Page 79 of Storms & Sacrifice
I give a half-hearted glare before finishing my sentence. “—then do you think he might do something to them to get back at me?”
He pauses for a moment to think. “I do notthinkso. They are not exactly a threat tohis plans, as far as we know.” He pauses, taking a breath, and sighs. “Not that we definitively know what his plans are. I am sorry, David. I wish there was more Icould do.”
“I just want to protect them.” I lean back against the door. “This is allmy fault.”
“I know things seem bleak, but we will figure this out.” Khazak stands and walks over to me, rubbing his hands on my shoulders. “There is nothing we can do about it right now, so best to try and just enjoy your birthday. We have all of tomorrow to discuss our next steps. Sound good?”
“Sounds good, Sir.” I nod my head, cracking a small grin.
“Good boy. Now, are you ready for the next part of your punishment?” He cracks a bigger grin.
I groan in response. I also notice that he said “next” and not “last.” I hope there’s not more. Without waiting for more of an answer, the orc marches me back to the bedroom.
“Strip down to your underwear and bend over the edge of the bed.” I’m pushed forward gently when the orderis given.
I work quickly, pulling off my shirt before it’s fully unbuttoned and kicking off my pants. I want to get this done. A throat clears as I bend over the bed, and I look back to see a thoroughly unimpressed Khazak looking between me and my discarded clothing. With a mumbled “sorry,” I pick up and fold my clothes a little more neatly before moving back intoposition.
“Arms above your head, and I expect them to stay there.” A hand touches the small of my back. “Do you need me to get a pair of restraints?”
“No. I can handle it, Sir.” He’s not mocking me. This is just gonna hurt.
I hold my breath, waiting for the first strike. I wait. And wait. And wa— “OWW FUCK!”
I hear a snort of laughter at my outburst. It’s not even that it was that hard. It justreallycaught me by surprise. The next strike follows soon after that, then the third, then the fourth... I’m pretty sure he’s using a strap, which feels both juvenile and impersonal. I’m not saying I like getting spanked, but I hate it less when he uses hisown hands.
“I cannot decide if your actions yesterday were more or less reckless than the attempted jailbreak.”And here comes the lecture.“On the one hand, the legal consequences would likely be less severe; on the other,he is a dangerous man we suspect to be responsible for bombing the city.” He punctuates his sentence with a particularly hard smack.
The strikes start coming faster, but thankfully not any harder. Not that he’s being gentle. As the pain and heat in my ass builds, I start to hear myself whimper. My hands are both tight fists, clutching the sheet of the bed to fight the urge to reach behind me, which only getsstronger.
“I am not entirely sure why I am even bothering to punish you, honestly.” He doesn’t pause the strapping though. “What exactly is the point of agreeing to submit to me if you have no intention of obeying? Especially when it comes to somethingsoimportant.”
I don’t know,I want to tell him, but even if I could form words right now, he wouldn’t want to hear them. I can feel tears starting to well up, and I bury my face into the bed as if that’s going to help me hide the effectsafterward.
“Do you remember when the wolves attacked, the way you felt when I tried to order you to leave me?” he asks, not pausing long enough for an answer. “Imagine what it would have felt like to learn about it after the fact. To not find out until later how much danger I was in. Now imagine that on top of that, my actions resulted in me putting myself andeveryone I knowin evenmoredanger. Because that is exactly whatyou did!”
“I’m sorry!” I cry out, the grip of my hands on the sheet turning my knuckles white.
“We are supposed to be a team, David! Not just at work, butalways.” He concentrates a few of his strikes toward the bottom of my ass.Sitting down is gonna suck.“You do not get to decide to only listen to me when it is convenient! I cannot protect you if I do not know what you are doing!”
“‘m sorry!” I yell again into the mattress, not even sure if he can hear me.
The lecture ends, but the strapping continues. After a while, the pain and guilt and tears all start to bleed together, and the next thing I know, there is a dip in the mattress as Sir climbs on next to me, pulling me over to lay face-down across his chest, preventing my poor red ass from touching anything. A gentle hand strokes from my shoulders to my lower back, soft words being whispered into my ears as I come back to my body. A body which isvery sore.
“Feeling alright?” The chest I’m lying on rumbles, and I turn my head to meet a pair of brown eyes.
“Other than the obvious,” I croak, wiggling my butt in the air.
“Back to your old self already. Good.” He smiles warmly, leaning his head forward for a quick kiss. “Then you are ready for the final part of your punishment. Up and bend over with your hands onthe bed.”
I groan but climb off the orc, hissing when I fail to resist the urge to rub a hand on my ass. Khazak stands, pulling a plug out of the same chest he returns the strap to. He quickly lubes it up and presses it into me, making sure to stop and knead my sore cheeks a little to make me whimper again. Then he leads me out to the living room, where he stands me in a corner that was previously occupied by a pile of pillows.
“Inspection.” I don’t register the order right away because I’m still trying to figure out why I’m staring at two walls, but slowly I move my hands to clasp the back of my head, legs spreading intoposition.
Then I hear Khazak sit down on the couch. And do nothing else.
“Are you serious?” I turn to look at the orc like he’s out of his mind. He’s putting me intimeoutwhile he reads a damn book?!
“Do I strike you as someone who jokes around?” He can deny it all he wants, but IknowI’m rubbing off on him.
