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Because she was dreading their meeting and had no idea what she was going to say or how she was going to approach him, the hours passed like minutes. By four-thirty, many of the employees had left. By five, she and David were the only two people in the building.
She tried to compose a letter, but couldn’t put the words in the right order. A couple of minutes before their appointment, her cell phone alarm rang. As if there had been any possibility she wouldn’t notice the time.
Maggie double-checked that the front door was secure and all office lights and equipment were turned off. At the top of the hour, she paused outside his door to drink in several breaths. Her body felt oxygen deprived, making her lightheaded. Then she knocked.
“Come in.”
She closed the door behind her but stood there, waiting for his instructions, still unsure how to act. Bend over the desk? Lift her skirt? Remove it?
“Have a seat, Maggie.” When she perched on the edge of the chair, he asked, “You wanted to see me?”
Of course he wasn’t going to make this easy. Then again, he hadn’t been privy to her thoughts and had no idea what she was going to say. “I came to ask if you’ll forgive my behaviour.”
He braced his elbows on the arms of his chair and linked his fingers together, appearing at ease.
“I’ve been thinking about our last conversation…” She was stumbling around and she hated it. After brushing her hair back from her face, she met his gaze. “What I mean is, damn it, Mr Tomlinson, I want to be with you. I accept your punishment and hope I can earn your forgiveness.”
“You’re certain you know what you’re offering?”
“To get my butt blistered,” she said wryly. “Mr Tomlinson.”
“And after that?”
“To be in a relationship with you”—she looked down, then back up—“as your submissive.”
He nodded, not betraying his inner thoughts. Damn, he was not the man she’d spent a weekend with. At his house, although he’d set the rules, he’d been gentler, encouraging, even teasing. “To be clear, my punishment is meant to reinforce the behaviour I expect from you. It’s not because I am angry, it’s because you were willingly and wilfully disobedient.”
“Yes, Mr Tomlinson.”
“I know we discussed the fact that I would use separation as a way to punish you, but that doesn’t seem appropriate atonement in this case.”
“I’ve already been separated, and it hurt,” she admitted.
“Hurt us both,” he said.
“I agree, Sir, that I still need to make amends.” Her stomach plummeted with her words.
“I would normally administer ten stripes, but for two reasons, I decided on five. First of all, you’ve never been punished by me. And secondly, you were frank when I asked if you’d had any intention of telling me about the Hoskins deal.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“I have no expectations that you will properly comport yourself. You can take as long as you want between stripes, and I will wait for you to get back into position before administering the next one. Your safe word stops it, and you go home alone. You can use ‘eclipse’ as many times as you need to. I have all night.”
The temperature in the room was frigid, chilled by the coldness in his eyes. She ached to have him look at her with tenderness again. “I understand, Mr Tomlinson.”
He stood and shrugged out of his suit jacket. She watched, fascinated, as he draped it over the back of his chair. He unfastened his cufflinks and dropped them. A sense of foreboding descended over her as they clinked together then thudded onto the gleaming desktop. She didn’t blink as he rolled back his sleeves, exposing his forearms.
“I have a cane in my coat closet. Please fetch it.”
His tone, his actions, his command, made the world slow down. He’d inexorably placed her in a submissive frame of mind where nothing existed but the two of them, and pleasing him. At its base, it was that simple. And Mr Tomlinson didn’t demand more than he first offered.
Her knees wobbled as she rose to get the long, thin rattan.
He extended his hand and she cast her gaze at the floor as she offered it to him.
