13. Maddy

Chapter 13

Maddy

The bright morning sun filtering in through the window shades was hands down the most offensive thing that had ever occurred to me as I slowly, and quite reluctantly, roused from the best sleep of my life — quite alone. Niko's bed was beyond comfortable, far more so than the pitiful sack of lumps that was my own mattress in the room down the hall. With a groan, I flipped over onto my other side, pulling the covers over my head and mentally cursing the lack of blackout curtains.

Just as I was about to fall back into blissful slumber, something caught my eye. Niko may have left me in bed this morning to do… whatever it was he was doing… but he had made one serious mistake.

There on the nightstand was the one thing I had longed for since the day I had arrived.

His cellphone. Sitting there unlocked on his nightstand, opened up to some news article he'd obviously been reading before he left the room to go do whatever it was he was doing.

Sleep suddenly a long-forgotten memory, I reached my arm out lightning quick, snatching the phone and pulling it to myself as I sat up in the bed, eyes wide and fully alert. I couldn't believe my luck. Who leaves their phone lying around unlocked?

Now to remember anyone's phone number. No one memorized phone numbers anymore. And I was no different. I wracked my brain, trying to remember. 816… that much I could remember, but that was anywhere on the Missouri side of Kansas City. That didn't help one bit. Was it 517? 514? Fuck! Why wasn't I a millennial? Didn't they always remember phone numbers? Ugh!

"What the actual fuck?" a gruff, and decidedly angry voice called from the doorway. I gasped, jumping what felt like a foot in the bed, and the phone tumbled from my hands.

"Niko!" I gasped, my hand pressing against my chest to stop my heart from beating straight out of my chest. "You surprised me."

His jaw clenched as my eyes lifted to see him. He was carrying a tray with breakfast on it. I could already smell the coffee.

" You surprised me, Maddy," he bit out tersely. With a white-knuckled grip on the tray, he walked it over to the bedside table, slamming it down hard enough that the coffee spilled and the dishes clanked loudly. The sound echoed through the room.

He reached across me, almost shoving me out of the way as he reached for his cell phone, which had been half lost amongst the covers.

"Niko, listen…"

"No!" He snapped harshly, but quietly, so as not to be heard. He stood up straight, the phone clenched in his hand as he held a finger up to me. He was about to lecture me, no doubt about that. Surprisingly, his lips closed tightly, forming a thin line as he swiveled on his heel, turning and beginning to pace back and forth across the room.

I gulped loudly, waiting for the chastisement I knew was headed my way. My fingers fidgeted on the covers, keeping the edge of the comforter tucked beneath my arms. Getting my ass chewed was one thing, but getting chewed out while stark naked? That was something entirely different. It took vulnerability to a whole new level.

"You knew…" he began, his head still focused more on the floor than me as he paced.

"I know, I—"

"No. Not your turn to speak." His barked order, the angry tone, set my lips to silence faster than anything else could have. He was really, truly pissed. And I was in deep shit.

"You know how dangerous the situation you're in is. We have told you, repeatedly, just how important it is for you to be off of all social media; to be a ghost, for all intents and purposes."

"I know I fucked up, Niko," I murmured quietly, my eyes lowered in regret and shame.

"It's not just that you fucked up, Maddy. We also had an agreement." Finally, he stopped his pacing, although the finger pointed at my face, and the way his eyes were lit up with anger as they stared down at me, made me long for his pacing once more.

"You're right. And I apologize."

"Oh, no no, princess. An apology isn't going to cut it this time. You knew better. You were told better. And to make matters worse, you agreed to a dynamic with me, with rules specifically telling you that you were not allowed to do this very fucking thing. You knew it. You disobeyed it. And you did it on purpose." He was seething, nearly vibrating with outrage.

Guilt flooded my entire body. It had indeed been a mistake—a stupid one, to be sure — but a mistake, nonetheless.

"I need a minute," he hissed, turning his back to me as he walked over to his desk, sat down in the chair, and put his head in his hands.

I watched as his breaths came short and fast, his anger a visible, visceral thing.

"Niko, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken your phone, and I wasn't even going to do anything with it, I just—"

"Oh, don't even try to pull that kind of bullshit with me, Maddy. This is serious. You knew better. Hell, you even unlocked my phone! How the fuck did you do that?" He cut me off angrily. He sighed heavily, rubbing his fingers over his forehead in frustrated agitation.

"It's not—"

"Is that what this has all been about? A ruse so you can get your hands on my phone or computer? Some way to speak to your friends or whatever?" He yelled angrily. I could hear how tightly his jaw was clenched.

"No! Niko, come on. You can't seriously believe that!" I scoffed, flinging the covers back from the bed and standing up to face him. He stood up from his chair, pushing it back so roughly that the chair toppled over behind him.

"I can believe it, and I'm pretty sure I do believe it!" He shouted right back.

"Jesus, Niko! I'm not that much of a bitch!" Hands on my hips, I stared him down. His eyes glared right back at mine — before slipping lower, down the length of my body.

Oh yeah. I was completely naked still.

"Don't get yourself distracted by my naked body, Niko. This is serious. I'm not that much of a bitch, and I did not use you like that!" I fought right back, uncaring of his heated gaze as it flittered back up the length of my body and met my own fiery stare once more.

He laughed, short and completely sarcastically, running a hand through his hair.

"You're right, Maddy. This is serious. Do you have any idea what could have happened? What likely would have happened if you had gotten a message out to someone? From MY number, no less? Jesus Christ, you cannot be this stupid!"

"I'm not stupid, and don't call me that again." I stamped my foot down hard, my hands fisting at my sides. "I get that you're upset, but that doesn't mean you get to sit there and call me names."

"And I get that you're isolated and bored here, but that doesn't mean that you get to sit there and ruin your safety based on your own selfish desires," he spat right back.

Whatever retort I was about to throw back died on the tip of my tongue at his words. He was right. I had been stupid.

"Niko… err…" I faltered, my nudity finally getting the better of me. I yanked at the bedsheet, pulling the top sheet clear from the bed and wrapping it around my body like a toga.

He looked at me, confused, one brow arched high on his forehead.

"What? I can't talk to you seriously when I'm naked."

"Didn't stop you last night."

"Oh, shut it. You and I both know that's not the same thing."

"You're right, it's not the same. But…" he trailed off, taking my hand in his and leading me back to the bed and sitting beside me. "But this is a big deal, Maddy. I guess I just thought that after the talk we had before, I ever agreed to this…"

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath. His history with submissives breaking consent and crossing boundaries. I had made him a promise and had broken it without a second thought. Just like that other woman. Instantly, regret and remorse flooded me.

I squeezed his hand in mine, hoping to convey my sincerity.

"Niko, I did the wrong thing here. I know that. I should never have taken your phone. It was dumb. I was dumb. And it won't happen again. You are right, you guys have been clear with me about the dangers I'm facing. It was a moment of weakness."

"Thank you for admitting that. It means a lot, honestly. But I am still going to have to administer a punishment."

"Punishment? But I apologized!" I said, confused by his words.

"Yes, and you also agreed to the rules we set in this dynamic. If you break a rule, it requires punishment," he reminded me. Dread settled in my gut.

"But… I apologized," I repeated, much quieter this time.

"Doesn't change the fact, now does it?" Leveling me with a stern gaze, I knew my fate was sealed. Trouble was, I remember exactly what that punishment consisted of. And that , I was not excited about.

"So, here's what we are going to do. You're going to eat your breakfast, and then go get yourself showered and ready for the day. Then you will meet me in the basement."

"The basement?" I was confused. I had never been in the basement. In fact, the guys had made it clear that it was closed off to me. "I thought I wasn't allowed down there."

"Well, I'm giving you permission, so I guess that doesn't matter this time, does it?" He said with a smirk.

"Okay. I'll go shower and meet you there soon." Resigned to my fate, I looked around the room for my clothes.

"Breakfast first," he reiterated, setting the tray of food down on the bed.

"I'm not exactly hungry at this point."

"Trust me, princess," he chuckled, grabbing a piece of strawberry from my plate and popping it into his smirking mouth. "You're going to need your energy."

With that, he left me sitting there, mouth gaping, and with enough anxiety rolling around in my stomach to cause an ulcer.

It was going to be a long day.

And it was all my own doing.

I had tried to meet Niko in the basement shortly after my shower, but he was nowhere to be found, and the door was locked. So much for his plan. Finally, after an hour of waiting for him, he appeared in my doorway.

"Are you ready?" he asked, sounding every bit the part of a Dominant at that moment.

I could only nod my head, guilt plaguing me with every heartbeat. I had hurt him. And I knew I'd fucked up.

"Follow me." With a flick of his fingers, he beckoned me to follow him, down the stairs and across the house to the door that had remained locked since the day I had arrived. What lurked beneath, I could not begin to guess.

Niko unlocked the door, holding it open and flipping the light on to guide my way. I'd only made it down two steps when his hand gripped my shoulder, stopping my descent.

"Wait." His tone was sharp, and serious, and I knew better than to argue.

He closed the door behind us before shifting past my position on the stairs, turning to hold a hand out to me. I took it hesitantly, apprehensive of what was in store for me once we reached the bottom.

The staircase led down to an open room, and Niko flicked the light on at the bottom, providing illumination. It was a very standard basement, if a little on the small side. There was a small sofa, a television, and a coffee table all set up in a quaint little nook, and all in all, it looked perfectly unassuming.

"What are we doing down here?" I asked, confused.

"You'll see." He led me to one of three doors in the far wall, all firmly shut. He punched a code into a keypad mounted on the wall, shielding it from me so I could not see the numbers. After the way I'd broken his trust, I couldn't blame him for being cautious. I'd really fucked up.

The door opened, but with a hand on my shoulder, he stopped me from entering.

"This room is a sacred room for us. I expect you to treat it as such." He was so serious, his eyes pinning me with a look that told me he meant business.

"Kind of overkill for a game room, isn't it?" I laughed off, but his scowl remained firmly in place. "Or not," I squeaked out.

"This is not a game room, Maddy. It's a dungeon."

"A what?!" I all but shrieked, my eyes popping open wide.

"Did I stutter?"

"You cannot be serious. You're going to punish me in a literal dungeon?" I pulled away from him, jerking back like I'd been burned. "There is no way in hell I'm going to let you hurt me, Niko. You've lost your damn mind."

He quickly grabbed me by both shoulders, stopping me from running away.

"Maddy. It's a dungeon . A BDSM dungeon. Not a torture chamber."

"Yeah, whatever. Tomato tom-ah-to. Same damn difference."

"Okay, we can call it a playroom, if that makes you feel more comfortable. It is where we engage in kink."

"Oh, like together? No wonder you all moved out here in the boonies. Y'all want to get your freak on together." I was spewing nonsense in my nervousness, and I knew it.

"Enough." His barked order rang out through the small room, echoing off the walls. "Will you stop your attitude for two seconds and listen ?"

We stared each other down for the span of what felt like minutes before I sighed and resigned myself with a nod.

"I take what I do very seriously, Maddy. This is a punishment. It won't be fun, but I'm not going to harm you. I would never harm you. It goes against everything a Dominant stands for. What happens in this room is consensual."

"It's a dungeon, Niko. Or, excuse me, a playroom ."

"And do you remember our negotiations?" he asked.

"Yes, of course I do," I grumbled with a roll of my eyes.

"And was there anything in our negotiations regarding punishment that you no longer agree with?" he gave me a pointed look.

"Well, no, but—"

"But nothing. What we agreed to is what we agreed to. I will not do anything you do not wish to have done to you. I won't cross your boundaries." His hands rubbed down over my shoulders, soothing me as my own anger subsided. "Even when you have crossed mine."

Okay, that last part stung. But he was right.

"You still have your safewords. Even in punishment. Especially in punishment. But remember the purpose."

"To help me grow in ways I have agreed to. Which means it might not be fun, but it won't harm me," I recited his words from our negotiations.

"Good. Now, head inside." With his hand pressed to the small of my back, he ushered me into the dark room.

As soon as I stepped inside, the lights flicked on, illuminating a surprisingly large room in a dim, muted glow.

"Oh my God," I whispered in awe. I had been expecting some dark, seedy cement and metal situation. In fact, I realized at that moment that I had been picturing a room like the one I'd walked into on that fateful night that had led me here. What I saw before me was the furthest thing from it. It was like a luxury hotel suite, built exclusively for dark delights.

"Not what you were expecting, princess?" he said with a chuckle, his breath fanning over the back of my neck as he spoke. The butterfly-soft flutters of his fingers trailed up and down my sides, barely touching, and setting every nerve ending on edge.

"Not at all."

"It's time to begin now, princess." He led me to the center of the room, but my eyes still wandered, taking in everything, from the satin sheet-covered four-poster bed to the beautiful, lit displays of kinky toys that lined every wall.

He grabbed a chair from the back corner of the room, dragging it to where I stood. At least it looked like a normal chair. But it clearly wasn't. With the center of the seat completely removed, and the arms and back adorned with supple red leather and golden grommets, it looks more like a—

"This is a queening throne, or queening chair," he explained, cutting off my own internal thoughts. "It's used often by Dommes, but—"

"Dommes?" I asked, cutting him off in my confusion.

"Female dominants. They sit in the chair and have their submissives lie beneath it."

"Oh!" I gasped, understanding what he meant.

"Exactly. Now, let us begin." His hands cupped my jaw, leaning in to kiss my lips. "You will start by undressing. You will fold your clothes and place them on that dresser there." He pointed to a dresser behind me, and I nodded my understanding. While I lived for giving him sass and pushback, this was not the time, nor the place. That much was for certain.

I quickly shed my clothing, pushing aside the brief feeling of vulnerability and embarrassment as I walked across the room, folding my clothes and placing them on the dresser as he had commanded. When I turned back around, he was pointing to the spot I had just vacated, indicating that I should return.

I stood before him, naked, and doing my best not to blush at the juxtaposition of our states.

"As we begin your punishment, you need to stand here in your vulnerability and admit your wrongdoings."

"That's beyond embarrassing," I muttered softly.

"That's the point. We come together with nothing to shroud us from the truth we must accept," he explained. As much as I hated it, I understood where he was coming from. But I did fucking hate it.

"I stole your phone with the intent of reaching out to a friend to reconnect with civilization. And that decision could have led to putting myself in danger," I stated firmly and sincerely.

"And…" he prompted.

"And it would have put all of you in danger, as well," I added remorsefully.

"And for these errors, you are being punished. Do you agree to be punished for this?" he asked. He was so rigid in his directions and words that it was jarring. He really did take this seriously.

"Yes, I agree," I answered confidently. I had agreed to this dynamic, there was no point in wussing out at the first sign of punishment. I had agreed to this. And I meant what I said. I wanted to show him I was serious.

"Good." He guided me to the chair, helping me to sit on the awkward seat. It felt strange, the giant hole in the seat making it difficult to find my balance for a moment. "Find your bearings and get comfortable. This is your one chance."

I shifted until I found a comfortable position, then nodded my head to tell him I was ready.

"You need to learn balance, Maddy. It's not easy, especially when you let yourself get distracted from your mission."

"I'm not one of your soldiers."

"No fucking kidding. My soldiers would never have acted with the disregard you showed me this morning. They would not have put themselves in that kind of danger. But you did." I blushed and looked down, feeling the sting of his words.

"So tonight, your punishment will involve learning how to stay the course; how to have balance and stay focused on the task at hand — regardless of distraction." There was a glint in his eyes, one that both aroused and frightened me.

Moving to one of the many dressers in the room, he grabbed several items before returning to me.

"Comfortable?" he asked one last time.

"Yes, Sir," I responded in kind.

"Very well." He knelt by my feet and slipped a cuff around my ankle, fastening it to an eye hook at the bottom of the leg of the chair. He did the same to the other ankle, in turn, effectively rendering me immobile.

"Balance requires two very important things in life," he began, taking one of my hands and rotating it until my palm was up and held open. "The first of these things is dedication."

With that last word, he placed a weight in my hand. It wasn't much, maybe two pounds at most.

"The second is discipline," he added, placing an identical weight in my left hand. "Without these two things, you can never hope to find true balance."

So far, this was a fairly simple task.

That was until he lifted both of my elbows about six inches off the armrests, no longer allowing me to rest my weight on them.

"Oh, fuck," I hissed, instantly feeling the difference in the effort it took to hold both weights aloft as he required.

"Now, you must hold these weights right here, not letting them slip or fall."

"For how long?" I asked, already anxious about his answer.

"Until I say." His eyes pinned me with a glare as he sank to his knees. "Let the punishment begin, princess. Your time starts now."

I focused on holding my arms exactly where he placed them, staring into his eyes as I held the weights aloft.

"Good girl. Keep them there. Just like that."

An ache began in my upper arms surprisingly quickly. I was an athletic girl, having spent many a day in the gym. But with Niko's eyes on mine, I felt like I could do it. Hopefully, he would not make me hold them for long.

I gasped as his fingers teased at the lips of my pussy with a featherlight touch, barely touching, only teasing me. My arms lowered slightly at the surprising touch.

"Keep them where I placed them, princess," he scolded lightly.

Redoubling my efforts, I focused my gaze on him. With him as my focal point, I could do this.

Until his fingers slipped inside my folds, finding my clit and teasing it mercilessly .

"Sir… I …." I stuttered out, the burning in my arms growing tenfold with every flick of his fingers.

"Hold your position," he barked out.

Clenching my jaw, I held my arms in the position he had given me. He shifted before me, flipping onto his back and then sliding beneath me until his head was positioned directly under the chair. I hadn't even noticed the pillow-like object that held his head aloft, but the brush of his beard tickled against my lower lips, telling me that this was about to become way more fucking difficult.

I scanned the room, searching for something to focus on, anything to help me withstand the torture he gave.

It was my punishment to bear, and I was going to fucking show him I could do this.

What could I say? I was a competitive bitch on the best of days. And today, the bitch was out in full force.

His lips met my pussy slowly, taking his time as he explored my sex with great detail and even greater earnestness. Licking, flicking, and teasing me into oblivion, I struggled to maintain focus. Finally, my eyes focused on the glittering gold artwork that hung on the wall near the door. It was metal line artwork depicting a woman on her knees. It was stunning, and it was perfect to hold my focus.

My arms burned as his tongue flicked and teased my nub from its hood, wracking my body with tremors, pushing me ever closer towards orgasm. He hadn't said I couldn't orgasm, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if I allowed myself to climax, I would drop the weights and fail.

"If you fail at this, princess, you will receive spankings," he muttered against my lower lips, loud enough for me to hear, and to feel against my labia. "And not the kind you like," he added with a smirk I could feel but not see.

"I will not fail," I ground out between clenched teeth.

"If you succeed, I will give you more orgasms than you know what to do with," he promised with an ardor that I could feel at the core of my bones.

"I will not fail!" I barked out more confidently, determined in my pursuit of obedience. I had fucked up. I would not fuck up again. Niko had been hurt by a woman in the past who had crossed his boundaries. I would not be counted among that list of trespassers.

My competitive streak went full tilt as I ignored the burning in my arms, willing myself to hold the weights aloft as his tongue and fingers played with my pussy like a master musician. Each strum drove me closer to an orgasm I was desperate to ignore — for now, at least.

Fingers plunged inside of me, hooking forward until he found my G-spot. Each flick of his fingers, curling and playing, made stars sparkle in my vision, and my eyes burned with the effort to continue focusing on the artwork hanging there on the wall. It was nearly impossible. All I wanted to do was close my eyes, drop the weights, and let my head fall back as an orgasm took me over.

Suddenly, after what felt like half a fucking hour, a loud chirping sound filled the room.

His tongue ceased its flicking. His fingers gave up their plunging torture of my cunt.

Everything fell away, every pleasurable touch gone, leaving me with nothing but the weights in my trembling hands, my gaze a laser focus on the hanging artwork.

Niko shifted, sliding out from under the chair until he once again knelt before me.

His fingers touched my chin, but my gaze stayed focused.

"Eyes, princess," he commanded with a tone far more gentle than he had ever used with me before. As my eyes pulled away from the golden artwork, moving towards the dark sapphire pools of his eyes, I saw only pride shining back at me.

Gone was the anger. Gone was the frustration.

Without breaking our stare, he took the weights from my hands, setting them aside.

But I refused to move my arms, even still. I was going to show him I could do this. Even if I did so with quivering limbs and sweat dripping down the small of my back.

His hands guided mine back down to the armrests.

"Good girl. Your punishment is over. And I am proud of you. All is forgiven," he whispered, his finger brushing against my forehead as he swept a tendril of hair back behind my ear where it belonged.

"You forgive me?" I asked, surprised to hear how hoarse my voice was after sitting for that long.

"All is forgiven," he repeated, his eyes shining with pride, and something else I could not quite place.

Something broke inside of me at that moment.

I don't know if it was tiredness, or perhaps just the weight of all I had been through these past couple of weeks. Whatever it was, it broke like a dam, and the emotions I had held long in check spilled over past the surface.

Tears spilled down my cheeks as my shoulders shook with silent sobs.

He lifted me into his arms as though I weighed nothing at all, cuddling me to him as he stood and carried me from the room.

"That's my good girl. I've got you now."