by Avery Gale
Mitch continued pacing for a few minutes, drinking his beer and muttering to himself before finally settling down and facing his friend. “I was listening, and she was thinking about how she doesn’t think she’ll ever find love because her associations with men have not been like that…Then she was remembering some asshat named Bobby Murrell who kept her in a cage in his basement until Dylan and Mia found her. I know they’d been working on a big drug case right before Dylan’s cover was blown and then Mia moved on to a human-trafficking case that was an offshoot. Fuck me. I can’t believe someone put her in a cage.” He’d resumed his pacing. The main living area was a long room, but Mitch’s stride was eating it up in just a few steps from end to end. “I’ll call Dylan. I know he’s taking Mia on an island vacation, but damn it, he owes me an explanation about this.” With that he stormed off toward the office, leaving Bryant gaping in disbelief.
An hour later Mitch sat on the front deck drinking beer and giving Bryant the lowdown on what little information he had finally been able to squeeze out of the local sheriff. The rain had cleared, and the southern-facing deck, with its glass windows reflecting the warm sunshine, was nearly as warm as the inside of the house. Mitch sat down and explained. “Dylan said that he and Mia had been working on a huge drug case, and when they couldn’t get warrants to search for drugs, he was sure the judge had to be in Murrell’s pocket. But they got a hot tip that Murrell was holding a woman in the house they’d been watching, and since that involves the immediate safety of an individual, they were able to enter the house without a warrant.” Taking a long draw on his beer, his eyes turned dark and furious as he continued. “Dylan said they found Rissa in a cage under the stairs. She was naked, had been nearly starved to death, and had serious medical issues that he didn’t want to elaborate on. He did say that he’d tracked her recovery process and knew she had recovered from all the physical abuse, but he was equally sure she’s still reeling from the emotional trauma. And that is why he’d warned us against a public punishment for her when Jenna was paddled at The Club before the Annual Submissive’s Masquerade.”
“Do you mean Rissa was the other sub who left the spa and club the other morning without a security escort?” When Mitch nodded, Bryant rolled his eyes. “Jesus, I didn’t know who the other woman was, just that Colt was seven kinds of pissed at Jenna and said the other woman would be dealt with by her Dom.” Looking up at Mitch’s small quirk of a smile he added, “Oh damn, you’re the Dom he was talking about? Oh shit, our little pixie has a lot of punishments racked up, but I sure as hell want to know what’s going on in her head before we start in paddling that sweet ass of hers.”
“It’s time to go get her and have a heart-to-heart chat, don’t you think?” Mitch was headed to the door when Rissa stepped out wearing a pair of Mitch’s boxers and a T-shirt that hung past her knees. She’d obviously taken a shower and her hair hung in a wet, loose braid down her back. When Mitch saw her he smiled and reached for her hand. “Well, sweetheart, I was just on my way to get you. I was just telling Bryant here what I’d heard from you and then what little Dylan Marshall was willing to share. We’d like you to fill in some of the blanks.”
When Rissa’s smile melted, Bryant stepped up. “Sweetness, we don’t want to cause you any more emotional pain, but we do want to help you recover, and in order to do that we need to know what we’re all facing here, do you understand?” Bryant was a well-trained Dom, and he knew it was important to make sure a sub clearly understood what was being requested of him or her. Punishing someone for not complying with a directive or goal they didn’t understand was counterproductive to building trust and since trust was always the foundation upon which all Ds relationships were built, clarification was essential.
Rissa looked at Bryant for a long moment, searching his face for any hint of deception or anger, and she’d seen enough of both in her lifetime to consider herself an expert. When she merely nodded, Bryant leaned closer, his voice was pitched low and laced with steel intent. “Not good enough, sweetness. We need you to speak the words of your answers, nodding and shaking your head will not be considered answering.”
“Yes, I understand.” Rissa’s voice was clear but child soft. At Bryant’s raised eyebrow, she amended, “Yes, I understand, Sir.”
“Good girl, now come over here. We’ve made you something to eat while you fill us in.” Leading Rissa to the porch swing, sitting her in between the two of them, they handed her a small plate then pushed off, letting the slow-rocking motion lure her into sharing some of her painful history.
Chapter Five
By the time Rissa was finished talking, she was surprised at how energized she felt. She had never shared some of those painful memories with anyone, and quite frankly it felt like someone had lifted a huge burden off her shoulders. When she took a deep breath and let it out, she looked up afraid she might see pity, but all she saw was compassion in both of their expressions.
Mitch was the first to speak. “Damn, Rissa, you are one brave woman. I can’t tell you how impressed I am at what you have survived. Hell, I thought you were a strong woman before, but Christ, you are one amazing young lady.” When she gasped and then grinned ear to ear, Bryant reached for her hand.
Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, Bryant said, “You know, this whole past year while I was working on the bridge in Japan, my best friend sitting beside you had been emailing me about this incredible woman he couldn’t wait for me to get home and meet.” His eyes found hers, and his expression softened. “I’ve never known Mitch Grayson to lie, ever, and this is no exception.” He turned his gaze to Mitch. “Brother, she is everything you said she was and more.”
“You mean you still want to spend time with me?” Rissa was genuinely surprised and knew they would hear the surprise in her voice. Even though she felt better by venting everything, she hadn’t expected them to still want her. She still felt like damaged goods and knew the issues she was still dealing with might never be completely healed. She had avoided any close relationships because she hadn’t wanted to burden anyone with the baggage that had become her life.
“Oh, sweetness, more than you can possibly imagine.” Bryant’s expression had gone molten in a heartbeat.
Mitch’s expression was filled with desire when he spoke to her. “Baby, you have no fucking idea how long I have been waiting for this opportunity. There is nothing in this world I want more at this moment than to sink in to your sweet body. I plan to be so deep inside you, it’s going to be impossible to know where you stop and I begin.” He smiled at the flush that worked its way up her neck until her face was bright red with a combination of embarrassment at his statement and her own arousal. “But first, I believe we have a little punishment to get out of the way first.” Mitch wouldn’t have thought her face could have flushed any brighter red, but he would have been wrong, she went completely crimson, hell even the part in her hair was bright red. When Mitch glanced over at Bryant, he could see his friend was fighting a smile. “Stand up, baby.”
Rissa stood slowly then turned to face them both. “I–I’m scared.” Her stuttered words nearly broke Mitch’s resolve, but luckily Bryant was able to find his voice.
“Sweetness, do you believe either of us would ever hurt you beyond what you can really endure?” When she only shook her head, he merely raised an eyebrow at her.
“No, Sir,” she answered quickly.
“Good girl, now before you lay yourself across Master Mitch’s lap, what are your safe words and when should you use them?” Bryant’s words were softly spoken but firm and brooked no argument.
“Red means stop, that I can’t handle it either emotionally or physically. When I say ‘Red’ everything stops for at least the rest of that day, and we have to discuss it and decide what our next action will be.” She stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. “And ‘Yellow’ means I need things to slow down, that I’m getting close to things being too much, and you may or may not change how things are go
ing.” Amazing that she’d retained the information Mitch had briefly explained earlier considering all she’d been through the last few days.
“Very good, sweetness. Now lay over Master Mitch’s lap, he’ll be giving you the first half of the swats, and I’ll finish up the last half. Have you ever had a spanking, Rissa?” Bryant would have bet his last dime she had not been spanked as a child, and God knew the horrible treatment she’d experienced at the hands of her captors wouldn’t compare to the feel of their hands warming her bare ass.
“No, Sir, well, not unless you count the beatings that…” Her whole body shivered, and she started to back away from them, her eyes growing huge with fear.
“Stop!” Bryant’s sharp tone froze her in her tracks. “First of all, little one, never back away from your Dom, especially when you are being prepared for a punishment you have earned. And second, I thought we just established that you know in your heart neither of us would ever give you any more pain than you can handle.” He paused and waited while she worked it through in her mind.
Holy shit, could she really go through with this? They were going to be spanking her, she’d never been forced to lie across a lap and have her rear end paddled. She knew Kat had sworn it was worth misbehaving just to get a spanking, and heaven knew she’d heard plenty of other subs say the same thing while they’d been chatting in the spa. Hell, most of them swore having their pussies waxed was much more painful than a good spanking. Well, she had two choices, either pay up or safe word out and never know what could have been. Was this what her Granny had been talking about? You gotta live out loud, girl…She remembered her words so clearly. Taking a deep breath, her decision made, she slowly lowered herself over Mitch’s lap.
Mitch had listened as she’d worked it all out. Damn if she wasn’t the bravest woman he’d ever known. He scooted her forward so that her pert little ass was in the perfect position for his hand to warm it right up. They had purposely let her leave her clothing on. They’d be baring her ass for her, there was something about only having their ass bare that made subs feel even more vulnerable than if the Dom punished them while they were completely naked. Mitch placed his left hand in the middle of her back, and then grasping the hem of the T-shirt Rissa was wearing with his right hand, he slowly pulled up until he could tuck it under his left palm. When he slid his fingers into the waistband of the boxer shorts, he felt her stiffen and heard her sniffle. Fuck, if she is already crying, I’m never going to get through this. “You have a beautiful ass, baby, I can’t wait to see it change from white to pink to red.” He pulled the shorts down until they were at her knees. God her ass was glorious, perfect handfuls of lush flesh that are going to move with the perfect amount of jiggle when my hand connects with it.
The first swat startled her, as much from the loud smack of hand on bare flesh as the instant fire it sent through her tender flesh. Her sharp, “Shit, that hurt!” had Mitch smiling. He knew it had stung, but he also knew that before the second, third, and fourth swats had landed on alternating ass cheeks, she was already feeling the electricity shooting straight from her burning ass to her clit. He could already smell her arousal, and he was only half done. He stopped for a moment to rub her hot cheeks, holding the heat to her, building the anticipation.
“Your ass is a beautiful shade of pink already, baby, it’s going to be fucking unbelievable by the time Master Bryant rains his palm down on you. He has a harder swat than I do, you’ll really feel his strikes. Where are we, baby? Give me a color.” Mitch wanted to bring her back down a bit, make her refocus on the purpose of this punishment. She was quickly starting to float, and while they didn’t want to cause her any pain, this lesson had to be learned. Failing to follow instructions could be—hell it had been—dangerous to a sub’s safety, and deliberately lying to a Dom let alone a Dungeon Master was absolutely one of the worst things she could have done. Hell, this was going to be only one of the punishments she was going to have for that offense.
The Club’s bylaws required a public punishment involving at least one of the owners and the Dom responsible for the sub and the Dom the sub had lied to. Both he and Bryant had talked with Alex and Zach extensively about how to best proceed. On the one hand, neither of the Lamonts wanted to lay a hand on Rissa, but they knew their members deserved consistency when enforcing the rules. But it had been noted that even though the punishment had to be open to the view of the general membership, nothing in the rules stated at what time it had to take place. So they had decided the public portion of her punishment would take place at one o’clock in the afternoon the day after they returned Rissa to The Club. At that time of day, there would be very few people present, but they would still be fulfilling the obligation of a “public” punishment. “Rissa, I asked you a question, I want an answer, now.”
“Um, oh, sorry, I’m green, Sir.” Her breathy response told him she had come back down a bit, but not enough.
“Rissa, tell me why you are being punished. What was the first offense?” Mitch had stilled his hand over the crease between her upper thigh and the rounded underside of her ass, a particularly sensitive spot for most women, and he knew her anticipation of a swat there would be helping her focus on what was happening to her backside. He almost chuckled out loud when he saw her ass cheeks clench together. Oh yeah, baby, I’m going make sitting and walking a little tough for you, and Bryant is going to light your ass up like the Fourth of July. You aren’t going to be inclined to lie to a Dom ever again once he’s finished blistering your bottom, that’s for sure. And Alex’s and Zach’s paddle is going to probably keep you from sitting again after we return, but you’ll remember this rule forever.
“I, um, I left the spa with Jenna and we didn’t wait for an escort, like we’d been told to, oh, God, please…” Rissa wanted to come so bad. Crap on a cracker, how on earth could having his hand pound of her bare butt make her so horny?
Mitch looked up at Bryant, both of them wide-eyed, hell he’d known she had been heading in to subspace, that endorphin-induced “happy place” that some subs went into under just the right circumstances, but damn, he couldn’t believe she was responding so strongly this fast. Fuck me, sex with Rissa is going to be something close to a religious experience if she is this responsive all the time. Mitch leaned down, so he spoke close to her ear. “Don’t you fucking dare come without permission, little girl, or you are going to be in deeper shit than you already are, do you understand?” And he punctuated his question with two hard swats.
Rissa cried out and then stuttered a tearful, “Yes, Master Mitch, I’m sorry, it just, well, I don’t even know how to describe it…”
Three more really sharp swats cut her words off, and then he quickly set her up on her feet. Hell, they were going to have to get the last half of this done quickly or she was going to shoot off like a rocket, and he knew neither he nor Bryant wanted to have to punish her for her first orgasm at their hands. They both wanted to be able to savor and celebrate the first time she felt the waves of pleasure sweep her off her feet and toss her in to the deep end of bliss.
Bryant turned her to face him and started slowly moving his hands along the outsides of her thighs, long, smooth sweeps up and down until she seemed to refocus and they knew she was back from the edge. “Now, sweetness, tell me why you are getting a punishment at my hand, when I would much rather be sinking my aching cock into that pussy that is dripping with your sweet nectar.” At Rissa’s deep blush he added, “Don’t you dare be embarrassed by something that is beyond amazing, and your pussy knows its Masters, even if your mind isn’t there yet. Your sex is almost pulsing with need, now, answer my question so we can get this punishment over with and give you that orgasm your body craves.” Bryant knew his crude words would either push her closer to the brink or pull her back, and he was anxious to see which it would be. Her reaction would tell him a lot about her comfort level with not only this punishment scene, but also how well she was converting the pain in to pleasure. It had always amaze
d him how closely the brain processes two sensations that one would think would be at opposite ends of the spectrum. But the reality was the brain was easily fooled, and for most true submissives, certain levels of pain quickly changed to intense feelings of pleasure. “Sweetness, why am I going to paddle this ass I’d rather be fucking?”
Bryant’s harsh tone brought her focus back. “I lied to you the night of the Submissive’s Masquerade.” She immediately lowered her gaze, not in submission, he noted, but in genuine repentance of her deeply felt guilt. He’d known immediately that she really did feel bad about what she’d done, and he was relieved because now he would be able to back off the intensity a bit. While it was important to get the message across, if a sub was already remorseful, a punishment that was overly harsh would have the opposite effect the Dom was trying to create. “I’m really sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking, and as soon as I walked out the door I knew I’d really messed up and I…” Big tears filled her eyes, spilling over and running in streams down her deeply flushed cheeks.
“Let’s get this over with, sweetness. Lie over my lap.” Bryant had never wanted to just call off a well-deserved punishment before this moment. Damned but this little sub was already working herself deep into his heart. Settling her over his lap, he palmed her heated flesh and delivered the first five swats in quick succession, never landing two consecutive slaps in the same spot, but making sure he spread them out. Likely she was going to have a very red bottom for the rest of the night and wouldn’t be sitting comfortably for a couple of days, and that was fine. Her discomfort would serve as a well-deserved reminder. Hell, every time he even thought about the danger she’d put herself in, he got pissed all over again. And every time he thought about the fact he’d made such a dumbass mistake, he wanted to beat his own head against the fucking wall. They could have easily lost her that night. He’d given her a few seconds to settle down, but he delivered the last five fast and hard. He knew if he didn’t do it quickly, he’d fold, and when all was said and done, she really did need this lesson.