Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Nick
Glancing at the clock, Nick scowled. Crap.
He would have to finish working on the specials for this week after class—that or be late to class.
Unfortunately, his relationship with Avery was a little more distracting than he’d realized it would be, and he hadn’t thought about the specials over the weekend, meaning he’d given himself extra work for Monday.
There was a knock on the door, and it opened immediately. All the managers who shared the office knocked to announce their presence, then walked right in, so Nick was used to it.
He looked up to see Miles entering. Of indeterminate age, Miles was one of those guys who looked old and young at the same time.
He was full of little contrary traits like that.
Not many wrinkles, but his hair and beard were mostly grey, with only a little brown showing through.
He was of average height and in good shape, but he also had a beer belly despite his muscles.
He often seemed like he was off in his own little world, but Nick had discovered Miles observed far more than most people realized.
“Hi, Nick, how are you?” Miles smiled his usual warm and welcoming expression. Out of the three front-of-house managers, he smiled the most.
“Doing good. I’m about done here if you need the desk. I may be back down later.”
“After that class you’re taking?” The tone of his voice didn’t change, but Nick still froze. When he met Miles’ gaze, the other man didn’t seem at all perturbed that Nick was involved in the activities on the second floor, so that was good.
“Yes, after the class.” Nick saved the document and got to his feet.
He shook his head. He didn’t believe for one second Gareth had gossiped, which meant that Miles—as usual—noticed more than anyone gave him credit for.
Which tickled a thought in his brain. “Hey, do you know what’s going on with George?
He’s been in a bad mood for a week now.”
Normally, when George was on the expo line, he was fun to work with, plenty of banter and joking without interrupting the flow, but over the weekend, he’d been surly and grunted more than he’d spoken.
Miles snorted, moving around the opposite side of the desk, so he could replace Nick in the chair behind it.
“He’s upset about Jonathan and Alanna.”
“George liked Alanna?” Nick blinked in surprise.
There was a bit of an age difference between the two of them, but when he thought about it, they did seem as if they’d make a pretty good match.
On the other hand, despite his previous relationships with other servers, she and Jonathan seemed well-matched.
Although he’d been brusque, George hadn’t treated Alanna or Jonathan differently from anyone else.
“He’ll get past it. Or he won’t.” Miles shrugged as he sat down. “We’ll see how long Jonathan and Alanna last.” His attention was already on the screen in front of him, totally focused. This was why people thought Miles didn’t pay attention to what was going on around him.
Shaking his head, knowing better than to get caught up in the server drama, Nick headed for the door.
“Say hi to Avery for me.”
Nick ground to a halt, hand on the doorknob. He looked back, but Miles was as focused on the computer as he was before.
“Ah, if you could not mention—”
“No one needs to know except you two.” Waving his hand, Miles shooed Nick. “Go on, now. You don’t want to be late.”
Right. Nick sighed inwardly. No one except Miles and Gareth.
Two of the managers had figured it out. Hopefully, they were the only two people who had noticed, but he couldn’t worry about that right now.
He needed to get upstairs to class. There would be plenty to worry about up there, like spanking Avery for the first time.
Avery
Bent over the spanking bench in her bra and panties wasn’t nearly as intimate or enjoyable as her interlude with Nick the night before. Her nipples were still extra sensitive today, which was nice, but it also reminded her how much more fun they’d had on their own.
Then again, she guessed this was supposed to be more educational than enjoyable, even if it was entertaining.
Directly in front of her were Connor and Morgan, and to say that Connor was struggling was an understatement. Across the way, Q had been having some issues, though she’d noticed he got better at putting some force into the swats he was giving Iris after Master Law had praised Sam for her swats.
Out of all the Dominants, Sam had the least trouble spanking with impact, and Freddy seemed to be enjoying himself.
Smack.
The impact of Nick’s hand was minimal, leaving behind more warmth than sting, but it was better than the first few slaps he got in. The panties she was wearing weren’t any good as a shield, so the tiny scrap of fabric didn’t provide protection… not that she needed it right now.
“Harder, Nick.” Mistress Julie’s voice didn’t leave any room for argument as she walked past him and Avery. Avery bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing, which wouldn’t help.
The frustration of the students in the room was palpable.
All of them wanted to do what they were supposed to be doing, and they were worried about actually harming their submissive.
Well, all except Sam, probably because of her experience on the other side.
She’d started out a little hesitant but ended up getting into it.
Smack.
Avery gasped, her body jerking more out of surprise than pain, though that slap had enough force behind it to sting.
“Shit! Sorry!”
“No, that was good,” she said, twisting her head to look over her shoulder. Any amusement she’d been feeling evaporated at the sight of Nick’s expression. He looked more than frustrated—he looked unhappy. He wasn’t enjoying this, not even on an entertainment level.
Dammit.
Her heart sank. Maybe this wouldn’t work.
That would be okay, though, right? She could get by with clamps and bondage. They didn’t have to do impact play.
“Harder, Connor. You won’t break her. Morgan likes it.” The hard crack of flesh against flesh that followed Mistress Julie’s admonishment was accompanied by a low moan from Morgan. Avery’s body clenched in envy, and a shiver went down her spine. “Isn’t that right, Morgan?”
“Yes, Mistress.” Morgan looked up at Connor. “Harder, please, Master Connor.”
This time, under Mistress Julie’s stern gaze, Connor gave Morgan a nice, hard swat, the sound nearly equaling that of Mistress Julie’s demonstration. Morgan moaned again, lifting her bottom in the air. The hesitant consternation on Connor’s face smoothed to relief.
Hmmm.
Avery looked over her shoulder at Nick again, wiggling to catch his attention, so he met her gaze.
“I liked that, Master Nick. Harder, please.”
For a moment, she thought he wouldn’t do it. His head lifted, and his eyes darted back and forth as if he was looking to see if anyone was watching him. Finally, he lifted his hand and brought it down on the opposite side of her ass, catching the other cheek directly in the center.
She let her head drop, moaning rather than crying out since she wasn’t surprised this time.
“Yes, just like that.” Normally, Avery wasn’t a big talker during sex, but if positive reinforcement helped him feel better, she could do that.
She could tell it worked with Connor—he was spanking Morgan audibly now.
Mistress Julie’s heels clicked against the wooden stage floor as she turned back to Nick and Avery.
As she approached, Nick brought his hand down again, hard enough to make Avery shriek. That was so much better. Her hips pushed up, hoping he’d bring his hand down again with the same force.
“Very good,” Mistress Julie said approvingly, curving to move past them and over to Q and Iris.
Nick
If only Mistress Julie’s approval made him feel better, though Avery’s reaction did, a little.
She wants this.
Logically, he knew it. She’d told him, and he could see it in her body language.
Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to. Guilt welled when he looked at the pink splotches on her ass, and his cock perked up.
Beating a woman isn’t supposed to be sexy.
The problem wasn’t that he disliked what he was doing but that he liked it too much.
He didn’t want to hurt Avery… yet he did.
He wanted to slap her ass harder, to do it again and again until her ass was a bright, hot red, and she was crying out and begging him to stop.
The idea made his cock as hard as it had been last night when she’d knelt in front of him and presented him with the nipple clamps.
Yeah, because you’re a sick fuck.
No, I’m not. Do you think Q or Connor are sick fucks? Or Olivia or Law or Julie?
They seem like pretty normal people. You, on the other hand… you like this too much.
The internal war with himself wasn’t going well. He hated the way it was making him feel. Hated feeling that when Avery made a noise, everyone was looking at him, judging him. Seeing him as a fucked-up piece of shit who enjoyed beating a woman.
It’s spanking. It’s different.
Is it, though?
Mistress Julie clapped her hands together. Standing in the center of the room, the shortest person in the room, she effortlessly drew all eyes to her with nothing more than that simple sound.
“Submissives, sit up. Dominants, stand behind them. Everyone, face me.”
All the submissives moved, almost as one, getting into a sitting position on their spanking benches, facing Mistress Julie. Because of the angle of the ‘bench,’ the perch seemed a little precarious, but none of them spoke up to complain. Not that Nick could blame them for their silence.
“Submissives, close your eyes. Now, Dominants, I want you to raise your hand if you were worried about spanking your submissive too hard.”
Gritting his teeth, not liking he had to admit to it, Nick raised his hand.
He wasn’t the first to do so, he realized with relief.
Connor’s hand had shot up, Q raised his hand at about the same rate as Nick, and even Sam raised her hand tentatively.
Knowing they were all in the same boat, feeling the same way, made him feel a little better about his inability to reconcile what he knew with what he felt.
“Dominants, lower your hands. Submissives, raise your hands if you felt like your Dominant spanked you hard enough.”
Not one hand went up. Freddy did a little waving thing in front of him, gesturing ‘so-so.’ Sam’s face flushed red hot. Nick’s stomach sank. Looking directly across the room at Q, he saw his own feelings reflected in the other man’s expression when their somber gazes met.
The feeling of failure did not sit well. He could tell from the way Avery’s shoulders hunched forward, she didn’t like not raising her hand but was too honest to lie to spare his feelings.
“Submissives, you may open your eyes.” Mistress Julie smiled reassuringly at the subs, then raised her gazes to address the Dominants.
“One of the things we’ll be working on in this class is learning limits, emotional and physical, both your submissives’ and yours.
You should never push yourself into emotional harm because of your submissives’ needs, but by that same token, you need to trust your submissive to know what their needs are.
I don’t think anyone in here got even close to a submissive using a slowdown word, much less a safe word. ”
Well, Nick felt called out.
Unfortunately, despite what Mistress Julie said, he wasn’t sure it was going to get any easier.