Second Time Lucky (Club Decadence Book 5) (41 page)

“Very good, Mara. That’s the honesty I’m expecting.”

Pulling her upright until she sat back on her heels, he released the first clamp, the blood returning to her compressed nipple, making her hiss in discomfort. His tongue was there to soothe the ache. Releasing the other clamp was as bad, but worth the attention from his mouth.

“You used to like when I flogged your breasts. The horse hair will be perfect for that.”

He moved behind her and unhooked her wrists. Bringing her hands up behind her head, he refastened the cuffs. He was beside her the next moment, slowly tracing the thick fall of the flogger over her plumped up breasts. A whoosh sounded before hundreds of thin threads fell across her chest, softly like a lover’s caress. In his hand, the flogger was an extension of Sean, so a true lover’s caress it was.

Again, it connected, striking upward and landing on the fullest part of her breast. Her lips parted and she released the breath she hadn’t been aware she’d been holding. Another stroke followed, and another. Arching her back, she offered herself freely, her chest and belly a blank canvas for him to paint with his brush. Faster and with a bit more intensity the flogger fell, bringing a tingling warmth to her skin.

“That feels good, doesn’t it, baby?”

“So good, very relaxing.”

“Mm, we’ll keep this one for play and reward, then.” Never stopping, he moved the tails up and down her body, applying the final dozen or so strokes across the curve of her ass.

An involuntary whimper of disappointment came from her throat, when he stopped.

“None of that now, you’ve come once already and we have a long day ahead of us.” As he spoke, his hand caressed her, stroking gently over each breast, pausing briefly to circle each nipple before gliding slowly up to her jaw, cupping it and taking her lips in a scorching kiss. “I missed this, Mara. Missed taking control of your body, making you quiver beneath my hands, building you up until you’re ready to fly apart, but holding you there, a touch, lick or finger stroke shy of an orgasm, then easing you back down and building it all over again. If you beg along the way, all the better. If you lose control and have to pay a price, that would be sweet too. You respond beautifully to me, like you were made for me.”

Rife with intensity and passion, she met his brilliant blue gaze. “I missed it too, every day, dreaming of you every night. Being under your command, feeling your big strong arms around me, loving you, pleasing you.” Her voice cracked with emotion.

His lips came down again, claiming hers hungrily, leaving her breathless in minutes. When he lifted his head and inhaled a deep breath of air, he cursed. “Damn. We’ve got to stop doing that and pace ourselves, or we’ll be spent and useless for anything else past noon.”

“Works for me, Master,” she murmured distractedly, her lips seeking his.

“No,” he stated firmly. “We’ve got things to accomplish today. Next up, product testing on your scrumptious ass. What do you say to that?”

“Um… yes, please?”

The backs of his fingers glided down her cheek in an affectionate gesture, so familiar, especially when his thumb swept across her lower lip. Too soon, it was gone and he was easing her down to the desktop. As her chest pressed against the smooth, hard surface, she was relieved he had dispensed with the clamps. His strong hands grasped her waist, pulling her up on her knees. Automatically, she spread her legs for balance. Mara turned her head to the side so she could see what he planned next, but he was off to the right and behind her.

“This time we’ll go slower with the rabbit so we can sample the different floggers.”

The vibe switched on at low speed, the ears gently massaging her clit. Pleasant and relaxing it didn’t begin to prepare her for the loud whoosh and killer stinging stroke that followed.

“Fuck me!” Every molecule of air left her chest. Doubtless, he meant to kill her with pain and pleasure.

The flat of his hand landed on her rear. “Now, now, cute fluffy bunnies shouldn’t say such naughty words.”

“That wasn’t the horse hair!”

“Nope.” His succinct answer accompanied another lash across both cheeks.

She squealed, wriggling forward as the sting, akin to the biting burn of her last bikini wax from the evil Kim Lu at Sugar Mama’s, radiated across her skin.

“Ah, ah,” came his warning. “Get that ass back here and keep it nice and high. Two swats aren’t nearly enough to determine whether we’ll keep this or pass, unless it’s too much. Where are you, subbie?”

Aloud she said, “Green, Master,” but inside she was shouting pass, and at the top of her lungs, it’s too much! ‘Cause it stung like a mother even through the mesh. She couldn’t imagine how it would burn on bare skin.

Another swath of fire blazed across her ass. Determined to take it, she jerked, but stayed on her hands and knees. Freakin’ A; that really hurt.

“This is a Kangaroo Stinger. It’s supposed to sting like a bitch.”

There was no ‘supposed to’ about it.

“What do you think? Would this get your attention or do you need a few more test strokes to decide?”

Her butt screamed ‘no’, but her foolish mouth spit out ‘yes’ for some odd reason.

“Very well, a few more before we decide. Stay in position.”

With his hand on her lower back, she lifted her ass high in the air, offering it for more of the freakin’ stinger as she wondered how many of these he had planned. No matter, he seemed to be enjoying this and she’d endure it for him. The familiar phrase ‘she owed him that much’ ringing in her ears.

“That’s my good girl,” was his low praise right before the whoosh and subsequent sting of the lash fell three times in quick succession. Yellow was on the tip of her tongue, but he stopped.

Both of his palms, at least ten degrees cooler than her cheeks, slid under the mesh and rubbed over her heated skin, soothing her. “Your cheeks are on fire after only six swats, baby? Is it too much?”

“I’ll take more if you want me to, Master.” As soon as she said it, she wanted to kick herself. Crap!

Silence fell heavy over the room. Then, a growled, “Dammit, Mara. If I didn’t want your input, I’d flail away and decide for myself. It’s too harsh, isn’t it?”

“It’s…” The smack of his palm landing low on her thigh convinced her to be honest.

“I want the truth, sub.”

Caught, she hesitated.

Her other thigh received the same motivating smack. “Now.”

“Yellow. It’s a bit much, even with the harness.”

“You told me you were green. Why?”

“Two strokes weren’t enough, you said, so I wanted to give it a decent try.”

“It’s not my ass under the lash, Mara. If it’s too much, what are you supposed to tell me?”

“Yellow?”

“Yellow.” He repeated with a huff of disbelief. “By telling me yellow, I would assume you wanted more of the stinger after a short break. Is that what you want?”

“No!”

“Then tell me the truth, dammit!”

“It’s awful, okay. I feel like I sat on a hot griddle and I don’t ever want more of that.”

“An honest answer, at last. How should you have told me in no uncertain terms?”

“I should have said red, Master.”

His hand speared into her hair and pulled her head back. “Yes. Three little letters would have put an end to it. Have I been unclear in my expectations? I expect you to tell me when something is too much. Did you learn nothing from the lesson with Adele?”

She shook her head, turning away from the cutting anger in his eyes.

“Look at me.” When she did, he demanded, “Why didn’t you say yellow or red before?”

Because she was doing exactly as he accused, trying to please him. In her own warped way, it was like the first half of the scene with Adele—enduring, but not really enjoying. She knew that wasn’t what he wanted. He was a sensual Dom not a sadist. Without a doubt, he could bring the heat, and had on occasion, adding more of a bite when the situation called for it; the night of the mugging and her first real spanking with the hairbrush came to mind. Even then, when there could have been real life consequences, he hadn’t been overly harsh. Orgasm delay, plugs, harnesses, product testing evidently, and rules like no sex after a spanking were much more his speed, not pain. Had she decided to take a beating to make up for all her hurts and assuage her guilt at the same time or was she going along with anything he asked because she didn’t want to say no and disappoint him, or lose him? Either reason was really messed up.

“Can’t we try the horse hair again?” she blurted out.

He exhaled heavily in frustration. “Is that what you want, for me to decide it all and take away your voice? If it is, say so and I’ll stop asking, but you’ll have to accept the consequences of that choice, which means neither of us is gonna get what we want.”

“No. I don’t want that. I want…” She started, but stopped. Was she ready to admit it?

“Damnation, Mara, tell me what you want.”

“I want what you want and to make you happy. I want to please you, and by doing so, maybe make up for some of the hell I’ve put you through. If I could, I’d take all the pain I’ve caused and wipe it away.” Her last words came out on a sob and before she knew what was happening, she was upright, the next instant astride his lap. He took her bound wrists from behind her neck and placed them behind his.

“I’ve forgiven you, baby.”

“And I am grateful that you did, but I’m having trouble forgiving myself.”

“This was punishment, then?”

“Not consciously, but I’ve been thinking it might help. You promised a spanking back in Galveston, but we had Walmart sex instead.”

“You couldn’t have told me directly that you needed to be spanked?”

“Like I said it wasn’t conscious and I don’t think I realized what I was doing until now. I didn’t safeword thinking you were enjoying it as much as you thought I was, Master. I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

He grunted, his expression having turned thoughtful. “Yet, you did.”

She flinched.

“Let me clue you into something that you obviously haven’t figured out. What I get out of spanking or flogging you isn’t causing you pain. I enjoy it solely because you get off on it, Mara. You can deny it, or put up a fuss when the time comes, but you crave the play. You want me to spank you, flog you or swat you with a paddle. If I clamp you, plug you, or have you take a foot long purple cock in your pussy while I watch, it makes you burn red-hot and so wet you gush until it trickles down your thighs. That’s what turns me on. Giving you pleasure, pushing you until you fly, and seeing you soar in subspace because I put you there. How your body responds to my slightest touch and to my commands makes my dick ache. Taking pain for pain’s sake or finding out you’re being a martyr for whatever screwed up reason, taking more than you want or could possibly enjoy in an effort to please me, does not do it for me, Mara. No fucking way.”

Affected by what she’d done, he sounded raspy. Her actions had taken him on the roller coaster ride of her crazy emotions right along with her. Another pang of guilt assailed her.

“What would you say if I decided to stop, if I sold my shares, packed it in, and moved to Rossi full time and that we were going to become Mr. and Mrs. Vanilla USA.”

Shocked, she blinked up at him. “What?” Her brows snapped together. “Wait. You own a sex club; you love this stuff, the kink, the control, the toys, and the whole dungeon scene. So, I’d say no to Vanilla USA because you wouldn’t be happy.” She went on to say quite intuitively, “Making sacrifices and doing something you don’t want to placate me would make us both miserable.”

He was quiet, saying nothing, clearly giving her time to think. She didn’t need much.

“That’s what I’ve been doing, huh?”

“Yes.”

“That is so uncool,” she whispered in misery.

“It’s also manipulative and not what our marriage or D/s relationship should be based on.”

She nodded, feeling more miserable and not liking where this sounded like it was going.

“Do you trust me, Mara?”

“Absolutely, I trust you, Master.”

“Then for this to work, I have to trust you in return.”

She’d heard about many Doms who released subs for less than this. Communication, honesty and trust were key. She’d fucked up all of them. Closing her eyes, she tried to brace for what would come next.

“Eyes on me, Mara.” Speaking sternly, more so than she’d ever heard him. Immediately, they opened. “You will not shut me out. It’s what tore us apart the last time.”

With her arms looped around his neck and wrists bound, they were face-to-face, nose-to-nose, lips inches apart. After what she’d done, this amount of intimate eye contact wasn’t easy. He was right. She was slipping back into old bad habits and that had to stop. Now.

“I need to be able to trust what you tell me, Mara. Whether here at Decadence or playing at home, if we’re discussing routine auto maintenance or paying the taxes, it doesn’t matter. Distrust will break us apart quicker than anything.”

“I get that, Sean.”

“I’m not done. When we’re playing, it is especially important because if you aren’t truthful, I could hurt you. Not only would that be painful for you, it would crush me. I was whacking away at your ass with the stinger as if everything was okay—as in green—as in go!” Again, she flinched. “I could have done some damage, much worse than a welt or a bruise.”

“I trusted you not to hurt me, Master. I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”

“I don’t want sorry.”

She nodded, her eyes downcast.

“Don’t hide from me, Mara.”

Her green gaze lifted.

“Look at me until I make this perfectly clear. If something hurts, you have to say it. If you’re afraid, I need to know it. And, if you find something distasteful or out of bounds, I have to hear it loud and clear. I won’t get angry, or feel cheated unless you hide things from me, or lie. Are we clear on this once and for all?”

“Crystal.”

“Good. I won’t have this discussion a third time, Mara. This is a D/s deal breaker. If it becomes necessary, I’ll change our names to Mr. and Mrs. Vanilla USA so fast it will make your head spin. Got it?”

“I’ve got it, Master.” Some of the heat had left his eyes, thank goodness. She took the opportunity to share something and prove she had really gotten it. “This is me being completely honest with you when I say this won’t happen again, Master. You’re right when you say I want this. It’s true. Bland vanilla isn’t the flavor that I crave anymore.”