“No.”
Soren unloads his wood and comes for me. I ditch my bags, because I can’t move with them nearly as easily. All I have going for me is my agility.
“Get away from me!” I squeal the words as he comes closer. I can tell he’s going to try to grab me. Mr Big Man wants to prove a point.
“Come here, and I won’t have to do this,” he says. “You’re acting like a spoiled little girl, and I am about to treat you like one.”
“Fuck off you are.” I really thought that Jason would be the one to do something like this. He seems like the hunter type, the dominant kind, the one who demands obedience. Instead, it’s Soren who is taking the lead here, making me submit to him, and to the stupid agreement I made.
“You’re overtired,” he says, his voice deep, but with a hint of sympathy. “You need to rest, not set off on a death march. These forests are full of wild animals, and the terrain and climate are both dangerous.”
I’m not listening to him. I just want to get away. I am in flight mode. Have been for a longer time than anybody here knows. The closer he gets, the more intensely I feel the need to be away. From here. From anywhere. It doesn’t matter where I end up, I just have to be at a distance.
I try to run into the forest, but he’s too fast for me. Soren gives chase, and the forest itself is not exactly friendly. It’s thicker than I expected, and it sort of repels me as I attempt to run through it.
“C’mere, you,” Soren says as he grabs me and throws me over his shoulder, carrying me back to Camp Gazebo.
“Put me down! Put me fucking down!”
“You’ll go down over my knee,” he says seriously. “You’re getting a spanking and then I’m putting you to bed. There aren’t many rules here, but not running off into the forest when night is falling is one of them.”
He sits down on the edge of the gazebo and pulls me into that humiliating position. It’s so fucking intimate. I can feel every bit of him, every hard line of his stomach and thighs, every soft piece of me pressing against all of it.
“No!” I shout
“Yes,” he says. He’s just holding me, keeping me where he wants me. I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I know what is about to happen is going to really hurt, and that I maybe truly deserve it too, and that he’s going to do it.
Jason did this before, but it happened quickly. It was over almost before I knew it had started, and I was in fight mode when it happened. It felt different than this.
“I don’t know your story,” Soren says. “But I hope I’ll learn it as we get to know each other. For now, you need to know that all I care about is keeping you safe, even from decisions you think you want to make. As long as you’re here in my care, that’s what my job is.”
I take a deep breath. His words are freaking me out way more than the actions. Pain doesn’t scare me. Someone getting overly involved in my personal drama does. Soren has no idea about me. The responsibility he thinks he wants would crush him in an instant if he knew what it was.
“Soren,” I say, as calm as I can. “This is not a good idea.”
He adjusts me over his lap, lifting my ass a little higher, and putting my head a little lower. His palm smooths over my pants. It doesn’t dip down into the crevice between my cheeks. He’s a gentleman. Fuck. I don’t know what to do with a gentleman. Especially not one who seems intent on getting to know me and taking me to task. He might be the first person I ever met who didn’t let me get away with everything. Between him and Jason, I’m suddenly lost.
“Please,” I say, a little softer. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t think you are. I know you’re not. You’re just realizing that out here being in trouble actually means something.”
“Please, Soren. Don’t. Please.”
I’m begging. I’m actually begging. I don’t know how much a spanking is going to hurt, but I know for sure I can’t deal with all the emotional intensity of it. There’s something about this guy that gets under my skin. I’ve known him one day, and I’m absolutely fucking lost.
“You really don’t want to be given a spanking, do you? Have you been punished before? I mean, before you got here?”
“Not like this.”
“Alright, so. Here’s how this happens…”
“No! No! No…” I start squirming and wriggling for all I am worth. I have to get off his lap.