Subfrenzy (the Subfrenzied Series) (27 page)

“
So you wouldn't worry I might.”

“
Why didn't you tell me to stop? That was a moment you should have used your safeword.”

“
I didn't think you would really do it. I'm sorry, Sir.”

“
You don't need to apologize for that.”

“
Was that why you did? Because you want to see if I can safeword?”

“
Yes.”

“
With a new Dominant, I would have- No. I wouldn't have let them.” Thinking about how different my reaction would be made me laugh. “I asked you to. It's your decision how, Sir.”

Shock
faded and left me with the rush edge-play usually brought. Fear, check. Surprise, check. Being tested and passing, check? I remembered the way he yanked my head to the side, his fingers curling cruelly in my hair. That was the part I'd liked most.

“
You don't want me to hit you harder than that, do you?” he asked, looking at me intently. “Now you look excited about it.”

“
I'd really,
really
prefer you don't take it so far... I'm not sure I can accept that kind of pain, Sir.”

“
That's what a safeword’s for.”

“
I'll remember next time, Sir.”

“
You need pain, baby. You submitted to that far too easily.”

I
flinched and stared at the wall behind him, but Quinn saw the partially guilty glint in my eyes, the fear that meant I didn't have an answer. He knew, and saw, a lot.

“
Don't you?” he asked.

“
Thank you for the pain you've had me take, Sir,” I answered finally, fighting speechlessness.

“
That's not what I asked.”

My
arms came forward, slamming against the wall as he swung me around. His arm closed over my neck and my head fell back on his shoulder. Edge-play usually invoked strong emotions. That was something I always forgot.

“
Yes,” I said, though it took every bit of willpower to admit it. “Yes, I need pain from you, Sir. Please?”

“
I didn't think you'd say it.” He nipped the side of my neck. “That saves you a little. Not much, but a little... Do you still want more?”

“
Yes, thank you, Sir!”

The
flat of his hand fell rapidly over the right side of my ass. Short, hard smacks for my left side. I had been tense when he started, and I fought to have my body relax before it overwhelmed me. When the pain made me gasp, I focused all of my attention on how my hands felt pressing against the wall. It continued until my skin felt hot, tingling wherever he smacked.

He
led me over to his wide-backed, single sofa chair. “Climb up here. Straddle the back.”

“
Yes, Sir.”

“
Lay down on your stomach and relax. Can you balance like that?”

“
Easily, Sir. Thank you.”

The
cushions were soft underneath my chest and stomach, supporting me so I didn't have to balance. I folded my arms under my head, keeping my hands flat so he could see them.             

“
This pain you take for me.”

Subspace
pulled me under when I heard the sounds of his belt being undone. He struck the lower, front side of the chair a few times. The end flew through the air, striking with enough impact to scare me. I stayed still for the first hit that struck the outside of my left thigh. It hurt more than I expected, yet not enough for me to break position. The second was brought straight down, swung around to hit both sides of my ass. I felt my shoulders pull together, my body wanting to protect itself. The belt snapped over my right outer thigh. My back arched as I forced myself back into position. I drifted on pain until I couldn't anymore. 

“
Sir, please!” I pleaded, losing count after ten.

“
Do you want me to stop?”

Determination
took me back under. “I'm sorry, Sir.”

“
If you want me to stop, you know what to say.”             

Quinn
moved back a few steps. The belt's end whistled forward. I cried out as it struck both sides of my ass. When I got to one elbow, he roughly pulled my arm back down.
I went silent, remembering what he said about safewording. The hits fell harder, pain insisting I say it. When I lowered my head, pressing my lips against the side of my arm, he pulled my head back.

“
Well?”

“
Sir, please will you...” I couldn't ask for more. Something shivered through me, my confidence faltering because of the dangerous way his eyes darkened.

“
Yes?”

I
shook my head again. All of the throbbing points of pain came together under my skin. It felt like I was surrounded by a bubble of warmth, nothing in my head save for white static.  

“
It ends when I want it to end,” he decided for me.

Subspace.
I felt it and threw myself into the darkness. Warm, comforting, the place where sanity was restored. Mental shields grew stronger because they weren't being used. Walls were repaired, shutting out the worst of the pain. I could feel my body tensing and relaxing, tensing again before I went still. I'd stay in position because he wanted me to. It was cathartic, drifting on the heavy pain that made everything in my head calm. 

Quinn
threw the belt aside to use his hand. I laughed in pleasure from the aggression, again when he hit harder than his belt. Warmth pooled in my lower body. I felt my clit throbbing for attention, my nipples just as sensitive. The pleasure was forgotten when he pinched the outside of my thighs. I felt him pinch my right nipple, then above my left knee, the outside of my hip, and high on my right inner thigh.

“
You want to thank me?”

He
looked surprised to see me suddenly kneeling in front of him. “Yes, please, Sir!”

I
put my hands on his hips, leaving my arms flat against his thighs. He groaned when I rubbed my cheek against his cock.
Quinn had helped keep me from breaking. I knew how easy it would be for him to make me really cry out in pain. 
             

“
What-?” I gasped. His arm wrapped around my back. He used the momentum to pick me up so I could straddle his waist.

“
If you start, I'll fuck you and I don't want to yet. In the bedroom,” he decided. “You're going to tell me what you were doing when I called you...”

-
Chapter 20
-

~
I Own You ~

W
hen his phone rang early Saturday morning, Quinn disappeared into his office. I started cleaning. Folding the clothes that were strewn around his bedroom was easy enough. As was making his bed and arranging the restraints around the headboard and footboard. Hanging one of his belts in the closet made me happy. I remembered a few from the rack that had been wound around my wrists. The living room only took a few minutes, and there was nothing to do in the kitchen. I heard typing and the muffled sound of his voice, the sound of a phone hitting the desk after a call. My Saturdays were so calm... His cell beeped with messages, his e-mail pinging when an important message came through. Both of his phones rang all throughout the day. Quinn did everything himself, remembering clients, phone numbers, meeting times. His phone doubled as his personal assistant.

I
stepped out onto the balcony for a cigarette when his land-line phone rang after a couple hours of quiet. Evening had almost fallen. The cold didn't reach me. I was high enough to be in deep introspection mode. There was a time when I could barely stand waiting a week for pain. I wondered if he felt the equivalent of subfrenzy. Domfrenzy. Did sexual aggression snap and claw at him, or was he really just better at controlling it than I was?

“
Goddamnit!
” I heard him yell from his office.

My
cigarette landed somewhere in the parking lot. I ran inside and almost collided into him. He kissed me hard, making sure I stood against the couch before he let me go.

“
What-? What just-”

He
quickly held one hand up, though he kissed the top of my forehead. It was only then that I saw the phone still in his hand. Both of my hands went over my mouth. Quinn laughed at my horrified expression.

“
Say that again, more slowly-” Smoke drifted around him as he exhaled and walked through it, around the coffee table. “I stopped watching the Rochester building. Tony dropped out. You're telling me that Intel- IntelliMed...something. Fuck! The startup med. supplies company got it?”

He
sat down on a single sofa chair, but tension had him get up and slowly pace around again. When he listened, his eyes fogged over with concentration. His brow furrowed, but then he smiled. It was predatory, vicious.

“
The company that I predicted would win, Global-- yes, them. They were the anonymous bid that saved my... a lot. … Tony made it easy, I know. He advertised his moves, but they played dirty.” He ran a hand through his hair, angry again. “… No, I would have been prepared for it. I know how those games are won.”

When
he glanced at the fridge, I got up to get him a drink. He followed me over and looked surprised when I handed him a bottle of soda. However I looked at him made his eyes go bright green with amusement, then maliciously so as he listened to his person on the phone.

“
So they've definitely won? They waited for Tony to go all in, and then they stole it? … For less than they would have offered. Unbelievable.” He laughed and slumped down next to me on the couch, his elbows propped up on his knees. I was surprised when he pressed the button for speakerphone.

“
- and that's how it goes, man. They had more to spend, but not
that
much more. You got lucky, you son of a bitch. You got time to get your shit together.”

Quinn,
sometimes, had a New York accent. I heard it when he was angry, and when he was being very Dominant. Greg, however, was a
New Yorker
.

“
Roy and Tony might see why I suggest they wait. Rushing leads to disaster.”

“
So, where are you takin' them now? Still Manhattan?”

“
Of course, Manhattan. I'm going to start with a year, but... we'll see how they do. They've got guys running damage control because it was all so public. There's not going to be anymore interference, or property searching by Tony.”

“
There isn't anything up worth lookin' at. Unless someone goes bankrupt within his price range... even then, man, it's not worth it. You know the hassle that brings?”

“
I don't. That's why I call you. When is this happening?”

“
They just bid. If there's another bid, anonymous or not-- who cares? All I know is, they spiked it, so Tony and anyone in that income bracket has to drop out. It's not Tony's game anymore.”

“
Thanks for saving my weekend again, Greg.”

“
Thank you for the help, y'know? You could've called in that loan to smooth-”

“
No problem,” Quinn interjected. “That was personal, not business.”

“
Another couple months-”

“
Rent out three apartments, a house-? You'll be Midas. Who knows what's going to happen. I might be calling you for a loan soon.”

“
Quinn? The fruit arrangement-?” I heard a woman's voice and smiled at the grateful sound she made. “That was great of you.”

“
It's the least I can do. I've kept him busy the past few days.”

“
Be well, and get some sleep. No more twenty-hour work days, huh? I'm saying good night from Greg--”

“
Yeah, Quinn?” he was back. “Sorry about that.”

“
No problem. I'll catch up with you later.”

“
Call me sometime this week. Let me know how things go down.”

“
Sure thing. Thanks again, man.”

Quinn
hung up and sighed, long and loud. “He saved more than just my weekend.”

“
Sounds like... So that was Greg.”

“
And his wife, Laura. They're both real estate agents in Manhattan.”

“
So... what happened, Sir?”

“
Well, I'm not moving to Manhattan.
The company's not moving yet. I've got half a year, at least, to decide what I'm going to do about New York. When they start moving to Manhattan, let them go. The business I run will definitely be able to stand on it's own by then.”

“
It was that dangerous for you?”

“
I would have been fine. I'd have to work a
lot
harder than I will, but... I'm not going to be making this decision again. I'll help them move, I'll make sure they're set, and Tony can do whatever he wants.”

“
W
hat happened after the first meeting you had with them? About the Rochester property. Everything wasn't fine after?”

“
Tony called another meeting, the next day. He pulled information about property, for the same price in Manhattan. I got another,
'We'll see what happens and decide from there,'
so I've spent my time getting ready to let them go. It's a good thing I didn't burn bridges. I saved myself two years of running around like a lunatic, my friendship with Roy, potentially.”

“
That's incredible, amazing news, Sir.”

“
Yeah,” Quinn said. “It's been a crazy few weeks.”

Few
weeks?
“
Things really happen that fast-?” I asked, feeling dazed. “I mean, what happens to the new clients you got? Can you keep them now that you're working for Garrett-Barton Software again?”

“
Anthony and Roy will follow the plan I set for them. I downgraded so a lot of my business is done on the phone, or by video conferencing. My main restraint was time. I can do both, and still keep my focus on small businesses.”

“
Where does that leave you, though?”

“
I'm actually better than I was before all this started. The problem was, with all the time they were going to need from me, I'd have lost most, if not all of my clients, anyway. That's why Tony was pushing.”

“
What an asshole.”

“
That's business, baby. Leverage.”

“
You can forgive him?”

“
No. I won't ever trust him, either, but I can work around him.”

“
So now that you're focusing on your other clients, your business will be self-sufficient in less than six months.”

“
Yes, that's what I'm hoping for. Then it's only a few years until I can save some more, build the business, and sell it for retirement.”

“
Wow.”

“
That's the plan, anyway. You know how the saying goes, right?”

“
Having a plan is better than not having one at all?”

“
Yeah,” he grinned wryly. “That's it. I'll start Monday, not work through 'til Monday. I've got new clients that I have to start untangling early this week. I'll have a lot of organizing to do. I, uh, pretty much just cold-called my way down a few lists.”

“
Of potential clients?”

“
Yes.”

He didn't look happy about it, at all. “How did that go?”

“Not too badly. I don't like doing business that way, though.”

“
No more work talk, for now?”

“
You're very perceptive,” he said finally. “Want to distract me?”

“
May I ask you a question about what happened yesterday?”

“
Of course. When yesterday?”

“
In the living room... Was that just edge-play, when you wanted to see how I'd react to being smacked?”

“
Yes. When you made that angry sound, it felt so
satisfying
.
What was going through your head? You glared at me.” He looked amused.

“
I'm not sure. I braced for pain, but I wasn't thinking anything. Nothing I can remember, anyway.”

“
Of all the things I anticipated you doing... that wasn't one of them.”

“
I showed anger to you, Sir. I'm sorry.”

“
You feel bad for-- Go kneel in my office, baby.”

* * *

I
t seemed like only a few minutes had passed, yet the moans in my head were high-pitched and frenzied. All of the worry I had harbored was washed away through taking actual pain. My knees ached, dully itching and burning as I knelt on the carpet. There were leather restraints around my wrists. A new light fixture on his ceiling hid the small steel plate with a large metal ring. Ropes connected the restraints around my wrists to the O-ring. I could kneel higher or lower, but my arms stayed above my head.              

Quinn
swung the flogger back and forth, each swing careful and measured.
It wouldn't stop!
I breathed easier when the ends swished over the lower part of my sides. A new wave of submission took me under. The pain became pleasure again. He used a lighter flogger and spread tingling warmth all throughout the back of my body. For a few long moments, all I could feel were the different levels to his strength and self-control. Underneath his dominance, I sensed the same dark, deep hunger that rose inside me every time the flogger's ends hit. I knelt higher and spread my legs wider. Shivers rolled across my shoulders when the harder flogger struck my skin. I breathed out and moaned when he hit the inside of my thigh. Quinn hesitated for a second and then let the tails slap against my other thigh. They doubled back, then danced over the outside of my legs.

The
panic rose, but I fought it. I struggled to focus through the intense pain of a harder flogger. It felt different from the normal worry that I'd have to safeword. He hit the back of my left thigh three times, then the outside of my right thigh three more times. There were no shields that could fall, no walls that could crumble. When emotions rushed through me, I threw my head back to keep from crying out. I suddenly felt very alone, starved for his endless reserve of control, the dominance that kept me from breaking apart. The heat radiating from my skin didn't reach down far enough inside me to banish the cold that was slowly taking over.
I didn't want to go back to that...

“
Do you want more?”

“
Yes!” I replied quickly. “Yes please.”

“
What was that?”

I
brought my head down between my shoulders, showing submission.
What was happening to me
? By the time I tried to let Quinn know there was something wrong, it was too late.
“I missed you so much. It was-- I'm still your submissive? I really didn't think you would-”

“
Claire?” He cupped my left cheek and had me look at him. I showed him what I felt through the way I kissed him back. “I'm cutting your wrists down. Can you hear me?”