“I know that look,” Anthony smirked. “You’ve got it bad, my friend.”
“What? No, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Theodore turned back to the desk and began logging out of his accounts before closing up his laptop.
“Where is your little peach tonight?”
“Ashley? She’s at home with Stuart. And she’s not mine, much as I want her to be.”
“Why’s that?” Anthony kept his voice steady, even. He didn’t judge, which was one of the reasons Theodore liked him so much. He guessed it was also one of the reasons Anthony was such a shark in the business world. It was hard to get a read on Anthony, almost impossible, really.
Theodore sighed. “She’s had a hard life. She needs time.”
“You mean her husband dying?” Anthony raised an eyebrow. Theodore wasn’t sure how he knew about Ashley’s past, but he shouldn’t have been surprised. Anthony knew everything. “Wasn’t that like five years ago?”
“I didn’t realize there was a timetable for grieving.”
“She doesn’t seem to think she’s still in mourning,” Anthony said with a chuckle.
A rush of jealousy filled Theodore as he glowered at his friend.
“What do you mean by that?” Had Anthony slept with Ashley? He couldn’t have. Anthony wouldn’t do that to him. Besides, Theodore would have found out by now.
Anthony nodded toward the security monitors behind Theodore. The dragon turned slowly, just in time to see Kade wrapping his arm around Ashley’s waist.
His Ashley.
Kade had one arm around Lindsey and the other around Ashley and he looked like he owned the fucking dungeon. He was wearing leathers and the girls were both in tiny corsets and miniskirts. Fuck. What was Ashley doing here? More importantly, what was she doing here with Kade?
And was she wearing panties?
“What is she doing here?” Theodore managed to get the words out, though it pained him to do so. He was livid. She shouldn’t be here. She should be home with Stuart. Fuck. Stuart. Who was babysitting?
Anthony raised his hands up as if to say he wasn’t responsible, but Theodore knew better. Nothing happened in The Dungeon without Anthony knowing.
“Kade called earlier and told me to add her to the guest list. Said Ashley found a sitter and wanted to come see what the club was about.”
“She didn’t.”
Anthony grinned. “Actually, he told me she wanted to see what you did at the cub.”
“’You’ as in, ‘you people’?”
“’You’ as in you, my friend. She thought you were here to play.”
Fucking humans.
Theodore stared at the monitors as Kade guided his two girls to the bar for a beverage. He wished he could flame Kade’s stupid face for touching Ashley, but he knew that was unfair. Ashley wasn’t his.
But oh, she was going to be.
14
Ashley looked around The Dungeon. Word had it that Anthony was revitalizing the entire place and turning it into a proper sex club, complete with membership fees and locker rooms. Even without being an official club, Ashley couldn’t help but be impressed. The place was amazing.
A dragon stood on a main stage, his wings out. The rest of him was still in human form.
“Wow,” she whispered. “I didn’t even know they could do that.” Luckily, Kade was out of earshot, so she wouldn’t get in trouble for breaking his no-speaking rule, but even then, Ashley wouldn’t have minded. She couldn’t help herself. The dragon was beautiful.
His wings were silver with turquoise tips. His long, dark hair fell over his shoulders. A human female knelt in front of him with her hands tied behind her back. Even from a distance, Ashley could see the look of peace and happiness on the woman’s face.
Was that what contentedness felt like? Was that what Ashley would feel like if she submitted to someone? Was that what she would feel like if she submitted to Theodore?
The dragon’s pants were open and his cock was out. The woman’s eyes were open and she watched his face as she licked and sucked him. The man groaned, fisting her hair. He shoved deeper down her throat and Ashley cringed, but the woman seemed to love it.
Seemed to love him.
“Gabriel’s such a showoff,” a Dom muttered as he walked by.
“I don’t know how he does the wing thing,” another said as they made their way to the bar. “Wish he’d show me how to do it.”
Ashley had seen the man around town before, but she didn’t know him personally. Still, she couldn’t help but be impressed. Wings out while he got a blowjob. Quite a feat.
“Ladies,” Kade appeared again, placing a drink in each woman’s hand.
“Thank you, Master,” Lindsey responded instantly, taking a sip of her beverage. Kade turned expectantly toward Ashley.
“Thank you, Sir,” she murmured. Kade nodded. He wasn’t Ashley’s Master, so she didn’t use the title while addressing him. No, if Ashley were to have a Master, it would be someone more like Theodore, someone who could be kind, but firm. Someone who could give her what she really needed. Someone who could show her how this entire submission thing worked. Someone who would earn her submission.
Kade led the women to a seating area where they could comfortably watch the show. He sat on the sofa and Lindsey knelt by his feet. Ashley went to sit next to Kade, but he cleared his throat and motioned to the floor.
Was he serious?
Ashley looked around. Lindsey was kneeling, obviously unaware that the entire dungeon could see her bare pussy on display. If Ashley knelt, everyone would see her, too. That was so not what she signed up for. She wanted to see Theodore, watch him in action, and maybe get in on it. She didn’t want to flash everyone before she’d even found her man.
She wanted to sit on the couch.
“Sit down,” Lindsey said through gritted teeth. Her voice came out in a harsh whisper and Ashley knew her friend was trying to save her, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t do it.
Ashley shook her head softly, but it was enough for Kade to see.
“Ashley, you need to sit,” Kade said. By now a few dragons were looking at them, obviously surprised the little submissive wasn’t obeying orders. “I do not want to have to punish you, but I will. I’ll have to. You need to sit down and you need to do it now.”
How bad could the punishment be? What was he going to do? Spank her? At least that would be in privacy where no one else could witness her humiliation.
“No.” She wouldn’t let everyone see her pussy. Not yet. Not before she’d even had a chance to talk with Theodore.
“Fuck,” Kade stood and looked down at Lindsey. “This is why I didn’t want to bring her,” he muttered under his breath. “Lindsey, come.” He grabbed Ashley by the elbow and led her to the stage. The winged dragonman and his submissive were long gone and the props from prior demonstrations were all cleaned and pushed to the side.
What the hell? Why was he taking her to the stage?
“What are you doing?” Ashley hissed.
Kade stopped, turned to her, and yanked her hair back. She was forced to look up into his eyes and they were not handsome or pretty. They were roaring with anger, with passion, with hunger. Maybe even a little sadness. Ashley wasn’t sure.
“I didn’t want to do this, Ashley. You’re a nice girl. A bit naïve for my tastes, but you’re sweet. Sweet girls don’t come to places like this and you should have stayed home. You disobeyed a direct order. I told you to sit down and you refused.”
“So what? Don’t I get a say?” Ashley whined quietly. There was definitely a crowd now. Kade was whispering, but Ashley had been around dragons long enough to know they could hear every word.
“No, Ashley. You don’t get a say. You’re a submissive in the middle of a sex dungeon. You gave up the right to say ‘no’ when you walked through those doors. Now I have to punish you. I have to punish you to teach you a lesson and to show all these other dragons that I’m not some baby pushover
Dom who lets little newbie subs do whatever they damn well please. Now get on the fucking stage.”
She turned without another word and marched over to the stage. Well, she thought she was marching. In reality, it seemed like every step took an hour. The entire room went silent a Ashley walked over to the stage. She gulped, hearing herself swallow loudly. What had she gotten herself into?
She’d never considered herself to be stupid, but maybe she should have just sat down when Kade asked her to. I mean, it was only a vagina, right? The club was full of naked and half-naked women and no one seemed to mind. In fact, it was encouraged. And hadn’t she expected that she would be showing off in front of people at some point?
She just thought it would be in front of Theodore.
Who wasn’t even here.
Yeah, that hadn’t escaped her notice. Why Janae thought he’d be here, she wasn’t sure, but she felt stupid and embarrassed. As she climbed the steps slowly, Ashley thought that maybe this would be different if Theodore was here with her. Maybe she wouldn’t be so scared. Maybe she wouldn’t have been afraid to obey. Maybe pleasing him would have brought her happiness and comfort instead of embarrassment and humiliation.
She reached the top of the steps and turned. Kade was right behind her, followed by Lindsey. He passed her and grabbed a wooden chair. He pulled it to the center of the stage and sat down, motioning for her to come over. Lindsey knelt at the side of the stage. She placed her hands on her knees and knelt down.
Lindsey was a good sub.
Unlike Ashley.
The club was silent as she went to Kade and stood in front of him.
“You disobeyed me, sub,” Kade said loudly. There was regret in his eyes. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to punish her. He might be a sadist, but this wasn’t how he had wanted Ashley’s first night to go. That much was obvious.
She felt like the worst sub ever. She really couldn’t get anything right, could she? Not only was Theodore not even here, but she had managed to earn herself some very public punishment.
And she didn’t even know what it was going to be yet.
“Yes,” she said. “I disobeyed you. I’m sorry, Sir.” She knelt down because it seemed like the thing to do, but Kade didn’t move. She pretended the entire crowd couldn’t see her bare ass and pussy, pretended they couldn’t see how wet and turned on she was from her embarrassment at the entire situation.
“That won’t save you. 20 swats,” he told her. “Come here.”
She started to rise, but suddenly felt two strong hands lifting her up.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” a little growl sounded in her ear.
Theodore.
Fuck.
He was here.
He was here and he was about to see Ashley get a very public spanking from a man that wasn’t himself.
“I-“
“Don’t embarrass yourself further,” Theodore’s voice was cold. “We’ll talk about this later.” To Kade, he said, “Master Kade, this is my sub. I request permission to punish her myself.”
“Fuck yes,” Kade said. He rose, swept Lindsey into his arms, and headed down the stairs. Halfway down, he turned back to Ashley. “We won’t leave yet, love If you need anything, you come and find me.”
Then he was gone and Ashley was standing on a stage with Theodore. She didn’t look to see where Kade and Lindsey were. She knew they were going to watch. Everyone was going to watch. A thrill of excitement and a shot of horror raced through Ashley’s body.
Where had Theodore been? Where had he come from? Was he here with someone? Was he angry she was here? Surprised? What was he going to do? How was he going to punish her?
“Stop.” He said, facing her. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you can stop right now. The only thing you need to be thinking about is how to please me because darling, right now I’m royally pissed off.”
Fuck.
Theodore strode over to the chair and sat down, then patted his lap.
“Let’s get this over with, Ashley. Kade said 20 swats. Let’s make it 30. I’m adding an extra 10 because you didn’t seem to find it necessary to tell me where you were going this evening or that you were leaving my son under someone else’s care. Last time I checked, that wasn’t your call to make.”
Double fuck.
Ashley forced herself to move over to Theodore. He was wearing a pair of jeans, but that was it. His shirt was gone and he was barefoot. She tried not to stare at his rippling abs as she came over, but it was tough. She bit her lip and stood in front of Theodore. Despite his warning, a million thoughts raced through her head. He was dressed really casually and he hadn’t shown up right away.
Had he been here doing something else?
Oh shit, had he been here consulting with Anthony for work? Suddenly, Ashley realized just how stupid she’d been. Janae thought Theodore had come here to play. Emerson knew he had come to work. They had communicated poorly, which had resulted in Ashley making a huge giant fool of herself in front of everyone on Dragon Isle.
“Over my lap, love.”
Ashley wasn’t sure how to gracefully climb onto Theodore’s lap, so she sort of just plopped herself down. He shifted her up so her hands were on the floor in front of her and her stomach was on his lap. Her feet dangled awkwardly behind her, barely touching the floor.
Yeah, everyone was getting a great shot of her body now. She really wished she had just sat down earlier. It would have been simpler and drawn a lot less attention to her.
“Close your eyes,” Theodore whispered. “I can tell you’re nervous, and you should be, but you don’t need to be embarrassed. You’re fucking gorgeous, Ashley.”
His words were gentle and just for her, and she calmed down immensely, allowing herself to relax into his lap. He placed one hand on the small of her back and pushed her skirt up with the other, revealing her body fully.
“Tonight,” he said loudly, “my little sub came out to play without my permission.” A gasp sounded through the crowd, but there were also a few giggles from bratty subs who obviously thought Ashley’s little ploy had been funny. “My sub was very naughty, so she’s going to be punished now.”
He placed his hand on Ashley’s bottom and rubbed her cheeks softly. His hand was calloused and rough against her skin, but she didn’t mind. She liked it, craved it. She felt herself growing wet and aroused. She wondered if she was glistening, if everyone could tell how anxious and excited she was.
“I won’t ask you to count tonight,” Theodore said to Ashley. “But in the future, you’ll have to. Tell me why I’m punishing you, Ashley.”
She gulped. She didn’t want to say it.
“Tell me now, love, or it’ll be 40.”
“I came out without your permission,” she said quickly. “I hired a sitter without asking you. I disobeyed Kade, who was my temporary Dom.”
“You’re really lucky you called him your Dom and not your Master,” Theodore murmured, then the spanking began.
She gasped when the first strike hit her. Theodore wasn’t messing around. Her sweet, kind Theodore was a Dom in disguise. The second and third strikes followed before Ashley had a chance to catch her breath. Her ass was on fire and everyone in The Dungeon was watching her.
She felt embarrassed. Her bottom was probably turning pink or red, brightly colored so everyone would know how she’d been naughty. For the rest of the night, her body would betray her and tell the world she’d disobeyed. Everyone was watching her. All eyes were on what was happening between her and Theodore.
But she kept her eyes closed as Theodore had asked and focused on breathing through the pain. He mixed up his swats, never hitting the same spot twice in a row, but she was on fire. He got to 15 and stopped, rubbing his palms over her skin, soothing her quietly.
“Are you doing okay, little one?” He murmured, his voice reassuring even as he asked the question. There was so much he meant that he wasn’t saying, but Ashley could tell. He was t
elling her he believed in her. He was telling her she could do it. He was telling her he was proud of her. He was telling her he wanted this.
Needed it.
“Yes, Master,” she was breathless and on the verge of tears, but she couldn’t hold back, not from him. They hadn’t discussed seriously playing here. After all, they’d never even had sex. She didn’t know if he wanted to be called Master or Sir or Teddy or anything at all.
But she had to say it, had to call him that in this moment.
“Halfway done, pet,” he whispered. He rubbed her for a moment more, but then the respite was gone and he was spanking her again. This time, Ashley let the tears fall. It had been so long since she’d cried like this. How long?
She had been holding in her tears for years, learning to suck it up. She’d focused on keeping herself busy so she didn’t have to feel pain or sadness or emotions. She’d tried so hard to stay focused on work and studying so she didn’t have to think about how sad she was, how lonely she felt.
“That’s right, baby,” Theodore said. “Let it all go.”
And she did. He spanked her, letting her finally give up her tears, letting her finally let go of everything she’d been holding onto. She’d been embarrassed to be spanked, but now she felt grateful. She didn’t care that everyone was watching her. She only cared that Theodore was with her and he was holding her close, keeping her safe. He was protecting her. He was loving her.
And then it was over.
“Didn’t my sub do a lovely job?” Theodore asked, and there were murmurs of approval. Theodore helped Ashley to her feet, then picked her up and carried her off the stage and down a hallway. She curled up against him, her eyes still closed, not daring to open them, not ready to let the spell break.
She had stopped crying, but she was still sniffling as Theodore took her into a room and closed the door. He sat down on the bed and held her tight, petting her hair and back and kissing her cheeks.
“Baby,” he whispered, “tell me why you’re here.”
“Because you are,” she managed to say. She was embarrassed to admit she had wanted him to play with her. Isn’t that what she had gotten, though? She had come to the club and though it hadn’t ended up exactly how she had imagined, Theodore had taken control of her. He had dominated her. He had punished her.
Dragon Isle Book Bundle 1-3: My Lord and Dragon, The Dragon Fighter, and A Dragon's Bite Page 32