Page 42 of Vienna Bargain

The door opened and Alena half closed her eyes so she could watch Alexander. He was frowning, but not with anger or displeasure. It was worry that knitted his brow.

He blanked his expression before stepping further into the room and looking her over, but it was too late. She’d seen it.

He was worried.

And like any self-respecting adult, he’d turned to his unhealthy coping mechanism. It just so happened that him being a sadist meant his coping mechanism involved beating her.

She kept her eyes almost closed, and when he touched her, she made a show of jumping and lifting her head.

Alexander was standing at her ass, his gaze on her butt. “You will have some bruising.”

He would apologize. She could feel it. If she cried again or expressed fear, he would back down. That cold Dom Sadist energy he’d carried before was gone, and it was only now that it was gone she could identify it.

Alena braced her knees against the bed, toes on the floor, and used her core muscles to lift herself upright. The drool she could feel on the side of her face and chin would detract from the is-that-all-you’ve-got, confident air she was trying to project. There was also the fact that standing up made the penetration of the plug almost impossible to ignore.

It wasn’t perfect, but she did her best—arching an eyebrow as she twisted to look back at him.

Alexander blinked in surprise.

This was not what he was expecting from the woman whom he’d just spanked so hard she’d have bruises.

She saw the relief in his eyes.

“I glad... glad. I’m glad to see…” He trailed off and stopped.

If the stupid gag hadn’t been in her mouth she would have told him he didn’t have to hide his stutter from her or pretend he didn’t have one. Tell him that she’d figured out that was why he was so quiet.

With the bit gag in, all she managed were some mumbles.

Alexander put his hand between her shoulder blades and bent her back down over the bed.

The plug shifted inside her, the fullness wonderful but immediately taking her back to a very submissive mindset. She arched her belly down into the bed, lifting her ass. He was careful to touch nothing but the plug as he toyed with it, twisting and tugging.

“Can you keep it in and walk upstairs?” he asked.

Alena hesitated, then slowly shook her head. It was too heavy.

“Relax.” He began to pull as he twisted it, slowly working the plug out. She hissed when the widest part popped free, that brief hint of pain followed by the smooth gliding feeling of the rest of the plug sliding out of her ass.

She watched him take the plug into the bathroom and wrap it in the towel she’d draped over the faucet. He then frowned at the towel on the floor. Walking back into the main area, he looked at the blanket she’d folded and placed on the floor—she’d been using it as a seat earlier, resting her back against the bed.

Alexander frowned as he unclipped the chains from her ankles. He’d clearly realized that he’d left her down here without checking she had what she needed as far as towels and blankets. That also probably meant he didn’t know she had access to weapons.

With the padded cuffs still around her wrists and ankles but no longer connected to chains, he urged her up onto the bed with a hand on her back.

Alena crawled up and hesitated, posed on all fours.

“Lie down.” Alexander hesitated. “Please.”

Alena stretched out on her stomach. With the hideous gag in her mouth it wasn’t exactly comfortable, but she lay still, waiting to see what he’d do.

He rummaged in a drawer, then took the top off a small tub, releasing the familiar spicy scent of balm. Alexander dipped his fingers in, then rubbed some between his hands, warming it which released more of herbal scent.

One knee on the bed beside her hip, he started to rub the balm into her skin. Alena hissed, her feet rising off the bed as he first made contact with her sore ass.

“When we’re upstairs, I will find pain medication,” Alexander said softly.

It was the second time he’d mentioned upstairs.

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