Bunny and the Beast [Divine Creek Ranch 22] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic)

by Heather Rainier

  “Good girl. Off you go, then.” Part of him wanted to do the introductions, but Jade was comfortable in the club setting—and with Cecilia—and he wanted her to become more adept at negotiating, and she wouldn’t do that if he hovered over her. It was also important for her to depend on her own intuition.

  She turned back as if to say something else but then paused, shook her head, and turned toward the club.

  “What?”

  Jade’s cheeks flushed a little, and her gaze darted to where Bunny stood chatting with a sub and her Dom, who seemed vastly amused by whatever Bunny was saying. “It’s not my business.”

  “Get it off your chest, Jade. It’s okay.”

  “That person…why is she here?” Her disapproving tone and frown indicated she didn’t believe there was a submissive bone in Bunny’s body. But Jade also had a slanted worldview of submission, albeit one that had worked for her in the past.

  Nodding, Joseph said, “Do you remember how you felt when you discovered you were a submissive and there was nothing wrong with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “And then you discovered a person who felt the same way, and then a great number of people who understood you and shared your interest.”

  “Y-Yes.”

  “Good. Remember how you felt the first time you spoke with Donald?”

  She lowered her head, and she nodded as her cheeks flushed deeper. She gulped, and he barely heard her hoarsely voiced, “Yes.”

  “Would you deny that gift to someone else, even if, to you, she doesn’t look or act the same as you?”

  “Never,” she replied with a sharp jerk of her head. “I just…she is so different…from what I thought you wanted.” She glanced up at Randall and then put her hand over Joseph’s, where it gently gripped her arm. “I’m so sorry, Sir. I’ve spoken out of turn and don’t mean to be an embarrassment.”

  At Joseph’s nod, Randall gently cupped her shoulders and said, “Look at me, Jade.”

  With reluctance, Jade looked up into Randall’s eyes, her watery gaze showing honest confusion. “Sir?”

  “We all come to this lifestyle with different backgrounds, hang-ups, and upbringings.”

  “Yes, Sir,” she said with a nod. “You’re right.” Turning her gaze to Joseph, she said, “I will do everything I can to make…”

  “Bunny.”

  “…to make B-Bunny feel welcome.” She hesitated on the name but then smiled. “I promise.” Joseph nodded and then patted Jade’s shoulder as she turned and made her way over to the bar to meet the potential Dom. Cecilia nodded at him when he caught her eye, and he went back to surveying the club.

  Randall said, “I’m having a hard time reconciling the present reality with your past prerequisites. All these years, I’ve pictured you with a tall, willowy blonde, Joseph. Someone named Tara or Suzanne. Never a Bunny. I guess I’m just as guilty of stereotyping as anyone else.”

  “I’ll be honest and say I felt the same way, Randall, but her name suits her. It’s not as if she could easily change it. And I don’t think I’d change her either.”

  “I can’t wait to see the two of you in action.”

  Crossing his forearms over his chest, Joseph said, “She’s just dipping her toe in the kiddie pool tonight.”

  “That explains why you don’t have her dressed up.”

  Joseph shook his head. “Not this time. She had some preconceived notions, and I want her to have time to see that she’s safe here.”

  “Does she have background issues?”

  Shrugging, Joseph replied. “We haven’t gotten that far yet.”

  “You haven’t done anything yet? Once you decide something, you usually pursue it relentlessly.”

  Joseph knew he was referring to sex as well as her submission, but Bunny was different, and he hoped his patience would be rewarded.

  “I am, in my own way. Give me time. She met Mona a few weeks ago, but I need to introduce her to you. Be nice,” he added with a chuckle as he scanned the room. “Now where did she go?”

  Randall looked over his shoulder and cleared his throat, and amusement entered his eyes. Joseph instantly recognized the little feminine growl he was coming to know well, followed by a familiar raspy baritone.

  “Is this yours, Joseph?”

  Prepared for just about anything, he hid his laughter when he turned and spotted a good friend, and inveterate sadist, Samson Cutter, with a red-faced Bunny slung over his shoulder.

  “Yes, Samson, thank you. What has Bunny been up to?” he asked, pointedly ignoring her in favor of hearing from the Dom. Even Samson chuckled a little at her outraged snarl as he set her on her feet.

  “The imp was trying to get a rise out of me at the bar.”

  Joseph turned to Bunny, who looked sufficiently guilty, and raised his eyebrows. Finally, she said, “He was sitting there like a big ol’ grumpy bear. I was cheering him up.”

  Samson arched an eyebrow at her. “By sassing a sadist?”

  Bunny scoffed right back at him and said, “How was I to know you’re a sadist? I was being nice!”

  Samson gestured at Joseph and then looked down at her with a squinty eye. “Tell him what you told me, after you kept poking me in the arm.”

  Bunny’s lip pooched out for a second as she noticed the conversation had attracted a few onlookers. Finally she turned to Joseph and, with big innocent eyes, said, “I wasn’t poking him. I was tickling him. I wanted to make him laugh. He was sitting there all grumpy, and I told him I bet if I let him motorboat my tits he might cheer up a bit. I was joking!”

  Joseph nearly swallowed his tongue trying to not react. “And?” he asked because he knew there had to be more to it.

  “I plaited his hair while I was chatting with him. He didn’t seem to mind. Just sat there like a bump on a log…growling. Seriously, like I was gonna be scared of a big ol’ teddy bear?”

  Samson reached back and showed Joseph the braids in his long, thick, silver-streaked hair. Joseph was impressed she’d approached him, of all the Doms in the place.

  “You have pretty hair, you big grouch. I didn’t realize I was poking a real bear,” she said with her hands on her hips. “Your mama didn’t socialize you very well.”

  Mona had joined them by this point, and the shocked look on her face was priceless before she turned her wide brown eyes on Joseph as if to say, “Save her!”

  Samson cleared his throat. And then cleared it again. Then looked at Joseph. “My understanding from Cecilia is that the wee pest is your guest. You deal with her?”

  “Rest assured I will, my friend.”

  Bunny scrunched her nose up at Samson and then waggled her derriere at him, as if daring him, but with a Dom’s self-control, Samson just grinned at the bait and then raised his eyebrows at Joseph and lowered his chin in a gesture that clearly stated, “You’ve got your work cut out for you.”

  “Bunny,” Joseph stated in a censorious tone. “Of all the Doms you could’ve tweaked in this place, you had to go and pick—”

  Bunny scoffed. “The worst one? The one with no sense of humor at all? It’s not as if I tried to put ribbons in his hair, although it is long and pretty—” She zipped her lips when he frowned. “Okay, I’ll apologize for poking the bear. Sheesh, he needs to grow a sense of humor.”

  Even though she didn’t recognize it, he heard Samson’s wheezing laughter as he walked back to the bar.

  “No, you need to grow a sense of self-preservation. The only reason you’re not tied to a spanking bench right now, with him on the end of a paddle, is because he knows you’re new to the club and the scene. But when we’re done, you will apologize to him.”

  Mona’s and Randall’s jaws dropped when Bunny made a raspberry sound and crossed her arms over her chest. “I thought he was amused.”

  He probably was, fiammetta, as am I. “He will be when you make a proper apology to him, one that doesn’t include waggling your ass at him.”

  “Phooey.”

 
; Randall’s face was flushed, and Joseph saw the rise and fall of suppressed laughter in his shoulders and chest. “Good luck with that one,” he said as he threaded his hands into Mona’s hair and they turned to go.

  “No, stay. You can both watch.”

  Bunny followed him over to the display of paddles on the wall and tugged at his coat sleeve. “What happens now? I said I was sorry…sort of.”

  He smiled down at her flushed face, unable to hide his enjoyment as her predicament sank in for her. “You still have consequences, though. Hmm…should I use the square wooden paddle or the leather one?” Running his fingers over the smooth leather, he turned to her when she tugged at his sleeve again. “Not trying to get out of your punishment, are you?”

  She didn’t look away to see if others were around. She just shook her head. “You’re really going to spank me?” She sounded a little breathless, and understanding dawned on Joseph.

  The little minx.

  “Yes, fiammetta. You’ve been a naughty brat, and it’s time for comeuppance. I think for your first time I’ll go easy on you.”

  “Oh good. Why am I not very reassured?”

  “Your cheekiness is duly noted. Take off your shoes, shirt, camisole…and jeans.”

  She was already unbuttoning her shirt, but her jaw dropped when he mentioned her jeans. When her mouth stayed open, he tipped it closed, grinning at her. “On behalf of all the Hazelle House sadists, I’m happy to give you your first spanking.”

  “You’re a sadist, too? Crap, of course you are. Damn it.”

  Over his shoulder, he saw Mona blink her eyes in surprise, but then she smiled at him and nodded, as if to say, “Met your match there, haven’t you?”

  Joseph turned to Randall and pointed at Mona. “I think my sub is a bad influence on yours. Deal with her, or we’ll have a mutiny on our hands.” Given Bunny’s heightened state, he thought she might not have realized he’d referred to her as his, but he couldn’t take it back now. The look in Randall’s eyes told him it had registered with his friend, though.

  Mona made a face that reminded him of Bunny, and Joseph didn’t bother restraining his laughter when he heard a loud pop from their general location.

  “Ouch!”

  Bunny turned to look but wisely didn’t say anything to Randall. “I have to take my pants off? My butt…my butt is…” She let out a soft, worried sound. “I have dimples, Sir.”

  With a sigh, Joseph took her by her upper arms and turned her so they had a little privacy. “If it were up to me, you and I would not be having this discussion. I believe the parameters I set and the instructions about etiquette I gave you were clear about approaching Doms and respecting their boundaries.”

  “He looked so lonesome and sweet sitting by himself. I wanted to see him smile,” she whispered earnestly.

  He let out a breath as he stroked her chin. “I know your intentions were nice, but I gave you those instructions because things don’t work the same here. This is not the Dancing Pony, and you can’t charm your way out of sassing a sadist…unless of course you’ve been instructed to or invited to.” She frowned. “Never mind. I know I’m confusing you. What might work for you in the Pony won’t necessarily work for you here. Next time, keep your hands to yourself unless given permission.”

  Unconsciously, she’d latched onto the plackets of his coat, looked down at her hands, and let go. Joseph covered her hands with his. The need to reassure her was unsettling because he saw the fear in her eyes. He would rather her first spanking weren’t so public.

  “Listen, I know we have no formal arrangement between us, and I don’t want to jeopardize that possibility. Will you trust me not to take you beyond what you can handle?”

  “I’m uncomfortable being so naked in front of strangers,” she murmured, covering her ass with her hands. The protective gesture, the natural progression of a naughty brat who has sassed her Dom was impossibly endearing.

  “Do you remember that night at the fantasy weekend a few weeks ago?” At her nod, he continued. “Your friend Violet?”

  Understanding dawned in her eyes. “Oh.”

  “You are safe with me. All the members are carefully vetted by me and my staff, as well as the advisory board, which is made up of the senior members of the club. If you can agree to trust me enough to remove your outerwear this time, I won’t make you remove your panties and bra.” At least not completely, he thought with evil glee.

  She didn’t look very encouraged.

  “Bunny, you are a voluptuous woman, but you are also incredibly fit. You have nothing to be ashamed of, not any more than Violet did.”

  She licked her lips. “Violet told me that weekend changed the way she looks at her body.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. Now look around the play area. Do you see many subs in street clothing?”

  “No, not many.”

  “Do they have perfect bodies? To me, and to many of the Doms they do, but to themselves, they struggle with the same problem you do. Your derriere may have dimples on it, but I don’t mind a single one of them. You won’t leave my sight, fiammetta. Now, this discussion has gone on far too long. Can you trust me? If not, the safe word is red, and you go home.” He held out a hand to her. “Trust me?”

  She nodded and kept unbuttoning her shirt as she drew closer to him.

  “You can put your clothing on the stool,” he said as he selected a leather paddle from the wall. “We’ll start with five licks, plus two more for your cussing.”

  He paused when the camisole came off and he saw the bra she was wearing. Made of transparent black mesh and lace, it was the ultimate tease, or so he thought until she revealed the skimpy matching bottoms when she turned to lay her neatly folded clothing on the stool. In black lace, she was temptation from head to toe.

  “Very nice, fiammetta,” he whispered as he drew a chair forward and sat in it. “For your first time, I’m taking you across my lap. Can you be still? Otherwise, I’ll put you on the bench. The choice is yours.”

  Appealingly uncertain, she looked from one choice to the other and then noticed several people had come over to watch. “Your lap,” she whispered as she edged nearer.

  He bent her over his lap, observing how stiff she was, and slid his fingers down in a caress around her throat to test her pulse and look into her eyes. He leaned down so only she would hear. “Think of the book I gave you, the surprises and the hidden blessings?”

  She looked down, as if recalling the details of the Dom-sub couple’s beginnings, and her lips quirked in a barely perceptible smile. Then she turned those vulnerable turquoise eyes on him. Nervous, very nervous, judging by the clammy death grip on his thigh, but her pulse was strong and regular, and her eyes were dilated. Aroused. And then she smiled broadly.

  “Yes, Joseph. I mean, yes, Sir. Let me have it.”

  He brushed a wavy tendril of hair from her temple behind her ear, and smiled back, unable to ignore the sensation that she was somehow the one in control.

  “If you will try to relax, it won’t hurt as much.”

  Her only acknowledgment was a soft snort, as she allowed him to position her, and a cute little squeal when he pushed her over so far she could no longer get leverage with her toes. A trail of gooseflesh broke out on her back as he trailed his fingertips down her spine, letting him know her tension was high.

  Up to this point he’d only imagined what it would be like, gripping her adorable butt cheeks, readying her ass to take a spanking. Not a punishment spanking, although that was probably what she thought she was about to get. She’d learn the difference.

  He slid his hand over one lace-covered ass cheek and squeezed, the perfect size and combination of taut muscle and bouncy flesh, the very reason he loved to see her in her snug jeans. He gave it a light tap and then squeezed again harder, drawing the blood to the surface of her skin. Her soft gasp was gratifying. Delivering a light tap to the other cheek, he gave it a good squeeze, both to prepare her but also because he just
loved to do it. He kneaded her flesh until the blush rose to the surface and she’d gone limp over his lap.

  He grinned as he slid his fingertips beneath the lace of her panties and used the back of his hand to slide them down.

  “Oh! No! No!” she cried out, her breath catching just the way it had that first time in the stairwell, an image his subconscious had tortured him with too many times to count.

  “I wouldn’t want to abrade your skin by spanking you with the lace and mesh on top, now would I?”

  “Fuck no, why do that when you can bare my ass to the whole damn room?”

  “Fine then. Nine licks it is,” he said, keeping all trace of laughter from his voice. “Count for me, fiammetta,” he murmured.

  Pop.

  Her ass barely jiggled, and her only response was a snicker. “One.” She wiggled on his lap as if she was provoking him. “Seriously, come on.”

  Wham!

  She yelped, bucking on his lap. “Holy motherfuckin’ shit!”

  He laughed out loud. “I like an even number, too, fiery one. Ten it is!”

  Whatever she’d been about to shout was suddenly sucked back as she shut her mouth. “Sh—ootfire, Sir! Two!”

  “Better.”

  Wham! Wham! They went on, her counting, him spanking. She got a little breathless toward the end, her voice softening, and the way she twitched told him they were starting to sting about the time he got to number eight. Her apology to Samson needed to be sincere, and he didn’t want her to think his punishments wouldn’t sting that much, so he delivered the next pop at a much harder impact.

  “Nine! Mother—fudgesicle!” she shouted.

  “Very creative, fiammetta,” he said as he helped her find her footing on the floor. Her feet were crossed one over the other, and her little toes were curled up so cute, and he grinned. She stumbled against him as he helped her rise, and she leaned against him, sniffling as he pulled her panties back up over her hot flesh.

  “Sir?”

  “Yes, Bunny?”

  “Um, totally not complaining, but…that was only nine.”

  “I know. I’ve decided to let Samson deliver the last one.”