When The Gavel Falls (Masters of the Castle)

by Tabitha Black

  "No, no. I'm fine. Don't bother him. I'm fine, really." She didn't want to have to see him, the big boss man. It was embarrassing enough without everyone in the freaking Castle knowing what she'd done. She dabbed at her eyes with the balled-up Kleenex she had been shredding since she'd arrived at Wardrobe. "It's my fault I panicked, and instead of talking to him I took off. Please don't feel as though you have to stick around. I'm fine. Really," she pleaded.

  Brianny wished they'd go away. She would never live it down if they called her brother-in-law, head of the Castle security—shit, shit, shit. Too late. They'd called Jackson anyway. He swung the Wardrobe door wide and seemed to take in the whole scene.

  "Hi, sweetheart. Not having a great night, are you?" Her brother-in-law came to her slowly, as though she were a wild animal he wanted to feed from his hand. "It's okay."

  "I'm so sorry, Jackson. I overreacted. And I—I didn't want to cause a big scene. I'm so embarrassed. Please go back to the auction. Don't waste your time on me." She hopped from the stool, pulling her strawberry blonde waves away from the assistant who was trying to tame them.

  "It's okay. I didn't bid on anyone tonight. Can I take you to get a coffee?" Jackson had a soothing tone and a big smile. "I'm here for you. Something spooked you, and we take that very seriously here."

  "No, really, I feel terrible. Ki—Master Brady and I really need to talk this out. I'm sure it will be fine. I mean, I'm not afraid of him. I love… I love him." She was not going to start crying again. She just wouldn't!

  "That's exactly right. Communication is huge in any relationship, but especially so in a D/s relationship—don't I know it. You and Master Brady need to sit down and talk. If you are sure, I'm going to head back, but Blossom, we're family now, and I take care of my own. If you need me, I'm here." He tucked her under his arm to hug her for a moment and squeezed her close.

  She had to swallow repeatedly to get the lump that refused to budge to go down. She would not cry again. "Please don't tell anyone else about this."

  "You mean Sara? I won't tell her anything, but I will be discussing this with Master Brady, and most likely Master Marshall. Castle security is huge. We take it very seriously." He stepped back so she could see his smiling face again. "Are you ready to see him now?"

  She shrugged her shoulders. "No time like the present, huh?" She took a deep breath, thanked the dressing assistant, and then followed Jackson to the door. If anyone could look sympathetic and stern at the same time, it was him. His lips curved softly into a smile, but his blue eyes were dark and serious.

  "You okay?" he asked as he pulled her close to his chest. His arms were strong, yet gentle, as he just held her.

  If she spoke, she'd cry again, so she simply nodded her reply against his familiar chest.

  "Do you want to get coffee, or go back to our suite?" He pulled away from her and looked down into her eyes.

  "Our room." She fell into step beside him as he entwined his fingers through hers. "I really am sorry." She looked up at him through wet lashes as he led her through the halls.

  His mouth formed a straight line, as if he was trying to hold back from saying something snarky. He didn't look at her when he asked, "What are you sorry for?"

  "For everything," almost flew out of her mouth. His question felt like dèja vu… only, it was real. He had asked her the same thing while in the cubby after the auction. She drew in a ragged breath before responding with more consideration. "For springing this on you the way I did. And for the auction, I definitely shouldn't have done the auction. I didn't even know about it until we got here. Sara—well, Sara and I—thought, we thought you might enjoy my being your slave. It seemed like a good opportunity to give myself to you."

  "You guys thought it best to avoid me all day and then just show up at the auction? What if I hadn't gone? What if someone had outbid me and paid more than I could afford? Yes, and what of the money? We saved for this trip; the five thousand is taking away from our future spending."

  "I don't know why I did it. All of those things crossed my mind. I don't have an excuse. I'm sorry, truly." Her words echoed off the stone walls. Or at least in her head. The only real sounds came from a couple they passed. Well, it was a man and woman, but also a younger-looking woman, dressed in a pale pink gown and fuzzy bunny slippers—of all things. The younger girl was being carried by the man, and kept her face tucked into his neck. Brianny wished for a split second that she could be so lucky. Lucky to be held and carried so sweetly. "It's because I wanted to do something exciting for once. I never do anything impulsive or crazy. I'm so boring."

  "I fell in love with you just the way you are." Kian released her hand to pull out the keycard. They were at their room at last—or all too soon, depending on how she looked at it.

  "But you don't really know me." She walked into the room when he held the door open for her.

  "Whose fault is that? It's not me who is hiding." He dragged his fingers through his shaggy blond hair and stalked over to the window.

  "I didn't hide it. It just never came up in conversation. Maybe at supper: can you pass me the paddle, I mean potatoes? Or no, maybe at the gym: I think that weight bench would work nicely for a spanking bench." Brianny huffed and dropped down into the sitting chair next to her.

  He spun around. "I don't think you are funny. You know exactly what I'm talking about. At any time when we spoke of this resort, and visiting your sister, you could have broached the subject." He came over and took the chair next to hers, turning it to face her. "Let's talk about the dungeon, shall we?"

  A tremor ran through Bri, though not of fear. The jolt ran straight to her core, pulling inward and down on her tummy, triggering a collection of moisture to gather in her panties. "Yes," she whispered.

  "Why did you run away?" Right for the kill. He wasn't going to mince words.

  "You scared me." She looked at her fingers instead of his prying eyes. "You went so fast. I mean, we hadn't really discussed it."

  "Why hadn't we discussed it?" He leaned forward and took her chin in his hand, tipping it and looking her in the eye. "Don't you trust me?"

  She blinked away tears. "Yes, I trust you, but we didn't talk about it. I've never been spanked. You've never spanked anyone, and I needed a connection, I needed to be heard."

  "You don't know if I've ever spanked anyone because you never asked. You weren't heard because you didn't speak. You didn't feel a connection because you hadn't opened up a line of connection." He tugged Brianny's hand and pulled her to sit in his lap, adjusting her long skirt to fit between his legs. She tried to hide her face in his neck, but he again cupped her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. "How do you think I felt, being forced into this without a single clue? Perhaps the same way you felt jumping right into a hardcore scene with me? What you want is very intimate, and it will need a lot of communication to work. You can't expect me to meet your needs if you won't share them with me."

  She flung her arms around his neck and clung to him. "I'm so sorry. I know you're right. I knew this was not the best idea."

  He let her cry and release her pent-up emotions while he rubbed her back and held her.

  "I just, I'm so embarrassed. I couldn't say it. I couldn't think of how to explain it to you when I myself don't even fully know what I want. I tried to write you letters, but I always ripped them up. I thought that by coming here, we could just see it all. I mean, I don't even know all of the things I might like, so maybe we can experiment."

  "Yes, that is one of the nice things about this place, but you should have talked to me. You didn't like the dungeon and the implements that I sprung on you, just like I didn't like the way you dropped all of this on me. We're going to talk about the things we do want and what we don't like. It will be a growing, and ever changing experience, I'm sure. But know this now, you are going to be spanked soon, very soon."

  It didn't matter that her pulse was racing, she was worried about being spanked, or that she was contemplating the li
kelihood that she could get out the door before he caught her, for along with heated cheeks, a smile burst forth, and would not accept any of her attempts to force it into a more appropriate response. She didn't think Kian was funny, nor was she very excited—okay, maybe she was a little excited—but Brianny was very familiar with her nervous smile. It had always been this way, her smiling like a fool whenever she was embarrassed or in trouble.

  Chapter Four

  "Go get the papers that I laid on the table and come back to me." He patted her thigh and helped her to her feet. When she had retrieved them and faced him again, he took them and laid them on the small table next to the chair where he sat. "Turn around." He issued the command with a demonstration of his finger twirling to show his desire. She didn't hesitate in following his orders. Kian stood up and moved her long wavy hair to the side. He started at her neck, on the first of perhaps five thousand tiny pearl buttons.

  Brianny's response was a shiver, maybe his soft touch tickled her, but she didn't speak. It probably wasn't necessary that he tell her about his past experience, and yet for some reason he wanted to.

  "I don't know if I've told you about Hayley."

  It wasn't a question, but she replied with a slight nod and a quiet, "Your ex-girlfriend."

  "Yes… I spanked her." It was hard to talk about the damn subject. He was even a little embarrassed. "It ended our relationship." He was only halfway down her back, and her slight shift as she looked over her shoulder as if to confirm what she'd heard, tugged the little button out of his huge clumsy fingers. "We tried to talk it through, but it didn't help. She not only hated me for the fact that I'd done it, but more so because I didn't approve of her behavior." Thank God he'd almost reached the bottom. "You are never to wear one of these damn dresses again. I want a zipper, or something loose enough to lift over your head."

  "Yes, sir." Brianny giggled and stepped free of the gown once he'd undone the final button and slid it from her shoulders. Then Kian picked it up and draped it over the back of the other chair. Bri turned around to face him and crossed her arms over her chest. The smile had finally left her, but the heat of her cheeks blushing still lingered.

  "Sit," he directed, as he sat down once again. "Did you answer all of these questions truthfully? Yours, I mean." He gestured with the file he'd picked up and opened.

  "Um, yes, I think so. I didn't understand some of it—like furries or something, or maybe cupping." He liked her sitting at his feet, naked as she was.

  "So, you are okay with enemas, and ginger. What do you do with ginger?" If it was possible, her face was as red as he'd ever seen it. Her large eyes intrigued him.

  "I… uh… I don't know what the ginger is for, but I don't want an enema…" She choked over the word. "I just meant that if you chose something like that… I mean… as a punishment, or maybe even because it turns you on, then… I'd want to please you."

  "I see." He scanned the rest of the questions on the form. "You selected all three: role playing, erotic, and punishment, but it looks as though you scratched out the check mark by role playing. Care to explain why?" His eyes met hers over the top of the file in his lap.

  She seemed to be fighting a smile as she considered his question. "I just didn't think I'd be good at role playing, or pretending. I think I'd prefer it be as a punishment, or, I don't know. I guess I might not care if you wanted to, you know, just spank me because you want to, I mean without a reason. Or maybe during sex… I don't know." She didn't seem to be aware that she was doing it, but the way she was squirming made him want to do just that—pull her over his lap and try it out. But damn it. He was going to spank her for real. He'd almost forgot… making him buy her… There was no sense in drawing it out any longer.

  "You know, it really is too bad you couldn't just talk to me about this. I mean it would be nice if we could have fun. That we could play around with a spanking to try it out. But, I'd be stupid to let you go on now without a serious spanking after everything, so let's get it over with. Stand up." He reached for her hand, helped her to her feet and led her to the massive four-poster bed. "Bend over the bed."

  He watched as she inhaled deeply, perhaps to summon the courage, then did as he'd directed. He was entranced by her submission, by her beauty. She had the most perfect ass, round and soft. He thought of the times she'd complained about her figure. She obviously didn't realize how beautiful she really was.

  "Kian?" Her husky whisper drew his attention back to the matter at hand.

  He stepped closer to her, to her side. "I was thinking about how gorgeous your ass is. How beautiful you are altogether. I'm a lucky man." He ran his hand over the curves of her rounded cheeks. She'd clenched her muscles when he had rested his opposite hand on her lower back, but relaxed as he just rubbed and squeezed her glorious bottom. It took everything in him not to let his fingers travel down her crack, to stroke her pussy. He had to get to work or he was going to lose it. He lifted his hand and brought it down on the fullest part of her cheek.

  Like a reflex, her head lifted off the duvet and a little "ow," escaped from her lips.

  "Brianny, this is going to be a punishment spanking. It's your own fault; your behavior that got you into this. I'm not going to go easy because it's your first spanking. Do you understand me?" He continued to slap her butt, careful to spread the spanks out. Her skin was fair, so the swats instantly turned her creamy skin pink.

  "Yes, sir." It was as though she clamped her lips shut after that. She clenched and unclenched the duvet in response to each of his swats.

  He knew he was spanking much easier than any of the spankings he'd witnessed that day. He continued the warm-up as he spoke. "I am going to spank you until you are truly repentant. That means you will most likely be crying and begging me to stop. I'm not letting you off easy. If you want me to stop, truly need me to stop, you can say 'red' instead of the Castle safeword. Then I will stop and we will talk it out. But you are going to be punished. Do you understand me?"

  She was already starting to wiggle beneath his spanking hand. "Yes, but Ki—sir? Ow—I'm ready for you to stop now."

  A smile spread across his face. He must be sadistic. If her ass felt anything like his hand, he was surprised she was handling it as well as she was, because his hand was getting pretty sore. He stopped spanking for only a moment, and rubbed her reddened bottom again. "No, Bri, you are going to be truly punished. That was just a warm-up."

  Brianny lifted her torso off the bed. "I don't think I can do it, Kian. I don't think I want this anymore."

  He pressed against her back, catching her hands together to hold them there, and tried not to smile at her comment. "But that's not how it works, is it? You don't get to decide when a spanking is over. You don't get to turn it on and off. If it felt good the whole time then it wouldn't work as a punishment. I'm going to blister your ass, and you deserve every single swat." He began spanking again in earnest.

  She yelped at the next couple of smacks, as if she'd not yet settled into it, but then just as before she clamped her lips down, as if stubbornly preparing to absorb or ignore it.

  He moved around, slapping first her right cheek and then her left, then doing three in a row on each side, then finally moving to the crease where she sat, before he started the pattern over.

  "Not only did you embarrass me by giving me no idea of the nature of the resort, but I had to meet your sister and brother-in-law at the same time. Don't you think I'd like to know something as huge as this ahead of time? I'm a man, and perhaps a little too proud, but I felt like an idiot. Jackson knew right away that I had no clue this was a BDSM resort. Was it fair to any of us for you to play this little game?" he lectured, as he continued to spank her.

  Brianny was on her toes now, bouncing and wiggling, but her voice had not returned. He could no longer see her face, as she'd buried it in the covers.

  He was torn between cranking it up a notch or pulling his swollen, aching cock out and fucking her while she wiggled under him just
the way she was. She was wet; he could see the glistening of her pussy down between her legs. He had to hurry and finish this spanking right. He had to make sure she took him seriously—that she understood a punishment from him wasn't going to be fun.

  He brought his hand down harder, instantly seeing the results. The first two harder swats brought her head off the bed, the third and fourth made her pant.

  "You basically lied to them here when you forged my application. The application is important. Didn't that matter?"

  Brianny was whimpering now, little mewling sounds, while she continued to dance and stomp. She pulled at his hand, which held hers tightly at the small of her back. She'd have them out and trying to block if she could. She kicked her foot up as if to block, but a couple quick smacks to her upper thigh worked with her the same way he'd seen on another submissive earlier that afternoon.

  "Then there is the cost of the auction." Her bottom was getting red now. A little pink in some spots, but mostly red.

  "I'm sorreee," she finally wailed. "I was wrong..." Brianny dragged the words out in a low keening sound. "Please."

  He wanted to stop, to hold her, but he knew he had to continue. "I'm glad you are sorry, baby. Now we're getting somewhere." He continued to spank, but couldn't hold out when she whimpered and cried.

  Stopping at last, he rubbed her bottom instead. "I'm glad you see now. This could have been fun, but your actions brought this punishment instead." He couldn't help but rub, and finally, to dip. He had to do it. He'd watched her sweet little ass wiggle for far too long to hold back. And her pussy was just as wet as he thought. She squirmed and opened her legs wider, pushing against his hand as he thrust two fingers inside her. She soaked his hand, with a slippery slapping wet sound as he finger fucked her while pulling his pants down.

  "This is for me, not you." He pulled his fingers back, only to replace them with his cock. "Don't you dare get off." As wet as she was, her pussy was still hot and tight. It took all of his strength to go slow so he wouldn't come immediately.