Page 34 of S is for…

Laney stuck out her tongue at the other woman.

“I know how to use a six-foot,” Lihn said.

Julen and Peter both looked at him.The fact that Lihn wasn’t going to be receiving a punishment, and had just volunteered to administer it instead, made Julen want to punch him.

Fucker would never see him coming out in the parking lot.Plenty of weird shadows he could hide in.

Julen’s face must have been doing…something, because Lihn’s expression went from amused to alarmed.

“Do you actually know how?”Diann asked.

Lihn raised a brow at her.

“I know most of the heavy impact players.Masters Xavier, Anderson… You’re not on that list.”Diann’s gaze was cool and level as she studied Lihn.

“I actually learned it for a performance art piece, and Xavier was the one who taught me.”

Diann looked first to Peter, who nodded, then to Julen.

Their gazes met, and Julen felt his shoulders relax.Her irises were dark, with hints of gold, her long lashes framing those eyes.He didn’t know why holding her gaze made him relax.Maybe because Diann was looking out for him, for them, by questioning Lihn.

“I also know how to use a cat to leave just a sting and pink, no cuts or bruises,” Lihn added.

“A cat-o-nine?”Laney asked.

“Not necessarily nine,” Diann explained.“Basically if you look at it and you can easily count the strands, it’s a cat.Cat-o-nine, cat-o-four, etc.If it has a ton of strands or falls, it’s a flogger.A cat is more painful because it stings, where a flogger is more of a soft thud.”

No question who the most experienced masochistic pain bottom was.

“Three of each,” Julen said, surprising himself.“Three with the whip, three with a cat.”

They’d discussed specifics for the punishment among themselves, and had settled on fifty swats for a spanking, fifteen minutes of public humiliation, or five lashes with the whip.

Julen had just upped that by one, and made it more challenging by proposing it be both rather than either/or.

Beside him, Peter muttered “fuck” but then shrugged fatalistically.The fact that he deemed that punishment worthy of a “fuck” probably meant Julen should be alarmed.

Instead he felt oddly calm as Diann turned to face him, their gazes once more locked together.He should be looking at Laney.He was going to take this punishment because he’d wronged her, not Diann.

“Okay, I think we have a plan.Punishment today, and next weekend we start with new pairings for one night.”Joni looked around, and when her attention fell on him, Julen nodded, finally breaking the shared gaze with Diann.

Lihn pushed to his feet.“I’ll get my whip.”

Chapter10

Lihn, Julen, Peter, Joni, Laney, Diann

“Holy shit, this is hot,”Joni breathed.

Diann nodded in fervent agreement.

It was midmorning now, and word had gotten around about the upcoming punishment.There was a crowd gathered around the stage in the Iron Court, people filling the space between the statuary.The Iron Court had playrooms suited to more intense scenes—walls of whips and studded paddles.Iron cages and stainless steel tables.Rooms that looked like medieval dungeons.

The Iron Court courtyard was barren compared to the Sub Rosa and Constellation courtyards, filled with concrete statues rather than plants.

Off to one side of the stage, Lihn was warming up his wrist.Diann thought she knew every Dom who was proficient with either a six-foot whip or a cat, but Lihn had surprised her.After their dawn meeting, Diann had gone back to the Subs’ Garden and changed out of her street clothes into a pair of thick spandex bike shorts and a bandeau style bra.She’d marched back to the Iron Court, black robe she’d thrown on flaring like a superhero cape, with one very firm resolve.

“Lihn looks like he knows what he’s doing,” Joni said, but it was almost a question.

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