I can’t fucking believe what I’m walking into.
I received the call an hour ago telling me Madelena De Léon is not in her bed where she’s supposed to be—tucked in safe and sound and mine. It wasn’t hard to track her to prom. Fucking prom. I almost forgot how old she is. Seventeen now. I haven’t seen her in two years. Pictures when I’ve looked for them, but not once in person.
The woman standing before of me now—because she is a woman, no longer a girl—looks very different from the one I signed a blood oath with. Except the eyes. They’re the same. Angry. Not what I’d expect to find considering the predicament she’s in.
“What the fuck?” the idiot quarterback says, looking over his shoulder at us.
I’m here with two men. No more are necessary. I didn’t want to scare the kids of Avarice High at their little dance. “What the fuck?” I echo, closing a hand around his arm and jerking him backward off her.
Madelena stumbles forward but catches herself.
“I’ll deal with you in a minute,” I tell her. “Don’t move.”
She turns wide, shocked eyes from the idiot boy to me and for a moment, it’s me who’s stunned.
I look her over.
No. Definitely not a girl anymore. Not in that dress. Not with those curves.
I clear my throat, focus on the task at hand. Her dress is still mostly intact, except for a little tear at the shoulder. Her hair’s messed up, too, and her makeup is smeared, but apart from that, I got here in time.
The idiot boy tries to get free of me. He requires all my attention, which annoys me because I want to look at how she’s grown. I turn to him. His shirt is half off, and his pants are held up by a single button.
I shove him backward against a lab table, following him.
He stumbles, tripping over his own feet. He’s a big guy, but he gets his muscle from the gym. I’m pretty sure the entitled little prick doesn’t know how to fight.
“Look, I don’t know who you are. I didn’t know she…” he glances at Madelena. “Didn’t know she had a boyfriend.”
I chuckle, shove him again. “Oh, I’m not her boyfriend.”
“Oh. Well. Fuck.” He smiles, and two stupid dimples form on his stupid face. Christ. “Look man, whatever, I didn’t know. She was coming on to me.”
“Yeah, I heard that a minute ago. How old are you anyway?” He looks older than the average junior in high school.
“Nineteen. Almost twenty,” he says like he’s fucking proud of it.
I raise my eyebrows. “Held back a time or two?”
He falters, glances at Madelena, at the two men blocking the door. When he turns his attention back to me, I push him against the wall and hold him there.
Idiot.
“What’s the matter? Don’t they teach you English here? Because the words get off me are pretty fucking self-explanatory even to me, and I’m not college educated. Barely scraped by in high school, if I’m being honest.”
Madelena snorts.
I turn to her, and her gaze shifts from the idiot boy to me. And now I see it: the fear behind the anger, the girl inside the woman.
“He hurt you?”
She shakes her head.
“But he tried to.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” The idiot boy’s voice grates on my nerves. “No one was hurting anyone. Mad Elena and I, we were just fooling around. Having a little fun. Taking some pictures, isn’t that right, Maddy?”
“I told you not to fucking call me Maddy,” she snaps at him, suddenly animated.
“Mad Elena?” I ask, looking from him to her.
“It’s nothing,” she says, neck and cheeks flushing red. She’s embarrassed and unable to hold my gaze. She takes a step toward the door, but I block her path.
“I told you I’d be with you in a minute,” I say, lifting her chin with one finger to make her look at me. I search her face, studying it. She’s wearing a shit ton of makeup, and I get the feeling it’s armor. Protection. “You don’t need all this,” I say, though I don’t know why.
She blinks, the whites of her eyes pink and damp.
“I’m going to go,” the idiot boy says, interrupting again.
“You’re a fucking nuisance,” I tell him, gesturing to one of my men to keep him where he is as I turn back to Madelena. “You sure he didn’t hurt you?”
“I can handle myself.”
“Clearly.”
She sidesteps to get around me, but I block her path.
“Let me go,” she says.
“Do you remember what I told you the night we signed the contract?”
She bites her lip, and the act draws my attention. Little white teeth against dark red lips. It takes me a minute to drag my gaze back to her eyes.
Gold, like a fucking wildcat.
“Do you remember, Little Kitty?”
Her forehead creases. She licks her lips, clears her throat, then nods.
“Tell me. Say the words.”
She blinks, looks over my shoulder either at the idiot boy or my soldiers, then back at me.
“Say them.”
“I belong to you.”
“And?”
“Not to forget it.”
“So you didn’t forget. You just chose to disobey.”
There’s that biting of her lip again, and I see how her hands turn to tight little fists at her sides.
“Your friend here—” I start.
“He’s not my friend,” she cuts me off.
“Glad to hear it. He’s going to be punished for touching what’s mine. But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.” I step closer to her, my gaze sweeping over the swell of her breasts.
Idiot boy makes a squeaking sound. Neither of us bother to look.
Madelena licks her lips, that flush back in her cheeks. I get the feeling it’s for a different reason than moments ago, though.
“Tell me how I should punish you,” I say darkly, the question more seductive than I intended when I walked in here.
Her mouth opens, and she’s taking the shallowest of breaths. I wonder if she’s aware of the way she’s looking at me.
“Tell me,” I whisper before coming close enough to inhale her scent. As soon as I do, I stop, surprised to find something familiar. Confused, I lean closer and she gasps when the tip of my nose touches the skin of her neck as I breathe in deeply, then draw back.
Madelena’s cheeks burn now, and she can’t hold my gaze. I don’t say it, though. I’m not here to humiliate her. I’m just here to protect what is mine. But what I smell, strangely, is my own brand of cologne. Is it on purpose? How would she know the scent? It’s custom made for me, not one you can buy at the fucking mall.
Then I remember the handkerchief I pushed into her hand the first night we met. I guess the scent of it would have lingered beneath that of blood. Did she research it? Have it custom-made for herself? No. Surely I’m overthinking this.
I clear my throat and wait for her to return her gaze to mine.
“Tell me. How do I punish you?” I ask, voice low and deep and just for her.
“I…”
“Do I take you over my knee? Spank you?”
Her eyes grow huge, pupils dilating as she exhales audibly, then falters. I swear I see her nipples pebble beneath the dress. And, frankly, saying the words out loud makes me feel it deep in my gut too. I’m old enough to control my dick, but I can’t deny that I feel it.
“How old are you now, Madelena?” I ask even though I know.
“Seventeen.”
“Hmm. That’s too bad,” I say, letting my gaze drop once again to the swell of soft breasts. “Too young. But I tell you what.” I brush her hair behind her ear. “I’ll put a pin in it. Make a note to remember what I owe you.”
She swallows so hard I hear it.
“Val, take Madelena home, will you?”
“Sure thing.” Val is my most trusted man.
“By the time you’re back, we’ll be finished here.” I glance at the idiot boy.
“Yes, sir,” he says and gestures to Madelena to go ahead of him.
She glances from me to idiot boy and back. “He didn’t hurt me,” she says, probably aware of what will come once she’s gone.
He would have, I don’t say. “Noted.” I touch a finger to her jaw so she looks at me, not him. “You belong to me. Do you understand that better now?”
She nods, but I’m not sure the message has hit home.
“Say it.”
She tenses her jaw, like the night in her father’s study. She’s defiant. My palm itches to spank her little ass and make sure she feels the truth of that statement, but like I said, she’s too young for me to be doing that just yet.
“Say it.”
“I belong to you,” she says through gritted teeth.
“Good. Go home, Little Kitty. And don’t let me catch you with another man ever again.”