She shrieks at the sensation, and I love the sound so much that I spank her again. Alisha adjusts her position, but I land one last strike. She dodges by rolling and exposing her side. I don’t comprehend her movements in time to stop myself, landing the swat on her arm.
The room goes silent as she freezes. Then, it’s like her entire persona changes in the blink of an eye.
“Ouch!” She grabs the blushing part of her arm and squeezes like it’s an open wound.
Her voice sends me into a whole new frenzy, ready to punish her for breaking the rules. “Don’t spea—”
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” she interrupts my order, climbing off the bed. “You actually hit me.”
My stomach drops. We’re no longer in character, and I’m realizing she’s actually mad that I spanked her. That my swat missed her ass and landed on her arm.
“It was a spank, Alisha.” I narrow my eyes at her and toy with the paddle in my hands. “For not listening.”
“No, Skye,” she barks. “That’s fucking weird.” She crosses her arms over her chest and looks around the room as if seeing it for the first time. As if I kidnapped and brought her here against her will.
“You signed the contract,” I snap. “You literally checked off every box, Lish.”
“Don’t call me that,” she snaps back.
My eyebrows dart up as I stare at her. “What?”
She shakes her head and closes her eyes.
What the fuck is happening here? Is she really going to act like she didn’t agree to this? Like I’m doing this to hurt her?
I take a step forward to comfort her, hold her, whatever it takes to get her to calm down. She looks physically shaken, and now I feel awful for wanting to experiment with her.
This was a mistake.
“I’m sorry, Alisha.” My voice is almost a whisper. “I thought this is what you wanted.”
Her eyes meet mine, and I notice the shine around her makeup. She’s crying.
“Nobody would want to be treated like this, Skye,” she says through clenched teeth. “Nobody wants to be degraded like that. You physically hit me. You left a mark on me!”
My breath catches in my throat. “Alisha, you signed the document. If you didn’t want me to do those things, you shouldn’t have said it was okay.”
“I didn’t read it,” she admits with a shout, her arms dropping by her sides like she’s about to throw a tantrum. “You’re going to regret hurting me, Skye. You’re going to regret fucking hitting me.”
“Alisha,” I breathe, the panic in my chest rising. I never should have done this. I never should have opened up to anyone about the things I wanted to try. Vanilla sex is just as good. I should have stuck with that. “Let’s talk about this. Let’s figure this out and go back to the beginning.”
I walk back to my trousers that are lying in the middle of the floor and start pulling them up over my hips. When I turn back to talk to her, she’s gone.
Before I can do anything else, the door to my condo slams shut.
Alisha left. And I have no idea what the fuck to do.
Chapter One
Violet
Two Years Later
Don’t choke.
That’s what I tell myself every time I get ready to step out on stage. I’m not sure why I do it. It always psychs me out and makes my insides churn. I should give myself a better pep talk, but I guess I’m a glutton for punishment.
The worst part? It’s not the stage fright that has me feeling like my burp will land on the floor. It’s the thought of my shimmery, silver mask slipping, my platinum blonde wig coming off, or my makeup getting smeared enough to show my face. I fear any part of my fake exterior breaking, leaving the real me to show through the cracks.
