AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The edges of her vision went dark, and she couldn’t quite keep herself from whimpering. “Sir?”
“Is there something you don’t understand about my instructions?”
“No, I understand.” And as he’d just reminded her, his instructions were all that mattered in this moment. Not the why, or what came next. Pleasing him, obeying him, was all she was meant to be focused on.
The coils of fear and panic wrapped around her chest eased and she drew in her first easy breath since he’d ordered her up here. Her mind began to clear as she put all of her attention into doing as he’d asked.
By the time she was naked, with her clothes neatly folded at the edge of the stage, a sense of calm had completely enveloped her. And when she glanced out at the audience again, when she found their attention completely riveted on her, she felt only that surge of power she remembered from their first scene at the club.
On its heels was a relief so powerful, it made her want to weep. After the story had run, after she’d walked out on him, she’d grieved for this rush, this feeling, thinking she’d never have it again.
See me now, assholes? You can’t take this from me. I won’t allow it.
Emboldened, she returned to her place beside Austin and silently waited for his next instruction.
“Arms up.”
Without argument, she lifted her arms. Soft rope wound its way around her wrists and forearms, binding them together. Austin worked in silence, for once not explaining each step as he took it, giving her no indication of what came next.
A quiet whirr caught her attention and a moment later, she felt a tug on the rope, forcing her to her toes.
“Feet apart.”
Again, she obeyed, a blush creeping up her neck as she considered how fully and obscenely on display she was in this position.
“How are the ropes? Too tight?”
“No, sir. They’re good.”
“Use your safe word if they start to hurt too much or if your shoulders feel like they’re stretching too far. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good girl.” Moving into her line of vision, he cupped her face in his hands, his expression serious. “You know I’ll never push you past what you can take, right?”
For the first time that night, true fear settled in her stomach and she trembled. “Y-yes?”
“I want you to know this isn’t a punishment. It’s a lesson. Do you understand the difference?”
Oh, shit. What the hell had she gotten herself into? “Not really, sir.”
“A punishment is meant to correct your behavior. This isn’t about correcting you, since you didn’t do anything wrong. This is just a lesson I want to help you learn, so that maybe you can start to see yourself the way I see you. Does that make sense?”
“I think so, sir.” Lesson or punishment, something told her it was still going to be painful.
“Good. Here we go, kitten.”
And with that, he was gone. Because of the way he’d strung her up, she couldn’t turn or twist to see him, and the soft sounds of him searching his play bag didn’t give her any indication of what he was planning. Closing her eyes, she tried to block out everything but him.
Obeying him.
Pleasing him.
Trusting him.
“Do you know what I love about you, kitten?”
Keeping her eyes closed, she shook her head. “No, sir.”
