The Picture of Submission

by Diane Leyne

  Smack. Her left cheek exploded in pain. Smack. Now her right cheek. His hand was back, rubbing her ass through the fabric, soothing the pain he had caused.

  “You earned four punishments. You’ll be getting five smacks for each infraction. That means eighteen more to go. What’s your color, kitten?”

  At first she wasn’t sure what he meant, but then it came back to her. Color. Her safe words. He was checking that she was okay. “Green, Sir.”

  She could feel the rumble in his chest as he chuckled. “Good kitten.”

  She melted a little more inside at his praise and started to relax when his hand came down on her ass again. Four more smacks and then he was rubbing her ass again. Six more and his hand was back between her legs, and even as she was crying from the pain of the spanking, she could also feel the surge of arousal as the pain seemed to cause her pussy to leak more liquid and her clit to swell and throb. And each time he rubbed her sore ass, the pain then seemed to transform, to bloom almost until her bottom was throbbing with both pleasure and pain.

  She felt confused and excited as he delivered four more smacks.

  “You doing okay, kitten? Just four more to go.” As he said this, his hand was back between her legs, and she realized that she was approaching an orgasm.

  “I’m good, Sir. More than good, in fact.”

  “You won’t be if you come without permission. These last four will be the hardest yet, and hopefully they’ll help you regain your control.”

  Then his hand wasn’t between her legs anymore. It was coming down on her ass again, and he wasn’t lying. These ones hurt more than all the others combined. The tears started in earnest now.

  And then it was over and he’d pulled her up into his lap, cuddling her like a baby, her face pressed into his chest.

  “Poor kitten. Your first punishment hurt. But no harm done. You won’t even have a bruise, and next time, you’ll think twice before breaking a rule when you we are playing, won’t you, kitten?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  * * * *

  She felt so damned good in his arms, even better than she had over his lap. Next time, and he knew that there would definitely be a next time, he’d have her bare ass under his hand when he disciplined her, and he wouldn’t just rub her pussy through her clothes. He’d tease and torment it until she was on the verge of coming, and he’d do it over and over and over until she was begging him to get her off.

  And speaking of getting off, he was going to have to get off soon or he’d come in his pants like a teenager.

  When he felt the tension leave her body, he leaned down and kissed her. “All is now forgiven. We have a clean slate to work with.”

  “Really, Sir? I don’t understand.”

  “When it comes to this kind of relationship, particularly when more than two people are involved, there needs to be a lot of communication. And as for holding onto negativity, things will just implode if that happens. We deal with problems, including misbehaving subs, immediately and then let it go.”

  “I guess that makes sense.”

  “And now, I think we have to deal with your kneeling technique.”

  “Huh?”

  He looked at her and watched as comprehension dawned. She was learning.

  “Huh, Sir?”

  “Every Dom has his own way of doing things. You need to learn how what the brothers Hayes expect.” He helped her to her feet and led her over to the center of the carpet and then urged her back to her knees. “This time, place your hands behind your back and clasp your wrists together.”

  Chris waited while Maggie adjusted her position, and then he reached down and adjusted her grip slightly.

  “Nice but knees just a little further apart and arch your back a bit more so your tits are thrust out and up.”

  Maggie adjusted again.

  “Perfect. Now hold that position until I tell you otherwise. I have work to do.”

  Chris walked over to his desk and sat down, and then he turned on his computer and started typing. It was a good thing she couldn’t see the monitor or she would realize that he’d typed a series of nonsense words. He couldn’t wait any longer.

  “If you still want to illustrate Jillian’s book, I think you have what it takes to learn to submit and I’m willing to tell this to the evaluation committee and recommend they hold off looking for other photographers until you have a chance to redo the photos of Duncan and Andie. Do you want this?”

  “More than ever.”

  Chris looked at Maggie. Her makeup was streaked from her earlier tears, but she looked serene and she was still holding form, her tits pointing directly at him. It was straining his control not to throw her down and fuck her brains out right there on the carpet.

  “Can you free up your schedule to go back to the island? My brothers work there and can’t get time off during the busy season.”

  “I have some obligations here, but I’ll be free in a week.”

  “Good. My assistant will be in touch with travel reservations, and you and I can e-mail about the details of your training. Now I have to go to a meeting.” Yes, he thought, a meeting with his own hand in the executive washroom. “Keep that position for another five minutes, then remove the collar and place it on my desk.”

  He could feel her eyes boring into him as he grabbed a file folder and held it in front of his pants to hide the damp spot caused by the pre-cum that his cock had already released. The sooner he made it to the bathroom, the better.

  He did chuckle afterward though, as he pumped his cock in one of the stalls in the men’s room. He’d always thought having a private executive washroom was the height of arrogance, but what he wouldn’t give for one right about now.

  Chapter Eight

  One week later

  Maggie looked out the window of the airplane as they came in for a landing. She didn’t think she’d ever get over the sight of coming into the St. Maarten airport so low over the water or the look of excitement on the faces of the folks on the beach below.

  She waited until everyone seated behind her had deplaned before she stood and gathered her bags. She had a lot of expensive camera equipment with her and had brought it all on board as carryon. Now she just had to wait for the bag with her clothes to show up on the carousel so she could leave and head to her hotel.

  She wasn’t going straight to the island. In fact, they weren’t expecting her on Libertine Island for another week. She hated to admit it, but this suggestion of Chris’s was a good one. She needed to get away and get in touch with her thoughts with no distractions before heading to Libertine. She’d been turned on by the session in Chris’s office. She’d submitted, even if only for a short time and fully clothed, and she’d been almost cross eyed with lust by the time their session ended. She could admit to herself how much she’d enjoyed it, but the more time that went by, the more it scared her, too. She’d really given up control to Chris. And now she was heading to a private BDSM resort to learn how to give up control to not just one man, but to three.

  Now technically, in order to learn to submit, she really only needed a single Master to learn from, but when she’d brought it up when they were e-mailing back and forth to work out the details, Chris had made it a hard limit. He had no interest in training her just to help her get a job. Either she was interested in the possibility of a relationship resulting from this or she wasn’t. If she was, and she just wanted to commit to explore the possibility, not to an actual relationship, then they would give her the training she needed and see where things went. If she was dead set against it, then she’d have to find someone else to help her out. There were plenty of Doms out there who enjoyed training subs with no emotional connection, but the Hayes brothers didn’t fall into that category.

  She’d thought long and hard about it. She was drawn to the brothers, but the idea of submitting to one man in a relationship was scary enough. Could she really seriously consider the possibility of three?

  So she’d called he
r Rebecca and Jen. She thought of talking to Aly, too, but it was still weird to her that Aly was with her brother. Jen, ever practical, had set up a conference call, and she’d summed up Maggie’s decision quite neatly. “What do you have to lose? This commitment they need from you is for what, two weeks? Your choice is two weeks of sex and submission to three hot guys with the possibility at the end of not only the job of your dreams, but an actual relationship with the men. Or no job and no hot guys who are actually looking for a commitment unlike so many other hot guys.”

  Put like that, it was an easy choice to make, so she’d agreed. But now that it was getting close, her fears were coming back. She couldn’t even do anything to relieve her own tension as Chris had forbidden her from masturbating, and she was afraid that if she did, he’d know somehow and punish her.

  Hell, she was torn on the concept of punishment, too. On one hand, the idea that a grown woman could be spanked and otherwise punished was ridiculous. And the spanking had hurt. But it had also turned her on alarmingly. She still hadn’t forgiven Chris for getting her hot, making her kneel, and then walking out and leaving her that way.

  Maggie sighed. She planned to relax and read the rest of Jillian’s book before making her final, final decision. She’d read the foreword Jillian had written and the first two chapters, but now Chris sent her the full manuscript, including the introduction by Kris Comisky. Kris was a writer that Maggie respected, and it seemed that she, too, was a submissive. In her case, she submitted to two men. She’d written an article about it, too, Submission for Skeptics, detailing her journey of discovery as she’d struggled with the notion that pain could be part of pleasure and not abuse such as her sister suffered at the hands of her now ex-husband. Shockingly, he’d apparently attacked Kris, too, before being arrested and sent to prison.

  Maggie decided that she would have to talk to Kris. Her own baggage was different, but their struggles to accept the concept of submission were similar. Maybe Kris could give her insights, as she had finally come to terms with it and now proudly called herself a sub.

  Hell, when it came to submission, maybe it was Maggie who was the strange one.

  Once she got her bag, she caught a taxi to the Sonesta Great Bay hotel. It had been recommended to her by Aly, who had stayed there with Max not long ago. There were hotels closer to the airport, but this one was on the water and within walking distance of the downtown, so she went with her friend’s recommendation.

  Walking into the lobby, she wasn’t disappointed. The hotel was not too small and not too large at around 250 rooms. The lobby was well appointed and inviting with a superb view of the bay down below. There was a small casino with slot machines off to one side, a couple of private rooms and stairs leading down to the beach. The hotel was built into the hillside with two wings. She had booked an ocean-view room again on Aly’s recommendation and found that her fourth-floor room was in a wing to the left of the lobby, when facing the bay. And because the hotel was built into a hillside, the fourth floor was only a single flight of stairs up from the lobby. Her room was right at the top of the stairs on the right and was warm and welcoming. She tossed her bags onto one of the queen-sized beds and walked over to the window. She was delighted to find a small balcony and opened the door to walk outside and enjoy the beautiful warm air and take in the sights below.

  At ground level, immediately below her room on two levels, were the pools. And over to the right of the upper pool, she could see a patio and people eating hamburgers and pizza. Another level down was the bay. The sand looked great, and she could see an abundance of available loungers and umbrellas. That was a complaint she often had at resorts. A guest had to get up early to reserve a lounger, but there looked to be plenty here.

  Looking along the bay to the left, she could see the town of Philipsburg, capital of the Dutch side of the island, and then on the opposite side of the bay were the docks. There were a number of smaller boats docked and a single gigantic cruise ship, but there appeared to be room for more. Breathing deeply, she sighed, feeling at peace. If she pretended hard enough for the next few days, she could just be a tourist taking in the sights and forget about the fact that one week from day she would be heading over to Libertine Island for an intensive course in submission.

  She leaned down on the railing. The photographer in her was already framing the shots as she watched the setting sun. She checked her watch. It got dark early here. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, she thought as her stomach rumbled. She never ate on planes, and now she was starving. Hopefully dinner service started early. She yawned. Maybe room service tonight and an early start tomorrow. She decided she was going to walk around the property after breakfast and then take a walk into town. Heck, she might as well play tourist fully and book a tour of the island and maybe a little snorkeling while she was here.

  * * * *

  It was amazing what a good night’s sleep could do for her. Maggie felt refreshed as she picked up her bag and a camera with an all-purpose lens and headed down to breakfast. She filled her plate and turned to look for a table along the railing so she could look at the sea. It only took a moment for her to notice the shining cap of close-cropped blond hair and the broad-shouldered man to whom it belonged.

  Chris smiled at her and gestured with his cup for her to join him. She felt a jolt of awareness deep in the pit of her stomach and even lower. How did he do that?

  Walking over to his table, she paused and then sat down. She’d expected him to leap to his feet and hold the chair for her, but he had remained seated, smiling sweetly at her, so she’d pulled out her own chair and sat down.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Having a cup of coffee and enjoying the view.”

  “I can see that. But what are you doing here on St. Maarten at the Sonesta. Shouldn’t you be back in Chicago building something or over on Libertine planning to build something?”

  She knew her tone was petulant and childish, but his presence was doing things to her insides that she didn’t like and didn’t want. She planned on spending the next few days psyching herself up for her submission lessons with him. She’d planned on enjoying the sex and orgasms and getting Chris Hayes and the rest of the Hayes brothers out of her system once and for all, but she had resolved not to let him get to her and most especially not to let him see how he got to her.

  And now the bastard was smiling across the table at her oh so innocently like he didn’t notice how her suddenly hardened nipples were poking through the thin fabric of her top.

  “So, did you have any plans for the day?”

  Well, if he wanted to play it that way. She smiled. “I’d been thinking of taking an island tour and then maybe going snorkeling. What about you?”

  “Sounds like fun.” He pushed a pile of brochures across the table. “Why don’t you pick one out for us?”

  Maggie looked at him suspiciously, and then she took a quick look around to make sure that there was no one close enough to overhear her.

  “I thought you were some kind of a Dom. Shouldn’t you be telling me what tour to take?”

  “I’m not some kind of a Dom. I’m a Master Dom, qualified to teach newcomers the lifestyle. But I’m not your Dom, am I? As of Monday, I’ll be your training Dom, but until then, we are just two people from Chicago on vacation.”

  “And you can turn it off, just like that?”

  “Turn what off?” Maggie had to admit it. Either Chris was a top-notch actor or he had no idea what she was talking about.

  “Your Domness. I mean, you’re a Dom.”

  “Yes, we’ve established that point.”

  “Then why aren’t you trying to tell me what to do?”

  “I only give orders to my subs. You aren’t my sub. And even if you were, I told you before, I prefer to be in charge in the bedroom, playroom, the BDSM club, or island et cetera. Yes, I have certain rules that must be followed both in and out of the locations I’ve listed, but I’m not looking for a slave. Oh�
�—he grinned wickedly—“it’s fun to play at sometimes. I do enjoy a good role-play, but I’m not looking for someone who needs to be controlled twenty-four-seven.”

  “What kind of orders would apply around the clock? I mean, I read your e-mail, but you can’t seriously expect—”

  “Do you really want to discuss that now?” Chris interrupted. “Can’t we just relax and enjoy being tourists for a few days while we get to know each other better? Think of it a as a role-play.”

  He smiled and reached across the table.

  “Hi, I’m Chris. Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

  Automatically she took his hand and then regretted it, but he wouldn’t let her have hers back until she answered him.

  Fine.

  “Hi, Chris. I’m Maggie. It is a lovely day. There. Satisfied?”

  “Hardly, but that will come in time.” He grinned at her. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. The buffet looks great. Would you like me to make us both up a plate? Is there anything you particularly like or don’t like?”

  “Why?”

  “Because I want to make sure you like what I get you. Oh, or you mean why I want to get food for both of us? It’s because this place is filling up and I don’t want someone to nab our table while we’re filling our plates. I’ll just have to guess at what you like.”

  Maggie watched Chris walk away and had to admire his ass in a pair of silly flowered shorts that hung down to his knees. And then she noticed the other women and a couple of men admiring the view as well, and she wanted to tell them all to put their eyes back in their heads because he was hers, and that feeling really scared her.

  A few minutes later Chris returned with two loaded-down plates, which he placed on the table before disappearing again and returning with two glasses of juice.