“Shh.” I tighten the edges of the blanket, trapping her hands, and drop my voice to the low, commanding tone she responded to the other day. “Be still. You’re okay.”

    “I need to go.” Her body trembles, and she chews on her bottom lip, squirms on my lap.

    “When I think you’re ready.”

    “No,” she snaps. “Now. I have to go now. You don’t understand.” Her cheeks flush crimson, and as she struggles, the blanket falls away, giving me a clear view of her taut, hard nipples, straining beneath her bra.

    “I do understand.” I rest my hand on her quivering stomach, stroke my finger along the lacy edge of her panties. She needs to come, and although I will have to wait for my physical release, I can give Penny hers.

    She tenses, caught between need and fear. I slip one finger beneath the elastic and stroke over her mound.

    “Yes?”

    She turns her head, looks away. “Yes,” she whispers.

    I glide a finger over her mound and through the slick folds of her pussy. “You’re so wet. So fucking wet. I never thought a spanking would arouse you this much.”

    She grabs my shirt, moans in frustration. I push two fingers into her tight, wet heat and pump. Once. Twice. I press my palm against her clit, and she comes apart with a scream, back arching, body rigid. Her first scream for me, and I drink it in, taking my pleasure from her erotic pain.

    I thrust my fingers deeper, dragging out her orgasm, watching her totally let go. She is beautiful. Wild. Breathtaking. But she doesn’t belong to me.

    When her body goes limp, I withdraw my hand, pull her up against me, and rest her cheek against my chest. For a long time, we sit in silence. My cock is still painfully hard despite the lack of stimulation. Just being near Penny, it seems, is enough to keep me fully aroused.

    Finally, her muscles tense, and she pushes away. “Can I go now?”

    “You need water. Some chocolate.” I reach across her to the table where I keep snacks to replenish my subs after the scenes.

    “I’m good,” she says stiffly. “Really. I just…I’m knackered. I need to go.”

    “Look at me.” I cup her jaw and tilt her head back. Her eyes dart to mine and then away.

    “You don’t need to be embarrassed around me,” I say softly. “There is little I haven’t seen in here. Less I haven’t done. Although I have to admit I’ve never pushed anyone the way I pushed you, never had anyone respond so beautifully to the pain I gave them.”

    “I have to go.” She pushes hard against my chest and wriggles out of my arms. I don’t know what to say to soothe her or assuage her fears without letting my Dom loose again, and that would scare her away for good. I don’t know how to make her stay, simply because I’ve never wanted anyone to stay before.

    “You’re not ready. We should talk about the scene,” I say, folding the blanket as she crosses the floor toward the locker.

    Penny pulls open the door, turns away as she gets dressed. “I don’t want to talk. Please. Jack. It’s over. No more.”

    I feel a curious tightening in my chest, and I cross the floor toward her. “You need to sit down for a few minutes. You aren’t thinking straight.”

    “Don’t tell me what I need,” she snaps. “You have no idea. I needed pain. You gave me—” Her voice cracks, breaks, and she shakes her head.

    Pleasure? Release? What did I give her that has triggered this storm?

    “Good-bye, Jack.” She slings her purse over her shoulder, and I follow her to the door.

    “I’ll ask Kitty to call a taxi. Let me do that for you.”

    Her shoulders drop, and she sighs. “Okay.”

    I head over to the table to grab my phone. By the time I turn, she is gone.

11

    What if we weren’t friends?

    PENNY

    Monday morning I try to bury myself in my work while Amanda is in court, but every five minutes I’m on my phone looking things up. First I search spanking and how long the bruises last. I am relieved to discover my two days of tenderness is normal. Next I search for articles on people getting aroused by spanking. Many people. So, still normal. How about people who get an emotional release through spanking so they don’t feel the urge to cut themselves for the first time in years? A few. How curious. Now I’m on a roll. I search for blogs about people getting so aroused when they are spanked by their friend that he has to get them off right there and then and they die of humiliation. A few. Except those bloggers don’t seem to be humiliated and are keen to repeat the experience. Me? Not so much.

    I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what to feel. And the only person I can talk to about it is the one person who confuses me. Is this just part of what happens in the club, or is it more? I can’t imagine doing anything I’ve done with Jack in the club with anyone else. My kink experiences are intimately tied with him. I like him. I trust him. He’s my friend, but now he’s more. At least to me.

    Amanda walks into my office, and I quickly tuck away my phone. Not that she can see it from the doorway, but sometimes she likes to sit and chat, and I’m not sure what she would think about my interest in spanking.

    “Gerry’s here,” she says. “Can you meet us in the conference room? The hearing didn’t go well, and he’s unhappy, to put it mildly. I want at least three of us there.”

    “What happened?” I grab my notepad and pen from my desk and follow her out into the reception area. Amanda isn’t usually concerned about being alone with male clients. She once had to defend herself from an attorney who became obsessed with her, and she did a bang-up job, giving him a solid beating using some of the techniques she learned at Redemption.