“Y-yes,” Hayley whispered.
Understanding finally registered. He’d been angry that she hadn’t waited for him to walk her into the building when he dropped her off at school. She hadn’t even considered it because so much else had consumed her thoughts since then. A part of her heart melted at the stern gruffness that did nothing to disguise the very real concern in his voice.
“Yes, what?” he prompted.
“Yes, Silas.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise, Silas.”
“Now, as your punishment you will remain positioned exactly as you are except I will bind your hands behind your back. You will receive twenty lashes from a flogger and after each one you will thank me for punishing you and keeping you safe. You get me?”
Stunned, she tried to respond but nothing came out. When she finally could formulate a sentence it came out choppy and nearly inaudible.
“I get you, Silas.”
“Repeat back my instructions so I know you understand.”
“After each lash I am to thank you for punishing me and keeping me safe,” she said, her breath hitching in her throat.
His hand traveled up and then back down her spine in a loving caress that was in direct contradiction to the steel in his voice.
“That’s my princess,” he praised.
His hand left her and she nearly cried out her protest. There were muffled sounds and then he was back. He captured one of her hands and very gently brought it around to the small of her back before retrievingthe other and positioning her wrists in a cross. Then he began winding rope around her wrists, taking care not to make it too tight or abrade her skin.
He hadn’t administered the first blow and she was already violently aroused, her entire body tense, expectant, her nipples taut, her clit tingling with anticipation. She closed her eyes, sinking her teeth into her lip. Oh God, she’d never last the twenty lashes he’d sentenced upon her.
Would he fuck her when he was finished, or would withholding her pleasure be part of her punishment? She went moist as images of him spreading her, her arms still bound, thrusting deep and hard over and over into her willing body bombarded her senses.
This time the moan escaped her lips and she twisted restlessly in an attempt to alleviate the burning need that gripped her so relentlessly.
He moved away from her again and she strained to hear any sound he made, trying to track his movements and anticipate when he’d administer the first lash.
It came out of nowhere, taking her completely by surprise. Fire erupted on the fleshy cheek he struck and raced over her skin, turning quickly to heated pleasure that hummed through her veins, bathing her entire body in the euphoric aftermath of the initial pain.
Never had she experienced anything to rival the sensation of the crop across her bare ass. By the time she’d blessedly remembered to thank him for punishing her and keeping her safe—very nearly forgetting after the initial blow—she was mindless with edgy need, pleasure and a haze of euphoria that settled over her like the thickest cloud.
When he reached the halfway mark, he paused and she very nearly cried out in disappointment and had to stifle her pleas for him not to stop. He petted and caressed every inch of flesh he’d marked with the flogger and then leaned down to cover the same area with kisses.
She let out a whispered sigh of sweet contentment, wondering how something that felt this good could possibly be called punishment.
When his lips left her, she tensed in expectation of the next blow, even arching her buttocks eagerly as if begging for the kiss of the flogger.
“My beautiful, sweet girl,” Silas murmured in obvious approval. “So perfect. So obedient. I’m so fucking lucky.”
Tears pricked the edges of her eyes as the precious words seeped into her very soul. Silas wasn’t a demonstrative man by nature. She’d observed how he was with others. Quiet, reserved. And very private. And yet with her he was so much more open. Affectionate. Approving. That she got to see a side so few rarely witnessed gave her a measure of satisfaction unlike any she’d ever known.
She jumped when the next blow fell even though she’d been expecting it at any second. It was harder than the first ten and she had to battle through the initial burn before the exotic bliss finally followed on its heels. He stepped up his efforts for the remaining lashes and with each subsequent flick of his wrist, the intensity grew until she was no longer cognizant of any thought or rationale. She could only feel. Experience. Give herself wholly to wave after wave of exquisite, earth-shattering pleasure.
She was panting when the last blow was administered, and her thank-you was a barely audible whisper. Once more Silas leaned down, and this time he pressed his lips to the small of her back just below where her bound wrists rested. It was like a benediction. Full of praise, admiration and approval. She had pleased him and that gave her indescribable pleasure.
To have brought even a measure of happiness and satisfaction to a man who’d seen little of either in his dim, gray life gave her a sense of peace she hadn’t felt since she was just a little girl with no worries except what game to play next. Before the days of her father’s illness and watching him slowly waste away and become a shell of the man he used to be.
Perhaps she gave Silas something he rarely experienced, but he too gave her something she’d long gone without. Protection. Affection. Being needed by someone. Love...
She blinked rapidly as the last word rolled through her mind, glowing brightly. Oh yes, she loved him. She’d loved him from the very start, of that she was certain. Why else would she have reacted to him as she had? Why else would she give him something she’d never give to another man? Her absolute submission. Control. Her body, her heart, her very soul.
