The sharp, stinging pain on her backside was a brutal punctuation mark to his fury. Linsy gasped, the sound torn from her throat.

"It seems you haven't learned your lesson!" Michael’s voice was a low, cold whip-crack in the silent office, devoid of the professional detachment he wore like armor. This was something else, something primal and raw.

He was a force of nature she couldn't reason with, a storm she couldn't weather. After what felt like an eternity of his relentless, punishing ...