“No,Sir.”
“I almost don’t believe you. Almost…” Sir drew the elastic back so it was taut. “… because you wouldn’t lie to me, would you? You wouldn’t tell me pretty lies to avoid a punishment youdeserve.”
Gabriel panted his reply, too starved of breath and addled by arousal to give Sir anything more than that. “No, Sir, Iwouldn’t.”
The elastic snapped back into place. It hit the back of Gabriel’s thighs, causing Gabriel to grunt into his blankets. The sting was temporary, but his body didn’t know that. It pushed forward involuntarily with pain, his cock brushing Sir’s thigh to bring himpleasure.
“Tonight was supposed to be your reward for good behavior. I wish it didn’t have to end like this.” Sir’s fingers slid back and forth over the band, and every now and then, he tugged it as if to draw it back again. “Do you understand why it’s gonethisway?”
“Yes,Sir.”
“Then you understand how to make it never happenagain?”
Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut so tightly the darkness behind his eyelids speckled. He did understand. He’d taken Sir for granted, thinking Sir wasn’t as powerful as Garrison, but he’d taken it too far. There was a difference between power laced with brutality, and power laced with kindness. Sir was not made weak because he had compassion—the fact that his control was so refined he exerted it over himself was a testament to his will. He did not lash out, even when Gabriel deserved it. He punished Gabriel in ways that would make him understand what he’d done wrong instead of ways that would allow Sir to get his frustration outinfull.
“If you understand, then you’ll want to be punished, won’t you?” Sir’s hand was on his ass again, caressing his skin. “I want you to count for me as I punish you, so you can see how much you’re valued. Every spank is meant to honor you—to encourage you to be the best you can be, so that you can please me, bodyandmind.”
“Yes,Sir.”
Gabriel’s body was on edge, left tingling in anticipation. He hung on Sir’s every word, goosebumps running up and downhisarms.
He would count. He would count and remember that he’d been bad, and that Sir truly knew what was best for him. It wasn’t the way the evening was supposed to have gone, but he didn’t regret it in the least. Sir was teaching him a lesson, and Gabriel would remember itforever.
The first spank startled Gabriel, and he cried out in surprise. When he caught his breath, he crowed out abroken, “One.”
Sir’s hand smoothed over his skin, then drew back and struck again. Pain seared Gabriel’s backside, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He jolted forward, and his cock rubbed against Sir’s leg. “T-two.”
“Good boy, Gabriel,” Sir whispered. “Keep counting. I want you to know how much I value you. I want to hear you acknowledge it. You’re better than this. Don’t ever pretend thatyou’renot.”
The hand drew back, and asmackrang through the room. As his cheek jiggled from the impact, he rubbed his cock against Sir’s thigh. Pleasure mixed with pain. Was Sir doing this on purpose? Gabriel never wanted him to stop. “Three.”
Anothersmack.Gabriel’s hips moved against Sir’s thigh at a steady pace now, giving his cock the stimulation it craved. The spanking didn’t hurt anymore—Gabriel’s mind had gone haywire, and pleasure was the only thing thatregistered. “Four.”
How many more was Sir going to give him? Tears ran down Gabriel’s cheeks, but he smiled. There was no other feeling like this. He’d never been punished and made to feel good at thesametime.
Why had it never been like thisbefore?
This wasn’t a beating. This wasn’tanythingGabriel had ever experienced. He’d been waiting for the day Sir lost his patience and struck him, but this was pleasure masquerading as punishment. Would he always be sospoiled?
Sir wanted this to happen to him. He wanted to guide Gabriel, but at the same time, he never wanted tohurthim.
Sometimes, pleasure had to be delivered in a package more purposeful than kittenish tenderness to get the pointacross.
On the next spank, Sir’s hand found a part of Gabriel’s ass that had been struck before. Pain spiked through Gabriel’s pleasure receptors and made itself known. Gabriel cried into the blankets, but his hips rutted forward, and he worked his cock against Sir’s thigh harder than ever to compensate. Pain morphed into pleasure and tightened in his balls. Did Sir notice? Gabriel wasn’tsure. “Five!”
So close. He was so close. The small part inside of him that clenched whenever orgasm was on its way was clenching now, and with it, the rest of Gabriel’s body. His toes curled and his fingers locked into the blankets. His eyes remained shut tight, and he bit down on his jaw as the sensationoverwhelmedhim.
One more spank. Just one more, andhe’dcome.
But the last spank never came. Sir repositioned him on the bed and rolled Gabriel over so that he was on his back. The change of position was jarring, and Gabriel opened his eyes to find that his vision had adjusted to the dark. He saw Sir looking down at him, on his hands and knees at Gabriel’s side. “A first offense is five counted spanks,Rabbit.”
Only five? Gabriel ached for more. Sir had to know it, and it was why he was limiting the punishment. He had to know that Gabriel was seconds away fromcoming.
Sir’s hand on his ass wasn’t his punishment—the denied orgasm he’d teased Gabrielwithwas.
“If you are bad again, it willbeten.”
How quickly could Gabriel be bad? If he grabbed Sir’s face and yanked him down to kiss him hard, would Sir punish him all over again? “What will happen if I’mgood,Sir?”
