Page 12 of Going Deep (Odyssey #3)

Her eyes had darkened with arousal, the pupils dilated. “ I’m not sure about anything anymore.”

She was delightful. Aroused , eager, vulnerable. Was there anything more appealing?

He was enjoying the tease, the buildup, but the need for more was growing.

Deciding to move ahead while he still had a firm grip on his control, he stood.

In her bare feet, the top of her head barely brushed his chin, and when she tipped her head back to look at him, he could see the knowledge of her further vulnerability reflected in her eyes.

And her increased arousal.

Unhurried, he tugged the shirt off her shoulders and laid it over the arm of the sofa. “ Keep still, darling,” he cautioned and, moving slowly, walked in a circle around her.

She quivered but held still, her hands at her sides while he looked at all of her.

Strong shoulders, beautiful back. Her ass was round and firm, her legs long and strong.

The light tan covering her legs stopped at the tops of her thighs, the tan on her arms and shoulders not extending past her shoulder blades.

She either wore an extremely modest bathing suit or got her sun while doing other outdoor activities.

He continued his tour of her body, appreciating the strength and softness on display.

She shivered—in reaction, he thought. The room was warm, kept that way in consideration for the comfort of naked submissives, so she likely wasn’t cold.

Still , it would be remiss of him not to check. “ Ginger , are you comfortable?”

She shot him a look, a non-verbal are you fucking kidding me? that had him swallowing a laugh. “ Let me rephrase—are you cold?”

“Oh. No , Sir .”

“Good.” He flashed a smile before grasping her shoulders and turning her to face the spanking bench. “ Then up you go, darling.”

Ginger eyed the bench. It looked like a modified sawhorse, wider at the top, thickly padded, and covered in black leather.

There were smaller platforms jutting out from the sides, two at the front and two at the back, also padded.

Straps hung down from each, and she realized the smaller platforms were for knees and arms. Was he going to bend her over that?

“Yes, I am,” he said, and she realized she’d spoken out loud.

While she was dealing with the embarrassment of that, he nudged her forward, urging her down with a hand in the middle of her back. The bench was high enough that the edge just hit the top of her crotch, and she went up on her toes and bent forward until her chest met cool leather.

She squeaked in surprise when he lifted first one knee, then the other, and placed them on the platforms. The position lifted her hips off the bench, putting a sharp, uncomfortable arch in her back and her ass high in the air.

“Well, that’s charming,” he commented, and she flushed hot when she realized what he must be looking at. Oh God , her pussy was on full display, it probably looked obscene with her butt in the air and her legs spread, wet and dripping and eager?—

“Just what are you thinking about, darling?” he asked in a low, amused drawl.

“The core message of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and its relevance to society today,” she managed, the sarcasm escaping without thought.

“Really?” he mused. “ I’d have sworn you were thinking about this.”

And slid a finger into her pussy.

Oh, God . She was so slick he slipped inside her like a hot knife through butter, smooth and slick and soft. But his finger was hard, and when he curved it to stroke gently against the soft, spongy tissue at the front wall of her pussy, she saw stars.

“Ginger? You still with me?”

“Here,” she said feebly.

“Still thinking about Frankenstein ?”

“Who?”

He chuckled. “ Didn’t think so.”

He slid his finger free, and the air left her lungs in a whoosh.

“As I was saying, this is charming.” He gave her pussy a gentle pat. “ But unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work for what I have in mind.”

There was a clicking noise, and the platform under her right knee ratcheted down.

“Better,” he decided and did the same on the other side.

With the knee rests lowered the bench took her full weight, taking the pressure off her knees and the arch out of her lower back. But her sigh of relief was cut off when he grasped her hips and tugged, dragging her back along the bench until her ass hung off the edge.

Off balance with her hips so far back and her knees so far forward, she started to push up. His hand landed in the middle of her back again.

“Stay down, darling.”

She shook her head. She wouldn’t have any control in this position, no way to protect herself from falling, and started to tell him so.

The words died on her lips when she felt something close over her left calf.

Twisting her head, she saw he’d used one of the dangling straps to secure her lower leg to the platform.

While she blinked at it, he moved to the other side and did the same with her right leg, and suddenly the feeling of instability faded.

His eyes crinkled as he smiled at her. “ Better ?”

“Yes,” she said, surprised, and he chuckled.

“Then do as you’re told,” he admonished and, with his hand back between her shoulder blades, pushed her down to lie flat on the bench once again.

He positioned her forearms so they rested on the front set of platforms and wrapped straps around them as well, and she felt herself settle even more.

Strange that being restrained should feel so comforting.

Secure . She didn’t have to worry about holding her body up, positioning it correctly.

The straps and the bench took care of it for her, and it was oddly freeing.

Michael crouched next to her, eyes sharp. “ Comfortable ?”

“Yes, Sir ,” she said, and her voice was clear and calm, with no tension or anxiety at all.

“Well, then let’s try a bit more, shall we?”

He rose and stepped out of view, his hand skimming over her back, her thigh as he moved. A strap came around her lower back, tightening down slowly, and she gave an instinctive wiggle. Her hips were barely able to shift, and when he gave the strap one more tug, she couldn’t move them at all.

“One more, I think,” he said and a strap crossed her upper back, just below her armpits. When he tightened it down, she realized she couldn’t move at all. Not forward or back, not side to side. She was completely at his mercy.

It should’ve made her nervous—and it did, on some level. But that level was buried under a layer of really good feelings.

He tugged gently at her hair. “ Can you give me a color, Ginger ?”

“Green. I’m green, Sir .”

“Very good.” He crouched, putting his face was level with hers, and kissed her. Gently , sweetly, and she sighed. She felt so relaxed, so mellow. Like there was nothing in the world she had to worry about.

When he pulled back she sent him a dreamy smile, and his lips quirked. “ Well , well. Isn’t that interesting?”

She didn’t know what he was talking about, but it didn’t seem important enough to stress over.

“Do you remember the safeword, Ginger ?”

“Mmm.” She blinked slowly as she tried to keep his face in focus. His gorgeous, sexy face. “ Yellow to pause, red to stop. Blue if I get anxious.”

“Use them if you need to, all right?”

“Yes, Sir ,” she sighed and let her eyes drift closed.

He chuckled and rose, and she sensed him moving away. But that was all right. He wouldn’t leave her.

His hand was on her butt again, rubbing and stroking.

It felt so nice, even though his hand was a little rough.

Calluses , she realized, like he worked with his hands, and remembered she didn’t know what he did outside the club.

Maybe he had some kind of handsy hobby, like carpentry or playing the cello.

String instruments left calluses, didn’t they?

She kind of thought so, but she wasn’t sure, she didn’t know a lot about musical instruments?—

The loud crack hit her ears at the same time a sharp, stinging pain struck her ass.

She gasped, her body jerking in reflex, but the straps held her snugly in place.

The sting faded into a glowing sort of heat that seemed to settle deep into her, soaking into skin and muscle and bone until it reached her suddenly throbbing core.

She barely had time to absorb it before he struck the other cheek, with the same sharp sting settling into the same pulsing, delicious heat.

The moan rose up in her throat unbidden, answered by his low hum of approval.

“Do you like that, Ginger ?” he asked.

Her butt throbbed, heat swirled. “ Yes .”

“Do you want more?”

“Yes. Please .”

“All right.”

Her mind fogged with pain, swirled with pleasure as he struck her butt over and over again.

He varied his blows, from a soft caress to a sharp slap, so she couldn’t settle into a rhythm, keeping her on edge.

He kept going until she thought her entire backside must be glowing.

She no longer felt the blows as pain. Instead , when his hand landed, she imagined she could feel the force move through her body as a wave of energy and heat that flowed from one end of her body to another before settling deep in her cunt.

Her needy, empty cunt.

He slid his hand over the tenderized flesh of her ass, down between her legs.

She was so wet, so slick with need that his fingers slipped easily through her folds to find her clit.

When he stroked over the little bundle of nerves she let out a keening moan, her hips rolling, seeking his touch.

But the straps held her fast, and somehow the inability to move made the pleasure all the more intense.

His low chuckle sounded as though it came from far away. “ So wet, Ginger . So excited. I don’t know which you liked more, the spanking or the bondage.”