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Another rush of electric sensations crushed the moment of apprehension. How was it that my body was tingling all over when I knew the spanking would hurt?

Maxsim enjoyed the moment as he always did, taking time to run his finger across the cane’s surface.

His actions reminded me of a predatory animal in the wild, careful with every step taken. As he approached, he studied me in the reflection. His entire angular face was highlighted perfectly by a single light that did little more than create a beautiful blanket of iridescent shimmers.

When he rolled the edge down my back, his eyes trailed the action, including when he rubbed it along the crack of my ass. Using his knee, he shifted my legs further apart before rubbing his hand along the small of my back.

I closed my eyes as he stepped away, trembling even as my pussy clenched and released several times.

My senses caught the whooshing sound just seconds before pain exploded across my bottom, shooting straight down both legs.

With a scattered moan, I threw my head toward the ceiling while a cataclysm of vibrations and emotions rolled through me. What struck me more than the power he had over me was how I craved him marking me. How insane was that?

Another crack of his wrist kept my senses fully awake, the next two slices of the birchwood done in rapid succession. Even my nipples were swollen from the raging level of endorphins and longing.

Three more and I rested my face against the cool glass while the anguish had a cascading effect.

He was breathing as heavily as I was and as his fingers lightly danced across the heated skin of my bottom, I was rewarded with a deep and husky growl.

I wondered if I’d miss the sound if something should happen between us.

Clang.

I jerked awake, immediately biting my lower lip to keep from making a single sound. Instantly, I was aware of where I was and that I’d been dreaming.

The images remained fresh in my mind and hadn’t been a fantasy, but a tender moment shared with a man I’d fallen in love with.

“Maxsim,” I whispered his name as if in doing so, he’d hear me.

As if he’d come to my rescue.

I’d wondered every minute of the miserable days I’d been awake if he was even still alive. There was no way of knowing, but in my heart, I believed he was.

I clutched my clothes by my heart, shaking from the horror that faced me every minute of every day.

There was nothing else to do but sleep and dream, always wishing that when I awakened, I’d find I’d been having a nightmare.

A tiny whimper beside me was a sad reminder that all I’d wished for would never come true. The room was pitch black except for a single nightlight I’d insisted on. Why they’d honored my request I didn’t know other than that I’d been belligerent, so angry I’d seemed like a crazy person.

Well, that was completely true.

Another moan and I jerked the thin covers up to cover Mina’s slender shoulders. I had no idea how long we’d been in this hell hole, but it seemed long enough she’d lost a significant amount of weight.

She’d cried for her papa, asking me countless times why he hadn’t come to save us. At first, I’d assured her he would. Then I’d come to realize that wasn’t happening. The incessant questions why haunted me more than anything. Whether or not Maxsim cared about me was incidental. He adored his daughter and would turn over every rock to find her.

Along with burning the city down.

With my limited memories of the horrible day, I wasn’t certain if he could possibly even know we were still alive. Or if our kidnapping and being kept for so long were nothing but part of the vicious game being played. Why go to so much trouble? What was the point?

I had to believe we were no longer in Charleston. That’s the only way I could accept the long days and even longer nights.

I’d never felt so hopeless in my life.

In the last two days Mina had grown almost catatonic, barely acknowledging my voice. Yet every time one of the masked goons walked into the room, she couldn’t stop crying.

There was a single window in the room, but it had been boarded up, only allowing some muted light in when daylight. I’d tried to count the days, but we’d been drugged for at least two, maybe more.

I rose from the bed, holding and rubbing my arms from the slight chill. I’d tried very hard to piece together what had occurred, remembering being at the restaurant, Mina’s birthday party.