Chapter Four: Spanked and Caught

Aurelia 

His hand on my throat squeezed once more, a final, lethal promise, before both hands released me so suddenly I nearly stumbled.

Cold air rushed in where his body had been.

By the time I spun around, water bottle clutched like a weapon, he was already leaning against the counter, arms crossed, that cruel smirk cutting across his face like he hadn’t just threatened to destroy me in the filthiest way possible.

“Car leaves in ten,” he said coolly. “Be in it. Or I’ll drag you there myself.”

He pushed off the counter and walked out, leaving me shaking against the fridge, thighs pressed together against the ache he’d left behind.

By the time I stomped out to the driveway, Chase was already leaning against his sleek black Audi, arms crossed, looking pissed enough to devour me right there in broad daylight. 

Those grey eyes tracked me like a predator watching prey that had dared to make him wait.

I yanked open the passenger door and slid in, slamming it harder than necessary. 

The second my seatbelt clicked, his hand shot out, lightning fast, fingers clamping around my waist.

“What the—”

Before I could finish, he hit the button to recline his seat all the way back. One brutal tug and I was hauled across the console, sprawled face-down over his lap like I weighed nothing. 

My sundress rode up instantly, cool air hitting the backs of my thighs as my ass tilted up toward him.

His palm cracked down on my bare skin with a sharp, stinging smack that echoed inside the car.

I gasped, the sound half-shock, half-something I refused to name. Heat exploded across my ass, blooming hot and fierce.

“That’s for the smart mouth at breakfast,” he growled, his voice husky and rough, his free hand pinning my hips so I couldn’t wriggle away. “And for making me wait like some fucking chauffeur.”

Another smack, harder this time, landed on the other cheek. My fingers scrabbled for purchase on the leather seat, breath hitching as the sting sank deeper, twisting into something dark and throbbing between my legs.

I hated how my body arched into it, how my thighs pressed together against the sudden ache.

“Chase... Stop—”

He didn’t. His hand came down again, slower this time. The crack of skin on skin made me jolt, a whimper slipping out before I could bite it back.

“Keep talking,” he warned, fingers tracing the burning outline he’d just left, rough and possessive. “Every time you open that pretty mouth to defy me, I add another. By the time we get to campus, you’ll be dripping down your thighs, begging me to finish what I started last night.”

His palm soothed over the heat for a second, just long enough for me to catch my breath, then lifted and struck again, right at the curve where ass met thigh. 

The sting shot straight to my core, and I couldn’t stop the helpless moan that tore free.

He leaned down, lips brushing the shell of my ear, breath hot and whiskey-rough even this early. 

“You’re mine to punish now, Little Lamb. In this house. In this car. On that fucking campus. Every time you forget it, I’ll remind you exactly who you belong to.”

His fingers slipped just under the edge of my panties, not quite touching where I was shamefully wet, but close enough that I felt the threat of it. A promise.

Then, as suddenly as he’d grabbed me, he lifted me off his lap and deposited me back in my seat like nothing had happened. My dress fell back into place, but the heat pulsing across my skin, and deeper, remained.

He started the engine with a low growl that matched the one still rumbling in his chest.

“Seatbelt,” he ordered, eyes forward, his jaw tight.

I fumbled with shaking hands to click it in place, thighs clenched, every nerve on fire.

The car peeled out of the driveway, tires screeching just enough to match the scream I was holding inside.

The arrogant bully that he was, Chase screeched to a halt right at the massive wrought-iron gates of University of Underwood, engine revving like he couldn’t wait to be rid of me. 

He didn’t say a word. He didn’t even glance my way. He just stared straight ahead, one hand drumming impatiently on the steering wheel.

I shoved the door open and climbed out, my ass still throbbing faintly from his “lesson” earlier, every step a reminder of his palm on my skin. 

The second my feet hit the pavement, he punched the gas and drove off, tires spitting gravel and leaving me in a cloud of exhaust and humiliation.

Well, good riddance to bad rubbish.

Registration flew by, but orientation dragged on forever. Endless tours, forced small talk, and a campus so huge I felt like a speck. 

By the time I dragged myself back through the mansion’s front doors, the sky had gone dark, the house lit only by soft sconces along the walls.

Chase’s Audi was in the garage, gleaming under the low lights like a bad omen.

My stomach twisted. After everything he’d done to me between last night and today, in the hallway, the kitchen, the car, I wanted nothing more than to sneak upstairs, lock my door, and pretend he didn’t exist.

I slipped off my shoes, moving as quietly as possible, heart thudding with every creak of the marble floor. 

The second floor was silent, thank God. My room was at the far end of the hall; his was closer to the stairs, the master-sized suite that screamed spoiled prince.

I was almost past it when a low, unmistakable sound stopped me dead.

A woman’s moan, breathless, needy, followed by the rhythmic creak of a bed and a deep, guttural groan that I knew belonged to him.

His door was half ajar, a slice of warm golden light spilling into the hallway like an invitation I never asked for.

I should have kept walking. I should have run.

But my feet wouldn’t move. My hand tightened around my bag strap, and before I could stop myself, I edged closer, just enough to see through the gap.

And God, I wished I hadn’t.

Chase was on his knees in the center of his massive bed, completely naked, every inch of him carved from pure sin. Moonlight and lamplight poured over his broad shoulders, highlighting the flex of muscle down his back, the taper of his waist, the powerful thighs braced wide. 

His dark hair was messy, damp with sweat, falling into his eyes as he moved.

He was magnificent, feral and beautiful in a way that made my throat dry and my core clench against my will.

A girl, blonde, long-legged, the same one from the pool, was on her hands and knees in front of him, back arched, her face buried in the sheets as he fucked her from behind with slow, brutal thrusts. 

His hand was fisted in her hair, pulling her head back just enough to make her cry out, while his other hand gripped her hip, fingers digging into soft flesh hard enough to leave marks.

But it was him, his cock, that stole every ounce of air from my lungs.

He was huge. Thick, long, glistening with her wetness as he pulled almost all the way out before driving back in with a roll of his hips that made her whole body jolt. 

Veins stood out along the shaft, the head flushed dark and swollen, stretching her visibly with every punishing stroke. It was raw, obscene and perfect.

And the sight of it sliding in and out of her, slick and relentless, it sent a bolt of heat straight between my legs.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move or tear my eyes away from the way his abs flexed, the way his ass tightened with each thrust, the low growls rumbling from his chest like he was barely holding on to control.

He shifted, angling deeper, and the girl shattered, moaning his name in a broken sob as her arms gave out. 

Chase didn’t stop. He slammed into her harder, chasing his own release, his head tipping back, neck corded, his full lips parted in a silent snarl.

I pressed my thighs together, hating the ache building low in my belly, hating how wet I already was just from watching.

Then his head turned, just a fraction, and those storm-grey eyes locked onto mine through the crack in the door, pinning me in place.

He saw me, and everything stopped.