Page 68 of Take Me, Sir

“Do you remember the safe word we set up?”

I knew the answer to that one. “Yes.”

His voice gentled. “This is going to hurt, love. That's the point. It isn't foreplay. But I promise that you'll feel better when it's done...and then I'll make you feel even better than that.”

“Okay.”

I heard a cracking sound, and suddenly realized what I was hearing. His belt. I figured out what was coming a moment before Dean's belt came down on my ass.

“Fuck!” I yelped. He hadn't been lying. That hurt. Not so much that I was going to ask him to stop, but it was definitely not foreplay.

A second one made my eyes water and my skin burn.

But that knot of anxiety and guilt inside me began to ease.

Another crack sent a fresh wave of pain racing along my nerves. I dug my fingers into my comforter.

“Let go, love,” Dean said. “Take the punishment. Accept it. Forgive yourself.”

Another crack. My skin started to feel like someone had taken sandpaper to it.

“Forgive yourself.”

My arms began to shake as the heavy leather came down on my ass again.

“Please, love. I need you to forgive yourself.”

His tone was almost pleading, as if what he was doing hurt him as much as it hurt me. It was the thought of causing him pain that finally did it. When the belt hit me again, the cry that ripped out of me had less to do with the physical pain and more to do with all of the pain I'd been holding onto since the moment I'd gotten that picture of Anthony.

Suddenly, Dean was there, pulling me onto his lap. He held me while I cried, and it was a different sort of cry than I'd had at the hospital. Dalton was my brother, and I trusted him as family, but Dean was the one who could take over my control, who could take everything I needed to give up.

“Shh,” he murmured against my ear, “I've got you. I love you.”

I pressed my face against his chest. “I love you too.”

And then we were quiet, just existing there, our declarations wrapping around us.

How long the two of us sat there, I wasn't sure, but at some point, the gentle caresses that had been soothing were now arousing. When I raised my head, Dean was there, and I reached up to pull him down until our mouths touched.

The kiss fed the hunger burning inside me, and I knew Dean felt it too. He turned me, pulled my legs on either side of his waist. His jeans were rough against my overly sensitive skin, but the pain that had only hurt before now merged with other things.

“Need you,” I mumbled against his lips.

His hand slid between us, his knuckles rubbing against my curls as he worked his pants open. Hot, slick flesh slipped and slid, and then he was inside me, thick and full, pulsing and throbbing with me. Our bodies rocked against each other, the harsh sound of our breathing mingling in the otherwise silent room.

As pleasure consumed me, I knew that I wasn't going anywhere. Everything and everyone I needed was here. I'd figure the rest out.