by Leia Shaw
“Uh uh.” Brow wrinkled, she held up her hand, palm outward. “That’s too much.”
“Can’t you try it? For me? I need harder pain or you may as well swat me with cotton candy, and that –”
Reece hung her head, shook it. “Please don’t make me start with the cane.”
“Why did you ask me then?”
Time he stepped in. “Okay. Do you have a crop? Because that’s a good versatile implement. I can show you how to ramp up the pain if she wants you to.”
“Yeah, we have one. Can I just use that, Scarlet?”
Scarlet sighed. “Fine. I don’t want to stress you. The crop is fine.”
“I’ll go get it.” Reece hurried down the hallway as if she had far better places to be than near him, or maybe it was all the talk of hurting her girlfriend? This was going to be like herding cats.
And he was sure he’d read somewhere that when women said fine they meant World War Three was around the corner. But maybe these two were different? “Next decide where you want to do this. Here or the bedroom?”
“Here?” The blonde looked about. “Um. This isn’t where we normally get kinky.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t. Variety is the spice of kink. Doing it in the bedroom all the time can get to be as bad as doing it vanilla style.” He shrugged and grinned to defuse the dogma he was spewing. “Trust me. I’ve done it most places.”
“It?” She cocked her head. “Okay. For once I’ll trust you then. Let’s try here.”
“Good. And my next instruction...take off your jeans and either put on a thong or go without panties. If you want pain, you don’t want anything between you and the crop.”
Reece strolled back into the room with the aforementioned crop tucked under her arm. “Don’t think you’re getting me undressed. But you...” She smiled and grabbed the handle of the implement then waggled the crop at her girlfriend. “You made me miss my movies so it serves you right. Hmm. I wonder. Does this make you my bitch?”
In two strides, Scarlet was in her face and holding the tip of the crop. “What do you think?”
The stare she hit Reece with was intimidating enough to reinforce his idea of their real dynamic. When Reece quivered, but managed to return the stare, her neck still bowed backward a fraction. From the tension lines of her muscles and the widening of her eyes, the girl seemed to be responding as submissively as he’d expect her to when they hadn’t established rules. The two of them had chemistry all right. It just needed clarifying.
This whole crop thing might backfire.
“Are you going to call me your bitch?” Scarlet asked, still glaring.
“Uhhh, no?” She backed up and gently tugged the crop away from Scarlet. “I guess not. Not if you’re so darn determined about it. I was joking!”
“That’s what I thought.” Scarlet smiled on an otherwise unamused face. She turned to him. “I’ve got a thong on. Let’s do this.”
While she unbuttoned and slipped off her jeans, Malachi attempted nonchalance. Down boy, down. Long legs...long naked legs. Women had sure been given all the pretty when god had doled it out.
“Just, uh, bend over the arm of the couch?” Reece indicated where with the crop.
“No.” After looking around, Scarlet strode to a blank section of wall. “I’ll lean on this. You won’t hit anything here, other than me.”
He went and perched on the armrest of the sofa. “You’ve used it before, Reece? On her? You know where it’s safe to hit?”
“Yes. Her ass. Her thighs. Upper back, but not too hard. And yes, I know you can use either the rectangle at the end or the stick bit. That’s what she likes more.”
Her frown said that maybe she didn’t like using the shaft, which was understandable. Her whole attitude sucked for someone who claimed to be a top. But who knew? She might get the hang of it.
“Good. Get into position, Scarlet.” He pointed, watching as she put both hands to the wall with her body angled out so her butt was a good target. He spoke to Reece. “Now remember, she wants you to do this. She likes pain. Do you have a safeword, Scarlet?”
“Just red for stop, and green for go, and yellow if I want it harder.”
“Really? Yellow usually means the opposite. Slower or less painful.”
“I know.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Reece knows why.”
“Shush. I can do this. Ready?”
“Do it.”
He nodded too then folded his arms.
“I’ll do ten warm-up ones. Here we go.” She sucked in a breath. The first hit barely made a sound and Scarlet didn’t move at all.
After five hits he figured maybe he needed a hearing aid because he could barely hear a thing. Scarlet sighed. “Yellow. Harder, please. On my thighs.”
“Okay.” The next five were harder, but still Scarlet looked bored and exasperated while Reece was clearly not using much muscle.
He shoved to his feet. “Show me the crop.”
She handed it to him.
“You know you can use a wrist flick with this, or just brute force. But a flick can gain so much speed that it’s invariably better and more painful, as well as more accurate.” Then without much more warning than moving his stance, he smacked one onto Scarlet that cracked.
“Uh!” Reece flinched and stepped away. “That hard?”
“Yes.”
He noted Scarlet had shuffled her feet out a few inches, sticking her ass out further, making a nice round, perfectly feminine target.
Mmm. Though she wanted it on her thigh, he had an exquisite and sudden need to hit that roundness.
“Again.” The next five went to the left cheek then five on the right cheek. She was breathing faster and the last one made her gasp. Good. Malachi eyed the rectangles of red that were appearing where once had been white. Nice. He resisted stepping in and caressing the welts.
Damn this was hard. He could feel those welts almost. The heat, the softness of her skin.
“Three more. Watch, Reece. I think this?” He used the length of the stick and laid these three in a descending row across the crease of her backside. “Plus one,” he breathed, whacking the last on her upper thigh. Scarlet gave a high-pitched noise and shuddered.
“More. Please,” she rasped.
“Your turn again, princess.” He offered the crop handle. “Can you see that she likes it?”
Reece swallowed. Though she took the crop, her arm trembled. “Yeah, but...” Frowning, she looked up from her girlfriend’s ass and into his eyes. “That was so hard. I don’t know...”
He cocked his head. “Do it. No thinking anymore except for where and how hard. Just do.”
After sucking in a big lungful of air, Reece drew back her arm and swung. The crack as it hit Scarlet’s bottom made her jump and Scarlet shriek. Eyes widening, Reece put the back of her crop-wielding hand to her mouth. “Oh god.” Hesitantly she went to Scarlet. “Was that too much?” She swiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Head down, Scarlet grated out. “That was good. But more. A lot. More.”
“That hard?” She leaned into her girlfriend’s back and he heard her sniffle as she tentatively hugged her. “Oh, Scarlet, I can’t do this. I really can’t do it.”
Oh crap. He realized the last words had quavered. Scarlet was slow in responding so he stepped up and took the crop away before he placed his hand on Reece’s shoulder. “Hey. It’s okay. She’s not going to make you.”
“What?” Scarlet turned slowly but wrapped her arms about Reece and hugged her back. “Oh, kitten. No, I won’t. You’re crying? My poor girl, I never would have asked if I knew it would make you this upset.” Over the top of her girlfriend’s head, she eyed him. Then she shook her head in a little negation.
He knew when he wasn’t needed and backed away, mouthing, “I’ll go.”
She smiled weakly, smoothing her hand down Reece’s glossy tangle of brown curls.
The last he saw as he closed the door was the two of them still cuddling.
He leaned against the wall outside, thinking. That hadn’t gone well, but at least they knew Reece wasn’t a top. He ached inside. Funny how, for a second, he’d felt so lost, looking at them. It wasn’t just the crying though, it was an odd loss, like he’d missed an opportunity, or like maybe he wanted to be there with them. That was it. He’d wanted to be in on it – wanted to join in on that hug.
“Fuck.” He straightened and ran his hand through his hair. “I need to find a new girlfriend. I’m pathetic.”
Chapter 7
Reece waved wildly when Sabrina entered the mall foyer. When she caught sight of Reece, she smiled.
A shopping trip with her best friend was just what Reece needed to clear her mind. When she’d texted Sabrina last night in a panic, they’d arranged to meet here just before lunch today. After the embarrassing incident with Malachi last night, some retail therapy was definitely in order. She still couldn’t believe she’d lost her cool and cried in front of him. Maybe Sabrina would have some advice about where to go from here. It was pretty nice having a friend in the lifestyle. Who else would she ever broach the subject with? Though there were probably real sex therapists for that. But shopping and a chat with Sabrina were way better.
“Hey, girl!” Sabrina gave her a big hug then looked her over and frowned. “Working from home today?”
It was almost unheard of for Reece to leave the house wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt, but she just wasn’t in the mood to mess around with real clothes today. “Just pretend you can’t see –” She gestured to her outfit. “– all of this.”
Sabrina’s eyes sparkled and a slow smile spread across her face. “Mmm. You sure you wanna go there?”
She laughed. “Oh now you’re fully bi instead of just bi for Q?”
“Maybe,” she answered with a mysterious shrug.
No one would guess the sunny blonde was madly in love with a tattooed girl with a Mohawk and pierced nipples. “I’m telling Q you flirted with me.”
Sabrina gasped. “You wouldn’t!”
Though Sabrina complained Q was a hard-ass Domme, Reece had seen her melt for her bratty girlfriend on more than one occasion. “I’d tell just to see you get your ass beat.”
“Bitch,” she mumbled under her breath. “Can I bribe you with ice cream?”
“What kind?”
“Any kind you want, baby.”
“Well...okay. But only if there’s no calories.”
She shook her head. “There’s never calories in the ice cream I buy.”
“Perfect!”
Sabrina grinned and they started down the hallway.
“Where’s Zen?”
The threesome’s toddler daughter was usually found trailing behind Sabrina while Q and Jude worked daytime hours, since she had the most flexible schedule.
“It’s Sunday, silly! Q’s home. Thank god. She’s just starting to walk and wants nothing to do with the stroller anymore. Stubborn child. She’s just like Q.” She heaved a tired sigh.
“Oh! Let’s buy her some new clothes! That’ll cheer me up.”
“Nooo.” Sabrina shook her head fiercely. “I’ve been banned from buying her more clothes or shoes for at least a year.”
“Aww.” She and Sabrina had the common goal of turning Zenobia into their little fashion doll. Q had started out insisting they raise the child gender neutral but she really should’ve known better. Sabrina couldn’t resist Mary Janes and a foofy dress. Jude often left those disagreements up to the girls to figure out. But she admired her friend’s skill at parenting. Even if Zen was wearing a fancy dress, the tags barely off, Sabrina never stopped her from jumping in a mud puddle. Unless they were on the way to church, of course. “What if we shop winter clearance racks and buy a size up?”
“Hmm.” She thought for a moment. “That’ll work.”
She had to laugh at Sabrina’s ability to get her way. Even Reece found herself shaking her head at her ability to negotiate out of a situation. “You’re such a brat.”
With an eyebrow raised, she replied, “So are you. You just haven’t grown into your brattiness yet, but it’s in there.”
The reminder of her original reason to shop made her sigh. As usual, Sabrina picked up on her mood. “Aw. What happened? Tell me everything. Oh!” She pointed to the frozen yogurt stand ahead. “Good timing. Here’s our ice cream.”
After they ordered their treats – loaded up with chocolate – they took a seat at a nearby table. “So the emergency shopping trip has something to do with kink,” Sabrina guessed.
Reece nodded. “I cried in front of Malachi.” Saying it out loud made her wince. She was pathetic. The worst part was knowing that she couldn’t be the one to meet Scarlet’s need for pain. It was a huge failure on her part. How could they ever work around something so important and still have an awesome sex life? Scarlet could give her everything she wanted, and all she had to do was lie there and appreciate it. How long until Scarlet started to feel she was being taken advantage of? She hated that she was such a baby about it, but being forced to hit her last night – hard, not just a swat – was like being forced to hit herself. She didn’t have a sadistic bone in her body. And if she kept trying, even for Scarlet, she felt like it could break her.
“Oh my god!” Sabrina reached over the table and grabbed her hand. “Did he hit you too hard?” The second part was a harsh whisper.
“Hit me?” she repeated as Sabrina’s grip hardened. “Ouch. You’re hurting me. Why on earth would he hit me?”
After releasing her hand, she shrugged. “He’s a Dom and played with you guys. I figured it might go that far. You are bi, you know, even though you haven’t been with a man in a while.”
That didn’t mean she was attracted to Malachi. Okay, she was attracted to him. Who wouldn’t be? But not in a real relationship way. He was just eye candy and a kink therapist. Guilt immediately filled her that she’d reduced him to so little.
“No. He’s not getting involved that way.” An idea formed. A crazy one, but something to explore. “Hey. Do you think he’d top Scarlet some time? Platonically. So she can...experiment and see how much she likes it.” She frowned. “It’s kinda weird though, huh? Doing kinky stuff with someone you’re not going to have sex with and have no real relationship with?”
Sabrina shrugged. “Ask him. People top each other without sex all the time in clubs. It’s about meeting mutual needs.” At Reece’s hesitation, she added, “He’s a nice guy. I wouldn’t have suggested him if I didn’t trust him to take care of you two.”
“Yeah. He seems to have changed since high school, but there’s still a part of me that’s holding back. Like I can’t quite get there. Sometimes when I look at him, all I see is that awkward kid who made everyone laugh at me. Then I just wanna kick him in the shins.”
Sabrina snorted a laugh with ice cream in her mouth then started coughing. When she settled down she said, “I dare you to try. He’s goofy but he’s definitely a Dom. I’ve seen him with Ivy. He can put a sub in her place as well as Jude or Cross.”
“Ivy?” A girlfriend?
“His ex. He was heartbroken when she broke up with him. I guess she wanted someone stricter. Malachi is...” She stopped and seemed to consider her words for a moment. “He’s a more lenient Dom. Some girls need someone who’ll control every part of their life. Someone who’ll discipline them for real, not just, like funishment. Which is usually what I get from Jude and Q.”
She arched a brow. “Funishment?”
“Like pretend punishment. It could be embarrassing or even painful but we all know we like it. But some subs want that sort of thing all the time, not just in a sexual context.”
“I’ve seen Jude and Q dom you outside of the bedroom.” It was hot and she envied her friend during those times even though she swore up and down she’d hate it if it happened to her.
She shrugged. “Yeah we’re kind of in between. But my Doms are lazy. I get away with a lot. Plus they like brats. Some peop
le in the lifestyle are more serious. Like Cross used to be.”
A picture formed. Big guy, lots of tattoos, fierce expression. He’d been at Zen’s baptism and other family events. He seemed close to Jude and Q especially. And yeah, he looked like the strict type.
“Used to be?”
“Gemma and Izzy sorted him out.” She grinned. “Gemma works with Mal. She’s a tattoo artist. Cross has his hands full with her. And Izzy’s not much better. She’s such a smartass.” She chuckled to herself. “But they’re good for him. They keep him balanced, you know?”
Not really, but she nodded anyway. So Malachi had been dumped because he wasn’t strict enough. Poor guy. Seemed like a silly reason but... Her own situation could turn out the same way. Doubt struck her. What if she asked Malachi to top Scarlet and Scarlet liked it so much she decided she couldn’t live without it? Would she break up with Reece?
A twinge of pain hit her chest and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. It was a possibility, but it was only fair for her to experience being topped properly. They’d talked marriage a few times in the past few months. For now they’d have to hop next door to New York or Connecticut to make it legal. But Scarlet shouldn’t make a lifelong commitment without knowing if she and Reece were compatible in the bedroom. An unhappy sex life could split up even the most dedicated couple. And she didn’t believe in divorce.
Tears pricked at her eyes. She couldn’t lose Scarlet. She was the best thing that had ever happened to Reece. But she couldn’t live with herself if she withheld something Scarlet desired so strongly. If Reece truly loved her, she’d give her this. And if it came down to it, like Malachi, she’d let her go if she wasn’t enough. Maybe she and Malachi could form a lonely hearts club. He could coach her on getting over heartbreak. Kinky therapist turned real therapist.
She shook her head. You’re being overdramatic. First things first. Talk to Malachi.
“He’s probably not at the tattoo shop today, huh?” she mused, disappointed.
“He might be. He’s there almost every day. Even if there aren’t customers, he cleans and paints and stuff. That shop is like his second home.”
Perfect.