Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
BECKETT
W atching Ruby’s eyes go wide at his words was a pleasure he wouldn’t tire of any time soon. Along with that sharp intake of breath and the way her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.
But all of that was just a flash before the nervous little subbie disappeared and the cocky bartender returned with a grin. “Is that so? You think you can break me in one scene?”
“I’ll certainly have fun trying.”
“Bring it on.”
He wanted to kiss her. The urge surprised him, not only because it had been years since he’d had the urge to kiss anybody, but because of how fiercely and suddenly the need rose up inside him. Sharp and demanding, pushing him to lay claim to her full lips.
To lay claim to her .
Because the urge was so strong—too strong for comfort—he eased back, releasing his hold on her chin. “Let’s go, then. Braden reserved a special spot for us down in the pit.”
“Will he be watching?” There was no embarrassment in her tone, only a hint of curiosity he found oddly endearing.
“Yes.” Glancing over his shoulder as they made their way downstairs, he let his lips curve up in a smile that had been known to turn even the brattiest girl into a puddle of submissive goo at his feet. “He wants to be sure you’re properly disciplined for lying to him.”
Instead of submissive goo, however, he got another eye roll that had his palm itching.
“You make it sound so serious. It was just a little fib.”
“A lie is a lie, little girl.” And if she’d actually been his, she’d be ending the night on her knees with Daddy’s cock down her throat so he could wash all those lies, no matter how big or how small, out of her mouth.
Since she wasn’t his, however, he’d have to be satisfied with leaving his marks all over her beautiful ass.
Not a bad consolation prize, really.
“If you say so.”
Their feet were firmly planted on the floor of the pit by the time she muttered that response. Which gave him the perfect excuse to spin her around and land a half dozen stinging spanks to her upper thighs. Ruby yelped and danced through her punishment, but fire sparked in her eyes when he turned her back around.
“What the hell was that for?”
“We’re in the pit.”
The fire in her eyes burned brighter. “So?”
“So, how are you supposed to address me now that we are down here?”
He watched the realization dawn. And then watched her expression shift from furious to exasperated. “Are you really going to be that much of a dick about me calling you ‘Sir’?”
In response, he spun her around again and doubled the count, leaving her thighs spotted with bright pink fingerprints by the time he was finished. His fingerprints, a fact that filled him with a possessive need he hadn’t felt in a very long time. Not since…
Shoving the memories aside, he raised an eyebrow at the woman currently glaring daggers at him. “Are you going to behave, little girl?”
“I am behaving. It’s not my fault you don’t have a sense of humor.”
They were never going to get anywhere at this rate. “Have it your way, then. Just know that I am keeping track.”
“Whatever floats your boat, Bex.”
Irritation pricked at the back of his neck at the nickname, but he refused to give her the satisfaction of knowing it annoyed him. That was just ammunition for a brat like her, and the less ammunition he gave her, the better.
Settling a hand on the back of her neck, as much to soothe the clawing need to claim her as to keep her where he wanted her, he guided her over to the podium Braden had reserved for them. His play bag was already sitting on the edge of the stage, and excitement pumped through his veins at the sight of it.
Beside him, Ruby jerked to a stop. “You can’t be serious.”
Looking down at her, he raised a brow. “Is there a problem, Ruby?”
“No.” But her voice had taken on a sulky note and there was a pout on her lips. A pout that had him wanting to kiss her again. “This just… isn’t what I was expecting.”
“Ah, I see. Well, it is a public punishment, little girl. And Braden has always had a flair for the dramatic.”
On the raised wooden platform in front of them stood a set of stocks. Seated atop a thick column was a piece of split wood with three distinct holes. One for the head, two for the wrists. Just like in the olden days, the offender would be forced to bend at the waist as they were locked into the device.
It was Braden’s favorite piece of equipment to use when he was punishing his own naughty little girl, and if Lottie’s feelings about the stocks were anything like Ruby’s, Beckett could understand why.
Not even bothering to hold back his grin, Beckett nudged Ruby forward. “Up you go, naughty girl.”
She didn’t argue, which was a good thing for her. Maybe she was reconsidering her plan to try and scare him off with her bratty ways.
“Take all of your clothes off, including your shoes and any undergarments. Fold them and place them neatly beside that black duffel back at the edge of the stage.”
Ruby’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he swore he could hear the wheels turning in her mind as she tried to find some way to twist the directions he’d given her. But as he’d learned very early on, the first rule in dealing with brats was to be as specific as possible when giving them an order.
With a quiet huff, she turned her back to him. “Untie me?”
Even though his fingers were actually itching to touch her, he forced himself to wait. “What’s the magic word?”
“Abracadabra.”
Without bothering to answer her, he turned and crossed the platform to his play bag, where he knelt and pulled what he needed from the front pocket where he always kept it. Stopwatch in hand, he returned to her side and held it up for her to see as he hit the button to start the timer. “I will stop the timer once you are locked into those stocks and ready to begin your punishment. For every minute we delay getting you into the stocks, I will add something new to your punishment. Now, Ruby, what is the magic word you use when you are asking someone to do something for you?”
Eyes locked on the rapidly increasing numbers, Ruby nibbled at her bottom lip. “What are you going to add?”
“For starters, I own a very special set of nipple clamps. Minute one, the clamps go on. Minute two, I add a weighted magnet to one of the clamps. There are five magnets in total for each clamp, so you have about ten minutes before I have to get really mean.”
Ruby
Well, this was a conundrum. She loved nipple clamps, but she’d never played with weighted ones before. And was tonight really the night she wanted to fuck around and find out if she hated them as much as her brain was telling her she would?
Maybe a little.
Cocking an eyebrow, she shifted her gaze from the stopwatch to Beckett’s face. “Look, Bex, you’re the one who wants me naked. So, really, I’m asking you to do yourself a favor here.”
Irritation flickered in his gaze for just a moment before he managed to shut it down. Was it because of the nickname or her snarky comment? Either way, she’d gotten under his skin, and that was a point for her.
“Clock is ticking, little girl,” he said, his voice dropping to a low growl. “But don’t hurry on my account. The longer you delay, the more I get to hurt you. This is a win-win situation as far as I’m concerned.”
Fuck. He had a point. Where some Doms would go right to delivering pain to try and force her submission, he was obviously more than willing to wait her out. And the longer she waited, the worse it got for her. So her choices were between giving him the satisfaction of winning her obedience, or letting her punishments stack up higher and higher while they waited.
Because it wasn’t a matter of if she would submit, but when . And since she already knew she would eventually give in, dragging it out would only make it worse for her in the end.
His win-win was her lose-lose.
The watch in his hand clicked over to the one-minute mark and her heart, which was already beating harder than usual, slammed against her rib cage.
“We’ve gotten to the clamps. I hope you enjoy pain as much as you enjoy being a brat, Ruby Red.”
She did enjoy pain. What she didn’t enjoy was the unknown. And while she was familiar with clamps, the weights were definitely an unknown to her. “Will you please untie me?”
“Of course. As soon as you address me properly.”
God dammit . “Will you please untie me, Sir?”
“There we go. I knew there was a good girl hiding in there somewhere.”
Before she could think of something snarky to say, the tips of his fingers brushed over her skin, just above her corset. Electricity shot through her, straight to her already aching clit as he tugged at the laces, slowly exposing her back to him.
“You’re going to break so beautifully for me, Ruby Red,” he murmured, his words wrapping around her like a caress. “You can fight me all you want, but one way or another, you will break. You just get to choose when. And I suggest you choose very, very carefully, little girl.”
Despite her ragged breathing and her pounding heart, she managed to smirk up at him as he pulled the corset from her, exposing her completely to his gaze for the first time. “I don’t break easily, Bex.”
There was that flash again, sending a thrill that was both fear and excitement racing up her spine. “I’m counting on it.” Glancing down at the watch in his hand, he smiled. “Two minutes and counting, Ruby.”
She took her time undressing. To make a point that she was not going to be bullied into submission so easily, yes. But also because she was enjoying the way he watched her. Hungry eyes tracked her every movement, and when she pushed her skirt to the floor, leaving her naked but for her pretty satin panties, he looked like he might actually abandon his plans and simply devour her on the spot.
Which wouldn’t disappoint her in the least.
Unfortunately, Beckett Stone was made of sturdier stuff than that, and he simply tapped a finger against the face of the watch in response. “Three minutes.”
“It’s really not fair to keep the timer running while I’m following instructions,” she said, hooking her fingers in the waistband of her panties to wiggle them down over her hips and thighs. “I can only get undressed so fast.”
“And if you hadn’t been a brat to begin with, I wouldn’t have started the timer at all. This is all your own doing, Ruby Red.”
Because arguing with him wouldn’t get her anywhere, she settled for rolling her eyes. Which earned her not the narrow-eyed glare she was expecting, but a smirk instead.
Why did that scare her more than anything else he’d said or done so far?
Naked at last, with her clothes in a neat pile beside his play bag as instructed, she stepped to the middle of the podium. “All right. What next, Bex?”
“Stand right there, with your feet shoulder width apart and your hands behind your head, fingers laced together,” he said, pointing to the middle of the stage. “We’ll get the clamps on you before you go in the stocks.”
There wasn’t really any wiggle room in an order like that, so she took her place as instructed, locking her fingers together behind her head. The position left no part of her hidden, and she was keenly aware of the expectant gazes pointed her direction. Some part of her, a part she’d never fully understood, thrilled at the knowledge she was being watched. That her audience was eagerly tracking her every movement as she followed the instructions given to her.
Logic told her it should have been humiliating. But logic didn’t stand a chance against the thrill racing through her veins.
Then Beckett stepped into her line of sight, and those watchful eyes faded into the background. Her entire being focused on him, on those dark eyes filled with wicked promise as he held up a simple pair of silver clamps.
“Are you ready for me to hurt you, Ruby Red?”
Eyes locked on his, she grinned.
“Bring it on.”