Friends with Benefits (Club Risqué Book 5)

Chapter 23

Christian was silent for a long time, just looking at the beautiful image Trinity made.

Seeing her yielding and obedient like this, like the devoted submissive he knew she was, made his chest give an odd little twinge which he rubbed at unconsciously.

She didn”t move, she didn”t prompt, she just waited patiently for his bidding.

Utterly damned perfect!

”Do you trust me?” he finally asked.

The small hesitation hurt him more than he could ever say, and he rapidly chose to qualify the statement, ”As a Dominant, as your Master or your Sir, within the boundaries of the lifestyle, do you trust me?”

”Yes, Sir.” This time, there was no hesitation at all, and the tight band constricting his chest eased somewhat. Not all the way, since it was clear her trust only went so far, and it saddened Christian to know his own negligence had engendered that doubt. But he would take what was available right now and nurture it, treasure it. The rest would come in time; he would make sure of it. He would never give her any cause to doubt him again.

But that was for later. At the moment, he had to quit being distracted and concentrate on right now.

”Good,” he replied. ”And do you believe in the due process which has matched us as compatible play partners?”

”Of course I do. It”s part of my job…Sir.”

”Okay. Do you believe we can manage to scene together without the past getting in the way?”

This time, there was a longer pause and Trinity sighed. ”I guess that”s the bit I”m not entirely certain about,” she finally admitted.

Christian nodded, even though she couldn”t see him, since her head was still averted. ”Then I guess the all-important question is, do you want to try?”

”You know I do, Sir. I already told you I would honour the contract.”

”Yes, but is that because you want to, or because you feel obliged?” he queried. ”I am very well aware of your compliant nature, Trinity, but I want you to think very hard about whether or not you want to do this for yourself.”

”I think I do, Sir,” she murmured quietly.

”You think you do?” Christian pressed, still not convinced by her procrastination. They both needed to be decisive for this to work.

”I do!” she whispered so quietly he could barely hear her.

Exhilaration and relief poured through Christian, in equal measures, when she finally committed to an answer.

”Then come here,” he told her, trying to keep his voice steady while his throat felt surprisingly thick. ”And lay over my knee.”

Trinity rose gracefully and walked toward where he had settled himself on the largest of her lounge seats. But instead of immediately complying with the rest of his command, she tipped her head to one side and asked, ”Are you going to punish me?”

”Do I need to?” Christian queried, interested to see what her response might be.

”Umm, I don”t think so?”

”Was that a statement or a question?” he asked with a chuckle at the way she had posed it.

Trinity frowned, and Christian took pity on her and asked another question before she could answer. ”Perhaps I should change that to, ”Do you want me to?”

Trinity swallowed, and her eyes darkened with latent desire. The reaction was impossible to miss when her pupils dilated in those pale, silvery eyes, turning them black.

She didn”t answer straight away, her expression taking on that ”deer in the headlights” look, and Christian wondered if she was still having trouble unifying their past and present relationships.

”I’ll ask again; do you trust me?” he prompted her for the reminder.

”Yes,” she whispered emphatically.

Christian nodded, holding her gaze hostage. ”Do you like to be spanked, Trinity?” he asked huskily, his own voice deepening with desire.

Trinity nodded, her head bobbing slowly up and down and her eyes never leaving his.

”Then come and lay over my knee.” It was said quietly, but the authority was still there, as much as if he”d shouted it.

She took a step closer then paused again. ”May I ask why?” she asked tentatively.

”You may always ask anything you”re unsure about, Trinity,” Christian replied confidently. ”In fact, I demand it.”

”Thank you, Sir,” she said breathily as if someone had stolen all the oxygen from the room. Having her Christian exert the ”Dom treatment” was doing strange things to her brain. It was like there was a short circuit in there or something.

”I used to fantasise, Trinity, about what it would be like to spank you,” he all but whispered. ”I used to ache to put you over my knee and paint your ass rosy with my hand, but that was a dynamic we didn”t have going on back then.”

He patted his knee, and she took the last few steps that would bring her to him and offered herself over his leanly muscled thighs. Finally ready and willing to take those first steps into a new reality with Christian.

He handled her easily,positioning her for both of their comfort and ease of free movement…well, free movement for him anyway. Trinity found herself pinned beneath the large hand that anchored her back and his legs, which captured the one of hers closest to him to prevent her from slipping or thrashing.

With his free hand, he flipped up her skirt and the feel of his warm palm, resting on butt cheeks bared by her miniscule thong, anchored her all the more and spread the same feeling of calm serenity as kneeling before him had achieved.

She embraced the feeling with everything inside of her. This was right where she wanted to be.

Christian was slow and methodical, stroking her ass gently, at first, then rubbing harder.

Every so often, he would give a firm squeeze, and the feel of his hands running over that sensitive skin, so close to her squealing girly bits, had Trinity squirming no matter how hard she tried to control herself.

Somehow, though, she still wasn”t expecting the first blow. It was swift and sharp, and Chritian wasn”t holding back. A second followed and then a third and fourth, alternating sides and working her relentlessly.

Trinity knew a moment of shock and shrieked out her surprise. It would be true to say that she had expected him to take it a little bit more slowly and cautiously this first time. But actually, the fact that he hadn”t turned her on all the more.

She loathed being treated with kid gloves because of her stature and daintiness, but it was something she’d become used to. Something she’d expected even more from Christian, in deference to their previous relationship.

But clearly, he wasn”t allowing that to colour his judgement. That knowledge alone sent a thrum of desire pouring through her, along with the endorphins that started to kick in as he slapped her harder, faster, methodically covering every inch of her butt with his handprints until they all merged together to form a single dark pink highlight to her heated rear end.

It was cathartic. Trinity could feel all of the stress and the anxiety of the last few days, the concern, and the awkwardness, and the strain of past memories and old hurts flowing away along with the tears she could no longer hold back.

She didn”t know quite why she was crying. It wasn”t that the spanking hurt unduly. It was an erotic spanking, primarily, although that didn”t mean it didn”t sting. Still, the endorphins had been unleashed and the pain had transmuted into a burning kind of pleasure, heating her up from the outside in, and sending hot, tingly sensations throughout her entire body.

It was her emotions that were flying high, like they had been set free. No longer second guessing herself, her feelings, and her reactions, and how they pertained to the past, but finally allowing herself to just feel, brought with it a very liberating acceptance.

She was limp and unresisting and had the euphoric feeling of having been washed clean.

Now, the hand that had first spanked her alternately cupped her heated ass cheeks and stroked gentle fingers across her aching flesh. In their wake, she felt him igniting the flickering embers of her spanking and setting her body to a rapidly kindling burn which had the wisp of fabric from her thong so soaked she might have been self-conscious about it if she could have mustered the effort.

As it was, she felt languid and peaceful and decidedly horny. But subtly so, rather than jumping out of her skin with lust. Which was surprising when it came to Christian, even despite her usual reticence regarding intercourse.

But that wasn”t what was going on here. No, this was about the decade of pent-up emotions and frustrations. Ones she hadn”t been consciously aware had been eating at her. They were finally being shipped off on the sea of tears she had just cried.

The sense of peace and liberation it had left her with was just as powerful an aphrodisiac, just a very much quieter one.

Christian eased her legs apart and drew his finger along her seam, over the sodden fabric of her thong. A deep quake shuddered through Trinity”s body and she groaned at the potency of that one simple touch.

It didn”t go any further, though, much to Trinity”s regret.

Christian stopped and turned her over, pulling her up until she was sitting on his knee, the dying sting in her butt flaring briefly at the contact.

She looked up at him and Christian smiled affectionately, pressing a chaste kiss against her forehead as he pulled her close.

”Why have you stopped?” she asked in confusion. She didn”t want him to stop. She wanted him to continue, and she wanted to keep on feeling.

Leaning back into the comfortable seat, Christian pulled her with him and settled her comfortably before answering. She couldn”t help noticing that the serene, indulgent look on his still pretty face took away a strain she hadn”t really noticed until it was gone.

”Whilst I would like nothing more than to carry on, we are in your office—your unmonitored office—and we haven”t negotiated anything beyond that spanking, which probably shouldn”t really have happened in here either, if I”m not mistaken.”

Trinity coloured, heat filling her face until it was probably the same colour as her ass. She had completely forgotten herself and her good sense. How utterly mortifying!

What on earth had she been thinking?

Well, the short answer was she hadn”t been thinking at all, and now she had broken one of the cardinal rules. It was inexcusable! She was the assistant manager, after all, and as such, she should be beyond reproach.

”Hey, stop beating yourself up over it,” Christian admonished, correctly guessing her unease.

”I should know better,” Trinity retorted, losing some of the lovely languidness she”d been enjoying as reality set back in again. ”I”m not just a member. I should be setting an example. What I just did was not professional at all!”

”Well, if it helps, your boss did look in and check on us.”

Trinity sat bolt upright, all thoughts of relaxation gone. ”Micah saw us?” she squeaked in utter consternation. What on earth would he think?

”Yes, and he didn”t look that upset, either, if the wink and the grin were anything to go by. But if it makes you feel any better, he did leave the door ajar so he could hear if things got out of hand or any safewords were shouted.”

No! It most certainly did not make her feel any better. In fact, if anything, it made her feel a whole lot worse. Now she was going to have to go and explain herself to Micah.

How utterly embarrassing!