by Lexi Blake
Because she wants what you can give her. Because she’s always wanted it and she’s hidden it from you because she’s fucking afraid.
Yeah, he wasn’t listening to inner caveman or inner Dom anymore. “Yes. By bowing her head she shows me she’s ready to submit. I accept her gift with a touch of my hand. Let me help you up.” He held out his hand and she stared at it as though trying to decide if she was going to rise on her own. “Don’t push me further than you already have, Kori. I’ll need an explanation of why you disrespect me in that fashion.”
Her hand came up, sliding into his as she allowed him to ease her up. “I’m not used to being helped up.”
“I suspect you tend to move before your Dominant partner is ready,” he surmised.
She was looking up at him, her hand still in his, though she was steady on her feet. She never wore heels. He liked the fact that she was shorter than him, small compared to him. “Probably. It never seems serious. No one ever punished me for it.”
“Because you keep everything light. Because you never select a Dom who wants more out of you than a little fun. I need more tonight.” He needed everything. “Jared can’t learn if he doesn’t see something real.”
She was silent for a moment and that electricity was still there between them, though it had quieted to a low simmer. “All right. For Jared’s sake.” Her eyes held his for a second too long before turning to his brother. “There are a million different ways to play. There are as many ways to practice BDSM as there are people who practice it. I wouldn’t be this serious with a Dom usually. My play is typically more about fun than pushing boundaries.”
“Why do you do it?” Jared asked.
The real value in this impromptu scene hit him and rather forcefully. Jared would ask the questions, but Kai could hear her answers. He’d never talked to her about this, not about the lifestyle because it seemed far too intimate. She hadn’t wanted to play with him so he’d dodged the topic. They talked about everything else—well with the singular exception of his brother it seemed—but in this she was a mystery to him.
“I need you to treat him as you would any other Dom in this club,” Kai ordered when she didn’t answer.
Her lips curled up in an impish grin. “Are you sure about that?”
She was the beloved brat of the club. “How about I amend that to asking you to be on your best behavior?”
“I do it because a long time ago I found out I enjoyed it. There’s no deep childhood trauma, no horrible incident from my past. I like the feel of a paddle against my ass. I enjoy not knowing what will come next, but trusting that my partner won’t hurt me. I like the rules and regulations of the lifestyle. It brings me peace and comfort and I never feel more alive than when I submit to a good Dom.”
Every word that came from her mouth sent a shock of recognition through him. He could have said the very same things. He wasn’t sure why he needed this, the control yes, that was obvious. He’d spent much of his childhood having to be the man of the house when he wasn’t ready for it. It created a chaotic childhood. But the pain? The sadism that ran through him? It was hard to explain since he didn’t feel it in his regular, everyday life. He spent his career trying to pull people from their pain.
Somehow inflicting the right pain did it for him. He had zero desire to randomly harm people, but with the right sub, one who needed what he had to give them, oh, that was like finding heaven.
“So you’re saying the idea that everyone in the lifestyle is damaged and in need of therapy is wrong,” Jared stated succinctly.
He wasn’t sure his brother could understand but at least he wasn’t turning his nose up. “Everyone’s damaged, Jared. You don’t live life and not have scars. Occasionally I turn down people for memberships based on psychological evaluations. Either the Dom or Domme is more interested in hurting a sub than they are in helping them, or a sub is looking for someone to hurt her or him to the exclusion of all other aid. Submission can be a form of therapy, as can Dominance, but the person has to be open to healing. I would never allow someone a membership if they weren’t here for the right reasons.”
“Except me, of course,” Jared said, his voice going flat.
“I didn’t say that.” He likely should have softened his tone, but Jared needed to understand that he wasn’t here to make friends. He was here for a very specific purpose. “If you were to apply for membership through regular channels, you would have to go through a psychological evaluation.”
Kori looked up at Jared. “Not through him, though. He’s not allowed to evaluate his own family members. You would go through Eve McKay. She’s smart and fair at the same time.”
He drew his hand back and smacked her ass hard without even thinking about it.
He expected her to frown his way and complain. Instead her eyes closed briefly and when she looked back at him, her pupils were slightly dilated.
“I apologize, Sir. Though I could have been making a simple statement.”
“Were you?” He knew the answer to that.
She shook her head. “Oh, no, I was being a brat.”
“Brats get punished.”
“So you say. I’ll be over there on the bench.”
She wanted to push him? Oh, he would push back. “Not like that you won’t. I think Jared should see how I operate. I prefer my subs to offer themselves to me. Their trust, their submission, and most definitely their beauty.”
That seemed to stop her in her tracks. “Are you telling me to get naked?”
He felt the deep satisfaction that came with shocking her. He also knew instinctively that she wouldn’t back off. There wasn’t a lot of difference between submissive Kori and the Kori he knew outside the club. She could be stubborn, brutally so. She wouldn’t back down from a challenge, which meant he would need to watch her carefully in order to assure that he didn’t take things too far. “Yes. I’m telling you that for this scene, I require you to wear nothing but your lovely skin. How can Jared see what a perfectly reddened ass looks like if it’s covered up with all that leather?”
She snorted as though reminding him there wasn’t that much fabric on her body, but she turned anyway. “I’m going to need help out of this thing. I didn’t lace myself into it. Sarah did that. And if you think you’re going to pull a knife and cut it off the way I’ve seen some Doms do here, think again, Sir. Cutting my clothes off me is a hard limit. I work for a very tight-fisted boss. Corsets aren’t cheap.”
He frowned. “I am not tight fisted. I’m very reasonable. Come here. I’ll get you out of it. And you should be careful how you talk about your boss or he might implement disciplinary actions at the office.”
“Promises, promises,” she whispered.
He worked the laces of her corset with a practiced hand. “And it’s considered very sexy by some women to cut them out of their corsets.”
“I consider frugality sexy,” she shot back.
“Is it going to bother you to be naked, Kori?” Jared asked.
“Not at all. I’ve got a heavy streak of exhibitionism in me. Another thing I learned from the lifestyle,” she explained quietly. “There’s something freeing about it when you know you won’t be judged. All healthy body types are considered lovely here, though I will admit most of the men are ridiculously hot. Any good club will welcome people of all sizes.”
“Some of the sexiest women I’ve ever known have been curvier,” Jared admitted.
“I would think being around the Hollywood types, your preferences might have changed.” Kai loosened her laces, his fingertips brushing over soft skin. She had lovely skin. Even her freckles were pretty.
“Not at all. I still like what I like.” Jared was watching as Kai finished loosening the corset.
“Arms up,” he commanded. He wasn’t about to take the time to pull the laces out. When she complied, he gently pulled the corset over her head. “Oh, now that’s pretty.”
She’d had the thing on so tight he could see where it had bitt
en into her skin, leaving lovely lines and indentions. He traced one with his finger. It started right below her shoulder blade and ran down the skin of her back to right above the curve of her ass. Now that she was without the corset, the swell of her cheeks were punctuated by the black leather boy shorts she wore. There wasn’t much there. The waistband dipped low on her hips and the legs weren’t legs at all. They were strips of fabric that revealed the under curve of what had to be the juiciest backside he’d ever seen.
He was about to spank it. In an academic fashion.
Yeah, that was likely going to go bad. “Now the rest of it, exhibitionist.”
He’d seen her wrapped in another Dom’s ropes before, her breasts thrust out and on display. He’d turned away because he hadn’t wanted to. He’d wanted to stand there and stare. It had been an act of discipline to walk away. Since that first time he’d seen her, he’d tried to avoid her during play. It wasn’t so odd. There were several siblings who played at Sanctum and they informed each other of what parts of the club they would be in that evening so as to avoid awkward situations.
This wasn’t awkward. This was heavenly.
She pushed the shorts off and over her hips, her ass coming into full view.
“I don’t think your tastes have changed either, brother,” Jared said with a smirk.
His dick needed to calm the fuck down. Yeah, he understood why the siblings at Sanctum avoided each other at all costs. That shit was embarrassing. “Now you may greet me again. Jared, watch the way she holds herself. It’s obvious she’s done this a thousand times, likely practiced so she would show her Dom as much respect as possible.”
“Or I just like looking good.” Kori slid into her position with effortless ease.
“If you keep up the smart remarks, this could go from a training exercise to serious punishment,” he warned.
Her head dropped forward, but not before he’d seen the heat in her eyes.
What if she wanted it? What if she simply hadn’t met the Dom who could bring out this side of her yet and he was the one?
What if everything he wanted had been sitting not twenty feet away from him and he’d been too stupid to see her?
What would he do?
He wasn’t sure, but he was about to find out.
“Take your place so we can begin.” He held a hand out to help her.
Kori settled her hand in his and rose. She moved to the bench, settling her body down. Her ass was presented to him. She was ready to be tied down.
And he was ready to find out exactly how compatible they were.
CHAPTER FIVE
Kori settled herself on the spanking bench. Like all things in Sanctum, it was built for a sub’s comfort. Padded and with comfy resting spots for her arms and legs, the spanking bench was quite nice. Oh, she supposed not everything was made for the sub’s comfort since she’d been on the hamster wheel, and while the lights were twelve kinds of pretty, it still required her to freaking run to power it. When a sub didn’t work his or her hardest, the spankings got a little nasty. Little. It was a word she put with spanking often since she hadn’t had a real spanking in years.
So many years.
All that time had gone by and she hadn’t gotten what she needed. She hadn’t felt that horrible burn that sank into her bones and warmed every inch of her flesh.
Kai could give it to her. It was precisely why she’d stayed away from him until tonight.
So why did this feel so right? She didn’t even want to run away. Her very bones relaxed at the thought of Kai touching her again. When he’d run his fingers over her skin, it had taken all she had not to shiver and sigh. So good. It felt so good to be touched by him, and it wasn’t about being skin to skin. It was all about him.
When he’d gently told her he would respect her limits, she’d damn near lost it. Yes, she was acting like a brat but she couldn’t seem to help it. When he’d questioned what she could take, something had welled inside her and she found herself playing super brat—the girl who wanted to get her ass spanked. Hard.
If you keep up the smart remarks, this could go from a training exercise to serious punishment.
She was so tempted to push him. If she said or did the exact wrong things, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. He would follow his instincts and then she would get what she wanted. They would both get what they wanted.
And she would have stolen something from Kai. His control. He needed it, craved it.
Kori took a deep breath and relaxed. The brattery had to stop. This was a training exercise and that was all it was. This wasn’t even for her benefit.
“Do you usually draw a crowd?” Jared’s voice drew her out of her thoughts.
They were at the back of the dungeon in a scene space known for how small it was. She turned her head to the side and sure enough, there was a crowd waiting in the background for the scene to start. She couldn’t blame them. If Kai wanted privacy, he would have used one of the closed rooms. He’d likely selected this space because it was an easy entry into normal club scenes. The shallow end of the pool, so to speak.
You’ve splashed around in the kiddie pool. You’ve waded in to your ankles with your water wings on, little girl. If you scene with me you better know how to swim.
Those words from Kai had sent her right over the edge. They’d called to her inner alpha bitch, the one who submitted to none but the strongest, most worthy of Doms.
She had to bring this scene back to where it needed to be. Calm. Patient. A little boring.
“I suspect they’re here to see you,” Kori explained, giving Jared a smile. He was staring at her ass. Hottie McHollywood was standing there staring at her big old naked ass.
“We’re here to see the hardest bottom at Sanctum go up against the nastiest sadist,” a deep voice said.
She looked back at the crowd and recognized one of the Doms she’d played with before. Several of them were standing around along with Big Tag and his wife, Jake Dean, Case Taggart, and Alex and Eve McKay. Her friends had found their way here, too. Sarah, Vince, and Mia stood to the side with Jared’s friend, Squirrel.
“Hard bottom?” Kai asked.
Shit. She’d worked hard to keep that from him. She could take a lot of pain. Her threshold was legendary, but she didn’t do the types of scenes required to make her cry. She stayed in control. Hence the nickname Hard Bottom Girl.
“I can spank her for hours and she doesn’t even blink,” a Dom named Remy said. He was a bodyguard at McKay-Taggart and a very sweet man. He was easy to play with because he never got attached to any of the subs.
“I used a cane on her once and I stopped the scene because she was going to be too sore the next day,” Mistress Jackie said, her hand on Vince’s shoulder.
The Domme was also a fun partner. She never made it sexual in public, and Kori didn’t play in private so Mistress Jackie was a safe way to find the endorphin rush she got from scenes.
Or sometimes she and Sarah took turns playing with the equipment. That was when Big Tag shook his head and complained about the “free-range subs.”
Kai was suddenly beside her, dropping down on one knee. All that golden hair flowed around him, making him look like a gorgeous lion about to bare his teeth and take a chunk out of her. “Is this true? Because I was under the impression that you took things very lightly. I believe you’ve told me on several occasions that you never get serious in a scene.”
This was one of the many reasons she’d avoided him. Lying to him here meant something to her. It was one thing to omit a few truths but another to outright lie to a Dom. She had to be honest with him. “Those scenes weren’t serious to me.”
“What would your partners call them?”
“Kai, it’s not a big deal. I have a high tolerance for pain. That’s all. It takes more for me to find subspace.”
Maybe he would leave it at that.
“We’re going to have a long talk about this later. If I find out that you’ve had issues with not
properly using your safe word…well, I suspect I’m about to find out myself. Don’t use that safe word unless you need it. I’ll know from your body language.”
“Are you threatening me? Are you telling me you’ll kick me out if I don’t behave the way you think I should?” Anger welled up and she was ready to get off the bench and walk the hell away from him.
Sanctum was her safe place. It was all she had some days. All she had except for him, and if he kicked her out, she wouldn’t have either. Kai couldn’t be the one who shoved her out and yet that was his job. He was the gatekeeper. He decided who belonged here and who wasn’t ready for it.
She wasn’t sure what she would do if Kai determined her unworthy. It would be worse than before. Worse than losing her script and her career. Worse than leaving California.
His hand found her back, gently holding her down. He leaned in and she could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin. “I would never kick you out. Never, Kori. I couldn’t do that to you. But I have to make sure you’re safe. I have to make sure you’re not doing this for the wrong reasons. Tell me you get pleasure out of this.”
She was getting pleasure simply from being close to him. If she turned her head the right way, their mouths might meet and she would know what it felt like to kiss him. “I get some peace out of it.”
“So no one knows how to take care of you? Do you let them?”
He was making her emotional. She hated that, but she couldn’t hold back. Not with him. “No. I’m just looking for a little subspace, Sir. That’s all I need.”
“I doubt that very much.” His hand eased over her. “Remember what I said about the safe word. I want you to use it if you need to. If I give you too much, pull me back. I can be intense. I think I’ll be quite intense with you.”
A shiver went through her. “I’ll be fine. You’ll understand that I’m not here to hurt myself.”