Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Gio

I was probably making the biggest mistake of my life, but I couldn't find it in me to feel any regret. I had already decided to claim her, which would have led to the same result. This was just on a faster timeline than I'd planned. Making the decision soothed the beast inside me that had been raging since the moment I'd realized she was our thief.

This worked to our advantage in every way.

As my wife, she'd be under my control. She couldn't be compelled to share anything she might have learned about us. And I'd have her in my bed every night. I didn't kid myself—I knew she'd be a handful, a challenge even, but I would rise to meet it.

My uncle shook his head at me, as though he thought I was making a mistake, but it was mine to make. I knew he understood. My aunt was as feisty as Clara in some ways, though I don't think she'd ever moonlighted as a cat thief. Uncle Lorenzo sighed.

"I'll let you take care of her then," he said, gesturing to Jack and Tomas. As they walked out of the room, Uncle Lorenzo gave me a look. I understood. I needed to make an example of Clara right now and demonstrate who was going to be in charge. Which wasn't a problem.

Despite how sassy she was, she'd already shown a definitive submissive streak when I'd been in her bedroom. Keeping her off-kilter was the key.

She was still kneeling at my feet. Stepping to the side, I shifted my hands to pull her along with me. She whimpered as I sat down and began to tug her up to put her over my lap.

"What are you doing?" The fear that filled her voice earlier had disappeared, and the question came out as more of a demand. She tilted her head back to look at me, glaring. The fight was back in her eyes, and I was glad to see it.

"I'm punishing a naughty little girl."

Her mouth dropped open as I hauled her forward over my lap. Merda , I cursed internally. She was wearing pants, not a skirt that would be easy to flip up. And just that moment of hesitation was all she needed to get herself together again and start fighting like hell.

It didn't take me by surprise in quite the same way as before, but I couldn't keep hold of her, either. She managed to kick me in the stomach as she escaped from my lap—which she was definitely going to pay for.

I was up on my feet by the time she reached the door, so I got to see her skid to a halt when she yanked the door open and found Tomas waiting for her on the other side. The squeaking sound she made would have been adorable if I wasn't so frustrated with her.

She tried to backpedal, but I was there waiting.

"Come in," I told Tomas as I started hauling her back to my uncle's desk. She'd gone limp in my arms, apparently accepting her fate, but I wasn't about to relax when she'd already shown how good she was at playing possum. "I'll need you to hold her down."

Clara squealed and started wriggling again, but some of the fight seemed to have gone out of her as Tomas and I wrestled her over my uncle's desk. It helped that she was short enough that once we got her there, her legs dangled, toes not quite able to touch the floor. Tomas stood on the other side of the desk, at her head, holding her torso down with the arms we had folded across her back.

"There," I said with satisfaction, sliding my hands under her to undo the buttons on her pants and tug them off. The pale skin of her bottom gleamed as the light hit it, a nice pale target between the black shirt and pants. My dick immediately perked up with interest, despite the soreness of my abs. "You've been very naughty, Clara, and now Daddy's going to punish you."

"Kick off!" she shouted at me, squirming in place and trying to kick at me. I snorted as I put my hand on her lower back to help pin her down, standing to the side, which made it difficult for her to kick me with any force. If I was going to die, it wasn't going to be before I thoroughly punished her sweet little ass. I didn't mind the fight; it was only making me harder.

"I was only going to spank you," I said, reaching down for my belt buckle. "If you'd just gone over my knee, I would have used my hand, and that would be that. Now I'm going to have to belt you."

"You don't have to do anything, you screwy gongoozler!"

I couldn't exactly argue that one. I had been following her and going into her bedroom at night. On the other hand, I couldn't let her insulting me slide.

"That's another five with the belt. If I were you, I'd learn to shut my yap real quick." I slid the belt out from the loops with a single motion, the sound of leather sliding against fabric emphasizing my statement.

Clara whimpered, and my already hard dick jerked in response. Holding her in place, Tomas tilted his head as he studied her bare buttocks with an almost clinical interest. A frisson of possessive jealousy went through me, but hell… she'd tried to run. He'd caught her. He deserved a bit of a reward.

Plus, the more off-kilter I could keep her, the better. And a little humiliation might help her dampen her attitude. I looped the belt over, wrapping my hand around the two ends.

"Don't you dare!" she shrieked.

My arm had already lifted, and she'd barely gotten the words out before the leather cracked across her cheeks, leaving a raised red welt. She screamed, struggling, legs kicking, but Tomas and I held her down as I lifted my arm again.

* * *

Clara

It hurt, it hurt, it hurt so much!

I choked on a sob—a real one—as the fiery pain spread across my backside, emanating from where his belt had hit. Kicking did nothing. Screaming did nothing. The leather came down again with a whoosh and a crack, just under where he'd laid the first blow.

I screamed just as loud.

No one came running to help.

Five of these?

No, five more, on top of whatever he was already going to do, you nitwit.

I'd almost rather be rolled up in the carpet again.

A third welt was laid across my bare bottom, leaving me kicking and squealing again, though no longer screaming. Tears wet my face, sliding down, and something soft brushed against them. It took me a moment to realize that it was Tomas.

He was leaning against the desk in such a way that his groin was right next to my face, and there was a growing bulge at the front of his pants that had touched me. I squealed again for a different reason, turning my head away, but that just meant I had to feel it moving across my cheek, my ear, to the back of my head, and at the same time, the belt came down across my ass again.

This time, it hit several of the previous welts, and I screamed as the fire I was feeling doubled.

"This is going to be a hard lesson for you, babydoll," Gio said, his voice so full of sympathy, he almost sounded sincere. "But it's one you need to learn. Thieving from Daddy is bad. Insulting Daddy is bad. And bad girls get the belt."

My breath hitched as I tried to get my lungs under control—hindered by the fact he put his hand on my bottom and moved it over the surface, touching the hot, raised skin. Maybe I really should shut my yap, but that had never been in my nature.

"What do good girls get?" I didn't sound half as sassy as I wanted to; I sounded more hopeful than I wanted to, but at least I'd proven that I could still talk. He couldn't shut me up, even with a belt. Only I could do that.

"Pleasure," he answered, his hand dipping lower.

That was when I realized I was aroused. Despite everything—despite my fear, despite Tomas' cock rubbing against the back of my head, despite the burning pain that flamed across my backside—my pussy was wet as his fingers stroked through the slippery folds. I groaned, utterly humiliated by my reaction, hating myself for it as he rubbed his fingers over my clit, and my hips jerked upward as pleasure flared.

"Unfortunately, you're not done paying for being a bad girl." His fingers moved away from my pussy.

I could have cried, and not just because I knew he was about to start up with the belt again. I wanted more of what he'd been doing, even though I'd never admit that out loud, no matter how hard he used the belt. It was too shameful to say the words, to acknowledge I wanted his touch in this moment.

"I said five for insulting me."

Oh no. I couldn't take five more.

"I'm sorry!" Compared to admitting that I wanted him to keep touching me, apologizing was easy.

"Oh, I know you are, babydoll," he said with a chuckle. "I'm just going to make sure you remember your lesson."

The belt came down again, and the brief reprieve seemed to have done me more harm than good. I'd almost been getting used to it, but now my system was shocked all over again as the leather seared my skin. I screamed and sobbed and kicked just as hard as I had before, feeling the stiffness of Tomas' cock rubbing against the back of my head while I did so. I hated him, hated Gio, and mostly I hated myself.

I shouldn't have gone into the warehouse while I was distracted. I'd been cocky, and now I was paying for it, even as part of my body betrayed me.

The belt came down again. Three more to go. I couldn't possibly.

"I'm sorry! I'll remember, Daddy, I promise!" If he'd really been in my room, then hopefully he'd like that. Hopefully, it would make him take pity on me and my poor roasted bottom.

"Almost there, babydoll, you're doing great," he said soothingly, running his hand over my butt and making me whimper. "I'll help you out, though… just one more to your bottom."

I didn't have the chance to ask him what he meant because he brought the belt down across it again, and I screamed as the fire flared, choking on my sob.

Then I found out as the next blow hit me across the backs of my thighs.

The sound I made was inhuman, and I bucked up, actually managing to move a bit before Tomas' weight pushed me back down. It hurt so much more than my bottom had, the sting so much stronger, the fire so much harsher. My shoulders ached from my arms held behind my back, especially as Tomas tightened his grip, but I barely noticed compared to the throbbing pain from below my waist.

Then the belt snapped across my flesh for the last time, just above where Gio had landed it before, crossing just under the curve of my bottom, the leather cracking against the swollen lips of my pussy. I didn't have any breath left to scream. All I could do was sag and sob, so, so thankful it was over, even as the sting burned steadily through my abused lower half.

"Now then, that's all done, and you're forgiven, babydoll," Gio crooned.

I wanted to tell him where he could stuff his forgiveness, but the belt had done its job. I had no interest in opening my yap.

Especially not when his fingers found their way to my pussy again, gently stroking the folds he'd just used his belt on, igniting my senses. I whimpered at the conflicting sensations of pain and pleasure, but one thing was clear. I didn't want another belting—I wanted an orgasm.