Silence

Still she said nothing, stubbornly refusing to give him the satisfaction of victory, and so he let the silence drag.

"I've got all the time in the world, slut"—a flash of outrage at the derogatory word—"you'll have to speak up sooner or later. What. Do. You. Want?"

Every interaction with her had taught Lucas that he needed to establish dominance first before he could get anywhere. Kythril wasn't like her sister: she had no instinctive need to submit, she needed to be conquered. He suspected she needed to hold onto a shred of pride. He knew she wanted the pain he would give her, needed it, even, but she also didn't want to give up too easily.

At least, that seemed like a good theory to him. Still, as the minutes ticked by, and she gave no sign that she was about to give in, he began to doubt his read of her. Just then a glimmer of hesitation flashed in her eyes. He smirked knowingly and all of a sudden, all of her pride and strength seemed to evaporate.

She looked away, her lower lip trembling. She muttered something he couldn't make out.

"What was that?" He demanded. Though he had not spoken loudly, the library had been quiet for what seemed like an eternity, and the sound of his voice caused her to jump.

"Hurt me!" she blurted out. "Please, hurt me... sir."

His hand shot out and slapped her across the cheek, knocking her head to the side. Kythril cried out with the sudden stinging pain, and he could hear Eldwyn gasp in shock behind him. He had told her to be quiet, but he decided to ignore her disobedience.

Kythril staggered, her hand on her face where the blow had landed. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she was trembling from head to toe. She turned her face back towards him and gazed at him, her eyes full of fire.

He used his other hand this time, to strike the opposite cheek.

"Uhnnnn!" She groaned as her head was knocked the other way, but again she turned her face back towards him, eyes bright and eager, as if she'd been waiting for this moment.

Lucas shoved her back against the wall, wrapping a hand around her throat, tightly, but not so tight as to close off her airway. He brought his face in close enough to feel her halting breaths against his cheek. Her own hands were on his wrist, holding it as if it was her only lifeline, but she made no attempt to break his hold on him.

"Do you see your sister over there?" He whispered rhetorically. "She just wants to do as I tell her, she gets off on it, like a good little pet. You're different, aren't you? You're not a pet, you're a wild animal and you need to be tamed."

Her jaw moved, but other than her labored breathing, no sound escaped from her lips. He smirked viciously. "So that's what I'm going to do, I'm going to tame you. However, there is one order you will follow, or believe me, I'll throw you out without a second thought. I will not have you stand here fully dressed when Eldwyn is naked. So strip. I'll count down from 10, and anything that you're still wearing then I'll rip from your body."

He released his grip and walked away, beginning his countdown. "10... 9..."

He didn't need to turn around to see that she was doing as he ordered, the frantic shuffling of fabric was enough to tell him that.

"8... 7..."

He took the opportunity to see how Eldwyn had taken his violent treatment of her sister. She was staring wide-eyed at Kythril, lips parted and wet, and her prick still just as erect as when he'd left her. He didn't think she even realized she was making minute thrusting motions with her hips.

"6... 5..."

He thought back to the first time he'd spanked Kythril in front of Eldwyn. He'd assumed it was her anger with her sister's betrayal that had driven her to urge him to punish Kythril more severely. Now he was beginning to wonder if there wasn't something else at play.

"4... 3..."

It was quiet behind him, now. Had she finished already? That was quick. Still, he'd said he'd give her a count of 10, and something told him that he should not go back on even this smallest of promises.

"2... 1..."

Lucas took a deep breath, delaying the final count by just an instant to finish resetting his expression.

"0." he said, turning around, finding Kythril standing in exactly the same position he'd left her, her back against the wall, arms at her sides. Her pale green dress had been carelessly flung into a corner, and her bra laid at her feet, but her panties were still on.

She smirked arrogantly at him, putting her hand on her hip to make sure he could not miss the garment hiding her privates. His impression of her had been correct. When he gave Eldwyn the exact same order, she had obeyed, probably relishing surrendering that part of her to him. Not so Kythril.

Suddenly he realized he had been staring at her for some time, almost certainly not with his most intelligent expression on his face. He'd made a threat, and now he was going to have to follow up on it.

"Kythril," he began, his voice hard, but not loud. He took a step towards her. "I believe I told you to take off your clothes. Why are you still wearing your panties?"

"W-what are you going to do about it?" She demanded, spoiled only slightly by the way she tripped over her own tongue.