Rachel continued watching in morbid fascination as Dominique turned away from the sub, who was now bent over in agony. As she turned, she met Rachel’s gaze and their eyes locked across the room. The vehemence in Dominique’s glare sent an icy shiver down Rachel’s spine. She quickly looked away and made a mental note to herself never to cross her.
She frowned. Who was this woman and how the hell could Adam want her as a business partner? Something told her, though, that they were more than business partners and Rachel’s unease deepened as her dislike of Dominique grew.
Finally, the DM left and Adam sat down again next to Rachel.
“Did Amelia look after you?” he asked, as he unbuckled her cuffs.
“Yes, thank you, Sir.”
“Do you like her?”
She nodded and smiled, putting Dominique to the back of her mind. “Yes, she’s great. She was telling me about the scene she and Master Jack are about to do.” She pulled a face as she added, “Rather her than me.”
Adam laughed. “You, my sweet little sub, have got your own scenes to worry about. Come on, time to go upstairs.”
When Rachel stepped into the upstairs playrooms, her senses were blasted with the electrifying energy of BDSM. The sounds she’d been looking forward to hearing seemed louder than before and the smell of rubber was stronger than the leather this time. It was definitely busier than last week and Rachel wondered if there’d be a space free for them.
She needn’t have worried, though, as Adam walked her to one of the spanking benches in the middle of the room with a big reserved sign hanging on it.
“Strip,” he ordered, as they stood next to the leather bench. “And then kneel by my feet.”
“Yes, Sir.” Oh God, her voice actually shook. She couldn’t separate the fear from the excitement in that moment and one look at Adam’s face told her that was exactly what he wanted her to feel.
When she was naked and kneeling at his feet, the overwhelming feeling of surrender took hold of her again and she welcomed the delicious power her submission held over her. She was ready for her punishment.
“Tell me why you’re being punished, Rachel.” Adam’s deep voice was clear over the noise of the room, and a couple who were passing stopped to see what was going on.
“For being disrespectful, Sir.” Her voice was barely audible and she knew what was coming next.
“Pardon? Speak up, Rachel. I can’t hear you.”
Bastard.
She noticed with dread that a couple of more people were coming over, and shame washed over her as she managed to repeat her crime a little louder. “You’re punishing me for being disrespectful, Sir.”
Adam stood over her, a powerful, dominating presence, with his hands on his hips. He looked down at her, his eyes pushing her further into submission, and she lowered her own eyes to avoid the obvious message in them. He didn’t want to do this. He was genuinely disappointed in her and the fact that he needed to punish her like this displeased him greatly. She could see that now.
“Yes, Rachel. You need to learn not to provoke me to get a spanking. Apart from being disrespectful, it’s also trying to control a scene and that’s unacceptable. I take the lifestyle very seriously and I’m beginning to tire of your bratty behavior.
“As you’re so fixated on spankings, I think it’s only appropriate that your punishment fits your crime, so you’ll receive a non-erotic spanking with a paddle. You will receive ten strikes…”
“Ten?” She stared at Adam in shock, but soon wished she hadn’t interrupted him.
“Fifteen. You will count each strike and thank me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir.” She could barely get the words out, but it wasn’t because she was terrified. To her shame, she acknowledged that she was more turned on than she could ever remember. She was about to be punished in public and she was already on the verge of coming. What the hell was wrong with her? Especially as she was fully aware that this spanking was going to hurt—a lot!
Chapter Eight
“Breathe, Rachel.”
Adam’s voice reached inside her head and she took a deep breath as instructed. She was lying face down and strapped onto the spanking bench, her arms and legs secured by strong leather straps attached at either side, both front and back. Her arse was sticking over the end of the bench, exposed and easily accessible, and Adam was rubbing his hands over the surface of her buttocks, tapping lightly every now and then.
Hmm, this isn’t so bad
.
“I’m not doing this to give you pleasure,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. “I’m warming up your skin so you don’t bruise too badly.”
Shit
!
He walked in front of her and she caught a glimpse of the leather paddle in his hand.
Oh, God!
She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping he’d disappear if she couldn’t see him, but no such luck. The hum of voices gathering around got louder and her face flamed as, yet again, she was to be the star attraction in Adam’s club.
“Are you ready, Rachel?” His voice came from behind her now and she knew he would be sizing her arse up for the first whack.
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered, her voice scratchy from raw nerves.
The first strike was a hard slap landing on her right arse cheek, which left a sharp burning sting in its wake. “Aargh!” She couldn’t help crying out as tears from the shock blurred her eyes. She tried to move, to pull away from the restraints, but they were doing their job well and she remained immobile and helpless.
“Count, and thank me, Rachel. If you forget, we’ll start from the beginning.” His voice was unyielding—he meant it.
“One. Thank you,” she managed to gasp.
“Pardon?”
She heard a couple of sniggers from the crowd and squeezed her eyes tighter.
“One, thank you,
Sir
.” The pain was receding now and she just had time to catch her breath when she felt two more blows in the same place as the first.
“Two, three. Thank you, Sir,” she cried, as the pain tore through her. Christ, this hurt much more than she’d imagined and she had twelve more to go. She really missed his finger gently stroking between her legs, making sure she was aroused and ready for more. There was no sensuality now, though, just pain, but she wouldn’t use her safe word. No way. She would take her punishment and make him proud of her because she so needed him to hold her afterwards and tell her how she’d pleased him.
Another three slaps landed on her left butt cheek in quick succession and she gasped as fresh pain took hold.
“Rachel?”
Oh shit.
“Four, five, six. Thank you, Sir.” She just about managed to utter the words and wished he’d leave her alone so she could escape the pain. But that was the whole point. By making her count, he was making sure she would endure every second of her punishment.
Then he hit again, twice, one after the other and harder than before. She screamed, the sound sticking in her throat so it came out like an eerie cry from a ghost.
“Seven, eight, thank you, Sir.” The tears were running freely down her face now. She was over halfway. Why, oh why, had she challenged him when he’d said she’d get ten strikes? She’d only have two left.
“Aargh! Nine, ten, thank you.” She was just about to take a deep breath when she remembered. “Sir.”
Her whole arse was on fire now, she couldn’t tell the left from right cheek, all she knew was the pain tearing through her, punishing her for her disrespect, and that’s when she fully acknowledged that she deserved every strike.
One very hard hit landed, and she screamed again. “Eleven, thank you, Sir.”
There was a pause, and Rachel opened her eyes to find Adam looking intently at her. “Are you all right, Rachel?”
“Yes, Sir,” she managed to reply through a sob.
“What’s your safe word?”
“Red, Sir.”
“Do you want to use your safe word?” There was no accusation in his voice, just concern. Did she want him to stop? She knew all she had to do was say the word, but she’d provoked this punishment and she would damn well take it. Anyway, she had a feeling he wasn’t hitting her anywhere near as hard as he could have.
“No, Sir. I’m fine.” She raised her eyes to meet his and managed a smile of sorts.
“You’re doing really well, Rachel.” His voice calmed her, reassured her. “Well done. Just take four more for me, sweet thing.”
Yes, she could do this. He was pleased with her and that was all that mattered, so she gritted her teeth and counted another two. “Twelve, thirteen, thank you, Sir.”
“Just two more and it’ll be over, but brace yourself—these will hurt.”
No kidding?
You can do this, she told herself over and over, until she felt a devastatingly hard blow on her right buttock followed quickly by an equally hard hit on her left. The pain was excruciating, but it didn’t matter because it was over. Relief poured over her like warm honey until his voice cut through the veil of comfort.
“I’m waiting, Rachel. Do you want to start over?”
Oh crap.
“Fourteen, fifteen, thank you, Sir.” If he started over, she would have no choice but to use her safe word—she couldn’t take any more pain tonight and she would have failed him. She held her breath until she felt him undo one of the wrist restraints.
Thank God.
He picked her up in his arms and carried her away from the watching crowd, and she burrowed her head in his chest.
“Sssh, sweet thing. It’s over and you did really well. I’m so proud of you.” He carried her over to a sofa and sat her down on his lap, careful not to knock her burning arse. She clung to him, allowing him to comfort her, kiss her, care for her.
He stroked her hair and gently moved a strand away from her wet cheeks. “So, do you know the difference between an erotic spanking and a punitive one now?” His voice was tender, but the meaning was no less potent.
“Yes, Sir. I won’t be making that mistake again.”
He chuckled, leaned down then kissed her gently. “I’m glad to hear it. I didn’t enjoy it either.”
“Really?”
“Rachel, you were being disrespectful about something that’s very important to me, a part of my lifestyle. If I hadn’t punished you, you would have continued your bratty behavior and that could have led to dire consequences in our relationship.”
Bloody hell, he really meant it.
He suddenly stood up and picked her up in his arms. “What are you doing?” she giggled.
“Taking you to the aftercare lounge,” he said, and hoisted her over his shoulder, leaving her burning butt sticking up in the air.
The small area was empty when Adam pulled the velvet curtain across and placed her on one of the sofas. He sat down next to her and patted his thigh.
“Come here, get across my knee,” he ordered, with a devious grin on his face.
“What?” Rachel felt the blood drain from her face. No, not again, she couldn’t take any more tonight.
“It’s all right,” he chuckled. “Your punishment’s over, I’m just going to rub some cream into your arse to reduce any bruising and cool it down a bit.”
Oh!
She leaned across his solid thighs and sighed when he gently rubbed the cool, soothing cream into her buttocks. “Hmm, thank you,” she whispered, feeling suddenly a little tearful at the gentleness of his touch.
“We’ll spend a little longer in here and then we’ll go back upstairs for your second punishment.” His voice had gone all Dom-like again and she knew there’d be no point in trying to get him to let her off.
“Adam?”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t think I could cope with any more pain tonight.” He was going to think she was such a wimp.
“Who said anything about pain?” he said, with a hint of mischief. “As I remember it, you came without permission so it seems only right that your punishment should reflect your actions with this one as well.”
“Does that mean it’ll be orgasm-related?” She raised her eyebrows and fluttered her eyelashes shamelessly. Hmm, this might not be so bad after all.
“You’ll see. You need to learn some control so you come when I say, and only when I say.” His face remained neutral, giving nothing away, but even so, she felt a quiver of excitement at the thought of her next punishment.
A little while later, she was lying flat on her back on a bench not far from the spanking bench she had been strapped to for her spanking. Her excitement had turned to apprehension, though, when he’d told her to remove her dress and lie down on the cold leather.
Her arms had been trapped along the sides of her body by straps that reached across her chest and stomach, immobilizing her torso as well as her hands. Another strap was holding her down just over the pelvic bone, leaving her no room to move whatsoever. It was both disconcerting and exciting to be so vulnerable and now that Adam was strapping her feet into stirrups, her feelings of helplessness increased tenfold.
Her legs were then spread wide and the stirrups locked, keeping her legs in place. The cool air that brushed against her damp pussy teased her, reminding her that she was spread open for all to see, and another surge of arousal shot through her body. She pulled on the restraints to test them, tried to wriggle and move her body, but she was completely immobilized. There would be no escape from whatever Adam had planned for her.
He walked around the bench, checking the restraints with a look of intense concentration on his face. “Is this too tight?” he asked, tugging on the strap across her chest.
“No, Sir.”
He nodded then continued checking her until he was happy that she was properly and safely secured. Then he walked over to a nearby table and picked something up. Someone snickered, reminding her that, yet again, she had a growing audience, and she quickly turned her head away to see what it was that Adam was holding.
Oh. My. God.
She felt her stomach muscles clench when she saw the contraption in Adam’s hand. It was huge and looked a bit like a giant microphone with a long handle and rounded top. What the hell was he going to do with that?
“Do you know what this is, Rachel?” Adam held the contraption up so she could get a proper view of it and she shook her head. Her fear must have shown on her face because he leaned down and kissed her softly before saying, “It’s a vibrating wand and it’s capable of inducing mind-blowing orgasms in a matter of minutes, sometimes seconds.”