Chapter 3
Ashleigh
Elijah carried me through the house. My ass still smarted from that single smack, but my wounded pride stung that much more.
I chewed my bottom lip, watching the thick carpets and expensive tile floors fly by beneath me until I turned my head and pressed my forehead against his back.
I tried to calm myself, but my mind kept reeling with his threats of punishment.
My arms hung down behind him, just grazing against the soft leather of his belt.
It was dark brown, embroidered on top and on the bottom with black thread. It was worn in and thick. To the cursory touch, the full grain leather felt like butter, but I knew it wouldn’t feel that way if he used it the way he’d said he would.
Maybe he wouldn’t really do it. Maybe that had all been a show in front of his pack and my father so that he could take me and make me compliant in front of all of them.
I knew his reputation was pretty grisly, but I didn’t know much else about him. I’d never heard word of him hurting anyone that didn’t deserve it, namely my father’s enemies and anyone that dared make a move against his pack and his alliance with the Malkovians.
“Please let me go,” I began again, and he slapped my right ass cheek this time, harder than the first. I yelped quietly and grasped at him, wrapping my fingers around the very belt he’d threatened me with in the first place.
The feel of it made my soul shudder at the possibility of him using it on me.
“The sooner you accept you’re mine, the easier this will be for you, Ashleigh,” he murmured, and my stomach spiraled so hard that it hurt more than my stinging ass.
“I don’t want this. I’m not meant for you,” I continued, and he stopped. Very quickly, he lifted his foot and hoisted me in the air to deposit me over his leg. My hands and feet couldn’t reach the floor. I was suspended and helpless and before I could do a thing to fix it, he started to spank me.
I shrieked.
“You don’t have a choice in this, wolf. It doesn’t matter whether or not you want to come with me. The more you fight me, the harder your punishment is going to be,” he growled.
I yelped as he gripped my dress in his fingers and lifted it straight up. I panicked. What panties was I wearing? Were they pretty?
Why did that even matter?
He pulled them down, baring me so quickly that I could scarcely breathe. I tried to kick, but it threw me off balance. I cried out, afraid of landing on my face on the floor below. I tried to bring my thighs together and hide my most private of places.
I couldn’t think of anything to say in return because his massive hand was smacking my ass once again. My bottom bounced, the sting piercing deep into my flesh. There was nothing I could do except yelp and suffer over his thigh.
I tried to ignore how incredibly wet I was. I tried to disregard the intense throbbing in my clit and how my pussy seemingly had a heartbeat in his presence. I didn’t want to think about how it grew stronger the longer he spanked me like a naughty little girl over his knee.
“Please! I’m sorry!” I wailed. Apologizing had worked before, maybe it would now.
Instinct surged and I waited, hoping that would be enough to stop my spanking.
I didn’t lift my head, not wanting to see if there were any witnesses to my humiliating punishment.
It was bad enough anyone nearby would have heard the deafening sound of his palm smacking my flesh.
I couldn’t bear seeing it too. His palm smoothed over my burning cheeks, soothingly even.
He didn’t pull my panties up or my dress down right away.
“If you continue fighting me, I will tear your dress off and put you over my knee in the front yard completely naked. Your bare little bottom will be bright red before it’s marked from my belt. Do you think everyone will enjoy watching you get the punishment you’ve needed for a very long time?”
“I understand,” I managed to whisper. My heart was pounding in my chest, but my clit was pulsing even more frantically. I closed my eyes, trying not to think about the fact that he was staring at my naked bottom. My thigh muscles tensed.
“This is your last chance, Ashleigh. You need to understand that you are going to be punished. The only thing that is up to you now is whether it will happen in a very, very public way, or with me in the privacy of our bedroom,” he warned and the blood in my veins practically sizzled.
“The bedroom, please,” I wailed.
His palm had settled on my backside, a constant burning reminder of what I had coming.
“Now, you will very quietly think about how much my belt is going to sting when we get there. Be a good girl for me or else I will decide where your claiming will take place,” he continued. His hand lightly massaged my backside and he hummed with desire.
I swallowed my protests.
“This little ass is so very pretty when it’s been spanked bright pink.
I can’t wait to see what it looks like after it’s been very thoroughly marked from my belt,” he declared, and his words made me rattle with shame.
I could feel his eyes gazing over my nakedness and when his fingers just lightly grazed my wetness, my embarrassment only grew stronger.
“Please,” I begged. He didn’t say anything more, which made the following silence that much more unnerving.
That single finger slid back and forth against my damp skin for several more moments until he reached down and pulled my panties back up.
Carefully, he pulled my dress back down and I breathed a sigh of relief as he wrapped his hands around my waist, lifting me back over his shoulder with incredible ease.
My stinging pride kept me quiet. I dared a glance up, looking around me.
There was no one there and I gasped in relief that no one had seen him handle me like that.
My bottom burned beneath my dress as he strode off.
His arm was wound tight around my waist, holding me steady as he continued on down the hall.
I recognized the hardwood floor of the foyer before he burst out of the house into the warmth of the sun.
I had to bite my lower lip to keep from saying anything at all. I swallowed hard as we passed the waterfall feature in the center, hoping that he wouldn’t change his mind and decide to sit down and punish me right there after all.
Punish.
That single word played in my head, over and over again with every beat of my heart. My panties were soaked through now, the surrounding warmth only resulting in making me even hotter than before.
He carried me across the front lawn, through the gardens to one of the smaller houses.
The front door slammed open when he burst through it, rattling against the wall before he closed it behind him.
The sound of the lock clicking shut was damning and my heart leapt into my throat as he climbed up the stairs.
I hazarded a glance out of the window, seeing his men circle around the house in a defensive ring.
I had been nervous before but seeing them make a formidable wall to stop anyone from rescuing me from this man was the most terrifying thing at all.
I started to struggle over his shoulder, ignoring the burning across my bottom in the idea of self-preservation.
I’d thought I’d be able to find a way out of this.
I didn’t realize that he’d intended to deal with my punishment this soon.
He strode into the master bedroom with purpose. I suddenly found my feet back on the floor as he closed the door and slid the second lock home. I trembled and held my hands up in front of my chest as if I could push him away if I just tried. I knew better than that.
When he turned around, his fiery gaze practically set me ablaze.
“Strip,” he demanded. His command was simple, but it was singularly polarizing in a way that left me entirely frozen. I couldn’t push away my skepticism. This couldn’t be real. Was I dreaming? Was this just a nightmare?
He didn’t say anything for the longest time, his gaze simply devouring me.
I took a step back, glancing around the room.
A massive canopy bed built of sturdy wood took up much of it, but there was still enough room for me to put some distance between him and myself.
His brow furrowed with warning, but I didn’t stop.
Although we were still in the same room, the gap between us was enough for me to catch my breath.
My wildly racing heart began to calm, and my body cooled, at least a little.
I lifted my chin and the storm of my fury finally flared back to life.
I took a hold of it, and I let it bloom into something magnificent.
“How dare you? I will not lower myself to the likes of you. I will not strip simply because you command it,” I spat. I expected him to be angry with me, yet he didn’t lash out and he didn’t insult me. He did something else.
He smiled, which was more terrifying than any of those things. I swallowed hard as he cleared his throat and I watched anxiously as he casually dropped his hands to his belt.
“I was hoping you would refuse, little wolf,” he said softly. The tone was so dangerous that my legs quivered at the sound, even as my pussy clenched tight with need.
No. This couldn’t be happening.
His grin grew wider, more ominous and my heart practically leapt into my throat.
I went to take another step back, but my calf grazed against the bed, and I looked back frantically.
There was nowhere left to run. We’d gone up several flights of stairs to get here and even if I shifted into my wolf form, he would still be bigger and stronger than me.
I could jump out of the window, but I doubted I’d be able to get that far even if I tried.
He would catch me if I ran. I knew that.
“Release me at once,” I demanded, and he chuckled with such sinister intent that I couldn’t help but gasp at the sound. His eyebrows perked up and I held my ground even though I knew that a reckoning was soon coming.