Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Avery
Despite all the talking she and her friends had done last night, why she hadn’t answered Nick’s calls or texts hadn’t really come up. And the ‘why’ to that was a lot harder to answer.
“I wasn’t ready to talk?” It came out as a question rather than an answer, and the moment she said it, she knew it would not be enough.
She was right.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
The hard, sharp swats landed with intention, two on each cheek, rocking her forward as she gasped. The spots throbbed—he’d down his hand laid in the center of each cheek both times, a lot harder than he’d spanked her at home, much less in class.
“Ow!”
“Why didn’t you text me back to tell me you weren’t ready to talk?”
Smack! Smack!
“You left me hanging, wondering if something awful had happened to you.”
Smack! Smack!
“All I knew was that you were upset, and you drove off. I was worried you’d gotten into an accident or something.”
Smack! Smack!
“No! I mean, I’m sorry!” The sharp bites of pain were well-deserved. She’d known he’d been worried and upset, but she hadn’t thought about that aspect of it. “I drove to a parking lot a few blocks away until I could get myself back together.”
Smack! Smack!
“As nice as it is to know that now, it would have been a lot nicer if you had texted me yesterday to tell me.”
He really had taken being a Dom to heart. Every swat landed in the exact middle of her cheeks, over and over, so even though it wasn’t the hardest she’d ever been spanked, it was really burning. He was using enough force to sting, and adding to the same spot meant the burn increased that much more.
“I’m sorry!”
“You’re certainly going to be.”
The flurry of swats increased, landing in the same spots, making the center of her cheeks throb and flare with heat.
Avery’s fingers tightened on the grips, holding on for dear life and wishing she was cuffed or tied down.
It would be a lot easier to keep her position.
Instead, she had to use willpower and the perverse desire for penance to keep in place.
Even though it hurt, and the hot pain was building fast and furious, Nick coming into his own as a Dom was one of the sexiest things she’d ever experienced.
Her pussy was quivering with anticipation, apparently confused that she was being punished, not played with.
Tears gathered in her eyes, even as her arousal swirled in her core.
When Nick stopped spanking her and reached down to touch her folds, he could feel how hot and slick she was.
“Enjoying this, are you?” he asked, rubbing his fingers up and down her slit. He sounded amused. Avery whined, lifting her hips to get him to touch her more, but he was purposefully avoiding her clit, the bastard. “You know that’s not the point of this.”
“Then maybe you should stop,” she sassed back.
That got a laugh out of him… right before he started spanking her again.
Nick
The two spots in the middle of Avery’s cheeks were glowing bright hot pink. He felt the heat emanating from her skin when he’d taken the pause to check her pussy. She was soaked… and he was hard as a rock.
If he finished this punishment without sex, it would be a fucking miracle.
Seeing the twin spots on her cheeks darkening, he wondered if he should move some spots around, but he knew from the last spanking he’d given her, the effects hadn’t lasted long. This time, he was determined to make more of an impression.
Because it was still a punishment.
Relationships were about communication, whether a work relationship or a romantic one. BDSM made the need for communication even more important.
He’d tried so hard last night to get in touch with her, to the detriment of paying attention at work, and she hadn’t reached back. That had fucking hurt. He hadn’t done anything to deserve that kind of non-response.
He realized that was something he should say.
“Finding out from your friend, not from you, that you were physically unharmed hurt my feelings.”
He gave her another few hefty whacks to punctuate his statement. There was something extremely cathartic about being able to use a spanking to emphasize his points.
“I’m sorry!” She sniffled. “I didn’t think about it like that.”
“That’s what hurts. It felt like you weren’t thinking about me at all.” His voice was a little hollow, but it was true. That had been the hardest part. Feeling as if he hadn’t merited a text or a call.
“Not that!” Her head came up, her neck craning to look over her shoulder.
He glimpsed the tears that had rolled down her cheeks.
Her skin was blotchy, eyes shiny, and she looked far more miserable than aroused.
That was the real punishment, he realized—not the spanking but his hurt and disappointment.
She hadn’t really tried to stop the spanking, but now she was doing her best to reassure him.
“I didn’t know how to explain myself, and it was easier to hide from you than to find the words. I felt as if I owed you an explanation.”
“Perhaps as your boss, but as your boyfriend, I wanted to know you were safe, and it hurt knowing you were willing to talk to your friends but not to me.” When she tried to rear up, Nick placed his hand on her lower back, keeping her in place.
“No, sweetheart, I’ll let you make it up to me, eventually, but first, we’re going to get through your punishment. ”
Avery
The firm, authoritative way Nick made his declaration, with his hand pressing down on her lower back, had Avery’s insides quivering despite her emotions being a wreck.
Of course, her steadily increasing arousal didn’t help.
She desperately wanted to turn around and hug Nick or at least touch him.
Hearing the very real hurt in his voice had broken her heart.
She should have turned to him. She should have answered.
The combination of boss and boyfriend didn’t make it easy, but she’d made everything harder on both of them by ignoring his texts and calls—not to mention hurting his feelings—which could have been so easily avoided.
If he’d been upset enough to leave somewhere and didn’t answer her texts and calls, then she finally heard from one of his friends instead…
Well, she would have tried to be understanding, but yeah, that would sting pretty badly.
It might make her question why he didn’t feel he could pick up for her, but he could for his friend.
Make her feel as if she wasn’t the most important person to him. The most trusted. The one she could lean on.
She’d denied him that because he was her boss as well as her boyfriend. That wasn’t fair and something they’d have to work out at a later time.
Although right now, Nick was doing a fantastic job of putting the two together.
Damn him.
“Time for the paddle.”
Avery squeaked in dismay and gripped the spanking bench tighter, hugging it with her whole body, not just her fingers. Paddle?! On her already chastised cheeks?
This really was a punishment, yet the arousal still sizzled through her. Her body’s reactions were so messed up.
No, they’re not. They’re just how you react, and once you accept that, this whole relationship thing will probably be a lot easier.
Eek. Okay, yeah. She had some internal work to do on herself, too.
If she hadn’t felt such a keen sense of shame yesterday, she probably would have answered Nick’s calls. She’d been ashamed both as an employee and a woman, which had as much to do with how she felt about herself as with what Chad had said.
That wasn’t something she wanted to continue.
“I’m so sorry, Sir. I realized… I think the reason yesterday was so hard is there’s a part of me that feels what Chad said is true.
Not about how I got my job, but the way he said it…
I know I’m a submissive, but sometimes, I feel ashamed of that, too.
Like there’s something wrong with me because I am.
” Saying it was hard, so very hard, but the moment the words were out of her mouth, intense relief swept through her.
Nick
Holy shit.
Nick dropped the paddle to the ground, making Avery jump and nearly fall off the bench, but it was okay because he was there to catch her.
Not just catch her, but pull her to her feet, so he could see her face.
Her beautiful, tear-stained face with her wide hazel eyes, red nose, and parted lips.
Feeling her naked skin against him, her breasts pressing into his stomach, made his dick throb, but he ignored it.
“Me, too.” Rather than understanding, he saw confusion, and he cleared his throat. “I mean, I feel ashamed, too. Like there’s something wrong with me because of how much I enjoy spanking you and how much farther I want to go.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” she said, a stubborn expression sliding over her face.
Nick raised his eyebrows at her. If there was nothing wrong with him, the one actually doing the spankings and other painful things, there was nothing wrong with her. She narrowed her eyes back at him.
“It’s different.”
“How so?” he challenged. “You’re ashamed because you enjoy receiving pain, but that’s as physiological as it is psychological.
What does it say about my psychology that I enjoy causing it?
That I like to hear you cry out, that right now I can look down and see your tears, and my dick is hard as a rock because I know I caused them. ”
Staring up at him, Avery bit down on her lower lip, trying to think of a way to argue with him. Ha. Good luck with that. He was right, and he knew it.
“Okay.” She wrinkled her nose. “Well, it sounds bad when you put it like that, but I feel like I’m betraying the sisterhood and setting back feminism because I like to be spanked and submit to a man.
Society sets us up to believe men are supposed to be dominant and taking charge of a woman is natural. ”
“Maybe it once did, but now, as a good man, I want to support women and feminism and your right to do whatever the hell you want to do, not boss you around and spank you, definitely not enjoy it,” he countered. “And that’s after I got past the idea a spanking is different from beating you.”
It felt damn good to get this out in the open.
He hadn’t realized Avery had her own doubts about kink and her preferences.
He’d felt as though he was playing catchup this whole time, trying to make himself into what he thought she wanted, and at the same time, make sure she didn’t see his insecurities.
Knowing she wasn’t as comfortable in her skin as she’d appeared, knowing she had the same doubts—though from the opposite side of things—made him feel so much better.
Even though the other new Doms in the class were struggling with some of the same things, that was different from knowing his partner felt that way.
Especially since he’d assumed Avery was all in, with none of the apprehension he’d felt about what they were doing.
They were more on the same page than he’d known.
“You are supporting me in doing whatever I want because I’m the one telling you I want to be spanked!”
“And there’s nothing wrong with that, just like there’s nothing wrong with me for enjoying it.” For the first time, he really believed it.
Who cared what society said they were supposed to like and what they were supposed to do? Fuck Chad and the others in the world who would judge them for what they wanted to do.
They weren’t hurting anyone—well, other than Avery and only because she liked it. Everything was consensual, which was the most important part. He was giving her what she liked, what she wanted and needed, which matched perfectly with what he liked, wanted, and needed.
“Maybe I’m wrong, but the way it was explained to me was feminism is about you getting to make your own choice.
If you don’t want me to do something, all you have to say is your safe word, and I’ll stop immediately.
I might be the Dom, but the only reason I’m in charge is you’re willingly giving me the control, choosing to follow my commands, and want to submit in this sphere.
” The side of his lips quirked, threatening a smile.
“In the kitchen, you’re usually the one giving me hell. ”
“That’s because sometimes, you act like you think you’re fucking Gordon Ramsey,” she muttered, but her cheeks had turned pink with happiness at his compliment. She seemed a lot calmer and happier. The tension had slid away from her muscles, and she was smiling.
Nick laughed.
“I don’t think I’m fucking Gordon Ramsey. I think I’m fucking you.” He laughed as she sputtered at the terrible pun before planting a searingly hot kiss on her lips.
When he pulled away, he spun her back around to face the bench and gave her ass a short, sharp smack.
“Now, back over that spanking bench. You have a punishment to finish.”