standing next to the stool.
“You make the prettiest canvas, pet.” His fingers traced over her bottom in a ripple of heat like small wavelets. “Your skin turns such a nice red.”
Three more blows of the paddle hit her bottom. How could sparkles feel so warm?
And then he went down on his haunches in front of her. He lifted her head slightly so he could look into her eyes.
“Now, let’s talk a bit,” he murmured in his gravelly baritone. His green eyes held hers in a steady gaze.
“What?” The word came out slurred, as if she was drunk. And she was—drunk on endorphins.
The sunlines next to his eyes deepened. “Normally, when we meet, I get a hug and kiss. Last night, you stepped back. Because you’d heard the rumors…”
“What? Uh-uh. I never…didn’t hear anything till I was leaving.” Her mouth closed. She wasn’t going to say that, was she? If he knew she hadn’t—
“If it wasn’t the rumors, then why didn’t I get a hug?”
Her eyes closed, trying to shut him out. She shook her head as her mind started to focus again. There was no way she’d tell him it was because he’d found someone else.
“I see. Then we’ll keep going.”
Keep…going?
The whap against her ass stung like fire because she’d slid out of the warm fog, but as he continued, hard and soft, right and left, up and down from her upper thighs to her upper buttocks, the feeling of the stool beneath her disappeared.
Then he was flogging her, the heavy blows thudding hard enough to shake her bones, and somehow the floor turned all foggy, too.
Sometime later, he ran his hands through her hair. Touched her cheek. “Valerie, why didn’t you want to be with me last night?”
Last night was a long time ago. “I was sad,” she whispered.
“I hate seeing you sad,” he said in a low voice. “Why were you unhappy, pet?”
“You found someone else to play with.” The feeling swept over her again, the hurt of seeing him with the beautiful submissive. Tears filled her eyes.
“Did I now? But I had you, sweetheart. Why would I want someone else?”
Her mouth opened, and then she frowned. What in the world am I saying? She pulled at the ropes on her wrists, shaking her head.
And then the flogger was dancing over her back, sending a hot wave of desire through her. Somehow, she was rippling along on the tops of the waves. A harder blow made her gasp and squeak, and he laughed, a rough, amused sound. Pain and desire hit so hard she shuddered.
“Valerie.”
She blinked. “Where did you go?”
“Oh, I had to beat on you a while. You were telling me why I wanted someone else besides you.”
She was? Easy enough. “I’m not young, not beautiful anymore.”
“Mmmph, neither am I.”
“You’re a man. Women are… We have to be beautiful.” She tried to get her thoughts to work. “Or useful. Or we’re worthless. Throw us away.”
He was quiet enough she started to drift, pleased he understood.
“Did your parents think you were worthless?”
My parents. She wouldn’t think about them; she wouldn’t. Her mouth closed.
“There’s an unhappy frown.” He gripped her hair tightly, and the feeling of being controlled, totally under his authority, washed heat over her skin. “When they were mad, what did they say to you?”
A chill wind swept away the warmth surrounding her. “With your looks, you better learn to be useful.”
“…never wanted to have a fucking kid, let alone an ugly one.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Ghost said under his breath. “Those bastards.”
“No, they—” Wait, what had she said?
“Shhh.” With a palm under her cheek, he stroked her hair. “I heard your ex’s slave is shit-talking you. I bet that’s bringing back the bullshit you suffered as a child.”
She wiggled, trying to focus on what he was saying. “What?”
“It’s good to know what I have to fight.” With a satisfied chuckle, he kissed her. Slowly. Tenderly. “You thought I’d found someone younger to play with—and you backed away.”
Her mind cleared enough to know she’d made a fool out of herself. But the truth was the truth. “I saw her, Ghost. How could you resist someone so pretty who drops to her knees in front of you?”
“Very easily, actually. Especially since she pulled some manipulative crap after I said I wasn’t interested.” He brushed his fingers over Valerie’s cheek. “I lectured her about proper submissive behavior and left her in the subbie waiting area.”
“But…she’s young.”
He snorted. “Not an enticement. I’d rather spend time with someone who grew up with