Master Class

by Carr, Cassandra

  “Yes, and if you don’t start treating me with respect, we’ll try three implements.”

  Lisette suppressed a huff of outrage and began to dig through his toy bag, shoving things aside as she searched.

  “Three, girl.”

  Lisette took a deep breath. She needed to calm down before things got any worse. “Yes, sir.”

  She selected a hairbrush, medium paddle, and a small strap and placed them next to him, her head down. Berating herself for letting her temper get the better of her again, just like she had the other night at the office, she waited. And waited. Finally Ryan nudged her chin up.

  “You need a spanking. Not because of tonight, though you certainly could’ve handled yourself better, but because of how stressed-out you are. You’re wound like a clock, and a cathartic spanking will help. I know what you need, girl.”

  He was right, but she couldn’t admit that, couldn’t look him in the eye.

  “Eyes on me. Now.”

  Lisette’s gaze snapped back to his as she shifted on the cushion.

  “I’m not spanking you because I want to. If I did, that would be fine and part of our play, but I’m not. I want this clear. I’m spanking you because you need it, and part of a Dom’s job is to give a submissive what he or she needs, even if they don’t always want it.”

  Nodding, she answered, “Yes, sir.”

  “Do you understand, or are you going to continue to glower and pout?”

  “I understand.” And she did, which made her feel even worse.

  “As you know, the point of a stress-relief spanking is simple—literally, to relieve stress. The way you do that is through crying. This isn’t going to be a short, sexy little spanking. It’ll be similar to the one I gave you a few weeks ago at the end of our play session. After your spanking is done, I’ll hold you and we’ll talk.”

  A tear escaped, rolling down her cheek. “I’m sorry I acted like a bitch, sir.”

  “You’re under a ton of stress. I can make that better, but I need you to work with me, not against me.” He patted his lap. “Now get over my knee.”

  Lisette lowered her body, and he moved her around until he was satisfied. As her skirt was lifted and Ryan tucked the hem into the waistband, a little breeze of cold air hit her, and she shivered. Ryan chuckled.

  “Don’t you worry about being cold, girl. I’m going to light a fire on your ass.”

  “I don’t doubt that, sir.” He laughed again and then hooked his fingers in her panties and pulled them down.

  “I’ll spank until I think you’ve had enough. We’ll begin.”

  The first sharp stroke with the hairbrush came down, and she gasped. That first one was always the worst. Ryan kept spanking her, moving to the paddle after a little while. He covered every inch, including her entire ass and halfway down her thighs. It hurt like a bitch. Finally the dam broke, and she pushed out a sob.

  “Don’t fight it, sub. Let it out,” he told her as the paddle descended again. “You need this.”

  A groundswell of feeling washed over her. Anger, betrayal, depression, anxiety, they all took a turn until Lisette was crying hard, tears running onto the couch, her mouth open and taking in gulps of oxygen as she released the things that had been weighing her down.

  Ryan stopped and gently rubbed her ass. He pushed her legs apart, and soon two of his long fingers were in her pussy, moving in and out without mercy. His thumb connected with her clit, and another type of sob escaped her. Ryan worked her until her entire body bowed, and she came with a scream torn straight from her throat. A few moments later, she went totally limp over his lap. He gathered her up and threw a fleece blanket around her. She winced as her well-spanked ass rubbed against his jeans.

  Holding her tight, he whispered little nonsense stuff into her ear, kissing her hair and rocking her. She would’ve given up a limb for a comfortable bed right that second. Going back through her sluggish brain’s memories, she tried to remember if she’d ever felt like this before, both exhausted to her core and strangely peaceful and taken care of. Ryan had been right. She’d needed a spanking. She’d needed to cry.

  Lisette was afraid to look up at him, terrified he’d see a whole gamut of emotions in her eyes she wasn’t even ready to finish processing, much less share with him. He seemed content to continue to rock her, and she let him. After several minutes she took a deep breath and centered herself.

  She reached out of the blanket to pull his face close. “Thank you, sir,” she whispered.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “You were right. I did need that.”

  His mouth fell open in mock surprise. “I was right?”

  “Yes, you were, sir.” Lisette started as she realized something. “Um, sir, I have no idea why I’m telling you this—apparently I have a death wish or something, but I think you forgot the third implement.”

  “I didn’t forget. You’ll get ten strokes with the strap right before you leave tonight. That will be a punishment for your behavior toward Master Mark, and I wanted it separate from this.”

  She nodded, chewing the inside of her cheek. It would be a well-deserved punishment, but she wasn’t looking forward to adding ten strap strokes to her already scorching ass.

  He motioned toward the cushion again. “Back on the floor, sub.”

  Lisette scrambled off his lap, her ass now exposed to the club as he hadn’t pulled up her panties. Ryan stood and unzipped, pulling out his hard cock.

  “Thank me properly for your spanking, girl.”

  It felt like forever since she’d had him in her mouth, and she concentrated on pulling his release out using every trick she could think of. After one particularly powerful suck on his cockhead, he grabbed her hair and began to fuck in and out of her mouth. Lisette held on, keeping a tight suction around his shaft as best she could. A few moments later he erupted, spilling cum onto her tongue, and it was all she could to swallow him without letting any drip out. When his cock was spent, he sighed and pulled out before sitting again.

  “I know how tired you are, and you don’t have to stay. I didn’t expect you to, but it was important you got your needs taken care of, even if you didn’t realize what those needs were.”

  “Yes, sir, I know, and I understand.”

  “Good. Don’t get all huffy if I tell you to do something in the future; assume I have a good reason for my order.”

  Lisette ducked her head. “Yes, sir.”

  “I want you to lie over the arm of the couch for your strokes with the strap, and then you’ll be free to go.”

  She pushed her torso over the wide couch arm, resting her face on the cushion, still damp from her earlier tears. Ryan stepped behind her, holding the strap, and measured his stroke several times. “Count and apologize, then ask for the next one.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Fire exploded across her ass, and she bit out, “One. I’m sorry, sir; can I have the next stroke?”

  They continued on through the next several strokes, Ryan igniting her skin again and again. He laid another one down, and her fists balled. He waited and then said gently, “Count, sub.”

  “Oh! Um.” Lisette racked her brain trying to remember which stroke they were on. “Um, eight, sir. I’m sorry, sir; can I have the next one?” It came out in one long, continuous string, and she’d barely finished the sentence when the next stroke landed on the sensitive curve where buttock met thigh. “Ugh! Shitshitshit.”

  “Sub…”

  The word was a clear warning this time, and Lisette shook her head. She couldn’t do it. He leaned down, his groin pushing into her back and making the burn even worse.

  “Do as I say, or I’ll add extras. You have one extra stroke coming right now.”

  “Shit.”

  What is wrong with me?

  “Now two.”

  “Nine, sir. I’m sorry, sir; please can I have the next one?”

  He straightened, and she felt something skate over her ass. Several seconds later, t
he tenth and what should’ve been the final stroke landed. Leaning over her again, he said, “Two extras. Then you can go.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir.”

  “I know you are. No need to count these.” Seemingly as soon as his weight lifted from her body, the first stroke landed, followed shortly by the second. She felt something wet and cool on her ass, and then Ryan came around the front of the couch. “I applied aloe vera lotion. That should help. You can have the tube.” Going behind her once more, he gently, slowly pulled her panties up, and she gingerly rose to her feet. She was folded into Ryan’s embrace, and she leaned heavily on him, allowing him to hold her up while she regained her equilibrium.

  “I feel so much better, sir. My ass is going to feel that spanking for a couple of days, but I totally needed that. Thank you for dealing with my brattiness. You didn’t have to explain why you were doing anything, but you did, and I appreciate it. I finally saw the forest through the trees, you know?”

  Tilting her face up, he kissed her and then drew back. “I want to give you what you need. But just so we’re clear, I won’t hesitate to give you another spanking if I think you need it.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I appreciate that, sir.”

  “Let’s get you home. It’s only eight thirty; maybe you can get a solid night of sleep for a change.”

  “That sounds heavenly.”

  * * * *

  Ryan left the club right after Lisette. There was no reason for him to hang around, though he considered doing so to watch more scenes. But truth be told, the long days brought about by him helping Lisette in the office at night after a full day at his own job were taking their toll on him too.

  On Sunday morning Ryan went out for the paper. It was, of course, filled with ads for the holiday season. He was halfway back up his driveway on the way to his house when he stopped so suddenly, he skidded on an icy patch and nearly went down.

  “I need to get her something for Christmas. We’re dating, and that means gifts on holidays.”

  No one was around to hear his proclamation, but that didn’t make it any less of a revelation. At this point there was no other word he could think of for what they were doing other than dating. Sure, they were still playing, but he’d spent several nights with her over the past week just taking care of her and helping her out. They were exclusive. Yeah, they were dating. And if Lisette was his girlfriend, he reasoned, swallowing hard past the lump in his throat, he had to get her something for Christmas. But what?

  His hands started to shake so badly the paper rattled. He’d never been good at giving gifts, and his ex had hated pretty much every present he’d given her. Maybe a gift certificate, so she could get whatever she wanted? Ryan dismissed that idea. Too cold. Why was this always so hard?

  He decided to call Lisette, since he needed to check in with her anyway.

  “Hey, it’s Ryan. How did you sleep?”

  “Like the dead. Ten hours.”

  “Good. Glad to hear it. Listen, we need to talk about something.” Ryan could practically feel her stiffen up over the phone line.

  “What?”

  “Don’t get crazy; nothing’s wrong. I just thought we should agree on what we were going to do for Christmas.”

  “Oh, jeez, I have no idea. I have to see my family—”

  “I meant gift giving.”

  “Gift giving?”

  It was tempting to laugh at how stunned she sounded, but since he’d only stopped his own freak-out moments before, that wouldn’t have been fair. “Yes. I hope you agree that at this point, we’re more than a Dominant and a submissive who play together. I’d go so far as to call what we’re doing dating. Can you argue with that assessment?”

  Lisette blew out an audible breath. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

  “Don’t sound so excited. You’re making me blush.”

  “Right,” she answered with a laugh. “So does that make me your girlfriend? That always sounds so funny when people our age say it.”

  “It does, but what would you prefer? Lover? Partner?”

  “Ick, no, neither one of those.”

  “Then I guess we’ll have to settle on girlfriend. How do you feel about that?”

  “I’m good with it, but that makes you my boyfriend, you know.”

  “Yes, I was aware of the reciprocal nature of these things.”

  “And it doesn’t freak you out?”

  He took a moment to think about it. “Not a bit. Now that we’ve got that squared away, what do you want to do for gift giving?”

  “How about, say, a fifty-dollar limit?”

  “That sounds reasonable.”

  “Okay, good. I’m glad we had this discussion.”

  Her voice was laced with mirth, and he was happy to hear her sounding less stressed. “How’s your ass this morning?”

  “Whoa, non sequitur.”

  He smiled. His girlfriend knew some dollar words. Cool.

  “It’s not bad. I put more stuff on it this morning.”

  “I’d come over and kiss it to make it better, but now I’ve got to troll through the mall, looking for a present for my girlfriend.” Ryan heaved a mock sigh. “Plus, I don’t want you to get sick of me.”

  Lisette snorted. “Yeah, that’ll happen. I think I’ll get sick of the guy who brings me dinner, serves as my nighttime office lackey, makes sure I get adequate sleep, and relieves my stress. I can’t believe I haven’t booted you to the door already.”

  “Cheekiness will be taken out on your cheeks, girl.”

  “Ugh, not today, I hope. I hate getting a spanking over a spanking. That just sucks; there’s no two ways about it.”

  Ryan chuckled. “I can imagine, so I’ll let it go for now.”

  “Thanks so much for the leniency.”

  “Okay, I’ll let you go. I’ve got ads to peruse.”

  She laughed, and they hung up. Ryan settled into his favorite recliner with a football game on and an ungodly amount of newspaper print from the Sunday paper weighing him down. Three hours later the game was over, and he hadn’t made a decision. Rising, he grabbed a beer and went back through the smaller pile of ads he’d pulled out as more likely to have something she’d like. When another search through them was fruitless, he dropped the offending items on the floor at the side of his chair and grabbed his laptop.

  Aha, pay dirt! He’d noticed Lisette always had her toenails painted, even in winter, like it was now. There was an e-mail from one of those deal things with an offer of a fancy-schmancy pedicure for fifty dollars. Even as the thought of spending fifty dollars on your toes mystified him, he was pretty sure Lisette would like the gift. Three minutes later the certificate was spitting out of his printer, and he was done shopping. Hadn’t even had to hit a mall. With a beer in his hand and his mind free from the blind panic of earlier, he further reclined in his chair and watched another game.

  Later that night as he laid in bed, he wondered why he’d come to terms with being in a relationship with Lisette so quickly. She was an incredible woman, that much was obvious, but he’d been convinced it would take a long time, perhaps even years, before he’d consider a serious relationship, and he couldn’t help thinking that’s exactly what their relationship was.

  Sure, he’d wanted something more than a one-night stand, but there was a difference between wanting more and finding himself with, for lack of a better phrase, a steady girlfriend. And yet he wasn’t hyperventilating, wasn’t trying to talk himself out of it. Ryan drifted off to sleep feeling at peace, despite his ruminations.

  The next couple of weeks went by in much the same manner as the first after the project had been dumped on Lisette’s lap. Ryan stayed at work until six, so he could get as much grading done as possible; then he stopped to pick up their dinner. If she didn’t need his help, he’d just hang out at the small table in the corner of her office and create lesson plans or grade papers. He actually found himself looking forward to being there with her every weeknight. For some
reason it made him feel closer to her, even when she was ignoring him for the most part as she worked.

  Lisette had finally stopped protesting his coming over every night after he’d lifted her skirt and given her a mini-spanking right there in her office. Her face had flamed, but she’d sat down and never mentioned it again. There was no way he was going to let her stay by herself until all hours every night, and he was happy she’d finally accepted it. Ryan had also convinced her to take ten minutes and eat rather than wolfing the food down as she continued to work, and he found himself looking forward to that little break when they’d talk and eat. She was always so thankful and bestowed a lot of smiles on him.

  Compared to what he’d known for years with his ex-wife, this was off-the-charts awesome. They also met at the club every Saturday, and he spanked her if he felt she needed it. Otherwise he made her come a couple of times and sent her home.

  After a while, the act of spanking her relieved his stress too. He’d never thought it would make any difference to him if he wasn’t the one on the business end, but it did. After the spankings, sometimes they’d do other stuff, but oftentimes he made her come with his hand or mouth right afterward, and then she sucked him off before going home. Maybe their relationship wasn’t exactly like he’d pictured, but in many ways, it was much better. Ryan wasn’t complaining.

  He teased her about already having her present, and she rolled her eyes every time. She’d been doing shopping for her family through the Internet whenever she got a spare minute, and it was making her cranky, since she was one of those insane shoppers who loved being in the mall during the holiday season. There simply wasn’t much time for that, though.

  She invited him to her family’s huge Christmas Eve party, and he accepted with more than a little trepidation. He hadn’t done a “meet the parents” thing in, well, a freaking long time, and he hoped they didn’t demand to know what the hell she was doing with this loser by the end of the night. When the night finally arrived and Ryan picked her up to go to the party, his heart almost froze in his chest when she opened the door. She looked beyond gorgeous. Edible.