He was right there. On the couch. He’d watched the awful scene. Oh, God. She wanted to run from the room, from the club, and never come back.
He didn’t move. And then he tilted his head, lifted his eyebrows slightly in a way that said she hadn’t lost everything with this horrible mistake…if she had the courage to acknowledge she’d been wrong.
She could, for once, actually read his expression. Her hands curved into fists, pulling at the new cuts where she’d gouged her fingernails into her palms. She couldn’t move. If she went to him now, her decision would be voluntary, not coerced by Master Z’s threats. This time Master Nolan would demand she submit with her whole heart, not just her surface actions.
Could she do that?
She managed one step forward, then another. Her body felt unfamiliar, as if her legs belonged to someone else. She made it past the ropes, past the few people remaining. Their whispers brushed her ears. Her eyes never left Sir’s.
And then she stood in front of him and couldn’t think what to do next.
He waited, sipping his beer, his gaze steady.
When her legs trembled, and she almost fell, she recognized the next step. Such a simple one.
She knelt at his feet. After a minute, she managed to tear her gaze away from his unreadable eyes and look down at the floor. The words came to her lips without her prompting, left her lips in a whisper. “Please, Master…”
“Aw, hell.” The
“Sir?” She struggled to sit up, to explain, to apologize.
“Rest now, sugar. We will discuss your idiotic behavior later.” And the hint of laughter in his voice was like a warm spring shower on a parched garden.
The little rabbit quivered in his arms for quite a while before succumbing to sleep. Made Nolan feel good that she could relax enough to sleep in his arms. Twice now. They’d made progress, after all.
That or he just bored her senseless. As she snoozed, he watched Z’s cleaning lady disinfect the bench and area before removing the RESERVED sign.
A married couple and their sub used the station next, the male sub receiving a well-administered caning with marks carefully placed up his thighs and onto his buttocks. A bit obsessive, that husband with the evenness, but the force was well calculated, sending the sub to a good place. After a bit, the wife took the sub’s place and also got caned. Then she was double-teamed by both the husband and sub to everyone’s delight. The wife was quite a screamer.
In his arms, Beth stirred at the noise, her muscles stiffening, but this time she didn’t do a dive off his lap. Another sign of progress. She lifted her head, blinked sleepy, blue-green eyes, and stared at the scene area where the husband was unfastening his wife.
“You were asleep,” Nolan said helpfully.
“I’m sorry, Sir. I didn’t mean to…to use you…ah-”
“For a pillow? Guess you owe me then.” Nolan grasped her hair, tilted her head back, and took his payment, a long, soft kiss from a sleepy woman. Been a while since he’d shared his bed, and he’d missed that small pleasure. He took it deeper, using his expertise to rouse her, even as he played with her breasts. Beneath her dress, her nipples bunched to points. When he drew back, she was definitely wide awake, and a flush of excitement pinkened her cheeks.
Nolan spotted the trainee and jerked his head. The young man headed over, his big brown eyes filled with desire to please. He started to kneel, and Nolan growled, freezing him in place. “Stand up, sub.”
Austin rose and waited for instructions, a pulse beating fast in his throat.
“Bring me a screwdriver from the bar.”
Austin started, “This one-”
Nolan gave him a cold look.
“Yes, Sir!” The young man left much faster than he’d arrived.
“You enjoy terrifying everyone around you?” Beth asked and stiffened. “I’m sorry, Sir.”
“I’m just surrounded by timid people,” he said, ignoring her apology. He rubbed his knuckles over her nipples. Her little breasts with correspondingly small nipples were more fun to play with than he’d thought. He’d gotten into a rut, taking only well-endowed women. He tugged on the knot at the top of her dress, pleased that the ties went from the neckline to the hem. With one hand, he undid the lacing she’d worked so patiently on earlier. He pulled the ties through the grommets, one by one, until her dress flapped open. Sliding his hand through the opening, he cupped a breast and felt the nipple gather even tighter.
Austin appeared with her drink, and Nolan set it into her hand with a nod of thanks for the sub. She frowned at the glass.
He gave her a steady gaze until she took a sip. He agreed with the Shadowland’s two drink limit, but one drink wouldn’t hurt her, and if anyone needed to mellow out, it would be this woman. He continued playing with her body, tracing the indentations of her ribs, circling her cute bellybutton, stroking the hollow above her collarbone. She sipped her drink so slowly that she’d started to squirm under his attentions before she finished.
Good. Her punishment would go easier if she was aroused, and punishment there would be. “Now, let’s discuss what happened earlier.”
Her eyes widened.
“Did you think I had forgotten?”
Her breath stopped.
“I believe we had an agreement, and you deliberately found someone else to top you. I am angry both about the broken agreement and, even more, that you didn’t have the courtesy to speak to me first.”
Her head dropped, her hands twining together on her lap. “You’re right. What I did was rude.”
“Why, sugar? Tell me why.” Cupping her chin in his hand, he forced her to meet his gaze.
Beth didn’t want to look at him, wanted to look anywhere but at him, but he didn’t let her move. “I thought I’d be okay, that the block was gone.”
“That doesn’t explain why you wanted to change Doms.”
“I was scared,” she managed. “You scare me. I can’t think when you touch me, and I have no control, and it’s too much like what happened…before.”
“You trusted him, and he betrayed you. Now you aren’t sure if you can trust anyone.”
That he could understand so well was a gift she didn’t deserve.
His thumb stroked her cheek gently. “Little rabbit, I can understand your worries. And we, you and I, will work through them. But I cannot condone how you avoided talking to me.”
He was going to hurt her. She knew it and didn’t know if she could take it. He wouldn’t be like the Dom earlier. The pain from being paddled had been intense, but this muscular man could do so, so much worse.
“I’ll try to…” She felt her lips quiver, firmed them immediately, and closed her eyes so he wouldn’t see the tears. Crying only made punishments worse.
“Look at me, sugar.” She lifted her eyes, and he wiped away the tear that spilled over. “I could tell you what I do and don’t do, but you wouldn’t believe a word I said. So let’s get this over with.” Still sitting, he pushed her to her feet. “Strip.”
She glanced at the spanking station and saw a Dom fastening his sub onto the bench. “But someone is already-”
“The only words that leave your mouth are, ‘Yes, Sir.’ Am I clear?”
“Yes, Sir.” She’d never stripped in the bar itself, only in a scene area. This felt all wrong. Totally humiliating even if the eyes on her were the same ones that would watch a scene. But it was playacting there, not real. Out here was real.
Master Nolan didn’t speak. Only his fingers tapping the arm of the couch showed that his patience might be
