Chapter 3

"Place your foreheadagainst the floor, ass up," Roman instructs gruffly.

With a hint of hesitation, Tyler does as instructed. The second his ass is in the air, Roman pulls his arm back and brings the paddle down hard. No warning, no countdown. Nothing. The fleshy whack reverberates through the room and Tyler's entire body is jolted forward, nearly colliding with me. I step back in shock as his face contorts and he cries out in pain.

Oh, shit. This is already way more intense than I imagined.

What Tyler did was fucked up, but I'm not sure I have the stomach for this. We're only one strike in and I'm already feeling queasy. But before I can even put a stop to this, another violent whack comes down on Tyler's bare ass—this one more savage than the last.

Another agonized cry echoes off the wood-paneled walls as Tyler crawls forward. He gets a short distance away before collapsing to the floor and twisting around, hands up, to fend off any additional blows.

Roman straightens, and lowers the wood paddle to his side. "Do you forfeit?" he asks coldly.

"This is bullshit," Tyler screams, scrambling to stand up, hands cupping his dick and balls protectively. "I didn't even fucking do anything." He removes one hand from his crotch to point at me. "That bitch was going to tase me."

I notice Roman's hand tighten on the paddle as he lowers his head, his gaze darkening. It looks like he's struggling to keep his anger in check. "You are hereby expelled from the Society of the Burning Crown. You may never be readmitted, and you may never set foot on Burning Crown property again."

Roman pulls a small knife from the folds of his robe and brings it up, then down quickly, in one motion, slashing the brand on Tyler's chest. Tyler cries out and reels back, one hand flying to the wound, blood spilling from between his fingers.

That seems like the last straw for him. Tyler's attention turns to the other members. "You're just going to allow this?" he spits at them. "You're going to take the word of a non-member, an usurper, over your ownfucking brother?" He yells that last word and the absolute vitriol in his tone makes me jump.

"That's enough," Roman says, his deep voice filling the entire space. "Get out. Now."

Tyler cups his small dick with one hand, his chest with the other, and turns toward Roman. I get the sense he's trying to calculate his odds if he were to attack Roman. The Sacred Sons must get the same feeling, because Lucas, Jackson, and Christian all stand up in unison, ready to intervene, if necessary.

Thankfully, Tyler gets the hint. With a scoff, he moves toward the door, and for the first time since the paddling, I see his flaming red, already-blistered ass. It looks incredibly painful.

A male member separates from the crowd and opens the door for Tyler. Just as he's about to walk through it, he turns, and looks directly at me, his eyes wild and furious. "This isn't over, cunt. I will make you pay for this."

The male member escorts Tyler out, and as soon as he's gone, I release the breath I'd been holding. The low rumble of shocked chatter fills the room, but Roman quickly calls everyone back to attention. "Quiet," he says loudly. "Let's finish this."

He hands the paddle off to Lindsay, and on his way back to his chair, he stops in front of me, reaching out to touch my elbow. "You okay?"

I'm a bit numb, actually, but I nod wordlessly. His hand slides down my arm and his fingers hook with mine, then he leads me back to my chair, and I lower myself into it.

"Let the record show," Roman intones, still standing to address the membership present. "Tyler Savano has willingly forfeited his position within the Society of the Burning Crown."

He says more, just closing out the tribunal, but I don't even hear him. My mind is focused on Tyler's declaration before he left, and the absolute conviction in his tone.

I will make you pay for this.

He's a bully and a coward, and I'm tempted to cast his threats off as bravado, but I've been through too much in the last year to ignore a statement like that. Tyler might be a coward, but he's definitely delusional enough to follow through with his threats.

When the tribunal is over, the members file out first, leaving the Sacred Sons and their consorts behind in the room. No idea why we have to hang behind, but whatever. At this point, I'm just going with it. That Tyler shit took everything out of me, and I just don't have the energy to ask questions tonight.

Christian is the first to break the silence. "Tyler has always been a pussy, but damn, that was next-level psycho."

"What was that even supposed to solve?" I ask. "Why did you even give him the option to stay with the Burning Crown after what he did to me?"

"It wasn't for him," Roman says. "It was for the rest of the members."

I shake my head. "I don't get it."

"He was given the avenue to remain in the society, but he forfeited on his own," Lucas clarifies with a shrug.

Then it dawns on me—this was all a part of their strategy.

"Ah, okay," I say, lifting my chin. "You knew he couldn't take the punishment, and that he'd have no choice but to forfeit. Now Roman can't be blamed for kicking him out unjustly."

Lucas touches his nose. "She's a sharp one."

"Just one question—how'd you know he couldn't take the punishment? He could have stuck it out. Then you'd have to let him back in."

Roman pulls his hood off. "In the last fifty years, only two guys have made it past three strokes. And Tyler is a pussy, so I knew he'd never make it past one."

"I'm shocked he didn't piss himself before you even landed the first blow," Jackson laughs.

They all start laughing, and I hate to rain on their parade, but I feel compelled to point out the obvious. "Okay, but he's still pissed at me," I say. "Maybe even more pissed now."

Lucas waves my concern away. "Tyler is all talk."

I turn to face him more squarely. "The guy you think tried to mow me down is all talk?"

"Trust us, he'll be too humiliated to show his face around here now," Christian says, standing and removing his hood as well. He stretches his back, his muscular biceps stretching the fabric of the robe. "Fuck, those chairs are uncomfortable." He yawns. "Alright, I'm out. I've got an early class in the morning."

The other guys take Christian's lead and head out, too, their consorts silently trailing behind them. The girls didn't say anything the entire time, and I wonder if that's the norm.

Maybe that's why Roman finds me so exasperating. He must be used to girls like that. Girls who stay silent, and follow him around, ready to suck him off the second he snaps his fingers. If he ever expected that from me, then I'm sure he's already realized his mistake.

Once everyone is gone, and it's only Roman and me left in the room, he glances over at me. In the dim lighting, he looks softer somehow, and I can almost forget the cruel edge to that beautiful smile.

"We still need to talk about what happened between us the other night," he says.

Goddamn.I should have known the conversation would circle back around to this topic. The last time I saw him, I ran from it. This time, he knows he has me trapped.

I shrug and deliberately play dumb. "Yeah, I guess I never did thank you for saving my life, did I?" I flash him a tight smile. "Thanks."

He stares right through me with those pale eyes. "You know that's not what I meant."

I push out a breath and stand up. I really don't want to have this conversation with him. If I'm being honest with myself, I haven't even processed what happened between us yet.

"I'd rather not talk about the other night," I say, taking the hood of my robe off, more to avoid his gaze than anything. "In fact, why don't we just pretend it didn't happen?"

"Not an option."

I step down off the dias and turn to face him. "Listen, it's late, and I have class tomorrow, too. So why don't we pick this conversation up some other time?" Like never o'clock.

I move to leave, hood in my hand, but he's after me so quickly, I don't stand a chance. His hand darts out to grab my elbow, and he pulls me back, turning me at the same time to face him.

I shove at his chest. "What the fuck, Roman?"

He's looking down at me, his beautiful face pulled tight in anger. "You felt it, too, Lux. I know you did."

It's true, lightning crackled between us when he fucked me. How could I have not felt it? That electricity consumed me from the inside, and like Frankenstein's monster, I came out of it completely transformed.

Or malformed, maybe.

I've had sex before, with a couple of guys in high school, and nothing has ever come close to what I experienced with Roman. I doubt it ever will, honestly.

But if he's looking at me to validate what he's feeling, then fuck that. I don't trust him, and I'm not showing him the most vulnerable parts of me. No way.

I lift my chin and look him dead in the eyes. "You fucked me, Roman." His grip loosens slightly on my arm, and I yank it out of his grasp. "That's all it was. Fucking. Nothing special."

The shock on his face is priceless, and I have to admit, knocking the campus king off his pedestal feels really, really good…