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  Corbin obviously sensed what was happening because he grew larger as well, shielding me in more ways than one. I could feel him reaching out to protect me, trying to form a wall between me and the hateful fear that was trying to invade.

  I was still standing behind him and I was glad—I didn’t want to see if his face had turned into a horror mask with glowing red eyes like Roderick’s. Didn’t want to know if he had also lost every last scrap of his humanity and become a monster.

  “No,” he shouted at Roderick. “Stop it! Addison is too fragile to endure such treatment.”

  “She must be punished!” Roderick’s voice had deepened and thickened somehow. He sounded like an animal talking, an ancient crocodile, maybe, that had somehow learned to speak.

  “She will be!” Corbin growled, taking a step toward the howling horror monster Roderick had become. “But not by you—she is my consort! If you break her, no matter what the provocation, you will have me to deal with.”

  This seemed to calm Roderick down somewhat. Or at least, the cloud of darkness around him receded and his face became marginally less scary. The wind of agony and terror I felt whipping around my mental shield seemed to die down somewhat as well.

  “She must be punished well,” he snarled, still sounding more animal than human. “I want to see her bleed.”

  “No.” Corbin’s voice was cold. “I told you, she is too fragile for such treatment.”

  Celeste frowned. “She shouldn’t be if you’ve bonded her to you. You could at least break a few of her bones—she richly deserves it.”

  “Shut your mouth, Celeste, and let your betters talk,” Roderick snapped.

  Celeste frowned but moved back a step, clearly not willing to risk a run-in with the much more powerful vamp.

  “Addison has only recently become my consort,” Corbin said, talking only to Roderick and ignoring Celeste who was pouting to one side. “I didn’t want to bond her to me until I was certain I intended to keep her. Therefore she is not bonded and cannot endure rough treatment. She will however be punished.”

  Roderick frowned. “If you do not intend to make her bleed or break her bones, what will you do?”

  It was a good question—what was he going to do? I felt my whole body tensing with dread. God, this whole night had gone so much worse than I had even imagined it could. And yet, I couldn’t regret my words or actions. Roderick had to know he couldn’t just take my friend against her will. I had promised Taylor that no one would ever hurt her like that again and, damn it, that was one promise I intended to keep!

  Corbin took a deep breath. “If you knew Addison as I do, you would know that what she fears most isn’t pain but humiliation. The punishment I give her will make her sorry she engaged in such rash actions tonight, I assure you.”

  “Fine. Humiliation is a good, if rather subtle tool.” Roderick nodded. “Proceed.”

  “What, right now?” I gasped as Corbin turned and took me by the arm. I had hoped he would “punish” me after everyone had gone home. And what kind of humiliation did he have in mind, exactly?

  “Yes, now.” His voice was tight with anger as he dragged me up onto the dais. There was a throne-like chair with a high back where he usually sat during club hours, allowing the regulars to admire the rare and powerful four-star vamp. Corbin sat in it now and pulled me to him. Then, before I could protest, he yanked me down onto his lap and flipped me over.

  “Hey, stop it!” I struggled but of course it did no good. Corbin’s arms were like steel bars, holding me down.

  “This is for disobeying me,” he announced.

  He flipped up the gauzy red dress and yanked down my panties at the same time. Before my mind had time to register exactly what he was going to do, I felt his large, hard palm connect with my bare ass. Smack!

  “Ouch!” I gasped, unable to help the note of surprised pain in my voice. Earlier Corbin had said he didn’t think corporal punishment would do me any good—so why was he doing it now?

  I didn’t have much time to wonder because he did it again.

  “This is for threatening one I ordered you to be respectful to.” Smack! Again his palm connected with my backside, followed by a rush of humiliating pain.

  “Ow! Stop it!” I wiggled furiously but he only held me tighter. From the corner of my eye I could see that bitch Celeste smirking and Roderick nodding, a little smile on his lips. God, that they should see me like this—that they should witness my pain and embarrassment as I was turned over Corbin’s knee and spanked like a naughty little girl was almost more than I could bear.

  And still Corbin wasn’t done.

  “This is for speaking out of turn when you should have been silent,” he growled, spanking me again. Smack!

  My ass was burning by now and there was nothing erotic about it. It wasn’t like one of those scenes in the spicy romance books where the stern master whips his naughty little slave while she secretly gets off on the pain and submission. I had no wish to submit to Corbin—not like this. And I certainly had no wish to do it in front of Celeste and Roderick. Last but not least, the spanking really hurt. Though I was determined not to cry, I could feel hot tears stinging my eyes. God, if he kept on like this I wouldn’t be able to sit down for a month!

  “This is for your stubborn insistence on willfully endangering us both.” Smack! Corbin continued talking and spanking but after a while I lost track of what he was saying. I was stretched out on his lap, my hands clenched into fists as he blistered my bottom, struggling not to cry. It was so demeaning, so humiliating…especially when I heard Celeste laughing at me.

  And though I didn’t want to admit it, it hurt so much. I hadn’t been spanked since I was a child and I had forgotten the stinging pain a really harsh whipping can bring. My stepfather had gotten it down to a science but that had been years ago—I had never expected to have to endure such abject humiliation and agony as an adult.

  But worse than the pain was the sense of betrayal. I had let Corbin into my mind…and maybe just a little into my heart. He had treated me, up until now, as an equal—someone to respect, someone to be reckoned with. And now I was nothing but a naughty child in his lap, one who had to be disciplined for her own good. That hurt—hurt a lot.

  The tears of rage and pain standing in my eyes abruptly overflowed and streamed down my cheeks. I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood but despite my desperate effort to hold it back, a hoarse sob escaped me. And then another and another.

  Immediately Corbin flipped me back over and pulled me into his arms.

  “All right, Addison,” he murmured, rubbing one hand over my back. “It’s all right. Everything will be all right.”

  I wanted to push away from him but I was too weak. Instead, I crumpled against his chest and sobbed, feeling like he had broken me. Here I was, a strong, respected vampire Auditor, able to look any vamp in the eye and push the kill button as casually as flipping on a light switch and Corbin had reduced me to a sobbing bundle of emotion.

  “I hate you,” I whispered against his chest, knowing he could hear me. “God, I hate you.”

  “Nicely done,” I heard Celeste say with a laugh in her voice. “Exactly what she deserved—the little human upstart.”

  “A good show, I’ll admit,” Roderick replied. “But this isn’t over, Corbin. Expect to reopen the issue when I come to inspect your territory tomorrow night. Come, Celeste.”

  I didn’t hear them go but suddenly the room felt empty—empty of the vampires, anyway. Then there was a soft shuffle of feet, which must be the two human “snacks” they had brought with them leaving as well.

  Finally the door to the club closed then it was just Corbin and me, alone.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I yanked at my panties and dress, pulling one up and the other down, covering myself and my wounded dignity as well as I could. Then I tried to get off Corbin’s lap but I was too weak and besides, he wouldn’t let me go.

  “Addison…” His voice was low and soot