The Alpha's Punishment (4 page)

He walked over to the couch and sat down. “Come, Ashley.”

“Woof,” she said, barely louder than a whisper, wringing a half-smile from him. It had been her joke since the day he interviewed her and had told her to sit. He hadn’t laughed then, and yet she’d persisted, just as she’d persevered despite his repeated rejections of her affection.

She walked to stand in front of him, her chin dropped, hands clasped behind her back.

“Why am I punishing you?”

“For—” She cleared her throat. “For lying.”

He waited.

“—sir,” she added.

He said nothing, keeping his face blank.

She nibbled her lip. “I should have known you would listen to and value my feelings on the matter. You always have.”

Her words came as a relief to him.

“Ben?”

He raised an eyebrow expectantly.

“Would you make me stay home with the kids?”

He grabbed her waist and pulled her to sit on his lap. “Make you?” he asked. “Is that how you think things work around here?”

She fidgeted with her hands.

Taking her chin, he lifted her face to his.

“I don’t know. It’s just—your sister-in-law…”

“That’s what Shayla wanted. She never had an interest in getting involved with Leon’s company; that’s why he left it to me. Shayla wanted to be well cared for, so she could devote herself to her children.” He studied Ashley’s blue eyes. “Did you think it was a shifter thing? Is that what this is about?”

She shrugged. “Well, it’s part of my fear. But also I’m just not ready.”

He nodded slowly. “Look, I know I’ve been an asshole. I ran Stone Tech like a dictator, and it was my way or the highway. But with you—” He broke off, his throat closing with emotion. “You expected more of me, you believed I had a heart. With you, I thought I’d changed.”

Ashley’s lip trembled.

“Don’t make me into that guy again. Do you really think I’d make you do anything that made you unhappy?”

A tear spilled down her cheek and he thumbed it away. “No. I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m really sorry.”

* * *

Ben lifted her from his lap, deftly turning her face down over it, her bare bottom angled perfectly for his punishment. Goosebumps raised on her flesh. She reached for one of the throw pillows, wrapping her arms around it. The first few spanks stung the worst, the shock so much more than what she expected.

She realized how much he held back when he spanked her in fun, because each slap of his hand connected now with force enough to make her lose her breath. She meant to hold still, but found herself twisting and bucking, trying to wriggle her way off his lap. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

“Do not kick or I’ll take off my belt,” he warned.

She crossed her ankles, squeezing them together to keep from kicking. The warning actually came as a relief—it meant he hadn’t planned on using the belt later. Not that it mattered at the moment, his hand was doing enough damage. It came raining down swift and hard, first one cheek, then the other, then square in the middle.

She clamped her lips together to keep from crying out as he spanked her over and over again. She buried her head in the couch cushions, biting at the fabric. “Ow… please,” she found herself begging, despite her resolve to take it like a good girl.

Firm smacks continued to fall, the burn setting in from the previous ones making it all the worse.

“Ben… oh! Please,” she whimpered, her cheeks throbbing now as he continued to spank her ceaselessly.

He stopped, resting his hand on her heated flesh. “How many months did you let me believe we were trying to conceive a child, Ashley?”

She cringed, her shame worse than the pain. “Five months,” she mumbled into the sofa.

“How many?” he asked sharply.

She turned her head to speak. “Five, sir.”

He began to spank her again, just as hard and fast as before.

She moaned and squirmed, reaching back to try to rub.

He caught her wrist and bent it behind her back. “You know better than that, little girl,” he said in his most stern and disapproving tone.

She hunched her shoulders against the agonizing smacks. “I’m sor-ry,” she wailed.

Thankfully, he stopped again. “Five months of deceit deserves five spankings, don’t you think?”

“Tonight?” she asked, suddenly terrified.

He chuckled. “Not tonight.”

“When?”

“When I decide.”

He lifted her to her feet and she cupped her flaming ass. “This spanking isn’t done,” he warned. “Go stand in the corner while I get something from the kitchen.”

She walked to the corner, trying to rub away the burn.

“No rubbing,” Ben called from the kitchen. “Interlace your fingers on top of your head.”

She sighed and obeyed, feeling like a very naughty girl who had already been well chastised. What more did he plan to do?

She listened to the sounds of him rummaging in the kitchen and then his return to the living room. His footsteps sounded behind her.

“Bend over and grab your ankles,” he said, tugging her hips backward to give her room to fold.

She swallowed, her mouth dry.

He waited for her to comply, watching her slowly bending at the waist and reaching toward the floor. The stretching of her ass only made the throbbing worse. He pressed something slick and cool against her anus and she jerked, trying to clamp her cheeks closed. The position kept her spread to him, though, and he pushed more insistently, until she relaxed and allowed it in.

“You may stand up now,” he said, wiggling the object inside her. Turning her hips, he used the intrusive object to propel her forward, until she reached the arm of the sofa. “Bend over,” he said, pressing her torso down. “This is ginger,” he said. “You’re going to keep it in for the remainder of your spanking. I’m going to make sure your bottom burns on the outside and in,” he said.

She tried to erect herself, craning her neck around to look, but Ben pushed her back down and held her in place.

“If you’re a good girl, I will finish this spanking with my hand,” he said. “That means no reaching and no kicking. If you’re naughty, I will take off my belt and spank you until you scream. Understand?”

Her heart thundered in her chest. “Yes, sir,” she whispered, her pussy clenching despite her fear.

His fist wrapped in her hair and he tugged her head back. “You like it when I punish you,” he growled in her ear, probably smelling the scent of her arousal.

Her nipples hardened. The roughness in his voice gave away his desire for her. Her wolf had returned from whatever cold place he’d retreated.

“I don’t like it,” she said, which was a half-truth.

He pulled her hair back again. “Yes, you do.”

“I don’t like disappointing you.” That was all true.

His teeth closed lightly on her shoulder, then released—a love bite.

She became aware of a burning from the ginger and she moaned. “It burns.”

He released her hair and pushed her back down. “It’s supposed to burn. I’m teaching you a lesson, little girl. Do you lie to me?”

“No, sir,” she said, gulping as he began to spank her again, just as hard as he had before. This time, her ass was already sore and now her anus burned as well. She tightened around it, which only made it worse.

Ben spanked and spanked, merciless in his punishment as she lay helplessly sprawled over the arm of the sofa with a stick of ginger in her ass. Her entire body grew hot from the root, and she began to sweat. Her pussy swelled between her legs, heating along with her entire pelvis, arousal dripping down her legs.

“Oh, it burns… it burns,” she moaned. Every time she shifted or squeezed, she incited a fresh bloom of agony from the ginger root. That, combined with the pain of his seemingly endless spanking seemed more than she could bear. “Ben,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll be a good girl,” she pleaded. “I’ll never lie again. Please don’t spank me, please don’t—”

“Shh.” The spanking stopped. Ben slid a finger between her legs, over her glossy slit.

“Please take it out,” she begged.

“No,” he said. “I’m going to fuck you with it in.”

Her pussy clenched, eager for any activity he wanted to give her.

His finger had found her clit, circling the sensitive nub.

She heard his zipper and spread her legs, arching her back.

He pushed the ginger in deeper, creating a fresh zing of torturous burn and gave her bottom several more smacks. “You may not come,” he said at the same time he stretched her wide with his thick cock.

“What?” she asked, confused.

“You heard me, little girl. You were naughty and are being punished. I don’t think you deserve to come tonight.”

She couldn’t believe it. Not coming would be an impossibility. She’d almost just come from him saying he was going to fuck her. And yet, disobeying him, tonight of all nights, seemed out of the question.

“Ben,” she whimpered. “Please… I need to come.”

He slid his cock in and out of her, shoving the ginger deeper with each in-stroke. The burning was unbearable and her need so great she thought she’d explode.

“No.”

He gripped her waist and picked up speed, pumping harder.

She surrendered, offering herself up to him, trying to forget about the pain and her mounting desperation to come.

* * *

Ben buried himself deep inside Ashley, his release pouring out. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, lifting her torso and nuzzling at her neck. He’d been a fool. Ashley had been right, as usual. A spanking did fix everything. Or at least it had brought them back together, to face their challenges as a couple, rather than two islands drifting apart.

He cupped her breasts in his hands, rolling his thumbs over her nipples.

She moaned wantonly.

He eased out of her and pulled the ginger finger from her ass. “Don’t get dressed,” he murmured in her ear. “I want you to serve me dinner just as you are.”

She turned in his arms, resting her hands on his chest and looking up at him shyly.

He bent to kiss her, claiming her mouth with great authority, sliding his tongue between her lips, showing her with action what he had trouble expressing.

When they broke apart, he saw her relief. She understood she’d been forgiven and that all was right between them. He stepped back to allow her passage. “Go on,” he said, giving her reddened ass a slap as she turned toward the kitchen.

He raised the temperature on the thermostat so she wouldn’t get cold prancing around their kitchen in the nude and settled in a chair to watch, his cock already forgetting its recent release.

Ashley’s hands slid over her swollen cheeks, circling and rubbing away the sting. He hoped he hadn’t spanked hard enough to leave marks. As reluctant as he’d been to begin with, once he started spanking, his emotions had cleared. Her willingness to accept his displeasure in that form eased all his discontent, leaving him in appreciation of her beautiful submission.

Now, as she dished salads onto their plates and pulled steaks and quinoa out of the oven, her eyes were bright with unspent desire, face still flushed. She darted glances at him under her lashes, sending a fresh shot of lust kicking through him every time.

“It’s ready,” she murmured, turning to face him.

He gave her a lazy grin and unfolded himself from the chair, walking to the table. “
Gracias, mi amor
.”

She set the plates down at their separate places, but before she could sit, he grasped her waist and tugged her down to sit on his lap. She flinched a little at the contact of her chafed bottom with his pants, but then snuggled in.

“You eat here tonight.”

“Okay,” she said, sounding pleased.

He picked up his knife and cut her a piece of steak, which had turned slightly dry from being reheated.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It was better yesterday.”

He stabbed it with his fork and lifted it to her full lips. “It’s fine,” he reassured her. “And it was my own fault, so don’t apologize.”

She chewed, her hair falling forward to cover part of her face.

He brushed it away, watching her eat.

“I want to have your babies,” she said when she swallowed.

He suppressed a smile. “Too bad. You had your chance and you blew it.”

Her ocean-blue eyes studied his face. “I threw out the pills.”

He sobered, his chest growing heavy again over this conflict that never should have been an issue. “Ash… baby. I’m not asking you to have my pups. I thought you wanted them now and I ran with it. It turned me on to think about getting you pregnant. But I can wait—I never meant to pressure you.”

“I know,” she said, touching his lips with the pad of her index finger. “But I realized that you… that our family is more important than my career.”

He picked up her fingers and kissed them. “You’re going back on the pill,” he said, adding steel to his voice so she’d know his decision was final. “We will re-evaluate in a year. Understood?”

Her eyes watered and she nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Good girl.” He popped another bite of steak into her mouth.

He continued to feed her as he stroked her soft skin and enjoyed the view of her perfect breasts bouncing near his face.

When they’d finished, he helped her clean up the kitchen, then scooped her up and carried her to their bed, where he laid her on her front. Her bottom was still red, her pussy still gleaming wet between her thighs. He stroked her bottom, squeezing her sore cheeks.

“Mmm,” she encouraged.

He crawled on top of her, unbuttoning his shirt. “The trouble with naughty girls like you is that you like your spankings too much,” he said, fisting her hair and tugging her head to the side to bite her shoulder. “I have to be very firm to make an impression. Isn’t that right?”

She whimpered, probably not knowing how to answer such a question.

He divested himself of his shirt and undershirt, then unbuttoned his pants and slid them off. “You may please me now,” he said, settling beside her on his back.