“I wouldn’t exactly describe it that way,” she hedged.
“Come now, Shadow. You crave impact play to use the pain to lose yourself in it. To drift off and relax. Tell me, how often have you actually achieved the level of euphoria you need to reach that feeling of floating into blissful pleasure?”
Ava lifted her eyes to his. She couldn’t help it; her resistance to this man was slowly fading. She always backed off from forceful men but there was something about him that calmed her … drew her in and coaxed her to trust him.
His smile was gentle with a touch of wickedness when she answered in a soft lilt, “Never.”
He stopped in front of her and leaned forward, ensnaring her in his magnetic focus that was as massive as that of his animal totem. At Castle Sin, each of the Masters was named after the animal whose spiritual totem they best represented. Of the seven cousins, Parker was the one who placed special emphasis on raw feelings and emotions in everything he did. Like his spirit animal, he had primal instincts and was unpredictable, but he inexplicably trusted in his abilities and emotions. He was passionate and dealt with life matters spontaneously by trusting his intuition and acting fast when needed
For the barest of moments, there was only her. It shook her to the core how badly she wanted to be the focus of his attention all the time.
“I’ll give you what you need tonight, little cherub … after the punishment.”
Well … that didn’t last long, she bemoaned the return of the powerful Master intent on punishing her.
“But know this, sub, when we scene, it’s my rules. I will give you, not what you want, but what you need. I will honor your boundaries and use of your safeword but within those parameters,” he pressed his face closer, “I set the pace and the outcome.”
His tone roughened, grew dark as he captured her chin between his fingers.
“You’ll be the submissive in every sense of the word, Shadow. Something you’ll do well to remember. With me, the bottom is never in charge.”
Chapter Three
Ava found her resistance crumbling under the potency of the man … one she burned to know more about. She had never felt such an electric attraction to anyone before. The fact that she wasn’t fazed that he was on the verge of punishing her, and severely by the look of that damn flogger whip, didn’t sit well with her.
What the devil was wrong with her? Here she stood, naked as a jaybird, another big no in her repertoire, in a private playroom—a massive no for her—and all she could think of was that she finally found the man who she couldn’t wait to fuck.
For days on end.
“Let’s get the punishment out of the way, shall we?”
His hand twisted in her hair, causing a sharp burn in her scalp as he tilted back her chin. Pain hissed through her lips; her perfidious body responded to his power. There was no denying it. This was how she was wired. She came off pain … but controlled pain.
“So, in every scene, you belittle the Dom who goes out of his way to offer you what you want, or from what I’ve been told, demand the scene to be.”
“I wouldn’t exactly word it like that, Sir.”
“No? You want to control the outcome, sub, which means you don’t get what you need. In the process, you lie to the Dom, rob him of the satisfaction he craves during a scene. It stops now.” His voice deepened. “And let me make this abundantly clear, Shadow. No matter where you scene, you will never top a Dom again. Do you know why?”
“I’m sure you’re about to inform me, Master Tiger.” Her voice didn’t sound as sharp as she intended.
“Because you will remember this flogging for a very long time.” His fingers tightened in her hair. “I daresay, you’ll never forget it, period.”
His heat followed him as he stepped back and released her hair. It annoyed her how lost and cold her body felt without his pressed against it.
“For your blatant lies and topping a Dom, you’ve earned twenty strikes. For your actions toward me, an additional ten with a different impact tool.”
She heard the swish and then a whoosh of air caressed her skin moments before the whip landed with a burst of explosive fire across her buttocks.
“Fuck!” The painful gasp pulsed in her chest as she struggled to compute the raw pain that licked over her backside.
“That was a test strike. We begin now. You will count every hit and apologize to a Dom by name for topping him.” He allowed his instruction to sink in. “Is that clear?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I expect you to use your safeword if it becomes unbearable. Remind me what it is.”
“Red, Master Tiger.”
“Good girl. One more thing, Shadow. This is punishment. There will be no breaks and believe me, you won’t slip into subspace. You’ll feel every strike and every strand of my whip.” He slapped the strips against his jeans. The sound echoed ominously through the room. “If you miss a count or an apology, we will start from one again … in the dungeon.”
Her head whipped around as she glared at him over her shoulder. “You're not serious.”
His grin was response enough, and with a huff, she turned her face forward. “Just get on with it then.”
Crack! Crack!
“Holy fuck!” Ava struggled to breathe. The pain seared through every shadow of her mind, curled into a ball in one corner until heat unfurled deep inside her.
“One. I’m sorry for topping you, Dom Mike. Two. I’m sorry for topping you, Dom Ben,” she managed to grind out through clenched teeth.
For the first time ever, Ava didn’t know if she’d be able to withstand the entire punishment. He had just started and already, tears were burning behind her eyes.
The next two connected with the insides of her thighs which dragged a hollow howl from her. To Master Tiger’s credit, he gave her a couple of seconds grace to find her voice to count and apologize before the next two struck.
“I’m surprised, Shadow. For someone who seems to love impact tools, I would’ve thought you’d have learned long ago how to take a flogging.”
“Th-this is fucking way p-past a flogging,” Ava whimpered as Parker gave her a short respite after the tenth strike landed.
“If you’re going to last for the balance of your punishment, stop resisting the flogger, sub. You tense your muscles, which exacerbates every strike and turns it into a painful experience.”
“I thought that was the p-purpose of being p-punished.”
“It is but it doesn’t have to be unpleasant. Take a deep breath when you hear the swish of the strips and don’t tense up, but rather welcome the energy the flogger delivers.”
“Which is easy during an erotic flogging, Master Tiger. This … I’ve never been flogged like this before or with the kind of whip you’re using. I’m trying but I just … I can’t.”
“The only difference is you’re not being aroused, and for once, by a Dom you can’t manipulate. Concentrate on your breathing to circulate that energy throughout your body. You can stop apologizing to the Doms. It depresses me to realize you’ve been able to top that many. The last ten is going to be the biggest test for you, little one. Ready?”