Marco had finished freshening up. Catherine was sulking on the settee. He smiled as he crossed to her and leaned down to kiss her. She shoved him away.

“Catherine, behave yourself.”

“I want my clothes, Marco. I’m meeting with Salvatore.”

“You are not and, therefore, have no need of your clothes unless I am going to have to send Griffin up to watch over you.”

“Why can’t I go?”

“Because you did not give me enough time to check this Salvatore out. I don’t know who or even what he is. Without that knowledge, I cannot assess how much of a threat he is to you. I will not put you in a situation with that many unknowns. Now do I need to send Griffin up or can you do as you’re told?”

“Are you always going to be this intractable?”

“Where your safety is concerned? Yes. Now is Griffin coming up or not?”

“No. If Salvatore is a threat, I’d rather you have backup. And don’t you dare croon at me that I’m a good girl. I swear I’ll punch you.”

Marco leaned down and kissed her. “Save that fire for later, my Catherine. And see that you mind me.”

Marco left her and Catherine went into the bathroom and showered. She came out in a towel and thought about remaining naked awaiting her mate’s return.

“Fuck that,” she said.

She got dressed and headed downstairs. She was intercepted by the man she had seen with Marco at the restaurant... Griffin.

“I thought you might think to defy Marco, given your spirited nature. That would be a decidedly bad idea,” Griffin said, grinning at her.

“I don’t recall asking for your opinion.”

“You didn’t,” he said agreeably. “But I’ve known your mate far longer than you. He doesn’t take it well when his orders are disobeyed, especially where the safety of his mate is concerned. Go back to your room, Catherine, and this stays between us. If not, I fear your ride home will be none too comfortable.”

“There won’t be any need to tell him anything. He’ll know because I plan to join them. Now get out of my way.”

Catherine pushed past him and trotted down the grand staircase with Griffin in her wake. She spied Marco at a table with a man she assumed was Salvatore.

“Marco, my beloved,” she called as she crossed the room to him. “I do hope you apologized to Salvatore for my tardiness.”

Marco stood and intercepted her as she tried to skirt around the table from him. “I explained to Salvatore that my mate would not be joining us.”

The inference that Salvatore was a wolf by Marco referring to her as his mate was not lost on Catherine.

“Griffin, I’m glad you’re here. Do me a favor and have a little chat with Salvatore here. Find out what he knows and then see he is paid for any balance due. Apparently my mate and I need to discuss more pressing matters upstairs. Also if you could have my car brought around, I would appreciate it.”

“I’m under no obligation to speak to anyone other than my client,” Salvatore said, starting to rise.

Marco pressed his shoulder until Salvatore yielded and sat back down. “The only obligation you have is to yourself and to stay alive. Give me the information I need and you will remain so. Refrain from anything less than complete and candid disclosure, Griffin here will rip your lungs out. And if you leave this place, tell those who employ you that Florence falls under my protection and from this moment forward anyone caught hunting or trespassing in my territory will be dealt with in the harshest of manners. And if I catch any of you hyenas sniffing around my mate, I will hunt each and every one of you down and ensure that you meet a slow and painful end.”

Catherine watched as all of the blood left Salvatore’s face.

“Griffin, may I impose on you to get the information we need?”

“But of course, old friend. That won’t be a problem. Before I leave the hotel, I’ll have the information. I take it you’ll just leave your things?”

“Yes, Catherine and I will sort it out the next time we are here.”

With a death grip on her elbow, Marco led Catherine out of the dining room and back toward the stairs that led to their suite.

“Do you always stay here when you’re in Florence?” she asked conversationally.

“Naturally, we own the hotel. I keep our suite and several rooms here for our use and the use of our pack and friends.”

“You own a hotel? Just how rich are you?”

“We,” he said, stressing the pronoun, “are quite wealthy.”

“You do not get to order me around,” she hissed.

“But I do. And you, my Catherine, are about to be reminded as to why you should learn to do as you are told and what happens when you don’t.”

He ushered her up the stairs and into their room. She could feel the anger rolling off of him in waves. She had assumed her would be annoyed with her, but not to this extent.

Once inside he spun her around and pressed her back into the wall, his mouth descending on hers in a feral kiss. She pushed at his chest. Her resistance lasted only a moment before it melted in response to his passion. Catherine found her body almost immediately answering the call of his and she responded with a hunger of her own.

When Marco finally released her mouth, she said shakily, “I take it he’s a wolf and is implicated in my sister’s disappearance and that of others?”

“Yes on both counts. He knows far more about your sister than he has ever let on. If I am correct, and Griffin will now see to verifying that, you were to have been his next prize—taken and sold to the highest bidder to be mated and used for breeding by your new alpha.”

“I would never have agreed to that.”

“You miss my point,” growled Marco. “The choice would never have been yours. You are an unclaimed female, beautiful, wealthy—few alphas using Salvatore’s service would have given your choice a second thought.”

He moved away from her, leaving her aching for his touch.

“Now, my Catherine,” he whispered seductively, “you will strip and go stand in the corner to await your punishment.”

“What? You can’t be serious. You drag me upstairs, kiss me until I’m breathless pinned up against a wall, and then think you’re going to spank me? I don’t think so.”

“You do not have a say in the matter. Or rather the only say you ever had was whether or not you obeyed me, which you chose not to do. Show me you are remorseful for your choice by getting naked and accepting your punishment.”

She searched Marco’s face for any inkling of softness to his resolve and saw none. He growled and her whole body shook with trepidation and the re-ignition of her ever increasing sexual response to him.

Resigned, she removed her clothes and moved to the corner. Catherine stood there, acutely aware that he was watching her. She knew that he would be able to sense her growing apprehension at the spanking she knew he intended to give her and at the annoying evidence of her arousal that knowledge produced.

Catherine was startled when she felt his hands skim down her sides.

“Such a beautiful mate.”

He ran his hands up and cupped her breasts, rolling the nipples between his fingers. Catherine pushed her tits further into his hands, enjoying the possessive yet tender way in which he was fondling her. He ran his hands down her ribcage and spanned her waist with his hands.

“And such a tiny waist.”

His hands dropped lower.

“But then we come to my mate’s wide-set hips made to cradle a man as he fucks her face-to-face and to hold her steady when he is pounding her from behind. Not to mention her beautiful ass that fills his hands as he drives into her or bounces so prettily when she is being punished for her latest misbehavior. Do you know which of your assets I intend to utilize first?”

“Marco, please, I don’t want a spanking. I just got angry and lost my temper.”

“At least you now understand why you are being chastised without my having to tell you. It will serve you better if you can remember that before you earn yourself a red bottom.”

He took her gently by the hand and led her back toward the bed. She didn’t resist with any true effort but she did not come willingly. He chuckled and sat down, drawing her over his lap so that the fullness of her lower cheeks was at the highest point.

Before she could make another protest, Marco brought his hand down with a resounding swat, making her yelp. He proceeded to cover her entire backside with blow after blow. Catherine could feel the sting and heat from each one compounding on the ones before it. She could well imagine that once again it would be red and swollen when he was done.

She needed to remember that while Marco loved her dearly he would not tolerate her disobedience and each and every time she sought to defy him, she would find herself face down over his knee on the receiving end of a disciplinary spanking. She briefly considered if loving him and being with him was worth accepting that as a part of her life. She realized that she’d never had a choice. From the first time she felt his call reverberate through her body, she was lost. The God-saving grace was that as he had told her, Marco would always find her and would love her completely for as long as fate allowed them to breathe the same air.

Catherine tried not to struggle or squirm. Partly due to pride and not wanting him to know how much it hurt, but partly to try to acknowledge that she was accepting his authority and discipline with good grace. But good lord, it hurt.

She lost the battle of not fighting and began to cry and tried to kick her legs, which were trapped between his. She heard him chuckle as he merely tucked her more securely in place and continued to rain swats all over her bottom, now covering ground he had already spanked.

She began to cry and promise incoherently that she would behave in the future and beg him to stop.

“Had enough?” he asked pleasantly as he rubbed her backside soothingly.

“Yes, Marco,” she said between tears.

“Try to remember that it is best to do as I ask.”

He allowed her to get up and merely pointed to the corner. He followed her there and lifted her hair, rubbing several strands through his fingertips. He nuzzled the back of her neck and she could feel her nipples begin to draw into stone-hard pebbles and her pussy begin to clench in desperation to be filled with him.

“You, my mate, disobeyed me and left our room against my express orders. That is the last time I will use just my hand to reprimand you for blatantly disobeying me. The next time, I’ll warm up your bottom with my hand, but then you will feel the sting of my belt as it lays welts across your backside. And as you chose to be naughty in public, part of your punishment will also be witnessed by those who work for us. They will be reminded that their alpha is not a man to be trifled with.”

“What do you mean public?”

Marco chuckled. “You will find out soon enough.”

Marco pulled her away from the wall, opened his fly once again, freed his cock, and thrust into her waiting pussy. As she had feared, she climaxed immediately upon his possession. Catherine found it very annoying that he could make her respond so forcefully and so immediately when she was so angry with him. She had no doubt that Marco found it appropriate and fitting that she did so. He began to plunge in and out of her pussy, seemingly focused on producing a dramatic response from her.

She braced against the wall and tried not to wince each time his groin made painful contact with her well-punished backside. She likely would have tried to move away from him, but he had a hard hold on her and seemed intent on driving home his point that she would not disobey him and that he was the dominant partner between them.

He hammered her pussy, making her come numerous times, each climax seemingly more intense than the last. Finally she surrendered to him—not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. She knew he felt it as his thrusting became more loving, coaxing her response as opposed to demanding it. That was her undoing. She could handle his anger, but this acknowledgement and acceptance of her capitulation to his dominance seemed to produce an intense well of pleasure for him and she caught her breath to keep from crying.

He thrust hard one last time and surged forward, shooting his cum deeply within her.

Catherine was completely spent and barely noticed when he withdrew from her and lifted her in his arms and then deposited her on the bed. He made short work of rolling her in the bedsheet before hoisting her over his shoulder and heading out the door.

“Marco, no.”

“Yes, my Catherine. You saw fit to give reign to your temper and acted out in front of others. Those same people will now see you spent and wrapped in a bedsheet tossed over the shoulder of your mate to be taken home. They will be correctly presuming that you have had your bottom spanked and are leaking my cum from your well-used pussy. Those who are wolves will assume I have claimed you, which with the exception of marking you as mine, I have.”

She began to struggle and he landed a large hard swat on her derriere. Even though there was padding from the bedsheet, it still stung. Catherine ceased to fight him and only hoped her hair hung down over her face hiding her embarrassment.

He headed toward the door. She heard Griffin offer to get the door for him and thought not only would she extract her vengeance on her mate but on his good friend as well.

The car was waiting for them and Marco chuckled as he saw the added pillow to the passenger seat. He gently put her in the roadster before going around to the driver’s side. Catherine tried to ensure the bedsheet stayed up, covering her nudity as best she could.

“You will thank Griffin for his thoughtfulness the next time you see him.”

“I will do no such thing,” she said petulantly.

“You will,” Marco said calmly but firmly. “Your choice is only whether or not you will have a freshly spanked bottom and a pussy full of my cum when you do so.”

They rode for the next several hours in silence.

“Marco?”

“Yes, my Catherine.”

“Are you done being angry?” Her voice was small and quiet.

He found a place to pull over on the side of the road.

“I was done being angry, my tesoro, when I felt you surrender to me. And you did surrender, did you not?”

She nodded. He leaned over and kissed her with a mixture of passion, abiding love, and reverence.

“Do I have any clothes in the car?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Jesus, Marco, I can’t meet your...”

“Our,” he corrected.

“Our pack wrapped in a bedsheet and smelling of sex with you.”

He laughed. “By the time we get home, the story will have already arrived. Several of those who work at the hotel have friends or family who live and work at the villa. That their alpha has found and claimed his mate will trump any circumstances surrounding the manner in which he did so. They will most likely be waiting to meet you and thrilled that you are finally home.”