by Renee Rose
He brought his hand down past where the butt meets thigh. “If I strike you here or lower you will say 'too low'. Got it?”
“Yes.”
He took a deep breath and held the intent that he would deliver each stroke exactly where he meant to and began. The slap of leather on flesh was loud, and her cries were even louder. It pained him to hurt her. There was nothing sexy about this spanking.
He gave her fifty strokes—enough to make it memorable for the next day or two. He couldn't tell how they colored her skin. She didn't scream this time—the cuddle they'd had had settled her into her punishment. She lay submissively, crying hard, but not moving. She did croak “too low” once but he'd been aiming for the juncture between her bottom and thighs, so he didn't worry. When he finished, he scooped her off and climbed to the head of the bed, leaned back against the headboard and cuddled her in his arms.
“I'm sorry I scared you,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “I didn't mean to.”
She buried her face into his neck, her salty tears stinging his sensitive skin. Her arms were tangled around his neck tightly. She kissed his neck and then laid her head on his shoulder. He stroked her back and kissed her hair. “I love you, piccolina,” he murmured. He felt a jolt of a reaction from her that felt almost like fear—a shock—followed immediately by an enormous wave of gratitude and love. Her arms tightened even more around his neck until he had to say, “Easy, bambina. My skin is sore.”
“Oh God!” she exclaimed, releasing her hold on his neck completely. She sat back from him and brushed her fingers on the hot skin of his face. “I'm so sorry,” she whispered.
“It's forgiven. Completely.”
“Say it again?” she whispered. At first he thought she meant to repeat that she was forgiven, but then he realized.
“I love you, Kate,” he said, cradling her head in his hands as if to look into her eyes, if only he could. “I love you.”
Chapter Nine
Fox heard Kate screaming and he flashed to the doorway to Dom's stairs. Stella arrived a second before him, blocking the way. He was in full defense mode, his fangs starting to elongate. He didn't know where Dom got off, but hurting Kate was not something he would ever allow.
“This is between the two of them, Fox,” Stella coaxed, taking his arm.
He pulled away. “The hell it is,” he snarled.
“Listen to me,” she said, her face very close to his. “Kate likes to be spanked.”
She let that sink in as he shook his head in denial. “She's not liking it now,” he said grimly.
“I know, but it's what they do. It's how it's gone down with them from the very start. Trust me—I was there. I saw them the first time he spanked her—remember? Up in the office that night?”
He didn't answer.
“So that's the way Kate likes it. And Dom likes giving it to her. And that means it's how they're going to resolve their conflicts, too.”
He hesitated. He remembered that morning Kate had been playing guitar with him and he'd smelled both fear and arousal on her when Dom came to find her. Could Stella be right? Maybe. But if not—if Dom was hurting Kate against her will and he did nothing to stop it…
“Look at me. I'm telling you the truth.” Stella was inches away from his face, right up in his grill. Technically, as his maker, she had the power to keep him from interfering. But she never exercised that over him. “Fox. It's between the two of them. Do you really think Dom would hurt her?”
“He's hurting her right now!” he snapped, but he'd already lost his drive and she knew it.
“Believe me, a sore butt never hurt anyone,” Stella said drily and he suddenly had an image of Dom spanking Stella. Yeck. He shook his head to get the image out. Stella was smirking at him as if she knew what he'd been thinking. “Come on, Kate made us sandwiches. They're in the kitchen.”
He followed Stella reluctantly back to the kitchen and sat down to eat the sandwich. He tried not to think about what exactly Dom might be doing. But the more he thought about it, the more Stella's words seemed to make sense. Dom was crazy about Kate. He definitely wouldn't do anything she wouldn't consent to.
It seemed strange to think of Dom spanking anyone. In the entire time he'd spent with Dom as a boy, Dom had never laid a hand on him. Maybe he knew that Fox had already been knocked around enough. He certainly had demanded Fox's complete respect and his very best, but it was always through love.
He remembered once he'd come back to Dom's house beaten by one of the men Dom did business with. The man was a whoremaster. He never knew what business they had together, but he'd been delivering a message for Dom and had accidentally spilled the man's ale because he'd been so startled to see topless women milling about. The whoremaster had beaten him for ogling the women and spilling the drink.
He'd been ashamed. He wasn't going to tell Dom, but of course, Dom could smell his pain the moment he walked in the door and demanded to know what had happened. As soon as it was dark out, Dom had stormed in and kicked the shit out of the guy, disarming and taking down at least five men who were supposed to be providing security. Before he was done, he forced the whoremaster to apologize to him, a mere street urchin message boy.
Dom had then spoken to all the whores and customers who had gathered to take in the scene. “You tell everyone that this boy belongs to Dominic DeParma. Anyone who touches him, answers to me.” With that, he put his hand on Fox's shoulder and they left.
There were a few more challenges after that, because not everyone heard about the whoremaster's fate, and every time he was harmed or disrespected, Dom intervened with an animal-like ferocity. By the end of that year, it was hard to remember that he had once skulked about the streets. He was clean, well-fed and well-dressed. Though he was only a boy of ten, the working women and the whoremasters of Covent Garden tipped their hats or nodded politely at him when he walked by. The tavern owners poured him a pint of ale or, those who knew him better, a glass of milk, when he came in. When he made visits to conduct Dom's business, he was received with hospitality.
It was not until he was turned that Dom ever used any force with him. Once he was a vampire it was a little different. Vampires are more like animals. They show dominance to establish pecking order. Dom could freeze him in his skin, or knock the wind out of his chest with a flick of his hand. And he did it anytime Fox showed disrespect. It was custom, it seemed.
He heard the door to Dom's stairs open and Kate emerged, tucked tightly under Dom's arm. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she looked relaxed and almost blissful, as if she'd just had great sex. He shuddered a bit, not wanting to know what their sex life looked like.
Kate drew in a breath and then said, “Stella, Fox, I'm really sorry. I know I put you both in great danger today by leaving the shutters open and I just want you to know that it will never happen again.”
He and Stella both stood up from the kitchen table. “You could have killed Dom, you know,” Stella said, clearly not letting Kate off the hook. He shouldn't have been surprised that Stella would feel as protective of Dom as he did of Kate.
“Enough.” Dom said immediately.
“I just want to know what you're going to do to ensure it doesn't happen again,” Stella demanded, folding her arms across her chest.
“I'm not going to touch the shutters again,” Kate said firmly. “If I need sunlight, I will go outside and shut the door behind me. And knock before I open it to come in,” she added.
Stella nodded. He pulled Kate away from Dom and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. “It's okay, kid,” he said softly into her hair.
“Thanks, Fox,” she whispered.
“Are you hungry?” Dom asked Kate, solicitously.
“No, not really,” she said.
“Well, I'm certainly not up for leaving the house tonight. How about if we hole up and watch movies tonight?” he suggested to Kate.
“But you can't even see!” she exclaimed.
“That's
okay. You can watch and I'll cuddle you.”
Cuddle you? Fox was in complete shock to hear Dominic “I am an island” DeParma, speak with such tender intimacy. And in front of him and Stella, even. He could admit Stella had been right to stop him from barging in on whatever it was that had been going on between them. Obviously it worked quite well for them.
* * *
It was true what she'd read about punishment spankings on the blogs. She did feel cleansed of guilt. And Dom had said he'd released his irritation completely. The closeness she felt with him now was amazing.
They were curled up on his bed, watching her favorite movie, Shakespeare in Love. Well, she was watching and Dom was holding her. She reached down and ran her hand lightly over her welted skin. She was wearing nothing but one of Dom's t-shirts, because even the idea of panties over her sore buns sounded painful. The thought of him punishing her made her shiver a little. He'd been the perfect dominant, as far as she was concerned. Holding and comforting her when she was scared but still firmly insisting on her punishment.
Despite the fact that she had no care to ever repeat such an episode, she knew already it was going to be fodder for her fantasies for a long time. Dom really did it for her.
“What are you thinking about?” he murmured in her ear, his voice a low purr. She flushed, realizing he was most certainly picking up the scent of her arousal.
“The spanking you just gave me,” she admitted.
His hand trailed to her bottom, lightly stroking her sore cheek. “You know, I read that fifteen or twenty spanks with a wooden paddle after the belt might prevent these welts.”
She couldn't find her voice to answer that.
“If you'll bring me the wooden spoon, we can test it out?”
“No thank you,” she said in a tiny voice.
Dom laughed. “It's probably too late, anyway.”
She rubbed her backside. “So what's your opinion on rubbing?”
He laughed. “You mean should it be allowed? I have no problem with it. I think that's a dumb rule. Personally, I would find the sight of you rubbing your sweet little butt to be visual confirmation that I've done my job well.” He gave her a squeeze with that and she smiled up at him, and was thrown again that he couldn't see her face.
“That's good,” she confessed. “Because when I was standing in the corner, I was rubbing, and I wondered if you'd care and then I realized you couldn't see me anyway!”
Dom laughed with her at that. “I'm sure it was a lovely sight. I would've melted like butter to see you like that. It's something to look forward to next time.”
“There's not going to be a next time,” Kate said firmly, scrambling closer into his arms.
Dom just laughed again. “Oh no? You think you'll never get in trouble with me again?”
“That's my hope,” she said in a little voice.
“Then how will I ever turn you on?” Dom said in a low voice and drew her slowly across his lap.
She listened with every cell of her body, waiting, her breath held, to see where exactly this was going. He stroked the curves of her bottom.
“You were a bad girl, today, weren't you?” he asked, his voice husky.
She felt a surge of arousal. “Yes,” she breathed. He gave her a few gentle slaps, which only hurt because she was still so sore. He followed them with rubbing, which normally helped, but this time even that hurt.
“Bad girls get spanked on their bare bottoms, don't they?” A couple more light slaps.
“Yes,” she gasped.
“Bad girls get spanked hard.”
She was breathing hard now, starting to grind her hips into Dom's lap. He dipped his fingers between her legs, gliding the silky moisture up and down the outside of her pussy. She moaned.
“Did you get spanked hard, Kate?”
“Yessss.”
“Yes. You got spanked with my belt, didn't you?”
Her belly flipped at the mention of the belt and she moaned again.
“Didn't you?”
“Yes.”
“But you'll be a good girl now, won't you?”
“Yes.”
“Yes. You'll get good girl spankings.”
His fingers entered her and she felt a zing of sexual energy run down the insides of her legs to the arches of her feet. Her toes spontaneously curled.
“Good girl spankings are better than bad girl spankings, aren't they, Kate?”
She gasped as his fingers had started to enter and withdraw deeper and deeper. “Oh God…” she moaned.
“I like to give good girl spankings,” he said and his fingers found that elusive g-spot deep within her as his thumb applied light pressure to her butt hole. She bucked under the magic of his touch, shuddering her release and begging for more before it even ended. He didn't release her, bringing her over the edge again, this time penetrating her anus with his thumb as his two fingers continued to explore her g-spot. She was begging, moaning, almost crying at the ecstasy as wave after wave of orgasm rolled through her.
When Dom finally released her, he wasted no time in flipping her on her back and freeing his erection. He gave a fangy smile as he covered her body with his own, entering her and holding her shoulders so he could drive deeply. She rolled her head back, lost to the sensation of it, calling out and climaxing when he came, tipping her head back and pulling his head down to help his fangs find her vein. He struck and suckled, still grinding gently inside her, his heart beating firmly against her own. She sighed. All was right in the world.
* * *
Being unable to see did not hinder making love to Kate in the slightest. But as he suckled her vein post-coitally, he “saw” a dancing of lights around her head. Fairies. He'd had that feeling before about her, when he'd been sculpting. Somehow, being blind had enhanced his seldom used inner vision. And he didn't have any of the headache or nausea that he normally did when he tried to call upon it.
“Do you believe in fairies, Kate?” he asked.
“Fairies?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I guess if I believe in vampires, I have to believe in fairies, too, right?” she said flippantly. But then she added, “Actually, I've always loved fairies. When I was a child, I had a picture book about fairies that I used to read over and over again. I pretended that they were watching over me.”
“They are.”
“What do you mean?”
“I see fairies around you now. Being blind has some perks, it seems.”
Kate's fingers were twined in his hair and she was still undulating slightly. He kissed her fully, then rolled onto his side, facing her. “Can I tell you, something?” He felt like he wanted to offer her something of himself. She'd given him the gift of her complete submission. He was so tired of holding himself apart from everybody all the time. It felt amazing to be so intimate with someone for the first time in so many hundreds of years.
“Before I was turned I had a gift. God spoke to me. Or so it felt. I saw things—I knew things before they were going to happen. Nowadays you call them psychic abilities. I had it from childhood. It took me a while to learn that not everyone saw the things I did, and so at first I hid it. I thought something was wrong with me. But when I became a man, I saw it differently. I felt blessed. Like I had guidance, angels that watched over me.
“Then I was turned.” His voice broke a little and he was surprised that after all these years there was still emotion there. “I was turned and…God cast me out,” he croaked.
He felt Kate moving closer to comfort him. He stroked her hair. “I think that vampires…vampires don't… I don't know,” he sighed.
“Don't what?” Kate prompted softly.
“Don't answer to the same God? I don't know. Do vampires serve a different master? I don't really believe that, but ever since I was turned, when I cast my mind out to listen to divine guidance, all I see is a blackness instead of light and my head feels like it's going to split in two. And afterward I throw up.”
“But do you receive guidance?”
“Yes. Usually. But I don't go there often and I don't stay for long.”
Kate was silent for a moment. “Maybe it has nothing to do with God, but it's about your new biology. Maybe your brain works a little differently as a vampire than it did as a mortal. And it changes the way you experience receiving guidance. Because it seems to me like if God cast you out, you wouldn't still be receiving information.”
Dom's eyes burned with tears. He'd been in an existential crisis for almost five hundred years. Hearing a new opinion on the matter—hell, just being able to discuss it, was clearing a film from the lens through which he'd been viewing life.
“Are you all right?” Kate asked sharply.
“Shh, yes. Don't worry—vampires cry blood. It looks frightening but it's normal.”
Her fingers wended through his hair again and he felt a blast of her love surrounding him.
* * *
Kate woke still snuggled against Dom. His skin did not look as red as it had the day before and when he opened his eyes and blinked at her, she could tell he was focusing.
“Can you see me?” she asked, stroking his hair back from his face.
“Mmm.” He sat up on his elbows and blinked, looking around the room. “Yes, it's better. It's like trying to see in room with no lights. If I wait a moment, the shapes come into focus.”
“Dom, I'm so sorry…”
“Enough. No more apologizing. You're forgiven, remember?”
“That doesn't mean I'm not still sorry,” she said, kissing his temple to show her gratitude.
“Let's see how your bottom fared,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her down into what was becoming their favorite position. He stroked her bottom, inciting a delicious shiver through her. “I can't see that well, but I think I left marks this time,” he said matter-of-factly. For some reason that matter-of-fact tone gave her another shiver. It was because she'd deserved those marks—a reminder that she'd had a real punishment at his hands. He let her up and gave her a kiss.