“She’s up to thirty,” Keith explained. “She’s taken eight.”
“Okay, well, you do what you do, Master Keith.” Karina nodded his way.
Whack.
Ashley tensed.
Karina’s voice was soothing and deep as she spoke to Ashley. “Relax, honey. I want you to really think about what’s happening to you. Your brain is in charge, but it’s your body’s turn. What does it feel like?”
“It hurts,” Ashley shot back.
Karina nodded again and Keith gave her another smack. He could see what she was doing and the sub was one smart lady. He held his hand against Ashley’s skin this time, allowing her to process the sensation.
“Stop thinking and feel,” Karina encouraged. “Yes, there’s pain, but what’s underneath it?”
He closed his eyes because he just fucking knew he’d screwed up. He’d pushed her too hard.
“Heat.” The word came out on a breathy moan. “My skin feels hot.”
He gave her another, this time right where her ass cheeks flowed into her thighs.
Ashley whimpered, but she didn’t tense the way she had before. “It’s like my nerves are firing off.”
“But you don’t know what they’re trying to tell you,” Karina added. “Yes, you’re getting there, sweetie.”
Again. He smacked her sweet flesh and Karina talked her through it. He could tell Ashley was crying, but that was all right because her spine had softened, her body relaxing. She stiffened with the next few smacks and then she simply gave over.
“Can you handle another ten?” Keith asked.
“She’s nodding,” Karina said. “She’s good, hon.”
His cock was back to stiff because she was finally responding properly. The discipline was meant to correct a behavior, but there was an underlying sensuality that should speak to her. She should get wet from what was being done.
He breathed deeply and sure enough, there was the musk of her arousal.
They had a damn crowd now, though he doubted Ashley knew she was actually performing her first scene. She wasn’t paying attention to anything but the stroke of his hand and Karina’s words. He felt a deep gratitude to the sub. She’d possibly saved his whole contract with Ashley.
He spaced out the final ten smacks like a connoisseur attempting to enjoy a fine wine. He would only get to spank her so many times before he turned her over to a more permanent Master. This was their first, and he would hoard the memory.
He finally gave her the thirtieth. He held his hand hard against her cheek, memorizing how soft her skin was and the delicate sheen it had. Pink and hot.
She was boneless underneath him. He gave her a second.
Karina leaned over and lightly kissed the top of Ashley’s head. “That’ll do, little sub. That’ll do.”
Ashley’s head came up, and he felt a laugh go through her. All her former tension was gone. “Don’t make me think of Babe right now.”
He helped her to her feet. She was a little wobbly, but the drunken grin on her face did weird things to his insides.
She finally noticed that half of Sanctum had formed a circle to watch the sub take her first dose of discipline. Alex and Eve McKay were holding hands while they watched. The Taggarts were whispering to each other. Jacob Dean was acting as a dungeon monitor, but he’d come wandering over about halfway through.
Ashley leaned toward him, her voice going low. “Keith, why are they all staring?”
He stood up, lending her a hand since she seemed a little off-balance. “They know a hot scene when they see one.”
It hadn’t been the sexiest scene he’d ever been in, but watching her figure out what she was capable of might have been the most intimacy he’d had in forever. He felt closer to Ashley than he had been with another human being in the longest time. A little voice was telling him to pull away, that it was getting too deep, but he couldn’t. Not tonight.
He had one more thing he wanted to show her, but he wasn’t going to share it with the crowd.
He lifted her into his arms and hoped he remembered his way to the aftercare rooms.
Chapter Four
Her skin was still humming as he placed her on the massage table, and she heard the door close. She let her head rest back, still processing exactly what had happened.
He’d spanked her and she’d liked it. It had really hurt at first, but she’d been fighting it. Good girls didn’t want to get their asses smacked.
Good girls. Bad girls. She was starting to question why there had to be classifications. It had seemed so clear at one point, but the truth was her sister lived this lifestyle and there was nothing bad about her. Their mother would have been horrified at the thought that her daughters even knew about the lifestyle. She’d been deeply preoccupied with her place in the community, lowly as it had been. She would have railed at them for bringing shame on her name, but Ashley didn’t see it that way.
Was it wrong to like something most people thought was perverted? Most people didn’t have to live her life.
“Am I losing you?” Keith looked down at her and she was struck by the fact that they were alone. Just the two of them. No more crowds. No one to hold her hand and talk her through it.
She would never be able to properly thank Karina Mills for helping her. She’d been ready to say her safe word, and now she wasn’t even thinking it.
No. Now she was thinking about the fact that her pussy was wet and soft. What the hell was up with that?
“I’m still here.” She smiled up at him. “So every time I say something bad about myself, you’ll slap my backside?”
He touched her hair, smoothing it back. “If you say it where I can hear it, yes. I think you’re beautiful. I don’t like being told I’m wrong.”
She suspected very few people would contradict the strong, smart man in front of her. “So I’ll fare better if I just agree with you?”
“Turn over. And yes. It’s a good game plan.”
She rolled over and winced a little as he pushed up her skirt. “I’m going to feel that tomorrow, aren’t I?”
His palm covered her cheek. “Yes, but it should just be a nice ache. There aren’t any welts. I didn’t break the skin.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” She sighed a little as she settled down. The massage table had been covered with a silky sheet. It was cool against her skin. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so relaxed.