He pulled his hands off her breasts.
“No.” She reached for them, trying to draw them back. She could feel his reluctance, but he cupped her again. She pressed her breasts against his palms, trying to let him know she wanted it. She would have to make them understand. “You pinched my nipples, and I thought about how nice it would be to have rings there that you could play with. That’s what made me think about it.”
“All right.” Chase’s voice was deep and even, as though he was holding off judgment. “I’m actually a bit surprised the VCH and the tongue ring are the only modifications you have.”
Ben picked up his brother’s line of thinking. “It would be a way for the fucker to mark you. I was thinking about nipple rings, too. I was thinking about picking them out and then finding a chain we could run from your nipples down to your clit. I want to mark you, and I’m not a crazed asshole.”
“He is from time to time,” Chase muttered. “Don’t let him fool you. There’s only one reason for Hawk to not place a ‘property of’ sign on you. He tattooed Kitten after all.”
She’d seen it. Both Gretchen and Kitten had been forcibly tattooed with a nasty-looking hawk on their shoulder blades. Chase was right. It was a property sign. She’d been terrified of having to sit still for it. And now she was finally putting together the clues. “He didn’t mean to keep me. Kitten was right.”
It was easier to talk with their hands on her. Chase stroked her breasts while Ben’s fingers dipped back into her pussy, playing lightly. Reward. It felt like a reward for being honest, but she rather thought they would see it differently. Comfort. They were comforting her.
“I don’t know that Kitten is the most reliable witness, but in this, I think she’s right,” Chase said. “Ben, Kitten says she overheard Hawk talking about selling Natalie to another Dom. I’ll admit that this whole incident was over with by the time Ben and I began working with Julian. I know there’s a file at our office and I’ve looked through it, but I didn’t expend an enormous amount of energy thinking about it besides the fact that I knew you’d killed a man before.”
And sometimes Chase’s lack of a filter was annoying. “So you thought I’d done in Stan?”
His fingers bit at her nipples again. It seemed to be his default way of telling her to hush. She might have been offended if it hadn’t felt so damn good. “We’re talking about the other massive criminal operation you were involved in.”
Well, that made it sound bad. “It wasn’t like I was happy about being involved.”
Ben thumped a finger against her piercing, causing her to squeal a little. “No sarcasm right now.” He frowned, obviously thinking. “My initial thoughts were that he was building a harem, but I think you’re right, Chase. Especially if Kitten overheard him.”
There was a little huff on the back of her neck. “I’m always right. It makes a person wonder. They didn’t find anything about other men being involved.”
“Hawk was careful. Always. I think he conducted business over the phone and then in very careful words.” She shivered a little. Someone had wanted to buy her. She could have been shipped off to some foreign country and no one would have seen her again if Kitten hadn’t been brave enough to steal that knife.
“You’re fine, sweetness. No one is going to take you again.” Chase let go of her nipples and hugged her. “What would make you feel better? What used to make you feel secure?”
Ropes. She’d enjoyed being tied up in a neat little package, but her muscles ached at the thought. She couldn’t. Not yet. “I liked being flogged.”
She could try that. The spanking had done wonders for her. Maybe the flogger would be the same.
Ben frowned. “Normally I would put you on the cross.”
She shook her head. “No. No. I can’t. Not yet.”
Chase moved away from her. “I can handle it. Lay yourself out on the bed, arms out. I’m going to use a warm-up flogger. Deerskin. Very easy.”
She was brutally self-conscious as he hauled her up. Just seconds before she hadn’t thought about her nudity, but their hands had been on her. Now she could only feel the cool air on her skin.
The bed. She glanced to the corner of the play space. There was a giant bed with a soft, fluffy comforter and lots of pillows. She could see numerous hooks that could be adjusted hanging down from the ceiling. The whole guesthouse was tricked out for D/s play. But Chase was right. She couldn’t handle being tied down. Tying her to one of the overhead hooks would be the best way to use the flogger, but if Chase was careful, she would be fine on the bed. Deerskin was soft, a perfect entryway flogger.
Ben led her to the bed, his hand holding hers. God, this would be so much easier if they were naked, but she understood what they were doing. A longtime sub would be used to nudity. She or he wouldn’t blink if their Masters sat around fully clothed while they were naked.
Still, she wanted to go back to that moment when Ben’s hands were on her pussy and she could feel Chase behind her.
“Natalie, this is what I’m going to use on you. It’s going to give you a thud, not a sting.” Chase pulled a soft pink flogger from his bag. He held it out, offering for her to touch the falls.
Soft. Each one was buttery soft. She’d had much worse used on her, but this would work to see if she could handle it. Unless Chase Dawson simply sucked with a flogger, it should give her nothing but a good thud. She took a long breath and nodded.
She would survive this. She got to her knees and spread out on the bed, her breasts against the silky comforter. How bad could it be? Her heart raced just a little as she put her arms out. She was well aware that every muscle in her body was tight.
He was going to beat her with a flogger. Hawk had a flogger. He’d had several, but his favorite had been cowhide with steel spikes on the ends. Her skin had been flayed when she misbehaved. After that first time, she’d learned to fear the flogger. She was pretty sure she still had scars. The initial time he’d punished her with it, she’d been sure she would die. He’d tied her to the cross on the wall and by the time he was done, she couldn’t hold her own body weight up. She’d needed the straps.
Gretchen and Kitten had doctored her wounds and carried her back to the cage. Hawk had just left her on the floor, bleeding.
Thud.
The flogger hit her back. No pain, just that sound she’d forgotten. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The flogger found her right shoulder. Her left shoulder, and then her back. Chase rapidly found about six spots on her back and formed a nice pattern.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
No pain. Just that buttery soft massage she’d forgotten. Survive? She didn’t have to survive this. This sank into her skin, relaxing her very being.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Like pounding, silky rain on her skin.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Like the sound of a train travelling, taking her someplace new, someplace safe.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Familiar and yet new. That sound, the pleasant slap against her flesh, caused her lungs to fill and release.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Her vision softened until she closed her eyes because she didn’t need to see. She only needed to feel.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Natalie gave up her worries and let herself finally float in that place she’d thought she’d lost forever, that place that was her birthright, subspace.