Page 61 of Dominion
His heart lurched, remembering their first few days together, the way she had had lit his darkness, her smile quickly becoming something to look forward to, her presence steadying him.
He picked her up, carrying her inside. “It is my job to take care of you, little girl, and I expect your cooperation.”
“I have to learn to walk with these things some time,” she said.
“Not when I’m around,” he said firmly. “And if you need a reminder of how it feels to be over my lap, I won’t hesitate to give you one.”
Ashley squirmed and her body heated in his arms. The idea of spanking her suddenly appealed, not because he wanted to teach her a lesson, but because he knew it turned her on.
He swung the door shut behind him and carried her to her bedroom where he laid her on her bed.
“So is that how it’s going to be with you?” she demanded.
“What?”
“It’s your way or I get spanked?”
He smiled, arranging pillows underneath the knee of her wounded leg. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“So what happens when I’m mad at you? I think you deserve a spanking for biting me and then just leaving.”
He grinned and walked around to stand beside the bed, presenting his ass toward her. “Go ahead.”
She gave him a smack. “Ow,” she said, shaking her hand out as if it hurt.
He laughed.
“No, really, this isn’t fair. What does a she-wolf do to punish her mate?”
He sat down beside her, brushing a strand of her mahogany hair out of her face. “All you have to do is cry,” he said softly. “The smell of your tears will bring me to my knees.”
She studied him, as if trying to see if he was teasing or not. “So, if I want to end a spanking, all I have to do is cry?” she asked. “Why didn’t I try that last time?”
He stroked her cheek. “I don’t know if I would end it, but it would be very difficult for me. Bear that in mind when you’re naughty, little lady.”
“Is that why you seemed so troubled last time?”
He nodded. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said seriously. “It kills me to see you cry.”
Her lips curved into a sultry smile. “I don’t know… I think there were a few times you kinda liked the spanking thing,” she said.
He pounced over her, claiming her mouth as one hand worked the buttons on her blouse. “I think that was you,” he said between kisses.
“Maybe we should try it out to see,” she said, biting down on his lip.
The animal in him jerked with pleasure at the pain. He growled and yanked open her blouse, popping the rest of the buttons.
“That’s two blouses you have destroyed,” she complained, although her smile was feral.
“I think the blood had already ruined both before I got to them,” he said. His eyes landed on the ugly slashes on the front of her shoulder and he swallowed. He ran a finger over them, surprised the wounds were already closed. They appeared to be two weeks old, not roughly thirty-six hours.
“Didn’t Zolla tell you?” she asked. “He thinks I have wolf blood in me and that’s why they healed so fast.”
A ripple of recognition went through his body. Yes. It made sense she had wolf blood. Why else would he be so drawn to her? He lowered his head and kissed the marks reverentially. “My little wolfling,” he murmured. “How can this be?”
“I think it was my grandfather—my dad never knew his father and my grandmother would never say who he was.”
“Your dad never shifted?”