Highest Bidder Collection - Lauren Landish Page 0,60

say quietly from behind me. The quiet before the storm.

Smack!

I gasp with pain and pleasure, grabbing my binds to bear it, my pussy clenching violently around nothing. Immediately after, I feel Lucian kneading my ass, calming the pain pulsing through my ass cheeks.

“Tell me why you lied to me, treasure,” I hear him whisper near my ear, his breath hot on my neck.

Shock goes through me, mixed with desire. Lied? What did I lie about?

“I know you’ve been hiding something. And you need to tell me what it is.” Lucian’s voice is hard. “You should have already told me.”

Lucian knows? My heart races with anxiety. He knows what I’m hiding from him? I almost shake my head. That doesn’t make sense. He can’t know. I haven’t told him anything.

But that doesn’t mean he can’t guess, a voice inside my head says, he’s not stupid.

I part my lips to deny his words, and claim I don’t have any idea what he’s talking about, but guilt presses down upon my chest, keeping me from saying it. I don’t know why I keep fighting to hold my secret. I’m tired of holding it in. I should just let it out and let the chips fall where they may.

“I’m sorry,” I whimper, a soft admission.

Smack!

My body jolts violently and a strangled cry rips from my lips, my pussy moist with arousal.

“That’s not what I asked for, treasure,” I hear Lucian say somewhere through my mire of pain. His voice sounds like he’s daring me to try to lie to him. And I wonder again why I’m fighting. It feels like he’s already won.

I writhe on the bed from the sting of the savage blow he dealt against my ass, my mind a mix of pain, pleasure and confusion. I wait for another blow, but it isn’t forthcoming. He’s allowing me a moment of recovery, a moment to reflect on his words.

Tell him, my mind screams. Tell him and let this all be over with!

Smack! Smack!

Fuck! Tears leak from the corners of my eyes. This is different from the other punishments. There’s no pleasure. Red is on the tip of my tongue. But a part of me knows I deserve this. That I need this.

Smack!

I suck in a sharp, painful breath, parting my lips to tell him what he wants to hear. That I’m broken.

Smack!

The strangled scream that escapes my lips is raw and filled with pain, but I manage to get three words out.

“I’ll tell you!”

Chapter 19

Lucian

The last few hours have been difficult. When the emails came through and Isaac called, I couldn’t believe what he’d told me. I saw the records, the charges against her father’s brother. Isaac had a timeline of how her life fell apart, the court dates and her parents' divorce. Moving from one house to the next.

I knew she was hiding something. I never expected that though. Never.

How could she not tell me?

I’m crushed by the feeling of insignificance. I feel useless. Or at least to her I was. She didn’t tell me because she didn’t think I’d make a difference. Isaac’s still looking into her ex, but I have no clue if she told him, or anyone else before him. Maybe she wants to keep it a secret. Maybe it wasn’t mine to know.

But she’s mine. My body heats with guilt for taking her the way I did. I assumed. No, I trusted she was forthcoming. She’s my Submissive, and I had no idea about something so crucial to her needs. I still don’t know everything. I don’t know how this affects what she needs.

I’m going to find out though.

“It’s alright, treasure,” I whisper softly, cupping her face in my hand and kissing her tears away as I release the cuff from around her wrist. “It took a lot for you to tell me; I’m proud of you.”

My voice is soft and comforting as I massage her arm and then release the other wrist. Her eyes are glassed over with tears and shining with insecurity.

“I’m sorry,” her voice cracks as she wipes under her eyes.

She has nothing to be sorry about though, this is my fault. It was my responsibility, but I was too eager and too presumptuous.

I grip her hip and pull her closer to me. “Relax, Dahlia,” I whisper into her hair as she leans against my chest. “I need you to talk to me, Dahlia.”

I hold her close, running my hand down her back in soothing strokes. I knew she was hiding something from me.