Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 103010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“I’m going to start slowly.” He rubbed his hand over my bare ass, and I hated that I couldn’t enjoy this, that it couldn’t be a moment of desire between us instead of a reminder that I’d disobeyed him.
“Yes, Sir.”
“You’re not allowed to come. If you do, you’ll dislike your punishment. Count them for me,” he said, and then his hand slapped down on my right cheek.
“One.”
Left cheek.
“Two.”
Lower on my right cheek.
“Three.”
He kept going, and I kept counting, each sharp sting of his palm part of an intricate pattern that I knew deep inside was to protect me. He spanked and I counted, at some point slipping into this foggy place in my mind that I’d always known was there but had never lived in. I cried out, tears coming harder and harder, and somehow I knew they were less because it hurt and more because I’d let him down. I counted without true knowledge I was doing so, following instinct into this place Aidan was leading me as he punished me the way I needed, showing me in the simple act how much he cared for me.
The sting went deeper, spread out, and I felt it from my ass all through my body.
Then suddenly I was in his arms. He was holding me, and I was straddling him, my face buried in his neck, salty tears on my lips and tongue and Aidan as I clung to him with everything I had inside me. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I’m sorry.”
“Shh. It’s okay, precious boy. I have you. I’m not going to let you go. You took your punishment so well. I’m so very proud of you.”
Aidan stroked my back, my ass, my nape, and petted my hair the way I loved so much. His hold on me didn’t loosen as I cried into his skin and allowed myself to be lulled by his soothing words.
Finally, when I came down and my vision began to clear, he stood with me, my legs around his waist and my arms around his shoulders. Aidan set me on the bed, and I clutched him, needing him close, needing his presence to ground me. Wanting to make up for what I’d done. “Don’t go. Please don’t go. I’m so sorry for what I did.”
“Shh. I’m not going anywhere, okay? Roll to your stomach and let me see your ass.”
Oh, how I’d longed to hear those words from him so many times, but not under these circumstances. I wanted it to be out of pleasure and need. I did as he said and shuddered when his warm fingers danced over my tender skin.
“It’s not bad. Will definitely be sore, but that’s it.”
“Okay,” I replied softly, moving to wipe my tears. Aidan’s hand was there first, and he did it for me, drying my face and making me feel so very treasured.
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
“Shh. It’s over with. You took your punishment, and the slate is clean.”
I cuddled into the pillow and closed my eyes as Aidan took care of me.
CHAPTER TEN
Aidan
Finley relaxed as I danced my fingers over his pinkened ass. I didn’t allow myself to focus on how pretty the shade was along his pale skin. All I saw in it was that I’d failed him somehow in not nipping this in the bud earlier.
Pulling away, I sat on the bed, with my legs out in front of me and my back against the headboard, knowing he still needed me close, that he was still in that delicate place where he needed my care.
“You can put your head on my lap,” I told him, and he did, wrapping an arm over me as he rested there. Because I knew he liked it, knew it soothed him, I carded my fingers through the blond strands of his hair. “Do you understand why you were punished?”
“Yes, Sir,” he whispered.
“Before we go on, I want you to know I’m very proud of you. Of how you’ve taken care of my home and me. I’m not proud of your actions today, but I’m pleased with how you accepted your discipline.”
“Thank you.”
“Let me explain something to you. Maybe this is my fault. Maybe I should have done it before, but we’ll remedy it now. We are a team, you and I; we have to work together. That doesn’t mean everything will always go smoothly. It doesn’t mean I won’t ever make mistakes or that you won’t ever give me reason to tan that pretty ass of yours, but we have to work in a rhythm together. In many ways, you lead the way, even though it doesn’t seem like it. It starts with your limits and what’s best for you. I guide you based on that, and then it’s your job to follow me.”
He nodded, and I continued caressing him. I thought maybe I needed it as well.