Presley smiled.
Cora placed a hand on his arm. “I’m not the only one who deserves to be happy, you know. Always the good man, you are. The good friend. The perfect guy. But sometimes Doms have thick heads, and she’s ready for you to get past this.” Then she hugged him, taking him into a warm embrace. “Just be happy, Kyler. She wants you to be you.”
He leaned away from her, staring into Cora’s eyes that spoke of their long and close friendship. He believed Ella had opened up to Cora, and nothing pleased him more. That talk apparently led Ella into this scene tonight, which wasn’t the best advice she’d received, but the fact that Ella was sharing her heart with others and trusted them made him elated.
“You’re right.” He leaned away from her. “It is time for that, isn’t it?”
Cora nodded, smacking his arm. “Don’t be a stubborn fool.” Then—just like that—she left the area.
Kyler watched Presley drop onto Dmitri’s lap, and Cora settled in next to Aidan. His friends. Maybe he had been stubborn. Perhaps he’d been too caught up in it all. But when it came to Ella, he wanted to do everything just right.
Though his little submissive had done what he never would: forced the situation to come to a head. He couldn’t ignore her arousal. He couldn’t ignore how much it turned him on to see her flaming-red ass cheeks, as she rested over the spanking bench. Nor could he ignore his needs.
His dark and kinky desires.
She’s yours, claim her.
Moving in front of Ella, he grasped her arms and slowly raised her up off the bench. “Up slowly, Ella. Any dizziness?”
She blinked a few times. “Whoa. A little.”
He held her in his arms until her face wasn’t so red from being upside down. When her eyes had more clarity, he helped her sit on the bench. Then he tucked a finger under her chin. “Who gave you this idea tonight?”
“Kenzie,” she replied.
Figures! “Why did you do this?”
Her heated gaze held his, a yearning there in her eyes for him to own her. “I wanted you to see with your own eyes that I can handle this. That sometimes I don’t need you to control everything. That you won’t hurt me by doing this. Look, I’m fine.” She waved over herself. “Not broken. Not in tears. Horny as hell, yes. But okay.”
Tucking her hair behind her ear, he smiled. “I’m proud of you.”
Her lips parted, then closed, and after a long pause, she said, “Okay, that wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought you’d be mad.”
He shook his head, entranced by her. “What have I said to you all along, which by the way, I’m growing so damn tired of repeating?”
She regarded him, then said, “You’ll never get mad at something I do. You only want to understand why I do it.”
He inclined his head and tugged on her hair. “That is the last time I’ll tell you that. The next time I have to say it, I’ll make you write it on a damn piece of paper until it’s stuck in your head so firmly you don’t forget it.”
Pausing for a few seconds, he brushed his fingers over her cheek, loving how she leaned in to him. “And yes, I’m proud of you, Ella. Proud that you decided to take charge of your life and go after what you want. Proud that you didn’t think of what I would do or say, but did what you want. Proud that you took your life into your hands and proved a point to a stubborn Dom.”
She grinned. “I’m proud of me, too.”
Smiling with her, he offered his hand. “Now, then, Ella.” She stood in front of him, and he dropped his gaze to her eye level. “Having said all that, you, my sweetheart, have made a grave mistake that won’t be tolerated.” He lowered his voice, knowing the affect it had on her and watching her shiver. “Who touches this body, Ella?”
“You do, sir.”
“Ah, so she does know her place?” He arched brow at her. “Funny, it seems tonight you had a lapse in judgment and forgot that.” Grasping her chin, he forced her to hold his gaze, and her eyes widened. “Worry I see in those eyes, Ella, and that is just fine. As I also remember telling you that baiting a Dom is never suggested.”
One hour.
Sixty long minutes passed as Kyler left Ella kneeling by the couch, while he chatted with his friends. Her overheated body had cooled, leaving her chilled. He never offered her a blanket or even talked to her.
She stayed there, alone, in the silence for that entire time. Was this a punishment for allowing Cora and Presley to touch her?
As she started shivering, he’d left his spot on the couch and had asked Porter to watch over her. She didn’t know where he went, but then he’d returned to her with a blanket.
Porter said, “She stayed quiet.”