by Raven Dark
Ella opened her mouth to argue, but stopped herself. She picked up the rolled blanket and took it to him.
“This is getting a little kinkier than I had in mind, Sir.”
He snatched the blanket. “Get over here.” One hand snaked around her wrist and he yanked her over to the tree and then spun her so she was facing it. She looked over her shoulder.
Rock stepped back and unfolded the blanket. Four lengths of rope lay on the cloth along with a cane. Her eyes widened. A thrill raced along her nerves. She’d done caning before but not as the sub in a long time.
“Oh hell, no.” She put up her hands backing away from the tree. “I did not agree to a whipping, so you can just—”
Rock seized her arms and he shoved her up against the tree trunk. The rough bark bit into her nipples, into her stomach and the sting made her pussy sing.
“Where are you going to go, girl?” His mouth seared her ear. He twisted her arms behind her, a strong, firm hold. “You gonna walk back home? I’m not letting you in my car until you give me what I want.”
The raw possession in his voice made her throat go dry. His grip made her feel at once safe, yet totally vulnerable. Almond and axle grease whirled around her giving his masculinity a heady scent. She swallowed. “So I’m trapped.”
“Yes, you are.” His tongue flicked her ear. “Get used to it. Scream, cry, no one is here to stop me.”
Without warning, he released her arms only to quickly tie each to one of the trunk’s two limbs leaving her arms spread out. He knotted the ropes tight enough to bite if she twisted too much, with no room to get away. She expected a twinge of fear but there was only adrenaline, excitement. Need for him.
Rock came around behind her again. One finger stroked her cheek. Silently asking her if she was okay. She looked at him blinking, hoping he got the message. He stroked her other cheek, then he bent down behind her.
“Spread your legs.”
She couldn’t resist putting her feet together. “Go fuck yourself.”
Had she heard him snort? Something long, thin, and wooden lightly slapped the back of her thigh leaving a hot sting that made her whimper. The cane.
“Open. Now.”
Ella spread her legs, feet shoulder-width apart.
“Better.” One of his palms ran over one generous globe of her ass, massaging, warming the skin. “Girl, I’m gonna turn every inch of this sweet ass red. I’m gonna have so much fun with you.”
“Whatever it is you’re gonna do to me, just get it over with.”
He brought his palm down on one cheek. The burn went straight to her clit and she bit her lip. He swatted the other, then rubbed both cheeks, heating the skin a little more.
“Sir, are you gonna take all day?”
This time the swat stung and she bit back a cry at the pleasure-pain that zinged over her skin. “You’ll shut the fuck up and take what I give you.” He slapped a few more times and each one went straight between her legs.
“Look at you, so hot, waiting for it.” He slid his fingers between her legs stroking her already wet folds. Ella gritted her teeth resisting the urge to rock into his touch.
“Stop it, Sir. Just get it over with.”
“Shut it.” He traced the shell of her ear with his finger, a single caress that made her shiver with delight. “How many strokes will you get before you leave, whore?”
Ella bit her lip around a smile. They’d negotiated eight the previous night but she couldn’t help working him up a little. “Ten.”
He gave a dark chuckle. “Another lie gets another stroke.” He yanked her head back so she had to crane her neck. “How many is that then?”
“Nine. Sir.”
“Good girl.”
He brought the cane down on his palm, a swift, sharp snap. Her heart quickened.
Rock stepped back. Ella licked her lips.
The cane cracked across her ass cheek. The sting throbbed and she cried out. She’d barely processed the first one when it came down again on her other cheek. He wasn’t brutal but the impact would leave a nice welt. A reminder of his authority over her every time she sat down for the next few days. Ella gritted her teeth when it came down again, this time on the back of the thigh.
For an instant that stretched to forever she waited, expecting another. Instead, Rock pressed himself against her, the heat of him comforting. He traced her cheek with the end of the cane.
“Do you know why I’m doing this, whore?”
“Cause you’re a perv?”
He let out a quiet breath and his fingers drove into her hair, slow at first, then gripping hard. His voice was a growl. “You’ll get one more for the mouth. No, beautiful, I want you to remember who owns you. You’re mine.”
Oh, fuck. She could have come from his words alone. They turned the biting pain into a highly charged erotic assault.
Slowly, Rock slid the cane down her front running the tip at the right angle to hit her clit with long, slow strokes. Ella panted and wriggled, eager for more contact.
“See? You like it.”
“No…” She tugged her head as if to get free as his grip tightened.
“Good. You keep lying like that. One more for fibbing.”
That’s ten.
A moment later she felt him between her feet, tying her ankles, one to the tree trunk and the other to a root. It forced her to spread wide enough to give him access to everything. The powerlessness of the situation left her panting.
He ran the end of the cane over one ass cheek until she shivered in anticipation. Moisture spilled from her pussy. “You lie or you resist and you get another. Understand?”
“Fuck you.”
He released her and somehow his backing up carried as much danger as if he promised to give it to her good. The cane snapped against his palm.
“That’s another. You wanna keep going, slut?”
More than that was probably pushing even her pain limits. “No, Sir.”
“You’re sure?”
Before she could answer, the cane came down in a swift strike across her ass. Pleasure-pain flared through her.
“Ah! Fuck…”
When he brought it down again, a little harder on the other cheek, she gritted her teeth.
Rock brought the cane across her ass again, then once more in a fresh spot. Ella bit back a cry, fists clenched, twisting her wrists in the binds. The tree bark rubbed her nipples, grazed her legs, chafed against her wrists, further sensitizing her skin. One more…
“Please, stop…I can’t take it anymore.” She couldn’t keep the hunger out of her voice.
Rock stopped and she almost wailed at the loss, arms jerking against the ropes. Leaves rustled and then his warm frame pressed against hers. He pulled her head back.
“Sir, please stop.”
“Shut up.” He cupped her chin from behind, keeping her head back for him. His hot mouth raked over hers, tongue flicking, dominating. Ella whimpered and he growled in return, kissing her harder.
When he released her and moved away, her breathing quickened. Need coiled tight in her lower region, threatening to explode.
“Another stroke for resisting. How many is that, whore?”
“Twelve, Sir.” Her voice shook.
The cane bit into her skin once, then again. Her ass blazed and Ella whimpered again. A third strike, then a fourth. She let out a half groan, half sob.
This time when he brought the cane down, it cracked especially hard and she screamed at the white hot blaze of pain and pleasure. Her eyes watered and her hips bucked like her hungry pussy was trying to fuck his imaginary cock. The tree bark scratched hard against her legs and breasts and she didn’t care.
The final stroke crashed down and she thought she’d fly apart into a million pieces. Her scream peeled through the mountains, erotic and savage.
Then at last, as she hung there, head limp, weak with need and crazy with lust, she finally heard the cane drop and the grass rustle. Then Rock was against he
r and his hand cupped her pussy from behind. Two fingers strummed her clit, driving her to madness.
“Come, sweetness.”
Ella exploded and screamed, rocking into him and Rock clamped her mouth with his other hand muffling her violent cries. His fingers strummed out the last of her orgasm and he hugged her to him around the shoulders.
At some point he must have untied her hands and feet because the next thing she remembered was lying on the blanket on the grass, enfolded in the warmth of his arms.
Emotions she barely processed welled for what he’d done for her, so potent they made her chest ache. Ella buried her face in his neck. She’d never felt so bonded, so connected to a man in her life.
So free.
“You okay, sweetheart?” His hand made slow, lazy traces along her back.
“Oh, wow, yes.” Her ass blazed, but it was the sweetest pain she’d ever experienced.
He chuckled. “Were you scared when you were tied up? Nervous of where we are?”
“No, surprisingly. You made this okay. You gave me back what I was missing.”
He smiled into her hair. “That’s good to hear. I’m so proud of you, girl. Man, I could live to please you.” He lifted her chin and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Then he sat up and looked at the red marks on her legs, arms and breasts. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She nodded, sitting up and grinning at her many scrapes. “Better than okay. Look at how you tore me up. Such a beast.”
“Annabella.” He pulled back, his eyes dark with regret.
“Poor choice of words, Rock. Stop. I loved every second.” She cradled his face and drew her mouth close to his. “That was the single hottest thing anyone’s ever done to me in my entire life.”
He laughed, then he kissed her again and squeezed her almost too close. “Me too, girl. Me too.”
CHAPTER 17: CRASH
I’ll show you what happens when a woman disrespects me.
Seconds before the belt came down with a whoosh and a crack, Rock clawed his way awake and jerked upright in his bed.
In the darkness, the dresser and closet door of his hotel suite stood out as black shadows. Breathing raggedly, he looked beside him. Annabella lay stretched out on her stomach, sun-gold hair splayed out across his satin pillow. Her soft, even breathing filled the silence. Slow, quiet, itcalmed his racing heart.
A dream. It was just a dream. The same one he’d had as a kid so many times. He ran a hand down his sweat-dampened face. No, it was a memory. One he’d not had in nearly six years, since he last saw his father.
Since he saw him the day of his trial.
Rock shook off the old images. It did no good to think of those things now. Annabella was right, he wasn’t his father and he couldn’t change the past.
Still, the image that had been trying to come back to him since he’d returned to this backward town pressed in on his thoughts. He felt like he could almost remember the whole thing this time, not just the whipping. But when he woke the dream faded, slipped away like fog.
He threw the covers back and climbed out of bed. Annabella stirred with a soft groan. From the pain? Just enough moonlight shone in from the window to catch a glimpse of the scratches on her arms and legs.
Something unpleasant coiled in his belly. In his mind, a belt wrapped around his father’s fist whipped out and crashed down. Throat dry, he lifted the blanket gently from her waist, enough to see her buttocks.
The welts from the cane stood out even in the blackness. Had her ass been that red before?
Now you’ll get what you deserve, woman. His father’s voice roared in his head. His mother screamed. Blood. So much blood.
The whole memory crashed in on him like a tidal wave. His legs threatened to buckle and his stomach roiled at the images. He let the blanket drop.
Mind spinning, he staggered out of the room, as far from the woman he loved as possible.
* * * * *
Ella woke with a stretch and a yawn. She rolled over, expecting to fold herself in Rock’s arms. The bed beside her was cold and empty. She sat up. The hotel suite lay quiet except for the dripping from the bathroom tap.
“Rock?”
When he didn’t reply, she shrugged and drew on his robe from the back of the door. He was probably working out in the hotel gym or swimming in that gigantic pool downstairs.
Memories of the scene from yesterday filled her mind and she whistled on her way to the kitchen for coffee. She’d never felt so free, so comfortable in her own skin as she did now. Out there in the open, so exposed, she’d given Rock something sacred, a total submission she’d never feel right giving another.
Ella seated herself on one of the wooden chairs at his dining room table with her coffee. The moment her cheeks hit the wood, the bite of pain made her wince. Holy shit, she could barely sit. The reminder of Rock’s possession made her core ache and she chuckled. Okay, maybe the nice soft couch for now.
She picked up her mug and was about to move when something out on the patio caught her eye. The door was open and Rock sat on the cement floor leaning against the wall. Something made her heart quicken, but she wasn’t sure what.
“Rock?” She crossed the room and stepped outside.
Head down, he was dressed in only faded denims, his hair disheveled. Amazing how he still looked incredibly sexy.
“Rock?”
His head lifted and she widened her eyes. His face was pale and his hands shook on his knees.
“Annabella.” His voice sounded flat, toneless. “I’m sorry.”
She knelt in front of him. “For what? Rock, what’s wrong?” She reached for his hand. He dropped it and looked away, shaking his head. “Talk to me. Is it Scalder? Did he do something?”
Again, he shook his head. “No, I did.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I should never have hurt you, Annabella. I should never have…” He trailed off and stood up but didn’t go inside, only ran a hand through his hair. She straightened, touching his arm.
“What is this about?”
When he finally looked at her, his eyes were filled with pain. “You know what it’s about. I went too far.”
“Went too far with what?”
He scoffed. “There’s no excuse for what I did. It was unforgivable.”
Frustration and anxiety warred in her. When he looked away again, she took his face gently in her hands. “All right, come on, you’re not making sense. What is this?”
“Don’t you see? I hit you, Annabella.” He jabbed his chest with each word and horror rang in his voice. “I. Hit. You.”
Understanding struck her hard in the chest. She expelled a breath. “Oh my God, no.” She took his hands gently and the tremors in them made her chest tighten for him. “Rock, listen to me. Look at me.”
He put his head back. A long moment ticked by before his gaze finally dropped to hers.
“Listen to me. You did not hit me, okay? You caned me. There’s a difference.”
“Is there?” His eyes blazed with self-loathing. “Have you looked at your ass? How is what I did any different than the belt my father used on…” He closed his eyes.
Ella’s stomach churned. He didn’t have to finish. She shook her head. “How can you even say that? This is nothing like what your father did. Come on, I wanted this.” She patted her chest. “I wanted you to do what you did.”
“I know.” But his throat sounded tight. “Deep down, I know that. But.”
She squeezed his hand. “You’ve been thinking about your father after scenes a lot lately. What brought this on? Communication is key here. What aren’t you telling me?”
After a long pause, he lifted his head. His eyes were distant and sad. Then he seemed to come back to her. One of his palms rubbed her arms.
Rock sighed. “There’s something you don’t know about my father.”
* * * * *
Rock cleared his throat as he sat next to Annabella on the couch and turned a l
ittle to face her. His gut wrenched. Would she still want him when she knew? Being near her, hearing her supportive words made him feel whole, like himself again. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, choosing his words carefully before he met her gaze.
“You remember how I left to go to a parole hearing for a criminal in Sing Sing?”
She nodded, taking his hand.
“Well, the man wasn’t part of a case I worked. It was my father.”
The blood left her cheeks. “You…your father’s in prison? Why? Is it for what he did to your mother?”
He couldn’t draw a large enough breath. “Yes, but it wasn’t for beating her. When I was twenty-three, right before we broke up, he murdered her.”
Ella covered her mouth slowly with her hands. When she lowered them and took his hand again, her voice shook. “I’m so sorry.”
Oh, he wanted to close his hand in hers, to take strength from her, but would it be welcome with what she knew now? “I came back to Clayton-Moss to build a case against him getting parole. I wanted to tell you about my mom’s murder when we were together, but you have to understand, I never told anyone. Avery was the only one who knew. Him, and your father.”
“My father?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand. You told him? Rock, why didn’t the whole city know about this? How did I not hear of it?”
He gave a bitter laugh. “Your father has more pull in this town than you know. Founding family and all that. He managed to keep everything quiet and had the case moved to a new venue, but it wasn’t to help me. He didn’t want your name connected to the son of a murderer.”
Annabella stared at him. “I don’t believe it. Are you saying—?”
He laid a hand on her cheek. “That’s why he sent me away. I wouldn’t have left you, but I was terrified I would bring you down, cost you your standing in this town. I knew you were going places, and being with the son of a murderer would have ruined you.”
She looked at her knees and shook her head. For the first time, she looked so small, so fragile and vulnerable. She closed her shaking hands around his.
“I always knew my father had a hand in your leaving. I just didn’t know why. Not the real reason. He’s always hated you, but with this irrational, bone-deep hatred I could never quite wrap my head around. Now I see why he was so terrified of my being with you.”