Page 4 of James

Once that was done, she looked uncertainly around. There was enough room for them, but clearly the room was some kind of storage area and not intended for hanging around in for any length of time. Outside, the storm raged and howled. She winced as something heavy hit the roof and bounced across it. Glass shattered, the roof creaked and a thud like something really heavy - maybe a washing machine or some of the driers – hit the wall to her left. Laura cried out as the room shook. She supposed they were safe – safer than they’d been in the front room, anyway – but she didn’t feel safe, not until she looked at up James and saw his brown eyes looking back at her with quiet confidence.

‘I can do this,’ she thought, and squared her shoulders.

“What now?” she asked.

James could see that Laura was trying to be brave, but even as she tried to smile, she looked like a deer caught in the proverbial headlights, her eyes glassy and round with terror, desperate to flee, but standing her ground.

James couldn’t offer her much comfort. They’d done all they could to make themselves as safe as possible, and now they just had to wait out the storm and see what happened. But she didn’t want to hear that. What she wanted, what she needed, was a distraction, something to take her mind off the things they couldn’t change. And after all, she had earned herself a spanking with her recklessness a few minutes before. “I think it’s time I turned you over my knee, don’t you?”

Laura went from pale to blushing in an instant.

“Why on earth would you do that?” she exclaimed, her voice shrill on the last word. “You truly think I’m willingly going to let you hurt me? You must think I’m insane. No, wait, you’re the one who’s insane!” Her voice swirled like the raging tornado outside, gaining strength with each word.

James sighed and set up the light on a shelf where it would provide the most illumination. He sat down on a pile of rags and old clothing. Time to take back the control. With his feet shoulder-width apart and elbows on his knees, he took a centering breath and gave her his Dom-look, the one that many submissives told him made their knees weak.

He didn’t know about her knees, but that look hit her somewhere, for sure. She smoothed down her clothing nervously and backed up, although she couldn’t go far in this small room. With a self-deprecating laugh, she tried to downplay her discomfort, but her eyes darted away, breaking the fleeting connection they had made. In a gesture of vulnerability, she shrugged and hugged herself, as if trying to make herself smaller and less noticeable.

“Laura,” James said seriously, “if you’ve read as much as I think you have, you know I won’t harm you. Yes, a spanking does hurt, and it can leave a bruise or two, but ultimately, it’s about trust and letting go. I think you know that. I think you’re curious and you want to try. What’s holding you back?”

He captured her gaze with his, immensely pleased when she didn’t break the connection this time. She bit her bottom lip but didn’t make a sound. She was definitely thinking about it.

“Do you intend to use your safeword?”he asked. “Because you can either use it and we can wait this thing out on opposite sides of the room making awkward small talk, or —” He gave her the Dom-stare again, his voice firm and uncompromising. “— or you can be a good little submissive and accept your punishment.”

CHAPTER THREE

“From now until we leave this place, I am your Dom and you are my submissive… Safeword is red, yellow if you need to slow down.” James’s words echoed in Laura’s head. It couldn’t be true. She didn’t believe it. BDSM might be exciting and sensual in the books she loved, but they were just stories, fantasies. The reality was Jake. And she most certainly wasnota submissive.

She had hated the way her ex-husband had treated her. He was bossy and blunt, with no regard for her feelings. He was always demanding more of her time and sometimes it seemed he would suck all the life from her. It had taken a long time to realize she was worth more than he told her she was, even longer to make and carry out the plan to leave him. No way would she ever let another man tell her what to do!

But a safeword… He told her she had a safeword, exactly like the Dominants in her favorite books where the submissives had the power. She could use the safeword and make things stop. Could it be true?

James watched her face as if he could read her mind, but gave her a few moments to think things through.

“You’re really going to spank me?” Laura asked at last.

“If you don’t get yourself down here over my knee or say ‘red’ by the time I count to ten, I’ll take my belt to you after I’ve finished with my hand. One.” He paused, then went on with his count. “Two. Three.”

When he reached seven, Laura knelt down and leaned over to put herself over his knees. She braced her hands on the ground, as much to stop their trembling as to hold herself steady.

“Good girl,” he praised. “The first step is the hardest. It’s brave of you to submit and accept your punishment. Now. Do you know why you’re getting this spanking?”

She nodded.

“Tell me.”

“Because you’re mad at me for going back to the windows,” she said hoarsely, almost whispering.

“No. You’re getting this spanking because you willfully endangered yourself. You didn’t listen to me when I told you it wasn’t safe to stand in front of the windows.”

He pushed up her skirt so only one thin layer of fabric covered her buttocks. The skin on the back of her legs prickled, as if every nerve ending was exposed. She instinctively tried to pull her legs in under her, but the thickly-muscled thighs beneath her prevented the movement. She hung her head and allowed her hair to shield her face, creating a barrier between her and the world. Her breath quickened, shallow and uneven, and a bead of sweat trickled down her temple, leaving a trail of discomfort in its wake. With each passing moment, she became more and more aware of her vulnerable position.

“Do you understand why you’re being punished?”James stroked his huge, callused hand over her panty-covered bottom. The thin material doing nothing to shield her from his touch.

She managed a weak nod, despite her dazed condition.

“Laura, I expect a verbal answer,” he admonished her.

“Y-yes, sir”

---