by Avery Gale
Chapter 15
Trace felt his phone vibrate in his pocket just as they had pulled on to the highway after leaving Shadowdance Mountain, but had decided to wait until later to check the message. After he and Tori had checked the heifers, they’d returned home and he’d carried her over the threshold again despite her protests that the third time was really over the top. And now as he was moving quickly to the bedroom he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever tire of the warm feeling carrying his wife brought to his heart. They’d arrived home so late last night they had both fallen into bed and been asleep within seconds, and then the ranch hands had called with questions shortly after dawn so he could hardly wait to get Tori naked and under him.
He was going to fuck her until they were both satisfied, and he’d warned her that was going to take most of the night. He couldn’t help but smile as he remembered how her cheeks had flushed as he’d told her all the ways he planned to make her come. The fact that she’d endured so much and retained that level of innocence was about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. As he rounded the corner of their bedroom, his heart nearly burst with gratitude for his friends Dylan and Mia Marshall. The room was awash in the soft glow of candlelight, and the sounds of soft piano music wafted from the ceiling speakers. Dylan had called him earlier and told him they’d be using the key Trace had left with them for the house because Mia wanted to “create a mood” for them. For a couple of former DEA agents, they were a romantic pair.
Several weeks earlier Trace had asked Mia to spend some time with Tori, teaching her some basic self-defense moves and giving her small-weapons training. Trace had loved seeing how quickly the two women had become friends. Tori seemed to have a magical way of drawing people to her. He hadn’t mentioned the news he’d received this evening about the lunatic who had terrorized her because he hadn’t wanted to frighten her, but the news that Gary George had taken a leave of absence and left Houston had everyone on their toes, and he needed to bring her up to speed soon.
Trace set Tori on her feet and cupped her heart-shaped face between his palms and kissed her, brushing his lips lightly over hers, savoring the sweet taste of her was his new favorite pastime. “Oh my sweet wife. God, I don’t even know how to tell you how much I love you and how blessed I feel to have found you.” Trace pulled her into his arms and hugged her close, burying his face in her hair and just inhaled the citrus and sage scent that seemed to be her signature fragrance. “You smell like a warm summer day. I could so easily lose myself in every little detail that is you.” He pulled back and turned her toward the bathroom. “Take a few minutes and get yourself ready, but I want you back in this room within ten minutes - naked and laying on your back in the center of that bed.” Trace was letting just enough of his Dom persona shine through that he knew it would kick up her apprehension which, he had discovered, was a direct trigger for arousal. He knew that she responded well to direct instruction and clearly stated expectations. They had agreed to work her slowly into a Ds relationship and that she had promised she would let him know as soon as she felt she had reached her maximum level of comfort. Trace had explained that one of the hallmarks of a Ds partnership was that the Dom always pushed the sub to expand their boundaries but he would never cross the line of what she could tolerate. Tori had chosen “uncle” as her safe word, and they’d both laughed at the word’s double meaning, the fact that her inheritance from an uncle had brought her to Colorado and of course the word’s usual slang meaning of surrender.
Trace watched the flush as it worked its way up her slender neck and painted her delicate ivory skin a nice scarlet red. I wonder if her ass will turn that same shade when she gets her first erotic spanking? I can hardly wait until I can bend her over a spanking bench and use a flogger on her. Her skin will turn every shade of pink before it goes fire engine red, and then as I slide my cock deep in to her dripping cunt, I’ll feel the heat from her ass cheeks with each stroke. “Go now, Victoria, the clock is ticking.” He had to suppress his chuckle as she hurried from the room.
Trace’s earlier thoughts about her stalker had reminded him about the message on his phone. Moving quickly to the guest bathroom across the hall, he checked the message and wasn’t surprised to hear Creed’s voice mail explaining that he’d seen George in the area. He was however surprised to hear the man had been bold enough to position himself so close to ShadowDance Mountain. Creed had assured him all the security upgrades were fully functional and that they’d have perimeter patrols in addition to all the electronic enhancements protecting them. Trace knew Jamie Creed well enough to hear the amusement in his voice. Oh yeah, Alex’s guys are definitely planning to play with the mouse a little before they eat it.
Bringing himself back to the moment, he quickly texted a thank-you to his friend, Mia, for all the time she’d spent with Tori making sure the woman was a crack shot with a variety of small hand guns as well as all her romantic preparations for their return home. Vowing to make sure there was a weapon nearby for Tori’s easy access until this mess was resolved, he was grateful she hadn’t seemed put off by the idea of weapons in their home. Even as he thought about all the preparation that had taken place, the small hairs on the back of his neck still stood up and waved to get his attention. Mine! He just couldn’t keep the growl of possessiveness from rumbling from deep in his chest. No one was foolish enough to believe George was ever going to stop without being “deleted” as his Spec-Ops friends so tactfully referred to it. There wasn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind the man was going to give them exactly the excuse they needed, Trace’s only prayer was that the chance came before the lunatic got anywhere near his wife. God but he loved the sound of that…My wife, Tori!
* * * *
When Tori reentered the bedroom twelve minutes later, the first thing she noticed was Trace leaning against the door of the bedroom. He had removed his shirt and boots, so he stood in his bare feet in nothing but his jeans with the top button open so the well-worn denim was slung low on his slim hips. She let her eyes follow the light dusting of hair that trailed down until it disappeared beneath his jeans and she unconsciously licked her lips just thinking about where that soft trail ended. When she refocused on his face, Tori knew immediately that even though his pose was casual, it was not particularly relaxed.
Trace watched as Tori’s eyes tracked from his impassive face down his bare chest, pausing briefly at the open top button of his jeans before continuing on to his bare feet. He knew many women found men’s bare feet extremely erotic, but he’d never noticed a sub reacting until he watched Tori’s eyes all but glaze over before she drew her gaze back up to his face. But when she licked her lips he nearly abandoned his plan and just tossed her on the bed so he could lose himself inside her.
When he pointedly glanced at his watch, she scurried to the bed, but as she was climbing up he spoke to her in a stern tone. “Princess, you are two minutes late.” When she started to speak, he simply raised his hand to stop her. “I gave you a deadline, and you missed it. Rules are very important in Ds relationships, as is trust. Now, if I tell you that you have to do something by a certain time or in a certain way and you don’t follow my instructions, you wouldn’t see any reason to comply next time either if there were no consequences this time, would you? Do you understand?”
He knew she must have suddenly found herself feeling pretty apprehensive. And she had likely assumed it was a rhetorical question, but then she had finally noticed he was waiting for her answer. When she only nodded her head, he raised an eyebrow and just continued to wait. When she finally appeared to remember him telling her that she would have to use words to answer, that shakes and nods would not be good enough, so she spoke softly. “Yes, I understand.” When he still didn’t move or speak, she quickly added, “Sir.” Good girl.
He pushed off from the doorjamb and moved toward her slowly. Trace loved this part of Ds sex. The anticipation of a punishment was just about the best foreplay in the whole world for both a Dom and his subm
issive. As he approached the edge of the bed he caught her by the ankle and pulled her back to the edge. Picking her up easily, he sat on the edge of the bed and laid her over his lap so that her bare ass was peaked in the perfect position for a couple of solid swats. He moved her legs apart and traced his fingers slowly through her petal-soft folds and found her soaking wet already. “Oh, pretty baby, you are so wet for me. That makes me very happy, so I think that two swats will be enough this time. That’s one for each minute you were late. We’ll see how well you tolerate this spanking before we make any decisions on future punishments.”
All the time he’d been speaking, he’d been moving his fingers through her silky wet folds, circling her entrance, but denying her the touch she was wiggling trying to get. “Oh no, my beautiful little sub, you aren’t getting that just yet. Now stop wiggling that gorgeous ass of yours before I have to add swats.” Trace almost laughed out loud when she gasped and went instantly still. He could tell she was so turned on that he wouldn’t be surprised if she came just from the spanking alone, it was a good thing she was only getting two swats.
Tori knew Trace was drawing it out to enhance her anticipation, but God, it was about to kill her. His fingers moving over her pussy were about to make her completely insane. God, just a little farther forward…Argh…Please! She didn’t even realize she’d spoken out loud until he laughed and simply said, “Not yet…” just before his hand landed solidly on her left ass cheek, and she heard herself cry out. Holy shit, I wasn’t ready for THAT! Fuck a duck that hurts!
Before she could even catch her breath, she felt him lean over her and felt his warm breath as he whispered in her ear. “Wait for it…” She didn’t understand at first but almost instantly she realized the fire in her ass cheek had sent a bolt of electricity straight to her aching clit. Oh my God…how? Why? Ohhhhhh that is fucking amazing! Just as she was beginning to process it, she felt a sharp slap to the other ass cheek. This stroke hadn’t shocked her as much and she knew to ride it out, and this time when it went directly to her clit. She rode the wave of pleasure just as Trace moved his fingers deep inside her. She felt her pussy gush as an orgasm raced unimpeded through her. She hadn’t even known it was coming, yet it sent great waves of release coursing through her entire body. When she finally realized what had happened and felt herself beginning to settle, she found that Trace had turned her over in his lap. When did he do that? He was holding her and whispering sweet words of praise that she was finally starting to understand.
* * * *
Trace had been stunned by her reaction to the two swats he’d given her. He had watched hundreds of subs get spankings, and he had never seen anyone as responsive as his new wife. Two moderate swats and the orgasm that had obviously surprised her had been triggered by a simple plunge of his fingers inside her gushing depths. She had soaked his hand with her sweet cream and squeezed his fingers with such force he’d almost been glad it hadn’t been his cock. That thought gave him a mental chuckle. Hell, who was he kidding, he couldn’t wait until he was buried balls deep in her cunt and she squeezed him just like that. “You, my glorious snow angel, are going to be in need of a new nickname because you, my love, are way too hot to be a ‘snow’ anything!” He smiled at her and was happy to see her shy smile. “Now, let’s talk about this for a minute, and I’ll remind you of the importance of complete honesty. Tell me about how you feel after your first punishment spanking.”
Tori couldn’t believe he was actually going to make her tell him how hot it had made her. “Well, I think it’s safe to say I got pretty turned on by it…but I’m confused, too.” Despite her pause, Trace didn’t make any effort to provide the answers for her, he just waited. He knew her mind was racing at the speed of light trying to process all the feelings, and he wanted her to work as much of it out herself as she could. He’d help her out after she’d reached a few of the more obvious conclusions herself.
She finally continued after being lost in thought for several seconds. “I don’t understand how what was surprisingly painful on my ass could turn into a need so huge in my clit. I mean, I know they are all connected…well, sort of since they are body parts after all. But I don’t really get that part where the pain morphed into something else entirely. And just as you told me to wait for it, I had about a split second to wonder what you meant before the sensation racing through my clit felt like a lightning strike of pure need.”
Trace was impressed with her description and observations. Her intelligence allowed her to process at a level far beyond what most subs would be able to see at this point. When she appeared to be finished, he spoke. “Remember, princess, the brain processes pleasure and pain in very similar ways. Also, you are obviously one of those wonderful people who have been hardwired to react strongly to a small bit of pain. I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled I am that you reacted so strongly to just a hint of real of pain. That is something you’ll hear referred to as erotic pain. I don’t like giving out a lot of pain, it just isn’t who I am. But now that I know how well you respond to a couple of swats? Well, baby, a whole new world just bloomed in 3-D Technicolor for both of us.”
Tori still wasn’t completely clear on the connection between pain and pleasure, that much was clear from the befuddled look on her face, and Trace couldn’t help but chuckle softly before saying, “Princess, I know you don’t completely get the connection, but rest assured, your body understands it on a soul-deep level. All I want you to do is go along for the ride and trust me that your mind will be on board before you know it. When you let your mind shut down and allow it to merely float along and enjoy the sensations is when you will experience your deepest levels of pleasure and satisfaction.”
Trace watched as Tori’s razor-sharp mind worked to process his words. He’d learned that giving her time to work through things was the best way to help her stay in the moment. Otherwise he had often moved on to the next thing or two and she was still mulling over point one. Laughing to himself, he sat still for a full minute until he saw she’d rejoined him.
Smiling at her as he trailed the backs of his work-roughened fingers down her soft cheek, when her eyes met his again, he picked back up where he’d been in the conversation. “You are really a textbook example of why brilliant women so often find a level of freedom in submitting to their Masters that they had never even imagined was possible. To be able to let someone else make the decisions for even a few hours of play a week gives their souls a chance to recharge. Several subs have told me that not having to worry about all the people who depend on them at work, not being held responsible for the financial futures of stockholders, and being able to lose themselves in the safe, sane, and consensual atmosphere of a reputable club that caters to and thoroughly understands their kink, is worth much more than their hefty membership and travel fees.” At her puzzled expression he added, “Oh, my love, we have members from all over the world. Many of them travel here several times a year, and the waiting list for the few rooms available at ShadowDance is long…very long.”
“Why isn’t there a motel here then?” Tori’s question was so unexpected Trace leaned his head back and laughed out loud. He loved the way her mind worked. Hell, she’d taken his information about The Club’s long waiting list for their few rooms, remembered the reaction she’d gotten in the local pub when she had asked about a motel, then immediately worked out that Climax would be able to support a small motel.
“Well, love that is an excellent point and something I know is being discussed by the Lamonts. But while they understand the need, they don’t really want to add another business to their plates at this time. They are planning to spend as much time as possible with their beautiful wife and children. I believe they are considering various options, but would most like to simply act as financial backers for someone who was willing to work hard but didn’t have the start-up capital necessary to build a small motel or bed-and-breakfast.” Trace watched as Tori considered his words, and God love a woman whose expressio
ns were as good at telling a story as her words. He could see he had planted a seed, and she was working all the possibilities through in her mind.
Looking up at Trace with what he recognized as her “lawyer look,” she asked, “Do you think Alex and Zach would be interested in financially backing a woman?” When he looked surprised she quickly added, “I know their lifestyle doesn’t necessarily…well, sometimes it seems a bit…oh damn, I’m really going to mess this up…” Sighing, she sat back, and he could see her considering her words carefully.
Smiling to himself, Trace decided to let her off the hook and said, “Tori, the men in our town are bossy and chauvinistic when it comes to the safety and pleasure of our women, but rest assured we are all wise enough to recognize business acumen and ability no matter the gender of the person owning it. I can assure you Alex and Zach Lamont will be willing to listen to your idea. I’m surprised you would wonder since you have met both Jenna and Catherine.”
Alex and Zach’s mother, Catherine Lamont was every bit as business savvy as her husband, and Daniel Lamont had always referred to his beautiful wife as his secret weapon because people were often so surprised by her beauty that they missed the brilliant business mind lurking just under the surface. And Jenna Lamont had been a wildly successful geologist and the CFO of Lamont Oil for several years before deciding to pursue a degree in counseling after marrying Colt Matthews. “As you well know, both of those women would hold Alex and Zach’s feet to the fire in a New York minute if they based a business decision on the gender of an applicant.” Trace laughed to himself. Damn but that would be mighty entertaining to watch though. He’d known both women all his life and had always admired their strength and grace, and watching them tag team the three Doms in their household was always entertainment at its finest.