“True,” Ella admitted with a sigh. “I never looked at it that way. I thought he just wanted to know what happened, not that it was about how I feel.”
Presley asked, “So, are you ready to bare it all with him?”
Ella pondered, but she didn’t need too long. In the friendship of these women, she’d realized how much she’d shut down. H
ow much she hadn’t depended on others with the one thing she protected the most—her heart.
Possibly because until now no one deserved to see that side of her. But things were different—things were safe. A lot of people loved her—without judgment and without the worry of being hurt again. “I’m ready.”
“Great.” Kenzie smirked sassily. “Because I have a brilliant idea to make that conversation happen and to prove to your big, tough Dom you’re more ready than he thinks you are.”
Cora frowned. “Now, Kenzie, let’s not get her in trouble.”
“Quiet.” Kenzie pointed with a glare containing little heat. “We all know that Kyler won’t take a flogger to her, especially since her ex showed up here acting like some man escaping from the nuthouse. You know as well as I do that he won’t forget that image anytime soon.” She rubbed her hands together, her eyes lit with an inner glow. “And it just so happens I have one helluva idea.”
Tension led Kyler to the dungeon after his shift. The hard rock music set an atmosphere that matched his mood. While he’d heard from Maggie that Rory had returned to Savannah, his mind spun with thoughts of Ella.
Since the night where she tried her damnedest to push him away, nothing had been the same. And he knew why: She wanted things from him he couldn’t give her … not right now.
Every time he thought of flogging her, all that flashed in his mind was her swan-diving into the table. Her scar was a constant reminder of the abuse. He couldn’t assume that emotionally she was past it all, without sharing it with him first.
What kind of Dom would that make him?
Not one he could live with.
Every thought, every move he had made, had been centered on helping and healing her, while playing gently and having fun enough to help her live up to her challenge. Now she’d let him in, enough to know what happened, but it still wasn’t enough.
Possess her soul.
More than anything, he wanted that vulnerable part of her she didn’t offer to anyone else.
How to get there?
Frustrated to be stuck in his head, he moved quickly through the dungeon in search of Aidan and Dmitri. He leaned on his friends, more than once, and knew in this situation he needed some outside advice to be comfortable in his next steps.
As a casual lover to Ella, he knew his way with her. Completely in love with her, he didn’t want to screw things up. He didn’t want to make mistakes. And he certainly didn’t want to have regrets about his decisions.
He spotted Aidan, sitting with Dmitri near the spanking bench, so he made his way over to them. Both Doms looked to him with shit-eating grins. Kyler frowned. “What’s with you two?”
Dmitri chuckled. “I’m thinking this evening is about to get interesting.”
“Oh, yeah, why?” Kyler asked.
Aidan gestured toward the spanking bench. “Take a look.”
Kyler followed his gaze, and all his concerns vanished as his world narrowed on the scene in front of him. He stepped forward, ensuring he saw things right. Presley, dressed in black lace lingerie, knelt on the floor, holding a face in her hands. Then his gaze lifted to Cora, who wore a pink teddy, but that didn’t hold his focus long. The black paddle in Cora’s hand garnered his full attention as it hit a very red bottom.
“What the fuck,” he bit off.
Dmitri’s and Aidan’s chuckles sounded behind him as Kyler strode forward, watching that paddle land against Ella’s ass. One. Two. Three. Four. Then he was there, and before Cora got another hit, he growled, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Paddling her.” Cora smacked Ella’s ass with an incredibly hard hit. Ella moaned and Cora smiled. “She asked me to, and who am I to refuse such a delicious request?”
“Her hard limits are no other Doms touching her,” Kyler said through clenched teeth.
“Well, I’m not a Dom, am I?” Cora shrugged in her sassy way, her grin sparkling across her face. “And your rules don’t apply to me, do they? Sure, Ella might be in trouble, but what are you going to do about it?” Her eyes twinkled. “Paddle her, maybe spank her?”
He looked to Ella lying over the spanking bench, and he groaned at her bright red ass. His cock twitched, regardless of his annoyance. Christ, that is a stunning sight. He turned to Cora. “You all are sneaky and are in serious trouble.”