Chapter 19

Landon's heart was pounding. That conversation hadn't gone the way he thought it would. Every word out of Colette's mouth had been raw with emotion.

But was it true emotion, or more manipulation? He didn't, couldn't, think it was all a lie, but she was clever enough to take a hint of raw emotion and amplify it.

He wasn't even saying it was malicious manipulation, but manipulation nonetheless.

That rational, clinical observation was doing fuck all to stem his own emotional reaction.

He wanted to say that she was right. That any scene between them, including this one, would have more emotional weight and impact than it should.

If anything, their play should be lightly adversarial, like the mini-fight last night. He'd spank her, she'd slap him. That would keep the balance steady, keep everything surface level.

Except after the slap had come the kiss. And the kiss had been… Fuck.

Landon gripped both Colette's wrists in one hand, her bones delicate in his hold, and led her to the connecting door.

Leading around a naked, collared sub always felt good, but this…

This felt right.

Fuck. And again, fuck.

Landon opened the door, ushering her in. Her room had been perfectly tidy—bed made, the clothes in the open suitcase neatly folded. His room was…not tidy. He closed the door, cutting off the light spilling in from her room, which partially obscured the mess he knew he'd left.

He guided her to a blank stretch of wall. "On your knees, facing the wall."

Colette shot him one quick glance, then obeyed. She knelt gracefully, her knees parted, but not spread wide, her ass resting on her heels.

He turned on the overhead light, quickly making the bed, tossing clothes—both clean and dirty—into a drawer, and finally pulling out his kit.

The black canvas and nylon bag looked like it was made to hold sports equipment, with one extra long section that more than one person had assumed held a cricket bat, rather than his collection of crops and paddles.

He put the bag on the newly made bed, unzipping the u-shaped zipper that allowed him to open the bag almost flat. Loops and pockets, each of which held a specific toy or tool, were affixed to the flap. He selected the things he needed, putting them into a smaller drawstring bag.

Landon turned on the bedside lamp before flipping off the overhead and moving his kit to the far side of the bed where it was in reach but out of the way if they needed to use the bed.

The straight-backed chair was still positioned by the window. On the other side of the glass the lights of the city bounced off the low blanket of cloud cover.

Landon shifted the chair a foot further away from the window, so it was evenly placed between the wall and the bed, before sitting.

"Colette?"

"Yes, Master Landon?"

"Come here. It's time for your spanking."

* * *

Colette braced both hands on the wall as she rose, her knees aching a little from two nights of bending. She brushed them off before turning.

Landon raised a brow when she didn't move. "I told you to come here."

"I'm sorry, Master Landon."

Barefoot and naked, she padded across the room to him, stopping with her toes almost touching the tips of his boots. Her nipples were hard and tight, partially from cold, but mostly from arousal.

"Legs spread. Unless I say otherwise, you should always have your legs spread enough that I can easily see and touch your pussy."

His hand burrowed between her thighs as she quickly stepped wide. The two fingers that had previously explored her labia now spread them open, cool air touching her core. She moaned, tense with anticipation of the next touch—a finger or two sinking into her vagina, or once more bracketing her clit.

Instead, Landon only held her open, a visceral reminder that he controlled her body right now. If he wanted to lewdly spread her, he could and would.

"You're more obedient than I thought you'd be," he murmured.

"You thought I…wasn't really submissive." For a moment she was oddly hurt, but the emotion burned out as quickly as it had sparked to life when he immediately shook his head.

"No. But I thought your submission would look different."

He took his fingers from her pussy, and she missed his touch.

He spread his feet, boots braced on the floor, and patted one thigh.

"Face down over my lap."

A spanking.

He'd told her she was a bad girl, but being a bad girl was rarely a bad thing in her experience. Colette was breathless with anticipation as she walked to his side. She bent at the waist, bracing her hands on his far thigh before carefully lowering herself over his lap. Her breasts hung in the space between his legs while her upper chest and the fronts of her shoulders rested against his thigh. Her hands were pinned between her shoulders and his leg, her elbows pointed at the ceiling.

"Hands here." He tapped the small of her back.

Gingerly, Colette moved her arms, hooking her index fingers together at the small of her back. One arm pressed against his stomach, and she straightened it a little, not wanting to elbow him in the stomach.

"You're smiling. Why?"

Startled, she twisted, trying look up and back at him. "How can you tell I was smiling?"

"I could see your cheek. And I spend way too much fucking time thinking about your smiles."

Colette twisted more, one shoulder rising. She wanted to see his face.

"No." He grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her to face the floor as his word rang with command.

Her pussy clenched, even as the urge to fight back blossomed and died within the span of a second.

"Tell me why you were smiling."

"I was worried that I was going to jab your stomach with my elbow. I was smiling because it's such a sub thing to worry about."

He huffed out a laugh. "You're worried about accidentally elbowing me, when I'm about light up your ass."

"Yes, Master Landon."

He released her hair, but brushed it to one side so that it didn't obscure her face.

"Master Landon?"

"Yes, Colette?"

"Why did you think I wouldn't be obedient?"

"Honestly, first I figured you'd be a brat. But the more I thought about it, I realized that you're too self-controlled."

"Brats have fun."

"When I was talking to Andrei, he said something interesting about how sometimes we need external pressure to do things, even if we want those things."

"You talked to Andrei about me?"

Landon's wide palm made circles on her upper back. Her skin was cool, and the warmth felt good. Unlike the club, this room wasn't heated by a crowd.

"I talked to Andrei," he confirmed. "That conversation helped me put the pieces together. How many times over the past two days have you told me that you need submission, need to scene? And yet you refused."

"I wasn't lying. I didn't plan to do…this." She considered sitting up. This felt like a face-to-face conversation, not a face down over her Dom's lap conversation.

"You were holding on so tight you couldn't let go enough to engage in the power exchange. To submit."

She swallowed against the very tightness he'd just described. "If you're right, does it change anything?"

"Am I right?"

She hesitated.

Landon pinched the sensitive skin on the back of her upper arm. Colette yelped.

"Am I?" he demanded.

"Yes, Master Landon."

His thumb rubbed the skin he'd pinched. "I thought you were closed off, refusing to scene, because you didn't want to risk losing control of the game you were running."

"This isn't a game." Staying safe from Damien wasn't a game.

"I know you're playing me, playing Interpol."

Colette tensed, mouth opening to protest.

"But now that I've seen this…" Landon's fingers traced the knife cut along her side, not touching it directly, but mirroring its path. "I realize there's more to it."

She was focused on that touch, and not paying attention to where his other hand was, or what it was doing. The first swat to her ass came as a surprise, making her jump and yelp.

That hurt.

Good. She needed it to hurt.

The spot of heat on her left butt cheek made the skin on her legs feel cold in comparison. She wanted that heat everywhere.

For a wild moment she considered begging.

Begging him to bind her to the bedpost and flog every inch of her. Begging him to take her back out to the private club and tie her up so she was spread, exposed, and helpless. Let it be the heat of everyone's gaze that warmed her.

His hand rubbed the spot he'd just swatted, and when his palm lifted, she tensed, even though she knew better. A hard spank landed on her right butt cheek. He didn't bounce his hand, but instead held it there once it landed, pressing the heat deeper into skin, fat, and muscle.

Landon adjusted his feet, her body rocking on his thighs. His free hand cupped her shoulder, preventing her from sliding off his lap.

Then he began to spank her in earnest.

Landon was a big man, with heavy hands, and the deep burn started almost immediately. He spanked her hard, alternating cheeks and covering her from the center of her ass down to her upper thighs. The rhythmic crack, crack, crack of flesh meeting flesh first buzzed out other sounds, and then drowned out her thoughts.

"What a good girl you are to take your spanking," he murmured. The praise was almost at odds with the hard, punishing swats.

Her pussy throbbed at his words, and she couldn't stop the small needy noises she made.

"You need a spanking, don't you?"

She nodded, hair tossing around her head.

Spank, spank, spank.

"You need to be spanked hard, don't you my bad, good girl."

That's right. She was a bad girl. A good girl.

His girl.

Spank, spank, spank.

The skin on her butt and upper thighs burned, while her mind was—finally—quiet and calm. Colette let her head hang, enjoying the way it made blood throb in her ears.

The spanking paused, Landon's hot palm resting at the top of her ass crack, then stroking over the seam of her fiery cheeks. He petted her for a few minutes as her breathing evened out.

"How does this feel?" His hand moved possessively over her butt.

"Hot," she murmured without opening her eyes.

"Head up." He accompanied the command with a hand in her hair.

Colette could feel him studying her as she raised her head, aided by his fist in her hair. She kept her eyes half-closed.

He stroked her right ass cheek and thigh, the touch firm rather than delicate. Her skin felt tender, like she had a sunburn, though that discomfort was inconsequential when compared to the deep submission it had given her. Landon repeated the caress on her left, this time his hand going all the way down to the back of her knee, and then her calf, which he massaged.

"Do you like that?" he murmured.

"Yes, Master Landon."

"I like the sexy sounds you make when I touch you."

She hadn't realized she was moaning in response to the massage until he said something.

His hand switched to her right calf, repeating the muscle massage. Her leg muscles were sore after two nights of constantly crouching so she could take orders from people seated on the low couches in the private club.

"And what if I massage here?" He gripped a handful of her ass, squeezing.

Colette sucked in a breath as fresh pain zinged through her.

"Not a moan this time," he murmured. "But a breathy little gasp. Almost as sweet as those little whimpers from a moment ago that told me the spanking hurt."

His voice slid over her, molten hot and dangerous. She shivered.

He gave her butt a friendly swat before grabbing and kneading her other ass cheek.

"Reach down and hold on to the rung of the chair."

Carefully, Colette unhooked her fingers. He helped her move the arm pressed against his hard stomach until she was able to grab the thick dowel of the chair rung.

Landon clutched her ass with both hands and hiked her further over his lap. Colette yelped in surprise, arm muscles tense, but he knew what he was doing. She was in no danger of either falling forward and cracking her head or sliding sideways off his lap.

Now her butt was raised and centered, her breasts pressed against the inside of his thigh. The fronts of her own thighs were against his leg, her toes braced on the floor.

"Tell me if your legs get tired." He leaned to the side, fingers wrapping around her right ankle, squeezing for a moment. Then he dragged his hand up the back of her leg, over the well-spanked flesh of her sit spot and ass. He once more grabbed a handful of butt, kneading her abused cheeks.

Colette wasn't actually sure what was coming next. That had been a very thorough spanking, but it was possible he was going to continue it, and the adjustments to her position were either to shift her weight or give him easier access to her sit spot.

Maybe he was just playing with her. Enjoying the sight and feel of a well-spanked bottom. The idea that he was enjoying looking at her made her pussy tingle. She'd so far done a good job of ignoring exactly how wet she was. Though she certainly had masochistic tendencies, it wasn't the pain—or not only the pain—that aroused her. The primary factor was being dominated. It was the sure way he handled her that had her pussy throbbing in need.

Landon grabbed her ass with both hands, his left arm braced on her back. He went back to kneading and playing, but now he was also spreading her. Each time he pulled her butt cheeks apart, she felt the cold air against the heated flesh of her anus.

She held her breath, waiting to see if he'd touch her there.

Instead he released her butt, spanking her a few times with swats that weren't nearly as hard, but hurt just as much thanks to how tender she was.

With her head now closer to the floor, she couldn't see him even with her peripheral vision. But she felt it when he twisted in his seat, one hand holding her hip.

The snap of a glove was loud and shocking. Colette stared, wide-eyed, at the wood grain pattern of the floor planks.

She held her breath, listening hard. She expected a click, but instead there was a tearing sound. A condom? Maybe he was?—

Lube slicked fingers slid between her ass cheeks. Colette moaned in anticipation and relief. Relief because as thorough as that spanking had been, she needed more.

"Colette?"

"Yes, Master Landon?" The words were breathless and thin.

"When was the last time you took something in your ass?"