“Avery, hon, would you excuse us, please?”
“Sure, Master Dan.” Rising, she flicked Nan a wary glance before returning to the bar where Grayson was bar tending.
“Why did you do that?” Nan snapped, slamming the empty glass on the table as Dan took Avery’s seat and leaned back with a nonchalance that didn’t fool her. His rigid jaw and dark frown had her thrusting her shoulders back in a defiance even she didn’t understand.
“Because I want to discuss why I had to hear from Grayson about you standing outside in the middle of the night in obvious distress, and because your attitude needs addressing.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my attitude. If you don’t like it, go order someone else around.” Nan’s chest tightened as she issued that statement. She wanted his help, needed his dominant control to snap her back to where she’d been before Gerard had stripped her of everything. So why was she trying to drive him away?
He started to rise, saying, “Belle will miss you if you’re reneging on our deal.”
Panicking, she jumped to her feet. “Wait!”
Sitting back down, Dan raised one brow and cocked his head, his face remaining impassive as he asked, “Are you backing out of our bargain or not, Nan?”
She pictured Belle’s large, soft eyes and the months ahead of watching her grow followed by years of enjoying her beauty and company. Then she thought of Gerard’s cold smile, the evil in his black eyes, his taunts, telling her to give up, that he always won, always got what he wanted. Not this time, damn it.
“No, I’m not.”
“Then come here.” Dan pointed right in front of him as he scooted the chair away from the table.
Her heart thumping like a jackrabbit, Nan stepped forward, holding her breath as he reached for the tie at her waist and tugged. The dress fell open, goosebumps dancing across her skin as he took his time looking her over. Reaching up, he slid one finger under the corset, grazing her nipple, the casual caress pote
nt enough to produce an ache for more.
“I’m not happy with you,” he said as he slid the dress off her shoulders and let it pool at her bare feet. Looking at her, he grasped her hand and drew her over his lap. “I want answers, even if it means you stay in this position all night.”
Nan landed belly down across Dan’s hard, denim-covered thighs, a position she’d been in countless times before, and yet still felt new, scary and exciting all at once. She braced for the pain, praying for that hedonistic thrill instead of fear. His calloused palm glided over her buttocks left exposed by the thong, and she soaked up the pleasant sensations his touch stirred up. Low voices echoed around them, mingling with laughter, the music and the sounds of play resonating from the loft. She wasn’t alone, or in the dark, the exhibitionism releasing a familiar sweep of excitement to tease her senses.
A light swat stung her right cheek, drawing a gasp at the sudden sting. He didn’t pause before delivering a matching smack on the left, and tears pricked her eyes at the rush of pleasure from the soft ache. “Tell me about last night.” Two more identical spanks landed on top of the first ones, still light enough to warm with a here-then-gone sting. “What frightened you, a nightmare?”
Nan shook her head, grasping the chair leg for added support as he delivered a harder swat in the center of her butt. “I woke up, and the lights were out,” she blurted, needing him to continue but stopping short of admitting she was sure she’d left them on. She should have remembered how astute he was. Two much harder smacks jiggled her globes, the painful burn spreading to her pussy. Yes! The urge to crow in delight at the return of her usual response to pain was difficult to suppress, but she recalled how fast that pleasure changed last week and held herself back.
“Common sense tells me if you fear the dark due to your trauma, you would not have forgotten to leave lights on before going to bed.” Dan aimed for the under curve of her buttocks next, putting more force behind the spanks, enough to push her forward on his lap.
Nan trembled as he paused to inch a finger under the thong and trace over her puffy labia, his touch on the sensitive flesh setting off sparks deep inside her core. She’d almost forgotten the pleasure of a burning backside, of picturing others eyeing her red, quivering butt, of lying face down throbbing for more. With a low moan, she shifted on his lap, the pressure of her mound against his rigid muscles sending another blaze of heat spiraling through her.
With a low curse, Dan pulled back and blistered her buttocks with a rapid volley of spanks, alternating between light and hard, stopping only to brush his hand across her throbbing flesh before resuming again. “You were frightened, awakening to the dark, with no explanation for the lights being out. Correct?”
“Yes!” she cried out, using every ounce of her concentration and control to fight back the ever-present fear waiting to ruin this blissful torment that was the complete opposite of what Gerard had subjected her to. It hovered, right there, on the very edge of her consciousness, with small flashbacks to that dank cellar. But this time, Master Dan’s deep, commanding voice kept her rooted in the here and now, held her enthralled with the slow build-up of pain and a hint of pleasure pushing its way through.
“And you didn’t think to call me today, talk to me, ask me to check out your electric wiring? Why, Nan? That is something you would not have hesitated to do before you went to New Orleans.” He reddened her thighs next, the disappointment in his voice hurting her as much as his hand.
Would he look at her as if she were nuts if she explained the strange incidents this past week? Was she nuts, imagining things? Nan shuddered from not knowing the answer and yearning to stay right where she was, under his descending hand. When she remained mute on the subject, he sighed, tempering his swats until they ended with soothing caresses and another stroke over her damp flesh beneath the thong, the dissatisfaction she detected cutting her to the quick.
“Stand up,” he ordered, his tone gruff, his hands gentle and supportive as he assisted her. He held her hips as she wobbled, keeping his eyes on her face until she got her bearings.
Nan loved the way her buttocks pulsed with heat as her head cleared of the rush of blood from her dangling position. Looking around the room, she grew even warmer as she caught several people eyeing them with smiles of approval. Damn, she felt good, calmer despite knowing Master Dan wanted more answers. Her pussy ached for attention, and that also felt fucking nice. The disappointment still etched on his face bothered her, but she was as close to her old self at this moment, under these circumstances as she’d been since her return.
“Did the fucking asshole restrain you?” he asked next, the question catching her off guard.
Her buttocks clenched as he shifted his hands from her hips to fill them with her hot flesh. His grip stirred the soreness and felt so good she found it easy to answer him. “Just one day after he locked me in the basement. He removed the ropes, daring me to fight him. I did, and that’s when he used the whip.”
“Fuck, baby,” he muttered with barely suppressed fury, his hands tightening on her cheeks.
“It’s over, Sir, and I survived,” she hastened to assure him, hating the torment crossing his face, and that she was responsible for it.
“Is it?” Dan murmured, releasing her buttocks and drawing her arms behind her back. Shackling her wrists together in one hand, he pushed her one step forward, between his spread knees, with a guttural order. “Prove it.” One hard yank and he ripped the thong off with his other hand, leaving her exposed from the waist down.