The Marine's Pet (8 page)

Sensing that she had reached her breaking point, Austin pulled her up and cradled her in his lap, holding her close as he removed the gag, allowing her to breathe more deeply and speak again.

“Sarah,” he said consolingly. “It’s alright. I’ve got you. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” she sobbed. “It’s not okay at all.”

His hands held her tightly, their warmth and their strength comforting.

“We’re at a party,” she sobbed. “The worst party ever. I want to go home.”

“We’ll go home when you’ve calmed down,” he said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to worry about? They know. They all know. That judge brought you that gag…” She started crying all over again.

“Because each and every one of them knows what you’ve been feeling tonight, and a good number of them know what it’s like to wear a gag,” Austin said. “You’re among people who understand.”

“Understand what?”

“That sometimes a lady needs a spanking to feel at home.” He pressed kisses to her cheeks, taking her tears away with his lips.

“I don’t feel at home,” Sarah said. “I feel awful.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t understand this… and you spanked me… and…”

“It’s not nice being spanked for disciplinary purposes,” Austin agreed. “Even less so when you know that others know not only that you misbehaved, but that you were punished for it, but I’m telling you now, nobody is judging you here. This is one of the very few places in the world where a deserving woman can end bottom up over her master’s thighs and nobody will be the least surprised or concerned by it.”

Her master’s thighs.
Three words which said so much. That she had a master, that she was owned, that she was now living in a world where her reckless mouth would earn her repercussions.

“This is…” She could not quite finish her sentence.

“It’s new,” he said. “And I brought you here for that reason. Well, partly for that reason. I thought you’d learn more by observation than by direct experience on your first gathering, but I suppose that was fairly silly to assume, knowing you as I do.”

He held her close for a little longer, then announced that they were going to rejoin the group.

“I can’t go back out there,” Sarah refused.

“Yes, you can,” Austin said firmly. “And we’re going to. And you’re going to apologize to Earnest and Sybil and Hannah for your rudeness.”

“I am not.”

“You are,” he said. “That was totally unacceptable. You basically mocked them to their faces. You didn’t even attempt to understand what was actually going on. I expected better from you, Sarah. I really did.”

The disappointment in his voice made her heart feel heavy. She knew too, that he was right. She had been rude, and for no real reason.

It was with great reluctance that Sarah allowed herself to be drawn back to the party. The guests were back in the lounge now and conversation was flowing, as were the post-dinner drinks. Nobody made any mention of it when Austin and Sarah came in and he sat on the couch, pulling her down into his lap where he held her close.

“Earnest, Sybil, Hannah,” Austin said. “Sarah would like to say something to you.”

Everyone looked in Sarah and Austin’s direction.

“Now apologize,” he murmured in her ear.

Heat suffused her face. She had not felt this guilty, this small, or this undone for decades. “I’m sorry I was rude to you,” she said, hating how her voice wavered with the threat of fresh tears of embarrassment. The stinging in her bottom seemed exacerbated by her shame, so much so she could not help but squirm.

“Thank you, Sarah,” Earnest said. Sybil and Hannah made similar noises of acceptance, but it was Earnest’s eyes on her that made Sarah feel as though she was being consumed by a flame of shame. She didn’t know if she was forgiven, and intellectually she didn’t care either way, but her emotional self was on a completely different plane, reacting to every glance and breath.

“Good girl,” Austin said, rubbing her bottom gently.

Anastasia looked over and caught Sarah’s eye, giving her a warm, commiserating smile. Sarah felt herself blush in response. She would never live this down. She would certainly never adjust to being publicly punished. They had been technically private, but there was very little actually private about it. Everybody knew what had happened to her.

As minutes went by and the conversation did not turn to her or her shameful experience, nor did any discomfort taint the conversation or the group’s mood, Sarah began to realize that Austin had been correct. His friends did not find her being taken off and disciplined as being in any way odd, or even particularly negative.

Anastasia came over to sit beside Sarah and Austin. She brought another concoction with her, stronger than the first.

“These take the edge off,” she whispered to Sarah with a little wink.

“Thanks,” Sarah said, sliding off Austin’s lap to talk to her hostess a little more privately. The two of them slipped away from the main group a little, just far enough that they would not easily be overheard.

“The first time Robert brought me to a gathering like this I ended up in trouble too,” Anastasia confided in Sarah.

“How?”

“Robert and I had just started this thing we do and I wasn’t entirely convinced,” she said. “And we came to a party like this and it was overwhelming to say the least. Not nearly as refined as this one,” she said with a smile. “And the drinks weren’t nearly as good.”

Sarah snorted with amusement.

“In the end I got into an argument with someone about something silly,” Anastasia continued. “And before I knew it, I was over Robert’s lap in front of everyone.”

“Wow.”

“Wow was not the word I had for it, especially when the man I was arguing with kept offering advice as to how to make sure I felt every swat.”

“Oh, my God.” Sarah covered her mouth. “Seriously?”

“I called him an asshole,” Anastasia said. “That didn’t help matters.”

“And what happened… did you ever go back?”

“Well, we host the parties quite often now,” Anastasia said. “And the man I had the disagreement with is sitting over there.” She nodded in Earnest’s direction.

“Oh, him.” Sarah narrowed her eyes reflexively. “He seems…”

“I know,” Anastasia said, understanding what Sarah meant without the need for Sarah to finish her sentence. “He seems like a stuffy jerk. And he can be. But he’s actually an amazing master. Those two adore him.”

They certainly did seem to. Sarah could see that even at a distance, the way they looked at Earnest was enough to make her feel faintly nauseous. Then it hit her. She was jealous. He was undeniably strict and so stern it made her prickle all over, but there was a part of her that was completely curious as to what it would be like to be subject to that kind of control.

He must have sensed their eyes on him, for he turned his head to look in their direction. Sarah looked away immediately, while Anastasia gave him a little wave.

“You’re shy,” she said teasingly.

“Not usually.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re going to abandon that shyness soon enough,” she said. “Robert’s keeping his eye on you too.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’ve got more than just Austin to worry about now,” Anastasia said. “In this community, everyone watches out for one another.”

“I’m guessing that doesn’t mean bake sales and night patrols,” Sarah replied.

“No.” Anastasia let out a little laugh at Sarah’s stricken expression. “Austin!” She raised her voice. “I’ve frightened your poor pet.”

Austin slid down the couch and wrapped his arm around Sarah’s shoulder. “What have you been telling her?”

“She’s been telling me I have to worry about Earnest and Robert, and probably Rebecca too,” Sarah said. “Is that true?”

“Well,” Austin said. “I’m possessive when it comes to my pets, so I have no intention of sharing you, but I do expect you to treat them with respect.”

“Possessive, huh?” Sarah smiled at him. She liked the sound of that. Being his. Being protected from others.

“If you do misbehave around the others, I may very well leave you to their disciplinary mercy.”

“What? But you just said…”

“I said I wouldn’t share you sexually,” he replied. “I didn’t say your butt would be safe if you misbehaved.”

“But…” She looked at him with her mouth ajar in dismay. “But I don’t even know them.”

“You’ve clearly met Robert before,” he said with a significant look that referenced her brief incarceration. “And I think you have the measure of Earnest too. Besides, if you don’t want to be disciplined by them, then don’t misbehave around them.”

“This is not fair,” Sarah said, her expression and mood darkening.

“It’s very fair, oh, and Sarah? I wouldn’t waste too much time worrying about what might happen with them. Worry about what will happen with me.” He lowered his voice and spoke in a soft growl. “I’m probably the most demanding dominant in this room…”

Sarah probably should have hidden her snort at that, but she did not.

“Ah, you don’t believe me,” Austin said, amused rather than insulted. “That’s because I’ve been so gentle with you so far.”

“Gentle? I don’t think so.”

“I’ve paddled your bottom and hardly anything more,” he said. “But I have much more planned for you, Sarah.”

There was a dark promise in his voice that made her shiver with excitement. There was so much more to be explored, she could feel it as if it were a tangible thing.

“The crate,” she said. “What is that for?”

“Well, it can be a lot of things,” he said, letting his hand brush gently against her breast, his thumb grazing her nipple. “It can be a place of punishment, or it can be somewhere for a pet to relax and feel safe, depending on the context and the person.”

“I don’t think I’d like it,” she said, her words belied by the little tingles of excitement that raced around in her belly as she thought about what it might be like to be inside that big crate, unable to leave it until she was released. Imprisoned.

“I think you might,” Austin said. “You have a taste for the perverse.”

“A taste for the perverse?” Sarah laughed. “What is that even supposed to mean?”

“That means I have no doubt that you will be eager to follow where I want to lead you.”

It was a pity they were no longer in a room by themselves, because Sarah was getting wet at the mere thought of hints of things Austin might do with her and to her. Her arousal did seem a little perverse, as Austin had called it, only because it came from thinking about the things her logical mind assured her she would not enjoy. Who could possibly enjoy being at the disciplinary mercy of three men, and, now that she thought about it, Rebecca probably too? Anyone who held a leash seemed to have a position of authority in that house.

“Wait…” Sarah spoke suddenly. “Does that mean… you discipline other people too?”

“Well,” Austin said. “I have in the past, yes. But judging by the expression on your face, I don’t imagine I will in the future.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you practically just turned green,” he said, smiling. “My jealous little pet.”

“I don’t like sharing,” Sarah said. “And I don’t like to be shared either.”

“But the idea of being held to account by more than one person is exciting to you.”

He said it as a statement, apparently knowing it was true.

“Well, maybe,” she admitted. “But that’s not fair, is it.”

“Life is never fair,” Austin said, cuddling her close. “Besides, I have my hands full with you. I have no need to be disciplining others. Whereas you…”

“Me what?”

“You might very well benefit from a community-based approach.”

Sarah laughed. “I am not that bad.”

“No,” he said. “You’re not bad at all. You’re new, and you’re curious and I can already see those thoughts of yours taking you down a road where you’re going to find trouble.”

“That’s not true,” Sarah lied, cuddling close to him in an effort to hide her feelings in their proximity.

“Mhm.” He held her close and their conversation faded a little as they took in the goings-on in the room. Anastasia had gravitated back to Robert. Rebecca and her partner Chase were cuddling together and Sybil and Hannah were draped over Earnest looking as happy and smug as two cats bathing in cream.

“Would Sarah like the special tour?” Anastasia and Robert were suddenly in front of them, looking somewhat smug and inviting, as if they had a surprise in store. Sarah looked at Austin, who nodded.

“Oh, I think she’d very much enjoy that,” Austin said.

Sarah was not looking forward to hearing about where they got their faucets from and who did the floors, but it turned out that the special tour was not so much a tour of the house as it was a direct route to the kitchen, where a door led to steps, which led to a basement, which in most people’s homes would have held some forgotten hobby supplies and maybe a boiler, but which under Anastasia and Robert’s home housed a full-fledged dungeon. Purple carpet covered the floor, and atop it were arranged some of the most lavish and complex pieces of equipment Sarah had ever laid eyes on in her life. There were tables with stirrups and padded horses and whips and crops and paddles galore on the walls.

“What do you think, Sarah?” Robert asked the question.

“I think this is where you got your judging skills from,” she said. “It’s practically medieval.”

Robert chuckled softly. “You got no more than you deserved back then, though I admit, if I could have sentenced you to a good swift caning instead of three days in jail, I would have.”

Sarah gulped as she tried to digest that information and failed. In the meantime, Robert had escorted them all to a big St. Andrew’s cross, which was essentially a large elongated X-shaped piece of wood complete with shackles at the ends of each of its arms.

“Would you like to try it, Sarah?”

“Me?” Sarah squeaked. “Oh, no, I couldn’t…”

Austin ran his hand down her back and murmured a word or two of encouragement in her ear, which made Sarah bite her lower lip and eye the cross up curiously. It was not in her nature to say no to new experiences, but this one really did seem to be out of her depth.