“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to find us back in this position.” He stroked his hand over ass. Somehow, even with yoga pants on, it still felt vulnerable.
Her head dangled above the floor as she tried to balance on his knee with as much dignity as possible.
“Banner,” she whined.
“The disobedience was enough to warrant this.” He brought his giant hand down onto her ass and she hissed in a breath.
How did he manage to make it hurt over the pants?
“But then you made it worse by cursing. A pretty mouth like yours shouldn’t be saying such ugly words.” He smacked her again.
And again.
She squirmed.
“Really, Kate.” Smack. “While I love having you over my knee—” smack “—I thought you’d have learned your lesson last time.”
She rolled her eyes, trying to convince herself that his words weren’t making her hotter. “Just punish me already and stop with the lecturing!”
The silence that followed was eerie. Crap. What had she done?
A dark laugh made her heart jump to her throat. Unceremoniously, he dumped her onto the floor. She scrambled back, confused and more turned on than she should have been.
From the floor, he looked enormous. He rose to his full height, then started to unbuckle his belt, staring down at her the whole time. “Kneel properly,” he commanded.
She gulped. “Now, listen, Banner . . .”
“You do not have permission to speak unless it’s to use your safeword.” Slowly, with deliberate movements, he took off his suit jacket and placed it on the side of the couch. Then the belt landed on the cushion next to her, as if he were purposefully sending her a message. “If I have to repeat myself, I’m adding five to your count.”
She didn’t know what her count was but figured five more would suck, so she hastily got to her knees. It took effort to remember his exact instructions from last time but when he nodded curtly at her, she guessed she’d done it right.
He took his time undoing his cufflinks, then rolling up each sleeve. Damn, it tapped into every fantasy that included a suit.
Yes, yes, yes . . . roll those sleeves. His tattoos came into view, and she almost groaned. Was there such a thing as arm porn?
“Bend over the couch,” he ordered.
It took her a few seconds to comply.
“You requested your clothing stay on, and I’ll allow it for now. Keep in mind, I’ll be hitting you harder to make up for it. And if you’re rude to me again, the pants will come down. Is that understood, Kate?”
“Um.” Her throat felt dry. I guess so probably wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “Yes, Sir.”
“Good. I want you to count. ‘One, Sir, two, Sir . . . Like that.”
“Okay . . . Sir.” As a second thought, she added, “How many?”
He didn’t answer right away, making her wonder if sometimes Doms didn’t plan everything out and just winged it. “Ten,” he finally said.
That wasn’t so bad. She could take ten.
The first blow stung a burning path across her ass, making her yell and go up on her toes. She hadn’t expected it yet. He wasn’t kidding when he said he’d be hitting her harder because of the pants. By the deep sting right across the center of both cheeks, she’d guess there’d be a nice big red welt. Fuck. And she had to do ten of these?
“Kate,” he warned.
“Uh. One, Sir.”
The belt whistled through the air, then whap!
Her entire world narrowed to a hyperawareness of every nerve ending in her posterior.
She whimpered. “Two, Sir.”
Whack.
“Ow!” She kicked out a leg and wiggled. This was awful—why did some women like it? “Three, Sir.”
Another landed right on top of the last one, and she squealed.
Punishment officially sucked. “Banner.” It was a whispered plea, but she wasn’t sure for what.
He stopped and for a silly moment, she thought it might be over. The belt fell onto the couch next to where she rested her hands. Relief swept through her, and she exhaled loudly.
“Don’t think I’m done, little one. You’ll get the full ten.”
Fingers edged under her waistband, and she panicked. “No!” She put her hand back to stop him.
He froze. “I’m just checking your skin.”
She thought he might wrestle the pants down, but he didn’t. He just waited. For her safeword? “What if I used my safeword during a punishment? Would you stop?”
“Of course. But if you deserved a punishment, and the one I chose was a hard limit for you, I’d have to think of a different one that matched the infraction. A D/s relationship is based on the Dominant being dominant. The submissive doesn’t get to decide whether they get punished or not. There are consequences for bad behavior.”
That made sense. She’d tested him and deserved every lick she got. It should have filled her with dread, but for some reason it didn’t.
“Are you going to let me check your marks so we can continue?” He paused. “Or are we done for the night?”
She didn’t want to be done, but she didn’t exactly want to finish the next six strokes either. She’d be disappointing herself if she made him stop and it wasn’t really that bad, especially not with her clit throbbing so hard she thought she might die if she didn’t orgasm soon. Leaving to go home and use her vibrator was an option. God, she’d get off in the car or maybe on her way out the door, she was so turned on.
But, no. She needed to finish this.
“Okay.” She placed her hand back on the couch and let him slowly draw her pants down.
Cool air hit her skin, reminding her of the dampness between her legs. Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice. He ran his fingertips over her, the alternating tickle and soreness telling her where the biggest welts were. She let out a whimper when he pushed on them, but she wasn’t sure if it was because it hurt or turned her on.
Her cheeks grew hot when she realized she was bent over, pants down, while he stared at her ass. Again. They’d done worse last weekend but this felt different, more intrusive because he was studying marks he’d made on her. His marks. On her body.
Fuck. Why did she like this so much?
A moment later, he pulled her pants back up. She shouldn’t have been disappointed, but she was. She refused to think about what she’d actually wanted him to do. The belt disappeared from her line of vision. She tensed up, preparing for the blow, wanting it at the same time as dreading it. She was so messed up. Did everyone into kink feel this way?
Thwack.
She squealed and rocked forward on the couch. Oh crap. What number were they on?
Maybe he wouldn’t notice.
“That’s five,” he reminded her.
“Oh. Sorry, Sir.”
“Keep going.”
As she counted the next five, her voice got higher each time, and she was on her tippy toes by the end. Her ass felt like it was on fire in big wide streaks. She wanted to look in the mirror, to see the way his belt marks looked on her skin. Was it as sexy as it was in the photos she’d seen online?
Unsure of what to do next, she remained bent over, waiting for his instruction. Behind her, she heard signs that Banner was putting his belt back on.
“Mmm,” he purred. “Good girl.”
“What?”
“You didn’t move.” He took her arm and stood her up to face him. “I’m impressed.”
Embarrassed, but mostly horny, she kept her gaze on the ground and muttered, “I can be good, Sir.”
“Look at me.”
She lifted her eyes.
“Are you okay?”
Was she? Her knees were wobbly, and she could feel every mark of the belt as if it had burned into her flesh, but her clit was throbbing so hard she’d probably faint if he didn’t fuck her soon.
“I’m incredibly horny, Sir.” It surprised her to admit it. Apparently, pain made her tongue loose.