“What are you up to?” he asked, walking out the door.
* * *
The drizzle had turned into sheets of rain quite suddenly. Livvie pulled the canoe to the water’s edge, doubting whether or not this was the best time to execute her plan. She was soaked already and the rapids seemed rougher than ever. But she was running out of time, she needed to act now. And it was just a small piece she’d have to cross. Once on the other side, she’d climb out, get on land, and be on her way home.
Home. Was Magnus One her home? No. Not anymore. This was home.
She made a noise and hauled the canoe the rest of the way, setting the first part of it into the water. Home or not, she had to get to Katie.
She picked up the oars that lay inside the canoe, pushed it a little further and just got inside when the current picked the canoe up and began to carry it down river. She let out a small scream when the force of it knocked her back and she lost one of the oars over the side of the boat.
“Olivia!” Hayden’s voice carried over the rapids and she turned just as the canoe hit a rock and flipped. She went into the freezing river, submerged fully. Her scream was swallowed by the water as the current pulled her along. The sound was remarkably peaceful even as she tumbled, her foot catching on a rock, giving her just enough so that she could momentarily grip it, gulping in air as she broke the water’s surface.
Hayden’s large hand reached for her and lifted her halfway into his boat before he had to let go of her to control the progress of the canoe. She pulled herself in the rest of the way, coughing up the water she’d swallowed, not sure which were tears and which were river water. She didn’t open her eyes, but lay shivering, huddled in around herself as he guided the canoe to the water’s edge and, with some effort, out of the raging river.
“Are you all right?” he asked, lifting her sopping body out of the bottom of the canoe.
She put her hands on his shoulders, both needing him to stand and needing to feel the solid mass of him there with her.
“Olivia, look at me,” he said, gripping her jaw and lifting her face to his.
She coughed, her eyes still watering. Without another word he lifted her and carried her home through what had now become a full lightning storm the likes of which Livvie had never seen.
* * *
Hayden was pissed. Well, now he was pissed, after the terrified shitless part had passed. When her collar had led him toward the river and he’d seen her dragging the canoe into the raging water, he’d about lost his mind. And he’d been just in time.
He stood in the kitchen drinking a whiskey, something he rarely did. He was still shaking, but whether that was because of the fact that he’d been afraid he’d lost her to the river or at how furious he was now that he knew she hadn’t been injured, he wasn’t sure.
She was sitting in the bathtub getting warm now. He’d told her not to bother to dress, but to report downstairs for punishment in—he checked his watch—just three more minutes.
Her footfalls on the tile floor were quiet. Hayden turned to face her. She stood small, repentant almost, wrapped in a towel, her long dark hair braided down her back.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he asked.
“My sister,” was all she said, her big eyes on him.
He put his drink down, conflicted. “You could have died if I hadn’t been there. Did that idea even cross your mind?” He tried to control the tone of his voice.
She stared up at him. “I had to try, Hayden.”
“So what was your plan exactly?”
“I was going to rescue her and bring her back here to camp.”
His eyebrows went up. “On foot after crossing the river?”
“I don’t know! Jenna had her baby and watching her like that, with Anna…then you told me last night we’d attack within two weeks. Two weeks, Hayden! I can’t be a part of an attack that could hurt my sister. I can’t. And I can’t just forget about her!”
“Then why didn’t you talk to me? I’m not unreasonable!”
“You wouldn’t have let me go!”
“No, you’re right about that. I wouldn’t have let you go off in a canoe in the middle of a fucking thunderstorm!” He turned away for a moment, took a deep breath before turning back. “But you should have talked to me, told me what you were feeling. Damn it, Livvie,” he said, taking a step toward her. “Have I been so awful to you that you can’t even talk to me?”
She started crying quietly and shaking her head. “No. You haven’t been awful at all.”
He looked at her for a while, then gathered her in his arms. “You should have talked to me. Don’t you think I’ve been thinking of her too? Trying to figure out a way we can get her out?”
She looked up at him. “You have?”
He shook his head and looked away. “Christ, Livvie. Shane’s going to have my fucking head.”
“You’re going to rescue Katie?” she asked, smiling a small smile, the relief being so great.
“I’m going to try.”
“Hayden! Thank you. Thank you so much!” She wrapped her arms around him.
“Don’t get too excited just yet, we have to deal with your punishment.”
She stiffened and took a step back.
“Take off the towel and bend over the back of the couch,” he said, reaching for his belt buckle.
Her eyes grew wider as he slid the belt from its loops.
“You’re going to use that?” she asked.
“You could have been killed today. This is going to have to hurt. It needs to be a real lesson. Tell me, do you think I shouldn’t punish you?”
“I made a mistake,” she said.
“What if I hadn’t gotten there on time? And it’s not only that, Olivia. What about Jenna? Little Sarah? The contacts you’ve made her, the friends. The mission?”
“I know, I understand. I just…I couldn’t choose them over my sister. I still can’t.”
“And if you’d trusted me enough, you would have known that you didn’t have to.”
She looked at him for a moment; he could almost hear her thinking.
When she nodded, he doubled the belt in his hand and gestured for her to take position.
She slowly slipped her towel off. He followed her to the back of the couch where she leaned over slightly.
“Bend all the way over, face in the seat.”
“How many?” she asked before complying, eyeing the belt.
“Enough to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Down. Now.”
She bent forward, laying her torso over the back of the couch, her hands on the seat. Her back was stiff and she looked straight ahead into the mirror that hung over the top of the fireplace. She could watch her entire punishment, should she choose to.
Hayden touched the toe of his shoe to one bare foot and she spread her legs wider. The pink of her pussy lips peeked out and Hayden’s cock reacted. He adjusted the crotch of his pants and lifted the belt. This was punishment, it was to teach. Gripping the belt tightly, he brought it down hard.
* * *
Olivia gasped. He’d never used his belt before and the pain was worse, much worse than she expected or even imagined. He swung again, hitting across her buttocks, landing just below the first stroke. The belt wrapped a little, making her howl. She rounded her back, shifting her feet when the third landed, followed quickly by a fourth, fifth, and sixth.
“Ow, ow.” she groaned, hopping from foot to foot and covering her buttocks.
He changed his position slightly. “Be still and get your hands back on the couch now,” he said. “I’m not even warmed up, Olivia. Take the punishment you earned.”
He waited until she’d stilled before he laid the next set down again in quick succession. “Owww, please, please, please!” she begged, sweating now.
“Legs wider and arch your back. If you clench, it will be worse,” he warned.
She whimpered; it was the onl
y way she could work through the pain.
He whipped her harder, strokes coming fast and furious, covering her buttocks, her thighs. Her flesh quivered, but he didn’t let up as she sobbed into the cushions of the couch.
“I’m sorry, please,” she begged, her body almost limp.
“Five to go, you’ll take them on your thighs and you’ll take them without a sound. But something else first. Remain bent over, reach back, and spread yourself open.”
* * *
Hayden felt her eyes on him as he went to retrieve what he’d put in the freezer.
“I hope you’ll be in position when I get back, Olivia. I’d hate to add strokes.”
“Yes, Sir,” she said.
This was going to be difficult but he needed to make sure she never did anything like this again. There was too much hanging in the balance.
He took the largest of the plugs out of the freezer. The steel was ice cold and he knew it would burn her from the inside out as she took the last of her strokes. Looking around the cupboards, he found a jar of oil and poured some onto the palm of his hand. He then fisted the plug and returned to find her still bent over. She stared at him through tear-stained eyes.
Her buttocks and thighs were already marked, the belt clearly outlined in some areas and the rest of her bright red. She was in pain. He held up the plug.
“You’ll wear it for the remainder of your punishment, including the corner time. And I’ve just added five strokes because you have, once again, disobeyed.”
“No!”
“Shall I increase it to fifteen?”
“Please, no.”
“Decide how many it’s going to be.”
She reached back and pulled her cheeks apart and he noticed the flush that covered her neck and face. He’d seen every inch of her, touched every inch of her, Christ, he’d fucked her ass and she’d begged for it, but he knew what he was asking of her now added a whole other layer of humiliation.
“It’s so cold!”
“No more talking unless I ask you a question, understood?”
“Yes, Sir.”
She made a sound as he pressed the plug into her bottom hole, his own cock harder than the steel of the toy now. God, he wanted to fuck her, fuck her hard. But no, not now. This was to teach, he reminded himself again.
“It’s going in, Olivia. You can make it easy or hard.”
She shuffled a bit, but he kept up the pressure. He wouldn’t touch her clit or make it easy on her. After today, she’d think twice before pulling a stunt like that.
She whimpered while he worked it in, but she was pushing against the plug, trying to take it. The length and width of it would test her though and when he got it to the widest part, he could see she had squeezed her eyes shut and was biting her lip to keep quiet.
“There,” he said. “Put your hands back on the seat of the couch,” he said, going to the kitchen to wash his hands before returning and picking up the belt again. He met her eyes in the mirror. “How does that feel inside your ass?” he asked.
“It’s cold. It almost burns, it’s so cold.”
“Keep your eyes on me the entire time. You’ll count each stroke, but you won’t even whimper. Remind me again how many it was.”
“Ten, Sir.”
“And why was it ten?”
“Because I wasn’t in the position you wanted me in, Sir.”
“And why are you in this mess to begin with?”
“Because I disobeyed you, I didn’t trust you enough. I put you and myself in danger. Sir.”
“Do you deserve to be punished?”
She nodded a small nod. “Yes, Sir.”
“Do you deserve these last strokes?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl.”
She watched him raise his arm and cringed when he brought the belt down across her thighs.
“One,” she cried out. He could almost hear her trying to keep the scream she wanted to make contained within that one sound.
He had struck at the juncture of her buttocks and thighs and placed the next one directly beneath it.
“I hope I don’t need to remind you again that you’ll be absolutely still and take your punishment without a sound except for the count.”
“Yes, Sir. Two.”
He struck her hard, lining each one just beneath the last and the tracing the pattern back up. By the time she called out ten, tears were pouring down her face and onto the couch.
“Stand up,” he said.
She did so slowly and he imagined the large plug didn’t help.
“Kneel.” He held the belt before her.
“Hands at your low back. Kiss the belt and thank me.”
She looked at him for a moment before clasping her hands behind her back and leaning her face forward, keeping her ass off her thighs as she kissed the belt. The shiny base of the steel plug glinted as it caught the light of the overhead lamp.
She straightened. “Thank you, Sir.”
“Pick up the belt, Olivia.”
She did.
“Slide it through the loops of my pants and buckle it, then go kneel facing the corner please, hands behind your head, legs spread to shoulder width.”
She did as he said, her hands trembling as she put his belt back through its loops. His cock was hard and when she brushed against it accidentally, he had to suck in a breath. She looked at the corner, confused for a moment, and began to rise.
“You don’t have permission to rise,” he said, watching her struggle with her humiliation as she realized how she’d get to the corner.
He watched as she crawled on hands on knees, a part of him more aroused than he’d ever been, a part of him feeling sorry for her and yet another part knowing he needed to make his point. He’d had to spank her before, but those offenses were nothing like what she’d done today. He only hoped this would be the end of it.
Chapter Eleven
Livvie wept silently as she knelt naked, her nose pressed against the wall. This humiliation was far greater than she could have imagined. Being spanked was embarrassing enough. When he added the plug and made her participate in its insertion, she would have welcomed the earth opening and swallowing her up. The few moments when she’d knelt at his feet had, unbelievably, aroused her and now, serving her time in the corner took both her shame and her arousal to a whole other level.
But when the door opened without a knock and Shane walked in, she wanted only to die.
“We’ve got a prob…” Shane was saying.
Hayden turned to look at him, his expression calm, the opposite of Livvie’s panic.
“Oh. Shit, I should have knocked,” Shane said, meeting Olivia’s mortified gaze.
“Olivia, resume your position. You did not have permission to move.”
“I’ll come back,” Shane said, trying to avert his gaze.
“Not necessary,” Hayden said, his eyes on Livvie. “Olivia needed correction. Your presence here only makes me more confident that she will never repeat the offense.”
Olivia’s face burned with shame and she was at least grateful for the fact that Shane kept his eyes on Hayden, perhaps in an attempt to ease her humiliation.
“Do I have to spank you in front of Shane?” Hayden asked.
“No, Sir,” she said and turned quickly to face the wall.
“Hands at the back of your head. Now.”
She couldn’t even cry as she stood staring at the wall, her ass and thighs on fire, very aware of the plug inside her, very aware of the marks that reddened her backside that Shane would have seen.
“I’m sorry, I should have knocked,” Shane said.
“What’s going on?” Hayden asked.
“Hunters have been patrolling airspace close to Moon Bay.”
“How close?”
“Close enough to send everyone to the underground shelters.”
“Shit. Since when?”
“Earlier today.”
“All right. Head down to hea
dquarters, collect everyone there. I’ll be down in fifteen minutes.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Shane left and closed the door behind him.
“Olivia,” came Hayden’s voice. “Turn around.”
She turned slowly, her eyes accusing without words.
“I need to head out, as you heard, but your corner time isn’t over yet. I want you there for a full hour, which means you owe me about forty-five minutes more. Can I trust that when I leave here, you will remain in that position for the time?”
“Yes, Sir,” she said, not sure at all.
“Good.” He took off his watch and placed it on the coffee table. “My watch will indicate when your time is up,” he said. “Don’t disappoint me again.”
“I won’t, Sir.”
Hayden walked toward the door.
“Sir?” she asked.
“Yes?”
“Can I take the plug out?”
“After your time is up.”
“But…”
“Turn back around,” he said, coming up behind her and grasping one tender buttock, kneading it. He kissed her cheek. “You took your punishment well, Livvie. I’m proud of you,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
Warm tears filled her eyes once again and she nodded. “Thank you, Sir.”
“When I saw you out there on that canoe, I was terrified I’d lose you.”
She met his gaze and saw the tenderness there.
“I’m sorry and I’m glad you were there. Even though my bottom feels like it’s on fire right now.”
They both smiled weakly. He kissed her once more, this time softly on the lips and left.
Livvie stared straight ahead and didn’t move her arms from behind her head. She didn’t relax her stance or try to rub out the burn of her bottom and as she knelt there, her pussy grew wetter and wetter, her clit swelling, needing attention. It wasn’t until after the alarm went off indicating the end of her time at the wall that she went upstairs. There, in front of the wall of mirrors that made up the closet doors, she turned her back and lightly touched the welts, wincing a little as she did. She touched the base of the plug and put her hand on the arm of a nearby chair as she bent forward and looked at herself as he’d seen her. She pressed on the steel weight, then knelt on the floor, keeping her eyes on her backside as her other hand found her clit and when she came, she moaned loudly, laying her face on the floor as her body convulsed with her orgasm.
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