It'll Be An Adventure (Masters of the Shadowlands #15)(54)
Author: Cherise Sinclair

 

No, wait. With a wound like that, blood should be pouring down her skin. He narrowed his eyes. “What the hell?”

 

When she attempted to sit up, he flattened her with one hand between her breasts then ran his fingers over her skin. Over a very authentic-looking gash. “That’s not your skin.”

 

She squirmed, trying to escape him.

 

He shook his head. “You little brat, you had me going.” Jesus, his heart was still hammering. With his fingernails, he pried up the rough edges—was that toilet paper?—and peeled it off, leaving slightly pinkened, undamaged skin beneath.

 

Soft, smooth skin… Mmm.

 

Focus, doc. Yet, he couldn’t keep from running his hand up and down her side. Which meant he could also feel her chest and stomach shaking with silent giggles.

 

Her lips were pressed tightly together, yet her gorgeous eyes sparkled with laughter.

 

Back at the mosh, the pets were rolling around in open hilarity, legs in the air, making the animal equivalents of snickering.

 

Edward, not restrained by being in pet regalia, was laughing his head off.

 

Saxon glanced up. “Nice mindfuck, you bastard.”

 

“It was, wasn’t it?” Edward grinned. “We had to wait until near dark so you wouldn’t notice that my branch never made contact.”

 

Of course the sadist hadn’t hit her; Edward played by the rules. If it’d been any submissive other than Murphy, Saxon would’ve caught on sooner.

 

Edward bowed his head to Murphy. “Excellent facsimile of a nasty wound—at least what I got to see of it before he ripped it off.”

 

She grinned and uttered a pleased meow.

 

Still chuckling, Edward headed off.

 

As Murphy tried to sit up again, Saxon leaned a bit more weight on his hand. It was all too tempting to want to move his hand to cover a breast. Bad Saxon. “Do you remember the talk I gave you about the rules? About respecting Doms and Masters?”

 

Her laughter faded into wariness.

 

 

 

Master Saxon’s oversized palm was flattened between her breasts—and pressing on her hard enough she could barely breathe.

 

That wouldn’t have been enough to stop her laughter. But his questions sure did.

 

He’d told her the rules, yes. Respect was required. And lack of respect got a kitten punished.

 

She averted her gaze and noticed that most of the animals were lined up at the edge of the padded area, watching. Puppy Uzuri, her ear all bandaged, caught Murphy’s eye before rubbing her skimpy-skirted butt.

 

Holding up a splinted foreleg, Gabi sat in a cage and gave Murphy a not-very chastened look.

 

Master Raoul had black-haired kitten Kim sitting at his feet, her leash wrapped around his big fist.

 

Apparently, no matter how easy-going, Master Saxon was still a Dom. And pranking one had consequences.

 

Murphy looked up at Saxon and tried to appear penitent. But laughter bubbled up again, turning into little choked gurgles.

 

Unsmiling, he shook his head.

 

The thought that he was disappointed with her was dismaying, and her laughter disappeared…until she saw the amusement in his gaze.

 

Someone in a group of Masters beckoned to him. “Saxon, can we borrow you for a few minutes?”

 

“Damn.” Saxon caressed her cheek, and she leaned into his hand. “Go enjoy your reprieve, pretty kitlet. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

 

Obviously, her punishment was only delayed. Eeeks. As he rose, she scampered onto the play mats.

 

The rest of the pets surrounded her, bouncing and making cheerful noises. Letting her know that she’d won the prank wars.

 

She couldn’t stop grinning. On the way to a pile of soft balls, she detoured past Gabi’s crate.

 

A splint dropped to the ground, and Gabi let out a woof of victory. Grinning, she leaned against the cage door.

 

Murphy rubbed her head against Gabi’s shoulder in greeting.

 

Uzuri bounded over with little yips of happiness.

 

It was so satisfying to have crazy friends. And to purr her happiness.

 

Throwing herself into a kitten headspace, she batted balls around, rubbed heads with other kittens, hissed at an obnoxiously yappy puppy. And missed Master Saxon with his yummy treats.

 

Oh well. Maybe she should go chase some bubbles.

 

Turning, she ran right into a pair of very hard legs. Sitting on her haunches, she looked up. At Saxon.

 

Blue eyes, hard face with a strong jaw outlined by a close-trimmed beard. Broad, broad shoulders and thick pectoral muscles strained a T-shirt that read: DON’T PISS ME OFF. NEUTERING IS PART OF MY JOB.

 

She choked on a laugh.

 

“Murphy. You’ve been a bad little kitten. Time for your punishment.”

 

Her laughter dried up like someone had turned a faucet off.

 

He produced a leash from a pocket of his black cargo pants and clipped it onto her collar. His light tug had her crawling on hands and knees after him.

 

At the edge of the padded area, he sat on a canvas lawn chair next to Master Raoul who still had Kim with him.

 

Using the leash, Saxon drew her forward until she was between his knees. “Sit here, girl. Bad kitties don’t get playtime.”

 

She hissed under her breath and settled her butt on her feet, watching the other puppies and kitties—and one baby dragon—return to playing.

 

Damnfinito, but she’d truly wanted to chase those bubbles. She glanced over at Kim and gave a pitiful meow.

 

“Mew,” Kim agreed sadly.

 

Getting spanked would almost be better. It’d be over and done.

 

A spanking. Okay, maybe she’d had a few hot dreams about the feel of Master Saxon’s hands on her ass. She couldn’t forget the way he’d squeezed her tender butt after she’d been birched. How it hurt and felt so very hot at the same time.

 

What would a spanking from him feel like?

 

He was talking with Master Raoul about taking Marcus’s boys on a sailing trip. Not paying any attention to her.

 

Hmm.

 

Kittens weren’t known for sitting obediently at someone’s feet. A bit of indignation coalesced. Did he think she was a dog or something?