Chapter 4
Weekends were always busy, especially when Conner came to visit. The kids got along, for the most part, filling the house with their boisterous games and laughter.
Except for when they didn’t.
I’d take rambunctious play any day over the bickering going on in the other room, escalating to a feverish pitch with each “stop it!” from Eve. This wasn’t good, especially since Gage was trying to catch up on work so we’d have the day to spend with the kids.
Abandoning the pita pockets I was putting together for lunch, I hurried from the kitchen and spotted the two of them sitting side-by-side on the couch in the living room.
Conner held a game controller in his hand, but he focused mostly on Eve.
Every few seconds, he flicked the crayon she clutched in her fingers, making her draw a jagged line.
“Conner!” I said before Eve could screech in protest again. “Leave her alone. That isn’t nice. I’m sure you wouldn’t want her picking on you like that.”
He sprang up from the couch, tossing the controller onto a cushion, and faced me with his arms crossed. “You’re not my mom. I don’t have to listen to you. My mom said so!”
Oh boy. I gaped at Conner for a couple of seconds, trying to come up with an effective response to get through to him, but his angry expression settled into one of apprehension. Conner’s blue-eyed gaze darted past me, and I sensed Gage’s presence before he spoke.
“Go to your room. Now.”
“I hate it here!” Conner stomped toward the hallway in a grand ceremony of disapproval.
Gage sighed. “I’ll talk to him.” He squeezed my shoulder before following his son.
Helpless frustration burned my eyes. I should’ve handled the situation better.
Unable to sit and do nothing, I told Eve to stay put before creeping down the hall toward Conner’s bedroom.
Gage had moved the gym equipment into the basement so Conner would have his own space when he visited…
which wasn’t as often as we’d like, considering Katherine fought Gage every step of the way.
If she’d stop being a bitch for one second and do the right thing, maybe Conner wouldn’t keep having these outbursts.
The poor kid needed a little stability—not random weekend visits with a father he barely knew.
Gage’s voice filtered through Conner’s open doorway. I hesitated on the outskirts, not knowing if I should intrude or not. Better to stay put. Conner wouldn’t likely open up with me there anyway.
“This is stupid. Why do I have to come here?”
“Because you’re my son,” Gage said, drawing in a deep breath.
He softened his tone. “I know this is confusing for you. I know you miss your mom and Sean,” he said, referring to Katherine’s ex, who, for several years of Conner’s life, had been the only father he’d known.
But since Katherine’s deceit had come to light, Sean had washed his hands of the boy who wasn’t biologically his.
“I just wanna go home.”
“This is also your home, and you have a family here that loves you too.”
“They aren’t my family.”
“Yes, they are, and I won’t put up with you disrespecting Kayla or Eve.”
“My mom said they’d be gone soon.” Conner’s voice hitched. “It’s supposed to be me, you, and my mom!”
Heavy silence followed his words, then Gage cleared his throat. “That isn’t going to happen, Conner.” Footsteps sounded, and Gage muttered for him to take a few moments to calm down before coming out to apologize for his behavior.
Gage halted in the hallway as soon as he caught me lingering outside of Conner’s bedroom, his indigo gaze blazing with ire.
“You know how I feel about eavesdropping.” Closing the distance between us with purposeful steps, he gently took me by the elbow and escorted me to our bedroom. The lock clicked into place, and he whirled to face me, arms crossed.
“I’d have you on your knees right now if we had time.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.” The instant the words left my lips, I wanted to yank them back. Okay, so eavesdropping wasn’t exactly an innocent act to engage in, but it was a minor fuck-up. The problem with Gage was he punished all infractions, no matter how small.
“You know that’s not true,” he said, his tone calm and even.
Moving around me, he sauntered to the chair he used to dole out spankings and settled into the soft leather.
“Which is why you’re going to come over here this instant and present your ass.
I don’t have time for you to stall.” He patted his lap.
I blew out an exasperated breath, but I went to him without further prompting and draped over his thighs. He flipped my skirt up and exposed my bare bottom, and a hot tingle erupted between my legs as I waited for the first strike of his palm.
“You’re getting wet, aren’t you?”
I dropped my head with a groan. “I’m sorry, Master. I can’t help it.”
“I believe you. So here’s what I’m going to do to help you refrain from becoming aroused. I’m going to use a different method of punishment.”
Before I could ask about this “different method,” he shoved his thumb into my tight hole. Abruptly, violently, and uncompromisingly.
“Ow! Master, please!” I hissed in a breath, clenching my ass around the dry intrusion of his thumb.
“Spanking is losing its effectiveness. Hell, even my belt turns you on, and a punishment should hurt. It should, at the very least, make you uncomfortable. Don’t you agree?” Slowly, he withdrew his thumb and forced it back in again.
“Ow!” I shrieked.
“Answer me, Kayla.”
“Yes, Master!” Ow, fuck ow! He wasn’t using a drop of lube, and that made it hurt even more. “I’m sorry! Please, Master. I won’t do it again.”
“I don’t imagine you will after this.” The horrible burning eased up for a mere second as he removed his thumb, but relief was short-lived. He pushed it in once more, to the hilt, and stretched my burning anus in every direction.
“Please stop,” I sobbed. He hadn’t truly hurt me in months. He’d played with my backdoor, even fucked it a couple of times, and of course, he spanked me regularly. But he was correct in assuming spanking no longer worked as a punishment.
“I will not allow you to backtrack in your behavior,” he said, keeping his thumb lodged in my ass.
“The last time I gave you an inch, you took a hundred fucking miles and ended up in a compromising situation.” He let a significant beat pass.
“Or do you need to spend some time in the cage to remind you?”
“No! Please, no, Master.”
“You know what is and isn’t allowed. Eavesdropping has never been and will never be accepted. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Master.”
“I was in there scolding Conner for disrespecting you, only to find you doing the same to me. When I told you I’d speak to him, you knew I meant alone. Did you not?”
“I did. I’m sorry I overstepped.” I hesitated, wanting to say more but not sure if I should. Eventually, the need to be heard won. “I hate being left out. I feel like I’m the last to know about everything.”
“Baby, I have no intention of leaving you out. I was going to discuss Conner’s behavior with you later after I’d talked to him alone.
” Even though he softened his tone, he did not cease his assault on my ass.
“If you want to know something, you need only to ask. Eavesdropping will not be tolerated.”
Some tiny part of me acknowledged he was right about the eavesdropping.
But the headstrong part of myself—the facet of my being he was most challenged by—called bullshit.
Considering his growing fascination with all things anal, I knew he’d find excuse after excuse to use my ass for his sadistic pleasure by putting the stamp of punishment on it.
A girl, no matter how obedient and submissive, could only stay silent for so long. “Is this really a punishment, or is this just another way for you to get your rocks off?”
He laughed, the sound so rich and unexpected that I jumped.
“Both, Kayla. You want to know if my cock is hard? Fuck yeah, it is, in case you hadn’t noticed.
If we didn’t have two kids needing us in the other room right now, I’d fuck you senseless.
” He dug his thumb in a little more deeply, and I cried out another plea for him to stop.
Useless pleas because Gage operated by his own rulebook, and the word “stop” wasn’t part of his repertoire.
“Hell, I’d fuck this ass senseless, and you’d let me, wouldn’t you, baby?”
The hardwood floor blurred through the tears collecting in my eyes. They weren’t tears of sorrow; they were pure drops of pain burning my eyeballs—a testament of my frustration.
“What if I said no?”
He laughed again. “You don’t know how to say no to me. Let’s talk about the fact that I have you willingly lying across my lap with my thumb up your ass. Does it hurt?”
“Yes!”
He added a sound wallop to my butt cheek in addition to his anal probing. “Address me properly.”
“Yes, Master! It hurts.”
“Does it turn you on?”
“No, Master.” Not unless he added some lube and played with my clit—behavior he wasn’t likely to engage in at the moment.
“Do you like it when I punish your little hole?”
“No, Master.” What type of questions were these?
“Then all things considered, I’d say this is a very effective form of discipline. And it pleases me how willingly you accept it.” With a final swat to my bottom, he removed his thumb and gently helped me off his lap.
Silently, I vowed to be on my best behavior because pleasing him not only made my life easier, but it caused my body to hum in a way I couldn’t help but crave. I dropped to my knees and let my lips linger on his left bare foot, followed by his right.
“Thank you for your discipline, Master.”
His eyes widened the slightest bit. He hadn’t expected such a display of voluntary acceptance on my part. Truth be told, I hadn’t either. But sometimes accepting my place was far better than fighting it. My reward lay in his eyes; a warm hue of appreciation.
“You’re welcome. You can always count on my discipline. As for this particular kind of anal punishment, I plan to use it often. So remember that the next time you think of stepping out of line. Not only will I spank your ass, but I will punish your hole as well.”
“I understand, Master.” I didn’t, but I understood it was what he wanted to hear, and the submissive in me delighted at his surprised reaction. Sometimes, a girl just had to keep her Master on his sexy toes. “May I finish fixing lunch now, Master?”
“You may. I’ll get the kids ready.”
I rose fluidly, aiming for graceful yet sexy, and moved to leave. At the last second, he pulled me onto his lap again, this time to sit.
“I forgot something,” he said, voice raspy with sudden desire. His attention fell to my mouth, and in response, I parted my lips. Tangling a fist in my hair, he angled my head and claimed my lips with a ravenous mouth. His tongue pushed inside, battling my own, and we both moaned into the kiss.
Then he let me go as suddenly as he’d grabbed me. “Now you may finish making lunch.”