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I am naked in Dmitri’s arms and my heart is trying to kick its way out of my throat. He tips me over his shoulder and the world turns.

My hair is in my face and my crotch is pressing against Dmitri’s strong shoulder. His palm is locked over the back of my thigh holding me in place. I couldn’t escape right now if I tried.

The corridor lamps pass in flashes as he walks.

“Dmitri… what is… what are⁠—”

But he doesn’t reply. Instead, a warning smack lands on my bare ass. Not playful but a period at the end of a sentence I did not get to finish.

Stairs.

Down one floor.

The air changes. Cooler. Everything feels bigger. The kind of space that does not belong in a penthouse unless the penthouse was built by a man who wanted a second world under the first.

Dmitri sets me on my feet. My legs almost fold. The room is huge…

Mats. Bare floor. Hooks on the far wall. Light low enough to hide corners and bright enough that I cannot pretend I am dreaming.

My whole body is trembling. This is not a kiss on the neck and a guest room.

This is the start…

Dmitri takes my hand, turns me, spanks me hard enough that the sound cracks off the walls.

I yelp.

“Run,” Dmitri roars. “Dodge. If you stand there like a tourist, you will learn why standing still gets people killed.”

I hesitate. The second spank is worse. Then I gasp in horror as Dmitri reaches to the wall and takes a riding crop off a hook.

Leather. Thin. Mean.

“Now!”

I run. There is nowhere that looks like safety.

I still run. Faster. Lighter on my feet.

My bare feet slap the floor. My breath tears. The first kiss of the crop finds my ass as I cut left and it is a white line of fire.

“Yowwwwwwww!” I squeal.

I keep moving. But he is faster. Of course he is.

Dmitri does not sprint like a man showing off. He closes distance like work.

The crop lands again.

Right cheek. Left. The upper thigh when I twist too slow.

“There will be nights you have to run,” Dmitri growls, and the room swallows the words and throws them back. “Run and keep running. Or die. Do you understand me?”

I cannot answer. I am too busy trying not to fall.

Dmitri catches me near the far wall and the mercy I keep expecting does not come. The crop stripes my ass in a flurry that makes my eyes flood.

I dance in place, hands flying back, and he bats them down.