Blake, Abby - Emma's Education [Viper's Dungeon 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

She nearly yelped as the next blow caught the flesh just below her buttocks. The next hit the other side, and she bit her tongue to avoid crying out.

Three more followed in quick succession. They stung, but the delicious heat was missing. She could feel tears gathering behind her eyelids, and she breathed a sigh of relief that she’d taken the seven he’d promised.

The eighth caught her by surprise, and she yelped out loud as the sting spread from Logan’s handprint, making her bottom and thighs feel like they were on fire. She sobbed as the ninth and tenth blows caught her thighs.

Logan stopped suddenly and lifted her into a sitting position on his lap. She was shaking all over and crying like a baby, and she kept her eyes closed in an attempt to hide from both men. Holy fuck, if this was BDSM, maybe she really was in the wrong place. Logan cradled her against his chest and ran a soothing hand through her hair as she sobbed.

The last twenty-four hours had been very strange, but considering the stress she’d been dealing with over the last few months at work, the feeling of not being alone, of knowing she could trust these men, seemed strangely fulfilling—and completely weird considering they’d just spanked her until she cried. The confusion made her cry harder. As strange as it sounded in her own head, the fact that Logan held her close and let her cry seemed far more real than the not-quite friendships she had at work. It truly had been a very distressing couple of months.

And that was all before her boyfriend turned out to be a disturbed stalker.

She tried to control the tears, but Logan ran a hand down her spine and whispered, “It’s okay, little one. Cry as much as you need to.” He rocked slightly as he held her securely against his chest. Eventually, she cried herself out, and Logan helped her into a better sitting position but kept her on his lap.

Jace held out a box of tissues, and she took a handful gratefully. Hell, she must look like a complete mess. She blew her nose and did her best to wipe her eyes. Her face felt hot and raw, and she smiled as Jace used a cool washcloth to wipe her down.

“What was that about, darlin’?”

“Huh?”

Jace frowned at her answer, but tried again. “Explain why you were crying.”

“Because…” she began, feeling totally confused, “Logan just spanked me?” She didn’t really mean to say it as a question, but it seemed obvious to her that they would’ve known that—they’d both been there after all.

“Emma,” Logan said as he shifted so that he could see her face. “You were on the verge of orgasm. A spanking like that should’ve been pleasurable in your aroused state.”

She shrugged. She wasn’t sure what it was they wanted to hear. The slaps on her bottom had hurt. She closed her eyes as memories of the first few slaps and the heat they’d generated pulsed through her mind. Even the smack on her pussy, which had been much harder, had been arousing. She had been enjoying the spanking at the beginning. She’d certainly been turned on by the first few smacks. Confusion twisted through her brain, and she tried to recall exactly what she’d been thinking as Logan spanked her.

“I…um…it’s been a stressful few months at work.”

“Stressful, how?” Logan said in a tone that demanded a reply.

“You’re a secretary, right?” Jace asked.

“Sort of,” she said, wondering how to explain what it is she did. “Technically, I was a secretary. I suppose my recent promotion sort of makes me a lawyer’s assistant, personal assistant, and secretary all rolled into one.” She couldn’t keep the pride from her voice. She enjoyed her job, and she was good at it. “I work for the senior partner in the firm, but there were several others who believed they deserved the promotion instead of me.” She shook her head. It wasn’t like her to complain out loud. She usually just got on with her job. “Anyway, it’s really just petty office politics, but they’ve managed to alienate most of my friends, and the nasty rumors and innuendo have been a little hard to take.”

Ha! If they could see her now—naked in the arms of two men—this would sure add fodder to the rumor mill.

* * * *

Jace watched Emma carefully. She seemed determined to dismiss her colleagues’ actions as trivial, but it was obvious to him, and judging by his expression to Logan as well, that her response had been far deeper. Emma had already shown that she was a strong woman, and her reaction during the spanking and then her explanation seemed disproportionate.

“What sort of cases does your boss work on?” Logan asked just as the same thought occurred to Jace.

All color drained from Emma’s face. “I can’t talk about individual cases.”

“That’s not what I asked, little one.”

Emma seemed to swallow with difficulty. She dropped her gaze to the floor and practically mumbled, “He’s a criminal defense lawyer. Most of his cases are pretty trivial offenses, but…” She hesitated, and Jace could practically see the thought processes in her head. This was what was really bothering her, but considering her job, it was most likely something she couldn’t talk about outside of the firm. Add that to all of the backstabbing and desertion by people she’d believed to be friends in her workplace, and there was no doubt in Jace’s mind that had been the cause of Emma’s crying jag.

“But?” Logan asked softly, his care for the woman in his arms quite obvious.

“But well there is one case that I hope he doesn’t win.”

Jace and Logan both nodded. They could only assume that whatever the person was on trial for that there was overwhelming evidence for a guilty verdict. Emma didn’t seem the type to condemn a person without absolute proof that her conclusion was correct.

Tears gathered in Emma’s eyes, but she blinked them away. “I’m sorry,” she said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I didn’t mean to mess up your…um…training.”

“Little one,” Logan said, his voice low and stern. “Part of your training is learning to be honest about your needs and emotions. This was obviously something you needed.” She seemed surprised by that at first, but then slowly nodded in agreement.

“I do feel better. I probably look like something the cat dragged in, but I do feel better.”

Logan moved, placed Emma on her feet and then said, “On the bed, little one.”

She looked confused at the abrupt change of subject, but she nevertheless complied with Logan’s order. She crawled into the middle of the bed and then rolled onto her back and placed her hands behind her head. Jace watched as she hesitated to open her legs. She obviously realized this was the position that Logan expected, but it seemed that her sense of modesty was getting in the way.

Jace walked to the side of the bed, leaned over, and very slowly, very deliberately pulled her left leg to the edge of the mattress. She squeaked an embarrassed noise but thankfully had the presence of mind not to close her legs, even though that seemed to be her first instinct.

“Good girl,” Jace said with a smile. She smiled back, her body relaxing slightly. He ran his finger over her leg, the touch light. “We need to talk about hard limits.”

She looked adorably confused.

“We already know that you don’t want to be touched by strangers,” Logan said as he caressed her other leg. “We’ll discuss pushing your boundaries later, but for now we’ll consider that a hard limit.” Emma nodded, looking wary, but at least she seemed to understand.

A point that was proven a moment later when she haltingly described a scene at the club last night that had clearly disturbed her.

“Logan and I aren’t into sadism either,” Jace said, hoping that was still true for his friend. Three years was a long time, but he couldn’t imagine someone changing so much that they would move so far away from earlier choices. Logan nodded his agreement.

He glanced at Jace. “We also avoid branding and cutting, blood play, breath play, and several other extremes that I’d rather not describe. We will, however, take great pleasure in testing your limits and discovering what works for you.” He leaned over and touched her face affectionately. “But we need to know where to draw the line today.”

Emma had gone a little pale when Logan described some of the more intense forms of BDSM but she hesitated as she tried to give them an answer.

“What is it, darlin’?”

“I…um…I don’t…” She frowned as she seemed to search for the words. “Last night I could never have imagined that I would enjoy a flogging, but well, you two proved to me that I do. So I really…um…don’t…”

“Emma,” Logan said as he ran his hand down her shoulder and over her breast. She gasped but kept her eyes on his face. “Domination and submission don’t have to be about sex.” The disappointment on her face was quite heartening. “But we both find ourselves fascinated by our little sub and will happily oblige.”

She smiled shyly, and Jace was once more reminded of all the reasons he usually avoided untrained subs. Why Emma was different, he still didn’t understand.

“Roll over,” Jace said with a glance at his watch. Viper didn’t appreciate tardiness, so if they were going to make it to the barbecue on time, they needed to get moving. Emma looked startled—she obviously wasn’t used to such abrupt changes in topic—but did as he asked without any fuss.

Her bottom was still quite an appealing shade of pink. Jace traced over a couple of small raised spots and watched her reaction closely. She didn’t seem to be in any pain, so he patted her bottom and told her to roll over once more. “Time to get dressed for the party,” he said as he helped her to her feet. She looked adorably confused once more, and he couldn’t resist pressing a hard kiss to her mouth. His hands wandered to her breasts, capturing the nipples between finger and thumb as he deepened the kiss and pressed his tongue into her mouth.

She was panting by the time he pulled away. His cock protested, throbbing insistently against the towel he wore, but he stepped back and handed her over to Logan. “Logan is going to hold you while I find you something to wear.”

* * * *

Logan smiled at his friend’s perceptiveness. Despite the fact that they’d identified Emma’s reason for crying, he still felt annoyed with himself that he hadn’t caught her reaction sooner. Yes, the moment he’d noticed something was wrong, he’d changed the style of spanking, but he’d delivered two or three hard slaps that she hadn’t enjoyed.

He’d once been involved with a sub who could only deal with her emotions after a really hard spanking. Logan hadn’t enjoyed it at all. He didn’t like inflicting real pain. He preferred his spankings to be an erotic lead-up to hot sex, not hitting a woman with the intention of hurting her. He’d eventually found a Dom who could deliver the type of spankings the woman had needed.

But Emma’s reaction had been unexpected, and he’d once again found himself wondering if he should take a step back from her training. If that was the type of spanking she would need on a regular basis, he probably didn’t want to be involved. He’d spent the last three years living a vanilla life. Hell, maybe he was better suited to it. But then he looked at the soft expression on Emma’s face and lost all self-doubt. Being a Dominant was part of him. It was who he was, and not something he could turn on and off like a tap.

“I thought subs were naked at Viper’s parties.”

He laughed and pulled her onto his lap. “We’d rather not get arrested for indecent exposure on the way there.”

“Oh, good point.” Emma blushed beautifully and buried her face in his chest. She took a deep breath and then stilled before she spoke. “I’m sorry about before. I didn’t mean to disappoint you.”

“Emma,” he said, moving her so that he could see her face. “The only thing that disappointed me is that you hid your reaction. Submission is about trusting your Doms and reacting honestly. If you’d reacted like you were in pain, I would’ve stopped sooner.”

“Okay.” He cradled her against him once more. “Oh,” she said suddenly like she’d just remembered something important. “Hard limits.” He nodded, waiting for her to continue. “I’ve never been attracted to women, so that would be a definite no.” She searched his face, perhaps looking for a disappointment she wouldn’t find. He meant it when he said he didn’t want to share her with anybody but Jace. “And only safe sex. I have an IUD, but I always use condoms.”

“Good girl,” Logan said, running his hand over her ass and thighs. She moaned quietly as he tilted her backward and captured a nipple with his mouth. He laved the hard peak with his tongue and then bit down gently. He splayed a hand between her shoulder blades, lifting her to his mouth to pay homage to the other. She was writhing in his arms by the time he finished. He pulled back and admired his work. Her breasts looked plump and swollen, the nipples red and tight, and her breathing was hard and uneven.

“That is a pretty sight,” Jace said as he came through the doorway. Logan held her immobile as Jace ran his hands over her breasts and stomach. “You look very beautiful, Emma.”