Chapter 7 #2
“Yes,” I snapped. “Entirely. Fix it.”
He leaned back in the chair, arms crossing, grin forming in that slow, dangerous way the Dragunovs possessed. “Fix it how?”
I narrowed my eyes. “You know how.”
“Oh, I do.” He nodded slowly. “I just like hearing you say it.”
I let out a noise that wasn’t quite a growl. “Andrei Dragunov, if you make me ask—”
He stood. Smooth and confidently. Like he’d been waiting for exactly this moment.
I didn’t give him time to speak.
I grabbed the front of his shirt, yanked him down to my height, and kissed him hard enough to stop both our racing minds.
He froze for one startled heartbeat, then kissed me back, slow at first, careful, letting me set the pace, at least at first. His hand cupped the side of my face, thumb brushing the corner of my mouth in a touch that made my knees go weak.
I pulled away just enough to breathe. “Good,” I muttered. “You learn quickly.”
He laughed softly, breath warm against my lips. “Only because you’re terrifying when you’re stressed.”
I shoved him lightly. “I’m terrifying all the time.”
“Yes,” he agreed, his voice lowering. “But right now it’s very… compelling.”
I kissed him again. More gently this time. His fingers slid into my hair, his other hand settling at my waist. When I pulled back, his eyes were darker, softer, with a look that made my stomach flip unexpectedly.
“Better?” he murmured.
“A little.” I cleared my throat. My core still pulsed with heat, but for the moment, it was at least a little sated.
“Good. Then let’s go over the schematics of the tower and come up with a plan,” he said softly, his hand tracing the line of my jaw.
We sat back down, but we’d barely gotten through the first-floor layout when Andrei pushed back from the table, agitation rolling off him like heat, and my clit zinged almost instantly.
Fuck.
I needed his cock, and I needed it now.
“Well, how the hell are we even supposed to find him?” he snapped, raking a hand through his hair. “Revenant has a hundred reinforced rooms and surveillance on every—”
“Stop,” I said, closing the laptop with one hand. “Take a breath.”
He shot me a look, very clearly frustrated. “Don’t tell me to breathe, Katerina. My brother is—”
“I know where Viktor is,” I cut in, blushing instantly because I realized that I should probably have led with this information much sooner.
Andrei was definitely going to punish me for that…
I tried not to grin, but it was hard.
There was no way I wasn’t getting his cock very soon.
He froze. “And you’re just saying this now?”
I shrugged, slow and infuriating on purpose. “I thought you needed to get the yelling out first.”
His eyes narrowed. “Katya. I should put you over my knee, right here and now and spank your cute little ass bright red.”
I stepped closer. Close enough to feel the anger vibrating beneath his skin, close enough that his breath mixed with mine. He flexed his hands at his sides and my bottom clenched in anticipation.
“You’re not listening to me.” I moved in until my chest almost brushed his. “You want to know how we find him? You want to know how I know he’s alive?”
“Obviously,” he bit out. “Start talking.”
I smiled up at him, devious and wicked. “Your brother thought I was scratching him the first time he slept with me to mark him as mine,” I said. “But I wasn’t.”
Andrei’s expression curdled from shock to a much darker, hotter, and far less rational thing.
“What,” he ground out, “did you do?”
“I put a tracker in his back.”
His breath caught—one quick inhale, like someone had jabbed him.
For a heartbeat, he just stared at me.
And then his hands landed on my hips.
“Katerina,” he said, voice low enough to vibrate through my bones, “you tell me one more time that my brother had his hands on you instead of you begging for it from me, and I swear—”
“Oh?” I tipped my head, pretending to think. “Does that bother you? Does it make you want to punish me more?”
His grip tightened.
“It should bother you,” I continued. “You Dragunovs have this ridiculous protective streak, but you’re selective about who gets to claim what. About who gets to claim me…”
His jaw flexed hard enough I could feel the tension radiating from it.
“You want me angry,” he said slowly, realization dawning. “That’s what this is. You want me—” He swallowed hard. “You want the raging bull. You want me to take control and give you exactly what you need.”
“Finally,” I said, smiling. “You’re catching up.”
He let out a rough laugh, breath shaking.
“Get that tight little ass in the bedroom. It’s time I took off my belt.”
Shit.
I might have bitten off more than I can chew.
“Your belt?” I said tentatively, not moving right away. “Andrei, that seems a bit overzealous—”
He didn’t wait for me to finish.
His hand shot out, fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of my neck, and he yanked. It wasn’t a playful tug, but a hard, unforgiving pull that sent a jolt of pure fire straight to my core, stinging my scalp and forcing me to arch my back in a way that was painfully promising.
“Ah!” I gasped, my hands flying up to grab his wrist.
“Did you think this was a negotiation, Katerina?” His voice was a dark, dangerous rumble. “Did you think you could poke the bear and not get mauled?”
He didn’t wait for an answer. He kept his grip on my hair, using it like a leash, and started walking.
I had no choice but to follow, stumbling after him, the sting in my scalp a constant, painful reminder of his aroused fury.
He didn’t look back. He just led me, a predator claiming his prize, from the bright, impersonal light of the main room into the shadowed space of the bedroom.
The room was dark. He didn’t turn on the lights. He just stopped beside the bed and waited. He still had a fistful of my hair, and the angle was starting to make my neck ache.
“Bend over the bed,” he commanded.
“Andrei—”
“Now,” he bit out, pushing me forward.
My hands shot out, catching myself on the quilted bedspread.
He forced me down, his grip on my hair pushing my face into the soft quilted fabric and leaving my ass high in the air.
The vulnerability of the position was like a bucket of ice water for a second, but it was quickly overshadowed by a hot, liquid surge of desire.
Fuck.
This was serious.
I had just wanted a few smacks on the ass, and maybe a really hard fucking, but I was about to get a whole lot more than I had bargained for.
His hand tightened in my hair. I heard the metallic rasp of a belt buckle being undone, then the slither of leather being pulled through the denim loops of his jeans.
The sound was terrifying, and my entire body tensed in anticipation.
My heart hammered against my ribs, and I couldn’t get it to calm down.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
His hands were on me then, rough and impatient. He grabbed the waistband of my pants, and with one savage yank, he dragged them down to my knees. The cool air hit my exposed skin, and I shivered. His fingers hooked into the waistband of my panties.
“These,” he growled, “are in my way.”
He didn’t bother to pull them down. He grabbed the thin, simple cotton, and with a harsh tearing sound, he ripped them from my body. The fabric gave way, and then I was naked from the waist down. A soft, pathetic whimper escaped my lips.
The first spank landed before I could even process the humiliation.
It wasn’t a playful tap. It wasn’t a teasing swat. It was a brutal, open-handed slap against my bare ass.
And his hands were big.
He spanked me again and the sound was a loud, stinging crack that was immediately followed by a scalding hot bite of pain that radiated through my entire body.
“Ah!” I gasped, my body jerking, my hands clenching the quilt beneath me.
Another spank, this one on the other cheek, just as hard, just as ruthless. The sound echoed in the quiet room. A yelp escaped me. Already, my ass was on fire, and my eyes watered just a little.
I wasn’t the kind of woman who just took it, and I tried to squirm away from him, but he held me in place by my hair, pinning me down for whatever punishment he was about to dish out.
I felt a sudden, hot wave of defiance and I opened my mouth before I could think.
“Your brothers made me come really fucking hard,” I snarled, my voice muffled by the quilt.
He chuckled, the sound wholly dangerous, and my stomach dropped. He then let go of my hair. For a brief moment I thought he was done, but I was so, so wrong.
The room was so quiet that I could hear the faint rustle of the leather as he picked it up from the floor.
That was when the fear really set in, and a shiver sent goosebumps racing down my body.
I had wanted a punishment. I had wanted to be dominated, to lose myself in the pain and pleasure of it. But this… this was something else. This was real. This was a man who was determined to teach me a lesson I wouldn’t soon forget.
I had bitten off more than I could chew. Way, way more.
He doubled the belt over in his fist, the buckle making a soft, metallic clink.
“I know what you need, little slut, and it’s time I gave it to you, but you might have poked the bear a bit too hard this time.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, my body tensing in anticipation of the first blow.
He didn’t make me wait long.
The belt landed with a loud crack right across the center of my ass.
It wasn’t like his hand, not at all. It was a line of pure fire, a white-hot sear of pain that was so much more intense than I had ever anticipated.
My whole body jerked, my hands clenching the quilt so tightly my knuckles turned white.
“Aaiiyy!” I yelped, my head thrashing from side to side. “Andrei!”
Another blow landed, this one just below the first, the leather wrapping around the curve of my ass, the tip biting into the sensitive skin of my thigh. My vision went white, the pain a blinding, all-consuming thing. A screaming, keening sound escaped my lips before I could stop it.