by Livia Grant
He was supposed to be watching out for her. Making sure she didn’t get caught up in a bad spot, or get herself hurt, but more times than he could count he’d fantasized about running his hands over the generous mounds, her plump ass, and spanking her until she cried his name and begged for mercy.
“Did you wear this ensemble here or change in the locker room?” he demanded in a low voice when he took in the skimpy skirt she wore. The flimsy fabric barely covered her ass; her thick thighs were almost too tempting not to bite.
She rolled her eyes. He hated that. She knew it, and he was starting to think she did it only to goad him into giving her a real punishment. She never rolled them at Scott. She never argued with Scott. She saved those little treasures just for him.
“I changed when I got here,” she whispered.
Liar.
After all couples were paired off they waited for Chase to announce that play time had began.
“They’re done. Let’s go.” Gray cupped her elbow and led her down the stairs away from the stage.
“Aren’t you in a hurry,” she teased.
Releasing her elbow, he grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together, and pulled her toward the lounge where he’d seen an empty couch.
He’d promised himself he wouldn’t be taken in with her innocent smiles, and the sexy wiggle of her hips when she walked. But promises are often built like pie crust, flakey and easily broken. Over the years, he couldn’t help but be mesmerized by her. Not just the outside beauty, but what he’d found in her heart. Although she’d lost her parents to a drunk driver in her early teens, she hadn’t let the pain of it take over her life. And when her brother was stolen from her as well, she had every right to curl into herself and give up on everything. But she hadn’t. She’d thrown herself into living.
“What are you doing?” she asked when he sat on the couch and pulled her to stand between his legs.
“Do you remember what I said would happen if I rolled your name?” He arched a brow at her.
She laughed, a delicate sound. “Yeah. But you weren’t serious.”
“What makes you think that?” He’d never been more serious with her.
“’Cause you’re Grayson. You probably think that since you rolled me, you can keep me from playing. That now I won’t put myself in danger by meeting someone new.”
She used air quotes to mock his previous lectures on her diving into play with unknown men. He’d seen the places she played. She needed more than lectures about safety, but he hadn’t gone through with it. At the time, he’d still forced the image of her as a sister on himself.
But that ended tonight.
“I was completely serious.” He adjusted his seat on the couch. Arousal and irritation scorched his skin when he took in the tightness of her vest. “You’ll be naked soon enough anyway, so lose the vest, bra if you bothered with one, and the skirt. Leave the panties.” Assuming she wore some.
God, he hoped she did. More than once he’d seen her wearing yoga pants, which gave him a damn good idea what her ass would look like, but he would be the one to unwrap such a delicate gift.
His breath hitched as she unzipped the front of the vest, exposing the dark-purple lace bra beneath. The deep hue contrasted with the cream color of her skin perfectly. Once the vest was removed and tossed onto the couch beside him, she reached behind her and unfastened the hook. Her breasts spilled from the cups as she dragged the bra down her arms. His cock hardened in his jeans at the pert nipples, peaking from either a chill in the air or because he was staring at her.
He chanced a glance at her face, hoping not to find disgust in her expression. Her tongue ran along her bottom lip, a sweet blush tinted her cheeks, and her soft-brown eyes grew large and dilated. No. Not disgust.
Clearing his throat, he motioned for her to continue. He didn’t have to fantasize about running the tip of his tongue over her nipples—soon enough, it would be his reality.
She slid her fingers into the waistline of the skirt and pushed the fabric over her rounded hips. He closed his eyes for a moment, protecting himself from the image before him. Watching her undress was more potent than he thought it would be.
When he felt the skirt hit the couch, he opened them.
Lace panties, matching the bra, hugged her hips. Her arms were folded over her stomach, pushing her breasts up.
“Turn around.” He twirled a finger in the air.
Another eyeroll.
“If you keep rolling your eyes at me, you’ll be too sore to play once we’re done here,” he announced. She moved her feet, rotating before him and giving him the exact show he wanted. He took in the sight before him. His fingers itched to touch her silky-smooth skin. His lips tingled to kiss the spot where her waist met her round hips.
How had he ever let this woman out in public without a security team?
“What did I say I would use for your punishment?” he questioned, forcing his mind to focus on her words, not on her breasts, or her belly, or the little tattoo he discovered right above her pussy.
“Your belt.” Her lilting tone gave the impression she believed he hadn’t been serious. No matter. She’d find out soon enough how serious things were getting.
Rising from the couch, he kept his eyes locked on hers as he unbuckled his thick, black leather belt. She didn’t move while he pulled the strap free of its loops, other than a small jerk of her shoulders. He loved the rasp of leather running over denim, but mostly he loved the reaction a submissive woman gave when she heard the sound. And Dani didn’t disappoint.
Folding it over in his hands, he sat on the couch and placed it beside him before crooking his finger at her.
“Here, Dani.” He pointed to his knee. “Over and ass up.”
She hesitated. Panic flashed over her beautiful features. Despite all her trips to the underground dungeons and play parties, he doubted this woman had ever actually been disciplined before.
“It’s still me, Dani. I’m not going to hurt you any more than a spanking should hurt.” He held his hand out to her.
“What are you going to do, exactly?” she asked suspiciously.
“Just like I said. Twelve for coming to the party, and three more for the drink. Although, I’m debating another two for the eye rolling.”
She lifted her chin, her defiant streak making an entrance. She put her hand in his, and let him pull her closer, but he didn’t need a manual to know what she was thinking. The girl wore her mask, daring him to give her whatever he wanted. She could handle it. She could handle anything he put her through.
“The longer you struggle with me over control, the longer it takes for us to get to the good part of the evening,” he warned, letting her hand go and running his palm along the waistline of her panties. He gripped her hips, yanking her another step closer to him. He sniffed.
“Gray.” She whispered his name, her hands resting on his shoulders.
“You’re already wet, Dani. I haven’t even touched you yet, and I can smell you.” He inhaled again and gave her a wide grin. A sweet and tangy scent, so perfectly her.
“This isn’t weird?” she asked him, nearly knocking the haze from his mind.
“What? Spanking you? Not at all. Happens a lot in this sort of lifestyle.” He grabbed the panties and yanked them to her knees. In one movement he had her over his lap, ass propped up over his right knee. A blank canvas laid out before him.
“That’s not what I meant,” she muttered, and began to shift her body, seeming to find a comfortable position to lie over his lap. He pulled his right foot closer to the couch, elevating his knee—and her ass—another inch.
He took a minute to gauge how much time he could afford to spend on her punishment. They only had a few minutes until they needed to get to a station for playtime. He wouldn’t be able to give her the attention her naughty backside really deserved, but there was enough time to get his message through to her.
Picking up the belt, he folded it until the length wo
rked for their positioning. Holding the belt in his left hand, he used his right to give a brisk swat to her plump cheeks.
Fuck, the vision of her ass bouncing so fucking perfectly made his dick ache. He knew her ass would be a sight, knew it would make his mouth water when he saw it naked for the first time. He wondered if she could feel his hard cock beneath her prostrate, tight body.
He grabbed her ass cheek.
“Does this feel weird, Dani?” he asked, squeezing her flesh and pulling her cheeks apart. Her tight asshole peeked up at him, and he groaned. How could he not? Every inch of this woman screamed sex.
“No,” she answered, sounding as confused as he was about the natural feel of having her lying naked over his lap—awaiting his discipline.
He shook away the thought. He could analyze later. “Put your hands out in front of you. I’m going to go fast and hard, and you are not to reach back here. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Gray.” Her voice softened on his name.
He nodded, though she couldn’t see him, and switched the belt to his right hand.
She jumped slightly when he snapped the folded leather over her ass.
“Don’t move, Dani. Stay as still as you can.”
“Okay.” She nodded, and he unleashed the punishment upon her ass.
She took the first half-dozen strokes easily enough, only grunting with the spanks, but by the eighth swat, she clenched her cheeks.
“Unclench.” He stroked her thighs with the belt until she complied. “There you go.”
At the tenth smack, she arched her neck but didn’t try to move off of his lap, or reach behind. He paused after the twelfth.
“Three more. You’d be done right now except you went and had that wine. Even after I told you not to. Did you enjoy that? Did you enjoy disobeying me?”
She giggled. The girl actually giggled. Obviously, he had gone too easy on her.
“I always enjoy it, Gray.”
His cock thickened from the breathy way she confessed to her sin.
“Hmmph.” He pushed her to the edge of his lap and unwrapped the belt once, lengthening it enough to deliver more sting.
He lashed her ass and received the reaction he expected. She yelped and reared up, but he pushed her back down with his free hand and raised the belt once more. When he lashed the belt across her thighs, she howled. After the leather licked the upcurve of her ass, he dropped the belt and stroked her heated skin with his fingertips.
Pushing one leg off his knees, he spread her legs, getting a glance at the glimmer of her sex. Unable to stop himself, he slid his finger through her folds.
Fuck. Warm, wet, and ready. No going back now.
“Gray,” she whispered.
He found her looking over her shoulder at him.
“This is supposed to be punishment,” she reminded him with a soft grin. Yeah. He’d gone way too soft on her.
“You’re right. This wasn’t much of one. I wasn’t sure about your pain tolerance and went too easy. I won’t make that mistake again.” He patted her bottom.
He helped her off his lap and rose to stand with her. Displaying his wet finger in front of her eyes, he grinned.
“The next time I punish you, you can expect a much longer and harder spanking.” He sucked her juices from his finger and tapped the tip of her nose.
“Presuming you’ll ever get the chance again,” she stated, gathering her discarded clothing.
He didn’t dignify her statement. With her attitude, he’d get plenty more chances.
“Take your clothes over there.” He pointed to a bondage table a few stations deeper into the dungeon. “I’m going to get my bag, and I’ll meet you there.”
Chapter 4
He’d spanked her. He’d actually taken off his belt, put her over his knee, and spanked her.
Dani dumped her clothes on the floor and stared at the leather table before her. She placed her hands on her bottom; the belt left her skin warm. He’d spanked her harder than she’d let on, but she’d taken a harder one before just in play.
The entire thing had seemed more like a test, more of an introduction to what was coming. It wasn’t a punishment by any standards. And unless Gray was less of a Dom than she’d fantasized about him being, he had a reason for it.
Shouldn’t it have been awkward? Because it hadn’t been, at all. All the years imagining what it would feel like to have his hard thighs beneath her stomach while he chastised her, lectured her, and spanked her to tears had finally born fruit. Except there hadn’t been a lecture or chastisement. He hadn’t even told her she was his good girl for taking the spanking so well.
She’d just about worked herself up into a good frenzy when he appeared at the table, holding his large black duffel bag. Her arms folded over her chest, she glared at him. He was playing at something.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, plopping the bag on a side table and unzipping it.
“You. I’m not new to this, Gray. You don’t have to put the kid gloves on for me.”
He stopped unloading his toys and narrowed his eyes at her.
“Kid gloves?”
“Yeah. I mean, you don’t have to go easy on me. I’m not some newb. I’ve played with sadists before.”
He was at her side within two strides. “Was the spanking too light for you? Didn’t quite measure up to some fantasy in your head?”
How the fuck did he know her so well? It wasn’t fair how easily she could be read.
He yanked her arm until she faced the table then shoved her over the edge, pushing her ass out toward him.
Without any preamble, he peppered her ass with his hand. The bite of the spanking had her dancing from foot to foot, but he didn’t stop. He only continued to wallop her ass, not one inch spared, as he made his way down to her thighs and continued.
“Okay! Okay!” She tried to push him off her, but he wrapped his arm around her waist and held her against his body. When she’d laid over his lap, his erection pressing against her had given a small distraction. Now she could only feel the heat he spread across her ass while the spanking continued.
“Is this more to your liking, Dani?” he asked, pausing between smacks.
“That’s not what I meant.”
He helped her stand and held her hands in front of her, keeping her from rubbing away the inferno he’d created in her backside. Her skin seemed too tight, too hot to be left unattended.
“You can either fight me for control, or you can give over. That’s your choice. And the only one you’re getting tonight.” His stare bore down at her. Not like the times he’d glared at her for doing something he deemed dangerous or silly. No, this time his words were heavy, his meaning clear.
She nodded, unsure if her voice would work with the way he continued to stare at her.
His hand wrapped around her throat, not cutting off her air, but giving the distinct impression that should he choose to, he could and, more importantly, would.
“I think all these years you’ve been pushing me. You wanted me to bend you over and make your ass glow. You never roll your eyes at Scott. You never argue with him like you do with me.” He squeezed enough to make her reach up and touch his fingers. “You’ve wanted me all these years, haven’t you? We left a little girl behind when we deployed, and came home to a full-grown woman.”
“You were gone over a year,” she managed to say. He wasn’t wrong. She’d learned more about herself in that year on her own than she had in the lifetime before.
“A very long time,” he agreed. “Do you know why I said if Scott rolled you I would still deliver the spanking?”
She blinked away tears. Too much hope filled her, too much desire at one time flooding her.
“No, Gray. Why?”
He squeezed just a hair more. She swallowed against the restrictive grip.
“Because no one touches what’s mine.”
If breathing had been easier, she would have gasped at the possessiveness in his tone and the hi
nt of danger in his eyes.
“Does that feel weird, Dani?” he asked, mimicking her question from earlier. “Having my hand around your throat, my cock hard for you, and my belt marks across your ass while I call you mine?”
She shook her head as much as his grip would allow. “No, Gray.” Truth of it was, nothing felt more real than that moment.
He let go of her throat.
“I changed my mind.” He turned away from her, and her heart sank. Now? After she nearly gave him her full confession?
He tossed his toys in the bag and pointed to a suspension rig a few stations over. “I need to be able to get to your ass and your front. Let’s go there.” He scooped up her hand.
Once at the station, he walked her to stand in the middle of the rig while he surveyed the stainless-steel ring above her. Never having played with suspension bondage, the temptation ate at her to ask what he was thinking to do. Instead, she stood silent, waiting as he dug around his bag and retrieved cuffs and rope.
What could she say? Would a wrong word, wrong tone burst this bubble she seemed to be sitting in? After all the years fantasizing and dreaming, and hoping, here stood Grayson, unwinding rope and giving her hungry side-glances.
He made quick work of getting cuffs around her ankles and wrists and went about trussing her up on the rig, linking her wrists together and stretching them over her head. The rope fed through the ring, and he played with the length.
“How’s the height?” he asked, holding the excess rope.
“Good.” She nodded. He’d left plenty of slack. She’d be fine.
“Okay.” He finished tying off the ropes and checked the amount of give before moving on to her feet.
“Spread these.” He tapped one foot with his boot.
She maneuvered her feet apart.
“More,” he said when she stopped, thinking shoulder-length apart would do fine.
Again she moved her feet, heels first then toes. The more she spread her legs, the lower her body went, until her shoulders felt tension from her arms overhead.
“Okay, there.” He tied each ankle to the rig on either side. She could twist her torso, but that was all the movement the bondage would allow.
