Gideon's Redemption (15 page)

“Oh Gid, you can’t change the rules now. I can’t hold out with you stretching my bottom like that.”

“Just a few more strokes,” he groaned as he sank in further, “and I’ll come right along with you.”

Two more strokes and she had engulfed him. No small matter considering his above average length. “Mercy, Shannon. Your ass is like a vice grip clamped around me.”

He leaned forward and released the rope from the headboard, freeing her arms but her wrists remained tied. With a hand sunk deep in her hair, another slipping around her shoulders, he lifted her until she leaned back against him.

“Put your arms around my neck, babe, and hold on.”

She looped her bound wrists over his head until they came to rest at the back of his neck. His hands came up to cup her breasts as he began to fuck her once again. His thumbs abraded her nipples as he thrust up inside her, his lips latching onto the side of her neck. “Come with me now, sweet Shannon. Clamp down on my cock as you come for the fifth time.”

He pinched her nipples harder, knowing the breast play would send her over the edge a final time. And it did. She groaned once more as she convulsed around the cock in her ass, jerking and shuddering in his arms. He was undone, incapable of holding off any longer. His teeth nipped her as he growled his release, and his hands clenched reflexively around her breasts. He suspected she came again, but he was too focused on his own pleasure to know for sure.

Afterward, when he slipped her limp arms over his head and released the bindings from her wrists, she collapsed in total exhaustion, hanging insensibly over his arm. She would have slithered into a puddle on the bed if he hadn’t been holding her.

She managed to whisper hoarsely, “You are an evil man to torture me so, Gideon McCord.”

“You loved every minute of my evil torture, baby. Was that a sixth orgasm I felt at the end?”

Flushing, she squinted her eyes tightly and nodded in confirmation. He chuckled, kissed her swollen lips, and left her shortly. He returned with a cool washcloth which he used to wipe her damp face. Brushing the damp tendrils back from her warm cheeks and brows, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. Discarding the cool rag, he took up another and gently bathed the swollen flesh between her thighs. Whimpering, she clenched her legs together, her sensitized flesh tender to the touch. As the rag abraded, it soothed at the same time.

“Would you rather get in the tub?”

“No, too sleepy.”

“Okay, honey, let me clean you up then. I’ll be gentle.”

She relaxed her legs and he tenderly washed her, tossing the rag into the hamper when he was finished. He held a glass of ice water to her lips and encouraged her to drink. What they had just done had surely depleted her reserves. Once she’d had enough, he finished the glass himself and crawled into bed next to her.

Gathering her exhausted body in his arms, he smiled as she snuggled close, resting her head on his chest.

“It’s not very fair, you know.”

“What’s that?”

“Six to one doesn’t seem to be fair to you.”

“If I came half as many times in an hour, I’d be in the ICU.”

“Would not! You’ve done it before.”

“That was years ago. I’m 38 now. I’m focusing on quality not quantity.”

She giggled, her warm breath tickling his chest.

“What’s funny?”

“I’m a lucky girl; I get to focus on both.”

“Oh the joys of being a woman.” He squeezed her tight. “You do know we’ve got a new record to work toward.”

Rising up on an elbow, she glared at him. “Don’t you dare, Gideon.”

He gave her a smug little smile. He loved a challenge.

“I’m serious. If you even think about it, I’ll dust off our old safeword.” She gave him a victorious look as if she thought she’d won the argument.

“And how do you think you’re going to prevent it when my ropes are holding you spread wide? Besides,” he pulled her down for a quick kiss, “you can’t safeword for pleasure, silly girl.”

“But—” her hand flew to cover her mouth and he laughed.

“The moratorium on that bad word is over, baby doll.” At the relieved look on her face, he hugged her close. “You’re as cute as can be.” Rolling them to their side, he pulled her backside up against him. “Now go to sleep. You need your rest after six orgasms. We might need to get you some vitamins so you can keep up.”

She gasped in mock indignation and impishly replied, “Okay, I’ll get some vitamins if you’ll get some of those little blue pills so you can keep it up.”

“Fear not, doll baby, you’ve got nothing to worry about in that department.”

“Yet!”

A resounding swat took her breath away as his hand landed on her upturned cheek. “That sounds like a challenge to me, sassy girl. Are you daring me to go for a seventh?”

“No!”

“Truce until morning?”

“Truce,” she agreed and lay back, snuggling against him as she murmured sleepily, “I love you, Gid.”

“Love you too, Shannon.”

Chapter Twelve

The next morning after breakfast, Gideon took them both into his studio, where he had an office and a small recording suite with a control booth just like they’d seen on TV. He watched as they took it all in. They were most impressed by his office wall, where four of his gold records hung beside his three double platinum awards. On a shelf nearby were his seven American Music Awards and two Grammies. The walls were also covered with pictures of him with the band and music producers, other artists, and a host of other celebrities. Eli was duly impressed.

“Wow! Mom, look at this. Dad’s with KISS.” He moved down the wall, looking at the framed pictures, pointing out the celebrities he knew. “There he is with the Black Eyed Peas. Look, Mom, that’s Will. I. Am! Cool! This is so sweet! Look, here’s one of Dad jamming with Justin Timberlake. Tope!”

Shannon smiled at his enthusiasm; he was so obviously star struck. She listened to them talk about the photos and awards as she looked around quietly. Her eyes fell on a group photo of the band at a party. Front and center beside Justin and Roxie was a 23-year-old version of herself, smiling happily while Gid hugged her and kissed her cheek. Her eyes misted over. That had been taken just weeks before their break up. Although it didn’t seem right to call it that when she’d been the one to walk out on him—it had really been a cruel brush off, on her part.

Although she’d watched Gideon’s successes in the tabloids and entertainment news, she hadn’t realized how much his popularity had grown. When she’d left him, Northern Exposure had only released one album and were finishing their first U.S. tour. They had been staying at second rate hotels and riding in stinky buses between gigs. Now it was private jets, limousines, and five star hotels, including a full entourage of security and paparazzi. It was a lot for a low income cocktail waitress to adjust to overnight.

Looking around at his awards and seeing the proof of his fame and success, she knew he could have any woman he wanted. In the past ten years, she had seen beautiful women on his arm at award shows and in photographs. She remembered he’d even been engaged a few years back. It was at that point she had stopped following him. It had become too painful.

Northern Exposure’s platinum record
Saint and Sinner
was front and center on the wall next to a platinum award for his album
Left Behind
. She felt tears sting her eyes. Gideon had released a solo album in 2007, three years after she’d walked away. She hadn’t listened to it when it came out—again it was too painful—and somehow she had managed to avoid it even though it had several top 10’s. A few years back, she’d heard one of his songs while waiting for an appointment. The haunting melody drew her in from the start, but when the lyrics started and he began to sing in his rich baritone voice, a tremor had swept through her. By the time the chorus played, she’d wanted to run out, to scream at someone to turn it off, to tear the speakers off the wall and make the pain stop. “Left Behind” was a song about a man in love who had been ruthlessly jilted by his “one”. In the song, he called the woman “the bitch” and told the story of how she’d ripped out his heart and trampled it, leaving him behind, bleeding and broken and vowing to never love again. Shannon had known without a doubt, then as now, that she was the heart-ripping bitch. How he must have hated her.

“I was in a dark place when I wrote that.”

“I am so sorry to have caused you so much pain.”

“Shannon, I thought we put this behind us the other night.”

Turning into his arms, she pressed her face into his chest. A sob escaped and she stifled it, sparing a quick glance around for Eli.

“He’s in the game room.”

Another sob escaped and then another. In seconds she was weeping sorrowfully, still feeling every bit of the pain she had felt since she had found out the truth. The spanking had diminished it briefly but hadn’t taken it away.

“Shannon, you have to let this go. You can’t keep punishing yourself.”

Through choking, shuddering breaths, she gasped out her fears. “Why d—don’t you—h—hate me? I—I took y—your son a—way. I ch—cheated you o—out of so—so much.”

“Are we going to do this every time something triggers a memory?”

“Oh G—Gid, I’m s—so—sorry.”

Setting her from him, she watched him go to the door through a haze of tears. Was he leaving?

No. Instead, he turned the lock and spun back around, crossing his arms over his chest. “Go bend over my desk, Shannon, jeans and panties down.”

Startled, she stood staring at him, trying to process his words. “What?”

“You heard me. Obviously, I didn’t spank you hard enough the other night. I am going to rectify that right now and every time you bring up this unreasonable guilt. Didn’t you believe me when I said I forgive you?

Shaking her head furiously, she pleaded with him, “Please, I feel so responsible.”

“Over the desk, Shannon.”

She took a hesitant step. It was not enough for him because he growled, “Now!”

She moved quickly then, unzipping her jeans as she went, pulling them down to mid-thigh. Bending obediently over his desk, she knew her bared bottom made a perfect target as she waited in position, ready for his attention.

“I can’t help how I feel, Gid. I robbed you and Eli of so much.”

Gideon walked behind his desk and opened a drawer. She watched as he took out a thin wooden ruler. “We’ll repeat this lesson as many times as necessary until you realize I don’t hold you responsible for what happened. I wrote and recorded ‘Left Behind’ a few months after you left. My emotions were raw and I was very angry at the time. It was because I loved you so much that I was hurt, disappointed, and feeling abandoned. I too have regrets and frustrations, but I’ve spent ten long years living with those emotions. I’d like to stop looking back and move forward. We can’t do that until you let go of the guilt.”

Moving behind her, he placed a warm hand on her lower back, pressing firmly. “If I have to spank the guilt out of you, so be it.”

The next thing she knew he was applying a stinging line of fire across her bottom. Rapid stroke after stroke took her breath away as the thin strip of wood ignited her backside. It didn’t thud into her bottom; it just burned the bejeezus into the top layer of her skin. He’d made a round of smacks from the curve of her bottom past her sit spots to the tops of her thighs before he paused.

“I am not happy about repeating this particular lesson, Shannon. You told me you would put this guilt behind you.”

“I thought I had, Gid.”

He began again. The second layer of swats turned up the heat even further, and she wiggled and squirmed against the burning sting.

His hand pressed down on her lower back. “Be still. I don’t want you to miss a single spank. Guilt is counterproductive, Shannon. Until you let go of it, we cannot grow as a couple or as a family.” He concentrated the ruler on her sit spots, back and forth between the sides until she pleaded for him to stop, but he didn’t.

“I swear I will spank you every day until you accept my forgiveness. I have forgiven your role in it all. Eli doesn’t hold you responsible. It’s only you. But that I won’t accept. Because after everything we’ve been through, there is no way I will allow this to fester into another wound upon this family. Do you understand me?” Finally, he stopped.

“Yes, Gid, I’m so sorry.”

The ruler was applied again, with at least a half dozen more searing swats. “Wrong response, try again.”

He stopped, rubbing her fiery bottom.

“Please, Gid, I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I want you to say Gid and Eli love me, and I am forgiven. I want you to find acceptance that this horrible thing happened to us, it sucked, but we have moved on.”

Moved on, those words again
. For almost ten years they had been a negative entity, haunting her. Maybe this time it was the opposite, maybe she could turn it into a positive mantra… Moving on, beyond the pain of the past and into the future they wanted to build together.

“I’m waiting, Shannon.”

Could it be that simple? Just forgive herself and move on?

The ruler reminded her with another round to her sit spots. She gasped and cried out, “Gid and Eli love me, and I am forgiven.”

“Good girl,” he praised as he put the ruler aside and rubbed her tender skin. “Say it again, until you believe it and forgive yourself.”

“Gid and Eli love and forgive me.”

“Again,” he commanded as he swatted her with his hand this time, less firm but still stinging across her bottom cheeks.

“Gid and Eli forgive me, and I deserve their love.”

“Excellent. Say it again, until I am convinced that you believe it.” His spanks continued but upon her thighs now. It was less painful than the ruler, and he stopped every few swats to rub and squeeze her aching behind.

“I love you and Eli. I want us to move on because we deserve this.” She sobbed as he rubbed the ache, diffusing the heat across entire her bottom. “I deserve to move on and be happy with the man I love and our precious son.”