“Ten more,” Leandro says. “Harder this time. Color?”
“Green,” Giovanni bites out.
The spanking starts anew, and I notice the rigidity in Gio’s arms where he grips the bench, the way his eyes are squinted shut, jerking after each blow. I try to remember if this was his reaction to Valentin’s whippings. They’d always seemed like poetry in motion, giving and taking from each other in perfect synchronicity.
During the next round, with his bottom now striped in an angry scarlet hue, Giovanni lets out a few labored groans. Are these pleasurable noises or is he uncomfortable?
“Color, sub?” Leandro asks, surely noting his response.
“Green,” he says through gritted teeth, but I’m not sure I believe him. I quickly admonish myself for not trusting him to know better. His ass cheeks are swollen and mottled in what will surely bloom into nasty bruises. But he has a high threshold for pain. Valentin told me more than once, so perhaps this is irritating to him because it’s not enough? Halfway through the third round, Giovanni lurches forward, slowly shaking his head while letting out a quiet sob. I raise a hand to halt Leandro’s blows, but he’s already stopped, waiting for Giovanni’s next cue.
“Green,” Gio rasps, having noticed the interruption.
“Are you sure, sub?” Leandro asks. “We can rest here and come back to it later.”
“Green,” Giovanni hisses.
Leandro, trusting him to know, lands a few more blows, softer this time, which seems to irritate Gio even more. “I said green,” he snarls.
“Red,” Leandro answers calmly and takes a step back.
I resist the impulse to rescue him. Valentin taught me to wait and see how things play out, don’t always rush in to comfort him, but give him the opportunity to express himself first. Giovanni whirls on Leandro and cries out in an accusing tone, “Why did you stop?”
“I was uncomfortable, sub,” Leandro says matter-of-factly. “I don’t know you well enough to read your body language or interpret your nonverbal cues.”
Gio lets out a roar of frustration and turns on me, says in what I lovingly call his “demon voice,” “Why did you make me do this? Master will not like it.”
Once I’ve recovered from my surprise, I ask him, “Is your Master here with us right now?”
“He isalwayshere,” Giovanni insists then turns his fury on Leandro, “You arenotmy Master.”
“You’re correct, sub,” Leandro says with the utmost calm, tawse still in hand. “The beating was delivered by my hand, not your Master’s. I don’t have the same feelings for you as your Master did, nor do we share the same bond.”
There is something else I interpret from what Leandro doesn’t say:I cannot be your Master.
Giovanni’s glare turns to bewilderment and then a sad nod. He keens as if something inside him is breaking and drags his lower lip through his teeth, getting that primal panic about him that I recognize from past episodes.
“I’m going to give you both a few minutes.” Leandro sets aside the tawse and exits the room quietly.
Instead of approaching, I say to Giovanni, “Get dressed and come sit with your Sir.”
Despite being a bundle of nerves, I maintain my composure because he needs me to be unflappable in these moments of crisis. Giovanni, with his shoulders hunched and head hanging, tugs on his underwear and shorts, then makes his way over with a sullen slouch. When he’s close enough, I pull him right into my lap and arrange him so that it won’t irritate his tender ass too much. I’m expecting a fight, an argument at least, but it seems the wind has been knocked out of him.
“I’m sorry,” he moans, crying softly, sniffling a little into my shirt. I rock him for a spell, until he’s gotten most of it out.
“I’m sorry too. Perhaps you are not ready for this sort of thing yet?”
“I should be punished for my disrespect. I’ve embarrassed you in front of Leandro.”
“I’m not embarrassed. Leandro will understand, and you can apologize to him when you’re ready. There’s no deadline on these sorts of things.”
“I feel so stupid. Master would be so disappointed in me.”
“Because I allowed another Dominant to scene with you?”
“No. Maybe? I don’t know.”
“It was my idea, Giovanni. My attempt to take care of you in a way I thought would benefit us both. You agreed to it, yes, but it was with my encouragement.”
