“You can argue with me all you like, but you know I am speaking the truth. You have three mafia families on your tail and no matter how tough or strong you think you are, Isabelle, you are a lone woman and cannot escape them on your own.”
“You would not say that to me if I were a man,” she snapped. She just couldn’t help herself.
“No, I would not. I would not care so much. Besides, a man would not be careless enough to do this on his own,” he said sharply. “You are trying to change a world that cannot be changed, however much you try.”
She glared at him, but deep down inside she knew he spoke the hard truth. It was more than difficult to swallow it.
Will I ever be free?
To her frustration, tears gathered in her eyes again. Lucien’s eyes widened.
“I am sorry I spoke to you that way. I am just frustrated you have put yourself in so much danger when there was no need. My ideas are old-fashioned when it comes to a woman’s safety and well being.” He was softening his tone again, touching her arm.
“She should always be well protected by the men around her and should never have to face danger. You think you are isolated and alone in this, Isabelle, but you are not. There are men around you who want— no, need to protect you. I need to keep you safe, just as much as your brother and the man he sent to help you. I can protect you much better than any of them can. You must accept my help, Isabelle, before you get yourself killed.”
“I have told you. I am a grown woman and I can look after myself. This is something I have to do alone. Every man I have trusted, has either let me down, betrayed me or beaten me, apart from one — my uncle. And he is dead. Please leave, Lucien. I will take my chances alone.” She made sure her voice was firm, desperately attempting to hide the shake in it.
Lucien gave a loud sigh and started jabbering on in French to himself with frustration as to how stubborn she was. She raised an eyebrow at him with disdain. Yet she couldn’t help noticing how attractive he was when he was angry. He ran his hand through his short dark brown hair he wore flat against his head. There was a slight curl to the short fringe at the back on his neck. Isabelle wanted to run her fingers through it. Everything about him was elegant male, so darkly handsome and French. His designer black suit was perfect. It clung perfectly to his slim athletic figure outlining his toned physique to advantage, just like a male model’s. Isabelle wondered how many women had visited his bed.
He put his hands in his trouser pockets and paced the room.
Why would someone like him, look at someone so drab as me? I must just be imagining it. He cares because he is close to my family and was to my uncle. You are dreaming if you think he likes you. For a start, you are too old for him and you don’t look like a model. That man deserves a tall, sophisticated, elegant woman on his arm with the looks of a goddess. That isn’t you. Too small and too curved for the likes of him. Anyway, what are you thinking? Get him out of your room. You are doing this on your own, girl, and no buts. And no men involved either….
“I asked you to leave, Lucien,” she said nervously, defiantly tilting her chin at him and his men who stood there like toy soldiers with blank faces waiting for their next command.
Lucien stopped pacing and stared at her hard. Isabelle’s heart began to beat faster. She wasn’t sure if it was from fear or the hungry look his eyes were giving her. She hadn’t mistaken it. The man wanted her. He gave another laugh of disbelief, shook his head and then wagged his finger at her from side to side.
“No, Isabelle. I am not leaving.”
He came towards her. She took a step back; it was instinct after her dealings with all male family members who were annoyed with her. But Lucien caught her arm and brought her back to stand in front of him, albeit closer than before. She trembled, straining away from him, waiting for him to hit her face because she would not do as he wished. Lucien caught her other arm and gave her a small shake. His face wore a mixture of horror and disbelief when he saw how fearful she had become.
“Do not be afraid of me, Isabelle. Do you really believe I would hit you? I am not my father and I have never raised my hand to a woman in my family or otherwise. And I never will, no matter how hard you try me. Look at me.”
He cupped both sides of her face. Before he spoke to her again he took a breath and calmed his voice. “I can’t leave you. If I do, you will be killed. I don’t want to lose you. You have pushed me away once too often.” He paused and lowered his voice to a caressing velvet whisper.
“This time you leave me no choice but to take the decision out of your hands. I am going to make you leave with me if I have to throw you over my shoulder and kidnap you. I want you safe, Isabelle. If you try to escape me as you have Christian, I will hunt you down just as I have done now and bring you back. Christian will be hunting you, but you are now mine to protect. I am taking control. I will help you bring down Declan Mayer and all of the families but only with me at your side watching your back. My terms, Isabelle or this operation goes nowhere.”
She was too stunned to speak, to answer. Tears gathered and spilled this time, much to her humiliation. Lucien’s response was immediate. He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. At first she felt frozen, numbed by the traitorous relief flooding her body. The same relief she’d experienced when Christian had taken control away from her and she realised she was not alone anymore. Both men conjured up the same curious feelings of safety and need to be loved. It was ludicrous. She couldn’t trust any man. Hadn’t she learnt anything? Yet when Lucien pulled her into his strong arms and gave her no option but to accept his rules, she just wanted to melt and take shelter in the warmth of his embrace. She dared to press herself close to him for a second and soak up his protective strength. His response was swift. The moment he felt her hold on to him, he held her tighter.
“Sh, Cherie. Everything will be fine. Let me help you,” he whispered, brushing his lips across her hair.
It was the way he held her. There was such love and need to have her close. No one had held her that way before. But then she reminded herself she’d felt the same with Christian Dalban the night before. It didn’t sit well with her view of men as being untrustworthy. The urge to melt into Lucien’s warm hold and his powerful masculine strength was overwhelming and hard to resist.
Her treacherous feelings were a trigger for her stubbornness to reassert itself in a rational attempt to protect her from harm. She had trusted too many men and they had all betrayed her and let her down. It was just too dangerous to give into another one. She had to fight for her independence. With a concerted effort, she pulled away from Lucien.
“I know you want to help me,” she began, wiping at her tears and firming her tone. “But you must understand, I have to do this alone. I have to prove to myself and others that I can look after myself. My uncle wanted his business to remain legit. He left it to me and I have to take control and carry on his work. I —”
Lucien shook his head. “Enough, Cherie. No more. You will not do any of this alone. Must I spank you to convince you I am in control? You will be protected whether you want to be or not.”
There was no mistaking the firm resolve and command in his soft caressing voice. Escape appeared unlikely. Even if she got past Lucien, there were the two men he’d brought with him to consider. She would never make it out of the door. The whole idea of having to fight again made her tired. She was exhausted, defeated. Anger surged inside at the notion she was an animal trapped in a cage. She rubbed her bottom, thinking about how she was still a little sore and pink from being over Christian Dalban’s knee recently. Now Lucien was threatening to discipline her as well, to make her see the folly of her actions. Both men were more than determined to make her capitulate. But stubborn female pride would not allow them to help her. If they did, they would have to force her. She wasn’t going down without a fight.
Lucien viewed her intently as she smoothed her hand over her bottom when he mentioned having to spank her. By the sli
ght curl of amusement on his lips, she knew he had worked it out.
“I gather you have already been spanked by Christian. He is very good at it. I watched him spank a girlfriend once when she endangered herself. It was very effective and highly arousing for her, for him, and for me watching.” He smiled at the look of surprise on her face.
“I know he made love to you on false pretences when you were vulnerable and he will pay for that.” There was dark menace in his voice. “But on some things we agree. If a woman is being obstinate, the best way to bring her back to her senses and calm her fears and emotions is to discipline her with a spanking. It works every time.”
Lucien reached out to stroke her cheek and managed to touch her briefly before she flinched away. He caught her arm and pulled her reluctant body to him once more. “And I think a little spanking will help you see I will not be moved in my resolve to protect you from the danger that surrounds you. You will learn to trust men again. We are not all out to hurt you. Some of us are honourable and are determined to care for you and make sure you are safe. If you want me to treat you like a child until you succumb, Isabelle, then I am more than willing to do that.”
Isabelle struggled fiercely in his grip. “I don’t trust any men and I never will. I don’t believe you want to help me. There is something in this for you. It is your way of stopping me bringing them all down. I won’t be stopped!” She sounded almost hysterical and it frustrated her.
“You are wrong. I should not be judged so harshly.” There was dismay in Lucien’s gentle voice but it did not entreat him to lose the command in it. “I am going against my family’s wishes and taking a risk and it is more than worth it. You are worth it. I—"
He stopped short as though he was about to reveal something he was not ready to expose.
“No. Get out and leave,” she said, trying to calm her voice. She was desperate to regain her control. Her struggles intensified and she found Lucien pulling her into his arms and holding her tight against his muscled chest.
He turned his head to address the two men with him as he struggled to control her in his arms. “Go and get the car. One of you stand outside the door.” They responded immediately.
Isabelle's tears flooded down her cheeks unchecked. She was disappointed in herself. She intensified her struggles, but the energy required was dissipating. Exhaustion, being constantly on alert and lack of food all conspired to work against her. When she felt the brush of Lucien’s cool fingertips caress the backs of her legs with the brush of his hand and lift her skirt to her waist, she gave a helpless shriek.
Lucien’s hand skimmed the surface of her cream satin underwear. She was pressed up against him, her arms trapped at her sides by his arm, which was wound tightly around her back.
“I have already told you, Isabelle. I am not going anywhere without you. I will not see you killed. A good bare bottom spanking will calm you down.” A trace of amusement laced his words. She kicked at him.
After bunching her skirt around her waist and keeping her arms trapped under the tops of his own she felt him lean forward and used both of his hands to pull her underwear down just past the backs of her thighs. Now her legs were trapped and she could not kick him.
The warm air of the room settled on her bare bottom, making her grimace at the humiliation of being so exposed. Then there was the pain that would follow. A small voice echoed through her mind.
Yeah and I wonder if you get turned on by being spanked when Lucien does it like you did with Mr. Dalban?
Even the thought was humiliating. But there was more to come. She stilled her movement when Lucien stroked the backs of his fingers across her already blushing pink bottom created by Mr. Dalban’s firm spanking hand. She wriggled, feeling the dark curls of her sex rub against his trouser legs reminding her of how fragile, open and ruled she was in Lucien’s hold. Yet that safe feeling she always felt strongly around Lucien urged her to trust him.
“Hm. I have to concede, my rival disciplined you well.” He sounded wistful. “But now it is my turn.”
Despite knowing what was to follow, she couldn’t help but be intoxicated by the melodic lilt of his seductive French accent. His touch was so gentle, caressing the swell of her bottom, tracing the outline of her rump while he built up her anticipation of the hard strikes to come. There would be no doubt her bottom would be coloured crimson by the time Lucien was finished with her punishment. She thought of the burning and the discomfort she would have to endure when sitting down. Mr. Dalban had threatened to turn her bottom crimson if she ran away from him and after Lucien’s spanking, she prayed he would not catch up with her.
Lucien appeared to be taking his time to explore her bottom. He made her gasp and writhe when he dipped his fingers between the crease with a gentle downward stroke. When he reached the bottom he cupped her buttocks and simply held it lovingly.
“You have a beautiful bottom, Isabelle. Soft, rounded, firm yet plump in its swell. Magnifique.” He chuckled. “I am going to enjoy spanking it. You should see how it looks in the mirror, Cherie. Learn to appreciate your own body.”
Isabelle almost sobbed out loud when she remembered the long mirror on the small wardrobe door in the hotel room. They were standing directly in front of it. He would be able to see her in the mirror with her panties pulled down and her blushing cheeks bared like a child ready to be spanked. Mortified at the level of shame filling her thoughts, she struggled and tried once more to get away from him, but his grip on her buttocks tightened and held her in position.
“Sh,” he whispered, brushing his lips across her forehead. “You are going to learn three lessons when I spank you today,” he told her softly. “The first is about trusting me and men in general. We are not all the monsters you believe us to be. Secondly, you will learn to accept your vulnerability as a woman and that you cannot complete this task alone without my help. And the final lesson, a very important one, is to appreciate your beautiful body. I will no longer listen to or hear of you making self-depreciating comments. You are beautiful in every sense of the word, Isabelle.
She felt his lips across her cheek this time, making her feel meek in his arms, much to her annoyance. His dark eyes were full of possessive passion, captivating her senses and bringing her anger to a sudden stop.
“Now turn your head and look in the mirror. I want you to watch your helpless bare bottom colour as I strike it.”
“I can’t. Don’t make me look at myself. I don’t like to,” she blurted, terrified at the prospect of seeing herself in such a state of undress in front of a man.
Isabelle had never appreciated her small curved form. Declan had noticed her insecurities about it and the way she compared herself to his two sisters who were tall and thin when she came back from England to nurse her uncle. He used it to his advantage, making cruel comments about her slim curved body when she’d rejected his advances and he had beaten her for the first of many times.
Declan’s constant put downs caused her weight and shape to become an obsession. It had greatly affected her self-esteem when she’d seen herself covered in bruises. He had noticed her torment and continually used it to humiliate her, forcefully stripping her and making her look in the mirror while he pointed out her defects.
To Isabelle, looking in mirrors was degrading. She could put her make-up on, but looking at her body was impossible. Only for a quick check her clothes and then she would hurry away. The disappointment and unhappiness she could not be anything more than what she was, was too much to bear. Now Lucien was determined she would face her body without remorse for its shape and size.
“Please, please, don’t make me!" More tears of frustration dampened her eyes.
With his free hand, Lucien caught hold of her chin and lifted it, gently guiding her to turn her head and observe her bare bottom in the mirror. Isabelle was trembling. She closed her eyes to avoid the sight but a sharp stinging slap to her bare buttocks from Lucien’s firm hand had them jerking open. The moment she did, L
ucien began her discipline spanking in earnest.
Her pink buttocks were on full display. She was so helpless, trapped in Lucien’s embrace. Her panties were down to her knees as though she were a naughty girl being spanked by a grown up. Shame burned on her face yet there was something erotic about the whole scene. Evidence of her arousal could be felt between her pussy lips, if Lucien decided to investigate. Her yelps came fast with each blow to her bottom from Lucien’s well-practised hand. He knew just where to slap to induce the most pain.
She watched her rump jump and quiver with each sound slap. It glistened a bright dark pink as Lucien raised his hand high, curving it just a little to catch her up under her rump where it sloped off to the backs of her thighs. It was tender when he struck it, directing her buttocks upwards, causing her whole body to lift with the force and buck up against him. He repeated the action, making her yelp louder and her pussy rub against his cock inside his trousers. With every movement, she could feel its tautness pressing and rubbing against her clit, giving her that enticing mix of pleasure and pain just like the night before.
But a new fresh pain was to intrigue her nerve endings when Lucien moved to concentrate his firm hand across the tender backs of her thighs. She began to howl and sob. The more she cried, the more she realised the pain and frustration was being released from her mind. It was a chance to rid herself of all the pent up emotion and anger that was crippling her progress.
“That’s it, Isabelle. Let it all go,” Lucien urged as her body trembled with each slap.
Isabelle found herself hanging on to him for dear life as he continued to spank her, until he was satisfied her punishment was complete. After Lucien finished her spanking, he smoothed the back of his hand across her stinging buttocks. She could feel heat blasting from them against his hand. Her sense of shame had receded to the background. Quietly she clung to him, watching him in the mirror as he gentled the pain of her punishment with the backs of his fingers.
Protecting Isabelle Page 7