Chapter Twenty-Four

Wick

Three months later, the Sky Dungeon, Club Decadent Skies…

"Imagine that," Max said cryptically as he led her toward a punishment table and gestured at her to climb onto it. "Our first night aboard the new GoldenEye I plane, and we kick it off with punishment." He clicked his tongue in what Wick could only assume was amusement.

"Don't pretend you're disappointed," she parried back. "You've been itching to punish me since the day we met."

"Also true, and since I've let a number of transgressions slip early in our relationship, it is definitely time to correct my negligence."

She shifted gingerly as she glanced around. They were already the center of attention, and a small crowd was gathered to watch.

"Lie back with your legs hanging over either side of the bed, please." Her reaction was immediate. "Good. Now take hold of your knees and pull them up against your waist."

"You want me to do what?" Her head snapped up to glare at him. The vision of what it would look like to those watching seared through her mind.

"You heard me, Phoenix, and you know I hate repeating instructions."

Mumbling, she complied as he circled the bed to regard her spread open like a Thanksgiving turkey on the platform against the one wall of the Sky Dungeon. Naked, of course. Not that it bothered Willow so much anymore since it was a boundary Max had pushed ruthlessly until she lost all inhibitions to walk around Club Decadent Skies without clothes.

Hold on, Willow? Oh, yes, that. Well, Wick loved how Max rolled her real name around his tongue in an almost loving caress so much, she didn't want to wait to get married and legally changed her name back to Willow Carter.

It had such a nice ring to it, but when Max reverted back to the name Wick in that taut voice that thrilled her libido so much, she knew she had overstepped some invisible line.

Damn, there were just so many of those that she couldn't keep track. Mind you, she was sure he added new ones daily just to keep her on her toes.

"Master M, I was wondering," she began with lowered eyes. Willow was a fast learner and knew how to soften his steely veneer.

"Now isn't the time, Phoenix," he warned with a darkening tenor.

"Oh, I know I'm going to be punished, and quite frankly, after the way I openly took on Master J, I suppose I deserve it. It's just…" she swallowed hard, truly distressed. "It's my first punishment, and I'm scared."

"Being scared is good, my little bird, as long as you remember why you're being punished, take accountability for your actions, learn from it, and move on." He palmed her cheek and tilted her head to stare into her eyes. "I'm not going to lie, Phoenix. This is going to hurt like the bejeezus but always remember, you have the power to end it. However, I do expect you to take as much as you can. Throwing in the towel too soon isn't in your nature. All you need to do is remember the lessons I've taught you. Relax your muscles. Don't tense when you hear the snap of the whip. Let the pain flow into you and guide you through it."

"Pain guiding me? You are surely delusional," Willow muttered with a wobbly voice.

"This is punishment and a whipping, so there will be no erotic intervention."

"None whatsoever? You're just gonna whip the shit out of me?"

"That's one way of putting it, I suppose." The humor was back in his eyes, turning them an impossible shade of liquid gold. He sighed as her eyes turned wild with fear. His large palm traced seductive patterns over her nipples until they budded.

"Jesus!" she screamed as pain seared through her when he added alligator nipple clamps around each one.

"Breathe through the pain, Phoenix. In and out. Good girl. Again." He waited until the wildness settled in her eyes before he continued in a soothing voice, "You're still relatively new to the lifestyle. I'm well aware of that, Wick, and you should trust me to realize I won't give you more than you can handle." He smiled as he toggled the clamps. She hissed as fresh pain seared through her, except this time, it settled in a throb of her clit. "However, don't be fooled into believing I'm going to tease your pussy with my whip. I warned you numerous times, my pet, that punishment will always be punishment."

"How many strikes?" Willow asked in a small voice.

"Fifteen."

"Oh, shit," she whimpered but thought it wise not to oppose him any longer and strengthened the hold on her ankles. "Ohh… hmmm," she moaned as Max brushed his palm up and down over her spread-open labia. "I thought you said no erotic touches," she complained as heat exploded inside her pussy.

"There's always time for a last tender gesture, little one, and it seems you do react very favorably to pain." He delved one finger deep inside her, setting her cheeks aflame as he wiggled it and elicited a squishy sound from her girlie bits. Imagine that. Her own body betrayed her! "The pain from your nipples has triggered your lust, I see."

"Enough teasing, Master M," she said, desperate to stem the flood of creamy discharge she could feel pooling inside her pussy. "Just punish me already!"

"Hmm, since you insist." With a wink, he leaned forward to blow a warm breath into the open slit of her pussy.

"Ah fuck," she moaned as her hips jerked in reaction.

His chuckle sounded ominous. "I expect you to count every strike, Phoenix."

Crack! Crack!

"Holy shit!" Willow screamed, clinging with all her might to her knees to prevent them from clamping together. Max didn't ease her into the whipping, proving that he was serious when he'd warned her it was going to hurt like hell.

"If I don't hear you counting, the strikes don't count, Phoenix," he warned.

With a thin voice, she croaked, "One, two."

By the count of ten, her voice was hoarse as pain seared all the way along her veins and nerves from where the leather strips landed to her brain. What shook her to the depths of her being was the untethered lust that sparked to life inside her loins. She had scoffed at him, at every sub that had warned her of being aroused by the pain while being punished.

Crack! Crack!

"Fuck!" she screamed as the next two landed across her nipples. "Eleven, twelve," she shouted the count, but before she could comprehend the stinging burn, the final three strikes connected with her clit.

"Fuck-fuck-fuck!" she wailed as her body twitched in the throes of a climax she had no control over. The combined pain on her nipples and clit had been enough to catapult her over the edge into an abyss of such pleasure, she struggled to breathe.

"Jesus… Oww!" her raw cry echoed through the dungeon as Max ripped off the nipple clamps.

"Easy, little bird," he cooed as he leaned in to gently suck them to help alleviate the pain of the blood flowing back into the abused vessels.

"Up you get, Phoenix." He helped her straighten before picking her up and striding toward the entertainment area to find a deep wingback chair. "There, it's over." He settled her on his lap, gently stroking her back. "I'm proud of you, my sweet little Phoenix. You did so well."

Willow clung to him, thoroughly confused by the pain that kept burning through her mind, as much as she trembled from the aftereffect of the climax, she still had no idea how it happened.

Pleasure and pain, two divergent sensations, and yet… they were in complete consonance with each other.

Between rubbing a soothing gel on her labia and caressing her sensitive nipples, Max kept cooing words of praise in her ear. Willow had never felt so wanted, so loved as she did at that moment. Yes, he had punished her, but this, right here, wrapped in his arms, was where she felt safe.

Home… this was home.

He tilted her chin back. "I'm not a very romantic guy, so red roses and wine aren't my thing, but I did intend to plan some wildly elaborate setting. Now, watching you, feeling you reach out to me with your soul during the punishment… I can't wait."

His smile was tender and bright. Her heart skipped a beat.

"I love you, Willow Carter. Will you marry me?"

"Oh, thank God," she sighed. "I had started to think I was the one who was going to propose." She kissed him boisterously. "Yes, Max DuPont. Of course, I will marry you."

"Arrf! Ruff! Arrrfffuu." Nitro, who was always aboard when they took to Club Decadent Skies, jumped up from where he had been lying at Max's feet. "Aryaass."

Filled with bliss and the gayful approval of their K9 echoing through the cabin, they became lost in a kiss of indulgent passion… sealing a love so profound, the crowd watched with envy and joy.

"So… where's my ring?"

"Ehm…"

"You ask me to marry you, and you don't have a ring?" Willow frowned at him in mock horror.

"Don't go all Wick Bitch on me," he chuckled as he dug into his pocket. "Of course, I have a ring."

Wick stared at the ring he slipped on her finger for long, silent moments as tears spilled over. The oval diamond was set on a broad white gold band in a simple setting. It proved how well Max knew her.

"It's beautiful, Max. Thank you."

"It's you, my love. It's us… set in a concave of a pure white diamond… our forever after journey."

"Yahhooarff, Raff. Raff."

They laughed at the indignant response from their beloved dog.

"And you," Max said with a delighted laugh. "Of course. What are we without you?"

"Rlaff uuu."

The End