Sweet Persuasion (Sweet #2)(76)

He undid his belt and pulled it from his pants. In plain view, he carefully doubled it over and handed it to Micah, who once again looked questioningly at Serena.

She briefly closed her eyes but then reopened them and nodded at Micah so he would know that she accepted this. Micah took the belt from Damon and circled behind her.

“You will look at me and only me,” Damon said.

Her arms already ached from the strain, and her toes were numb from the awkwardness of being stretched so that her weight rested on the balls of her feet.

Again she nodded, just hoping he would get on with it. But she should have known better. Damon was nothing if not patient and exacting.

The first lash startled her. Her entire body jerked, and she cried out as pain burst over her back.

Strong fingers dug into her chin and forced it from her chest where it had fallen.

Her gaze found Damon, his stare hard and penetrating. “At me, Serena mine. Look at me. At all times.”

She raised her chin from his grasp and steeled herself for the next blow. It came like fire. This time across her ass.

When she made no sound and kept her stare locked with Damon’s, she saw approval spark in his eyes. It was obvious the last thing he wanted was for her to dissolve into a blubbering mass of hysterical female.

The next lash came quicker, across her shoulders where the skin bunched from her arms being stretched above her head. She closed her eyes and blew out her breath in a long whoosh.

Damon’s fingers yanked at her chin, and she opened her eyes to see reprimand in his.

“Add another lash for her disobedience,” Damon said to Micah.

She sucked in her breath and stared at him with hurt in her eyes.

“At me, Serena. Look at me. Every time you disobey me, I’ll add another lash.”

The next blow fell in the middle of her back, and she sank her teeth into her bottom lip, but she kept her eyes open and directed on Damon.

Micah spaced the lashes equally over her back and bu**ocks, careful not to put two in a row in the same spot. By the time he got to eleven, her entire back pulsed and ached with red hot intensity.

At twelve, Damon called a halt. Hope surged within her. Maybe she’d pleased him enough that he’d pardon her from the remaining thirteen he’d promised.

“The rest I want on her ass and only her ass,” Damon said. “I want it red. Beautiful, like her. Alternate cheeks, but don’t spare any effort.”

Her body went rigid, and she sucked in her breath, her protest surging to her lips.

“It will only hurt worse if you tense,” Damon said gently. “Relax, and it won’t hurt as bad.”

She took a long breath and forced her muscles into submission. Just as she wilted against her bonds, the first lash, stronger than before, streaked across her ass.

They came fast and furious, no break in between. Micah set a relentless pace, one destined to try the limits of her endurance. Locked into Damon’s loving gaze, his strength bleeding into her, bolstering her, the pain diminished. What was given in punishment became intensely pleasurable, and yet she knew it was not meant to be.

The room became hazy around her as she slipped beyond the immediacy of her bonds, of the welts rising on her ass. A soft sigh escaped her, and she stopped mentally counting the loud smacks as they fell.

Damon was all she could see. His hand cupped around her chin, supporting her even in punishment. His gaze was hard but proud and she reveled in that pride.

Do this for me.

It was as if she heard the words aloud. As though he asked her to understand, to take it because he demanded it, because she wanted to please him.

And she did.

Sorrow bled through the pleasure. Regret that she’d disappointed him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as the final lash descended.

Damon cupped her face in his hands and gently kissed away the tears that she hadn’t realized she’d shed.

“Serena mine.”

He said her name like a benediction, and his warm approval was all she felt in that moment. The pain diminished. Tension lessened in her arms, and the souls of her feet met the floor again.

Micah’s hands touched the tops of her shoulders and pressed firmly down. At first she didn’t understand what he wanted. She was still hazy, her back hypersensitive. Light shudders worked over her body at the slightest touch. Her skin was alive, crawling, edgy with unfulfilled need.

Damon was more patient this time as he waited for her.

“Down on your knees,” Micah murmured close to her ear.

Her knees buckled instantaneously, and Micah caught her underneath her arms to keep her knees from hitting the floor.

In front of her, Damon loosened his pants, unzipping them with deliberate precision. Micah’s hand tangled in her hair, forcing her head up just as Damon reached into his pants and pulled out his cock.

Damon stepped forward, his erection fisted in his hand. With Micah’s hands at the base of her neck forcing her head back, Damon put his palm on her forehead and guided his c**k past her lips.

Unlike at the auction, where he had to reprimand her for taking control, this time she was exhausted and let him use her mouth as he wanted.

Micah supported her neck while Damon thrust repeatedly to the back of her throat. Damon’s words echoed in her mind.

You will give me pleasure and receive none in return.

But he was wrong. Her pleasure was tied to his.