Page 37 of Pretty Please Me
“I know it was an accident, but when you agreed to be my submissive, you agreed to all the rules.” He breathes deep, his nostrils flaring as he slides his hand a little higher, fingertips brushing just past my knee.
I close my eyes, enjoying the sensation as my body wakes up with arousal. I squeeze my thighs together to try to get some relief from the building tension. Sam surprises me when he switches my legs again. I suck in a sharp breath almost forget to keep myself covered underneath the bubbles.
“When I said we needed to discuss your punishment, you looked afraid.”
I open my eyes, surprised by the change in direction.
“You looked like you were afraid ofme,” he emphasizes. “Can you tell me why, Magnolia? Because I want you to feel completely safe with me, and I need to know what was going on in that pretty little head of yours.”
I bite my lip. “I thought you meant something more like a physical punishment, and I got scared.” I shrug. “It’s just a reflex, I guess.”
Sam holds my gaze, and I don’t dare look away. His eyes are soft with something that looks a lot like concern as he studies me, then moves again so that he’s beside me. When he reaches into the water to grab my arm, my whole body tenses.
“Tell me about that,” he demands, and I don’t know if it’s his touch that excites me or that I actually feel safe, but I answer honestly.
“I don’t really talk about it a lot, but during my time in different foster homes, the adults always seemed to expect more from me because I was the oldest.”
His fingers pause for a moment then he gently continues his perusal with the loofa, sliding his hands up my forearms and slightly past my elbow. I take his silence as an invitation to continue.
“It seemed like I was always in trouble for something, always being punished one way or another…”
Sam sucks in a long breath and pulls his hands away, balling them into fists in his lap. I sit up a little, careful not to expose myself, and place my wet hand on his thigh. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing like that.” I shake my head. “I wasn’t physically abused or anything. They weren’t allowed to hit us, so they had to be creative. I’ve been grounded from electricity, grounded from eating carbs, dessert, and one time, even cheese. The thing that hit me the hardest, though, was when I was twelve, my foster mom at the time cut all my hair off.”
“Fuck, Maggie, that’s terrible. Abuse isn’t just physical. I’m so sorry you were treated like that.”
Wanting to reassure him, I grab his hand, locking my fingers around his. “I guess I’m just hypersensitive because I always got in trouble for all the younger kids in the home. It didn’t matter what I did. If one of the younger ones did something wrong, it was always my fault.”
I shrug and release his hand as I sink into the warm water.
“That doesn’t seem fair,” he finally says, and I laugh.
“Nothing about my life has been fair, Sam. I learned to accept that a long time ago.”
I offer him my other arm, holding it out over my chest, and he offers me a soft smile as he continues to bathe me.
“So, that’s why you’re always trying to take care of everyone,” he whispers.
“Yeah, I guess so. I always think there’s someone else who needs protecting more than I do. I learned really early on that though my circumstances weren’t ideal, they could’ve been so much worse.”
“But that doesn’t mean you owe anyone because they had it harder than you,” he retorts, and I almost flinch before I realize he’s being protective of me, of the little girl I was all those years ago.
He drops my arm, and I hug it over me, murmuring, “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
Sliding the loofa along my neck, he scrubs the small area of exposed flesh, and I suck in a breath. “Lean forward so I can wash your back.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, bringing my arms over my breast as I sit up and lean forward. The cold air elicits chill bumps over my exposed skin.
“You’re so lovely,” Sam whispers. “Just when I think you can’t get any more perfect, I learn something new about you or see you in a way that no one else has.” He lets out a long muffled sigh, and then suddenly, instead of the loofa, I feel his firm hands sliding down my back, massaging and kneading my neck.
This is the strangest punishment I could’ve imagined, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying it. Being the center of attention has never been something I liked, but listening to Sam’s sighs and groans of frustration as his eyes stay glued to my naked body is a pleasure I’ve never felt.
“I can’t imagine someone doing anything less than worshiping your body. It’s taking everything in me not to climb in that bathtub with you right now.” His fingers trail down my ribcage, skating dangerously close to my breasts.
I close my eyes as I urge him to touch me, internally screaming for him to do something to relieve me from this growing tension building between my legs, but he pulls away, the cold air replacing his warm touch like a slap in the face.
Something comes over me, call it courage, lust, desperation, but I don’t even recognize the sound of my voice when I say, “Touch me, Sam.” It comes out more like a plea than a statement, but I don’t care. “Please touch me, sir,” I add for good measure. Hey, if I’m going to be forward, I guess I should go all in, right?
“Fuck.” Sam mumbles under his breath, then he appears in front of me, eyes dark with hunger. He props his foot on the tub, bracing his back flat against the wall as he balances on his stool. “Magnolia, I would love nothing more than to touch you right now.” He bites his knuckle and sighs. “But this is a punishment, remember? I can’t reward you for your behavior today and give you something so… easy.”
