“I haven’t even looked sideways at Clara.”
“I know that, and you know that. But planting that seed in Roberto’s head? That might be a bad thing, don’t you think?” Shan laughs, like she’s insanely pleased with herself for coming up with this foolproof plan to bend me to her will. If there’s one thing she should have learned about me by now, though, it’s that I don’t bend to anybody’s will. Not without a fight. I take a step toward her, glaring at her from under drawn brows. The laughter dies on her lips.
“What do you say, baby? You gonna give in and play with me now?” she asks, though she looks doubtful, as though she’s suddenly realized what she’s done.
I’m still glaring at her, fury in my eyes, as I walk her backward toward the oil drum. Spinning her around so I can sit down, I realize that she might end up seeing Gracie after all—she’s to my right, still mostly hidden in the shadows—but I don’t care anymore. I won’t be blackmailed. Especially by Shandi. No fucking way. I’m gripping her wrists hard enough that my fingers have gone white now. She’s starting to look a little concerned.
“Come here,” I say, pulling her closer. “Bend yourself over my knee.”
“What?”
“Bend yourself … over my knee,” I repeat slowly, waiting for her to oblige me. She does, slowly, eyes not leaving mine until the last second, and then her chest is pressing against my legs, her butt sticking up in the air, and I can feel her heart beat thum, thum, thumming against my thighs. She’s absolutely still as she braces herself, waiting to see if this is something she will like or something she will intensely dislike. I’m a sick bastard. The more she doesn’t enjoy this, the more I’m going to.
“Theo?”
I grab the hem of her way-too-high black pencil skirt and yank it up over her ass. “I don’t wanna hear another single word come out of your mouth,” I say.
“But—” I grab hold of her panties next—surprised she’s even wearing any—and I pull on them, hard. “Ahhh! Ow!” she cries out, like she’s surprised that I’m being rough with her right after she’s just threatened to tell my father something that would most likely get me killed.
“Not another word, Shan. Shut your fucking mouth.” And she does. I think she finally, finally understands that her threat hasn’t been received the way she was hoping. She goes still, as though she’s weighing up her options: whether she should stay bent double over my legs with her naked ass in the air, or whether she should bolt. I look up and I catch Gracie staring at me … at the hand I’m raising … bringing down on Shan’s bare backside. The tiny storeroom fills with the cracking sound of my palm meeting her flesh, and then her strangled, startled cry. Leaning down, I’m still staring Gracie in the eye as I whisper to Shan, “You should know better than to threaten me, sweetheart.”
I spank her again, just as hard, still watching Gracie. The other woman just stands there with her back to the wall, watching, a blank look on her face. Her features are completely flat, but there’s something there … a light in her eyes that makes me want to smile like a maniac. She’s not as disapproving as I thought she would be. In fact, I’m pretty sure, despite how badly she doesn’t want me to know it, Gracie might actually be a little fascinated by what I’m doing right now. She’s literally squirming.
Oh, really? Well, aren’t you just one surprise after another, Miss O’Connor? I can barely fight the grim smile that spreads across my face as I raise my hand and bring it down on Shan’s ass again. She cries out, her voice a mixture of outrage and frustrated pleasure. She digs her fingernails into my thigh, sharp enough to sting a little, and so I slap her again, this time a little lower. This time in between her legs, on the exposed flesh of her pussy. She’s wet, of course. No surprises there. The girl doesn’t even have the common sense not to be turned on while I’m reprimanding her. She yelps, her surprise catching in her throat and sticking there, cutting off as she holds her breath. I’m transfixed by Gracie—by the blush I can just about see building in her cheeks. By the way she’s balled her hands into fists. By the cool yet very interested curiosity in those dark eyes of hers.
I can’t resist it. I spank Shan again, eliciting the same response from her, but this time I leave my hand in place, fingers teasing over the slick, swollen flesh between her legs. Shan’s anger quickly dissipates as I move my fingers, sliding them over her pussy, upward until I find the tight, firm bud of her clit. After that, she’s back to purring again, annoyance forgotten as I work my middle finger in a tight circle over her pleasure center.