Page 83 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

How did I ever answer that?No. Yes. Anything for Lizzie.Was Nick going to partake in my humiliation? I didn’t know if I could bear for him to see me naked and crying in a cage, as Dante fed me with his fingers.

Nick sensed my confusion. “Do you know what a safeword is, Sofia?”

I nodded. I’d done my internet research when Ana revealed that Nick was into BDSM.

“Pick one. Now.”

“Strawberry,” I murmured.

He nodded. “If you say that word, all of this stops.” He glared up at Dante. “All of it. While I’m here, you have the power to say no to anything you don’t want to do. When you say ‘strawberry,’ we stop, make sure you feel safe, that you are actually safe, and take care of you until we know you’re okay, all right?”

“She’s a fucking slut for pain and humiliation. I’ll allow a safe word when Lombardi’s here, kitten, but otherwise, our deal stands.”

“What’s your safeword, Sofia?” Nick asked me again.

“Strawberry,” I answered, a shiver skittering down my spine as his eyes turned dark.

“Good. Eyes forward.” He stood up from the couch.

My breath caught when a finger traced down my spine, over the painful welts on my bottom. I couldn’t tell who touched me.

“Where were we, slut?” Dante asked, the sharp smack of his belt against his hand sending tremors of worry shooting through me.

“Five, sir,” I whispered, almost in tears at the thought of Nick witnessing not only my whipping, but how wet and needy the whipping made me.

The belt whistled through the air. The contact sent agony slicing through me, followed by sharp need. I whined, “Six, sir.”

“God, what a slut, so wet you’re dripping, desperate for our cocks,” Dante said as the belt struck me again.

“Seven, sir.”

One of the men behind me hummed, and fingers traced over my curves, tapping on the stripes left by the belt, sending jolts of intense pain and euphoria rushing through me.

“So sweet, so giving and generous to let us use her like this,” Nick said, close to my ear, before pressing wet kisses down my back. He dug his fingers into my hips, and I whimpered with pain even as his hot breath on my skin sent shivers of pleasure up and down my spine. “A gorgeous slut, with gorgeous stripes across her gorgeous ass.”

He stepped away, and I immediately missed the warmth of his hands on my skin.

The whip of the belt through the air was my only warning before fire bloomed over the backs of my thighs. “Eight, sir,” I sobbed, no longer holding back the tears Dante was desperate to see. What was the point? I let them fall, bending my elbows and resting my face on my hands as I cried.

“Fucking beautiful when she cries, isn’t she?” Dante asked softly.

I didn’t know what to do with the warmth comforting me from the inside out, a terrible and frightening balance to the humiliation Dante heaped upon me.

He hit me with the belt again.

“Nine, sir.”

“Would you like the honor of finishing?” Dante asked.

No.I don’t think my heart could bear Nick participating in my humiliation, in the joy that Dante took in reducing me to nothing but tears and embarrassment.

“Please,” I whispered.

“Please, what, slut?” Dante asked, annoyed.

“Sir, please don’t make Nick—”

Nick’s gentle laughter rang out in the hotel room, rubbing the jagged edges of my soul raw. “I’m not a switch, sweet Sofia. Dante’s not going tomakeme do anything.”

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