by Zoey Marcel
“I wasn’t going to sleep with him.”
She winced and cried out softly when he slapped her wet ass. Clearly he hadn’t been kidding when he claimed it would hurt her more to be spanked with slicked-up butt cheeks. The sore marks from earlier certainly weren’t helping to alleviate her pain any.
“Talking and cuddling with another man during a vulnerable point instead of your husband is a form of cheating, Jill. It’s emotional infidelity and you know I hate it.”
“I know.”
Why was she agreeing with him? She didn’t have to take this, yet she was standing there taking it all and offering no protest or defense for herself. She accepted her punishment and took the blame for her innocent actions.
He slapped her other butt cheek, making her eyes sting. “I enjoy giving you pain during sex, but punishing you isn’t fun for me, love. This hurts me worse than it hurts you. Don’t disobey me on this again.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks over his words and the series of painful slaps in different places on her rear end. He just used the very words she’d read of a man using on his wife online, and she’d been skeptical of them, but hearing Ben say them now made her believe them.
The tears felt hot as they streamed down her cheeks while she took her punishment. She let the tip of her tongue extend to taste the salty drops that collected at the corners of her mouth.
Why was she letting him do this to her? Jill wasn’t sure if she even understood why she was weeping, yet somehow she comprehended it completely on a more subconscious level. The spankings hurt, no shit, but knowing that he was hurting more cut her up inside.
Ben was a wonderful man and a great husband. He deserved a sweet, submissive wife and certainly a faithful one. The idea of him doubting her and getting jealous of one of her friends depressed her deeply. He deserved better.
Then there was the fear. Her inability to comprehend her strong attraction to this unorthodox lifestyle he needed with her. She craved it and feared it at the same time. He’d gotten her to subspace earlier and she was apparently in some uncomfortable, posttraumatic state known as subdrop. He had a startling level of power and control over her. He could do things to her and make her feel things that no one else ever had.
“I want to know why,” he demanded.
“Why what?” She sniffled.
“I want to know why your first instinct was to turn to Judah instead of me.”
It hadn’t been her first instinct, though. Her natural impulse had been to run to Logan for comfort and advice, but she couldn’t for once because he’d been half of the reason she’d been thrown into subspace in the first place. Her next instinct had been to turn to Judah.
“I needed to talk to someone who wasn’t so heavily into BDSM.”
Ben snorted at this and grazed her inflamed buttocks with his threatening fingertips. “I’ve got news for you, sweetheart. Judah isn’t the bedroom bondage gentleman you think he is. He’s even heavier into the lifestyle than I am, plus he’s a sadist. So is Logan.”
“I don’t believe you.”
It couldn’t be. Judah would have mentioned this when she’d conveyed her fears of the lifestyle to him. He wanted her as his lover and best friend, not as a slave the way Ben did. Judah had called her slave once, but something in her, probably denial, hadn’t let her believe that he’d meant anything by it. Apparently it hadn’t been play with him.
Logan couldn’t be a sadist. He was her solace and her best friend, though that dark look she’d seen in his eyes earlier when he and Ben had inflicted pain on her made her wonder.
Ben fisted her hair and made her look at his steaming glare. “I don’t give a damn what you believe. Logan told me. If you doubt my word then trust his. I know how much you revere and idolize him.”
Her heart nearly stopped when she caught the flash of jealousy in his eyes. He’d always known about Judah, but she never wanted him to become aware of her feelings for Logan.
“I respect him,” she whispered.
“You love him,” Ben countered in anger. “Don’t think I couldn’t tell. I respect him, too, but I don’t hang on his every word and obey him with just a look. I understand. Every Dom has a different personality. Some are sadists like Judah, others are control freaks like me, and some have an omnipotent quality to them like Logan. I swear the way you act around him, if he were God you’d worship him.”
Her eyes dropped and the tears fought their way to the surface.
“There are other types of Doms, too, but I don’t want anything to distract from your punishment right now,” Ben said in a taunting voice. “You’re crying.”
“No, I’m not.”
He jerked her chin up and made her look at him. “Yes, you are. Don’t fight it, Jill. I want your tears. You let Logan and Judah see them, but your tears are mine. Don’t deny me what’s mine.”
Her eyes burned. “Let me go.”
“No. You’re not going to run away and shut me out anymore.”
Time to revert back to her old tried-and-true method. She pounded her fists against his bulky chest and slapped his face so he let go of her. “Get the fuck out of my way!”
She squealed when he grabbed her arm and spun her around, pinning her front up against the slick wall. He spanked her hard and fast, eliciting sobs of pain and remorse from her.
“You do not act like a spoiled brat when we’re having a conversation. This really sucks for me, too. I try to bring in a Dom to help train you and come to find out you’re head-over-heels in love with him, too. Christ, Jill, isn’t there any man in town you don’t love or want to fuck?”
She broke down and sobbed. “I’m sorry.”
“We’re moving, Jill. I’ve made up my mind. It’ll have to be close enough for me to commute, but I want you far away from them. I’m taking you away from all the little sources of temptation that try to lure you away from me and make you a bad wife.” He spanked her again much harder this time. “You want to be a good, submissive wife, don’t you?”
She cried audibly, fighting harder to keep him from hearing her pitiful noises of surrender and seeing her tears of sorrow. “Yes.”
“This is for your own good, love. Moving will be better for all of us and it will make our marriage stronger because of it. Without all these distractions you’ll pay more attention to me and be a good wife.”
Her sobbing increased slightly in volume before she choked down the sound, shaking uncontrollably against the wall from the vicious spanking and the tears of shame. “I try to be good to you. I’m really sorry. I don’t know how to make the past up to you.”
“I want your future, Jill, and your submission. I want you to run to me when you need a shoulder to cry on. I want you to come to me for advice and comfort, not other men.”
Her bottom blazed with heat and painful awareness as her weeping became harder to fight. She felt herself surrendering to his authority and accepting her penalty for being wayward. Ben had a right to discipline her for being disobedient, and it was her duty to submit and be faithful to him.
Her own acceptance shocked her to the core. That nut-stomping career woman was slowly being snuffed out as a softer, meeker woman emerged from the ashes of rebirth. He was shaping her, molding her into what he wanted—an obedient, faithful wife who put him before her job and their kids—a woman who wanted to please him more than anything, even if she had to lose her independence and freedom to do it.
She was insane and he was a bloody tyrant…like her father. Strangely, Ben was a different kind of ass, and in spite of his asshole demeanor she respected him and wanted to submit rather than feeling ticked off and oppressed as she’d felt with her dad. What was different about this? Why did it work with Ben?
“I want your word that you’ll view me and me alone as your everything,” her man demanded.
“What about Neil?” she asked in a shaky tone.
“Him, too. When I say ‘me’ I mean both of us. I’m still not used to talking about our marriag
e like it’s a triad.”
“I promise.” Saying those words gave her petrified brain the image of Ben locking her to a ball and chain and throwing away the key so she couldn’t escape.
Her heart experienced a different vision. It felt as though she was free falling and he was waiting there to catch her in his arms and keep her safe in his embrace forever.
Her mind said this was wrong, but her heart said it was right. Whichever was really the case, it couldn’t keep her from bawling uncontrollably and falling to her knees in front of him. His fingers threaded in her hair and he massaged her scalp without a word.
He was so sweet and patient, so loving and forgiving. The majority of men probably would have split after having been cheated on, or used it as an excuse to go fuck every living female.
Ben wasn’t like that. He disciplined and trained her so she would learn to be the kind of wife he deserved. He wasn’t giving up on her, though she’d given up on herself many times before.
She’d never really known what it was to truly have peace and be proud of herself since walking out on him all those years ago. The only times she felt it now were when she was pleasing him, submitting to him. If it weren’t for the paralyzing fear she would truly be free.
She clung to his leg in adoration and cried into the soaked hair and flesh. Her mind warned her how submissive a position this was, kneeling and sobbing at his feet while holding onto him like he was her everything. But her heart won out this time and kept her there until he moved her.
Ben guided Jill to her feet and sat on the built-in seat in the shower, pulling her onto his lap. He held her securely in his arms as he rocked her gently and rubbed her trembling body all over to calm her doubts, her fears, and insecurities.
It was all true—the weird-ass bullshit those women online had talked about. Jill knew she should have been furious with him for spanking her like a child and informing her that he’d decided that they would move to a place of his choosing, but the anger was strangely absent.
All she felt was comforted and safe, humbled and put in her place. It was a strange, freeing kind of release, different from orgasm, but no less overwhelming. She felt close to her husband and loved by him. He wouldn’t let her behave like a spoiled brat or a domineering bitch any longer. It should make her run screaming, but she felt a burden lifted from her. He was in charge now and for the first time in ages she knew where she stood with him. Maybe there was truth to the saying “there is freedom in submission.”
Chapter Fifteen:
Mating Heat
Judah Shaughnessy had a bone to pick with the motherfucking sheriff of Temptation. Oh, hell yes, he did. He’d caught Jill’s scent on Logan when he got home and Judah had made his best friend tell him everything. So Ben had decided to let Logan have fun with his wife, but not Judah, eh? Of course it might have had something to do with the fact that Logan hadn’t cheated with Jill, but that was entirely beside the point.
Then, too, Judah had seen the For Sale sign posted on the front of the Eastons’ lawn. No way in hell would he let that law-abiding motherfucker take Jill away from him. It was bad enough that she was Ben’s wife. He wasn’t about to lose the privilege of getting to see her in town.
And what about their daughter, Coral? That son of a bitch had a lot of gall if he thought he could keep Judah away from seeing his own kid and the mother of his child.
Judah marched down to the police station, seeking an audience with the aggravating fucker. Once allowed, he stormed into Ben’s office and shut the door, glaring at the uniformed bastard. An unprecedented sense of heat came over him. Well, that was weird. It felt a lot like the kind of fever pitch his body went into around Jill.
Judah dismissed it and met Ben’s hard stare.
“What do you want, Shaughnessy?” the sheriff asked impatiently.
“You know what I want, you selfish fucker. I want what’s mine—your wife and my child.”
Ben glared at him. “Get out.”
“No, I will not get out.” Judah stomped closer, clenching his fists.
Were Ben’s eyes changing color? They flashed in and out of brown and gold like he might shift. The sheriff didn’t seem aware of this.
“I saw your goddamned For Sale sign. You’re not taking my woman and my kid away from me.”
Ben stood suddenly and his tone sharpened. “She’s not your woman, you son of a bitch, and I don’t want you anywhere near her or my kids.”
“One of them is mine, asshole,” Judah snapped, wondering why Ben smelled so damned good. He probably always had, but Judah’s senses seemed even keener than normal. Why was it so hot all of a sudden?
“I said get out,” Ben growled.
Judah blinked. The bastard’s eyes were definitely changing shape and color and he still didn’t seem to have a clue. “I don’t have to listen to you, motherfucker. I’m not your fucking submissive, and there’s no way in hell I’m letting you turn Jill into your slave. She’s mine, not yours.”
“You watch your goddamned mouth and get out before I throw you out,” Ben threatened. His eyes were completely gold now. They were beautiful.
Judah freaked when he felt his cock lifting in his jeans. What the fuck for? He was perfectly straight. It had to be the fact that they were fucking mated now. Still, he shouldn’t feel this much attraction to a man he hated with a passion. Fucking mating heat.
His eyes widened in surprise when he thought he saw a slight movement in the crotch of Ben’s pants.
Holy shit, the mating heat just kicked in! Run like hell!
But he didn’t run. He’d come here to talk sense into the asshole and he would stay until the sheriff agreed to divorce his wife so Judah and Logan could have her.
“You can drag her to the ends of the earth if you want to, sheriff, but that won’t change the fact that I fucked your wife and that she’ll always love me no matter what sweet little lies she tells you.”
Before Judah could react Ben had him in a death-grip and slammed him down onto his desk, knocking papers and shit over in the process. The sheriff hovered over him, looking fierce…and incredibly hot in that uniform as he smoldered with apparent rage and lust.
“I told you to shut your fucking mouth and get out,” he said in a low, dangerous tone.
“Why the fuck are you erect?” Judah demanded, cringing at the husky change in his voice.
“Why are you?” Ben returned.
They stared at each other a moment in a hot, heavy silence that nearly burned Judah alive. His pulse accelerated as the sheriff climbed onto the desk with him and covered Judah’s body with his. His dick stood at attention at the feel of the lawman’s genitals pressing into his own, separated only by their clothing.
“You son of a bitch, what the hell did you do to me?” Ben sounded pissed, but that slight rasp was a dead giveaway to his arousal.
“It’s called mating heat, shithead, and you might try resisting it. I’m straight you know.”
“Sure you are, asshole. That’s why your gay little cock is swelling and pleading for contact.”
Judah tried to punch him, but the sheriff caught his wrist before he could and pinned his arms down to the desk. “My cock’s not little, dickhead, or do I need to pull it out and show you?”
A horny growl rumbled deep in Ben’s chest. “Don’t tempt me.”
Judah was thrown into a state of shock as the sheriff’s lips crushed down against his, and Ben ground his crotch against Judah’s.
Holy fucking shit! This wasn’t supposed to happen! The bite was just supposed to make him hate me less and share his wife with me, not make him crazy enough to hump me on his desk!
Despite the fact that every bone in his body was straight and he desperately wanted to clobber Ben, Judah found himself grinding his pelvis against the other man’s in search of his own release and some sick, perverted need to help the asshole find his own climax as well.
They alternated between rough kisses that fired Judah’s blood and gl
aring at each other in red-hot lust as they dry-humped each other on the sheriff’s desk. Hopefully no one walked in and saw them doing this.
Oh fuck it. He was too riled to care.
“Get up,” Judah ordered breathlessly. “I want to be on top.”
“Fuck you. You’re going to be on your back, bottoming for me…like Jill does,” Ben taunted with vindictive glee in his eyes.
Judah’s eyes narrowed and he fought the urge to shift, though it took everything in him to restrain himself. “Just watch yourself. I can make your wife want me anytime I want to. You want to know what she said to me in bed?”
“Shut up!” Ben growled and smashed his mouth against his.
The rough, angry kiss set off fireworks in his body. Judah loved angry sex, but he’d never had any form of sexual contact with a man before. This didn’t feel natural to him. It felt phenomenal to be sure, but it felt forced by the mating heat, and he wondered if it was the same way for Ben, or if the sheriff was actually bisexual.
Judah felt himself starting to come and it annoyed him that the uniformed bastard had gotten him off first. He rubbed the other man’s crotch, trying to make him come first.
“That’s right. Come for me, you weak little bottom,” Ben taunted. His jaw tightened when Judah grabbed his dick. “Shit!”
Judah’s cock exploded in his pants, splashing warm, messy cum all over himself in his boxers. He saw and felt Ben coming, too. Well, at least they’d come fairly close to the same time. As they lay there panting and groaning with rapture, the mating heat seemed to vanish and both men came to their senses.
Ben flew off the desk, looking shocked and disturbed. “What the fuck just happened?”
Judah got up quickly, grimacing at the gooey cum in his underwear. He really needed to change. “You lost control like a pervert.”
“I lost control? What about you, you irritating dick? You’re the one who came in here spouting shit!” Ben yelled, still seeming freaked out.
“Well, if you’d just divorce your wife so I could fuck her and put a ring on her finger,” Judah shot back. “Jesus, sheriff. You stupid bastard, it doesn’t have to be so complicated. Jill belongs with Logan and me. You’re obviously gay.”