Sanctum (Masters and Mercenaries #4.5)(9)

Yes. Yes. Yes. This was what she’d longed for. A little floaty feeling started to take over Jill. It didn’t obscure the pain. The pain was a part of it. The pain was a gateway, and she didn’t fight it. Over and over again he smacked her flesh, heat and sparks flaring through her system. It had been so long. So long since she’d had hands on her, so long since she’d played this sweet game. And no one had played it the way Ryan had. Every play session had felt real, like she was the only woman in the world for him. Like the world was their dungeon and they could play forever.

She nearly protested when he stopped.

Ryan’s hands were warm on her body. One was between her shoulder blades and the other at her waist balancing her, keeping her safely across his lap. The hand at her waist moved lower, tracing the swell of her ass. She shivered at the sensation. He brushed his fingers lightly across her skin.

“If you will note, her very fair skin is a lovely pink.” Ryan’s voice sounded husky as he ran a finger along the seam of her ass. She fought hard not to squirm. “There are absolutely no welts on her flesh. She won’t bear any marks or bruising in the morning.”

“How can you tell if that was enough for her?” one of the Doms asked. She thought it was the cop with the redhead, but her brain felt sweetly fuzzy and she didn’t really care. For the first time in months, she felt alive and aware. The monotony of her days, the worry and stress, just floated away.

Jill heard Adam chuckle. “I can smell her arousal from here. Trust me, if Ryan shoved a couple of fingers up her *, she’d come in a heartbeat. You sub fast, Ms. Jill.”

That sounded like a really good idea to Jill. If Ryan didn’t want to provide the fingers, she had some of her own. She was so aroused it wouldn’t take long. Jill’s muscles felt like jelly as Ryan hauled her up.

“Adam, you’re a flipping genius, aren’t you?” Ryan sounded out of breath. He cradled her against his chest, and she couldn’t help but recall how petite and feminine she felt when he carried her around.

“I have been told so on many occasions,” Adam replied with a grin.

“Good. Walk the rest of the students through your process. Talk about how you and Jake discipline your wife while I take care of my assistant. Aftercare is so important.” Ryan ended his lecture and pulled her close. Jill’s arms floated up around his neck.

He swept past the crowd of avid students. Jill heard Adam invite Jeff and his sub up to the front of the room.

“Hey,” Jill protested as Ryan scooped up her clothes. She was starting to come back to her senses. Being alone with Ryan didn’t seem like a good idea. It was one thing to work around Ryan, to have closed-door meetings with him, but it seemed very dangerous to be naked with the man who had broken her heart.

Joe’s jaw was wide open as Ryan carried her across the dungeon floor toward the rooms in the back. Yeah, he wasn’t going to save her. The rest of the dungeon was quiet, but she could hear some people laughing from the locker rooms. And she still couldn’t find the will to tell Ryan to stop.

He opened the door to one of the private rooms, and they were suddenly alone. A low light came on, and she could see the tense line of Ryan’s jaw. She hadn’t played at Sanctum yet, though her contract gave her rights to the club. She’d been in the dungeon out of necessity, but she’d never been in the aftercare rooms. It looked like Ian Taggart and the boys knew how to treat a sub. The room was luxurious, with thick rugs covering the hardwoods and gentle lighting. Soft music played, and the whole place smelled like a spa, soothing and clean. There was a long table with everything a Dom would need to take care of his sub. Jill saw various oils, a first aid kit, condoms, and other things she wasn’t sure of. There was a comfortable chair and a long, padded table.

He gently placed her on the massage table. “Turn over.”

“I’m fine. This isn’t necessary.” Jill was painfully aware she was alone and naked in a room with Ryan Church. Adam was right. She’d subbed out very quickly and was only now coming out of it. She tried covering her breasts with her hands.

“I said turn over,” he demanded in a voice that allowed no disobedience.

Jill turned over on her stomach. At least this way he could only see her ass. She was bigger than she’d been before. When she’d been with Ryan, she hadn’t worked, so an hour a day to exercise had been easy to come by. Not so much anymore.

She heard Ryan open a bottle of something and listened as he rubbed his hands together. It wasn’t a moment before he rubbed something warm into the skin of her backside.

“Is that better?”

“Yes,” she replied with a sigh. It felt really good. He knew just how much pressure to apply to get the knots in her muscles to release. It reminded her of all the times he had massaged her shoulders when they’d been together. After a heavy scene, he would sit her in his chair, pour her a vodka from the bottle they kept in the fridge, and work her shoulders and scalp until she just about fell asleep.

His hands slid across her skin, relaxing parts of her and heating up other parts. She felt him spread her legs wide.

“Don’t tense up on me,” he ordered.

She tried to relax. All she could think about was how close his hands were to her very wet *. It had been so long since an actual man touched her there. She felt herself flush with embarrassment.