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Chapter Nineteen

MALLORY

P ain and overwhelming shame are all I can feel right now. Fire streaked over my flesh with every hit from the leather. My mind is on autopilot now as I scream out each number. The shame of what I did makes my heart hurt; I feel like it’s being ripped out of my chest. Maverick’s disappointment is obvious, and I hate it more than the pain that he’s inflicting upon me. My skin feels like it’s burning between the lashes and the fire going next to us. It feels like he’s trying to flay me alive, and I won’t be surprised if I’ve started bleeding at this point. The belt whistles through the air again before it makes contact on my battered skin.

“Nine!” I yell out as soon as it touches my skin, not wanting to drag this out longer than it has to be. My fists are clenched tight, nails digging into my palm.

“Just one more baby, you’re doing so well.” His praise gives me the strength that I need to endure the last blow from his hand, and I swear it's the hardest one yet. The ten that leaves my lips is deafening, and for a second I worry that I have attracted unwanted attention, but that minuscule thought is gone as quick as it came. “Such a good Pet for your Master.” He hums and drops the belt to the ground next to me. My body goes slack in the restraints, waiting for him to untie me, but I feel the soft touch of his fingers against my pussy. “Guess your pussy has a mind of its own, huh?” His chuckle drifts to my ears, and pure horror rushes through me as I feel his finger glide in with zero resistance. I’m so shocked about being this wet that I don’t hear his zipper lower until his cock is filling me to the hilt.

The immediate feeling of fullness and his pants scratching against my sore ass is enough to make me moan instead of scream. That is the sound that makes him go into a frenzy. One hand comes up and tangles in the hair at the crown of my head while the other is a death grip on my waist. His ruthless pace has my clit and nipples rubbing against the rough bark of the log; the bite of pine mixed with the pleasure is just what I need to send me over the edge. Stars burst behind my eyelids, my body convulsing underneath him as he continues to thrust into me at a brutal pace. He lets out a growl as he reaches his own climax and then stills behind me. The air surrounding us is only filled with our heavy breathing.

My eyelids start to get heavy from the emotional and physical turmoil; he gently pulls from my pussy and starts to untie my legs. He comes around to the front and unties my wrists next, helping me up into a sitting position on the log. I sit there dazed for just a moment before sliding off the side of the log to kneel before him. I bow my head in surrender, tears leaking out of my eyes and falling onto my bruised knees, before speaking through my dry and scratchy throat. “Thank you, Master, for my punishment.” His hand comes up to my hair, his fingers gently petting it, and then he crouches down so that we are eye level. The look of pride in his eyes has more tears cascading down my cheeks.

“You did so good, Mallory. I’m so proud of you.” His words of praise go straight to my heart, and a sob rips out of my chest. No one has ever told me that they were proud of me before. It didn’t matter how many A+’s or awards I got in school or trophies for winning a cheerleading championship. My parents still always looked at me like I was a burden with fake interest coating their words. Maverick scoops me up into his arms, grabs a blanket that I didn’t see off to the side, and wraps it around me. He holds me in his lap, rocking me like I’m a child while I cry out all the sorrow and grief that I feel. “Shhh, it’s okay, baby.” His arms wrap around me like iron bars, keeping me safe in his own personal cage. “Promise me that you won’t try and run away again.” His deep voice rumbles through his chest, and the tone of his words tells me he’s not fucking around.

I sniffle and calm my breathing. Trying desperately to get my shit under control before I give him the answer that we both need to hear. “I won’t leave you again, Maverick. I swear on my favorite pair of hot pink Versace heels.” A chuckle leaves his lips like he thinks I’m kidding, but I’m completely serious. Those heels were the first pair of designer heels that I bought with my own money, and they were my pride and joy. “Man, I miss those heels; you would’ve loved them too.” I sniffle at the memory of those heels that I kept in a safe in the back of my closet. His chuckle turns into a full-on laugh, which has me laughing as well.

“I’ll get you a new pair, my sweet Pet.” His hands come up and clutch my face between them, nose nuzzling my own before his lips brush across mine. This is the sweetest kiss I think we’ve ever had, and it makes my heart completely melt for him. My previous doubts about him completely fly out the window, and I kiss him back until we’re both breathing heavily. I twist around in the blanket trying to straddle his lap, but he stops me, holding me back in place. “You’ve been through enough tonight, Mallory. Your mind and body need to rest. If you still want to jump my bones in the morning, then I won’t stop you.” His devious smirk has me laughing.

We sit under the night sky, clutching each other in front of the fire until the sun starts to peek over the trees. My bladder starts to scream at me, and I go to wiggle off Maverick’s lap, the searing pain in my ass making me topple over onto the ground. He reaches down to right me, and a whimper leaves my lips, but I let him pull me to my feet anyways. He strips the blanket from my body and turns me around for his viewing pleasure. Embarrassment pinkens my cheeks, and the building pain with each movement makes me tremble.

“Fuck.” His pissed-off curse has tears building in my eyes, threatening to spill over. “I’m so sorry, Mallory… it was so dark I couldn’t see just how hard I was hitting you. God Damnit!” He yells and kicks the log beside us, rolling it a foot away. I whirl around, and he’s clutching his hair, tugging it at the ends and pacing back and forth by the fire, muttering to himself about how stupid he is. I watch him for a few moments, and the tears finally spill over my lashes and down my cheeks. This hard as nails, stubborn, dominating man is beating himself up over hurting me. That’s when it dawns on me that I really am special to him, because I can guess that he’s never cared once about hurting someone too much before. I walk up behind him and wrap my arms around his waist, hugging him with what little strength that I have right now. He stiffens in my arms, his mouth snapping shut; he stands there clueless on what to do.

“I forgive you, Maverick.” That’s not all I wanted to say, but I know that’s what he needed to hear to stop his self-loathing. He spins around in my arms, hands gripping my chin, tilting my head up for our eyes to meet. His eyes are glassy as he looks down at me in sorrow, and my heart breaks even more seeing how broken he is over this. “It’s okay. You didn’t know, and I deserved it. If you hadn’t stopped me, I’d probably be dead right now, so I will take a few bruises and welts over that.” The noise that comes out of his mouth is a mix between anguish and relief at my words. His arms come around me, hugging me tight to his chest, one hand tangled up in my hair while the other one smooths against the unmarred part of my back. We stand there for several long minutes until my body starts to shake with exhaustion.

Without a word he scoops me back up in his arms, taking me to the edge of the trees so I can pee. Once I'm done, he picks me up and carries me back to the tent, then he places me on my knees on top of my sleeping bag, while promising to return shortly. He returns with the blanket, a bottle of water, a granola bar, and a bottle of pills. He opens the water, handing it to me before fishing out two orange pills from the bottle and handing them to me. I look at them skeptically because of the story he told me about Aspen, clutching the pills in my fist. I open my mouth to question him, but he beats me to it.

“They’re safe. I found them in the hunting store. This isn’t the same kind that Aspen took, and they aren’t made by the same manufacturers either.” He opens my palm, taking the pills and placing them on my tongue before tilting my hand up with the water to wash them down. “Lay on your stomach on your sleeping bag, and I’ll cover you up with the blanket.” I follow his orders, my head close to the door, and he does exactly as he says, while also laying the now opened granola bar in front of me along with the water. “I need to run back to that strip mall and see if I can find some healing salve, okay? Do you think you’ll be alright here for a few hours?” I think back to how far back the strip mall is and nod my head with a smile. With how worked up he is, I am sure he’ll be back in an hour or less. “Here, keep this by you just in case; it’s already loaded. Flip this switch to turn the safety off, point, and pull the trigger. Got it?” Honestly, I don't, but I won’t tell him that because he will stay, and the throbbing in my ass screams for him to leave to get that salve.

“I’ll be fine, Maverick. Go and do what you need to. I’ll be here when you get back.” I give him a smile for reassurance, but he hesitates like he’s trying to figure out a way to take me with him. He shakes his head then leans down to give me a soft peck on the lips, his hand running down the side of my cheek. He tells me he’ll be back as fast as he can, and then he disappears out the flap of the tent. As soon as he’s out of view, my heart beat speeds up with the anxiety and fear that I tried to hold back from Maverick’s gaze. Now I’m stranded in a tent, naked, and injured with a weapon that I have no idea what to do with.