“Great.” Kenzie smirked sassily. “Because I have a brilliant idea to make that conversation happen and to prove to your big, tough Dom you’re more ready than he thinks you are.”
Cora frowned. “Now, Kenzie, let’s not get her in trouble.”
“Quiet.” Kenzie pointed with a glare containing little heat. “We all know that Kyler won’t take a flogger to her, especially since her ex showed up here acting like some man escaping from the nuthouse. You know as well as I do that he won’t forget that image anytime soon.” She rubbed her hands together, her eyes lit with an inner glow. “And it just so happens I have one helluva idea.”
* * *
Tension led Kyler to the dungeon after his shift. The hard rock music set an atmosphere that matched his mood. While he’d heard from Maggie that Rory had returned to Savannah, his mind spun with thoughts of Ella.
Since the night where she tried her damnedest to push him away, nothing had been the same. And he knew why: She wanted things from him he couldn’t give her…not right now.
Every time he thought of flogging her, all that flashed in his mind was her swan-diving into the table. Her scar was a constant reminder of the abuse. He couldn’t assume that emotionally she was past it all, without sharing it with him first.
What kind of Dom would that make him?
Not one he could live with.
Every thought, every move he had made, had been centered on helping and healing her, while playing gently and having fun enough to help her live up to her challenge. Now she’d let him in, enough to know what happened, but it still wasn’t enough.
Possess her soul.
More than anything, he wanted that vulnerable part of her she didn’t offer to anyone else.
How to get there?
Frustrated to be stuck in his head, he moved quickly through the dungeon in search of Aidan and Dmitri. He leaned on his friends, more than once, and knew in this situation he needed some outside advice to be comfortable in his next steps.
As a casual lover to Ella, he knew his way with her. Completely in love with her, he didn’t want to screw things up. He didn’t want to make mistakes. And he certainly didn’t want to have regrets about his decisions.
He spotted Aidan, sitting with Dmitri near the spanking bench, so he made his way over to them. Both Doms looked to him with shit-eating grins. Kyler frowned. “What’s with you two?”
Dmitri chuckled. “I’m thinking this evening is about to get interesting.”
“Oh, yeah, why?” Kyler asked.
Aidan gestured toward the spanking bench. “Take a look.”
Kyler followed his gaze, and all his concerns vanished as his world narrowed on the scene in front of him. He stepped forward, ensuring he saw things right. Presley, dressed in black lace lingerie, knelt on the floor, holding a face in her hands. Then his gaze lifted to Cora, who wore a pink teddy, but that didn’t hold his focus long. The black paddle in Cora’s hand garnered his full attention as it hit a very red bottom.
“What the fuck,” he bit off.
Dmitri’s and Aidan’s chuckles sounded behind him as Kyler strode forward, watching that paddle land against Ella’s ass. One. Two. Three. Four. Then he was there, and before Cora got another hit, he growled, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Paddling her.” Cora smacked Ella’s ass with an incredibly hard hit. Ella moaned and Cora smiled. “She asked me to, and who am I to refuse such a delicious request?”
“Her hard limits are no other Doms touching her,” Kyler said through clenched teeth.
“Well, I’m not a Dom, am I?” Cora shrugged in her sassy way, her grin sparkling across her face. “And your rules don’t apply to me, do they? Sure, Ella might be in trouble, but what are you going to do about it?” Her eyes twinkled. “Paddle her, maybe spank her?”
He looked to Ella lying over the spanking bench, and he groaned at her bright red ass. His cock twitched, regardless of his annoyance. Christ, that is a stunning sight. He turned to Cora. “You all are sneaky and are in serious trouble.”
Cora shook her head with a proud smile. “Nope, not me. I got permission.”
“Me, too,” Presley replied softly.
Kyler glanced over his shoulder, glaring at his so-called friends. “Did you, now?”
“Payback is a bitch, buddy,” Aidan called from the couch.
Dmitri shook with laughter.
Kyler narrowed his eyes, but hell, he should have expected to receive some payback. He also figured that Aidan and Dmitri had set up the scene for the women and gave them a plan. Meddling pricks. Maybe he deserved it. He’d poked his nose in their matters often enough, thinking he knew what was best for them, that Kyler mused to himself that he should have expected such an outcome. And, in regard to Club Sin, Ella didn’t belong to Kyler, even if he cared for her—she didn’t wear his collar that marked his ownership. If she had asked Cora for the scene, it was in her right to do so.
Shedding his frustration, he turned to Ella and ran a hand across her hot bottom, feeling her hard shudder. “Tell me what happened tonight.”
Ella stayed silent, simply moaning and breathing deeply. Not a surprise. Also, it told Kyler that they had been paddling her for some time. She was dropped into that hazy state of pleasure. While he suspected she knew he was there, since she squirmed beneath his hand and also relaxed, he doubted she’d have it in her to answer his questions.
Presley said, “Cora paddled her, and I stayed by her face to watch over her.”
Gazing over Ella, he appreciated that the girls hadn’t tied Ella down. This confirmed Dmitri and Aidan likely had a hand in ensuring Ella’s safety and mental well-being tonight. That eased the tightness in his chest. Leaving a hand on Ella’s back as she panted, he asked Presley, “Tell me, how did she handle the first swat?”
Presley smiled. “She…well…moaned.”
Kyler exhaled a long breath, sliding his hand over Ella’s bottom, embracing the warmth. So, my little submissive thinks she knows better than me, does she? While he partly agreed with Ella in the instance, knowing that he’d never have taken her into this scene so soon, he also recoiled that she hadn’t been paddled by his hand. “How about throughout, did she manage well?”
Cora nodded. “She did.”
Presley added, “I kept a good eye on her, but she”—her cheeks burned brightly, so classic Presley—“she seemed to enjoy it, and became more aroused as time went on.”
“She sure did,” Cora said. “She’s right ready to be fucked.”
Kyler groaned.
Cora chuckled, grabbing his hand. Before he realized what she was doing, his hand was covered in Ella’s arousal. “Hmm,” Cora murmured with a smirk. “Seems I made her very aroused. Maybe I should keep going.”
“No,” Kyler growled.
Cora’s brows rose. “No?”
He narrowed his eyes, even if he knew there was no heat behind it. Ella had trusted Presley and Cora to allow this, and that, begrudgingly, pleased him. She was depending on others. They must’ve talked about it all before. That meant Ella was sharing her feelings with others. “You’ve proved your point. Go away.”
Cora bounced on her heels and handed him the paddle. “Gladly.”
“Yes, Master Kyler.” Presley grinned.
Kyler moved behind Ella, seeing the arousal on her pink folds exposed with her spread legs. His gaze drank in the sight of her. Then he saw reason, like a brick wall hitting him in the face.
He ran his hand over her red bottom, knowing his hesitation had been caused by him. Ella had moved on. She’d showed him that now. She was ready. She knew what she wanted or didn’t want, but quite possibly he’d simply been too stuck on what had happened to her.
Maybe it was time for them both to let it go.
Now he realized that perhaps he did see Ella as a little broken. Yet she’d been paddled to the point of her ass being bright red, and she was greatly turned on. With this view, he could hardly ignore the turning poin
t for them. Nor couldn’t he deny how strong she was. How the one thing she’d fought for, she found.
Ella had acted, controlling her desires.
She hadn’t waited for him to come to terms with it all, she forced him to, because that’s what she wanted. While he was annoyed at their little show, he couldn’t help but be proud of her. Ella wasn’t waiting for new adventures, hoping they would happen; she sought them out.
Before Cora and Presley left the spanking bench, he turned to them. “Thank you.”
Presley smiled.
Cora placed a hand on his arm. “I’m not the only one who deserves to be happy, you know. Always the good man, you are. The good friend. The perfect guy. But sometimes Doms have thick heads, and she’s ready for you to get past this.” Then she hugged him, taking him into a warm embrace. “Just be happy, Kyler. She wants you to be you.”
He leaned away from her, staring into Cora’s eyes that spoke of their long and close friendship. He believed Ella had opened up to Cora, and nothing pleased him more. That talk apparently led Ella into this scene tonight, which wasn’t the best advice she’d received, but the fact that Ella was sharing her heart with others and trusted them made him elated.
“You’re right.” He leaned away from her. “It is time for that, isn’t it?”
Cora nodded, smacking his arm. “Don’t be a stubborn fool.” Then—just like that—she left the area.
Kyler watched Presley drop onto Dmitri’s lap, and Cora settled in next to Aidan. His friends. Maybe he had been stubborn. Perhaps he’d been too caught up in it all. But when it came to Ella, he wanted to do everything just right.
Though his little submissive had done what he never would: forced the situation to come to a head. He couldn’t ignore her arousal. He couldn’t ignore how much it turned him on to see her flaming-red ass cheeks, as she rested over the spanking bench. Nor could he ignore his needs.
His dark and kinky desires.
She’s yours, claim her.
Moving in front of Ella, he grasped her arms and slowly raised her up off the bench. “Up slowly, Ella. Any dizziness?”
She blinked a few times. “Whoa. A little.”
He held her in his arms until her face wasn’t so red from being upside down. When her eyes had more clarity, he helped her sit on the bench. Then he tucked a finger under her chin. “Who gave you this idea tonight?”
“Kenzie,” she replied.
Figures! “Why did you do this?”
Her heated gaze held his, a yearning there in her eyes for him to own her. “I wanted you to see with your own eyes that I can handle this. That sometimes I don’t need you to control everything. That you won’t hurt me by doing this. Look, I’m fine.” She waved over herself. “Not broken. Not in tears. Horny as hell, yes. But okay.”
Tucking her hair behind her ear, he smiled. “I’m proud of you.”
Her lips parted, then closed, and after a long pause, she said, “Okay, that wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought you’d be mad.”
He shook his head, entranced by her. “What have I said to you all along, which by the way, I’m growing so damn tired of repeating?”
She regarded him, then said, “You’ll never get mad at something I do. You only want to understand why I do it.”
He inclined his head and tugged on her hair. “That is the last time I’ll tell you that. The next time I have to say it, I’ll make you write it on a damn piece of paper until it’s stuck in your head so firmly you don’t forget it.”
Pausing for a few seconds, he brushed his fingers over her cheek, loving how she leaned in to him. “And yes, I’m proud of you, Ella. Proud that you decided to take charge of your life and go after what you want. Proud that you didn’t think of what I would do or say, but did what you want. Proud that you took your life into your hands and proved a point to a stubborn Dom.”
She grinned. “I’m proud of me, too.”
Smiling with her, he offered his hand. “Now, then, Ella.” She stood in front of him, and he dropped his gaze to her eye level. “Having said all that, you, my sweetheart, have made a grave mistake that won’t be tolerated.” He lowered his voice, knowing the affect it had on her and watching her shiver. “Who touches this body, Ella?”
“You do, sir.”
“Ah, so she does know her place?” He arched brow at her. “Funny, it seems tonight you had a lapse in judgment and forgot that.” Grasping her chin, he forced her to hold his gaze, and her eyes widened. “Worry I see in those eyes, Ella, and that is just fine. As I also remember telling you that baiting a Dom is never suggested.”
* * *
One hour.
Sixty long minutes passed as Kyler left Ella kneeling by the couch, while he chatted with his friends. Her overheated body had cooled, leaving her chilled. He never offered her a blanket or even talked to her.
She stayed there, alone, in the silence for that entire time. Was this a punishment for allowing Cora and Presley to touch her?
As she started shivering, he’d left his spot on the couch and had asked Porter to watch over her. She didn’t know where he went, but then he’d returned to her with a blanket.
Porter said, “She stayed quiet.”
“Good,” Kyler replied with a hard voice.
In her peripheral vision, she noticed Porter leaving, then a finger tucked under her chin. Kyler’s gaze wasn’t what she’d expected. Softness lay in the depths of his eyes. “All cooled off?”
She nodded, quivering. “Freezing cold.”
He reached for the blanket on the couch and then patted his lap. “Come sit.” Once she straddled his waist, her knees pressing against the couch, and he wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. “Tell me why I made you kneel next to me for so long.”
“As a punishment for letting the girls touch me,” she offered.
He shook his head. “No, Ella. Communication is all in this lifestyle. And when you have been paddled until your ass is bright red, your mind will be hazy. We need to talk. I couldn’t talk to you in the state you were in.”
Oh! “I understand.”
He watched her closely with that long stare that melted her and touched the depths of her soul. Yet she couldn’t quite read his expression; too much emotion shone there for her to gauge his thoughts.
Tucking the blanket tight around her, he said, “I know you want me to let go and hold no restraint when it comes to you.” He gripped her chin with a firm hold, locking her gaze onto him. “But you know what I need for that to happen. You want this D/s relationship, and seeing that you were determined tonight to prove you are ready, then that means you are ready to talk to me…openly and honestly. It’s that simple, Ella.”
She swallowed past the swell of emotion, knowing that keeping him out wasn’t an option anymore. She wanted this. Wanted him. All of him. With his soft gaze on hers and the sensation of safety he instilled, she found herself no longer able to run. Trust. Communication. Acceptance. She wanted all of that with Kyler. For once, she wanted to face something that embarrassed her instead of running from it.
She wanted to be free.
He gave her the safe place to do that.
Shutting her eyes, she drew on the strength inside. Every conversation they’d had seemed to pull more information out of her. All her walls to protect herself he’d broken down. And to the heart of it, he’d slowly but surely woven a spell of trust over her, leaving no doubt in her mind that if she opened to him he would be there to hold her.
She opened her eyes, unable to fight off the tears. “One night, I came home after work and Rory was drunk. He’d been drinking all day and there were beer bottles everywhere.” Tears welled in her eyes, yet Kyler stayed statue still, so she continued. “Rory accused me of cheating on him. Of course, I wasn’t. But he wouldn’t listen. He kept accusing me and got really mad.”
Dropped into the memory, she shivered against the ice filling her veins. She’d never seen anyone that enraged before. She had never lived in tha
t type of anger. She’d always been surrounded by love.
Blowing out a long breath, she allowed the horrific memory to envelop her, and she went back to that time she’d been constantly ignoring. “I was so tired of it all and I told him I was leaving, then he exploded.” Her voice hitched as Rory’s angry words almost seemed to shout in her ears. “I’ve never seen someone act like that—he was crazed, not even a person anymore but like something evil had overtaken him. Before I knew it, he pushed me forward and I stumbled…the table was there…and there was so much blood.”
She hadn’t realized she’d closed her eyes, but when warm hands brushed across her arms, she opened them. Kyler’s gaze was fixated on her, holding hers in that watchful way he did.
“In that moment you fell, what did you feel?” he asked gently.
“Scared. Shocked. Sad,” she barely whispered. Then she shook her head, realizing that wasn’t good enough. She wasn’t being deep enough. “Actually, no, it was more than that. I felt the world break around me. I felt like life had failed me. I felt worthless and that I had somehow done something to deserve it.”
He cupped her face, bringing his mouth so close to hers. “And?”
Hot tears covered her face. “In the seconds after it, I cursed fate for taking everyone I loved away from me. And somehow I wondered what I’d done to cause the world to be so against me.” Her voice hitched on a sob, something dead and cold inside breaking. Something she refused to face for so long overwhelming her. “More than anything, it seemed like I was alone in a very big, scary world.”
Wiping her tears off his face, he asked, “And now, Ella? How do you feel?”
Her mind raced with all the feelings she’d experienced with Kyler. From the intense passion she’d had when they first met, leaving her unable to refuse him, to the slow-building trust he’d encouraged between them. To even now; where it was only him and her, as if nothing else existed.
“I feel safe with you, Kyler,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I feel like finally fate has given me a bright moment in a dark world. I feel like, for once, there is meaning behind it all.”
The Club Sin Series 4-Book Bundle Page 68
