Smiling, I bite my lower lip, my eyes falling shut. For a moment, it’s just the two of us. The rush that comes in the wake of the pain. The warm comfort between us and the easy intimacythat I allow myself to indulge in despite the cracks in my heart. Because easy is exactly what I have with Asbjörn—exactly what I need.
“Ready to go again?” he asks, trailing his fingertips down my side, making me shudder deliciously.
“Yes,” I gasp.
Asbjörn makes me feel the sharp sting of the cane repeatedly. I yelp and hiss, and soon, I’m screaming too. The pain is sharper and more severe than any other he has inflicted upon me. It’s almost more than I can bear. But every time I think I’ve had enough, he leans into me, caresses my side and kisses my temple, and the desire to go again surfaces. Because beneath the pain, a pulsing pleasure awakens, humming low in my belly, building with each strike.
“Short break,” Asbjörn says at some point after he’s been going at me at a steady pace for a while.
“Okay,” I pant.
He steps close, caressing and kissing me and murmuring soft words of praise and reassurance. Once I’ve recovered, he asks, “Are you good with me stepping away for a moment?”
I nod. “I’m good.”
“I’ll be right back.”
His steps recede, and I drift into a thoughtless space while I lean my head against the cross, spending the few minutes gathering myself.
When he returns, he checks in with me again, asking if I’m good to continue. I nod. I don’t think I have too much more in me, but I’m also not quite ready to stop. The delicious heat humming on my ass cheeks has taken on a life of its own, begging for more.
“We’re almost done. But before we wrap up, Ulf would like to take a couple of swings. Would you be okay with that?”
“Ulf?” I say, taken aback, my brain too hazy to react sensibly.
“Yeah.” Asbjörn rubs the sore flesh on my ass gently. “He’d like to use the cane on you. Just a few strikes. He likes the way you’re reacting.”
“Oh.” My brain swims. I barely know what he’s saying. But talking about Ulf stirs something deep inside me that goes beyond thought. An instinctive response.
“Would that be okay?”
I nod. Nervousness crackles through me, but there’s a heated flare of anticipation too.
“I need to hear you say it, Elina. No pressure. You don’t have to agree if you’re not comfortable with it. But if you are, I need to hear the words.”
I lick my lips and swallow. “Yes,” I manage. “It’s okay.”
Asbjörn moves away, and new steps sound behind me. Firm, measured thuds of military boots.
Closing my eyes, I breathe through rounded lips as a wave of something powerful washes over me. It awakens my awareness and heightens my senses. A waft of pine and a characteristic masculine scent drifts past me. I inhale deeply to catch it, wanting more—knowing who it belongs to.
I startle when a hand touches my left shoulder blade. Not because I don’t like it; because the electricity that sparks is so strong that my entire body starts buzzing with little jolts and shivers. The hand is rough and calloused, yet the touch is soft and warm. I easily recognize it, and I welcome it like a long-lost friend, melting beneath it and giving in.
I don’t understand what happens. In a matter of seconds, everything has shifted. I’m not just dizzy or floating anymore. A strange calmness has settled over me, dragging me deep into the fog where my thoughts don’t exist—where my own will doesn’t matter.
“This is going to hurt, Elina,” Ulf says, and hearing my name spoken with his deep, rough voice does strange things to me. “Can you accept that?”
His question pulls at something deep inside me. A reaction I’ve felt every time he watched me. A desire to sink deeper. At that moment, it’s clear what it is. The urge to give up and give in. To let him take control.
I don’t even have to think. Because it doesn’t matter what he’s giving me. All I know is I want it—because he wants to give it.
“Yes,” I say, just barely able to form the word as I drift deeper.
He lingers on my back a minute longer. He doesn’t say anything, but I clearly feel the intent. The praise and the strength he’s imbuing me with.
When he draws a deep, audible breath, I reflexively follow, gripping the chains, knowing what comes next.
He steps back, rests the cane across my ass, thenflicks.
