I’d mastered a lot of portals, including the weak link to Anna and Owen, but quickly remembered which one was Zane and opened his window.
My mate was clearly exasperated. “What do you want now, Tia. I told you that I don’t have time to deal with you tonight.”
His voice grew panicked when he saw his father. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”
Quinn smirked. “Your pet managed to turn herself into a kitten, break out of her bars, escape the nursery, wander the castle, and close the portals on both you and her staff. That is a lot of progress in ten months, Zane.”
My master was speechless, and I really was in trouble. My bottom twitched with remorse, so I went for complete sincerity. “I’m sorry, Sir. I won’t do it again.”
Zane wasn’t pacified, and his anger was clearly just below the surface. “Where did you find a kitten, Tia? You’ve never had one before?”
Tears were close. “I don’t know, it was just there.”
The two of them exchanged a look that I couldn’t comprehend. Quinn said, “They could have planted it, Zane. Luring her out of the nursery?”
“Maybe. But she’s had a cat for a long time. She could have put it there herself, even with me controlling her.”
I frowned. “I’m still here, you know. You don’t have to talk around me.”
It took their double stare down before I remembered any words that drew their angry attention were probably a really bad idea, so I sat down to wait.
Quinn said, “Did you see anybody tonight?”
“There was a man who scared me. He tried to grab me, but I…I kind of bit his hand hard enough to make him bleed.”
“It shouldn’t be difficult to find a bleeding man if he’s on my staff. I’ll have security start looking for him right now. I’ll secure her, too, son. You can deal with her in the morning.”
“We will deal with this in the morning,” Zane growled. “I don’t care how powerful you are becoming. You know that you disobeyed me.”
Hoping for cute, I lowered my eyes and said, “Yes, Master.”
“Open the windows to your staff, Tia,” Quinn demanded.
Awakened from a sound sleep, my subconscious grew crowded with the appearance of my tiny staff. Their questions came faster than Quinn could answer. “What’s wrong? Is she safe? I thought she was asleep?”
Quinn described my adventure. “I’ll block her subconscious tonight. She won’t get past my powers, and Zane will handle her in the morning.”
He turned his stern expression on my already remorseful soul. “Simon will put you back to bed, young lady, and I expect you to stay there. If I find you out of your nursery again, you will have two shots at a red bottom. Do you understand?”
Quinn was a pretty easy read, and I spoke quickly. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir.”
His hand touched my forehead, and the familiar warm glow signaled the sad loss of my powers and return to the castle nursery. The five senses I’d held in the human world were still with me, but without that connection to my subconscious, I didn’t feel whole.
I had no desire to make anybody madder by complaining, but I did take another shot at cute. “Sir, can you thank Isabella for helping me?”
He softened. “Yes, little one. I will.” When the smile finally reached his eyes, Quinn looked familiar, and I remembered that he was Anna’s big brother.
“And…thank you, too. I promise, I’ll behave.”
He kissed me gently on the forehead. “I know you will. But I don’t envy you when your master gets ahold of you.”
It was a restless night. Without my powers, I couldn’t get into any real trouble, but human Simon wouldn’t leave my side, and I couldn’t convince him to change back to the cat. “Can’t you adjust? It isn’t that big of a bed. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
“Don’t say a word,” he growled, “You should be ashamed of yourself. I don’t think I’ve ever been as mad at you as I am right now, and that includes the time you tried to go to that concert in Columbus with your sleazy high school friends.”
I hadn’t realized how much I needed Simon to be my nonjudgmental friend. My language, my nutrition, and my training were never his priority. He just cared about me, and his words hurt more than I was willing to admit.
I started to cry, but he just handed me a box of tissues in an attempt to cut me off. “Save your tears for tomorrow. You’re going to need them.”
I didn’t need any reminders. Zane was going to kill me, and the wait to have your bottom reddened could bring fear to the strongest soul.
The next morning was horrible. I displayed an angelic attitude during the morning routine, but raw nerves prevented me from putting any breakfast in my mouth and no scolding could get me past the rising nausea.
The door opened and my stomach fell, but it was only Zane’s parents. Isabella took me into her arms while Quinn scolded, “She is going to be punished today. Zane won’t appreciate you coddling her.”
Isabella may have been submissive to her mate, but retorted, “Hush, Quinn. That doesn’t mean she has to be frightened for hours. He will here soon enough, and he can make his point then.”
She pulled me closer and gently rubbed my back. “Easy, Tia. Zane loves you, and you trust him. It’s going to be fine.” She even convinced me to eat a little breakfast.
Quinn looked at her fondly. “Isabella has been anxious to be with you, but we’ve stayed away to limit your contacts while you adjusted.” He added dryly, “That doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore.”
Even without my powers, Zane’s presence filled the room before I saw him. I wanted to run into his arms and beg forgiveness, not only to avoid the spanking but to assure myself that he still cared. Guilt held me in place, and I stared miserably at the floor.
Quinn kissed my forehead, and I felt the warmth that returned with my powers. I added respectfully, “Thank you for keeping me safe.”
It was a relief to see everyone leave. My bottom had been bared to Simon and my staff more times than I could count, but taking my punishment in front of Zane’s parents would have completed my humiliation.
The scolding came first. “What were you thinking, Tia? Didn’t I make it clear? Haven’t I said that you must never leave these rooms without me? And how did you get a kitten? Did somebody give it to you?”
It was too many questions to answer at one time, and anxiety gave into easy tears. The nagging nausea rose in my throat as he pressured for more information, and I couldn’t stop crying. When my emotions finally won, I gave way to my childhood habit and vomited my breakfast all over his shoes.
The not-so-subtle move bought about fifteen minutes. He changed his clothes, threw me in the tub for a bath, and dried me carefully. It wasn’t exactly an amorous exchange, but it bought time to control his temper and stop my copious tears.
He sat me on the bed wrapped tightly in a big fluffy towel and took a deep breath before he spoke, “Now, talk to me. What were you thinking?”
“I don’t know. I was bored. I didn’t know shutting the window meant you couldn’t sense me at all. You never told me that. You said I would never have the power to block you.”
“Where did the kitten come from? Did somebody give you one? Is it an old memory?”
“I’m not sure. It was just there.” The tears quickly returned.
He sighed. “Okay, what about the man who tried to grab you. Did you recognize him? His scent? Did you have any thoughts about him before he got to you?”
I thought hard. “I was afraid. I don’t know why. Nobody else scared me like that last night, not even your father, and he petrified me. I needed one of you to get back, and I didn’t know how to find you. I’ll never do it again.”
He stared out the window without speaking for a long time. Finally, he said, “Some of this is my fault. I should have explained about shutting me out, but it never occurred to me you could actually do it. It’s dangerous for a submissive to have that kind of power. My mother couldn’t
shut my father out if she wanted to, and they have been mated for hundreds of years. You did it ten months into your training. None of us saw that coming.”
His next words sent a frightening chill through my already muddled brain. “I thought I had complete control over what you saw in your subconscious. Don’t you understand my fear that somebody used the kitten to lure you out of the nursery? It was the one night I wasn’t able to keep a close eye on you.
“But the sneaking out is all on you. I didn’t think you had the power to pull it off, but even with the ability, you knew better. And that is going to cost you a spanking. Are you going to cooperate or am I going to have to fight you?”
Getting my butt scorched was far from appealing, but I needed his approval and would do anything to get it back. “I’ll be good, Zane.”
I unwrapped myself from the secure fluffy towel and carefully placed myself over his knees. My eyes focused on his very familiar leather shoes, and my bare bottom was adjusted to reach his ideal height. I closed my eyes tightly and waited.
He had little sympathy. His massive hand layered each naked cheek in quick succession and connected the tender skin to my remorse with startling effectiveness. I held my position with just a little bit of wiggling and a lot of apologies.
When he was done, I took deep breaths to wait for my cuddling. Instead, he said, “Now that you’ve had your warm up, are you ready?”
I looked at him from my very unnatural position. “Ready? Are you kidding? Wasn’t that it?”
“You didn’t swear or refuse to mind your nanny. You put yourself in danger and could have gotten yourself killed. Don’t you think your decision deserves more than a few swats to your backside?”
Honestly, I didn’t. Nobody could wish for more, so I tried to argue. “Really. I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t—” I didn’t finish the sentence before I felt the sting from something hard and thin.
“What the fuck was that?” Not a good choice of words, but in my defense, it was a hell of a sting.
“That, my pet, is a whip made for little girls who don’t listen. You have one…now you are getting five more. Hold steady.”
The horrifying implement was only about eighteen inches long and looked like a riding crop with a half a dozen tails on the end. Not caring what he called it, the only thing that could possibly have held me in place was some magical power.
Unfortunately, he had that ability. I was glued to his lap and couldn’t even wiggle in protest. Five more stripes across my bottom came in quick succession, and I felt the fire of each one. He might have been laying some kind of road map, and when he crossed into an intersection, I gave a small shriek.
Then he added a seventh lick, “…and watch your language, Tia.”
He set me on my feet, but he wasn’t done. “In fifteen minutes, you will summarize everything you did wrong yesterday, and you’d better not miss a single thing.”
After the day I’d had, the request was terrifying. “C…can I have a piece of paper? It’s a long list, and I…I don’t want to forget something.”
He might have smirked but honored my request.
I faced a new dilemma. If I recorded something he didn’t know, my protesting bottom could face another spanking. But if I missed something known, I could take the same.
Time clicked by while I chewed ruthlessly on the tip of my pen. I started with the obvious. Shutting everyone out and the escape from my nursery went to the top. The attempted kick to Simon’s privates and the rather shallow name calling clearly deserved an honorable mention.
Zane had heard a few swear words and my lack of cooperation during the day was also common knowledge, so those were next. A few illicit drawings of Simon with boobs probably could have gone under the radar, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
It still didn’t seem adequate. After a few minutes, I wrote, “I didn’t follow the rules and got myself into a potentially dangerous situation. I should have known better.” At the last minute, I underlined it for additional emphasis.
When my time was up, I handed him the list with my eyes lowered to draw pity. He read carefully, but my steady breath didn’t return until the whip disappeared, and he opened his arms to embrace me.
Instead of fear or pain, I shed tears of relief that it was all over. Not just the spanking but the overwhelming terror when lost in the castle was put to rest, and I was finally safe…and whole. It was a long time before I let go.
Cuddled to his strength, the sting that followed a spanking settled into a familiar warmth. My brain fought to align that inexplicable connection between pain and pleasure, and an achy need was clearly just on the horizon. Everything in my heart wanted Zane to grant me the missing piece.
Knowing he could read my thoughts anyway, I touched his bulging crotch. With a snicker, he returned my sexual awareness and the desire buried deep in my soul emerged with a groan.
He said, “Well, pet. With your powers where they are, I have to assume that you can handle this.”
The itch did the tango with my already warmed backside before it was delivered directly to the burgeoning bundle of nerves in my clit. I wanted him, but I had control over my needs. The couch and strangers were both safe from my passion.
My hand tickled his hard cock a second time, and I lowered my eyes in submission. “I promise. I will never be that naughty again.”
There was no foreplay, and he wasn’t gentle. My body was bolted to the bed with my legs spread wide for his inspection. He laughed at my swollen clit with a maddening tickle from his finger. “I guess I don’t really need to check how wet you are?”
He drove in hard, and we both gasped at the intensity. Maintaining total control, he moved in and out with punishing thrusts to connect my striped bottom with an aching need, and I welcomed his cock with slow moans.
Long, fluid movement awakened my nerves even further until I gave into his control. His cock reached deep to tease the sensitive spot buried in my vagina and thousands of nerve endings all began their trek to reach one final focus.
Quickening his pace with delicious friction, small ripples of pleasure formed in my core and eventually turned to waves that reached to my toes. The edge was near, hidden behind a force that was almost frightening in its intensity, and all I could do was scream my approval.
When our explosion hit in simultaneous velocity, I forgot how to breathe for a long few seconds as his release mingled with mine in an electrifying roar. The combined experience created a powerfully unique connection between our souls.
The sudden hormonal release left me with a fuzzy exhaustion. I settled on his firm chest, and we dropped into a deep sleep.
When the morning sun hit the nursery windows, Zane was still in my bed. Our lives had clearly turned another corner.
Chapter Nine
Now that they were part of my world, Quinn and Isabella gave me the chance to observe a mated relationship other than my own mixed up life. Despite my need to be with Zane, I harbored serious reservations about the whole Dominant/submissive labels, but their relationship was deep, powerful, and a little confusing.
She often referred to him as “my Lord” or “Master,” and he glowed with pride in her presence. She also generated huge personal power that Quinn clearly respected. The mixture of personalities created one of the happiest couples I’d ever met.
They never argued or even bickered, and I couldn’t understand how she managed. “Don’t you ever want to just yell at him?”
Isabella gave a rare smirk. “Sometimes I disagree, but I learned a long time ago not to yell at Quinn.” She rubbed her ass reflectively, and the mental picture was mortifying.
She laughed at my deep blush. “We exist on a very close level. Quinn knows when I am unhappy with his decisions. He is always connected to my subconscious so he already knows my deepest thoughts. He will listen to what I have to say when we are in private, but I would never challenge him in public. A natural Dominant will be satisfied with nothing less than a submissi
ve mate. I want to make him happy.”
I understood. Zane was part of my soul and his alpha role completed me on many levels. But as much as I wanted to make him happy, it was obvious that I challenged his patience and sucked as a submissive. “But how do you do it? How do you give it all up?”
Isabella looked at me quizzically. “I never viewed it as giving something up. I only gained.”
A conversation about my mate with his mother was a little weird, but I had few social options. “I usually feel the need to submit in his presence, but there are days when I just want to fight it. I get so frustrated with him, the nursery, and the restrictions. It can be overwhelming.”
“Some of this is your adjustment,” she added sympathetically. “As important as it was to keep you safe, we knew that your isolation would make our world difficult to understand when you came to us.
“The rest, though, is about building something important. Communication is the key to any relationship, but most especially ours. Being submissive doesn’t mean you’re a victim or a nonentity. He gets his power from you. If you don’t choose to submit, he has no power.”
“That’s not true, is it? I mean, the whole mating ceremony took control away from me. I didn’t have a choice after that.”
“It doesn’t work that way. All the mating ceremony did was tie your subconscious to Zane’s and establish him as the Dominant. You’re no less important to the relationship. Tied as one, he makes decisions with your thoughts in mind. You won’t always agree, but you can step back and respect the choice because you had input. Our subconscious is the most powerful part of our relationships.”
I grumbled, “There’s no way he’s reading anything in my mind that says I want to be spanked. That’s all him.”
Her laughter clearly recognized my stand. “Okay, I’ll give you that one. But now that you’re not in the moment, ask yourself an important question. Can you think of one single time that Zane punished you, and you really, deep down, don’t recognize that you deserved it?”
I didn’t like to admit it, but she was probably right. It was a lot easier to reflect when you could sit in a chair without wincing.
Training Tia Page 11
