Page 37 of Kane
“You’re wincing every time you move,” I say, setting my glass down. “After dinner I’ll put cooling cream on that pretty ass. I will see to it that you are properly taken care of.”
William’s cheeks turn pink. He pokes at a piece of chicken with his chopsticks.
“Thank you. That would be… really nice.” He bites his lip, then adds softly, “I still can’t believe I confessed all of that to you. All that stuff about my special toys… jeez, I’ve never told anyoneanythinglike that.”
I reach across the table and brush my thumb over the back of William’s hand.
“It’s only natural, little one,” I say. “When a boy belongs to his Daddy, he tells him everything. Even the naughty parts. It might earn him a spanking—” I let my voice drop lower, “—but that’s part of it. Part of being mine… you don’t get to hide. Not from me.”
William shivers visibly. His eyes flick up to meet mine, wide and full of conflicting emotions: embarrassment, arousal, something softer that looks dangerously like trust.
I like it. I like it far too much.
William takes a small bite of curry, then says, “I want to know more about you, Kane. About your life. Who you really are. What you do.”
The question lands like a blade between my ribs.
I shut it down immediately, voice calm but final…
“Not tonight,” I say. “My world is complicated. Dangerous. You don’t need those shadows in your head.” I lean forward slightly. “Tell me about yours instead. Your academic life. The Brontë sisters. All of it.”
William hesitates, clearly wanting to push, but something in my expression makes him decide against it.Smart boy. Instead he starts talking, and once he begins, the words flow like water.
He tells me about his PhD, the endless reading, the pressure to publish, the way nineteenth-century literature makes him feel alive. His eyes light up when he describes the repressed desire inJane Eyre, the wild passion inWuthering Heights.
William even admits, almost shyly, that one day he wants to write his own books. Scholarly works that bring those voices to new readers, maybe even a novel of his own someday.
“You’re a smart, determined boy,” I tell him when he finally pauses for breath. “All of that is possible. I see it in you. The fire. The focus. Don’t ever let anyone dull it.”
William smiles, small at first, then wider, genuine. And it hits me somewhere deep. This boy is sassy when he wants to be, brilliant, and he can take a hard spanking without breaking. He’s everything I never knew I needed.
I reach over and give his hand a firm, friendly squeeze.
For a moment the air between us feels electric. Real chemistry. Not just the raw dominance and submission we’ve shared, but something warmer. Something that could grow.
Then my phone vibrates on the table.
I glance at the screen. Padraig…
PADRAIG: One of our soldiers just got shot dead. Ambush near the east docks. Looks like Volkov’s rivals testing boundaries.
A black mood slams into me like a freight train. The smile drops from my face. My jaw tightens so hard I hear my teeth grind. William notices immediately.
“Everything okay?” William asks, his voice small.
I force my expression neutral. “Business. Nothing for you to worry about.” I stand up, already mentally shifting into pakhan mode. “I need to head out shortly. But you’re staying here. That’s Daddy’s Orders. You sleep in my bed tonight. I’ll be back when I can.”
William nods submissively, eyes wide. “Yes, Sir.”
The word “Sir” from his lips soothes the rage just enough to keep me from putting my fist through a wall. I walk around the table, pull him up from his chair, and kiss his forehead.
“Good boy,” I say. “Finish your food. Then I’ll take care of that sore bottom before I leave.”
I spend the next ten minutes rubbing cooling cream into his blazing red ass while he lies face-down on my bed, whimperingsoftly at every gentle touch. The sight of my handprints on his skin grounds me.
William is mine to protect now.
Mine to punish.
