by Anya Summers
"Screw you," she panted, desperate to feel those huge hands of his against her rear. Like a gift from the heavens, Will landed three hard quick swats that made her eyes water at the volatile force.
"Apologize," he snarled.
"Go to hell, asshole," Kat spat.
Will unleashed a flurry of spanks on her rear that burned all the way to her pussy. Fire erupted in her limbs as he laid into her ass repeatedly. She was exultant at the furious spanking. Over and over his hand fell against her flesh, cracking against her butt ferociously. Tears poured down her face. Finally, after all this time… The pain was immense, but with every swat against her flesh, she loved him even more. She knew what this was going to mean for them.
He smacked her rear with controlled fury that she was certain would make sitting down difficult tomorrow but she didn't care. He was disciplining her. Kat's heart was on fire for him. She canted her hips, pushing her ass up into his spanking, taking everything he was giving her.
"Ahhh, I'm sorry, Sir. Please forgive me," she sobbed after the latest thwack as she climaxed. Her sex spasmed and shuddered. It had been so long, she'd forgotten just how good a real spanking could feel.
"What have I done?" Will roared in agony. Kat went from being splayed across his lap to being dumped on the floor. Her bruised rear smacked against the cold, dusty floor.
"Hey? What was that for?"
He stumbled away from her, his face a mask of wounded horror. "What have I done?" he sobbed.
"You disciplined your sub," Kat said as gently as she could while she stood up. He needed her comfort and her care, just like he'd given to her so many times during their aftercare. It was her turn now to be the strong one for him. She yanked her leggings up over her hips as she approached.
He held his hands out defensively in front of himself. "I can't do this, Kat. I'm sorry, I thought I could but I just can't. I'll have a car come pick you up and take you back to your hotel and have a courier deliver your things to you."
"Wait, what? You're breaking up with me?" What the hell had just happened? He couldn't be breaking up with her, could he? She thought he cared about her.
"It's for the best." He stared at his large hands with an agonized glare that shattered her heart. "I can't be trusted around women. I hurt you. I'm so sorry. But I can't do this."
He turned and stormed out before she could reach him. By the time she reached the front door, Will and his black muscle car were long gone.
She shut the door, holding a fist to her heart to try and keep it from breaking. And then she slid to the ground as a sob tore from her mouth.
Chapter Thirteen
Will sat at the bar inside the Lair, drowning his sorrows. Kat would never speak to him again. Not that he blamed her. She deserved a better Dom. One who wouldn't shut down any time he disciplined her. He knew he was messed up, but he didn't realize how bad off he was until he'd seen Kat's perfectly formed ass glowing red from his hand. He'd fucking loved it. He'd loved smacking her flesh until tears poured down her lovely face.
And what did that make him but a fucking beast? He was nobody's Dom. He didn't have a right to be, with the destruction he wrought Kat. He didn't know how he'd fallen for her so damn fast but he loved her. Loved her enough to stay the fuck away from her, where he couldn't do her any harm.
"Will, I didn't expect to find you here. Where's Kat?"
"Her hotel, I think," he mumbled into his beer.
"I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible, but what the fuck, man?" Tobias snarled. "Kat is head over heels for you, and if you hurt her, you and I will have words."
Will glared at Tobias. The motherfucker was happily married and blissed out with his beautiful sub. What the hell did he know about it, anyway? "She's better off without me. I shouldn't be allowed around anything breakable, especially women. I fucked up and disciplined her."
Tobias gave him a confused glare. "Man, that's what you do with a mouthy sub or one who has broken your rules."
"I know." And Will understood Tobias' confusion. Some days, he didn't even understand it himself.
Tobias tilted his head as he contemplated Will. He said, "I'm missing something here."
"Kat's the first sub I've disciplined in ten years. I'd forgotten how much it completed me as a Dom. I should have never touched her. I'm all wrong in the head." Will would have laughed if he could find anything about the situation that wasn't a goddamn Greek tragedy.
"You didn't really hurt her, right?" Tobias had stilled. Water sure ran deep with that Dom.
Will shook his head. "No, but I could have. And that's the problem, look at me." He gestured to himself. "I could roll on her at night and break her just with my size. She has no business being with someone like me."
"And why do you think she can't handle it? Did she say as much? Did you go beyond her limits?" Tobias pressed him.
Will had to keep himself from snarling at him like a wounded animal. "No, she can handle it just fine. That's part of the problem. It's not Kat, it's me. It's all me, I'm too strong and would hurt her if I lost control for even a millisecond."
"Why do you think that?"
"It happened with my first sub a decade ago," Will admitted. There was no point in hiding it anymore. Not when he'd lost the only sub he'd ever loved.
"Shit. That's harsh. Look, Will, I'm going to say this: you need to get over it. Have you ever thought that Kat might be the sub to help you move past it?"
Wait, what? Move past it? Like there was any chance in hell of that happening. And yet a part of Will was curious why Tobias would think that. Could Kat help him get over the incident with Sonya? "No. I didn't."
"I was like you once, wouldn't let a sub in to my life for more than a night until Lia."
"Why?" Will asked, studying Tobias in a new light.
"PTSD, courtesy of my stint in the army. I thought I couldn't risk having a sub around me, that I might have an episode and accidently hurt her."
"Did you?"
"Once, years ago, before Lia. My girlfriend at the time woke me up during a PTSD dream, and it wasn't pretty. I get it. But here's the thing I've learned because of Lia, sometimes, when the right one comes along, they're the ones who stand at your side and help you slay your demons."
"You think Kat can cure me?" Will snorted. There was no cure. He'd tried. Hadn't he?
"Yes. I do. If you love her and let her in."
Will shook his head. "I can't risk it. My tastes always ran toward the sadist arena."
It was Tobias's turn to laugh at him. "Have you seen Kat's feet?"
"Her feet? What the hell do her feet have to do with it?" Her feet? What the hell was Tobias talking about? He'd never paid them much heed. He'd always been a little preoccupied with the rest of her.
"Go watch her dance the ballet and tell me she's not tough enough to take whatever discipline you could mete out." Tobias tossed out a challenge that Will's Dom nature bristled at.
"I'll go just so I can prove you wrong. But that doesn't explain why I need to look at her feet." Will was confused by it.
"Yeah, I guess with your height, you rarely look down that far. She was barefoot in here last time. Didn't you see the bruises and bandages? Ballet is bloody brutal on the body. If there ever was a sub you could unleash your Dom onto, it's Kat. Try it, for both your sakes."
Will had been so preoccupied with speaking to her, convincing her to come home with him, he'd not really given it much thought. "I'll consider it."
"Do. Oh and Will, if you ever truly hurt her, you realize me and Declan will come after you like the hounds of hell, right?" Tobias slid off his stool to leave.
"I'd like to see you try." Will outweighed him by a good sixty pounds at the very least. If provoked, Will was more like a grizzly that a teddy bear.
Tobias snorted and gave him an assessing glance. "I may not be a great hulking brute like yourself, but the military taught me a thing or two."
He just bet that it had. Will nodded. "Noted. Say hi to Lia for me."
And then Will left Dungeon Pleasures with a lot of food for thought. He did love Kat. But was Tobias right? Would going full on Dom with her in every way possibly heal the cracks inside him left by Sonya's death?
Chapter Fourteen
Will applauded with the crowd as the curtain lowered. The thunderous volley was deafening in the Music Center. He stood with the rest of the audience for the standing ovation as the principle dancers returned to the stage for a final bow. This was his fifth night here this week watching Kat dance. His fifth night studying her every move, and becoming more entranced by her. He couldn't get enough of her grace and strength. She was magnificent. Her physical command of her body as she leapt through the air, only to land on the tips of her toes, awed him.
Over and over this week, he had sat alone in one of the box seats, observing Kat in her milieu. From the moment he had witnessed her first entrance onto the stage, he knew he was a complete goner. Kat was it for him. With her fortitude he witnessed on stage each night, Will realized that Tobias was right; she, more than any other submissive he'd come across, could handle his Dom tendencies.
Why hadn't he seen it before? He'd built computers from the ground up. Had designed video games, virtual reality simulations, and his company was on the cutting edge of technology, and yet for all his intelligence, he'd never truly seen Kat until he'd watched her on stage.
The only answer he could come up with was that he was a complete and utter moron who'd been swimming in his own self-righteous martyrdom. He had failed Kat on every level as a Dom. He'd not done a true BDSM scene with her out of fear. And the martyrdom had made it easy for him to keep women at arm's length. It had given him an excuse to never let any woman in.
Except Kat had wriggled her way in without his even realizing it. He missed her presence in his life, the laughter she'd injected into his days, and the love she'd brought to his nights. It was love. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved her and that she had loved him.
Had he killed that love before it had even had a chance, with his callous disregard?
It was time he found out. He left his box seat and headed toward the back stage door.
*****
Kat was proud of her performance that night. Her internal countdown clock had begun. Only a week left for this part of her life. As much as she was going to miss Nicolai and the company, she didn't regret her decision. It was time.
Her apartment in Manhattan had been sold and she'd made arrangements to head back to New York to pack everything up as soon as the dust had settled from the tour. Kat hadn't found a house yet that she was particularly fond of, and was considering renting until she did find something she wanted. She'd submitted her application for a town home in Burbank so that at least she'd have a place to live once the tour was done.
Her mom was still giving Kat grief over her decision. Kat felt confident she could sway Grace, though. Once her dance studio was up and running, she'd invite her mom to come stay with her for a week, soak up some of that LA sun. She had plans for a soft launch in May, with a full grand opening in June. She'd didn't want the contractor to do a rushed job, she wanted it done right. No matter how long it took.
She changed into club clothes and hid them under a thigh-length trench coat before she exited the theater. She was meeting the gang, her gang, at DP tonight, and had every intention of doing a scene with the first Dom who asked her. Kat almost retreated back into the theater at the sight that greeted her as she exited the building. Beyond the crowd of fans waiting for the exiting cast members to sign autographs, parked at the curb, was a vehicle she knew all too well. Leaning against the passenger side, in a tailored dark gray suit that made her mouth water and her body stand at attention, was the man who'd smashed her heart into a billion pieces.
Will.
A wealth of emotions all but choked her as a contingent of fans asked for her autograph. She graciously signed every program thrust in front of her and snapped pictures with those who asked. She ignored him, not even acknowledging she had seen him. As much as Kat wanted to go to him, craved feeling his arms around her again, her heart just wasn't cut out for it. If she didn't love him, that would be one thing, but she did, with her whole heart.
He cared for her, enjoyed being with her, but he was never going to let her in. She'd had enough with superficial relationships. She spied her Uber ride pulling up to the curb in front of Will's vehicle.
As she picked her way through the melee, when Will opened his car door for her she shook her head, went to the Uber, and climbed inside.
"Hi, this is to Dungeon Pleasures tonight, correct?" her Uber driver asked. He looked like an extra in one of those television sitcoms she'd been meaning to binge watch the moment her tour had finished.
"Yes, it is." Kat snapped her seatbelt on as the driver zoomed away from the curb.
She didn't glance back. She couldn't.
*****
The little termagant. She'd walked right past him without a backward glance. Like he meant nothing to her. Even if she didn't want him, he needed to apologize for being such an ass. He couldn't move forward until he'd had five minutes with her.
Will slammed into his car and followed the Uber vehicle. It wasn't hard to determine where they were headed once they were on the freeway. She was going to Dungeon Pleasures. Some of the pressure in his chest eased.
He pressed the call button on his steering wheel.
"Will, what can I do for you?" Music from the club streamed into his car.
"I need you to reserve a space for me in the Lair."
"Kat said things were over between you two. Did you have another sub in mind?"
"No, dammit. I'm getting my sub back. Now, are you going to fucking help me, or not?" Will snarled as he shifted around another vehicle and headed on to the freeway toward his house. He had to grab some things, like his goody bag.
"That's more like it. What area do you want?"
Will breathed a sigh of relief. He'd have a chance to make things right between him and Kat once and for all. This Dom was getting his sub.
*****
Kat's anxiety subsided as she stepped into the Lair. For a while there she had been worried he would follow her to the club. Except she shouldn't have worried. Will didn't want her that much. It was a sad, sad revelation, knowing that the one man in the world she had all but handed her heart to on a platter, didn't want her back.
Moisture threatened in the corners of her eyes and she blinked her tears back. She was done crying over Will. So he didn't want her. There were plenty of Doms who would.
After putting her coat and purse inside a locker behind the bar near the entrance to the Lair, she all but plastered a smile onto her face. She'd find another Dom tonight if it killed her. Spying Jesse, Lucy, Tobias, and Ophelia on a group of couches near an empty scene area, she headed toward them. Kat was surprised that the St. Andrew's Cross scene area was vacant until she spied the 'reserved' sign hanging over the black velvet partition. She wondered who had reserved it.
But it wasn't that unusual. Kat filed it away as a possibility for a later date. Tonight, she was on the prowl for a new Dom.
"Kat." Lia smiled in greeting, glowing radiant with her pregnancy.
"Hey guys." She sat on the arm rest nearest Lia, giving herself a decent view not only of the group, but of any passing potential Doms she might entice for the evening.
"You are coming on Sunday, right?" Lucy asked, all duded up in a siren red catsuit.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss it."
Jesse spoke next, and Kat noted that he was wearing Lucy's cuffs as well as a collar. "How are the renovations going on the dance studio?"
"They start in two weeks, so right now I just have an empty restaurant. You can come take a look when things get going." She smiled at Jesse. They were all looking at her strangely and Kat wondered if she had something caught in her teeth.
"Sweet. You'll love it out here, Kat. Once you're settled, you can come by our pla
ce anytime. I know what's it's like to go from touring all the time to not, it's like going from sixty miles an hour to zero. So if you need anything, we're here for you," Jesse said as Lucy curled against him with a sigh.
"Have you found a place to live?" Tobias asked and then offered, "You could always bunk with us until you find something."
"Thanks, but as sweet as that offer is, I think I'm going to rent something until I find the house I want to buy. I should know by the first part of next week if I got the town home I applied for across from the Empire Center in Burbank."
Kat scanned the crowd in the Lair. Dax and Nate were at one of the nearby couches—and they were unoccupied. Nate gave her a wicked grin and a wink, gesturing to the space between them. If that wasn't the best offer she'd had all week long. Kat needed this, even if her heart was revolting at the thought of having another Dom touch her. She had to stop listening to her heart and do what she knew was best.
"If you'll excuse me." Kat slid off the couch and sauntered over to the cowboy duo. As much as she was coming to love her friends, she needed this. None of them were single, so they couldn't possibly understand anymore.
"Finally decided to join us, darlin'?" Nate all but purred as she approached them. His hand was outstretched for her to take. It felt wrong. They weren't what Kat wanted at all but she would push through it, just like she did when her body was exhausted from too many hours on the stage. It was the only way she'd be able to fill the hole Will had left behind. Kat was two feet from the duo when a pair of large hands grabbed her from behind.
"Hey!" she protested. Those same hands spun her around until she was looking into Will's very pissed off face. It set off a riot of tremors inside her sternum.
"Silence. I have not given you permission to speak. You disobeyed me by coming here without wearing my cuffs, and I have not given you permission to engage with another Dom. Gentlemen, this sub is taken until further notice."
Her mouth hung open, forming an O. Will had never spoken to her like this—nor had anyone else, for that matter. He was usually so calm and level-headed. But at this moment, he sounded every inch a Dom.
