SEVEN

Carmen
I couldn’t imagine my father wouldn’t be pissed.
Then again, he was the one who told Sebastian to discipline me. I shuddered at the thought, holding my breath while another whooshing sound incurred. This time, the pain coursed through my bottom all the way down the backs of my legs within seconds. I jerked up, tossing my head as I did everything to bite back a scream. The last thing I wanted to do was to show just how much discomfort I was in.
Not to an asshole.
Not to the man who thought he owned me.
Not to the sexy and dominating Puerto Rican who sizzled every cell.
I was furious with myself for thinking that way, even imagining him as anything but a horrible jerk, a person molded after my domineering father.
When he issued four more, one coming after the other, I couldn’t hold back my wails.
Or the curse words that left my mouth easily.
“You prick. You bastard. You asshole. You motherfucker.”
“I think I need to wash out your mouth,” he said in this overtly quiet manner, as if he’d been my master for a long time.
I kicked out my legs, squirming all over the place until he placed his hand on the small of my back. I took gulping breaths, curtailing my emotions as he rubbed his fingers across my bottom, sliding back and forth. I tingled all over from both the humiliation as well as a heightened level of desire building, the wetness between my legs slickening my inner thighs. I wanted to scream and beg him to stop but for some crazy reason, the combination of pain and pleasure was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
“You’re doing very well,” he half whispered, the husky sound of his voice like the sweetest vibrations slip-sliding throughout every inch of my body.
I wanted to retort, to say even nastier words but I realized I was falling into some kind of hypnotic state.
“Uh-huh,” I finally managed.
“I think that should be ‘yes, sir.’ Don’t you?”
“O-kay. I mean, yes, sir.” The words barely left my mouth.
When he smacked me again and again, I whimpered, blinking several times to keep the tears away. The second the thick strap hit my upper thighs, I held my breath, praying this would be over.
The spanking continued and all I heard was a humming noise in my ears. Everything was a blur, my mind reeling. How could I enjoy this? How could I tolerate this… man doing anything to me?
“We are finished,” he said almost in passing as he eased me from the hood, tugging down my dress and pressing his rugged hands against my shoulders. “Now, I suggest you go to the car and get inside. Then I want you to act like a lady. Are we clear?”
“Yes. Yes. Sir.” Now the words came out like acid, a slickening hiss pushing past my lips.
But again, I did as I was told, struggling to move toward the car, my legs wobbly.
When he returned to the car, he sat quietly for a full minute before moving back onto the road. “I think we need to start over, princess. Why don’t you tell me about your enjoyment of playing music?”
The man was acting like nothing happened. I licked my lips and with every wiggle in my seat, my bottom burned. I took several shallow breaths, resigned that small talk was better than another round of embarrassment.
“Fine. I started playing piano when I was three, taught by my mother. By five I’d learned the violin and by seven the cello held my interest. I’ve been playing ever since.” The memories were so sweet, music my only solace.
“Mmm… A prodigy. Your father must be proud.”
“My father couldn’t give a shit,” I snapped. “I’m sorry. Music means everything to me.”
“I can understand. You play with an orchestra?”
“When I’m allowed,” I said in such a timid voice, embarrassing the hell out of me. “He has threatened more than once to take away or destroy my beloved cello. That’s not going to happen. I would just as soon kill him first.” I gasped after saying the words. I’d never muttered them to anyone before and I certainly couldn’t trust a man I didn’t know. “Shit. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Sebastian chuckled, his eyes dancing. “Perhaps your father is the pig and you are allowed to say anything around me. There is no love lost with your father in my eyes.”
I shook my head, biting back several nasty words. “I’m even featured on a CD as a soloist, but he doesn’t care.”
“You mean the CD Santiago was playing tonight? Perhaps he does care.”
“Show and glow for all the guests he wines and dines. Nothing more.”
The tension was palpable. What was I supposed to say to the man? We had nothing in common. He was a complete stranger I was supposed to entertain. I was sickened at the thought. I knew what the man wanted. It was the same as every other man I’d known my entire life.
“Where would the lovely lady enjoy going?” he asked, his full lips accentuating every syllable. He allowed his gaze to fall to my cleavage, forcing another shiver to skate down the back of my legs.
“Dancing,” I blurted out. A public place where I could likely slip out of his grasp. “I assume you actually know how to dance? I never know about you Americans. You seem to have no rhythm, let alone anything else decent.”
Whether my nasty words bothered him or not was impossible to tell. In fact, even in the hint of moonlight, I was able to see the gleam in his eyes. He thought this was funny.
“Dancing it is. I assume you know the right location.”
I knew exactly where he was going to take me, the poshest nightclub in town. If I had to spend time with the pompous creep, he would spend lots of American dollars on me. While I wasn’t a club girl, only going out on rare occasion with my friends, I couldn’t think of a better spot to try to get through the night.
I noticed the same set of headlights behind us, able to keep up. I’d seen the two men waiting like mindless soldiers in my father’s house. “Are you afraid of someone, Sebastian? Do you always have bodyguards with you?”
He merely shot me a look as he gripped the steering wheel. “There will always be enemies, Carmen, men who would enjoy ending my life. I see fit to stay amongst the living.”
I chuckled to myself, folding my arms and staring out the passenger window. Who did this man think he was?