29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jason
I watched Maya slowly succumb to the pain of her lashing. The thin reed-like branch Marcos had found was torturing her more than the cane—and she hated the damn cane.
I shifted on my feet as Maya sobbed deeply. I was honestly surprised that she hadn’t used her safe-word yet.
Nico shifted beside me, running a hand through his blond mane.
He genuinely hated the punishment aspect of our dynamic.
As much as he got off on the power plays, when it came to discipline, Nico preferred not having to administer it period.
It was why he chose the cane. Something that would stick with her and she’d hopefully remember down the line, and not fuck up again .
I was somewhere in the middle between Marcos and Nico. While tonight I’d gone easy on her with the paddle, I’d known vaguely what Marcos had been planning for her.
“Dude.” Nico grumbled under his breath.
Maya’s sobs got louder as the branch whipped across her breasts. Bound between woven lengths of rope, her glorious tits were firmly squeezed and extra plump from being confined. They had to be painful enough, before Marcos’s cruel torture.
Marcos waited until Maya finally spoke, voice broken between gasping sobs. “Ei-ei-eight. Thank you f-f-for my pun-punishment, s-s-sir.” She was shivering uncontrollably at this point.
I shifted on my feet; my body blissfully warm near the raging bonfire.
Marcos finally took pity on our girl and gave her the final two blows in a quick succession that left her screaming in pain.
I was glad for the woods and the lack of homes near us. The last thing we needed was someone calling the cops and them stumbling on the scene.
Marcos dropped the switch and pick up Maya so they were chest to chest, with her head cradled in the crook of his neck.
Her whole body was shaking and I worried about hypothermia. I wasn’t sure if it was cold enough for it, her body had suffered a trauma and it was a chilly September evening .
“Need you to say the words, Mia Vida.” Marcos’s voice was low and sensual as he held her body upright, as much as the ropes would allow.
Dagger pulled and buck knife from his belt and walked over to them, while I picked up one of the blankets.
Maya continued to sob against Marcos’s neck. Dagger hovered just steps away from her. We couldn’t be finished with the scene, until she said the words.
“Nine. Ten,” she choked out.
Dagger walked another step closer.
Marcos smoothed a hand over her back, at least the couple inches of bare skin he could reach between the two rope harnesses he had created to suspend her from the tree. “Come on, Mia Vida,” he murmured softly.
“Thank you-you for my punishment, s-sir.”
The moment she finished speaking the words, Dagger cut away the length of rope hold Maya’s feet up. Marcos scooped her into his arms, while Dagger worked on the length holding her upper torso airborne.
I spread open the blanket as Marcos turned to me, passing Maya.
Marcos helped to get her wrapped in the blanket and I wrapped her tightly in my arms, before I turned toward the fire and walked over.
I sat down on another blanket and arranged Maya on my lap as I held her tightly against me, near the fire .
“You did so good tonight,” I murmured softly to her. I pressed a kiss to her temple and pulled her closer, her body trembling in my arms. “So good, darlin’.”
Her sobs wracked her body, almost uncontrollably. It made me nervous that she might hyperventilate. “Easy now.” I forced my voice to stay calm. I’d never seen her like this before.
We still needed to unravel the ropes still tied around her, but I needed a moment to hold her. I glanced over my shoulder at Dagger arguing with Marcos. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I knew Dagger didn’t like how far Marcos took things tonight. Neither of us did.
When she started coughing—deep gut-wrenching coughs—my heart dropped. She didn’t have asthma, but she was clearly struggling to breath. I felt her body tense up, before I heard it—her gagging as her stomach clenched and her body doubled over in my lap.
“Shit,” I swore. I struggled to turn her, while still tied up, as she dry-heaved several times. Nothing but bile escaped her, though. Had she not eaten all day?
“A little help over here,” I snapped at Marcos and Dagger.
Dagger finally stalked away from Marcos, storming toward Maya and I. He took a deep breath before he kneeled beside us. “Can I cut you free, little Dreamer?” His voice was soft as he slid a finger along her cheekbone .
She nodded, as tears silently streamed downed her face. She still hadn’t said a word since being cut down, but she finally stopped gagging.
Maya slowly stopped shivering as I kept up a string of encouraging words. “Such a good girl. Always so good for us. I love you.”
Her eyes were closed, her breathing still erratic.
I met Dagger’s eye; the pain evident in my brother’s stare.
We had taken things too far tonight.
Dagger cut the ropes from her body and I tried to keep her as warm as I could, moving the blanket out of the way while Dagger cut.
As the ropes fell from her body, Maya slowly opened her eyes. They were glazed over. A dazed express—subspace or shock—had settled over her.
I felt a chill run down my spine. I had never seen her like this before. It made my stomach roll.
We had fucked up.
I had to do something, pull her out of this somehow. I slowly unwrapped the blanket from around her and stood up, settling her on her feet.
I was grateful when her legs held her weight and her body kept her upright.
I kept my voice low as I spoke to her. “On your knees Little Dreamer,” I said, my voice deep as I commanded my little Sub to drop to her knees.
I watched her carefully, noticing every breath and twinge of pain that crossed her face .
Her breath was still erratic, but she gracefully slid to her knees before me.
She straightened her back, only wincing slightly as her bare ass hit her feet.
She pulled her shoulders back and slid her hands on her thighs, palms up, and dropped her gaze to the ground.
There was still a dazed expression in her eyes though, like she was going through the motions of muscle memory and not truly in the moment.
Once she was fully in position, I nodded once, even though she couldn’t see my face. “Good girl.”
A warm blush coated her blotchy cheeks, as her breath caught in her throat. Good, she’s still in there. Maya had a praise kink a mile wide. I smirked, knowing just how easily I could wrap her around my fingers, or my dick.
“Why were you punished tonight, slut?” I asked. I needed this more now than anything else.
Maya trembled. “I didn’t text you for a ride when I was leaving the party. I took a rideshare instead. I put myself in danger while I was drunk.” Her voice was hoarse; she’d been screaming and sobbing for hours now.
Finally, I felt the tension drain from my body. She understood her transgression and had paid for it dearly. She was also not as out of it as she first appeared. I felt my own anxiety over her well-being loosen the hold around my heart.
“And will you do that again, Maya?” I purposely used her name, ending the scene .
Her head shot up and her wide-eyed stare flew to mine.
“Never. I promise.” Her head whipped around to look for Marcos and Nico, but both men had come to stand on either side of me.
Her eyes were wild as she tried to make eye contact with each of them.
“I promise you; I will never do that again.” Her voice was raw, her breath hitching as she spoke, as another sob threatened to tear out of her.
I believed her.
I opened my arms to her, blanket held aloft in one hand—it was all the invitation she needed. She tried to fly up into my arms, had managed to stand, before she pitched forward, her legs crumpling beneath her.
I barely got my arms under her and cradled her to my chest, before she passed out.
“Maya!” Nico shouted.
Maya’s head lolled back on her neck, completely unsupported—she was unconscious.
“Fuck,” I cursed.
Marcos moved in behind her, easing her back and pulling her up into his arms bridal style. “Check that she’s breathing,” he ordered.
I slid my fingers along her neck and felt for a pulse, while also watching her chest rise and fall very, very slowly. “Heart beat is weak, breathing is slow. She’s likely hypothermic. We need to get her warm, now. ”
The urgency in which we moved was unprecedented. Never behind had one of us had a medical emergency during a scene—let alone Maya. Never before though, had we taken a punishment so far.
Nico managed to get the blanket wrapped around Maya while in Marcos’s arms. My heart lurched in my throat as Marcos took off running through the woods towards the house.
Thankfully, we weren’t all that far away.
Nico and I chased after them. I barely thought about the fire still burning in the pit—something we’d have to come put out at some point—all I could worry about right at that moment was Maya.
I tore up the stairs to our bedroom on the second floor, where I found Marcos had set Maya down on the bed and was already stripping himself of his clothes. “Bare skin,” he barked at them.
I immediately pulled my cut, hoodie, and t-shirt over my head in one swift yank. I didn’t even bother with resting my cut on the chair in the corner—it wasn’t important right now. Nothing mattered more than Maya. Nothing.
Together, we pulled her under covers and sandwiched her between our naked bodies. We maneuvered her onto her side so we could press as much of our skin to hers. “Darlin’, I need you to open those eyes for me.” I spoke softly, brushing her hair out of her face.
“Come on, Mia Vida. Time for you to yell at me,” Marcos said.
“We took it too far tonight,” Nico said from somewhere in the room. He sounded far away and despondent. “It was too much.”
As much as I agreed, I couldn’t think about that right now. All that mattered was Maya.