Transgressions by Carolyn Faulkner (the reading list txt) 📕

short amount of time, not that that inspired him to curb the punishment in any way.

No, he spanked her until he thought that he'd impressed upon her the idea that she was not to put herself into that kind of danger.

When he stopped, she lay limply over his legs, and he could see the large, dark wet spot her tears had formed on the maroon couch.

Chapter 6

With his hand still covering her seared behind, he said, "If I ever catch you doing something so stupid again, I'll use my belt."

Ally swallowed hard, still snuffling and sobbing like a baby, but, as much as she wanted to, she had the presence of mind not to try to get up.

"I know this is kind of a unique situation, the two of us getting together like this, but I intend it to continue, I love…" he stopped just shy of saying he loved her, not wanting to do so until he was more sure of her feelings, so he said instead, "…having you like this—or, frankly, any other possible way. I love spanking you and fucking you and eating with you and dancing with you. I laugh more with you than with any other person. You know me, I know you. Maybe not as well as we should, considering how intimate we've been—and I consider spanking to be a very intimate act—but we know a lot about each other, if not really recently."

He waited for her to say something, but when she didn't, he went on, "I respect what you've done with your family. You're not huge, but I have no doubt that, one day, you'd get there."

She didn't notice what tense he'd used in the last part of his sentence. She was still trying to deal with the throbbing burning he'd caused, and it was very nearly overwhelming what he was saying.

He patted her bottom gently, his voice soft as silk. "Your father would be very proud of everything you've accomplished. It wasn't the life he'd envisioned for you, though, you know."

Ally nodded, tears running down her cheeks for an entirely different reason now. He'd helped her, taught her as much as he could in the time that he'd had left, but she knew that he would have preferred if she had done something legitimate, rather than something that could get her thrown into jail for big chunks—or even all of—her life, to say nothing of the ever-present threat of being murdered so that someone else could take what he'd spent his lifetime building.

Enzo cleared his throat, having gone off on a tangent he hadn't intended to. He wanted to talk about the two of them, not get into her family and then, ultimately, the concerns he had about some of her people. One, in particular.

She was lying directly over his groin, and it had perked up as soon as her soft weight settled on it, becoming more and more insistent on his—or better, her—attention.

"I want you," he stated boldly. He liked to get things out in the open as much as he could. Sometimes business situations dictated that they not be, but overall, especially in his personal life, he liked everything above board and honest. "And now that I've had you, I only want you more, because when I'm not inside you, I know what I'm missing."

She began moving at his words, not trying to get away, but writhing, her actions teasing him with possibilities.

Having decided not to declare his feelings for her, he wasn't at all sure it was the right thing to do, but he decided to go with his gut. It had rarely failed him, and there was another level of feeling he had for her that was at least as strong as love, but different It was possession, pure and simple. "You are mine now, Allegra. You have been since I first told you I was going to spank you if you crossed the line I'd drawn in the sand, although you didn't know it then."

Enzo paused, waiting for the explosion he'd half expected from her. She wasn't a submissive woman, at least not in her business dealings. She couldn't be without having been eaten alive—pretty literally—by the competition.

Ally knew she should be protesting what he was saying—loudly, and with everything she had. She should be giving him an earful about how she was a boss and she was the one who gave the orders and watched other people jump to accomplish them.

But it wasn't true, at least, not here, with him.

And she just couldn't. What she wanted to do and what she should do were warring within her—it was just the scenario she'd hoped to avoid by leaving so early that first night they were together. She had no idea what was the right way to handle this—although she could imagine that it was to extract herself from whatever it was they had and never see him again, but she wasn't at all sure she was strong enough to do that.

It was funny, but being submissive to him somehow made her feel like a stronger person overall. More of her needs—her personal, most intimate needs—were being met by him in a manner that was better than had ever been addressed before in her life, and she was loath to do what she knew needed to be done—what she should have been strong enough to do before they became involved—walk away. Now, it had become impossible for her to consider doing that.

Enzo was surprised by her silence. He'd seen her open her mouth and try to speak several times, but nothing came out, so he was going to forge ahead. He always preferred to assume that things were going to go his way, and he wanted her in his life more than he'd ever wanted anything. She was perfect for him, and he would have every bit of her that he could get in any possible manner he could get it—and he, in no way, ruled