“Yes, sir,” Shaw murmured before ending the call.
Chapter 13
Brock was standing inside the bedroom, his back against the wall, listening as Shaw spoke to someone on the phone. With his excellent hearing, he was able to follow the conversation. He was supposed to be punished by Shaw. That one word rolled around inside his mind. Punished.
When he first met Shaw, he would’ve been scared, but now he wasn’t. He wasn’t concerned at all. He knew without a doubt that Shaw wouldn’t hurt him. The two were already mated and bonded. When Shaw ended the call, Brock stepped out of the room.
His mate looked up at him and smiled sadly before tossing the phone onto the couch.
“You heard?” he asked, raising a brow.
“Yeah.” Brock strode out of the bedroom and directly into Shaw’s open arms.
“I’m not going to punish you, Brock,” Shaw said, rubbing a comforting hand down his back. “We’re gonna go to the bank first thing in the morning and empty my account. We’ll find another place to live. Hell, we can fly to another country. Where do you want to live?” He chuckled lightly and Brock smiled. “Bermuda? Fiji? Spain? We can go anywhere in the world.”
Brock appreciated the length Shaw was willing to go to protect him. It made him realize how truly lucky he was to have such a wonderful mate. But he didn’t want Shaw abandoning his friends and the career he loved.
“How would you punish me?” The words slipped out in a rush and Shaw stiffened.
“It’s not gonna happen,” Shaw said firmly.
“Shaw.” Brock dropped his arms and sat on the couch, making himself comfortable. “I don’t want to run away. I don’t want you to leave the agency. You love your job…”
“I love you more than my job,” Shaw told him, and Brock swallowed hard, his eyes filling with moisture. “I’ll always choose you. I don’t need my job, I need you.”
“I love you, too,” Brock croaked out, overcome with emotion.
Shaw walked toward him.
The wolf knelt down in front of the couch and cupped his cheeks. Pulling him close, Shaw placed a kiss on his lips. It started out slow and erotic, their tongues dancing and twirling, but soon became fierce and wild.
“I could never hurt you,” Shaw said against his lips.
Brock sighed. “Just tell me what the punishment would be.”
Shaw ground his teeth together.
It looked as if he didn’t want to have the conversation, but he ended up nodding. Standing up, he sat next to Brock on the couch. Shaw pulled Brock into his arms, sitting him on his lap. Brock cuddled close, rubbing his nose against Shaw’s throat.
“The punishment would be incredibly painful. I just…” He paused for a moment, his chest expanding and deflating. “I don’t think I could do it.”
“Jeez, you’re scaring me.” Brocks mind went wild with various images, most of them leaving him bloody and broken on the ground somewhere. “What is it?”
“Twenty lashes with either a whip or a cat o’ nine tails,” Shaw finally said.
Brock thought about the dungeon at the Silver Bullet. He’d never been into the BDSM lifestyle, but he knew quite a few people that were. Maybe the punishment wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“The end of the strand or strands, depending on the device used, would be dipped in silver. Your back would slice open and the silver would cause unimaginable pain. Afterward, you aren’t allowed to shift. You have to heal the old-fashioned way without pain medication. And the marks would be forever imprinted on your back.”
Brock digested everything Shaw said. The image wasn’t pretty. He’d never seen anything even similar to what Shaw was describing in the dungeon.
“Normally, the punishment would take place in front of others, but I would never do that to you. I would never put you through any sort of humiliation. This punishment is usually doled out for lesser crimes. If a paranormal kills, the FPA agent takes the evidence and interrogation into consideration. Rogues, paranormals that kill without thought or reason, are killed on sight. Others are punished in various ways. We don’t share this information with the general public. Members of the paranormal world need to fear the FPA. We are here to enforce rules.”
Brock was tempted to agree with Shaw. The two of them could stop by a bank on their way out of the country. But Brock didn’t want to live on the run and he didn’t want Shaw losing the respect of his friends or the FPA team. It was time that he felt the consequences of his actions. He’d taken a life and although his life wouldn’t be taken, the punishment was necessary.