Chapter 20
Ansley
I’m in trouble again.
I knew I was taking a risk when I left the safehouse, but I couldn’t call in sick again.
The funny thing is that despite being behind on my work, it was a fantastic day at the office.
Blithe Holdings is exceeding the projections.
Ms. Frost responded to my email this morning with some encouraging words.
Even my boss didn’t seem to be that upset I missed a day of work.
Then I got attacked by vampires in the parking garage.
I thought for sure I was a goner. That the vampires would drain me dry and leave me to dead on the cold concrete.
I sensed someone watching me when I left, but I thought it was Hayden.
I thought he’d figured out I left the safehouse.
Thank goodness he was one of the ones watching me.
I don’t want to think about what could have happened if Hayden and Remy hadn’t been there.
Would the vampires have kept trying to bite me? Dragged me away and hung me in chains like they did to Daisy? The fangs still hurt, even if he didn’t break skin. Was that because Remy distracted him, or did something else happen?
I follow Remy into the safehouse. Hayden is doing something in the back of the SUV. I’m sure he’ll be angry, but I’m not sure how angry. I’ll definitely be punished. This time, I feel like I deserve it. If the fight had gone differently, Hayden or Remy could have been killed.
“Wait in the bedroom,” Remy growls, gesturing towards the bed.
Punishment isn’t the only thing I have to be concerned about. I don’t just have one mate, I have two. Remy intends to claim me. I’m sure he’ll do it tonight. Hayden didn’t wait, so I don’t expect Remy to wait either.
Two massive men that can turn into wolves. Remy isn’t as big as Hayden in his true Human Form, but that doesn’t make him any less intimidating. Doesn’t make the thought of being taken by both of them any less scary.
But if I’m meant to be their mate, I should be able to handle it. My body will adjust, even to the roughness. I’ve started to enjoy that, especially after last night.
Hayden finally steps into the safehouse, and he walks straight to the bedroom where I’m waiting. My knees wobble a little, so I sit down on the bed. He doesn’t look happy.
“Let me see your neck,” Hayden commands, then I realize he’s holding vampire fangs. He must have torn them out of the vampire’s mouth with his bare hands. “I want to see if what happened in the parking garage was a fluke, or something more.”
“What are you thinking, brother?” Remy questions, walking into the bedroom area.
“Let me do a few tests,” Hayden says, a hand cupping my chin, holding me in place. “Let me know when it hurts.”
I tense up, especially when I feel a vampire fang against my neck. Hayden presses down, but I don’t cry out until Hayden drags the fang along my carotid artery, digging in as he does.
“That hurts,” I admit.
“Hmm,” Hayden mutters. “The vampire fangs can’t pierce your skin. At all.”
“Let me see one of them,” Remy growls, gesturing to his brother.
Remy takes my arm and turns it over, exposing my wrist. I watch as he presses a vampire fang against the soft skin, then wince when he pushes down. Despite the pain, when he pulls the fang away, there’s no blood.
“You’re right. Let me try something,” Remy says. He flexes his fingers and his nails become claws a second later. He lightly caresses my forearm with one of them. A faint red line appears, then blood trickles. “Well, you’re not immune to us.”
Remy wipes the blood away. It’s barely a scrape, so it doesn’t keep bleeding. I’m confused, not sure what to make of it. It seems like a positive development.
“I’m immune to vampires? They can’t bite me?” I ask, somewhat astonished, then I rub my neck. “Well, they can bite me. It did hurt.”
“Bite you, but not drain you,” Hayden says. “I thought maybe you might be immune to other Scions, but I that can’t be the case. Morgan had no trouble getting blood.” He wore a studious look on his handsome face.
“How is Daisy doing? Any updates?” I ask. I might have been trying to change the subject.
“Morgan is going to wake her up tomorrow,” Hayden answers. “And despite the stunt you pulled today, I’ll still make sure you’re there when he does.”
“Does it matter that I’m sorry?” I ask, my stomach tightening.
“You disobeyed me, Ansley. I’m your mate. I’m only trying to do what is best for you,” Hayden’s voice is sharp over his obvious concern.
“Technically, you didn’t say I couldn’t leave today,” I offer, realizing it sounds pretty hollow.
“I shouldn’t have to repeat myself. You knew the risk,” Hayden retorts, shutting me down.
“I can’t lose my job, Hayden. I’ve worked too hard,” I sigh, looking at him, then his brother. “I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but it does to me. If you’ve got to punish me, then punish me. But unless you tie me to this bed, I’m going back to work tomorrow.”
Hayden lets out a low growl. The hair on his neck bristles and I’m pretty sure goosebumps rippled over my skin.
“If she’s immune to vampires, it isn’t as risky as you feared,” Remy says, glancing at his brother. “One of us could keep an eye on her, just to be safe.”
“She’s safer here,” Hayden growls, then the anger seems to fade from his eyes. “But if it’s important to our mate, then it’s important to us. We’ll make the arrangements. No more sneaking off like that.”
“We’ll do some perimeter sweeps. Have Storm set up a few cameras we can monitor. I doubt the vampires will go after her again, but there’s no way to know that for sure,” Remy says. “If it happens again, they won’t get close enough to bite her.”
“No, they won’t,” Hayden’s deep voice a final confirmation of that truth.
Knowing that I’m not going to be held prisoner after my stunt fills me with a hint of relief. Except I haven’t been punished yet. Still, I can’t deny I deserve it. There’s guilt lingering in my stomach over defying my mate. Putting myself in danger. Putting them in danger.
“In that case, I’ll accept my punishment,” I sigh, looking down. “Is it going to be another spanking?”
“Not like the last one,” Hayden warns. “Wait right here.”
Hayden leaves the bedroom area. I glance up at Remy, feeling a flutter of nervousness, but his expression is unreadable.
Hayden returns carrying one of the high, straight back wooden chairs from the kitchen.
It’s more suited for someone his size than mine.
I always feel like the chairs are swallowing me whole when I sit in one of them for breakfast. He gestures for me to stand, so I do.
He positions the chair with the seat pressed flush against the mattress.
I look back and forth between them with hesitation in my eyes.
Hayden has seen me naked, but Remy hasn’t.
I can’t believe I have to strip in front of both of them like this.
There was a time when this would have humiliated me so much my face would be as red as my ass is likely going to be when they’re done with me.
“Everything?” I whimper, glancing at Remy.
“Yes, mate,” Hayden rumbles. “Remy is your mate just like I am. You have nothing to hide from him.”
“I’m going to see everything eventually,” Remy smirks, his amber eyes raking over me with a hunger that suggests he wants to do more than just punish me. “Don’t resist, mate. You’re already in enough trouble, aren’t you?”
“I guess so,” I mutter, feeling heat in my cheeks as I begin to remove my clothes.
Despite being rather tall, when I bend over the back of the chair and press my palms to the seat, my feet dangle.
I try to find a position that’s comfortable, but there isn’t one.
The wood digs against my stomach even with the blanket to soften the worst of it, I can’t get my footing, and balancing on my hands is a struggle.
“You’re going to be punished the way disobedient she-wolf mates are normally punished,” Hayden growls. “Remy, see if you can find some strips of leather or rope in the garage so we can restrain her.”
“You don’t have to restrain me,” I whine, finally balancing myself so that the position doesn’t ache. Too bad there’s no position that will soften the spanking. “I’ll take my punishment, even if it hurts.”
“Some of it will hurt and some of it will be torture,” Hayden’s deep voice sends another wave of goosebumps over my exposed skin.
He moves away and I can see him retrieving a belt from his armoire.
Thankfully, it looks like one he wears in his Third Form and not the thick, wide slab of leather he wears in his True Human form.
“You’ll get the belt first. Ten lashes for your disobedience, and you’ll count them.
Then you’ll get me. Inside you. And when I’m done, Remy will get to punish and claim you, just like I did. ”
“That doesn’t sound like torture,” I whisper, arousal making me wet at the thought.
“The torture will be self-inflicted, mate,” Hayden says. “Because no matter how much you want to, tonight, you’re not allowed to come.”
“What!?” My eyes widen and I shake my head. “That’s impossible… there’s no way!”
“You’ll find a way, if you truly understand that you deserve this punishment,” Hayden says.
Remy returns with several lengths of rope. I groan as he wraps one around my wrist, securing it with a knot that doesn’t hurt, but looks impossible to escape. The other end of the rope is tied to the front chair leg, and then he moves to my other hand.
The rope is soft against my skin, but the restraint is absolute. I tug experimentally. Nothing. I’m completely at their mercy. If I put up too much of a fight, I’ll have rope burns before this is over.
“This seems unnecessary,” I huff. “I won’t move.”
“You’ll try,” Remy growls, wrapping a rope around my thigh. “Even the mightiest she-wolf can’t hold this position after her mate’s seed is running down her thighs like a river. There’s no shame if you struggle. They always struggle.”
“What if I can’t… stop myself?” I ask. “What if it feels too good?”