Julia the Lion Tamer is a great performer when she's under the big top--she charms the crowd every night as she performers daring stunts with her vicious companions. But when she gets offstage she's a hard-drinking wreck who spends too much time spying on the sexy hand-balancer, Dimitri.
Dimitri's no fool, though, and when he catches on, he decides to help Julia find the discipline in her everyday life that she has when she performs. And he'll help her even if it takes all night, a few spankings, and a few more naughty accoutrements.
How much does Julia want it? How much can she take? Can she be TAMED?
7500 words
As he got closer Julia felt an animalistic fear flare inside her, like she did with the lion earlier. It was a nauseating need to either embarrassingly run away or, as she dreamed of beneath the covers of her bed, take him.
This was not rationality. This was survival.
Dimitri put a steadying hand on her shoulder. “Julia, I know that—”
“I said that I’m fine, Dimitri.” She pushed against his arm, trying to move him back, but he was marble. “I don’t need your help.”
He stepped back, chuckling, hands raised in a mock of surrender. “Okay, okay. But I figured something must be wrong—you usually do such a good job of watching me quietly.”
The blood froze in her veins. “What are you talking about,” she snapped. “I don’t watch you.”
“You do.”
She stared at him. He was smiling pleasantly. The wine was thoroughly soaked through her brain and she swung between rage and embarrassment with an alarming quickness. She brought the bottle to her lips to finish it off.
“Put the bottle down.” The words weren’t unfriendly, but they expressed no desire or room for compromise.
She hesitated.
“You don’t need that,” he said, voice steady. He put out one of his muscular hands. “Give it to me.”
She grinned. He just wanted a drinking partner, was that it? She handed it to him. “It’s pretty decent stuff. I picked it up in town two days ago.”
Dimitri tossed it under the trailer. “Come with me.” He turned away and began to walk away.
“What the hell was that,” Julia shouted after him.
“Come,” he intoned, crooking a finger behind his back as he walked towards his own trailer further in the back of the lot.
Julia scampered after him. “What’s up? Listen, I’m sorry I freaked you out. I wasn’t watching you.”
Dimitri spun around and took her by the chin. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You seem to have a lot of troubles. Do what I say, do not lie to me, and I’ll help you.”
Julia was caught between his piercing dark eyes and loathing the condescending words he spoke. “I don’t need help.”
He sighed. “Julia, I’m not blind. Maybe a lot of the other people here are, or they have their own things to work around. I’m not blind, and you’re not subtle.” He turned and started walking again. “Lie to me again, and I’ll punish you.”
“What?”
“Challenge me again, and I’ll punish you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ask me a question that begins with the word ‘what’ again, and I will punish you.”
Julia’s brow wrinkled. She didn’t quite understand the circumstances. “Dimitiri, this is ridiculous. What are—”
Dimitri spun and grabbed her hand, lashing it with his iron-like fingers.
“What the fuck!”
Dimitri knelt down on one knee. “Kneel down, Julia. Now.”
She looked at him. It was not anger in his voice. There was something of compassion in his command. His stare, his speech—it all left no room for compromise. She got down on her knees in the dirt.
Dimitiri placed a hand on her shoulder and pressed her forward. It was gentle, yet impossible to resist. He was stone in motion. He bent her over his knee as his other hand swung up and down, smacking her hard on the ass.
The wine had numbed her a bit, but it still stung powerfully.
He rubbed her raw backside. “Julia, you are going to learn to ask better ques
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