But as she got to the final few letters, Cullen did the unthinkable, stopping in front of her. His long fingers grasped the top button on her blouse and popped it loose, opening her shirt up slightly. Quickly, he repeated this motion on the next button, and now her cleavage was showing, and the tips of his fingers had made direct contact her bare skin.
At that moment, she completely lost track of where she was and mixed up the letters E and F.
Who mixes up E and F? she thought, furious at herself.
She saw that Cullen Sharpe had a positively feral look on his face. “You failed the task.”
“I’ll try again—“
“First, you must get comfortable with receiving a consequence for your errors.”
“Consequence? Like a punishment?”
“Enough questions,” he replied brusquely. “Now put your palms flat on the desk, Ivy. Eyes straight ahead.”
It occurred to her that he intended to slap her hands with a ruler and she flinched inwardly. But she leaned forward and put her palms on the cool, hard surface of the desk as he’d instructed her to do.
Cullen stepped slightly behind her, but she could feel that he was very close to her. His body had never been this near until now, and she instantly felt herself responding with an increased sense of desire to be touched by him.
What’s he doing? She wondered.
Her heart was beating so fast that she was sure it was going to burst.
“In the future, you’ll refer to me as Sir, or Mister Sharpe unless I tell you otherwise. Is that clear?” he said, and his voice seemed to boom, like a stern professor lecturing an unruly student.
She felt confused. “I…I guess—“
Suddenly, she felt his palm as it crashed painfully into her backside, slapping her buttocks with enough force to jar her entire body forward. “You don’t guess, Ivy. And you say ‘Yes, Sir’ or ‘Yes, Mister Sharpe.’ That’s the correct answer. Understood?”
She paused, swallowing, her brain a jumble of confusion and mixed emotions. Her butt stung from the blow, and she couldn’t quite believe it.
He just spanked me. Cullen Sharpe spanked me!
It was almost comical how outraged her thoughts were, and yet she was still in position, her palms flat on the desk, her butt sticking out as if begging for another strike.
“Answer me. Now.” His voice was tinged with impatience.
“Yes, Mister Sharpe,” she said, and only afterwards did she realize that she’d moaned her response, nearly breathless from anxiety and confusion and desire.
“Good,” he told her. She felt one hand grip her waist firmly. The other hand slid onto the fabric of her skirt and grasping it into his fist, he pulled the skirt up over her buttocks to reveal her ass and her panties.
She gasped. “Cullen, what are you doing?”
“I told you how to refer to me,” he growled. “That’s yet another error.” With one hand, he kept her skirt up over her hips, and with the other, he slid her panties down to her upper thighs, leaving her ass bare.
“Mister…Mister Sharpe…” she tried to speak, but her voice was failing her now.
What is he doing? What is he doing?
“You must receive another consequence now,” he said, his voice husky.
She could feel him, feel his hips positioned right behind her.
He’s going to take me doggystyle.
The thought was as frightening as it was exciting
I’ve never even slept with a man before. This is insane. Cullen Sharpe is about to fuck me. My panties are down.
She suddenly pulled away from his grasp and stood up straight, taking her hands off the desk, immediately pulling up her panties. “I can’t. I can’t do this,” she said.
“Put your hands back on the desk, Ivy. We’re not done here.”
Trembling, she stood her ground. “I don’t want to do this,” she told him.
And it was a lie, because she did want to do it. She wanted Cullen Sharpe more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.
But he also terrified her more than anything or anyone that she’d ever met.
“You’ve made your choice, then,” he said, one eyebrow arching as if he suspected that she wasn’t being honest with him.
She wanted to take what she’d said back immediately—to explain that she’d just been scared because she hadn’t known how far he would go otherwise.
I’ll put my hands back on the desk. I’ll do whatever you tell me.
She stood rooted to the floor, not knowing what to say anymore.
Cullen, for his part, fixed his slightly wrinkled suit coat, straightening it meticulously. Then he walked across the room and to the exit, opening the door and gesturing to the hallway. “This is the end of our lesson together,” he said.
She stared ahead, feeling regret and loss much more deeply than she would’ve expected.
Ashamed, she couldn’t even look at him as she walked by. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, knowing he didn’t care.
But as the door closed, what he said next was even more surprising.
“You made the right decision,” he said, and then the door snapped shut and the light turned red.
THE END OF BOOK 1
Part II
Consequence (The Billionaire’s Rules, Book 2) by Kelly Favor