She paled. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. So we can stay here until it’s over. Or we can go find a room right now.”

“You suggesting I hide? Even though it’s partially my fault she’s being subjected to punishment?”

“It’s not your fault. Layla isn’t a novice to the lifestyle, Angel. You are.”

“Will it be bad?”

“I swear to you Murphy won’t hurt her beyond what she can handle. But the whole point is to remind her of her submissive, not subversive, role in his life.”

Determination flitted through her eyes. She drained her drink. “I want to watch.”

Brave girl. “Just as long as you understand you cannot interfere. Period.”

“I won’t.”

Ben left his unfinished beer on the table. Clasping her hand, he led her through the crowd, taking a left at the hallway.

Two dozen people were in front of the medieval room. He nudged her to a space in the middle of the crowd, wrapping his arms around her upper body, unsure if he meant to hold her up or hold her back.

She gasped softly, seeing Layla in chains, arms above her head, a spreader bar keeping her legs apart. Her naked back faced the audience. Murphy wielded a single tail whip.

Layla stuttered, “F-fourteen, Sir.”

Welts decorated Layla’s back. Murphy didn’t move as he cracked the whip again; the tip scored the tender skin on her left side.

Angel jumped and Ben held tight. “This part is almost done,” he murmured. “Murphy never does more than twenty strikes.”

Layla counted, her voice staying strong. But Murphy didn’t look happy when he leveled the final blow. He put the whip aside and stood in front of his submissive, forcing her to meet his gaze as he unhooked the manacles from her wrists. Then he nodded at Sully, who rolled a pommel up front.

Layla said something to Murphy and he snapped, “That earned you another ten.” He hoisted her off the floor, placing her torso on the modified pommel horse. Her head and arms dangled on the opposite side, which left her ass sticking up in the air. With her legs spread by the bar, her pussy and her anus were totally exposed to all who watched the scene.

Murphy restrained Layla’s arms and snagged a paddle off the cart. He grabbed a fistful of her hair, raising her head. “Twenty swats. You will count them down from twenty. And if I’m not convinced you’ve learned your lesson, I will add twenty more from the cane. Are we clear?”

“Yes, Sir.”

He moved behind her. He swung, the paddle connected with her skin, high on her left butt cheek.

“Twenty. Thank you, Sir.”

The next blow hit in the same place.

“Nineteen. Thank you, Sir.”

The next blow lower. Each blow precisely placed so every inch of Layla’s ass was cherry red.

But that wasn’t all that was red. Ben murmured, “Look at her pussy. See how wet and swollen it is? These last ten aren’t punishment for her. They’re her reward for takin’ the punishment. Understand?”

She nodded against his neck.

Murphy bellowed, “I can’t hear you, sub. Louder.”

“Three. Thank you, S-sir.”

Layla’s voice had taken on a dreamlike quality. The last two blows landed so close to her cunt she moaned. When Murphy finished, he tenderly smoothed his hands over her abraded ass. But Layla barely stirred. He dropped his pants. When he reached for the strap-on, murmurs rippled through the crowd.

Murphy squirted lube on his cock and on the phallus centered above his cock and stroked both. He drizzled more lube between her butt cheeks. Using both hands, he aligned the dildo to her asshole and his cock to her cunt and shoved both in deep.

Layla’s head came up and she wailed.

“Is he…”

“Fucking her ass and her pussy at the same time.”

She said, “Oh God,” but she didn’t avert her eyes from watching Murphy master Layla. Murphy slowed his thrusts, sped up and reached around Layla’s thigh to toy with her clit.

She wailed again. “Please, Sir.”

“Say it, Layla. Say it and I’ll let you come.”

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry I disappointed and embarrassed you.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. You’ve earned this.” He fucked her harder, moved his hand faster. “Come for me.”

And Layla did. Her body convulsed. She screamed, but they weren’t screams of pain.

Murphy kept reaming her until her body went completely slack. He slowed, leaning over her to place a tender kiss on her back. He pulled out and bent down, releasing the spreader bar from between her ankles. After pulling up his pants, he crouched in front of her and cradled her face in his hands. Wiping her tears, murmuring to her, smoothing her tangled hair from her face, kissing her with tenderness and fire. He unhooked her restraints and scooped her into his arms, kissing the top of her head as he carried her into a private room and shut the door.

Watchers started to scatter.

His sub had craned her head to look at the closed door, so Ben couldn’t read her eyes.

When he placed an openmouthed kiss on her shoulder, she tried to get free from him. “Hey now. Easy.”

“I can’t… I never…God. That was… I have to…”

Then his sub raced down the hallway like the hounds of hell nipped at her heels.

Chapter Six

Ben caught up with her in front of room four. “Whoa. Where you goin’?”

“I don’t know.”

“Talk to me.”

“I can’t. Not here.”

He herded her into the room.

Immediately she retreated to a corner and sent off don’t-touch-me vibes.

This isn’t the first time you’ve dealt with a skittish sub.

“Angel? Are you upset about the scene with Murphy and Layla?”

“Not upset. It horrified me. I can’t believe I stood there and watched him whip her. She tried to explain to me why the hurting stuff was part of their life, and I thought I understood, but obviously I didn’t.”

Ben didn’t remind her everything was consensual. He just watched her pace as her mind raced.

“But no one around me was horrified. So when Murphy finished whipping her and switched to the paddle, it didn’t seem as horrible. Mostly because I saw the change in Layla’s body language. And it wasn’t like Murphy noticed it too; it was like Murphy had caused the change in her. And each time that paddle connected, I could almost feel her calmness and bliss floating over me.”

Sweet sub, you really are starting to get it.

“But Murphy didn’t use sex for shock value for the people watching. He used it because Layla needed it. And I’ll admit it was pretty hot watching him, especially with two…” she gestured distractedly, “you know. I’ve never believed a woman could scream from an orgasm. But it wasn’t like a porn scream, it was a you touched my soul type scream.”

She stopped by the door with her hands clenched at her sides, her eyes closed. “But when Murphy knelt in front of her, the gratitude, love and admiration in his eyes for Layla was far from horrifying. It was beautiful. And I never would’ve believed any of this if I hadn’t seen it firsthand. If they hadn’t let me be a part of something so intensely personal for them.”

Ben had known Angel was smart, but that didn’t guarantee she’d be intuitive. It also didn’t guarantee she truly knew what she wanted. He waited for her to regain her balance. The longer he waited the more he realized her epiphany wasn’t making her happy. In fact, she seemed to have closed herself off from him again.

He crowded her against the door, relying on the power of his voice, not his body, to keep her in place. “Talk to me.”

Her haunted hazel eyes burned with indecision.

“Is there something else about Murphy and Layla’s scene that’s bothering you?”

“Yes. No.” Her gaze fell to his chest. “It’s something I realized about myself while watching it.”

“What?” Ben expected loss of eye contact would encourage her to speak openly, but she remained mute. “Answer me.”

Her voice was barely a whisper. “I can’t ask you.”

“Can’t ask me to do what? Fuck you? Whip you?”

“I don’t want to be whipped. Ever.” She gnawed on her lip.

“Still waitin’ for an answer, Angel.”

“Fine. I can’t ask you to spank me.”

“But you liked watching that redhead get her ass smacked last night.” That’s when Ben understood. “You need me to take the choice away completely. Like Murphy did with Layla. You need me to decide when to paddle your ass.”

She nodded, a bit shyly.

“I don’t like usin’ a spanking as punishment.”

“I’m not usually much of a rule breaker anyway, so see my dilemma?” She peered up at him. “I’d be worried you’d use more than your hand on me.”

“There’s no need for you to worry because it’d be my decision.”

She pursed her mouth into a scowl.

“Ah-ah. None of that.” His lips grazed the plumpness of hers, hovering a breath away, waiting to swoop in and claim the kiss she’d denied him last night.

This time when she opened her tempting mouth, Ben denied her a kiss. Moving his lips to the tip of her chin and cruising up the left side of her jaw. He nuzzled her ear, licking, blowing, nibbling. The more he nuzzled, the harder she squirmed. Coarse hair brushed his cheek and he itched to remove the wig, so she wasn’t hiding anything from him.

Her fingers inched up his chest and she clutched his shirt.

“Hands by your sides,” he reminded, nipping her neck.

She gasped, twisting away from his mouth.

“Stay still.” His tone turned sharp and he forced her hands back down.

“I-I don’t know if I can.”

“Not a request.” When Ben sank his teeth into the section of skin between her shoulder and throat, her knees buckled and she shoved him away hard.