Just One Taste (Topped #2)(33)

He needed reassurance. Somehow it made the encounter sweeter. He’d given her all the dirty words she needed to get hot and to feel like she was sexy and lovely. It was easy to forget he needed the same. He was a man and he needed to know he was wanted. Alarm bells went off in her head, but they seemed distant now.

She locked eyes with him in the mirror. “I want you, Eric. It’s not about the contract, though I like the contract. I want to see where you can take me. I’m scared. Not of the pain. Not of the punishment.”

“You’re scared of the emotion between us.” He brushed the hair off her shoulder and planted a kiss on the nape of her neck. “I’ve always known that, but it’s going to be all right, Deena. We’ll go slow in that department. But not in the rest of it. It’s time to move forward with our D/s relationship. Go and do as I asked.”

He was going to do it. He was going to smack her ass and then…she wasn’t sure what he would do then. He might touch her. He might demand that she get to her knees and service him with her mouth. He might give in and give her his cock.

It was so easy now that she was here. She’d agonized for weeks over what she wanted, but now it was clear. She wanted a sexual relationship with this man. She wanted to experience what it truly meant to be Eric Vail’s submissive.

Deena stepped across the space toward the mirror, the wood at her feet slightly chilly. The air was chilled as well, but she didn’t mind. It was one more sensation to be had, one more bit of proof that she was alive. She felt it now—how alive she was. Too often she moved through her days with the only thought being to get through to the next one. He was forcing her to focus on the now.

She took a deep breath and bent over, grasping her ankles. Her body stretched, the sensation pleasurable as her muscles released.

A smack filled the air and then she felt a sting of pain. He’d slapped her ass with what was very likely a crop. Had he come prepared for the evening? As he’d driven her here, talking about innocuous things, had he been thinking of doing this to her?

“Spread those legs farther apart. When I tell you to assume the position, I want your feet shoulder width apart and your ass in the air.”

“Yes, Sir.” She moved her legs apart, her vulnerability becoming increasingly evident. In this position, he would have access to her backside and her *. He could likely see her * through the part in her legs.

The crop caressed her skin, the leather tip moving over her ass cheeks. “That’s what I want to hear, baby. But do you honestly think that all this sweet submission is going to save you? Do you think if you give me a breathy little ‘yes, Sir,’ that I’m going to be satisfied?”

She knew exactly how to answer that one. “No, Sir.”

“I don’t know about that. I think you think I’m a * Dom.”

Shit. That was not a good thing for a sub to think about her Dom. Even though she kind of had thought it, she didn’t want him to think she’d thought it. “Not at all.”

The crop came down, smacking her hard and making her eyes water. “I think you do. I think you tell all your friends how easy I am, how I let you get away with anything you want. You might even tell them how you manipulate me.”

Another hard blow and she shook her head, careful not to let loose her grip on her ankles. Had he been listening in when she’d been talking to Charlotte? “It was only talk, Sir.”

Three more swats and she whimpered, the pain flaring hard and then turning into heat along her flesh.

“I think you meant every word of it, baby.” He knelt down beside her, his fingers brushing off a tear that she’d squeezed out. “I think it’s time to give you something else to talk about. The next time you have a discussion with your friends about your Dom, I want you to tell them about this. It’s twenty for lying to me about talking to Master Ian. Another twenty for disobeying my directive about wearing panties. Then I think I have to be a bit more extreme when it comes to allowing a man to molest you at work without telling me or allowing me the right to protect you.”

“It wasn’t a big deal, Sir.” She’d handled him. He very likely wouldn’t be back.

He moved quickly, his hand coming up to find her nipple. He twisted it between his thumb and forefinger, the pain nearly making her cry out. “Don’t make this worse. If he ever walks in again, you will come and get me. You will refuse to serve him and I will have a long talk with the *. It is my responsibility and my right to protect you. Don’t you take that away from me. If all you expect from a Dom is play and pain, then I’m not the Dom for you. I want to be meaningful to you. And if some woman tries the same with me, I fully intend to sic you on her, so if you can’t protect me, you should tell me now.”

It was the exact right thing to say and she had to smile. It proved he knew she wasn’t a burden. She could be a partner. “I’ll take her down, Sir.”

“I know you will. I also know you’re going to enjoy the next few minutes so I don’t require a count. What happens afterward is going to be a bit unpleasant, so I suggest you enjoy your spanking.” He stood up with those enigmatic words and then fire rained down on her ass.

She lost count of how many times the crop came down. She would hear that zippy sound and then the slap of leather hitting skin before the pain registered. Heat sank into her skin, making her whimper and moan, but she didn’t want him to stop. She could already feel the adrenaline and endorphins kicking in as he worked her over. Just the right amount. Too much and the pain overruled the pleasure. Too much and the rush would be lost in a haze of ache. Naturally Eric knew what he was doing. It was like watching the man cook. He always knew exactly how long to cook a dish to make it utter perfection. With every stroke of his crop he proved to be a master at this, too. The pain would flare, tricking her mind, and then heat would settle in, making her body flush and alive.