Page 18 of Fixing Olivia (Fairford Affairs)

“Holy crap!” Olivia said at the same time, bounding off toward the bluff. “Man, Zach wasn’t kidding! This is amazing!”

Aiden followed at a more sedate pace, taking in the incredible vista. The Green Mountains spread out before them, living up to their namesake in the early summer weather. And there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, making it possible to see for the hundreds of miles Zach had promised.

“How is it possible I’ve lived here for six years, but never once seen this?”

She glanced at him over her shoulder, her brows slightly raised. “Do you actually live at the Manor all the time? I didn’t realize.”

“Not anymore,” he said, moving up beside her, brushing his fingers against hers. “I have a cabin now.” The other owners had procured their own little hideaways shortly after closing the deal on the mansion, but Aiden hadn’t been able to afford it. Four years after the Manor had opened, though, he’d jumped a few tax brackets.

“Where is it?” Olivia asked, linking her fingers with his.

“An hour north of here. That’s where I live when I’m not working. Whenever I need some time alone.” Not even the other guys had been to his cabin before. He liked that it was something separate from the bustle of the resort—something completely his own.

Fairford Manor was every bit as isolated as you could want your BDSM resort to be, which wasn’t too hard to achieve in northern Vermont. Yet it didn’t always feel that way with so many people around. The five Doms, their submissive flavors of the week, Zach, Gabriel and his small kitchen staff, housekeeping...even the landscaping crew that maintained the garden, the lawn, and the pool.

Aiden’s cabin, on the other hand, gave a whole new meaning to the wordsecluded. It was halfway up a mountain, with nothing but trees and wild animals around for miles in every direction.

“Well,” she said, nudging him with her shoulder. “I hope you’re not longing too much for alone time right now.”

Aiden chuckled. “Fishing for compliments, Olivia? That’s very bratty behavior, you know. And the only way to deal with brats is to spank them.”

Laughing, she skipped away from him, closer to the edge of the bluff. “Oh no, whatever shall I do?” she teased in a breathless, damsel-in-distress voice. “Don’t spank me, big scary man!”

“Come away from the edge please.” He tried to keep his tone light, not wanting to ruin the moment, but there was definitely a hard undertone in his voice.

She waved a dismissive hand at him. “I’m nowhere close to the edge.”

There was a weird twinge in his chest, growing stronger by the second. He had no idea what it was or why it was there. All he knew was he didn’t care for it at all. “Olivia—”

“Hold on, I want to get a panoramic picture.” Pulling his phone out, she fiddled with the camera settings, then took two steps even closer to the cliff and held it up, sweeping it from left to right, inch by tortuous inch.

Christ, she was close to the edge. A few more steps and she’d go right over. What if she lost her balance, all of her attention on the phone like that? Would he have time to get to her if she toppled over? “I’m not asking you. I’m telling you. Come here right now.”

“Almost done...”

“Olivia!” He gave up trying to hide the panic raging through him. “Now!”

Her head snapped around, her startled gaze meeting his furious one. She let her arm fall to her side, assuredly ruining her picture. But Aiden didn’t fucking care. All that mattered was she remembered who was in charge and did as she was told without further delay.

“I’m sorry,” she said, walking toward him. “I didn’t realize you were afraid of heights.”

“That doesn’t fucking matter!” he shouted, gripping her arm hard enough to make her wince. “You don’t have to understand my orders, or even agree with them. You only have to follow them. That’s what submissivesdo, or did all this fucking around in the woods make you forget that?”

Tears sprang to her sapphire eyes. “I—I’m sorry, Sir. I didn’t mean—”

Her words cut off with a small yelp as Aiden dragged her farther away from the cliff edge. “Come,” he said, supporting her weight until she got her feet back under her, and she could scurry along beside him. They walked away from the edge about twenty yards, until they got to a fallen tree Olivia had taken several pictures of.

Aiden shoved her in front of him, until her thighs pressed against the large trunk. He dragged her skintight pants down with such force, a seam popped. But he didn’t care. He didn’t give a fuck if he ripped the things clean off her, and she had to walk back to the Manor naked. It seemed like a fair punishment for what she’d done, in fact.

“Down,” he ordered, forcing her to bend over the fallen tree. “Hands behind your head.”

She dangled over the trunk without a word of argument or complaint, her hair trailing all the way to the ground. Lacing her fingers behind her head, she waited, shoulders shaking slightly with silent tears.

“Never.” Aiden unbuckled his belt. “Disobey me.” He pulled it free of his belt loops with aswooshthat made Olivia shudder. “Again.” Bending the soft, supple leather double and gripping the ends in his right hand, he pushed against her lower back with his left, holding her in place.

He didn’t give her any sort of warmup before he started painting her ass red with the belt. “Do you have any idea how fucking scared I was?” he shouted, strapping her again and again and again. The redder her skin got, the better it made him feel. “You could’ve fallen! You would’vedied! Donotmake me feel like that again, do you understand me?”

When she didn’t respond, he yanked the pants off her completely, taking her sneakers with them, and brought the belt down even harder on the tender flesh at the tops of her thighs. At long last, she sobbed aloud, the sound only egging him on. “I said do you fucking understand me!”

---