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“As in, my ass would be red after, and maybe it would be sore for a few hours. A day, tops.” I pursed my lips as I considered it.It sounded a bit embarrassing, but the only times I got spanked was by friends who happened to be D-types, and it was for fun. Mostly. “I don’t bruise easily.”

“What evidence do you have of that?” Before I could huff, Tony flexed his arms under the guise of stretching. It was a good distraction all right. “Humor me.”

“I just don’t.” I shrugged. What evidence did he expect I could give him? “Like, the other day when we were playing here? I hit one of the spanking benches during one of my laps?”

“I remember.”

He’d wanted to check in on me then, but I’d just started humping him. “No bruises.”

“Okay.” Tony relaxed the slightest bit. Did people really lie about how easily they bruised or not? I mean, I got people were working through their issues or whatever, but it seemed like an odd thing to lie about. “What about other types of impact? Do you have experience with those?”

Huh.

He really hadn’t been lying when he’d said he didn’t have any intel. That should make me nervous, itchy. It shouldn’t have me sitting up taller.

I’d wonder why that was later. If I remembered to care about it. I wasn’t one to analyze why I was into a certain thing until I was blue in the face with it.

“León might have paddled me once or twice.”

It was years ago, but it had to count for something.

Tony quirked an eyebrow. “And you say you don’t have a high pain tolerance?”

“I take offense to that,” León hollered from the back of the room where he was perched with his men.

I snorted. Tony’s lips twitched.

León admittedly had a reputation for playing hard and heavy. I wouldn’t deny that reputation played a role in why I’dname dropped instead of just saying I hadexperiencewith a paddle.

The word, experience, had always seemed funny to me. I understood the need to discuss it, but it made things sound so formal. It felt disingenuous, in a way. Saying I had experience being spanked meant nothing when I’d seen the way others spanked me and the way Tony spanked his subs. Even saying that León had gone to town with a paddle on my ass meant nothing because I knew he’d held back.

There was a point to the questions, and I got it on a theoretical level. On a practical level, I just wanted to get on all fours and get this show started. I was better at adjusting as I went than laying it all out on paper—metaphorical or not.

“I’m waiting on an answer, pup.”

Of course.

“I like the idea of pain, and I’m turned on by watching you, or any of the other Sadists here, but I think I get too in my head to actually follow through.” I gulped. Maybe Ev had had a point—not in regard to my safety or ability to put a stop to things, but talking about this was definitely harder in front of an audience. I was biting off more than I could chew. “Does that help?”

Tony hummed. I watched him. For one thing, it was a nice change that I didn’t have to hide the fact that I was into him. For another, watching him distracted me from everything else going on with my own body.

“It does,” he said. He didn’t elaborate. I scowled. “Fear of the unknown aside, would you say you prefer a thud-like type of pain to a stinging type?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

He pinned me down with just a look. “You guess?”

It was predictable. D-types could be very picky with language. “Yes, Sir. I prefer paddles or hands to whips and floggers.”

The latter just looked too intimidating, even when they were just leather with no attachments or fancy shit.

“What do you prefer about it?”

Tony hadn’t been kidding when he’d said we were going to demonstrate a full-on negotiation. Gosh, I hadn’t gone into as many details about everything since I was vetted by Erika to join the community.

Was it bad? Probably. Did that have to do with why I never played with a Domm for real, outside of group play fun with friends? Yeah, it tracked.

Whatever.