Thirteen

JADE POV.

My chest singed and I felt my face burn in mortification as I lay across Dearil's lap. It was horrible the effect his voice had on me. He'd gotten me to crawl to him as a dog would, which was something I didn't see happening in years to come, and now he was going to spank me like some little kid and he freaking expected me to count.

He'd slipped a handcuff against my wrist which rested behind my back when I had tried to punch him.

His hands trailed my back and his finger danced across my skin, the dress I wore the only barrier between them and my flesh.

I couldn't remember if I'd ever been spanked. It was always a whip, so I was pretty sure I could take it and he would never get me to count.

The thought had barely formed when he pulled down my shorts in a swift move that I didn't even pick on until the cold air blew across my butt.

"What the hell are you doing" I gasped, but he just held me still with one hand, using his strength that I had been sure he'd held off on a while back.

"Stay still" he ordered, his raspy voice causing goosebumps to bead across every inch of skin that was exposed. I could feel the heat of his gaze and even though I hated, and wanted nothing more than to stab a dagger through his eyes, I couldn't help but feel a thrill of anticipation.

It was mortifying. I'd always been the one to issue commands and always been the one to deliver punishment. I'd never let anyone hold me or pin me down, but right now, I didn't have a choice but to obey his orders even tho it killed me.

"Are you ready?" He asked, sounding totally in control but I knew he wasn't. I could feel it in my head that my laying across his lap had him trembling in restrained passion. He was only holding himself back, forcing himself to focus on the task of just punishing me and not satisfying all the dark desires he had about me. Well, spanking me was going to take off the edge, but that was about it. He wanted to do more, and I felt it almost as if it was a palpable thing.

I should be freaked out over knowing what he felt inside, but I wasn't, and it was all because my mind kept shifting between that thought and waiting for him to just get on with what he wanted to do.

He drew it out and I waited, getting more agitated the longer he held out. My heart drummed erratically within my ribcage. Was he going to do it or not? Did I have to lie like this for ages?

His palm connected with my skin all of a sudden and I jolted, gasping in shock. The harsh sound of his palm striking against my butt rang through the quiet room harshly but the sting, was the only thing I could focus on.

"Count." His dark voice crawled over my skin.

I pressed my lips together, knowing there was no way I was going to give him the satisfaction. I'd also tested the strength of his hit and I knew that I would be able to bear it.

His hand came down on my skin again at the same spot I'd taken the first hit, and it was harsher than the first. My skin warmed, the pain tingling and spreading.

"Count Jade" his voice warned, and I bit into my lips. The first hit had been measured. That I was sure of, and I also knew that the longer I disobeyed, the harder and harsher his palm would descend on my skin.

Another smack and it was so vicious that I had to blink back tears.

"One!" I forced out of my dry throat, the sound of my voice and his harsh breathing lingering around me. It was humiliating and once I started counting, I didn't stop.

He alternated between smacking me harshly and tracing his hands against my skin that burned as if it was set on fire. I bore each sharp smack with gritted teeth and sheer will, but it felt as if the numbers would never end and I panicked, the pain intensifying with every passing second.

"Twenty-three" I cried out feeling my skin heat up all over, tears leaked out of my eyes and I felt as if I was about to pass out. I should have just freaking started counting from the very beginning. The pain messed with my head and I was so close to begging for him to stop even tho he hadn't ordered me not to beg. I couldn't. Jade Alvarez never begged.

Another smack landed and I cried out, my lips trembling as I struggled to voice out the dreadful numbers, hoping that I didn't mix it up. I could feel my nostril getting wet as more tears leaked out of my eyes. Everything hurt and even tho he lightly caressed my skin, trying to soothe away the pain, I could only concentrate on how my skin burnt and smarted.

Another smack, and this time I tried to absorb it, soak the pain Into my skin before I counted. It hurt, it burned but it made me forget every other thing except for the hand that delivered the stroke and the hot warm smack of his palm, the pain it generated. It made me realize that it was all because I had disobeyed his orders that I was being punished. I had tried to run away when he said not to.

He'd never have had to spank me if I'd just stayed put.

One last smack and it stung more than the rest that he'd delivered so far. I cried out, but in relief, knowing that it was finally over. He picked up me carefully and cradled me into his chest, his hands making quick work of getting rid of my restraint.

Once he finished the task, his hands found my head and he patted my hair in a calming pattern and held me in a way that I wasn't sitting on my ass but resting against him.

I didn't know why he was murmuring against my hair until I realized that I was full-on sobbing and clutching at his chest muscle.

"It's alright. It's all over now Jade. I'm so proud of you, you took that well. You're such a good girl, my strong good girl. Mine" he said cradling me closer and I cried harder, hiccuping as I let go of everything I'd kept pent up inside.

Being spanked had been humiliating but it also felt liberating. I found myself letting go of all the shit I'd been through without the fear of being seen as weak. I'd done something wrong and I'd gotten punished for it. That was where that ended.

"It's ok Jade. Just let it all out. I'll take care of you" he promised, his voice soothing and lulling me to sleep, even as the anger awakened with a vengeance in my chest.

I glanced up at him and he wiped my cheeks with his thumb, his action gentle, even tho he'd been raging mad at the beginning.

My skin warmed, my whole body loosening up as I allowed him to hold me despite the seething rage I harbored Inside. "Are you going to punish me for looking into your eyes too?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral as I held his gaze unwaveringly.

He watched me, his nose flaring. "Are you trying to get me to punish you once more Jade"?

I smirked even though my head was still reeling from my burning ass.

"That doesn't feel all that foreboding anymore Dearil" I answered, pulling back a little from his hold. "This is not enough to make me submit to you Dearil. You're going to have to try harder. You don't even stand a chance as a werewolf, what more if you were human? I'd have made you my bitch" I spat in his face as my strength returned.

His grip on my arms tightened, his eyes acquiring a red hue to it as he let my word sink in.

"Don't start something you cannot finish Jade" he warned but I just laughed.

"I always finish what I start Dearil, and if I say I'll make you my bitch, I will. Without your strength, and your creepy mind control, do you think you could ever make me obey you. You can't ". I answered and he let me go, and because I wasn't seated right on his lap, I found myself tumbling to the floor.

Groaning as my ass connected with the red rug that spanned across the length of the room, I quickly kneeled to let off the pressure.

I was barely upright when his hands grabbed me by the arm, and then I was face to face with a very angry Dearil.

"Fine, if that is how you want to play it. I'm going to put you in a cage, and you'll not be given anything that you don't earn".

I held his gaze, breathing harshly and matching the ferocious frown on his face. "And how do I earn my keep, Alpha" I called, tauntingly.

He ignored the tone of my voice. "You'll earn it by going on your knees and asking for it. You'll earn your keep by obeying your Master, by obeying his words, and if by the end of the week you don't make a decision, then you'll leave me with no choice but to sell you off to Detinos, I'm sure he'll find more use for you, or maybe he'll have you killed for your fowl mouth."

He was fucking infuriating. "That's not a fair bargain".

He smiled, but it was sardonic. "Aren't you a Mafia don, you should know I'm being very fair right now."

"I'll never give in to you".

He smirked. "I'm going to give you a week. I'll visit your room every evening for an hour and by the end of the week If you refuse to acknowledge me as your Master then I'll let you go. To Detinos" he said without flinching as he did in the past. "What will it be Jade Alvarez".

I shoved his hands off my arms and he let go. "I'd rather go to Detinos than kneel at your feet".