unless it’s important, Allyson. We have to figure out how we’ll work as a couple, but I can tell you when I finally do put that foot down, I expect to be obeyed. Did you understand what I wanted you to do?”
She sniffled, but he was pleased with how comfortable she was with her nudity. The first few times he’d required her to chuck her clothes, she’d been self-conscious, but it seemed she’d gotten the idea that he appreciated her body. “Yes. I knew what you wanted and I knew what would happen if I didn’t. I knew you would need a session. I didn’t know you kept rope lying around though. That was a surprise.”
“Oh, baby, I don’t need rope to discipline you. I can always find something. The kitchen is a veritable store of things I can use to swat your pretty rear. Put you hands together and hold them out.”
She put her wrists together and held them toward him. “Are you going to spank me? I can handle it.”
He’d figured her out a bit. She would always be a mystery to him. There would be small spaces inside her that weren’t open to him, but he could deal with that. He’d learned she could handle some loving discipline as long as he was affectionate with her afterward. “I’m going to spank you. I think you’ve certainly earned twenty smacks and then you’re going to take care of me. When I tell you to, you’ll get on your knees and you’ll suck me dry. Is that understood?”
He worked while he talked, moving the jute up and over and around, forming a pattern that would sit on her skin for a while after he’d removed the rope. It wasn’t too tight, but he wanted her to sit at dinner with the marks as a visible reminder of his possession. It wasn’t simply about reminding her. There was a part of him that wanted the rest of them to see he was properly topping this woman.
“Let me make something clear. I have no intentions of leaving you. Why would you think about that?”
Her eyes were on the rope, watching as he moved the pattern up. Had she been a bustier girl, he wouldn’t have been able to tie her this way, but Allyson was particularly flexible with her arms. They’d played with ropes over the last few nights. He liked this pattern. It made her look vulnerable.
“Macon, some of the things she said were true.”
“Which ones? The one about how my losing a leg was really the hardest on her? Or how running off with my brother was probably my fault because I’d left her alone while I was fighting a war?”
Her eyes flared. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack, baby. You weren’t listening to her. I would never fall for her shit, but I’ve learned that unless I let her have her say she won’t stop. I was going to listen and then explain in no uncertain terms that my life is here now and it’s with you. She’s not welcome here. I want to be right here with the right job and the right woman.”
“But she’s wasn’t lying about me. I’m not well bred. My only family connections are currently in the Georgia penitentiary. I’m a liability to a man like you.”
“That’s another ten swats. And what do you mean by ‘a man like me’? Bend over.”
She leaned over Sean’s desk, her bound arms forming a base to balance from. It would be difficult. She would have to think about not falling to one side or the other. That was exactly what he wanted. He looked down and stared at that luscious ass of hers. The cheeks were plump and perfect, and he adored the twin dimples on the small of her back.
“You won’t always want to be a pastry chef at a small restaurant,” she said. “Eventually you’ll need more. You were raised to be ambitious. You came from a wealthy family.”
He ran a hand over her cheeks. They’d played at light spanking, nothing serious. Even as he let his palm explore he knew he wouldn’t go too hard on her. Even this was mostly play. Spanking her wouldn’t correct the behavior. Knowing that she could have hurt Sean would correct the behavior. This was about allowing him to feel like he was in control and he was deeply grateful to have found a woman who understood. “Let me know if this scares you, baby.”
He brought his