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“I don’t like the sound of the whip cracking through the air.” It made me shiver every time—not the kind of shiver that meant I was getting ready for whatever was to come. “And I don’t… I’m not going to explain this right, and you’re going to regret agreeing to this, but whatever. I like the build up of a paddle or a hand. I feel like, with whips, yeah, there’s a build up because warming up is important, but the sting is there from the get-go? With paddles or hands… Yeah, there’s pain, but a whip is hard from the start. A hand is fine at first, and it becomes more as it goes.”

Tony squinted his eyes.

“I’m sure a bunch of your maso friends are gonna have big opinions on what you’ve just said, but…” He scratched his chin while a few of the people watching snickered. It was weird to see him make others laugh. I stood by what I said, but I wasn’t the easily distracted type of sub who would get sidetracked fighting everyone while something else was clearly the priority here. “You’ve just given me all I need to start, and no, I don’t regret inviting you to do this with me.”

There was a pointed look that accompanied that last choice of words.

I swallowed. Tony really was serious about having everyone know this was happening. I was still processing how to respond to it. No one had had such a single focus on me before. It was dizzying.

Wait—

“I have?”

Tony looked way too pleased with himself as he leaned forward. Again, his focus was all on me. It was as if there weren’t at least a dozen people watching. “Get on my lap, and I’ll explain as I go.”

“I thought we were supposed to go over all the fine print or whatever first.”

He smirked. Why was he smirking? “And I remember the faces you pulled when I shared that part of the plan.”

Huh.

Fine, smirking for that reason was acceptable. Plus, getting on his lap, as he’d said, meant less of my body was exposed. Tony had asked for something that didn’t hide my ass cheeks since it was important that people could track the redness and bruising and whatever. It was a perfectly sensible ask, but I was used to having more cover. Right now I was just wearing a latex tank top and sort of a G-string I didn’t remember getting, but it had a pouch so it didn’t make me feel too icky.

It was still better if I was covered by Tony’s body.

“You’re using red, yellow, green, right?”

“Yeah.”

Barking didn’t make sense when I wasn’t wearing my hood or engaging in anything puppy-related. It wasn’t as if I barked because I struggled with verbalizing anything. I just didn’t speak as a pup because puppies didn’t speak the human way, and it was hot—relying on corporality to deliver a message when all I did the rest of the day was talk until my throat hurt.

“And what happens if you start screaming, crying, or telling me to stop?”

I’d been on my way to drape my body over him, but I had to pause to make it clear I didn’t appreciate the question.

The first part of it, at least. “I don’t scream.”

“Okay.” Tony shrugged. “What about the others?”

“Just check in with me.” I squirmed. “Saying stop or crying is like a… yellow-green color? There’s a name for that.”

“Chartreuse,” Tony supplied.

“That one.”

It wasn’t quite praise, but Tony rubbed small circles on my lower back as I got into position, and itfeltlike praise. It spread the same kind of warmth through my body that a well-placedgood pupdid.

SIXTEEN

tony

“What do you look for in a spanking, pup?”

I rested my hand on his lower back before I lost Jaime to more baser instincts. Part of my research had talked about the connection between primal and pet play for some, and it certainly fit my observations of the pup. Right now, though, I didn’t need him going with what his body needed. He could do that in a couple of minutes.

“Release. A blank mind.” Jaime furrowed his brow as he searched me out. “But also a test. A challenge that I can take it.”

I’d supposed as much. I imagined Jaime could turn everything into a test if he tried hard enough.