“And maybe I am going slower than necessary,” I whispered. “But I’d rather do that than go too fast. I’ve always gone slow with new subs, but with everything you’ve been through, I’m scared to death of pushing you too hard and making things worse.”
She shook her head. “You’re not going too slow, Scott. You’re the last one I should be angry with through any of this.” She dropped her gaze, watching her fingers stroke the back of my hand for a long moment. “And I was completely out of line when I compared you to Rich. I didn’t… it… Jesus, Scott, I am so sorry.”
I moved a little closer to her and lifted her chin so she looked me in the eye. “I know you didn’t mean it, babe. I knew it as soon as you said it.” I leaned in and let my lips barely brush hers. When she made no attempt to pull away, I kissed her, wrapping my arms around her. When she returned my kiss, relief flooded my veins. Breath released. Knots unwound. Tension melted.
She broke the kiss and met my eyes. “Do you know what I kept thinking about last night? After I left?”
I shook my head.
“What you said,” she whispered, “that you wouldn’t flog me in anger.”
I didn’t speak, just cradled the side of her neck in one hand and pretended not to notice the chill inching its way up my spine.
She licked her lips. “As soon as you said that, I think I was angrier with myself for getting angry with you.” She trailed her fingertips down the side of my face. “You’ve been everything I needed from the beginning, and I was lashing out at you. When you said that, it…” She took a deep breath. “Before you, the majority of my experiences with a flogger were in anger. Scott, I’ve never been with someone who only hit me or flogged me for my own pleasure. Not until you.”
Gritting my teeth, I sent up a silent request for some serious divine retribution for that asshole. I kept my fury under the surface though, out of her sight, and instead ran the backs of my fingers along her jaw. “That’s the only reason anyone should ever lay a hand or a flogger on you.”
“Exactly. Which got me thinking, and I realized you’re the first one in years who’s made me feel…” Her eyes lost focus while she searched for the word. She opened her mouth to speak, then bit her lip. Took a breath. Hesitated again. As her eyes flicked back and forth between my eyes and lips, she abandoned whatever she’d intended to say and pulled me into another kiss instead. She initiated it, but let me take the lead. Her lips parted for my tongue. At the gentle insistence of my hand on her back, she moved in closer. When I wrapped my arms around her, she did the same.
Still in my arms, she looked up at me again. “What I was trying to say,” she whispered, “is you’re the first one in years who’s made me feel safe.”
I held her tighter and kissed her forehead. “You’re always safe with me, babe.”
She said nothing, just lifted her chin for another kiss.
I broke that kiss, but only long enough to whisper, “Come here.”
She moved to her knees and on to my lap, straddling me while we let the conversation fade away in lieu of a long, deep kiss. Now a whole different kind of tension made itself known. A deliciously familiar one, especially when she pressed her hips against mine to let me know she knew she was turning me on.
“So do we still have to move slowly?” She grinned against my lips.
I cupped her breast through her shirt. “Slowly, yes, but I’ve been thinking a little about moving things forward a bit.”
She looked at me, eyebrows raised.
Teasing her nipple with my thumb, I said, “What do you think you’re up for?”
She thought for a moment. “Maybe we could pick up where we left off last night?”
I kissed her again. “Feel like being flogged?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“To the dungeon, then,” I said with a smirk.
She laughed and stood.
Once I was on my feet, I gestured at my work clothes. “Let me change out of this first.”
“Don’t like flogging someone when you’re dressed like a respectable gentleman?”
I snorted. “Something like that.”
“Hmm, I don’t know, though.” She tugged my already-loosened tie a little looser. “Seems like it has some convenient things built right in.” She pulled the tie free. “Ever use these for ‘non-dressing’ purposes?”
“When nothing else is available.” I grinned as she wound it around her hands. “However, something else is available, so we’ll just save this for another night.”
“Good. I’ll look forward to it.” She handed me my tie. We exchanged grins and a brief kiss. I went into the kitchen, grabbed a couple of bottles of water for later, and led her down the hall.
In the bedroom I changed into a pair of jeans, but didn’t bother with a shirt or shoes. It would all be coming off soon anyway.
In the dungeon, I gestured at the rack of floggers. “Which one do you want to use?”
She looked over the rack. We’d mostly used soft, relatively gentle implements up to this point, so I was more than a little surprised when she reached for a cat o’ nine tails. It wasn’t the most brutal one I owned—the knotted tails weren’t as stiff and unforgiving as several of the others—but it would certainly sting.
“You sure about that one?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I took the cat o’ nine tails, but also pulled a softer flogger off the wall. “We’ll start out with this one, so—” I stopped when she raised an eyebrow. Chuckling, I said, “I do that with all of my subs, babe. It’s just to warm up your skin.” I held up the cat o’ nine tails. “Trust me, you’re getting this tonight.”
“Good.” Her eyes flicked toward the Saint Andrew’s Cross. “What about restraints?”
“Just your wrists to start with, but I may add your ankles as we go. That work?”
She nodded.
I gestured with the flogger. “Ready?”
Another nod.
I tucked the cat o’ nine tails under my arm and touched her face. Left cheek, right. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Left cheek, right. She released her breath, almost moaning.
I took a step back. “Strip.”
Without a heartbeat of hesitation, she obeyed. Once she was naked, I gestured at the Saint Andrew’s Cross.
“Stand in front of the Cross and hold the restraints, just like you’ve done before.”
She stood in front of it as ordered and reached for the restraints, loosely wrapping her fingers around the thick leather cuffs.
I stood behind her. “You remember how the quick release works, right?”
“Yes, Sir.”
As I’d demonstrated to Meredith before, all four restraints could be released with the flip of a single switch. Still around her wrists and ankles, but unattached to the Cross so she would no longer be immobile. All she had to do was say the word.
I closed one of the leather restraints around her wrist. “This okay? Not too tight?”
“It’s fine.”
I muffled a cough.
“Sir. It’s fine, Sir.”
“Good girl.” I kissed her cheek. “If anything gets cold or starts tingling, tell me.”
“I will, Sir.”
I gathered her hair and laid it over her shoulder, leaving her back completely exposed. Then I put my hands on her waist and stood close enough for my chest to brush the hot skin of her back. Sliding my hands up her sides, then around to her breasts, I whispered in her ear, “Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Yes, Sir.”
I teased her nipples with my thumbs. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Tell me your safe words.”
She shivered when I pinched her nipples. “Red to—” Her breath caught.
“Answer me, Meredith.”
“R-red to stop, yellow to back off. Sir.” She sounded like her teeth were chattering.
“Good girl,” I said in a low growl. “Are you worried I’ll hurt you?�
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“No, Sir, I—” She sucked in a breath.
I teased her nipples a little harder. “You what?”
Turning her head toward me as much as she could, she said, “I’m not worried you’ll hurt me, Sir.” She licked her lips. “I know you will.”
It was my turn to shiver. “Is that what you want?” I forced my voice to stay steady and not betray how much she’d turned me on.
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered.
I drew one hand back and slapped her ass. She stiffened, gasped, then went limp, the restraints creaking as they kept her from sinking to the floor.
“Like that?” I growled.
“Yes, Sir. Yes.”
I did it again. She moaned.
I fucking loved pain sluts. True, honest to God, pain sluts, those who didn’t just get off on intense stimulation, but pain. I must have rescued a saint from drowning or something in a past life to have earned the privilege of having three of these incredible women in my life.
I set the cat o’ nine tails down and picked up the softer flogger. Standing a few steps behind her, I scrutinized her body language as I slapped the tails across my palm. The panic and flashbacks that sound had triggered in the beginning were a distant memory now; as soon as leather struck flesh, she gasped and squirmed. Though I couldn’t see her face, I had no doubt her eyes were tightly shut, her lips pressed together as she silently begged me to hit her.
And after a few more slaps to tease her, I did hit her. I struck lightly at first, progressively putting more force behind it. In minutes, her back blushed everywhere except down the center of her spine and wherever the silvery scars crisscrossed her skin. Once I was satisfied she was warmed up enough to handle something more, I laid the flogger down.
“I’m going to change to the cat o’ nine tails,” I said. “Are you comfortable with that?”
“Yes, Sir,” she slurred.
I quickly checked her fingers to make sure her hands weren’t cold, then picked up the implement she’d selected. Meredith sucked in a breath when the stiff tails hissed and rattled against each other. Her shoulders tensed and she adjusted her stance so her feet were a little farther apart. Bracing herself, most likely.
Once I was sure she was comfortably positioned and balanced, I raised the cat o’ nine tails. The knotted ends struck her the back of shoulder, and she yelped, jerking away as much as her restraints allowed.
“Is that too much?” I asked.
“No, Sir.” From the taut, strained voice, I guessed she grimaced when she spoke. She took a few slow, deep breaths. “It’s fine.”
I hit her again. Once more, she cried out and recoiled, but the reaction wasn’t as violent. Each time I hit her, her response diminished. The flinch diminished, at least. As the cat o’ nine tails raised welts on her flushed skin and she dipped deeper into subspace, sounds of pain became moans of delirious pleasure. Instead of recoiling, she squirmed and twisted and arched her back.
Her fingers flexed. Curled into loose fists. Flexed again. I stopped and tucked the cat o’ nine tails under my arm so I could check her hands. They were still warm.
“Hands feel okay?” I asked.
Her head lolled to one side and she didn’t open her eyes as she murmured, “Yes, Sir.” She spoke in a breathless whisper, as if on the point of an orgasm. I grinned to myself. I fucking loved pain sluts.
Though I was tempted to bind her ankles, she was so far into subspace, I didn’t want to jar her out of it. Ankle bindings could wait. She loved this, and I wasn’t interrupting it.
So I left her bound only by the wrists, stepped back and raised the cat o’ nine tails again.
After a while, I decided her skin had probably had enough. Even if it hadn’t, I couldn’t take much more. My arm was getting tired, but more than that, I needed to fuck her.
I laid the cat o’ nine tails beside the flogger. Before I moved in to let her down, I took off my jeans and boxers. With my clothes out of the way, I put my hands on her hips and kissed her neck, pulling her ass against my cock. She whimpered, her body wriggling against mine.
“I think it’s time to move this into the other room, don’t you?” I growled.
“Yes, Sir.”
I wrapped my arm around her and reached up to release one of the restraints. Her hand fell limply to her side. When her other hand was free, I turned her around so she could drape her arm around my neck.
I kissed her, then touched her face. “You’ve done well. Good girl.” Left cheek, right. “How do you feel?”
She looked at me through heavy-lidded eyes and smiled. “Good.” She licked her lips. “Sir.”
“Good girl.” Left cheek, right.
With my arm still around her, I led her across the hall to the bedroom, moving slowly in case she was lightheaded or her trembling knees gave out. Once we were there, I shoved her up against the bed and bent her over it. She gasped, catching herself on her shaking arms.
“You okay?” I kissed the back of her shoulder and pressed my hard-on against her again.
“Yes, M-Sir.”
“Don’t move.”
“I won’t, Sir.” Of that I had no doubt. Even if she was tempted to disobey me, which would have surprised the hell out of me, her arms and legs could barely hold her up. She wasn’t going anywhere.
I got a condom out of the drawer and made quick work of putting it on—as quick as I could with hands no steadier than hers. As soon as it was on, I stood behind her and grabbed her hips. When I thrust into her tight, wet pussy, she cried out, a visible shudder running up her spine, and she whimpered and moaned while I fucked her hard and fast. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to stay in control while every stroke sent me farther out of my mind.
Taking a deep breath and willing myself not to lose it, I looked down at her. “Touch yourself,” I said, panting as I thrust into her.
She shifted, lowering herself on to one forearm. Then her other shoulder rose, fell, and I closed my eyes when her pussy tightened around my cock.
“Slap my ass again,” she said suddenly.
“What?”
“Hit me.” She rocked back against me. “Hard. Like you did… earlier…”
I slammed into her and tightened my grip on her hips, holding her to me and refusing to let her move. I slid one hand up her back and into her hair. Twisting her hair around my hand, I pulled her head back and growled, “I think you’re forgetting your place.”
“I’m sorry, Sir. I’m sorry, I’m… please, Sir, will you—” She paused, tensing for a moment. She swallowed hard, then whispered, “Will you hit my ass while you fuck me, Sir? Please?”
I loosened my grasp on her hair. “Good girl. Remember, if you want something, ask for it, but only I make the demands.”
“Yes, Sir,” she murmured. I let go of her hair, drew back, and pushed back into her slowly. After a few slow strokes just to tease her, I picked up speed, fucking her until she whimpered and moaned with every thrust. Then, and only then, I raised my hand and slapped her ass.
The second my palm made contact, I damn near came. She instantly went from tight to oh, my God, so fucking tight, catching me off guard and throwing off my rhythm for a heartbeat. Gripping her hip with one hand, I slapped her ass again with the other. She cried out and bucked against me as she squeezed my cock, taking my breath away. I hit her again. Her pussy tightened around me again, and she whimpered when a shiver rippled through both of us.
“You like that?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Yes, Sir,” she moaned.
I did it again, this time hard enough to make my hand sting, and she gasped.
“I’m… you’re gonna…” Her shoulders bunched and she struggled to keep herself up on one arm while the other played with her clit. “Sir, please, may…” Her spine arched. “May I come?”
Closing my eyes, I pulled in a breath. I was too close to the edge myself, much too close, to keep teasing her.
“Yes, baby, come.”
In a heartbeat, her entire body seized with the power of her orgasm. I clenched my teeth, trying like hell not to come until I’d drawn hers out as long as I could. She shuddered one last time, and that shudder continued right through me. I closed my eyes, held my breath, and came.
We stayed still until the last aftershocks had come and gone. When they had, I pulled out slowly. I handed her one of the bottles of water I’d brought in earlier. While I took care of the condom, she took a long drink, finishing off better than three quarters of the bottle before I came back to bed.
She handed it back to me. I set it on the bedside table, then cupped her face in both hands and kissed her gently.
“You’ve done well tonight,” I said. “I’m not Sir anymore. Your back needs some attention, though, so why don’t you lie on your stomach?”
With a blissfully exhausted sigh, she did, folding her arms beneath the pillow and resting her head on top. I pulled the blanket up to her waist. I sat on the bed beside her with a bottle of lotion. Rows of welts scored either side of her back, but I hadn’t drawn blood. Cat o’ nine tails were prone to doing that on occasion, but I hadn’t hit her as hard as I would have Amy or Krissy, so I wasn’t surprised.
Carefully, trying not to make her raw skin sting more than necessary, I rubbed lotion on to her back. As subs often did, she closed her eyes and breathed slowly, deeply. Maybe she fell asleep for a while, maybe she didn’t, but she was nothing if not relaxed.
“That should be enough.” I capped the lotion bottle. Meredith rolled on to her side and I faced her on mine as I pulled the sheet over both of us.
Caressing her face, I said, “Feel okay?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“So are we back on the same page?” I raised my eyebrows. “About everything?”
“Yes, very much so.” She shot me a playful glare. “But I thought you were going to tie my ankles.”
I laughed. “I would have, but you were so far into subspace, I didn’t want to pull you out of it. Next time, though, I will.”
“Maybe tomorrow night?”
“Actually, I’ll be out and about tomorrow night.” I paused. “But maybe I could talk you into coming with me.”
Reconstructing Meredith (Light Switch Book 2) Page 17
