Chapter 34
…
Noah
:
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What kind of irrational, messed–up part of me let this happen?
I was still on the floor, curled against his leg like a damn puppy, wrists sore from the silk tie that had held me in place, thighs shaking
from how close I’d come–how hard he’d made me–and how intentionally he’d left me like this.
Hard.
Denied.
Used.
And still clinging to him like he was my lifeline.
What the hell was wrong with me?
He’d told me to strip.
And I had.
He’d tied me up.
Touched me. Teased me. Controlled me so easily, it felt like he’d reached into my chest and taken over the wiring, and instead of snapping or storming out or laughing it off with a snide remark, I’d… sunk into it.
And now, I was here. Naked, humiliated, still aching for release, with his hand running through my hair like I was some kind of pet.
It should’ve made me angry. It should’ve made me ashamed, but all I felt was… Peace?
That couldn’t be right.
But it was.
A messed–up, low–burning peace that settled into my bones, mixing with the arousal, the embarrassment, the weird sense of achievement.
I’d done what he asked. I hadn’t broken.
And he’d said he was proud of me.
God.
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Chapter 34
:
That word. Proud…. It hit somewhere deeper than it had any right to.
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I should’ve pulled away. Should’ve laughed in his face and made a joke about cults or bootcamps or whatever this was turning into, but I
didn’t.
I stayed right there. At his feet. Warm from his touch. Anchored by his praise, and in a sense, that scared the shit out of me, but nothing could’ve prepared me for what he said next.
“It’s time to take care of your punishment.”
My entire body went still. “…What?”
He didn’t flinch. Didn’t soften. His voice remained calm. Gentle, even.
“You earned three. And punishments are always administered at the end of the day. Not in anger. Not in the moment. But after the heat has settled. So you can reflect overnight. And wake up with a clean slate.”
Punishment.
He’d actually said punishment like we were just gonna gloss right over it. Like this was normal. Like this was fine.
I sat up slightly, blinking at him. “Wait–now?”
He nodded.
“I thought that was the punishment,” I muttered, gesturing vaguely to my naked, thoroughly wrecked state. “You just tied me up and ruined me. Isn’t that enough?”
“That wasn’t punishment,” he said simply. “That was training.”
My mouth went dry.
I didn’t even know what kind of punishment he meant–physical? Emotional? Something humiliating? But some sick part of me… wanted
to know.
No. Not wanted…. Needed,
Something in me–something buried and hungry–leaned toward it like it was the answer to a question I hadn’t been brave enough to ask yet, and that thought scared me more than anything else tonight, but I didn’t move. I didn’t run. I didn’t even ask what kind.
I just waited.
“Present,” he said.
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Chapter 34
I blinked. “Sir?”
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“You’ll learn this position well,” he said, standing up and walking slowly behind me. “Every time I give the command, you will drop into it immediately. Head to the floor. Knees apart. Hands behind your neck. You remain open and still until told otherwise.”
My stomach dropped. This wasn’t like before. This wasn’t about seduction—this was about power. And I was about to feel exactly how
much of it he held.
My muscles trembled as I moved into position. Head down. Knees wide. Ass exposed…. Vulnerable. Humiliated.
Waiting.
I twitched the second I felt him move near me.
“You made three sounds while I was training you,” he said, circling me like a storm cloud about to break. “That’s three mistakes. I warned
you.”
I closed my eyes, jaw clenched.
“Has anyone ever punished you before?” he asked, his tone unreadable.
A flicker of memory twisted through me. One I didn’t want.
“My dad,” I muttered. “With a belt. Sometimes.”
A pause. A breath. I almost thought I heard his jaw tighten.
“I don’t use belts,” he said, walking to a chest in the corner of the room. “And I don’t punish in anger. Only in purpose.”
He returned with something long and black in his hand–a riding crop.
My mouth went dry.
“For the first week, it will be five strikes per mistake. Eventually, it will be ten. You committed three today. That’s fifteen.”
I braced, trying not to flinch.
“You will not move, speak, or resist,” he continued. “You will accept your punishment with control and intention. And when it’s done, you will thank me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir,” I whispered.
Then the world fell quiet.
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Chapter 34
He didn’t start right away. First came the warm–up–his palm grazing the curve of my back. The back of his fingers sweeping over the
underside of my thighs. A single kiss, too gentle, on the small of my spine…. Then came the first strike.
Crack.
A sharp sound, and a sharper sting. Not unbearable–but enough to jolt my breath from my chest.
I stayed still. Barely.
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A second strike, a third. Then his hand caressed the same spots he hit, grounding me. Soothing me. Keeping me from floating too far into
panic.
But they got harder.
With every one, the pain intensified. The skin on my ass burned. My jaw locked tight. My fists clenched behind my head.
“Relax your fingers,” he murmured.
I tried. God, I tried.
Strike ten.
I made a noise–too loud.
“Still,” he snapped. “You will not adopt any position or move at all until I give you permission.”
I bit down hard, holding myself in place as if my life depended on it.
Eleven.
Twelve.
By thirteen, my whole body trembled.
By fourteen, I wanted to cry–but I didn’t. I couldn’t.
Fifteen.
The final strike cracked through the silence like a gunshot…. And then came the worst part. The silence after.
My whole body was trembling–hot, aching, stretched thin–but I stayed where I was.
Exactly where he’d told me to be.
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He stepped around in front of me. I could barely lift my head to see him.
“Well?” he asked.
I forced my voice through the knot in my throat.
“Thank you, Sir.”
A small nod. Nothing more.
He turned and walked away, placing the crop back into the chest, his silhouette framed by the fading light.
And for the first time since this all began… I began to sit up in relief until I heard Aiden’s next words-
“Present your ass, Noah.”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
