I feel myself finally giving my mind over to this experience one hundred percent. Up until now I’ve held back just a small part--the tiniest reserve of doubt that maybe this wasn’t right for me, that a mother of a two-year-old had no business getting involved in something like this. But while it all feels dark and dirty in a sexual, thrilling kind of way, there’s nothing actually dark about this, and even if there was, who says a mom can’t have a dark side? If it makes me happy, then Dean will benefit more from my happiness than if I was repressing all my urges and unhappy.
The paddle collides with my ass harder than I expected. I jump up slightly, yelping with pain.
“Let the burn sink in,” he says. “Commit the sensation to memory and remember it. Use it. Let it make you stronger.”
I try to focus on the pain, mentally diving into the sensation until I can almost feel the outline of the paddle on my ass and the way little threads of discomfort spread from the spot, tingling and burning with gradually weakening intensity. He puts his hands into a small box at the foot of the bench and touches something before bringing them to my skin. He must have been touching something cold, because his hands are icy against me, immediately soothing away the sting of the paddle.
He repeats the process several more times, reminding me what I did to deserve each paddling before administering the punishment and soothing away the pain. By the time he’s done, my ass is tingling and slightly numb, but the cream he applies takes away the last of the sting, leaving me with pain, only the memory and the vague tingle across the surface of my skin.
He helps me to flip over and sit up before lifting me. It looks like he’s about to take me to another bench loaded with straps and harnesses, but I see from the look in his eyes we’re not going to make it that far. I’ve never seen so much heat in a person’s eyes as I see in his, and he lets out a low growl-like sound as he pushes me up against some kind of device with a vertical leather pad and horizontal metal bars overhead. My back is on the pad and my breasts are pinned between us.
Damian drives into me, lifting me off the ground and gripping my ass tightly. “I need you,” he whispers. “I just want to fuck you. No more games. No more control. I want to let go and I want to fuck you until you’re full of my cum.”
I grip the back of his head with one hand and hold the bar over my head with the other, rubbing myself against him, searching for his cock with my body.
He pulls me down by the hips, sliding his length into me as he does. I cry out. My walls stretch to fit him, but the sensation is amazing, like a perfect fullness. He doesn’t take his time getting every last inch of himself in me. He greedily pulls me down, filling me with more and more of his cock until my legs are forced apart by his hips and he’s in me to the base.
“Oh God, you’re so big,” I gasp.
“You like that, Kitten?” he asks, working himself into me at a furious pace.
“Yes, Damian. Yes,” I moan.
“Fuck,” he roars. “You’re so fucking tight.”
I don’t know how long it takes. I don’t care. Everything falls away until it’s just his body and mine moving together, like two dancers in the dark, completely in harmony. Every motion is like art and passion all blended together. When my orgasm comes, it crashes into me with the force of a tidal wave, threatening to undo me, but I cling to him, body quivering as he pounds his final thrusts into me and squeezes his eyes shut.
He lets out a groan of pleasure and his cock pulses inside me, filling me with the warmth of his cum. We stay that way for a while, joined together in the most intimate way, catching our breath while he holds me.
“Is it always going to be like this?” I ask after a while.
“No,” he says. “It’s going to get even better.”
I smirk. “Now I know you’re full of it. It can’t be better than that. Nothing could.”
“Remind me to punish you for doubting me next time. Maybe I’ll paddle that pretty little ass of yours until you admit I was right.”
“Sounds like a date.”
14
Epilogue - Damian
One Month Later
Did you see the box with my pots and pans anywhere, Kylie?” I shout down the hallway.
“No,” she says. “But I did find your box of trains,” she says with a mischievous grin. “I didn’t see your conductor hat though, was that in another box?”
“A man needs to have hobbies,” I say.
Her grin widens. “You just may have to fight with Dean over this hobby of yours, because, you know… He’s two, and he likes trains too.”
“You know you’re going to pay for this, right?” I ask.
She bites her lip. “I was counting on it.”
I’m about to pull her in for a kiss when Dean comes barreling through the new house on a little toy truck. He crashes into a wall and tips over. He looks to me and gives me a thumbs up and a smile before picking his truck up again and zooming off.
“He’s going to love it here,” says Kylie. “You know you didn’t have to move, though. This is all so much, I don’t know how--”
“Hey,” I say, pulling her close and hugging her. “You’re mine, Kylie. Mine to take care of. Mine to protect. Mine to love. That means you don’t get to decide what is too much or what is excessive when it comes to me spending money on you. I want us to have this place together. And I want to make sure you have a chance to catch a breather whenever you need it,” I say, drawing her attention to the front window, where we have a clear view of Angie arriving. “There’s an in-law suite separate from the house where Angie will be staying. She’s thrilled about the whole arrangement because she loves Dean and she loves you. Plus, she gets a free place to stay with salary and benefits.”
“Damian…” she says. “I can’t--”
“You can, and you will. You don’t have to use her to watch Dean at all if you don’t want, but she’s here if you need her. So am I.”
“I’m always going to need you,” she says, gripping my shirt and standing on her tiptoes for a kiss.
“Damn right you are. Especially when we start filling this beautiful belly of yours with more babies.”
A look crosses her face that makes me narrow my eyes, looking at her more closely.
She looks up at me with wide, searching eyes, then the shadow of a smile creeps across her lips. “I think we already started.”
“You’re pregnant?” I ask. “You’re actually pregnant?” I can’t help myself. I grab her by the hips and lift her up, spinning around a few times while I laugh. “We’re going to have a fu--freaking baby!” I say, catching myself before I drop an “F” bomb within ear-shot of Dean.
Kylie laughs. “Not if you spin it out of me.”
I carefully put her down. “I’m sorry, that was--”
“No. Don’t be sorry. I was afraid you’d be upset for some reason. We never talked about it, and I mean, now you’re with a woman who has gotten pregnant twice out of wedlock. I thought maybe you’d think I was a hussy,” she says, still smiling slightly but I can tell she was actually a little worried.
“There’s nothing I want more in this world than being with you for the rest of my life and growing our family, Kylie. Nothing at all. Okay, there may be one thing.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“Remember when you dropped your suitcase full of bathing suits three years ago?”
“Yes…” she says. “Are we playing the embarrassing memory game? Because this isn’t going to be fair. All I have is the time you stubbed your toe and fell completely on your face.”
I reach in my back pocket and pull out a post card. It shows a scene of a pristine beach in Bermuda and a rocky outcropping. “Look familiar?” I ask.
She snatches it from my hands, eyes wide. “You had this the whole time? I was looking for it when I got home and thought I lost it.”
“It took me a little research and some time, but I found the place. I know we were going to get settled in today, but I we
nt ahead and paid a team to handle the rest.”
“You let us move half the boxes in the house and then paid a team to do the rest?”
I smirk. “I can’t spoil you too much. Now you get the best of both worlds. The charm of working up a sweat on move-in day, and the luxury of knowing professionals are handling it all for you.”
She grins. “So thoughtful.”
“I thought so. Now go find Dean, because I’ve got a helicopter scheduled to pick us up in the back yard in about five minutes, and we can’t go without our little man.”
15
Epilogue - Kylie
We land in Bermuda that same night on a dark runway in Damian’s private plane. Damian surprised me by inviting Melina and Alec, who by some miracle are still dating, even though Melina usually cycles through boyfriends as often as most people change clothes. Angie came along too. There’s even a man I’ve never seen before--he’s about my height with a kind face and a mustache. My best guess puts him in his mid forties, and judging by the way he and Angie keep stealing glances at each other, I’m thinking Angie brought along a romantic partner too.
I smile to myself when I realize how important she has become to me over the past few weeks. I would’ve looked down on the idea of a nanny, because I thought it was just an excuse to neglect the kids, but I used to spend more time cleaning, cooking, and keeping up the house than I did focusing on Dean. Angie being here has given me so much more quality time with Dean than I ever could’ve had before, and it means I can sneak out of the house during his naps and at night without fear that he’ll wake up while I’m gone, because I know Angie is there.
It’s been perfect, like just about everything else since Damian came back into my life.
Damian insisted on a strict dress code of bathing suits for the flight, so we all look ready to go for a beach party as we descend the stairs from the plane. Angie, Melina, and myself all wear cover-ups over our swimsuits, while Damian, Alec, and Dean opted for board shorts and no shirts. I’m having trouble deciding between admiring how adorable Dean looks wearing a matching shorts to Damian’s with his little belly hanging over the waistband, or at how sinfully good Damian looks with his sculpted body on display. I eventually decide there’s no problem in enjoying both.
Damian ushers us all into a limo, which takes us on a half-hour ride before we have to switch vehicles to a small convoy of jeeps that can handle a little bit rougher terrain. He has professional drivers taking us through relatively dense forests that the drivers must know well, because it looks like we’re driving straight into trees half the time, only to turn at the last second and take a hidden path.
We eventually break free of the trees to a view I never thought I’d actually see with my own eyes. It’s lit by starlight instead of a blazing afternoon sun like in the postcard, but I’d know the scene anywhere. It’s my beach. The beach I’ve spent half my adult life fantasizing about visiting, like coming here would somehow be a remedy for all that was wrong in my life. The irony is I only managed to make it here when my life is already fixed--when it’s already perfect.
I squint down at the beach and notice tiki torches and some cloth tents set up a distance from the water. I also see a dozen or more people mulling about down there. I turn to Damian with a confused expression.
Except he’s not standing. He’s kneeling in front of me with both his hands raised up toward me. He’s holding a diamond ring that catches the distant light of the torches and bounces it back in every color imaginable.
Everyone is standing around us in a semi-circle, watching with smiling faces, but they are just a blur to me right now. An engagement ring?
“Will you marry me?” he asks. Then he lowers his voice until only I can hear it. “Remember the consequences if you displease me.” Damian winks.
My eyes well with tears of happiness. I fall down to my knees, forgetting the ring and hugging him so tight I don’t know how he keeps from dropping it. I’m laughing and crying like a complete idiot, but I don’t care.
“Well?” he asks after I’ve calmed down a little. “You’re kind of leaving me hanging here.”
“Yes,” I say, taking his face in both my hands and kissing him. “Yes. A million times. Yes.”
He slides the ring on my finger and grins at the sight of it. “Good. Because I would’ve had to explain to everyone down there why the wedding ceremony was canceled, and I brought them a long way to see this.”
I frown in confusion. “Wedding ceremony? Isn’t there usually the whole planning thing and--”
“Usually,” he says. “But I couldn’t wait. I’m sorry. I want it all. And I want it now.”
I bite my lip, looking toward what I now realize is the place I’m going to get married. It’s perfect.
“You’re lucky I’m not one of those girls who spent her whole life fantasizing about my wedding,” I say.
“Not lucky,” he says. “I just did my research. I asked Melina. She said you always dreaded having to plan your own wedding because you hate making decisions. She said you also never cared much for traditional weddings with big dresses and suits and ties. What was it you said? It seems so stuck up and stuffy?”
I glare at Melina, who is studying the top of a nearby tree innocently.
“You knew?” I ask her.
She reluctantly looks back toward me. “Only for a few days. He made me promise not to say a word.”
I shake my head, but I’m smiling. “Traitor.”
“Well, they’re all waiting for us,” says Damian.
We all make our way down the somewhat steep slope of grass that eventually turns into pure white sand. I kick off my shoes so I can feel it between my toes.
“I’ve never felt sand this soft,” I say.
Damian kicks his own shoes off and nods in approval. “Wow. Yeah.”
Dean takes two steps before he face plants into the sand and sits up with a grumpy look on his face.
“This is so past his bedtime,” I say with a laugh. “Are you sleepy, Deanie?”
“No,” he says firmly. “Daddy. Hold,” he stands up, reaching for Damian and yawns.
My heartbeat quickens when I realize he just called Damian daddy for the first time. I’ve spent some time with him trying to explain to him that Damian is his father, but at Dean’s age, it can sometimes be hard to tell what’s sinking in and what isn’t. I wanted it to be a surprise for Damian, who thought we were still waiting for the right time to tell Dean. As far as I was concerned, the right time was right away, because I couldn’t wait.
Damian kneels down and wraps his arms around Dean. At first, I think it’s a trick of the light when I see something catch the light and slide down Damian’s cheek as he squeezes his eyes shut and hugs Dean, but it’s no trick. I feel my own eyes watering and I move in to hug both of them. My little family.
And my little family is going to keep growing if Damian has his way. Not that I’m complaining. Not in the slightest.
Punished
Punished
I have a dirty little secret.
No guy has ever been able to get me off.
They try. They fail. They leave. Rinse and repeat.
Until I met Logan Steel.
Until he punished me.
He’s a self-made billionaire, and he’s heart-stoppingly gorgeous. Oh, and did I mention he’s into BDSM? Like… really into it.
He says I can trust him, that he’ll take care of me, that nothing bad will happen so long as I’m his. Hiskitten.
I want to believe him.
I want to trust him.
I want to surrender to the heat of his touch and submit. I want to let him have me in all the ways he wants me.
But it’s not that simple. Nothing ever is.
Behind the Book
If you read my note for Knocked Up by the Dom, you’ll maybe get a kick out of knowing that Knocked Up by the Dom wasn’t the only time I felt one book away from having to quit trying to make it as an author.
> Punished was my first big break. My first book to make it into the top 100 on Amazon, and the first book to give me some real confidence that I could do this.
I started writing books in October of 2016 while I was still a high school teacher (English and psychology for juniors and seniors). I actually taught at a private Catholic high school, which meant my romance writing pursuit had to be kept a closely guarded secret. Some mornings, I’d work on my books before students came in, and even guiltily typed out a few scenes while they were taking tests or had down time at the end of class (don’t tell my principal).
This is something I’ve never revealed before, but I actually began my writing career in science fiction romance under the pen name Elyssa Ebbott. I wrote four books in about a month and a half. Rebel Kato, Rebel Pax, Rebel Gage, and Vash. I’ve never revealed that little tidbit mainly because I was doing a lot of learning while I wrote those books.
But I started writing those over the summer of 2016 in any spare time I could find. We already had a 1-year-old and I was pregnant (due that summer). I actually finished my second sci-fi romance book while I was in the hospital bed recovering from the birth of my second daughter. For about five months, I had no hobbies or free time. I took care of the girls, wrote, and wrote some more. When I finally went back to work at school, I had recently decided to try writing contemporary romance.
I finished my first contemporary book, His: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance, while still a teacher. By this point, I was really feeling the fatigue of juggling so many roles. Mom, writer, teacher, wife, and unfortunately kind of in that order. Thankfully, His did relatively well, especially for a debut novel. I wasn’t rolling in money or anything, but it was enough of a financial success that I thought I could take a really big risk. I’d need all my books to keep doing close to what His did in order to keep doing my part to support the family, but I wanted to try it.
Bad for the Billionaires: A Bad Boy Billionaire Bundle Page 14