Chapter 45
Fourteen
Shay led Emma the long way to the Alley.
He paused along the route to let people know that he’d be punishing Emma if they cared to watch.
As they progressed, he could feel her growing tenser, the rigid posture and stiff gait telling him what she was stopping herself from saying.
She wanted to scream, but so far she’d kept herself in check. That wouldn’t last.
He spotted Randall with a pair of topless subs at his feet.
They were both pretty women who adored Randall, and he’d had a scene with one earlier that had left the club catching its breath.
Shay knew though that while Randall loved the way Carla, a size-eight sub, took and responded to punishment, her body didn’t light Randall’s on fire.
“Go and invite Master Randall to watch your punishment.”
Emma stood mute and furious.
“What are you waiting for?”
“I think you’ve told enough people,” she said, pursing those pink lips that tempted him.
She’d looked up at him in the entryway with those lips trembling, and it had taken every drop of restraint for him to stop himself from kissing her.
“You’ve just earned five more strokes. Would you like to increase it by ten? Or fifteen? I skipped my workout today so I could give you my full attention.”
“You planned—when did you decide to punish me tonight?”
“On Monday, when you started lying. I gave you a couple days to confess and ask for a punishment, which would’ve been lighter by the way.
On those days, I didn’t skip the gym,” he said with a smile.
“Now, invite Master Randall, or I will. And if I do the inviting, I may let him do more than watch. He and I could take turns.”
She blanched and scurried to Randall.
“Master Shay is going to punish me. He wanted me to invite you to watch.”
Randall smirked. “Have you been a naughty girl, then?”
“He thinks so,” she said, and Shay shook his head at the hint of pouting she’d let creep into her voice. She really didn’t know when to be quiet and look contrite. Even on the way to the gallows, she had that sass left in her.
He had to admit, if only to himself, that his cock loved this tug of war. As much as it pissed him off, it also whet his appetite…to punish her and to dominate her.
“He thinks so,” Randall said. “And he’s your master so he must be right?”
“Yes, Sir,” she said very sweetly. She might think she could push back against Shay, but she seemed to remember Randall’s treatment of her on the night he’d returned her to the club. Randall didn’t like or tolerate sass in a sub.
“Good girl. Run along then. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Hey,” Rory said, walking up.
“Hey.”
“Doing a scene?”
Shay nodded.
“Listen do you still want Kate banned from talking to Emma? She’s asked about five times in the past two days when it will be okay for her to call her.”
“Tell her she can stop asking. You’ll let her know when we’ve decided it’s okay.”
Rory’s brows rose. “It’s okay with me now.”
“I appreciate that, but Emma needs more time. She’d love to talk to Kate and use her for guidance, but what Emma needs is to learn how to communicate with her master.”
“Yeah, all right. But we’ll have to keep a sharp eye. Katie usually obeys me without question, but she’s struggling with this. She sees Emma around the club, and it’s hard for her to pretend she doesn’t exist.”
Shay shrugged. “Kate’s your concern.”
The corner of Rory’s mouth went up. “Do you think your girl will have an easier or a harder time following orders than mine?”
“Oh, I have no doubt that if Kate cracks and talks to Emma, Emma will be only too happy to break the rules, too. I foresee a lot of punishment in Emma’s future.”
Rory’s grin widened. “I can tell you’re all broken up about that.”
“I let her play games all week, so when it was my turn, we could all enjoy it.”
“Just enough leash to cane themselves,” Rory murmured.
Shay chuckled. “That’s about right.”
“See you over there,” Rory said, walking away.
“I invited Master Randall,” Emma said, striding back to him.
“I know, and I heard how you invited him,” Shay said, frowning.
“What? I did what you told me to do.”
“The letter of the law, not the spirit of it. You told him that I think you need to be punished and that I asked you to invite him to watch. Where is Emma in all that? You know the guy’s taken an interest in you and that it’ll please him to see you take a punishment that you deserve.
You know you were wrong to lie. You say you want to be here, and you promised you’d work hard at your training, but I don’t see you working hard. To me, you seem bent on rebellion.”
Tears sprung to her eyes. “I don’t mean to. I swear.”
Shay had suspected pressing that button would work. Years of seeking teachers’ approval was an ingrained habit for her.
Seeing the tears made him want to take her back to his office for sex and comfort.
It was too late for that, though, and not a good habit to let himself get into.
She was training to be a submissive at the club.
She wasn’t his girlfriend. He seemed to be having as much trouble remembering that at times as she did, which was unusual for him.
He sighed and pulled her into his arms. She clung to him.
“All right,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “This is the part you’re supposed to get after the punishment, you know,” he said, bemused and amused.
She held on, silently.
“Emma,” he whispered. “If you try to deceive me and ignore the things I ask you to do, then I’m left with no alternative but to punish you.”
“I know, but it hurts my feelings that you’ll enjoy doing it. You could’ve warned me!”
He laughed softly. “Well, you insulted me by confiding in Randall instead of me. And by trying to play me. Don’t disrespect me. That can only end one way.”
She pulled back, but he only let her go so far. He held onto her upper arms, studying her. There was a question he needed to ask, but he dreaded it.
Suck it up.
“Are you having second thoughts about being a Marquis Club sub, Emma? If you are, you should say so.”
Her gaze rested on his face.
“I’m ready for my punishment,” she said quietly.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I think I did, Sir.”
He smiled. Good girl. “All right,” he said, kissing her forehead and then releasing her arms.
By the time they got to the Alley, she seemed calmer and more resigned to getting through the punishment, but she still froze when she saw the stocks.
“I thought the spanking bench. Or couldn’t I try the St. Andrew’s cross?”
“No, I chose this for a reason,” Shay said. His reason was that being bent over would make her feel more vulnerable, which would turn them both on. It would also provide the crowd with a great view, which is what the club’s members wanted and deserved for their patience.
He’d kept her covered or at a distance from them for days.
He’d been asked so many times when they’d get to see her in better club clothes, naked in scenes and punished.
And when he planned to give her to others for scenes.
The truth was, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever want to give her to anyone.
Group scenes were fine, assuming she agreed to them, but he wanted to be the one ultimately controlling her body.
So, this bit of up-close-and-personal punishment would have to be enough to sate them.
He hoped she wouldn’t lose her nerve and use her safeword. He’d primed her emotionally to be ready to accept punishment. She’d done so well on the spanking bench that he knew if he handled her right, everyone would get something great out of her time in the stocks, including her.
Emma was shaking by the time Shay removed her robe and draped it over the velvet rope.
“Master Shay, please, I don’t think I can do this.” She moved close to Shay, and his arm slid around her shoulders. “I’m not ready. Can’t we do a role-play scene? It’s so much easier to be exposed when I’m playing a part.”
He held her tight. “You’re not supposed to be completely comfortable. It’s punishment.”
“I know, but the crowd’s too close right now. It’s scaring me.”
“They’re not much closer than they were when you were on the horse. When we talked about these types of scenes, you agreed to them.”
“I know.”
“Are you really afraid now? Be honest.”
“I’m embarrassed, and I’m afraid it’ll be so much worse later.”
“You have a safeword. You can use it even before we start if you really think this will be traumatic for you.”
She stared at the ground and shook her head.
“Listen, the longer we wait, the more nervous you’ll get. Just like on the horse, pretend it’s just you and me.” He tipped her chin up. “You want to earn my forgiveness, don’t you?”
She nodded.
“Then be a good kitten and take your punishment.”
“I’ll try,” she whispered.
“Good girl. Christ, I can’t resist that mouth. Give me a kiss.”
The heat and intimacy of the kiss sent warmth all through her body. She could’ve kissed him forever.
Eventually he drew back, pulling a long breath in, making his chest expand. She loved watching his muscles move.
“Your mouth is so sweet, and the feel of that soft body against mine… I want to be inside you right now.”
She shivered, her stomach clenching. “We could be alone for a while and do the punishment afterward,” Emma suggested. She wanted him, too.
“No, it’s time to pay up for both of us. I have to dish it out for the crowd, and you have to take it. There’s no way around that. Let’s get on with it, so I can have you to myself again.”
“Okay.”
He lifted the top of the stocks. The piece of bondage furniture had been inspired by the medieval stocks, but it was fully modern. Painted a medium gray, the stocks had charcoal gray padding in the arm and neck holes.
She had to take several deep breaths before she could bend over. He moved her hair aside so that when he closed the top board over the back of her neck, the strands wouldn’t get caught.
“Does anything feel too tight?”