It'll Be An Adventure (Masters of the Shadowlands #15)(34)
Author: Cherise Sinclair

 

“Yes.” He ran his thumb over her full lips and released her. “Please tell me this isn’t a rape scene.” Because that would, quite honestly, make him sick.

 

“No, oh no.” She shuddered and after a second, gave a sly smile. “Actually, to avoid having to put that on the page, I’m making the murderer unable to perform except right after he kills someone.”

 

“Ah, we won’t go that far, if you don’t mind.”

 

Her giggles were almost silent, like kitten’s sneezes. Fucking cute.

 

He put her hand between his. Not trembling. Warm. Very good. “How far do your bad guys take this?”

 

“Um, not too far. They’ll grope, but not…go further.”

 

“So, sexual touching is all right for me and whoever, but penetration is off limits.”

 

“I…I.” He could almost see her thinking that she’d already done far, far more than that with him last week. But she’d obviously noticed his reference to whoever. “Yes.”

 

“Brave girl. All right, come with me.”

 

 

 

Murphy followed Saxon across the room to the side wall where…implements…were on display.

 

He motioned to the wall. “These are all toys used in the nineteenth century and before. Notice there’s no plastic, silicone, or fiberglass.”

 

“Uh-huh.” Honestly, the whips, floggers, and canes looked just as terrifying as the modern ones in the main room.

 

“This is a cat o’ nine tails.”

 

She nodded, eying what looked like a multi-whip.

 

“Switches, canes, crops.” He pointed to various evil looking instruments. “Quirts, straps, tawses.”

 

A tremor ran through her at the thought of someone using those on a person. On her.

 

“And here we have birch rods.” The rods were made up of several leafless, thin branches that had been tied together into a bundle. The fancier ones had wooden handles. He ran a finger over one. “They come in various lengths. Shorter, less painful ones were used on young boys, girls, and women.

 

Even the shorter ones looked painful.

 

“Criminals got the longer, rougher ones.” He patted one bundle with long, rough sticks.

 

“Just looking, and I already feel the pain,” she told him very sincerely.

 

“Anticipation makes disciplining even more effective, sweetling.” Chuckling, he chose a short, smooth birch bundle, and after a second of contemplation, added a longer one. He held them out for her to touch. “For contrast. The perils of research, right?”

 

“Right,” she said faintly, feeling the roughness of the long one against her palm. Eeeks.

 

He handed her a cat o’ nine tails. “Bring that and let’s get started.”

 

She followed, running her fingers along the strands, sniffing the leather fragrance.

 

The whole room had a unique scent of a minerally, rock-like fragrance, of leather, and of sex. There was also a hint of sweat and musk as well as a light citrus smell, perhaps from the cleansers available from a chipped-out shelf in the stone wall.

 

A low platform ran along the wall for five feet, extending out only far enough for a person to stand on, rather like a bookshelf. It was short, less than a foot high, and Saxon dropped the birch rods beside it.

 

“Here?”

 

“Here, little subbie.” He went to another wall and picked out metal shackles and chains.

 

Oh, lord, what had she gotten herself into?

 

When he returned, he looked her up and down. “Strip for me, pretty maid, or I’ll use the whip to cut your clothes off.”

 

Her heart jolted at the coldness in his gaze. He was playing a role…right? She pulled in a hard breath. This is Saxon; I have a safeword. How terrifying it would be if she didn’t. Poor Dinah.

 

He gripped her hair, forcing her head back.

 

She gazed up at him helplessly.

 

“Did you not hear me?” he asked, ever so softly, the menace clear in his tone.

 

“Sorry, sorry, milord. Right away.”

 

“Better.” He released her. At the wall, he clipped the chain between the heavy metal shackles and left another set on the floor.

 

She tried to obey him but was still stuck on his order to strip. She’d be naked. In a public place.

 

Yet excitement tingled through her body. Surely, she wasn’t aroused at this.

 

When she didn’t move, he huffed a breath, went to the evil wall of implements, and returned with a strap—a long piece of stiff leather with a carved wooden handle.

 

Without even speaking, he smacked it against her thigh.

 

Ow! It stung like fury.

 

He lifted an eyebrow.

 

Good god, what an effective incentive. She unlaced her stays, let them drop, and whipped her chemise off. Most Regency maids didn’t wear anything under a chemise, so she hadn’t, and her feet were already bare.

 

But, god, she was naked. And people in the room were looking over this way. At her bare skin.

 

At her tiny breasts.

 

She wanted to cover them so bad.

 

“Better.” He smiled. “Your last household must have been very lax. We aren’t that way here.” His blue eyes held amusement, yet his tone was dead serious.

 

The Shadowlands was…strict.

 

She bobbed her head. “Yes, milord. Sorry.”

 

“Now, let’s see what I have to work with. Hands at your sides, legs apart.”

 

When she didn’t move her legs out far enough, he smacked the inside of her thigh.

 

Yelping at the shocking burn, she hurriedly widened her stance.

 

Bare skin was way more sensitive. With her legs open, she could feel cool air wafting over her exposed intimate parts.

 

His gaze swept over her, lingering on her breasts and pussy—and she was ever so glad that she’d buzzed her bush to a perfect short trim. As he sauntered around her, she could almost feel the intensity of his regard…and felt even more naked.

 

This was how Dinah would feel. And this was why Saxon said she needed to do more than just sample the feel of the birch and whip. He knew.