Except. . .she felt this strange longing. Like she wanted him to set boundaries for her. That wasn’t what she wanted was it? Urgh. She didn’t know.
She still didn’t get why he desired her. She was a screw up.
And a virgin.
She rubbed her hand over her face. He didn’t know that, of course. Or did he? Hard to imagine anyone wanting sex with her. At least that’s what her friends had thought, which is why they’d paid someone to act interested in her. . .
Bitches. She’d never liked them that much. She hung out with them for the distraction. To do something. To feel something other than loneliness and self-hate. But they’d always used her. First, they’d wanted to get close to her brothers and the other men on Sanctuary. When they’d realized she wasn’t giving them a free-for-all pass to come to the ranch whenever they liked, they’d used her for other reasons.
But at least she’d never been at risk of getting close to them. Of losing them.
“Eden? Baby? You okay?”
She startled, looking over at Zeke in surprise. “What? Yeah, I’m fine.”
She knew she shouldn’t feel lonely. Not living on a huge ranch filled with people who would spend time with her at the drop of a hat. But she deliberately separated herself from her brothers’ girlfriends and their friends.
“Good. You’re getting ten with my hand. I’m going easy on you because this is new. And also, because we’ve got a lot to address. Don’t think I’ve forgotten you saying you were more effort than you’re worth. Or the fact that you put yourself in danger.”
He smacked his hand down on her ass without another word. She gasped in a breath and pain fired through her bottom. “We’ve never talked about your injury exactly.” Spank! Spank! He wanted to talk about it now? “It’s an incomplete spinal cord injury, right? And your paralysis is from the knees down?”
“Mainly yes.” She groaned as he landed another two spanks to her ass. “Feeling can come and go in my legs. Some days I have better control than others.”
Several more spanks. “You’ll need to teach me about what I need to know to take care of you properly.”
The last spanks felt harder and she groaned. Her ass was hot, but not too painful. In fact, the pain seemed to be affecting her in other ways, her clit throbbed and her folds grew slick with her desire. But he stopped and rubbed her ass once more. She widened her legs slightly, hoping he’d dip his hand lower. But he didn’t.
“Good girl,” he said when he stopped. He leaned in and kissed her. You took your spanking well.”
Grr, she’d like to wipe that smile from his face.
She tried to roll onto her side, but he held his hand over her bottom, keeping her still. “Uh-uh, stay in position.”
“Zeke!”
“It’s part of your punishment,” he explained matter-of-factly.
She ground her teeth together. “I was trying to do something nice by not waking you!”
“No, you were trying to do everything yourself, as usual. But you don’t have to do it all on your own anymore. I’m here.”
God those words spoke to her. How often did it feel like she was burdened down by trying to do it all herself? But she’d always felt so weak asking others for help.
Except Zeke wasn’t making her ask, he was demanding that she lean on him. Which was both annoying and so very tempting.
“And you were told what I expected. You disobeyed. You get punished. Simple.”
“It’s not that simple and you know it.” She glared at him.
“It can be. We have to stay here at the cabin for a while, Eden.”
“What? Why? I thought we’d be going home in the morning.”
“I had a chat with Reyes after you went to sleep,” he explained. “It’s worse than we thought. Keira didn’t just take money from these guys the Iron Shadows are messed up with. She took an envelope that contained photos that were being used for blackmail.”
“Holy crap. Who are these people?”
“That’s where it gets even messier. It’s Fergus Bartolli.”