Page 141 of Vampire's Choice

Merc’s lips tightened against a smile. “Your relationship is more of a mine field than most.”

“Only physically.” Garron glanced pointedly at the palm Merc had kept braced on the door. “Something else?”

Putting out his chin, Merc tapped his jaw. “It’s a fair demand. One punch.”

Beneath the house was a spacious patio, decorated with fairy lights, comfortable outdoor furniture, and offering the never-tiresome view of the ocean. Ruth watched the lights of distant boats, and thought about going to the beach. There was an access, a boardwalk she could see from here.

Why hadn’t Merc just told her his suspicions—okay, realizations—in the privacy of their room, instead of revealing them in such an awkward way?

It offended me, her having to pretend to be something she isn’t. She’s an honorable woman. Like you. It offends me that you have to pretend, that your people consider it a weakness and it makes you a target. But there’s something else that offends me.

What’s that?

Your behavior toward her.

Merc swooped down and caught her around the waist. Before Ruth could break free, they were aloft. He held her against him and groped under her skirt, ripping her panties away with one yank. Even wrestling while shooting through the air, he bent her over his arm, pulled her hips up and sheathed himself in a strong single thrust.

Total shock gripped her as she cried out. The large dose of lust that flooded her had nowhere to go, the emotions she was experiencing unable to accommodate it. A giant, ruthless fist clutched her aching heart and churning stomach.

Merc didn’t care. His palm pressed against her stomach, her legs hooked back over his calves as he fucked her in the air from behind, using his wings to shove in harder, deeper. It hurt. That wasn’t all, though. He slapped her clit, giving it a spanking that stung and had her writhing on his cock, struggling to get away. It wasn’t fun, but he wasn’t in a fun mood.

Neither was she. But it was a punishment, and his overpowering strength required her to do the only thing she could. Submit. She clung to his arm, an iron band around her waist. Every slap, every thrust, brought an even worse pain. Kaela’s gaze, that brittle, bright-eyed look Ruth had put there.

When Merc stopped spanking her clit and thrusting, he’d done it long enough she would have begged for forgiveness from whoever he wanted. But she also noticed, when he landed on their isolated stretch of beach and withdrew from her, her sex was sore, but she was strung less tight.

The ache was still in her throat, though. Which was probably why he wasn’t done. He put her on her knees and clamped a hand on her throat, making her stare up into his implacable face. An avenging angel, here to punish her for her sins.

“Apologize.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“Or Garron.”

She snarled as he twisted a nipple. “Stop it.”

He did it harder. “Yes, Garron. I’m sorry, I apologize to him, too.”

When he released her and moved back, she charged him with a howl. He deflected her punches and stumbling kicks. She was unbalanced by what he’d done to her body. Then he caught her, took them both down to the wet sand and shoved her face-down over his knees.

“Don’t you fucking dare…”

This spanking hurt like hell, with the additional dose of humiliation, being treated like a misbehaving child. However, he kept her legs open with a knee between her thighs, holding her ass up so he could spank her cunt some more, this time with a hand roughened by sand. She would have to rinse the grains out or walk around with them grating between her tender folds.

“That’s what you’ll do until I tell you to clean yourself,” he told her. “Which will not be until you speak to Kaela.”

“Fuck you.”

Her defiance earned her more of the same. This time he rubbed the sand into her cunt himself, the sadistic prick bastard.

Shit. I didn’t mean…

When he’d punished her to the point she was strangling back the sobs, furiously refusing to acknowledge the tears bathing her face, or what was causing them, he put her back on her feet and stepped away from her, arms crossed. Waiting to see if she had a next move.

She wasn’t that stupid, though she did eye him with intense dislike and a desire for retaliation.

“It’s different, Merc.” She bared her fangs. Everything hurt, but what hurt most was her heart. “You know it is. Vampires are supposed to be dominant. That's the way it's supposed to work.”

“Isn’t she an overlord?”