ReclaimedSurrender (10 page)

“Tell me.”

“I overstepped a boundary when I made that horrible
accusation and brought your honor into question the night we fought.”

For a minute she thought she’d hit the nail on the head
because he looked relieved and a little surprised. But then those fleeting
expressions disappeared and he sighed. “I do appreciate that you recognize
this, but as I recognize my part in that night as well, I’d never punish you
for it. That’s not why you are being punished today. In this you’re not even
close.”

“But I thought—”

The rest of what she was going to say died on her lips as he
took her by the arm, turned her around and pulled her along with him, exiting
the room. She’d be really freaking out right about now, if he weren’t so calm
and his voice almost soothing.

“If you’d been thinking you wouldn’t be in trouble.”

He turned toward the kitchen and she was totally confused.
“Where are we going?”

“Why? Are you nervous?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t say anything and for some reason that fact
bothered her more than if he’d said “good”.

Rene led Alexis’ reluctant little ass right to the answering
machine at the built-in desk in the kitchen. “Press play.”

She did, but five words into Michael’s message she punched
the stop button. Turning toward him, she said, “Rene, I’m—”

He put his forefinger to her lips, effectively cutting her
off. As gently as he could he told her, “Go upstairs and get ready for your
punishment. Leave the panties on, but take off my shirt.”

She looked completely dejected as she walked away. As if she
were really sorry, which was good because he wasn’t bending on this. He’d given
her every opportunity to ’fess up about going into the office and she’d chosen
not to tell him. Maybe if he hadn’t let her wobble for the last six months, she
wouldn’t have had the nerve to deceive him. He sighed.

After taking the time to examine things, he now knew for a
certainty that she needed him as much as he needed her. Sure, their
relationship wasn’t perfect. They had plenty of things they needed to work on.
In this, they were the same as everyone else. The only difference seemed to be
the extremes. The high-highs and low-lows. Ken pointed this out along with the
fact that Rene needed to find some middle ground with Alexis now that she’d
gone from being his obedient sub to becoming his bratty sub-wife. He began to
see that he’d successfully walked them through an unconventional courtship that
was as much an awakening for him as it was for her. They’d both loved the power
exchange, yet when it came to their marriage he’d neglected to make a proper
path to continue to enjoy this kind of relationship. There were no rules in
place. He had no specific structure for her either. She’d made her own, the
only way she knew how. Pleasing people. It was no wonder his CFO promoted her,
time and again, and no surprise a guy like Michael latched on to her. Alexis
was back to living the life she’d been living before he’d met her.

But that was going to change.

He left her upstairs for a half hour. Letting her worry in
silence about what was to come. He’d already decided that there would be no
holding back. No soft pedal.

He stalked into the room and went directly to the bed.
Putting down the small, unwrapped package on the nightstand, he systematically
checked each restraint. Straightening one, smoothing another. When he’d
examined all four he said, “You did a good job with the buckles. They’re well
placed and easily accessible.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was
perfectly positioned. Kneeling on their chair. Her arms folded over the top of
the bolster while her breasts squashed nicely into the fabric. She’d angled
herself so that her naked back dipped down and her ass was predominately displayed.
The fact that she was wearing her tiny red panties only lent to the eroticism.
He might find it challenging to punish her when he had to, but he always got a
thrill from seeing her like this. So vulnerable and ready for him to do as he
pleased.

He walked by his chair and scooped up the crop. Smacking it
loudly against his thigh, he asked, “Do you like what you chose for me to use?”

“No.”

He ignored her answer, rolled up his sleeves and asked
again, “Do you like what you chose for me to use?”

She got the message. “Yes.”

“That’s better. Now,” he bent and slid the crop between the
chair and the undersides of her breasts, “make sure this doesn’t fall. I want…”
He didn’t finish, he just wrapped his hand around her thigh and gently pulled,
spreading her knees farther apart. “There, that’s better. You’ll be more
stable. And your shoulders, they’re too high. Drop them.”

When she did, the crop started to slip. She attempted to
press herself harder against it, but it didn’t work. Without a word he wedged
his hand on her rib cage and shoved up, waiting for her to get a better angle
to capture it. Pleased as she did. “Very good. But you’re going to have to be
careful, I don’t want that crop to slip.”

He made a few more adjustments until he was fully satisfied
with the results. One last check and he left her and went to his chair. He
could only imagine how terrible the creaks and groans sounded to her as it bore
his weight. An audible reminder that he was there and she was captive while he
leisurely watched her. Free to think all manner of things she wasn’t privy to.

“Can you tell me now, why I’m going to punish you?”

“I wasn’t allowed to go into the office today and I did
anyway.”

“I don’t want specifics. You could have gone into a store of
your choosing, into a movie theater or a bank and it would be the same thing.
What do you have to say to that?”

“You gave me instructions and I deviated from them.”

“Good, but I want better from you.” He could tell she was
having a hard time maintaining her position. “Tell me what I want to hear.”

“I willfully disobeyed you.”

“And?”

“And I misled you when I told you the reason I was late was
because Ken had trouble finding your order. Although that was the truth, I
should have told you that I’d gone into the office.”

“Yes. I am greatly displeased with you because you never
gave me the chance to allow or deny you the option to go some other place. You
assumed I would say no, so you took a gamble that I wouldn’t find out. This is
a twofold deception, isn’t it? Not only did you defy me, but afterward you
tried to cover it up. You will never attempt to deceive me like this again. In
the future, you will always give me the option, do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Your punishment is as follows. You will take twenty
strokes. Double what I normally give you. Do you agree that this is a fair
exchange?”

“Y-yes.”

Her voice was so muffled and soft he leaned forward and
said, “I want to hear your answer. Say it again.”

“Yes. Yes it’s a fair exchange.”

Leaning back, he purposely shifted in the chair to make it
creak loudly as he devoured every inch of her. “There are other things we need
to discuss. Are you paying attention?”

“Yes.”

Alexis had learned a long time ago, the first time he’d
taken the strap to her, to keep her answers short and to the point. No
dramatics and certainly no theatrics as those things only served to draw out
the already uncomfortable situation. Rene, she’d quickly learned, had no time
for this. He never reacted, he just continued with what he had in mind to do
with calm authority. Much like he was doing now.

“I’ve told you, you are to receive twenty strikes. You will
call each one out as it lands. If you fail to do this at any point we start
again. Is that understood?”

“Yes.” This was a ritual of sorts. And she’d learned the
hard way that he liked his rituals. The second time he’d punished her she’d
gotten all the way to eight and made the mistake of not calling it out. True to
his word he started at one all over again.

“We will discuss where you went wrong in your thinking
between each strike. I want you to tell me your deepest thoughts. Whatever they
may be. No withholding. Is that understood?”

“I will.”

“Then when I’m done and I’ve put down the crop, I’ll take
you into my arms and you can cry.”

Strangely enough, Alexis already felt like crying. He was
being so patient and purposeful. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a brat.”

“I’m glad you recognize this.”

He approached and she waited. Knowing any minute he’d take
the crop out from where it was trapped and begin, but he didn’t. Instead he
curled his hand around the nape and applied a slight, yet nice kind of
pressure.

“I like it when your hair is tied up tight as it is now. It
gives me the chance to see all of you.” He examined her neck. “Every satin
inch.”

She closed her eyes and kept herself steady. Determined to
remain aloof and unaffected. Now wasn’t a good time to go all soft and pliant.
But she melted just the same when he leaned down close to her ear and said, “I
wanted you to keep the panties on so I could pull them down before I spanked
you.”

He hooked his fingers into the elastic lace at her hip and
slowly drew the tiny cover down. Delicious shivers started at her knees and
rode up to her center where they spread to full-fledged desire-filled
contractions.

“And after I’m done and you’ve had some quiet time to
reflect I’m going to test your limits. Would you like that?” He dragged his
chin against the side of her neck and gently kissed her cheek.

She couldn’t help her shiver. “Yes.”

The hand at her nape moved to caress one of her shoulders,
then trailed a tingly path down her spine in the lightest touch imaginable.
Teasing. Easing her jumbled nerves. “I want to test your hard limits. I know
you want me to. You do want me to, don’t you?”

She could barely breathe. It had been so long and with him
methodically adjusting her panties so they were halfway down between her bottom
and her knees it was hard to concentrate on his words, but she did her best.
“Yes.”

“Brave girl. We’ll explore the old and the new together.
First I have to do this.” He tapped her left butt cheek with his hand as he
straightened and collected the crop.

She fully expected him to prepare her for the first strike,
so when it landed not only did she cry out she flinched and sucked in a gasp.
“Jesus!”

“I guess I haven’t started yet,” he said and struck her
again.

Through the stinging pain she searched for a sense of what
he meant. In a panic she remembered she needed to call them out. “One!”

“Very good. Now tell me,” he placed his hand flat between
her shoulder blades and pushed down, effectively repositioning her, “why did
you disobey me?”

Alexis leaned more into the chair like he wanted. The sting
was still a sharp pain reverberating in her nerve endings. “Michael needed—”

The crop landed again and she drew air into her lungs with a
hiss. “Two!”

“Michael has no bearing in this discussion. This is between
me and you. Tell me why you willfully made a choice that I did not offer you.”

The sting from this last strike was like an ice burn. It
reminded her of the time her skin was frozen with blistering cold after they’d
gone skiing. The burning sensations started when she’d turned her backside to
the heat of the fire and her rump began to thaw. “I was mad.”

“Ah,” he drew out, sounding curious. He placed his hand once
again between her shoulder blades. Only this time she didn’t wait until he
pushed down. She automatically leaned in. If he was pleased by the action he
didn’t say so. “Angry about what? Tell me.”

The crop stuck three quick times. “Three. Four. Five!” She
was tempted to squirm, but worried if she did it would hurt more. He wanted an
answer? She swallowed and gathered up her strength, she’d give one. “I was
afraid we’d lose an account.”

That cut-and-dried admission stung the air between them as
sharply as the crop coming down on her naked flesh had. Breathlessly she waited
for him to say something. Anything. To react, even use the crop on her behind
again, but he didn’t. Instead she heard his chair creak several times while he
got comfortable. What was he thinking? Doing? She bit her lip and closed her
eyes. She shouldn’t have said what she did when deep down she knew it wasn’t
the truth.

His chair creaked again, and instantly a mental image came
to her. She saw him shifting forward in that seat. Elbows braced on his thighs
and his massive shoulders hunched. He was no doubt staring at her reddened
backside. Enjoying the sight. Taking in his fill of the welts he’d already put
there. Just the thought he might be eyeing her gave her the wickedest thrill.

“That’s not the reason. We’ll talk about your work later.
Right now I want you to tell me the exact reason for your anger with me.”

She opened her eyes and stared at the wall in front of her.
What could she say?

“Alexis, pay attention. Drop your shoulders and lift your
ass. You know how I like you positioned.”

She automatically did as she was told, and distracted as she
was, she didn’t hear him approach.

Smack.

“Six!”

“Why are you angry with me?”

“I don’t know.”

Smack.

“Seven!”

“You do. Think about it before you answer me this time.”

Smack.

“Eight!”

“Tell me.”

Her silence was greeted with another strike.

“Nine!”

“Focus and breathe. Suck the air to the bottom of your
lungs. All the way in. Nice and slow.”

Smack.

“Ten!”

“Are you going to answer my question? I want the truth. I
don’t care how deep you have to reach to pull it out of yourself. I want your
answer now.”

The deeper she breathed the more collective the experience
became. Those isolated burning tingles, previously concentrating themselves
solely on her bottom cheeks, began to branch out. By the time she gained a good
cleansing breath the swarming bee-stinging sensations flooded her whole body.
They heated her up and lifted her until she found she was enjoying the pain on
some level. It made her feel weightless and carefree, but she knew she wasn’t.
Not yet because Rene expected his answer.