“Sir, no!” Winter interjected. “Punish me instead. Beat me yourself, even. It’ll be more satisfying that beating poor Saya.”

“Iampunishing you, silly girl. Mack too. He doesn’t really want to hurt Saya either.” Ramsay’s face was grim. “I won’t tolerate a lack of openness in this family, and I won’t tolerate bratting from you, little bitchboy.”

He was determined. No way out of this.

Mack shook out the belt, still warm from wear, and the faint scent of leather drifted up from it, sensual and captivating. He groaned inwardly. Poor Saya was so fucked if someone didn’t keep him in check. Between the feel of the leather as it slid through his hands and knowing how she would scream for him, he didn’t stand a chance of keeping it under control.

One order from Sir, and he’d turned into the kind of drooling, perverted sadist that writers made villains of in movies.

He loved Saya. There was no order that could make him forget that. Right?

The fear she displayed for him was green and lush, the new fear of anon-masochist who didn’t want the pain he could inflict. A strong urge to run his tongue up the back of her neck and whisper threats in her ear almost undid him, but he buried it, saving it for another time and the other girl.

“Don’t forget to breathe through it,” Winter whispered, trying to capture Saya’s gaze with her own.

“No.” Ramsay grabbed Saya’s chin and turned her head so that she was looking at him. “You look at me when I’m having you punished. Winter, you think about the fact that your influence over her has made this happen. Encouraging each other to keep things from me will never end well. For any of you.”

“Are you sure you wantmeto do this?” Mack asked, nervous. If he got carried away and fucked this up, Ramsay would never forgive him. “Maybe it would be better if you did it. Saya isn’t like Winter and I’m afraid... I...”

Ramsay’s hand circled the back of Mack’s neck, gentle but firm. “Mack, you’ve got this. I trust you to do what needs to be done without getting carried away.” He kissed Mack’s mouth tenderly. “You love her. I know you do. You wouldn’t give her more than she could handle, even if I ordered you to. Watch her. Measure her reactions. We’ll make her safeword ‘monster,’ just so there’s no confusion. It’s the one you’re most familiar with.”

Tears pricked at Mack’s eyes. If Ramsay believed he could control himself, maybe he wasn’t as much of a monster as he thought. Inside, he centered, felt stronger. “Yes, Sir.”

Ramsay’s eyes were a study in warm blues this close up. So very different than the icy blue of Winter’s. For a moment Mack lost himself trying to imagine how to capture that effect with pencils or paint. Beautiful Viking.

When Ramsay turned away, the spell was interrupted, but the effects lingered. Ramsay knew him, could see into him, and approved of what he saw. It meant something to Mack that he couldn’t even explain to himself.

“Saya, you’ll remember the safeword ‘monster’?”

“Yes, Master.” She was trembling.

“Okay, Mack. Begin.”

Control. Mack took a fortifying breath and landed the belt on Saya’s ass cheek. Hard enough to make her notice, but eliciting only a squeak from his victim.

“This is supposed to be a punishment, Mack. You left a tiny pink splotch. Take it up a notch.”

“Yes, Sir.” He drew his arm back further the second time and the strike landed with a satisfying snap.

Saya went up on her toes and yelped. “Ow, ow, ow, ow! Oooh, ow!”

The chuckle that came from Ramsay encouraged him and gave him permission to enjoy this.

He hit her again, harder. She shrieked, and the sound went straight to his cock. Adrenaline reared its head and his eyes sought out the mark he’d left, sweet and pink on the globe of her ass. Saya’s sounds of distress were like a drug.

Winter was murmuring to her, apologizing and trying to calm her down. Briefly, Mack fought to control himself.

Sir wrapped a hand around the base of Mack’s cock, his own pressing against Mack’s ass through the jeans he wore. Mack’s breath caught and he hissed in surprise.

“You really do enjoy this, you perverted little bastard. You like making girls scream?” He jerked hard at Mack’s cock several times, then let go.

Saya was sniveling, her eyes searching for her Master, who was almost entirely out of her line of sight. Her eyes were wet and Mack was struck by the loveliness of her tears and disgust at himself for taking pleasure from this when it was giving her none.

Guilt nibbled at him.

“Give her the next four hard and fast, and you’ll get a reward.”

Mack groaned. Ramsay had an interesting definition of reward, considering the most recent one was being allowed to whack off in the middle of a scene while Ramsay and the girls stopped and watched him. He’d been too horny to refuse, but the memory was still humiliating.