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That wasn’t possible, right?
I wasn’t aroused by being bent over a desk and having my bottom belted well past sobbing, was I?
That would be insane…
Right?
I tried to take stock of the rest of my body, but the more attention I gave to this unwanted desire, the stronger it became. My nipples were painfully hard. Right now, they were at least hidden from sight, but they wouldn’t be forever. I hated myself for choosing my pretty lace bra this morning, knowing that it would do barely anything at all to hide those hard peaks from the judge and even worse, Cormac.
Gently, he pulled my skirt back into place, covering my bottom and hopefully the barely noticeable wet spot between my thighs. If he noticed, he said nothing about it and for that, I was thankful. Finally, he released his hold on my wrists. I pulled them forward and pressed my palms flat on the desk again.
This time, he let me stand back up. What he did next caught me off guard, though. He reached for me, and I flinched, but he gently guided his fingers underneath my chin and lifted my face so that he could peer directly into my watery eyes.
“Everything is going to be okay, Caitlin. I know it’s difficult, but I need you to trust me.”
For some insane reason that I was in no way capable of fully comprehending, I believed him. Sure, my ass was scorched, and I had a sneaking suspicion that sitting was going to be painful for an indiscernible amount of time, but I knew deep down that things could have ended very differently.
“I don’t even know you,” I answered quietly.
“You will, in time. But right now, I need you to know that I have only the best intentions. Your father was like family to me and now that he’s gone, I’m going to make sure you’re taken care of,” he vowed.
There was no more threat or warning in his voice. Instead, there was a deep sincerity that had replaced the firm-handed man that had just punished me. His icy blue eyes bore into mine and I finally nodded. My fate was no longer in my own hands. It was in his and his alone.
“Now sit down and be a good girl while I take care of the rest of what needs to be done,” he dictated.
Slowly, he guided me over to my chair. I sat down hesitantly, flinching as my burning bottom made contact with the firm leather seat. Cormac walked over to the door and opened it. In a rush, I used my hand to wipe the evidence of my tears off my cheeks. I blinked fast, hoping to gather my composure as quickly as possible and that the judge wouldn’t notice how glassy my eyes probably looked.
It was bad enough that the whole building probably heard what happened in this room. The very least I could do was walk out of it with my head held high and the tiniest shred of dignity. I heard the judge’s shuffling gait against the floor, and I took a deep shuddering breath.
“Thank you, Judge Harris. Let us continue where we left off.”
The judge walked around his desk and slid into his seat. His gaze passed over me, but he directed his focus to Cormac after that. I shifted in my seat as they discussed the various terms of my release into his protective custody. The judge brought up the possibility of an ankle monitor to ensure I stayed within a certain area and Cormac quickly brushed that aside like it was the most unnecessary thing he’d ever heard.
I didn’t see any money exchange hands, but it soon became clear that my sentence wasn’t being given over for free. I noticed certain looks and hand gestures exchanged between them as they filled out a short stack of forms together. By the end of the meeting, the judge looked ridiculously pleased with himself.
“Thank you, Mr. Murphy. It was a pleasure doing business with you.” The judge dipped his head. He offered his hand and Cormac shook it heartily.
“The pleasure is all mine,” he answered.
No man had any business being that smooth.
“Come now, Caitlin. We must be on our way,” Cormac said, his voice expectant.
I opened my mouth with the full intention of coming back with a smart retort of some kind, but I stopped the moment his hand casually rested against the thick leather strap around his waist. Immediately, I thought better of it and didn’t say anything at all.
Resigned to my fate, I stood and followed him out of the room. As I stared at the back of his head, I contemplated trying to run off and make a break for it. My imagination ran wild, but the cops patrolling the halls beside us gave me pause. Cormac glanced over his shoulder and caught me glaring at him. If looks could kill, he would have collapsed to the floor instantly.
Apparently, he didn’t see it that way, though, and he smirked, his eyes seemingly twinkling at my not-so-sly challenge. When he turned around, I scowled and stuck out my tongue at the back of his head with as much petulance as I could muster.
My bottom was still burning too much for me risk anything else. I was still having trouble believing that the whole scene in the judge’s chambers had happened, that it wasn’t just some scene in a book or some B-rated television show. Cormac had actually asked the judge to leave his own chambers so that he could lift my skirt and punish me with his belt before he called him back in.
What kind of a man had power like that?
Was it money? Was it knowing the right people in the right place at the right time? What was it?
Right now, I didn’t know. Eventually though, if I went along with whatever this fucked-up situation was, I’d figure it out.
A part of me knew I should be thankful that I wasn’t heading to prison right now for a full strip search before I was deposited in a cell in county or whatever prison they decided had enough room for a criminal like me, but I was finding it difficult to focus on anything other than the fact that my ass was still scalded with fire.
