“Ah—”

The impact was stronger than she had expected, causing her to miss her chance to call out the number. A heat slowly spread outwards from where his hand had hit her. As she stood there, stunned, she heard his low voice from above her head.

“If you do not count, I will not deduct it from the ten. Are you refusing to obey because you wish to be punished more?”

“O-One!”

“You are late, Luna. You must call it out the moment you are struck.”

“Yes… yes….”

She felt unbearably ashamed. Being exposed to him like this was humiliating enough, with her undergarments removed and her bare skin revealed. But being struck during her heat brought back the memory of that day with vivid clarity.

His large hand covered her reddened skin and rubbed it slowly.

“Now. From this one onward, count properly.”

“Yes….”

Smack—

“O-One!”

Smack—

“Two….”

Cassion lifted his hand again, watching intently as her pale skin deepened from pink to a richer red.

Smack—

“Th-Three!”

As he watched her tail gradually curl between her legs, he seized it firmly at the base and lifted it up. Its limp, trembling state revealed just how tense she was.

Nevertheless, he could not let it pass. To ensure she would never deceive him again, Cassion brought his hand down sharply once more.

“Ah—four….”

Moisture crept into her voice little by little. Although one part of him felt a pang at the sound, another part stirred — a strange, tightening possessiveness coiling deeper in his chest.

“You are doing well.”

“Mm… yes….”

He ran his hand over her heated skin once more before striking again.

Smack! Smack!

The sharp sound echoed clearly through the still air of the greenhouse.

By the time her cry reached nine, Cassion lowered his gaze to the flushed curve beneath his palm. The skin, unmistakably marked with the imprint of his palm, quivered uncontrollably. The warmth between her thighs had become so intense that it was beginning to dampen the fabric of his trousers.

“This is the last one, so do not lose count. If you make a mistake this time, we start over from the beginning.”

“Hng, y-yes…”

Lunaria took a deep breath and nodded, her voice wavering. It was a bewildering sensation. Even during the punishment, she could feel warmth pooling beneath her. She could not tell whether this was because her body had tightened each time he struck her, or if it was a lingering aftereffect of her heat. The more he struck her, however, the more an aching sensitivity stirred low within her.

Smack.

The pale curve of her skin trembled beneath the force of his large hand. Lunaria inhaled sharply, her breath stuttering in and out before she could cry out the number.

“Ten…”

“Good job, Luna.”

He praised her softly as he stroked her heated skin. His fingers pressed firmly into her flushed flesh, gathering it before releasing it and moving downwards. Then, as though lifting and soothing her at once, he swept his palms upward from beneath.

“Haah…”

Each time he did this, a subtle warmth bloomed through the stinging areas. She had felt the tingling sensation that travelled all the way to her toes before during her heat. Realizing this, her face burned an even deeper red.

“Did it hurt much?”

Instead of answering his gentle question aloud, she nodded firmly.

Cassion let out a quiet, low laugh and lifted her effortlessly. Settling her onto his lap, he leaned in and studied her face from only inches away.

Her golden eyes were flushed as deeply as her skin and hazy and unfocused. Tears gathered in their corners, shimmering but refusing to fall.

He gently touched her beneath the eye with his fingertip. Only then did a tear slip free and trail down her cheek. The warmth of it against his skin felt strangely unfamiliar. He had never concerned himself with other people’s emotions before, yet when it came to her, he found that he could not remain indifferent.

“I’ll rub it properly for you.”

Cupping the nape of her neck, he guided her head to rest against his shoulder and let his hands drift downwards to hold her flushed skin once more. The heat of it, slick with perspiration, pressed firmly into his palms.

As he kneaded gently to soothe the sting, Lunaria clung to his shoulder and let out a strained, breathless sound. That faint cry, trembling with both pain and something more complicated, drew a subtle tension through him as well.

“Mmm…”

Having s*x with her outside of her heat cycle had not been part of his plan. As a calculating man, he could usually control his impulses. However, this only applied to himself; it had nothing to do with the impulses she provoked in him.

“Your heat-gate is soaking wet… Were you perhaps aroused by being struck on the behind?”

At his quiet whisper, Lunaria’s shoulders jerked violently. She had never imagined that he would notice her.

As she began to squirm in his arms, he pressed a steady hand against her back to hold her in place. His other hand moved between her thighs as he murmured in her ear.

“It’s because your body remembers. Every time you were punished for doing something forbidden during your heat, that sensation was etched into you. You have always learnt faster than anyone else through your body, so this reaction is only natural.”

“I-is that so?”

“Furthermore, they say beast-kin have stronger instinctive desires than humans. So, do not hide it before me. The only one who can satisfy your l*st is me.”

As he finished speaking, his fingers sank smoothly into her entrance, like a snake seeking its burrow.

“Hng.”

“You are quite wet. My fingers slipped right in.”

From the outset, he inserted both his index and middle fingers at the same time. He pushed in deep until he encountered resistance, moving around inside to locate the spot that would stimulate her. The folds of her inner walls smoothed out against his fingers.

“If I press here, you will reach your peak soon.”

“Haah…”

Using his thumb to find and crush her cl*toris, he pressed firmly against the vaginal wall where its root lay.

“Hah, ngh, ah!”

Squelch, squelch.

Each time he moved his fingers back and forth, fluid splattered. He smeared it over her cl*toris with his thumb, rubbing softly, causing her inner flesh to contract hungrily.

The sensation of her insides clinging to his two fingers, as though trying to devour them, caused hot breath to leak through Cassion’s teeth. He gritted his teeth and flicked his wrist.

“Aah!”

Continuing to rub her cl*toris with his thumb, he added his ring finger, using three fingers to scrape against the inner walls. At that moment, her head snapped back. Lunaria gripped his firm shoulders tightly, her back arching like a bow as she trembled uncontrollably.

A brief but intense wave of pleasure struck her. She tensed her lower abdomen, trying to stem the flow of arousal leaking down his hand.

“Eueuh…”

The walls of the passageway clung to his fingers as if they were one entity, surging like waves. Vividly feeling this sensation, Cassion let out a short breath. Having been here before, he could easily imagine how tight and moist it would be. The thought made his mouth water.

Part of him wanted to pull out and bury himself deep within that twitching flesh.

“Shh…”

Rather than giving in to his desires, he focused entirely on calming Lunaria down as she trembled in the aftermath of her release.

As he steadied her, he briefly considered the fact that her heat had ended only two days earlier. He wondered whether something unusual had happened to her, and if so, how it could be resolved.

“Wait a moment. I’ll clean you up.”

When he withdrew his fingers from inside her after guiding her through the peak of it, warmth spilled free. He caught some of it in his palm before reaching for a handkerchief. First, he wiped his own damp hand clean. Then, with careful movements, he gently cleaned her up as well.

“Huu…”

Lunaria was still clinging tightly to his shoulders, her body trembling faintly from the lingering after-effects of pleasure. At last, he withdrew his hand from between her thighs. Before lowering the hem of her skirt, he gently brushed his fingers along her tail.

A quiet sigh escaped her as relief washed over her.

Then, all at once, exhaustion swept over her. She must have been far more tense than she realized. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she stared up at him blankly and dazed.

Seeing this, he smiled faintly and pulled her into his arms.

“You may sleep.”

“…Yes.”

The moment she was given permission, her head lolled. He quickly caught it and pulled her close. Holding her warm body in his arms also gave him a sense of stability.

He wanted her by his side forever, even as she grew old. He never thought he could give up this sense of fulfilment.