Chapter 10

He had to be sure she knew what he meant to do. "Do you understand what you're saying? You were at the Gilded Cuff"

"I am going to Russia."

Emery and Fenn laughed. Hans rolled his eyes. "I'm going to secure the perimeter. I do not want to see whatever you're going to do that poor girl. But considering I found leather cuffs under her bed, I'm guessing she'll be into it." He left the billiard room.

"Cuffs, huh?" Royce grinned.

Kenzie glanced at Fenn, Emery, and finally at Royce. She gulped and didn't respond to his question about the cuffs. Royce nodded at his friend. Emery reached under the pool table and flipped a switch. Two panels by the end of the table opened on the felt surface and two silver rings appeared with handcuffs attached. Perfect restraints to keep a woman bent over the pool table.

She stared at the rings, her eyes wide. "What are those?"

"It's not too late to back out, Little Mac. No hard feelings." Royce prayed she would give in and go back upstairs. Who knew where this would eventually go? "That's part of the deal. You get cuffed and take ten slaps to the ass or the deal is off."

Kenzie stared at the handcuffs, biting her lip. He wished he knew what was going on inside her head.

"Okay." She said the word so softly that all three men leaned in to hear it.

"Holy shit," Fenn said with a laugh. Emery shook his head, smiling. Royce simply stood there, his finger still curled around her arm. She had actually agreed to take a spanking just to go to Russia? He wasn't sure if he should be impressed or concerned. But he knew Kenzie, and she was willing to put herself in danger to see this throughand to help him.

"Can we just get this over with?" Kenzie asked, her voice a little shaky.

He cupped her chin with his other hand. "You're serious?" He had to make sure. There was fear in her gaze, but also trust and no hesitation. She would make an excellent sub.

If only she could be my sub.

"I told you, I'm going to Russia," she said. The delightful spark of defiance in her eyes was marvelous.

"Very well." He released her arm and pointed at the restraints. "Bend over and place your hands by the cuffs."

Kenzie obeyed slowly, tremors running through her as she bent over the pool table. Royce nodded at his friends, who both stepped forward to click the cuffs around her wrists. If he'd dared to restrain her himself, it might have been too much to resist.

"Last chance, Kenzie. We can free you and you can still go upstairs." He dared not touch her, not until she was sure. The picture of her bent over the pool table, even wearing his large pajama shirt and damn pajama bottoms, was erotic as hell. He'd had a completely naked woman lie there before, but nothing excited him the way Kenzie had.

"Quit stalling, Royce," Fenn said. "The girl's made up her mind."

Royce walked to the side of the pool table so Kenzie could see him. He braced his hands on the table and leaned down so she didn't have to strain see his face.

"Ten blows. That's all. I want you to count each one and say, 'Thank you, sir.' If you fail to do this, we start all over again. If the pain is too much, just say yellow. I'll pause and we'll discuss. If you become too scared, can't breathe, or genuinely fear me or the situation, you say red. Red stops the game and I let you go back upstairs, but you won't go to Russia. Yellow means you can still stay and we keep going until we reach ten. Do you understand the rules?"

She met his gaze. "I do." Her fingers clenched, and the cuffs rattled shut. Damn, that was a wonderful sound. He could never truly hurt a woman, of course. That wasn't the point of such roleplay. It was all about being safe, sane, and consensual. But he liked it when a consenting woman showed a hint of apprehension, which was not the same as fear.

The real pleasure for him as a Dom was being with a woman who trusted him completely but didn't necessarily trust herself to give in to the pleasure right away. The woman's inner struggle to finally let go was the most erotic thing he had ever experienced. If Little Mac wanted to go to Russia, she had to prove she could take anything and surrender to the feelings she hid within herself.

Fenn and Emery settled in at the end of the pool table opposite Kenzie, which was good. She would need some space if she was going to handle the embarrassment of being spanked in front of two men she didn't know. Royce came back around behind Kenzie and trailed a fingertip down her spine. She started to shake, but didn't say a word. He stopped when he reached her lower back just above the waistband of her pajama bottoms. Normally he would lay a hand to bare flesh, but this was Kenzie, not a sub from the Gilded Cuff.

"Ready?" he asked as he cupped one ass cheek, squeezing lightly.

She tensed, her breath catching.

"Remember to count and thank me each time," he reminded her. Her short nod was enough. He lifted his hand and smacked her ass hard enough to startle her, but not enough to hurt.

"One" Her words seem to tremble upon the air. "Thank you, sir."

"Good girl," he praised and stroked her cheek, then brought his hand down again, lighter this time.

"Two. Thank you, sir." He smiled at the obvious relief in her words. That was bestlet a sub believe that they knew what to expect, and then you surprised them. The surprise would flood them with adrenaline and arousal.

The third smack he made hard, with his open palm connecting in an almost whiplike strike.

That got a little yelp out of her and she jerked, the cuffs clinking as her whole body reacted. He had mastered delivering little blows that stung but did not do a sub any harm. He would never hurt Little Mac.

"Kenzie" he warned as he pressed his palm against the tender spot, knowing it had to burn a little.

"Ththree. Thank you, sir."

Now he was getting somewhere. Punishment could serve two purposes in his world: sexual punishment, or genuine punishment. Sometimes light pain would be used to bring a sub into the subspace where they let go of inhibitions and fears and existed on a higher sexual plane. With Kenzie his goal was strictly punishment, however. If he was going to take her to Russia, where danger would surround them, he needed her to trust and listen to him.

He waited until her breathing calmed, and then he struck a new spot, closer to the back of her thighs.

"Four. Thank you, sir." The words came out through gritted teeth, and he smiled. She was fighting him again. While he wanted that fire and sass to stay, it did not belong in her punishment.

He glanced up from Kenzie and saw his friends were watching him, not her. Fenn held a half smile, and Emery had an odd expression on his face, one of bemused puzzlement.

Frowning, Royce delivered three successive blows to Kenzie, and she hissed out a sharp breath for each.

"Five, six, seven Thank you, sir." This time he could tell she was close to breaking down. It was her first time being spanked in this fashion, he could tell. But she was taking it like a true submissive, in front of two men she didn't know. God, the woman was brave, and he would reward her for it later.

"Three more," Emery said to Kenzie in gentle encouragement.

Royce didn't let up. The last three were just as sharp, and he knew it would leave her bottom burning all night. She counted the last three, one at a time, her words almost a whisper, and by the last her muscles went lax and she lay panting on the pool table.

Royce glanced at his friends, who were still watching him.

"Take care of her," said Emery. "We'll have Hans update us." The twins slipped from the room together.

Royce unfastened Kenzie's handcuffs and tried to help her stand. She jerked away from him, her face stained with tears.

Fuck. He had gotten to her. Too much too fast. For a submissive who didn't know she was submissive, her only reactions to punishment could be frightening and humiliating. But to me, her tears are beautiful. They were a sign of trust, a sign of strength. Everyone thought subs were weak, but it was the opposite. It took strength and courage to give yourself over to another's control and let them own you in that vulnerable moment. Kenzie had done so beautifully, but he knew she had to feel raw and exposed.

He caught her up in his arms, even though she kicked and struggled.

"Hush, Little Mac. It's over now. You did very well, and I'm so pleased." He carried her to his room, where he planned to hold her until she calmed and fell asleep again. He passed by Hans on the stairs.

"We'll need three tickets to Moscow," he said. Hans nodded and continued his silent watch over Devereaux House.

***

"Hush, Little Mac. It's over now. You did very well, and I'm so pleased."

The words seem to come through a fog. Kenzie was cuddled in Royce's arms, unable to move and barely able to think. Her bottom burned, and she knew she had been crying. But she had no energy left to care. She was exhausted. But he is pleased with me. Feelings of self-loathing swept through her, because she was happy that he was happyfor letting him hit her.

That can't be right. I am so messed up. And the worst part was that it had hurt, yes, but that edge of pain from the softer blows It made her flush with heat, and wetness had pooled between her thighs. She had been aroused by him spanking her. Just like in her fantasies. Only she hadn't known that the pain would be that acute.

She wasn't really hurt. Royce had known just the right amount of pain to give her, and that terrified her. Yet he didn't. She burrowed into him now, inhaling his scent and wanting to imprint it on herself. There was nothing beyond this moment for her, the quiet breaths and her trembling, exhausted body wrapped against his.

I won't think about tomorrow or how I'll have to face him. I'll just enjoy this moment. After that, she surrendered to sleep in Royce's arms.