The Sacrifice (6 page)

“Why?” I much prefer to study the carpet. Is there a swirly
pattern in the Berber? It’s completely fascinating. Or at least better than
looking up to meet those piercing eyes I can feel boring into me.

“Remember what I told you a submissive never asks?” he remarks.

Crap. Reluctantly, I look up at him.

“Now,” he says softly. “Why are you ashamed?”

“I told you in the car,” I say. “Because I’m shy. And because I’m
not tall and skinny and perfect.”

“Like the cousins you mentioned? The ones you grew up with?”

Hesitantly, I nod. “Yes.”

He frowns. “And if they and their type are so attractive, why
didn’t I choose one of them as my sacrifice?”

“I don’t know,” I say miserably. “I don’t know
why
you
picked me. Is it because you’re still mad about what happened in the shop?”

He shakes his head. “No, it has nothing to do with that. Although
I must admit, I wanted you from the first minute I saw you.”

“You…you did?” I can’t quite believe it. Then I remember the way he
kept watching me so intently while I was trying to get the herbs he was
requesting.

Slowly, he nods. “I did. I find your shape—which you seem to be so
ashamed of—quite beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, looking away.

“You don’t believe me.” I can hear the frown in his voice. “But
it’s true, Emma. The modern standard of beauty has changed but my own ideal has
not. Your hourglass curves are much lovelier than any of the skinny stick women
I see walking around these days. Why would I want to bed a woman who looks like
an adolescent boy?”

“I don’t know…” Finally I look at him again. The blazing intensity
I see in his eyes finally convinces me—he’s telling the truth. Wow. “Thank
you,” I say at last, not knowing what else to say. “That’s…it does make me feel
somewhat better. Knowing you like…full figured girls.”

“Full and luscious.” His gaze roams over my body in a way that
makes my skin tingle and my cheeks get hot. “But I cannot see all of you just
yet,” he continues, his eyes fastening on my blue lace panties.

“Oh, I…” I glance down at the little triangle of fabric between my
legs which is all that stands between me and total nudity. I’m guessing they’re
going to have to come off. Reluctantly, I hook my thumbs in their lacy sides,
preparing to push them down.

“No, wait.” Aiden holds up a hand to stop me. “Let me,” he
murmurs.

Before I can say anything, he is kneeling before me, his breath
hot on my inner thighs. He cups my hips for a moment, his large hands cool on
my hot skin. Then, slowly, as though he’s unveiling a masterpiece, he slides my
panties down, baring my pussy.

I’m not sure if I want to die of embarrassment or faint from lust.
I’m extremely glad of my rigorous personal grooming routine. I keep the area in
good shape, even if no one but me ever sees it. My brownish blonde curls are
neatly trimmed and the slit of my pussy is just visible.

“Beautiful,” Aiden breathes and runs one fingertip gently over my
heated flesh, tracing my slit lightly from top to bottom.

I gasp and bite my lip. I was fully prepared to hate this part of
the sacrifice deal. After all, I’ve never had sex before and now I’m going to
be forced into a sexual relationship with a man I barely even know. What I
wasn’t
prepared for was his gentleness. His tenderness and consideration in assuring
me that my body pleases him as it has never pleased me. I also wasn’t prepared
for the way his feather-light caresses make the heat pool between my legs and
my breath come short.

“Do you like that, Emma?” Aiden looks up at me as he strokes his
fingertip over my slit once more. I’m getting wet now—I can feel it. Looking
down I realize I can see it too. My pussy lips are getting puffy and swollen,
opening to reveal my slippery pink inner cunt. I die a little inside with
embarrassment—surely Aiden will know exactly how much he’s affecting me.
There’s no hiding it when my own body is acting against me this way. “Emma?” he
says again, raising and eyebrow at me.

“I…yes,” I say at last, knowing I can’t lie to him. Not with the
evidence on display like this. I squeeze my thighs tightly together, trying to
make it less obvious. “Yes, I…I guess so.”

“You guess so?” He frowns. “Perhaps I should do something to make
you more certain.”

“No, no!” I protest quickly. “It’s good. Really…
really
good.
I’m just…I’m not used to…to this kind of thing.”

“I’m beginning to think you’re not used to anything of a sexual
nature,” he remarks, finally rising to his feet.

I bite my lip. Should I tell him I’m a virgin? It’s my most
closely guarded and embarrassing secret—even worse than being a dud.

“I’m glad you’re capable of enjoying pleasure from my touch,”
Aiden says, looking down at me. “But I’m afraid you’ll also have to endure
pain.”

“Pain?” I try to back away from him but the damn bed is in the way
again.

“Yes, pain.” Casually, he sits on the bed and pats his lap. “Come
here, Emma. It’s time for your punishment.”

Chapter Six

“What kind of punishment are we talking about?” I ask nervously,
keeping my distance.

“One which will be worse if you don’t come to me at once.” Aiden
frowns. “Don’t make me come and get you, Emma. I promise you’ll be sorry if I
do.”

Feeling trapped, I inch reluctantly toward him. Moving faster than
I can see, Aiden reaches for me and pulls me to him. The next thing I know I’m
over his lap with my torso resting on the bed, my ass in the air, and my legs
hanging down.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I stutter, trying to turn my head and see
him.

“Giving you your punishment,” Aiden looks at me sternly. “The one
I promised you. The one you earned by disobeying me.”

“Okay, all right, I know all that,” I babble. “But what…how…?”

“How am I going to punish you?” He looks slightly amused. “I would
think that would be obvious. I’m going to spank you.”

“What?”
The word comes out in a breathless squeak. I don’t know what I expected when he
kept promising to punish me but not this—never this. Being put naked over his
knee and spanked like a little girl…it’s just ridiculous. Isn’t it?

“You heard me.” One of his large, warm hands is rubbing my naked
ass now, sending shivers down my spine. “I’m going to spank you, Emma. Ten
strokes for refusing to do as I ordered during the Sacrifice Ceremony and three
more for the words you uttered after I told you to stop speaking.”

“You can’t be serious,” I say blankly. “I’m not some naughty little
kid who got in a food fight at school.”

“No, you’re my defiant submissive who doesn’t know how to submit,”
he fires back. “This is lesson number one, Emma—if you disobey, you get
punished.”

Before I can say another word his big hand comes down on my bottom
hard. Smack
!
I gasp—damn, that hurts!

“It’s meant to hurt,” he says and I wonder if he’s somehow reading
my mind. He strokes my ass again, as though finding just the right spot to let
the next blow fall. “Don’t tighten up like that, Emma darling—it doesn’t help.”

But I can’t help myself—every muscle in my body is clenched. When
the next blow falls, I bite my lip to keep from gasping again. And then the
next and the next, all accompanied by a bright starburst of pain and the flat
smacking
sound of his palm connecting with my flesh.

I lose count around seven. I can no longer hold still—I’m writhing
in his lap, desperate to get loose, but there’s no way. Aiden has me pinned, my
legs held firmly down.

The pain is bad but the other sensations are worse. The feeling of
being pinned down, held, punished ought to make me angry as hell. Instead I
feel…something else. A heat which seems to start somewhere in my belly and
spreads to my entire body. I feel so bare, so naked, so
hot
, held
helpless in his lap like this. He can literally do anything to me and I can’t
stop him. My pussy feels wet again and my nipples are hard little nubs, rubbing
against the maroon satin duvet.

No—hell, no!
I
tell myself.
This is not turning me on. This is crazy!

Try telling that to my body, though. It’s revving like an engine
as I wiggle and squirm on my new master’s lap. I don’t understand—do I have
submissive tendencies hidden so deep inside even
I
didn’t know about
them? Or is this all about Aiden James and the way it feels to be close to him,
to be mastered by him?

These questions are too deep for me to answer, especially when my
ass is singing in pain with each measured slap of his large hand. I’m gasping
and moaning, crying out, “Oh!” or “Ow!” with each swat. I can’t seem to stop
myself. I guess I left my dignity at the door. Or more likely it came off with
my clothes when Aiden ordered me to strip. I feel like I’m going to explode
from the pleasure and pain and overwhelming emotion. Will this
ever
be
over?

And then abruptly, it is.

His hand stops spanking but he makes no move to let me off his
lap. Instead he strokes my sore ass gently, almost lovingly and murmurs
something too low for me to hear.

“What?” I ask, turning my head toward him, hoping my question
doesn’t provoke another spanking.

“I said, after the pain, the pleasure,” he says. Still keeping me
prone on his lap, he reaches across the bed for something. I’m about to ask
what it is when I feel a new sensation. His hand is back and this time it’s
soothing rather than painful.

Aiden rubs a cooling cream over my tortured skin making me moan
softly, even though I’m trying not to make a sound. “Gently, my darling,” he
murmurs as he works on me, stroking the cream across my skin in long, slow
strokes.

“Thank you,” I whisper when it seems that he is done at last.
“That…that feels much better.”

“And it’s going to feel better still,” he says. “Spread your legs,
Emma.”

“I…what?” I gasp, twisting my head around to see him better.
Really, this position is getting old but he still doesn’t seem inclined to let
me up.

“You heard me.” He looks at me steadily. “You need to know that
pleasure as well as pain can come by my hand. So spread your legs.”

“I…I thought we already established that your hands give me, uh,
pleasure. Earlier,” I say, pressing my thighs together. I really don’t want him
to see how wet I got from the spanking. I’m still confused about it myself.

“Emma,” he says sternly. “Aside from ‘why’, the other thing a
submissive never says is ‘no’.”

“I…but I…” I look at him anxiously, unable to utter my fear and
embarrassment.

Aiden must be able to see them in my eyes because his stern gaze
softens and he goes back to stroking my sensitive ass. “It’s all right, Emma,”
he says softly. “I simply need to get to know your body. I’m going to explore
your pussy with my fingers—going to test your depth and see how wet you get.”

I bite my lip. “But…why? I mean, I know I’m not supposed to ask
but this is, well,
private.”

He nods. “I understand. The reason I need to know your body is to
see how well it will fit with mine. I’m rather…” He clears his throat. “Rather
large
in certain areas. I need to make sure you can accommodate me.”

Oh my Goddess…
I feel faint, but his explanation makes sense. It also makes me
perversely hotter. The soft, gentle way he explained how he needed to explore
my body makes me feel like my insides have gone molten.

“All right,” I whisper. I hide my head in my arms and then slowly,
carefully, I part my legs for him.

“Good girl,” Aiden says approvingly. Of course, he’s plenty strong
enough to have forced open my thighs himself but that plainly isn’t his style.
He doesn’t want to force me—he wants me to submit to him. So far he’s winning
this game we’re playing—if it
is
a game.

“So lovely,” he says softly, cupping my quivering pussy in one
large palm. “So delicate.” He sits there for a moment, just holding me, letting
me get used to his touch, I’m sure. Then I feel two large, blunt fingers spread
my pussy lips wide. A third finger strokes over my heated insides, sliding over
the sensitive button of my clit, making me jump and moan.

“Like that, do you?” Aiden murmurs. He does it again but this time
the fingertip circles my throbbing clit, stroking all around the hot little nub
without actually touching it. He goes on and on like that until I think I’m
going to die.

“Beautiful,” he growls softly as he works on me. “And so wet
already. You’re very responsive, my darling. It’s going to be a real pleasure
getting to know your lush little body inside and out.”

I bite back a moan and try not to writhe too much. But I swear,
the way he’s touching me is driving me
crazy.
How long is he going to
keep this up? As long as it takes, apparently. Beneath my abdomen, I feel
something hot and hard and huge growing—poking at the bare skin of my stomach.
Oh my Goddess, is that his cock? He said it was large but this thing feels more
than large. It’s more like the jumbo extra deluxe version. Maybe it feels
bigger because of the leather pants he’s wearing—maybe some of the leather got
bunched up. I certainly hope I’m right because if not, there’s no way I’ll be
able to 'accommodate him' as he so eloquently put it.