Page 11 of Under Their Watch

“It’s okay,” I say. “I mean…”

“What?” he asks.

“It’s not like my dress hides my fat, so it’s not a secret that I…”

“Please, don’t finish that sentence,” Quinn says. Anika and Mia giggle, and he glares at them.

“What?” Mia asks. “It’s just cute to see you so soft with her. If that was one of us who said that, you’d already have us bent over.”

“Must you?” Jace asks.

“Yes, Jace. I must,” Mia says. “Walking on eggshells and hiding reality from her won’t help her heal.”

“Do you…” I start to ask but stop.

“What?” Jace asks me.

“Do you two fuck them as a punishment or something?” I ask, and Theo laughs.

“Yes, but it’s not a punishment,” Jace explains. “You are free to tell them to shut the fuck up. A lot is being dumped on you right now.”

“It’s okay,” I say.

“We are getting off topic,” Rowan reminds.

“Right,” Quinn says. “Can I see what he did?”

“Yeah,” I say.

“Max, hand me that blanket,” Jace says. Max tosses him a blanket as Quinn pulls me off the table and turns me around. Quinn pulls my dress off and Jace wraps the blanket around me so that everything is covered but my back.

“Christ,” Anika says. “That’s intense.”

“May I?” Theo says to me, and I nod. He runs his fingers along the scars and sighs. “How new is the one on your shoulder?”

“Uh… A few weeks,” I think. “The bullwhip also has metal on it.”

“What the fuck is wrong with this guy?” Max asks.

“I knew he was bad, but…” Anika says. “This is just cruel.”

“Turn around here,” Theo says. I turn to face him, and Quinn picks me up and sits me on the table again. “Do you want to be submissive?”

“Theo,” Quinn snaps.

“Stop,” Theo says. “Let her make her own choices. I know you want to protect her right now, but she needs to find something she can connect to and grow with.”

“I do,” I say. “I like pleasing people. I like to make people proud.”

“You like to be praised,” he says.

“Yeah,” I say.

“What about the impact play?” he asks.

“In the beginning, he didn’t hurt me like that. The scenes were pleasurable. It turned into him not stopping until I was in real pain,” I say.

“I am thinking that learning what true BDSM is would be helpful. You need to learn your own limits and learn how to express those limits. You need to pick a safe word and find out when to call it,” he says. “Pain doesn’t have to be painful, Rhea.You can mix the two and stay within your level of comfort. You also need to learn how to see yourself in a positive light.”

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