He kissed her and tenderly stroked her hair. “Do you still want our mark?”
“Yes!”
“Two strokes, that’s all I’ll give you. You have my word.”
He stepped away. Mac cupped his hand behind her neck and pulled her head forward against his chest, supporting her.
“Good girl,” he whispered. “Take a deep breath.”
She heard the crack of a whip. She jumped, but it didn’t make contact.
Sully stroked her ass with the handle. “I’ll mark you here”—he traced a line on her right ass cheek—“and here.” He traced a matching line on her left.
He took a few more practice throws, making the whip crack each time.
“Who do you belong to, pet?” Sully asked.
“You, Master!”
Before she finished the last word, the whip cracked. A fraction of a second later, she felt the whip bite into her flesh.
Mac held her. “How are you, pet?”
She rotated her left hand.
“One more, pet,” he whispered.
Before the sound died on his lips, the whip cracked again. As the feel of the whip striking her made it to her brain, Sully was already behind her, holding her while Mac unclipped her wrists. Sully scooped her into his arms as Mac tucked a blanket around her. She knew her ass would be sore in the morning, but the brain buzz was well worth it.
Sully carried Clarisse into the dressing room, where he sat on one of the benches with her protectively cradled in his arms. Mac joined them a moment later, carrying their things. He removed her cuffs and knelt in front of Sully so she was supported by both men.
“Such a good girl,” Sully softly said. “I’m so proud of you. I will never be that hard on you again.”
“Why not?” She cracked an eye open. While the two places he’d nailed her with the whip still stung, the rest of it had faded into a dull ache she knew would be fine by morning.
Sully’s face broke into a wide grin. “Because you aren’t into pain, pet. I know that.”
“I trust you not to take me too far.”
He kissed her. One of his hands snuck under the blanket and caressed her between her legs. Mac reached under as well, pressing two fingers inside her.
She shivered, her desire still hovering, incomplete from before.
Sully pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Come for us, pet.
You more than earned it.”
Clarisse went limp in their arms as she enjoyed the feel of their hands on her. It didn’t take long for them to bring her to orgasm. She buried her face against Sully’s chest and cried out, letting go as her body welcomed the pleasure she’d been denied earlier.
While she recovered from that, Sully let Mac take her. “Let’s get her cleaned up and take her home.”
“What about slave?” she mumbled against Mac’s chest. “We just got here a little bit ago.”
Sully laughed and brushed the hair from her face. “Tonight was all about you, sweetheart, not him. We’re going to take you home and tuck you safely into bed and sleep late. Then we’re going to spend tomorrow pampering our very sweet pet.”
Mac carried her into the bathroom. Between the two men, they took care of her, pulled an oversized T-shirt over her head, put a pair of shorts on her, and then Sully carried her out to the Jag and crawled into the backseat with her.
As she dropped into a deep sleep, she felt him weave her hair around his fingers and rest his hand against her shoulder.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Clarisse helped Mac unload the groceries and supplies from the Bug at the marina. “I’m going to run Bart over to Uncle Tad.”
He hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her close, kissing her deeply. “Hurry.” He nipped her bottom lip. “I’ve got a collar with your name on it, and I’m in a mood to play.” He ground his hips into hers, making sure she felt his stiff cock. “I’m in a mood to play hard.”
She grinned. “I’d say you are.”
He swatted her ass before releasing her with a final kiss. “Love you.”
“Love you, too.” She climbed back into the Bug and drove off.
Mac smiled as he watched her go. A four-day weekend alone with her was a special treat. Sully could have taken her with him to the conference, but wanted them to have time together.
He returned to the boat to finish his trip preparations. In the three months since the wedding, life had hit a happy plateau he never wanted to come down from. He hadn’t had a single nightmare, and neither had Sully. Clarisse also slept like a rock every night.
Sully smiled more than Mac ever remembered him smiling before.
It tickled Mac when Sully would be the stern, unyielding Master, yet turn around later the same day and drop protocols to privately ask him if he wanted alone time with Clarisse.
Sully had started to accept that Mac really wasn’t jealous. Mac had tried to explain it to him one evening after dinner while Clarisse cleaned up the kitchen. “Could you honestly see her trying to beat or dominate me?”
A cloud passed through Sully’s face, darkening his expression.
“No.”
“You and I go back further than our relationship. You know that. I need that from you. I need the things you do for me that she can’t do.
Let’s face it, you redlight every other scene with her when she’s begging you not to stop. You don’t do that nearly as often with me.”
A slow smile crept across Sully’s face. “You could spend all day with your cock in her mouth.”
“Duh.” He grinned. “So could you.”
“You’re better at than her. Just don’t tell her I said that.”
Mac hugged him. “Yeah, like I’d be stupid enough to do that.”
He came back to the present and looked around. Lots to do before they pulled out, including a couple of minor honey-do projects. He rummaged through the tool box and found the wrench he’d need for one, the hammer he’d need for another, and laid them on the dash. He waved to Dan and Elise in the next slip over before heading into the wheelhouse.
Across the marina, under the shade of a dry-docked sailboat and still feeling the three beers he’d drunk earlier, Bryan Jackson watched the man who’d kissed Clarisse good-bye. The same guy he saw with her in Ohio.
He wasn’t sure if he was the ex-cop Nicoletto or not, but the guy would definitely never forget Bryan Jackson. The PI had confirmed Nicoletto had bucks, and obviously Clarisse was someone special to him.
He didn’t care who he got his money from, but he would get that as well as a pound of flesh for fucking up his life.
He glanced around to make sure no one had spotted him, then quickly strode across the yard. The man was below decks when he walked down the dock. Without hesitation, Bryan jumped to the deck and ducked through the open wheelhouse door. The man had his back turned to him.
Bryan attacked.
Dan heard noises from the Dilly Dally’s slip, and not good ones.
Mac screaming, crashes, and another man’s enraged voice.
He didn’t have a weapon, but he yelled at his wife to call 911 as he raced off their boat. As he ran up the dock so he could circle back to the Dilly, he saw a man bent over, raining punches on someone crumpled on the deck.
“Hey! What the hell’s going on?”
The man looked up, startled, then dropped a hammer and bolted for the dock. Dan didn’t have time to go after him because he spotted Mac, still and bloodied, lying on the deck.
“Shit!” Elise had stuck her head above deck. “Mac’s hurt bad!
Have them send a cop and ambulance!” he screamed.
Heads popped up from boats around the marina, but the guy had already disappeared among the dry-docked boats. Dan didn’t get a good look at him.