“Yes. There’s a place in my heart that will always be with her. But you . . .” He inhaled her scent, then pressed his lips to her ear. “. . . you are my heart.”
And that’s when the healing began. She no longer resisted. The anger started to melt, and she tightened her arms around Mark’s neck to keep from slipping out of his grasp. He answered her by crushing her little body to his.
“Kiss me,” he whispered.
She pressed her lips to his timidly. It had been a long time since she kissed him with feeling. It was strange, like she was doing it for the first time. He was patient with her, letting her search his mouth. He wanted to be aggressive. He wanted to bruise her lips, but now was not the time. She drew his bottom lip into her mouth before opening hers in an invitation for his tongue. He gave it to her, and she sucked it before biting it.
He flinched and drew back.
“Are you finished punishing me?” he asked.
She smiled the prettiest little wicked smile he’d ever seen, and he was glad for it—glad that it acted as justification for what he planned next.
“Good,” he purred. “Because now it’s your turn.”
Her smile vanished, and her body went rigid. He set her on her feet, then stood at his full height.
“What are you talking about?”
Her voice was so small that for a moment, he almost decided against it. Until he remembered last week when she disappeared for three days, then returned home with no explanation. Only a straight-up bitchy attitude.
“I let you punish me because I deserved it. And now you need to be punished for the way you acted,” Mark said.
“I had a right to act that way,” Cadence argued. She took a step back.
“Maybe, but if there are no consequences for how you treated me, how do I know you won’t do it again and again?”
Cadence’s eyes went wide. “I wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I know you won’t,” Mark said. “Come here.”
“No.”
“Cadence, don’t make it worse.”
“I’m not a fucking child!” She stamped her foot.
“I didn’t say you were. This doesn’t have anything to do with that. This has to do with reparations.”
“I . . . I’m sorry I did those things,” she said quickly. “I told you I’m sorry!”
“I know that. And now I’m gonna make sure you mean it.” He reached out for her, but she evaded his grasp. He sighed patiently. “Cadence, come here.”
“No!” she cried, running to the opposite side of the bedroom.
“You wanna make it worse?”
“You’re sick!” she screamed.
“How so? You don’t even know what I have planned,” he said matter-of-factly.
He watched the rapid rise and fall of her chest, and grinned. He couldn’t help it. Her fear fed his resolve, and he was going to act on it. He was going to restore this relationship, once and for all.
“I’ll bend you over that bed myself if I have to,” he said evenly.
“You wanna hurt me,” Cadence whispered. Her voice shook.
“No. No, I don’t. But I will. And you’ll deserve every bit of it.”
He waited for the transformation. She was no pushover—not like he’d been for months. And sure enough, he saw her fear turn to absolute rage.
“No!” She offered it up like a challenge.
“I gave you your space and time because I love and respect you. I let you act like a little bitch for two straight months because I love you. I let you worry the shit out of me because I love you. I let you break my heart because I love you. And now? Now, I’m gonna beat your ass.” He paused to let this information sink in, watching her eyes light up with defiance. “Because I love you.”
Cadence glimpsed the bedroom door, wondering if she had enough time to run to it, turn the knob, and make her escape before he grabbed her. She thought she didn’t, but she had no choice. She had to try.
She sprinted, and he scooped her up before her fingers even touched the knob.
“No!” she screamed, squirming to break free from his grasp.
He ignored her, walking to the edge of the bed and standing her beside it.
“Bend over.”
“Fuck you.”
“Bend over, Cadence.”
“I hate you!”
“God, you’re a stubborn little thing,” he said. He stood behind her, body pressed close, and whispered in her ear, “I’m doing this one way or the other. You either bend over, or I’ll bend you over. And you don’t want me to bend you over.”
She whipped around for another assault with her fists, but he was too quick. He pinned her hands behind her back and pushed her neatly on the bed, face first. She twisted, grunted, and screamed. He paid her no mind as he tugged on her cotton shorts. She made it too easy for him. Elastic waistband. No panties. Had she been wearing jeans, he would have had to negotiate with her, and that would have taken all the fun out of it.
He stared at her naked ass and drew in his breath.
Control, he said to himself. Control, thinking absurdly of that MGMT song. He smiled.
“Cadence?”
No reply.
“I’m only gonna take what I need,” he explained.
She tried for guilt. “You’re a monster and you don’t love me! If you love me you wouldn’t—”
His palm came down with a sudden, swift smack! It bit her skin—the sting of fire ants.