Page 64 of Vengeance of Childhood Proportions

Even her voice was steady, like she’d just asked what color the sky was.

“Turn around.”

She did as ordered, keeping her hands on the bar as she spun. She was so…relaxed. There was nothing. No pain, no arousal. If I touched her pussy right now, I’d bet everything I owned that she would be bone dry. What the fuck was going on?

We hadn’t introduced pain management into our sessions before. I knew from our safety talk what she was okay with, which was pretty much everything when it came to pain. Bondage was her hardcore limit, and we had been concentrating on that for so long that I had wanted to change things up tonight.

Wanted to give her something special, especially after how she’d taken care of me last night.

Our eyes met. Hers were brown today, like her hair. And I saw it then, her arousal. Me flogging her back had done nothing for her, but her looking at me?Thatturned her on. But I couldn’t allow my ego to get the better of me. We needed to have a serious talk, because I’d disregarded my instincts and chose to trust her instead.

And if I was right, then that was the absolute wrong decision, especially with a flogger involved.

“You don’t like pain, do you, Little Owl?”

She blinked, and her expression… The only word I could think of to describe it was ‘innocent’. “I can take it?—”

Anger rose up inside me. “I didn’t ask you if you couldtake it,” I snapped, throwing the flogger onto the plush floor next to the stage. I stormed forward and took her chin in my hand. “I asked you if youlikedit.”

Her eyes widened, but I saw no trace of fear on her. She swallowed hard before answering. “No.”

Motherfucker. I’d just flogged the woman I was fairly certain I was falling in love with and she hadn’twantedit.

I stepped back, releasing her. My foot slipped from the stage, and I stumbled backwards but didn’t fall. I felt the thick carpet beneath my bare feet but not much else. Horror gripped me, and for a moment, I wondered if I was going to lose my dinner.

I sank to my knees before her, my legs not able to hold my weight up anymore. What had I just done? I said the only thing I could to make it all stop: “Crow.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Holly

Shock paralyzed me.My Master was on his knees before me and he’d just safe-worded. Could Doms evendothat? Jason had never said so, but then Jason wasn’t the sort who might. Confusion made my brain foggy. I needed to push through. The first lesson after a safe word is used is that everything stops.

Everything.

Dropping my hands from the bar above me, I looked around. Should I press the emergency button? Get Valentino? I had no idea.

He looked so…forlorn, horrified even. Like he’d committed a terrible sin.

I had no idea what was going on. What had I done wrong? He’d been enjoying himself, right? During our safety talk, he’d said how much he liked impact play. Flogs, whips, and such. He’d already taken bondage out of our sessions for my sake, so I wanted to give him this.

I wanted to give him something special to remember me by, and when he’d suggested doing a pain management session, I agreed. I knew I was strong enough to take whatever he threw at me. It might not do anything for me, but it would be something he would enjoy.

Yet now my Master was kneeling before me, acting likehe’ddone something wrong.

I stepped forward carefully. He’d safe-worded, so I dropped the formalities. “Mal? Are you okay?”

His voice held anger, but I didn’t think it was directed at me. “I just flogged you, an activity you took no enjoyment in. No, I am not fucking ‘okay’.”

“But…youenjoyed it.” Though a statement, even I could hear the uncertainty in my words.

His head shot up, his eyes blazing, but before he could respond to my words, a voice came from the phone on the wall next to the emergency button. “Everything okay, sir?”

“No,” Master Mal snapped. “I need Valentino.”

“Sir, Mistress Flora is the Dungeon Master in the hall?—”

“I don’t need Mistress Flora,” Master Mal interrupted, getting to his feet. “I need Valentino! Now!”