Chapter 4 #2
Laci clenched her jaws at seeing Melody there for two reasons.
The first was that she knew Melody was very shy and avoided group play when she was allowed to.
And secondly because she was there to be punished, which could only be because John had found out that she’d been loaning Laci money in violation of Eric’s instructions.
How had John learned that? Had Melody confessed?
Or had Eric figured it out and put a word in John’s ear?
“Why is Melody here?” Laci asked Eric in a furious whisper.
“To be disciplined.”
“Do you know why?”
“I do. So do you,” he said.
“You and John are such bastards,” she seethed.
“Take off your dress and hang it on that hook,” he said, nodding.
The library was gorgeous with its dark wood paneling, built-in shelves filled with leather bound and hardcover books, and stately furnishings.
Laci didn’t miss the fact though that there were not just coat hooks on the walls.
There were rings and cuffs to restrain and secure submissives in various positions.
Laci wouldn’t give any of them the satisfaction of seeing her hesitate.
She pulled the dress over her head in one fluid motion and looped the straps over the hook.
She took a moment to arrange the dress so it hung smoothly.
It gave her extra time to compose herself.
She was wearing a navy blue bra and matching panties.
It was the darkest color she owned. Colin had not allowed her to wear black.
He liked her in bright or pastel colors.
He occasionally allowed her to wear black or darker colors when she dressed to go outside the community, but the underwear and nightwear was always fit for a little girl…
a very naughty little girl in the case of thongs and sheer bras.
She stood very still while John brought the group to order, and Eric poured drinks.
She listened and could barely keep from wincing as her and Melody’s infractions were recited.
Melody’s were mild, but John didn’t seem to think so.
He droned on about what a betrayal it was for a wife to keep secrets from a husband to whom she’d promised to be open and honest.
“May I say something?” Laci asked.
“No,” several people said at once.
She bit her tongue, literally, to keep from speaking. Eric’s hand squeezed her shoulder.
“Remember that you’re here to accept your punishment and to ask for forgiveness,” Eric murmured near her ear.
“He’s humiliating her. Look at her face,” Laci whispered back. “She’s about to cry, and he hasn’t even smacked her yet.”
“It’s undoubtedly part of the punishment,” he said coolly.
Eric Renard infuriated her constantly. She pulled her shoulder away from his restraining hand. She’d gotten the message. She wouldn’t object—out loud. At least not now.
John finished speaking, and he and Eric exchanged a glance.
Eric nodded at her, and she realized they were deciding which of the two women would be punished first. Laci steadied herself when John nodded.
So she’d be first. It was better to get it over with as soon as possible since the waiting was killing her.
Also, if she went first, it would give her time to recover so she could be there for Melody after hers was finished.
Pepper and Stuart were both talking with Eric, and she realized that they were attempting to negotiate to be her punisher. She wanted to yell at the three of them that they had no right to discuss her at all. The only person in charge of her destiny was her…except that wasn’t exactly true.
“Don’t worry, Laci.”
She turned to find Elena standing next to her.
She was so exotic and gorgeous. Laci really liked her and her style.
She was extremely accomplished in her profession and always dressed to perfection in tailored suits, high heels, and burgundy lipstick when she left the Hills.
On weekends, her style was softer and lower maintenance, but still very glamorous.
She often wore soft knits and poly-blend skirts with bare legs and slides in a variety of lighter and brighter colors.
Tonight she seemed to be in between her two personas.
She had her work skirt and heels, but the suit jacket and dark lipstick were gone.
“I’m not worried,” Laci said softly. “I was married to Colin for five years. I can deal with a lot of weird scenes, and if I really can’t take whatever they do, I’ll safeword out.”
Elena smiled. “You’re brave. You’ve certainly had to be.
But these men, our men, must be allowed to see that you’re vulnerable.
Unless you’re really not. If you’re completely unmoved by all that happens, then it’s good to act that way because it’s much better for us all to know that, including you. ”
Laci stiffened. She’d always counted Elena as a friend. Was she saying that if Laci didn’t break down they’d decide she didn’t belong in the community? She ran a hand through her hair, taking shallow breaths.
Elena still watched her with a kind, indulgent expression that she probably usually reserved for her kids and her staff. There was nothing malicious or judgmental about the expression. She did legitimately wonder whether Laci belonged.
Laci herself wasn’t really sure anymore. Had she just felt like the Hills were home because that’s where Colin was? In that case, she should sell the house and let someone else who needed a haven like their community have it.
When Eric rejoined them, he looked down at her. She was glad he was tall. Even though he was the youngest man in the room, there was an air of strength about him.
“Just feel what you feel. There is no wrong answer in that,” Elena said, giving her hand a squeeze as she walked away.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded. “I need you to do something.”
“What’s that?”
She swallowed. “Don’t hold back.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“If you were going to, don’t. I’ll yellow if I get into trouble. I won’t go straight red. So just—make me show that I’m sorry. Because I am.”
Eric nodded and sat in a chair without arms. Laci took a deep breath and moved quickly to him, bending her knees and leaning forward. She laid across his legs and let him reposition her. It had been a really long time since she’d been in this position.
Her heart beat faster, and her stomach clenched.
She’d always gotten a thrill out of being tossed over Colin’s lap for spankings.
A shrink would probably say that, as a former foster kid, she’d equated corporal punishment with real love.
Her foster parents never spanked or physically disciplined Laci.
They had other ways of making her sorry for doing bad things.
But they sometimes spanked their bio kids, and they often hugged and comforted them afterward.
After a spanking, the tension in the house disappeared immediately.
Unlike when she was in trouble and the cold atmosphere could be there for days.
Eric pulled her panties down. She sucked in a breath.
Colin had always started with her underwear up, then took them down partway through when she was already warmed up and not really caring about being exposed.
She bit her lip, glad her hot face was to the ground.
There were half a dozen people looking at her bare ass.
Eric took her arm and bent it into the small of her back, pressing it firmly down, securing her in place.
This too was different. Colin sometimes held her arm, but only when she tried to reach back to protect herself, which wasn’t often.
The fabric of Eric’s trousers was slightly rough against her belly.
It reminded her that he was fully dressed and she was nearly nude.
The powerful and the vulnerable. She tried to focus on that dynamic and to decide how it made her feel because Elena was right about Laci needing to—
The first crack of his hand made every thought fly from her head. She sucked in a breath. That had hurt. A lot.
The next one fell with a sting and a hard thud, and she squirmed.
Then a rhythm began, and she realized that she was in trouble.
She wasn’t sure how many spanks it took for her to say the word yellow, but it wasn’t that many. He paused and she panted. She couldn’t hear him breathing. Wasn’t his hand tired? Wouldn’t that get sore, too, if he kept spanking her so hard?
“Ready for more?” he asked after a few moments.
“I’m not sure,” she murmured, and there was chuckling in the room.
“Let’s find out,” Eric said in a low voice.
He was no more gentle than he’d been. She squirmed in earnest, trying to escape the blows that landed on her cheeks and upper thighs. He pinned her with that arm on her back and landed flurries of blows, pausing on and off when it suited him.
She started to cry. She couldn’t help it.
Her ass was on fire and felt twice its normal size.
She was desperate for it to end, and for it to end in a particular way…
she felt his erection against her soft middle.
She was damp and throbbing between her legs.
She wanted the owner of that hand that delivered such hard blows to grip her hips and give her body a different kind of pounding.
“Please. I can’t,” she said through her tears when he’d started again.
“Just four left, Lace. You can take that.”
She settled, closing her eyes tight. But he didn’t deliver them. He took her panties the rest of the way off and then lifted her so she was tucked against his side, still dangling in the same position, bottom up, head down.
He carried her to the desk and draped her over it.
“I don’t—what’s going on?” she asked, alarmed.
“Last four,” Eric said in a smooth, low tone. There was no harshness to it, but it was firm. He had one hand on the back of her neck and one on her lower back. She couldn’t rise up. But how was he going to—?
The crack of the paddle made her scream. There were three more in heavy succession. It all happened too fast for her to object.
Then the wooden paddle landed next to her face. “I won’t force her to kiss it, but she should at least thank us,” Stuart said. “She’s in need of proper training.”
Cool hands were on her ass, fingers dangerously close to where she was excited and wet.
“Wait,” she said weakly as the hands kneaded her inflamed cheeks. She squirmed, wanting to be touched, but not by him.
“Red.” The voice was masculine and firm. Eric’s she realized.
Stuart’s hands slid from her punished bottom. “She needs comfort of a certain kind. It’s there in the way she moved for you, Eric. Look at her pussy. You now what you’ll find.”
Eric said nothing, until he leaned over her.
“I’m proud of you,” he whispered. He stroked her hair and then helped her off the desk and held her upper arms to steady her.
She stared straight ahead at his upper chest and the opening of his shirt collar where his throat was exposed.
The hollow seemed to ask for a tongue to lick it.
“The second part of the punishment is for you to stand in the corner during Melody’s punishment. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” she said, sniffling.
“Good girl.”