‘I – I don’t know.’ She swallowed hard. ‘Why are you holding me like that?’
‘Don’t you like it?’ He slid his hand up, cupping the underside of her breast. ‘Or is this better?’
This was going a bit fast. She opened her mouth to protest, to tell him to move his damned hand. But her body had another idea. ‘Better.’
‘Good girl.’
Cathy sucked in her lower lip, chewing on it nervously. The woman on the bench wasn’t alone. A man stood at her side, stroking her back and talking to her in a low-pitched voice.
‘She wants this? I mean, with everyone watching?’
‘She’s fully consented to it.’ He thumbed her nipple through the leather.
Cathy shivered, her nipple hard and aching beneath his touch. Some of what he said made sense, that it was consensual, yet even though he’d given her the choice in being touched there’d been an edge to his voice. Something that made it clear if she’d said no, he’d have turned away and found someone else to spend the evening with.
‘Just watch what happens with the girl and then you can decide if you want to stay or if you’d be best following your friend to a tamer establishment.’
‘OK.’ She turned her attention to the submissive on the spanking bench.
The man had moved so he stood at the side of the bound submissive, a paddle in his hand. He didn’t speak but brought the paddle down hard and fast against the woman’s backside. Her soft cry filled the air and her bottom tinged red before the second blow landed on her upturned ass. A third and fourth followed without granting the bound woman time to recover. By the tenth, the woman was sobbing but her hips rolled and the scent of her arousal was strong.
‘Well?’ He whispered against her ear.
She whimpered, a deep tremble running through her body. Each time the paddle struck the woman’s bottom Cathy’s inner walls clenched. How could she tell him what she was feeling?
His fingers closed on her nipple through the leather bustier. ‘I asked you a question.’
The paddle smacked once more and Cathy’s hips rolled.
‘A verbal answer, girl.’ He pinched sharply.
She hissed between clenched teeth but the pain did something she hadn’t expected. The pain formed a line between her nipple and her clit. Both throbbed. One in pain the other with a burning pleasure. ‘I – I don’t have an answer.’
‘Yes, you do. I don’t tolerate lies, girl. Perhaps I should take you to one of the alcoves and punish you?’
Cathy shook her head. ‘No. Please. I couldn’t take it. All those people watching me, I mean.’
Drake pulled her back through the crowd away from the scene in the alcove. ‘But in private you’re interested, is that it?’
‘Yes, it’s what I came here to explore.’ There, she’d said it. ‘And I know there’s more to it than a simple paddling. If you thought that was going to frighten me off you were wrong. I’ve seen worse on the net.’
‘Watching on the net isn’t the same as real life.’ He laughed, pulling her towards a door. ‘But if you’re serious I can help you explore, girl. I have a private play area here that I pay for every year.’
This was happening too fast. She couldn’t do this. Or could she?
He stopped, away from the crowd, his gaze locked with hers, his voice a deep, seductive whisper. ‘You want this; I can see it in your eyes. The question is will you let your fear get the better of you, or will you submit to your own desires?’
She glanced back at the crowd and then looked at Drake. She licked her lips nervously. ‘How do I know you won’t push beyond my limits?’
‘If I ignore your safe word then you’ll report me and I’ll lose my access to the club. Not something I’d want to go through, especially as the club would then share my “lapse” with every other club they have contact with. That’s how serious the situation would be for me.’
Was it enough? She’d read the rules, even signed them, but would they follow through with them? Yes, they had to.
‘All right.’
‘You consent?’
‘Yes.’ There was no going back now.