ChapterFifteen
Beth didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until it erupted as a gasp when Sawyer spanked it out of her.
She went rigid for a second, then subsided over his knee, eagerly waiting for the next slap, but not wanting to seem too desperate.
Even though she absolutely was. She didn’t even care if she got a punishment spanking, as long as she got to feel some hands on her, to take away the disappointments the night had brought so far. Anything had to be an improvement on spending yet another lonely, unhappy Valentine’s Day on her own.
The next spank didn’t come as quickly as she anticipated, and for an awful, heart stopping moment she wondered if he’d changed his mind. And that - far more than any punishment spanking - made her want to cry.
As much as she wanted to appear strong and nonchalant, her psyche had taken too much of a battering with the recent seesawing of emotions. Her hopes had been raised and dashed so many times that she was in danger of turning into a blubbering mess the next time disappointment struck. And that wouldn’t be fun for anyone.
But instead of her worst fears being realized, something else happened.
A second pair of hands.
Beth was back to holding her breath. Her body quivered expectantly as her mind identified at least two pairs of hands.
One hand between her shoulder blades, exerting a gentle pressure. Another just above the back of her knee, holding her still. Two more peeling up each side of her clingy, stretchy skirt to bare her ass.
And wait! Another! Yes, definitely a fifth hand, caressing one of her ass cheeks.
Beth’s stomach made a slow roll. The blubbering mess that was currently imminent had nothing to do with disappointment and everything to do with being the center of so much hot, male attention.
A yearning developed deep in her soul, and she had to hold onto her control before she started begging so bad, she embarrassed herself.
Wretchedness was not sexy!
But she could feel them around her. All three surrounding her. It soothed and calmed her, allowing her to dispel the sharp talons of desperation. It heated her skin and set light to the fuse of desire. Beth could feel it waiting to consume her. She just hoped they were on board with helping her to explode. Although God knew, she was so primed it wouldn’t take much.
There was a solid grasp on the back of her neck now. It grounded her. An arm banded around her legs, pinning them. It steadied her.
And a palm resting gently against the curve of her buttock. It slapped her… and sent her soaring.
Two spanks, then a pause.
Somewhere on the edge of her consciousness she could hear their verbal appreciation of the way their handprints bloomed on her skin as they stopped to admire them. But her mind was already halfway to subspace.
Another volley of slaps. They came from different directions, like they were taking turns.
She probably moaned. Maybe even drooled. Because just that thought was so damned hot.
The cadence of the spanks took on its own rhythm and Beth’s body danced to it. The breath shuddered in her chest. Her body jolted with each blow. Her skin seared with each slap.
And her mind soared; flying to that special place which existed on the edge of paradise as her mind disconnected and everything else fell away.
All the tension and the turmoil.
The stress and the sadness.
The constant noise that was in her head was silenced and all Beth felt was bliss.
The pain no longer registered as pain. If indeed it ever had.
The attention; the mindfulness… The connection. Those things were all far more important.
And in this bright and sparkling moment they shone like fireworks in the sky. Bold, beautiful, and awe-inspiring.
It left her breathless and at peace in the same instant.