Page 8 of Submitting to the SEAL's Protection

He arched an eyebrow. “Where in the world did you come up with that?”

She shrugged, yawning slightly. “I didn’t. It’s courtesy of my roommate, Keanie. She teaches me what all the youngsters are saying these days.”

As Jared’s rumble of laughter shook him, he felt Rita’s breathing even out. “Hey, you aren’t going to sleep on me, are you?”

Stretching like a cat, Rita rubbed her head against Jared’s chest. “No, but I’m really, really relaxed.” She smiled at him, and the satisfaction on her face made his heart skip a beat “What did you have in mind?”

5

Rita felt Jared move, and she looked up to see that he’d propped an arm behind his head. “Well, there is still the matter of your transgressions,” he drawled. She stiffened and tried to pull away, but Jared stopped her. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“You’re not spanking me, Jared.”

Jared slid out from under Rita and arranged himself so that he was leaning against the headboard. Crossing his arms, he looked down at her. “Do you deserve to be punished for your transgressions?”

“I’m not talking about this.”

“No, Rita. Wearetalking about this. I asked you a question. Please answer it.”

Sitting up, Rita pulled her knees to her chest. She tried to put her thoughts in order. She didn’t want to talk about Tuck or what she’d been through, but how could she explain what she was thinking and feeling while leaving that out? She chewed on her lip while she thought. Jarod groaned. She raised an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“Do you have any idea how delicious you look?”

Blushing, Rita looked away from him for a moment before meeting his eyes again. “What, exactly, would this spanking thing entail?” she asked. “Where would you…spank me?”

Jared tilted his head. Awareness flickered across his face, and Rita fought to hold his gaze and not to look down at her hands. “Your ass,” he said. “Only ever on your ass.” He reached out and touched the point on her chin. “Do you think you deserve to be punished, Rita? For being late, and for lying to me earlier?”

Rita sighed. “I…I didn’t mean to…” The cool intensity of his eyes made her belly wobble uncomfortably.Why do I have this need to please him? What the hell is that?She had never had a problem telling Tuck to fuck off. Even when she knew it meant that he would take a swing at her. “Damn it,” she growled. “Yes, fine, I do think I should be punished. Happy?”

Nodding, Jared smiled at her. “Yes,” he said simply, and she felt a weird sense of pride from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Jared crooked his finger at her and patted his lap. “Come here and lie down. Ass up.”

“But why does it have to be a spanking?” Rita whined. Jared raised his eyebrow at her, and Rita scowled. “Because I was acting like a child,” she said, and he nodded again. “Fine.”

Rita rose to her knees and crawled slowly toward him. He groaned at the sight, and that weird sense of pride flared through her again. Kneeling next to him, Jared raised his arms so that Rita could lie across his lap, face down.

Jared rubbed her ass as Rita settled down. “Do I need to restrain your hands?”

Panic thrilled through her, and she shook her head. “No, I’ll be good.”

“Good girl,” he crooned. “Now, for each transgression, I think you deserve ten swats.”

She twisted to look at him. “That’s thirty! I wasn’t that bad.”

“Hmmm,” Jared replied, studying her face. “Maybe you’re right. Let’s cut it in half, shall we? Five swats for each transgression. Fifteen total.” Rita thought for a moment, and then nodded. At that, Jared brought the palm of his hand down on her right cheek with a thwack.

“That’s one. Do you need instruction on how this works, or are you familiar?” Jared asked.

Rita sighed unhappily. “Oh, I’m familiar,” she said shakily. “One. Thank you.” Jared paused for a long time, but then he continued with his spanks. Rita counted each one. There was a sharp stinging behind her eyes, but heat was building in her belly. Jared paused after each swat to rub at the cheeks of her ass, and she knew that he wasn’t truly trying to hurt her, like Tuck would have been. Like she had allowed him to do exactly once. Jared was just making a point.

“You’re doing very well,” he told her softly. Once he finished smacking her right cheek five times, he switched to her left, always careful to rub her entire ass after each one, making sure she stayed aroused and mingling pleasure with the pain until the line between them blurred. By the time they got to eight, Rita’s breathing had changed, and she raised her ass to meet his hand. Once they got to ten, Jared took a break and continued to rub her ass. He casually slid his fingers down her slit as she moaned. She was drenched.

“Those were for your first two transgressions. Five more to go for the last one, and I’m going to make these last five count, understand?” Rita bit her lip but nodded.SMACK!

“Eleven! Thank you.”

“Your skin has turned the prettiest color pink,” Jared crooned as he rubbed at her smarting flesh. Rita moaned and arched up into the comforting touch.

“Last four,” Jared said, and she could hear that he was just as turned on as her.SMACK!

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