for fun, I’d use more lube.” He drove forward another inch or so, drawing a whine from her as the burn worsened. “But we aren’t doing this for fun, are we, menace? You’re getting Daddy’s cock in your bottom because you were a very naughty little girl. Isn’t that right, baby?”

Humiliation burned hot inside her, threatening to burn her alive as he rocked his hips, fucking her ass with short, shallow strokes. But that shame, that embarrassment only drove her need higher. “Y-yes, Daddy.”

“That’s right.” His voice dropped to a growl as he pushed all the way into her bottom, his hips resting against her raw flesh. “I’m your Daddy. Which means it’s my job to keep you safe, even from yourself. So from now on, every time you do something reckless, you’ll find yourself right here. With Daddy’s cock in your aching, welted ass. Do we have an understanding, Marigold Jane?”

“Yes, yes! Please, Daddy, I’m sorry.”

“I know you are, baby. But I intend to make sure this lesson sticks for as long as possible.”