Authors: Avery Gale
“What did she see out the window?” Mitch had just come in to the room and immediately lay down alongside Rissa. “Good morning, sunshine, or I guess I should say good afternoon.” Mitch leaned over and kissed her temple before turning his attention back to Bryant. “Now, what was so interesting about the Lamonts?”
Rissa started to giggle, and before long it was a full hold-your-stomach, tears-rolling-down-the-cheeks laugh before she said, “Leave it to our resident empath to only get a bit of it before he—”
She didn’t even get to finish the sentence before Mitch had rolled her on to her back and was straddling her and had pinned both her wrists together with one hand. “Now, baby, you really might want to think about that taunting thing when dealing with your Doms. Because I have to tell you, I can be pretty wicked and creative with electronic gadgets, and I have several that are almost ready to be used on that sweet pussy and ass of yours.” His voice was all business, but his expression was brimming with mischief.
“And that is supposed to frighten me—Sir?” She tried to hide her amusement and was sure she had failed miserably.
“Well, Master Bryant, I think our little sub is just looking for trouble. What do you say we take her up on that this evening? We can reserve a room at The Club, or we could just play in one of the public lounges, what do you think?”
“Hmmmm, tough call. I say we do a bit of planning this afternoon and surprise her.” Bryant had known Mitch was going to try to arrange to have the evening off. They had big plans for their little sub and couldn’t wait to set things in motion. “Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, there should be a good-sized crowd at The Club tonight. I can hardly wait to show off our little princess here.” He leaned over and gave her a scorching kiss before they both got up off the bed and stood with arms crossed over their chests and watched as her eyes widened and she gasped even as her nipples became stiff points and they could smell her arousal.
“What? That’s it? You get me all…well, all…”
“All what, baby?” Mitch’s amused tone didn’t do a thing for her good humor…Nope not one single thing even remotely close to satisfying about that.
She was completely exasperated now. “Oh crap on a cracker, you know what I mean. You got me all hot, and now you’re just going to walk away? Well, you’ll see, I don’t need you to take care of this.” She knew she was skating on very thin ice and that waving the threat of self-satisfaction in front of a Dom was like waving a red flag in front of a bull, but she just couldn’t seem to stop the words from tumbling out. “Oh yeah, I got along for years before you two came along, and as long as they still make batteries, I’ll be able to do just fine on my own.” She didn’t even see them move it was that fast—they had her up and bent over the edge of the bed before she had even blinked. The first two swats landed hard, and Rissa gasped at the sudden fire spreading over her skin. The next three were harsher with the last one landing directly over her pussy. “Shit! That hurts! What the fuck is wrong with you two?”
Bryant growled, honest to God, she would swear he growled before saying, “Watch your language and your taunting just went way over the edge, pet. You know your pleasure belongs to Master Mitch and myself. You will not touch yourself with the intent of provided self-stimulation unless directed to do so by one of us—are we crystal clear on this point?”
Oh boy, Rissa was in full-on pissed-off mode now. “Crystal clear indeed…
Sir
!” She probably should have made an effort to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but she didn’t and until the next several swats landed on her already-blistering ass cheeks, she hadn’t cared. But now? Damn, sitting was not going to be much fun for a while, that was for sure. She was pissed and she didn’t really even understand why, but everything was overwhelming her. She felt like she was being swept away by huge tsunami-strength waves of emotion. And each wave was different from the last one so that she couldn’t ever get her feet under her. When she was crying and apologizing, they finally stopped the spanking, and it was Mitch who helped her up and sat her on the edge of the bed.
Handing her a box of tissues, he tilted her chin up so she was forced to look at him. “Baby, you know better than that. You are better than that bratty behavior. If you are needy, tell us. We won’t always accommodate you, sometimes because we have something else planned and having you on edge for a while before a scene will serve to enhance your pleasure. But this blatant disrespect for your Doms and demeaning of yourself will not be tolerated. Do you understand?” Mitch waited even after she nodded her head.
“Y–y–yes, S–s–s–sir.” Shuddering with her sobs, she added, “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did that. I knew I was saying all the wrong things…but my mouth wasn’t paying any attention to my brain.” Rissa only wanted to be alone, she would have told them anything if she’d thought it would get them out of the room sooner. She planned to head down the mountain and hide away in her small apartment above the local tavern and just sleep.
The physical pain hadn’t been so much she couldn’t stand it, but this had just proved to her that she was in way over her head. They wanted to get inside her head and she wasn’t ready to be that open with anyone. Her counselor had told her time and again that it was time, but opening up was harder than she’d ever imagined it could be. She’d wondered a thousand and one times if she would ever be able to overcome the PTSD triggers. Even she realized her reactions were inconsistent and there was no question they’d be noted by two experienced Doms. She needed time to process everything that had happened, and she couldn’t do that here at ShadowDance. She had agreed to the time at the cabin, but since they’d returned to The Club and Mansion, there wasn’t any reason to continue delaying the inevitable.
She could tell when Mitch started picking up her thoughts again.
Thank God strong emotion blocks him temporarily at least.
And she purposely blanked her plans from her mind. He looked at her intently before speaking softly. “You’re learning to block, I don’t like it.”
Bryant stepped forward. “She’s learning to block her thoughts from you? Really? I didn’t know that was possible.” Reaching over, he cupped the sides of her sweet face and used his thumbs to remove her remaining tears. “I hate having to punish you, I would much prefer the only spankings you get are erotic and meant to bring you pleasure. But I won’t ever hesitate to take you in hand if you act out like a spoiled brat.” When Rissa didn’t answer he let go of her face and said, “We’ll stop in to check on you later. Get cleaned up, dressed and go downstairs, and get something to eat. We’ll tell Selita to be expecting you.”
After they had both left the room, Rissa hurried to get herself cleaned up and quickly made her way out to the garage and was halfway down the mountain when her cell phone started to ring. Glancing at the screen, she saw Kat’s phone number. Hitting the button for speakerphone, she immediately heard Kat’s frantic voice. “Are you okay? Holy shit, I overheard the men talking downstairs, and then when I looked for you, I couldn’t find you anywhere. I called the garage and they told me your car wasn’t in the lot. Oh damn, girl, you are going to be in deep shit when Mitch and Bryant get wind of this. I bought you some time by telling the garage guys I had forgotten you were going to the store for a few things, but it won’t be long before it hits the fan. Oh man, I hate being a hippo…I’m missing all the action…We could have escaped together, damn and double damn…I haven’t had a good spanking orgasm in so long I think I will have forgotten how.” Damn, but Rissa loved her bosses’ fireball wife; they had become good friends over the past few months, and Rissa never tired of Kat’s rapid-fire, out-loud thinking. After a few beats of silence Kat’s voice came through the phone in a much softer tone. “Really, Rissa, are you okay? I’m worried about you. Talk to me, girlfriend.”
Rissa wasn’t sure she would be able put her feelings of being overwhelmed into any words that would make sense even to her sweet friend. She was little more than a bundle of raw nerves, but she took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking. “Thank you for checking on me, I’ll be fine. I just need some time to process everything. I haven’t felt that vulnerable and powerless for a long time, and it sort of shook me, you know?” Chuckling to herself, she continued. “Of course you know, I’m sorry, that was insensitive of me.” She took another steadying breath and then spoke again. “I’ll be all right, I just want to sleep in my own bed covered up by the quilt my Granny made for me and eat a quart of ice cream and a package of cookies.” She tried to put laughter in her voice so Kat would be appeased. “That cures everything, right?”
Kat wasn’t convinced, but she’d been in Rissa’s position and knew when it was time to back off and let a friend work through a rough patch. “Well, you make sure you keep that phone on you, I heard that there has been a man in town asking about you and that mega bitch Rachel Sutton is still on a rampage about you also. Watch your back and lock your damned door.
Please
call me later and let me know you are okay. It’s not nice to make a preggo woman worry you know…bad for the ole high blood pressure.”
Rissa had to laugh, leave it to Kat to pull that card out when it was convenient. “Oh all right, mother hen…I’ll call you later. I know the guys will be busy at The Club tonight so we’ll trash talk them and both feel better. Now, I have to go, the road is slick, and my tires are not in the best shape so I need all my attention on not making car skiing a new sport. And, Kat…thanks…for caring…You are a great friend.”
She heard Kat sniff through the connection.
You have to love emotional pregnant friends.
Kat just said, “Right back atcha’. Hugs and call me later.” And then she was gone.
Driving down the mountain was treacherous, and more than once Rissa had questioned the wisdom of trying to get back to her cold, bleak apartment in a car that was ill equipped for the snow-packed roads. By the time she pulled in behind the tavern, her usual parking spot was filled, hell the whole block was full. Holiday weekends were always hopping at the little honky-tonk bar. It was a gathering place for everyone in town visiting family and friends. And many of these early patrons would be heading up to ShadowDance later so at least the noise level would ease up after a while. She finally found a parking place a couple of blocks over and cursed her high-heeled boots with every step on the icy walk.
The wind had picked up so she’d pulled her hood up to cover her ears and shield her face. Rissa was usually acutely aware of her surroundings, being a kidnapping victim had deeply ingrained that cognizance within her. It was telling about her emotional state that she hadn’t noticed the couple who stood in the shadows watching her make her way up the back staircase and in to her frigid studio apartment.
“I told you she’d come back here eventually. Now, when are you going to get rid of her?” The woman’s voice was shrill and reminded Maks of fingernails being raked down a chalkboard.
“I have already told you, Mr. Petrov is planning to take care of this himself. He is on his way, but will not be here until tomorrow. The flights into Denver were booked solid, what the fuck is with all this travel for eating turkey, anyway?” He’d never understood Americans’ fascination with a holiday that seemed to revolve around a bird. And they followed that with another holiday that seemed to celebrate a loud, fat man in a strange red suit, so what did he know? He’d grown up in the slums of Moscow so celebrations of any kind had been little more than government sanctioned events. Holidays were not recognized in his family because the only thing they had ever respected was money. “We just needed this visual, I wanted to make sure you had given me the correct information. Your motives for helping us are…what should I say it? Questionable. And I don’t trust you.”
Rachel Sutton was immediately indignant. “What do you mean you don’t trust me? You wanted me to let you know if I saw her, and I’ve delivered. I don’t know why you don’t just go get her and lock her in the trunk of your car until your boss gets here. You know the men from ShadowDance will be here before morning, don’t you?”
“Indeed we do know, and we are better prepared this time. We have no need of your advice. You will have your reward, and she will be gone. Why is that so important to you anyway?” Maks knew that women like this one never did anything without a self-serving motive, and judging by the way she was dressed, she wasn’t in desperate need of the paltry sum she was being paid. When she didn’t immediately answer, he wasn’t surprised and simply said, “I’m going in to the bar for a beer, I suggest you get home before someone sees you standing in the alley with a man you aren’t going to be able to explain to your society twit friends.” He started to walk toward the bar and was pleased to hear her head in the other direction. Perhaps he’d ask around a bit and see if anyone knew just why the bitch calling herself Rachel was so determined to see his target out of the picture.
You can never have too much information—perhaps there is more money to be made from this disaster before Petrov arrives.