“Yes, but the hurthappened long ago. At the—at the—”
Mace stayed silent,watching. Waiting, as he had before. Letting me get there on myown. “Beautiful,” he murmured, tracing my tears, but not pushingme. Just being there. Listening.
I sucked in a longbreath, forcing my neck into the uncomfortable position of lookingat him. His steady gaze soothed me. “I was whipped at the post. Bymy … master. I called himSirbut he wasn’t. Not what I knownow that I work here. I know what a good Dom is supposed to be, butI hadn’t found one yet. Not someone who likes me as I am.”
Who accepted me.
Mace repeated thesingle word. “Hadn’t.” He leaned forward until his nose pressedagainst mine. “You saidhadn’t, Enota.”
“Oh.” I let itpercolate in my brain while he watched me. “Oh! Oh, fuck. I’m sosorry. I didn’t mean to be so presumptuous. That’s not—”
“Shh.” He kissed thetip of my nose, then my forehead. “You weren’t.”
And that was it. Hestraightened and stepped away.
I swallowed backfear. A different sort that shouldn’t have arisen, but it did. Iwanted Mace, I wanted this thing between us, if only for one shortnight.
“Please, Mace.”
“Hmm?”
“I liked youtouching me.”
“I liked that too.”His voice came out guarded, where it hadn’t been before.
I swallowed andtried again. “I liked you spanking me. And the foot thing.”
“All right. Wouldyou like more?” He returned to the front and knelt by my face.“Enota, honey. Look at me. Deep breath. May I use therestraints?”
More tears ran freeas I stared at him. A furrow dipped between his brows as though heexpected me to say no. But this was a night for madness, and I rodeits high on a midnight-dark wave.
“Yes, please.”
“Good girl.” Thistime, his kiss pressed to my lips, mingling tears and desire withsomething darker. Something more possessive. Something that heclaimed. His tongue slid between my lips as the first buckletightened around my wrist.
“Ohh,” I whispered.My body slipped out of my control without my permission. I’d neverbeen so edged by light play in my life, but Mace brought outsomething unknown in me, something new.
“Keep making thoselittle sounds and I’ll end up rushing this.”
“What is it? This?”I whispered as he buckled my other wrist and both my ankles.
Mace laughed, thesound deep and full. “Fuck, if I know. But let’s go with it.”
“Yes, let’s.”
“Hand orflogger?”
“Um…” I couldn’tchoose. “Hands? I want to feel your touch, maybe need the skincontact. Please, Mace?” I begged a little, my thighs alreadystraining with the need to rub myself against the bench or spreadwider and give him everything.
Too damn fast!
But it wasn’t. Nomatter how loud my brain screamed at me, this wasn’t too fast atall.
“My pleasure.” Iheard the emotion in his voice before his palm cracked down in afirm smack. The noise jerked me far more than the actual contact.After a few, he changed position, working his way down my thighs,then back to my ass.
Between strokes, hescraped his fingernails along my heated flesh, the added sensationarching my back as I strained against the wrist cuffs. Mace didn’task me to count, so I floated in the over-sensitized pool of heatand need he created in my body.
His soft laughs keptme in purgatory. Desire built but went nowhere. He didn’t give meextra stimulation for the longest time, scratching and pinching atmy skin. My chest heaved, breasts hanging either side of the bench,aching with the need for contact.
