Chapter Nine

"Well, I'm in the mood to play. Come, Violet, let's see if you look as good on the St. Andrew's cross as before," Max said and pulled Joanne to her feet. He'd given her the club name Violet because of her eyes.

"Whoa! What the fuck, Max! This is my sister. You're not taking her into the dungeon!" Jack exclaimed and jumped up, pushing his big body in between them.

"You never told him?" Max asked Joanne with raised eyebrows.

"Well, apparently, neither have you," she retorted sharply.

"Told me what?" Jack took a step back and looked between them. His eyes narrowed dangerously when Joanne fidgeted. It was something she used to do when she was little when she got caught doing something naughty.

"Oh, here we go. I've been waiting for this showdown for five years," Lance said with a chuckle. He leaned back in the sofa, like he was settling in to watch his favorite television show.

"Five years? What the fuck, Jo! Him? My best friend, Max? He was the one?" Jack’s nostrils flared; his expression was a picture of disbelief as he tried to compute the meaning of what he’d just heard. He’d sworn to wipe the floor with the ass-hat who had hurt his little sister. Now, to hear that it was his own best friend, floored him.

"Jack, it's in the past. It's not―"

"Like fucking hell, it is,” Jack cut Joanne short. He spun to face Max. “You broke my sister's heart, you bastard!” He spat with fury. His knuckles turned white from clenching his fists too hard. He gritted his teeth to reign in his anger. “She's fucking ten years younger than you! She was still a baby―”

“I was not! I was twenty-three,” Joanne protested. Jack seared her with a sideward glance.

“A baby! What were you thinking, Max? My sister!"

"Calm down, Jack . . . Ugh," Max staggered back as Jack planted a straight right hook into his face. His head snapped to the side. Pain exploded in his cheek. He stepped back, sighed and held up his hand. "I'm not going to fight you, Jack. This is between Jo and me. You―"

“In your fucking dreams!” Jack was livid. He couldn’t hide the disappointment he felt toward Max.

“Jack, let’s discuss this―”

“Now you want to discuss it? How many times have I raged about the man who broke my sister’s heart to you? How many fucking times, Max? You kept mum. You should’ve opened your mouth then!”

“Jack, you have to calm―”

It was the final conduit that ignited Jack’s anger to spark into an explosive rage. “I am fucking calm, you dickhead!” 

Jack’s fist connected with Max’s temple that caused him to stagger and stumble over the sofa behind him. Max straightened, rubbing his face before he lowered his hands to his sides. “I am not fighting you Jack.”

“Then I’ll just beat you to a fucking pulp!”

Jack charged at Max. The clash of impacting flesh resonated through the large room. Members gathered in a circle around the two men, amazed to witness such an unexpected event. Max wrestled with Jack to try and stay out of reach of his huge fists.

Crack! The sound of a brutal head butt from Jack echoed through the room. It knocked Max to the floor. Completely dazed, he shook his head. Everything was a blur.

“Fuck, Jack! I’m not fighting you.” The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth as he started to sit up. Jack yanked him to his feet with a hard hand gripping his leather vest.

“I don’t fucking care,” Jack growled into his face.

Max spread his feet apart to anchor himself. “I’ll be damned if you get another fucking hit in my face.”

"Stop it! Both of you. You're acting like school boys. Stop!" Joanne tried her best to intervene but got pushed back when their arms tangled into a wrestle of power that caused her to land on her ass. She scrambled to her feet and glared at the four men who sat watching the fight with grins on their faces.

"For god sake. Don't just sit there like laughing clowns. Stop them before they kill each other." Her voice sounded shrill above the deep growls and grunts of the two fighting men.

"Oh, come on, Violet. The little tumble can only do them good," Lance chuckled as Jack landed another punch into Max's solar plexus. He doubled over and huffed for breath.

Ethan stood up with a drawn-out sigh. "I guess we better intervene, otherwise I'll be spending the entire night stitching Max up, instead of strapping my gorgeous fiancée into the sex swing.”

“About fucking time,” Joanne snapped. She jammed her fists on her hips when they dragged their feet, still enjoying the fight too much. “Well, get to it, already!”

“Dammit Jack! Get fucking over—urgh!” Max grunted when the second punch into his stomach doubled him over. He expelled the last bit of choked air from his bruised belly. Fresh ripples of pain shot through his torso as another body shot smashed into his ribs. He reeled back. He took deep breaths, doing his best to keep his anger in check and not fight back. It was Jack’s due, but Max was slowly reaching the end of his tether.

“Enough!” Joanne was done waiting for the sluggish efforts of the other men and stepped between them.

“Get out of my way, Jo,” Jack snarled, glowering at Max over her head.

“No. It’s done. He got what he deserved, and it should appease your need for violence.”

“Get out of the way, baby. I can fight my own battles.”

Joanne spun around. She jabbed her finger into his chest. “I told you I’m not your baby. And you’re not making it any easier, Maximilian!”

Keon, Lance, Richard and Ethan roared with laughter at the look on Max’s face. They knew how much he hated being called by his full name. The thunderous look he slanted at them caused a ghost of a smile to form around even Jack’s lips. He was impressed with his little sister’s spunk.

Max gripped her by the shoulders and bodily removed her to the side.

“Oh no, you don’t,” she snapped. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung. Her head whipped around to glare at Jack to warn him off. “Now, you’ll have to go through me to continue your fight.” She wrapped her legs around Max’s waist for added leverage and hung onto him like a chimp, even when he tried to pry her arms loose.

“Let go, sub.” Max grunted while at the same time, he exulted in the heat of her body wrapped around his.

“Sub?” Jack said in a dark voice. He stepped closer. His black eyes seared them like the sharp edge of a knife. His gaze dropped to the glimmering diamond choker around Joanne’s neck. He reached out to trace the glimmering stones.

“She is the one you had this made for?”

“You’ve seen it before?” Joanne asked as she untangled her limbs from Max and faced Jack.

“Yes, when we moved to DC and I helped Max pack his stuff.” He looked at Max. He searched Max’s eyes with an intense look. “It seems you and I need to have a talk, Max.”

Joanne dragged in an annoyed sigh. “Jack, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“As your brother, I need to know what Max’s intentions are toward you. I will not stand by and let him hurt you again. No,” he held up his hand when she opened her mouth to protest. “This isn’t up for debate. Go with the guys and order us dinner. We’ll join you in a bit.”

Joanne glanced between them. Jack seemed to have calmed down and she sensed the men had reached an understanding.

“Only if you promise not to hit him again.”

“Ah baby, it does my heart well that you . . . ugh!”

The group of friends exploded into laughter while the members still gathered around gasped collectively when Joanne planted her fist hard into Max’s stomach.

“Oh, my pet, you’ve just sealed your fate for tonight. Don’t think for one moment I’ll allow you get away with that.”

“You don’t scare me, Master Jag,” she said with her nose tilted upward.

“I don’t want to scare you, luv. However, you will be begging soon.” His eyes narrowed. “Then again, you’re due a punishment. Who knows what the night will bring.”

“Nothing, if you keep delaying our talk, Master Jag,” Jack snapped and started walking toward the stairs, leading to the offices. “Mind if we use your office, Keon?”

“Go right ahead. Nope, little one, you heard your brother, you’re coming with us,” Keon caught Joanne around her waist when she made to follow them. He lifted her feet off the floor and carried her protesting and kicking hanging on his side toward the restaurant.

* * * * * * * *

“I think you cracked one of my ribs,” Max groaned as he sat down in the sofa in Keon’s office.

“I was trying to break your fucking nose and give you a thick lip,” Jack shot back. His glare had lost some heat from earlier. He poured them both a whiskey from Keon’s bar tray before he took the chair opposite Max.

Max chucked down the drink in one gulp. “Ah, there’s nothing better than a Macallan 18.”

Jack stretched out his legs in front of him and slumped in the chair. “You told me you had the collar made for the woman you love.”

“So, I did.” Max leaned his head on the back of the sofa.

“But that it didn’t work out.”

Max released a deep sigh. “I’ve been in love with Joanne for a long time. I was so much older than her—”

“You’re still much older than her. Ten years, to be exact.” Jack studied his friend who didn’t seem fazed by his interruption. “You were in a D/s relationship with Roxanne Whittle at the time. You broke it off with her not long after Jo’s eighteenth birthday from what I recall.”

Max shrugged. “I realized that I’d been fooling myself. It wasn’t fair to Rox. I knew that I could never love her—not to the extent she expected me to.”

“And yet from that point you stayed away from my parents’ house. You avoided Joanne like the plague.”

“Of course, I did. Fuck, I should’ve stayed away longer but when I saw her at your birthday party five years later, I lost the battle. We started dating. I eased her into the BDSM lifestyle naturally. I suppose that’s what made my attraction to her so much stronger by then. Her inner submission bloomed to life when—”

“Yes, I don’t need the details, Max,” Jack grumbled. “You dated? How the hell didn’t I know about it?”

“We decided to keep it quiet at first, to see if we were even compatible. She moved in with me while you were away on a covert op.”

Max ran his hand over his face. “It lasted less than six months. I guess I was hasty in believing that Joanne would understand what true sexual Domination and submission entailed. She became possessive, clingy and we started fighting over every woman who just glanced in my direction. I had to walk away, Jack. If I didn’t, we would’ve destroyed each other. She needed more time. She had her entire future ahead of her. But instead of concentrating on her career, she expected me to make decisions for her. I refused to do it, as much as I refused to allow her to make decisions for me. She couldn’t accept that I scened with other subs at the club. It was the one thing she failed to understand. That no matter what I did with any of them, she was the one I wanted. It killed me to send her away, but it was the best thing to do for her.”

Max jumped up and refilled their glasses. He started pacing.

“I failed her, Jack. I expected her to understand what it was that I needed as her Dom from our relationship without properly guiding her.”

“And now you believe she’s ready?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t walk away from her again, Jack. I love her. God knows, I never stopped.” He took a sip from his glass. “When you told me she’d been kidnapped, my world crashed around me. I can’t remember when last, I had more than two hours sleep. I kept searching for her. Now that I have her back, Jack, I will keep her safe.”

“What if she still isn’t ready. Dammit, Max! You know what she’s just gone through.”

“The choice is hers, Jack. I’m not going to force her into a D/s relationship. She knows that, but once she does commit to me, I will do my best to make her love me. I am going to marry her, mate, make no mistake about that.”

“You’re fucking ten years older than her, Max. Ten years!”

“Age is just a number. I’m not a goddamned fossil, Jack. I’m fit, healthy and stronger than guys ten years younger than me.” 

“Very well, but I warn you, Max, if you hurt my little sis again, I’m gonna fucking kill you.”

“It’s not going to happen, Jack. I love her and this time, I will make it work.”

“Even if you have to sacrifice the hordes of women flocking for your attention? You were never one for monogamy.”

“Yeah, neither of us are. I’m not fucking this up again, Jack and she’s the one I want in my life. The only one.”

“Good. Now, tell me how you found her.”

Max relayed everything that had happened. “I don’t know how she managed to keep the disguise for so long, but she did. As Jarrah Farooq, she was respected by the army she controlled, as well as by Sheikh Juhayman bin Mohammed.”

“What do you think he’ll do now that she disappeared with a chunk of his sex slaves?”

“According to Jo, he obtained all of them through the human trafficking ring. I’m speculating that he would approach whoever he bought them from. One way or the other, he won’t stop until he finds the one who betrayed him.”

“Which means Joanne is in danger. They will have her passport, so it will be easy to establish if she was one of them. Fuck! Will we never be free from the goddamned crime syndicates?” Jack slammed his fist on the arm of the chair.

“She and twelve other women are in danger, which is why Rhone and Alex have decided to keep them at the safe house for now. Alex is going to offer them the opportunity of a new identity and place them in a witness protection program. That way, they might stay off those fucktards’ radar.”

“You said Jo managed to escape. Was she . . . did they . . .” Jack swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. The thought of his little sister being raped crippled him.

“No, and I thank the lord for that. She said that she got the impression that she’d been taken for a reason. Her abduction hadn’t been random like the others. Unlike her, none of them had any family. The sheikh she was meant for, believed she was a virgin, so she was off limits to the guards. She managed to escape before it was too late.” Max hesitated. “But she was mistreated in the meantime.”

Jack’s body turned rigid. “They mistreated her?”

“Yes, and from the scars on her buttocks and her back, it must have been a brutal whipping.”

“I’m not even going to ask how you know about them.” Jack swallowed his drink. “I’ll be forever in your debt for finding her, Max. Thank you.”

“I did it for me, Jack, more than anything else. Now, we just have to keep her safe. If Joanne is right and her abduction wasn’t random, it means someone chose her specifically. We need to find out why.” Max glanced at Jack. “I’ve already contacted Kent Gibson, Colt Fargo’s friend, and one of the best plastic surgeons in the US. He’s a gifted surgeon and said that he should be able to remove Joanne’s scars. I won’t allow her to carry a memory of her ordeal for the rest of her life.”

“Agreed, but you’re not paying for it, Max. She’s my sister and—”

“And she’s going to be my wife. It’s not up for debate, Jack,” Max said when he opened his mouth to protest. “Now, are we done here? I have an itch that needs to be scratched.”

“I refuse to watch my sister scratching your itch, fucker,” Jack grumbled as they walked down the stairs.

“Then find yourself a sub to keep you busy but this is where Jo and I will come to play, Jack, so you best get used to it.”

“You’re very confident that she’s going to stay in DC, Max. You forget that she had a life in L.A. before she was taken.”

“I’m well aware of that, mate. Jo has to start over; it might as well be with a clean slate. And I’ll be damned if I allow her to go back where I can’t keep an eye over her.”

Jack smiled to himself. Joanne had always been a spitfire and she’d become exceedingly confident and independent over the past five years. If Max believed it would be easy to sway Joanne with his charm and beguiling smile, he was relatively sure that his mate was in for a surprise.

* * * * * * * *

 

The food had just been served when Max and Jack joined their friends at the table.

“Ah, so this must be Jack’s beautiful sister I’ve heard so much about,” Enzo Bonheur said. He was the chef de cuisine at the club, as well as Rhone’s resident private chef. “Don’t come crying to me if the steak is tough. You should know better than to arrive late at my table.” He slanted a reproachful look at Max and Jack.

Jack introduced Joanne who immediately crawled into Enzo’s heart with a sweet, welcoming smile.

“Another little angel who is going to tie the Doms’ cocks into knots,” he said with a broad smile.

“Only if she wants her ass turned red,” Max grumbled around the food in his mouth.

“It’s bad manners to speak with a full mouth, Maximilian,” Joanne said cheekily.

Max looked at her amid the chuckles from everyone around the table. The warning was as crystal clear in his eyes.

“You know I don’t like that name, Violet. I’m warning you once. In here, I’m Master Jag and my name is Max. M-A-X, that’s it. Short and sweet. Got that?”

“Hmm, grouchy. Did you hit him in the face, Jack? Lemme see.” Joanne gripped Max’s chin and turned his face this way and that, inspecting every inch of his skin. She touched a bruise on the side of his jaw. “Ah yes, I see. You should remember, Jack, Master Jag hates it when his looks are marred. I mean, it’s what all the subs are drawn to, you know.”

Max caught her hand in his, his eyes scorching into hers. She knew what was coming before he opened his mouth. It was there in the evil smirk that turned his lips upward.

“It’s not my face that interests the subs, my pet.” He pressed her hand to his crotch, smiling at her gasp when he folded her fingers around his cock that hardened under her grasp. “This is what they’re all after.” He leaned closer. “You should know, luv. You couldn’t get enough of him last night either.”

Joanne was annoyed at the reminder that Max loved to dip the still swelling appendage into various pussies, and responded with a chilled whisper against his cheek, “Don’t flatter yourself, Master Jag. It’s been a year, I would’ve been equally demanding of any other cock to ease my lust.”

She saw his shoulders stiffen. She glanced up to encounter a look that warned her she was pushing his boundaries. He surprised her by replacing her hand on her thigh and continued eating.

“Eat up, sub. We have a punishment to attend to.”

Joanne didn’t respond, somewhat disappointed that her quip hadn’t drawn blood. It seems Max had even more control over his reactions than in the past. Or, maybe he wasn’t as invested in her as she’d like to believe. She toyed with the collar around her neck.

Maybe she’d mistaken the reason for him giving her the collar. It might be wise to test the waters before she made a complete ass of herself. She’d been overly possessive before and no matter how much she hated the thought of him with another woman, she wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

“I’m not your sub. You might have put the collar around my throat, sir, but I haven’t agreed to anything. Don’t forget about that.”

Max glanced at her. His jaw moved as he chewed lazily, seemingly unperturbed by her response. The smile on his mouth made him look much younger.

“No, you haven’t but you knew the rules before you stepped inside the club, my pet. You agreed to abide by them and to take accountability for breaking them, isn’t that correct?”

Joanne frowned at his unexpected question. He was beginning to annoy her. She popped a piece of potato in her mouth, recalling the club contract and rules he’d discussed with her before he’d left for the club, once he’d signed her up as a member.

“Violet? I expect an answer when I ask you a question, or have you forgotten the decorum of a submissive so quickly?”

“Yes, Master Jag, I’m not an idiot. I do know BDSM club rules.”

“Which means, whether or not you’re my sub, you will be punished by me; as the Dom you disrespected in full view of the club.”

Max studied Joanne’s expression carefully. He was facing a conundrum. Even though she hadn’t been raped, she had been abused and whipped—brutally so. He didn’t want her first experience back into the BDSM lifestyle to be one of pain or humiliation.

He was also aware that she’d continued with the BDSM lifestyle after they’d broken up. It was something he’d forced himself not to think about over the past five years—the fact that she’d become involved in Dom-sub relationships. On the other hand, it had given her the experience that she’d lacked when they were together.  

“I have studied the limit list you completed, Violet. Is there anything you’d like to change before I decide on your punishment?”

Joanne frowned at the question. She had loved the erotic floggings and whippings Max used to give her but ever since the cruel and excruciating whippings at the hand of Dabir Qara, she’d developed an inherent fear of impact tools.

When she’d completed the limit list, she’d put whips as a hard limit. That was never likely to change but other than that, she wasn’t opposed to some corporal punishment, as long as it wasn’t too extreme. She definitely didn’t want to lose out on the erotic floggings that Max had always been famous for.

“No, Master Jag.”

“Very well. Shall we get this over with, Violet?”

“What are you going to do, Max?” Jack growled with concern.

“Nothing extreme, Master Black. I’m cognizant of the fact that it’s her first day back in a BDSM club. As long as she takes accountability for her actions.”

“She is not deaf, nor does she need to be pampered or protected. I’ll appreciate you not talking around me,” Joanne chirped.

“It seems there are going to be many entertaining hours ahead,” Lance said. His eyes glittered with appreciation as they grazed over Joanne’s round breasts, pushed enticingly against the edge of the tight corset. They all preferred sassy and defiant subs. It was a challenge no Dom could say no to.

“Choose, sub. Punishment one, two or three,” Max said as he chucked down the last of his beer.

Joanne bristled. Her annoyance didn’t faze Max. She hated it when he played roulette with her and asked her to pick a number, without knowing what the punishment would be. She searched her memory. In the past, one was orgasm denial, two was public punishment that involved other Doms and forced orgasms and three was a whipping or a spanking with an impact tool. Of course, he might’ve changed the order or the actual punishments since.

“Whichever you choose, my pet, it will be conducted in the whipping chamber.”

Which meant it would be in full view of the all the members in the dungeon. Man up, Joanne. You insulted a Dom and that is a no-no in any club. The quicker you choose, the sooner it’ll be over.

“One.” She’d decided on the lesser evil. She’d climaxed so many times the previous night, she was relatively sure it would take a miracle to get her aroused so soon after.

The Doms’ collective laugh was echoed by the subs’ moans, which warned her that the punishment wasn’t what she’d assumed it would be.

“Three rounds on the punishment wheel it is.” Max confirmed her suspicion.

“Punishment wheel?” Joanne squeaked. It sounded ominous and clearly not what she’d expected. Max’s wicked smile was evidence enough. She berated herself for not having the presence of mind to ask before making a choice. Not that he would’ve told her. Max had an evil streak when it came to punishments. He always did the unexpected. 

“Follow me, my pet.”

Joanne followed him meekly. She knew better than to continue to oppose Max, especially as she’d already elicited one punishment. She’d been in the BDSM lifestyle for six years and to openly defy one of the Senior Masters of the club was a surefire way to get into trouble. She didn’t expect leniency because of where she’d been the past year. She wanted to start living a normal life and forget about it as soon as possible. Max knew her well enough to understand that she’d be insulted if he treated her like a porcelain doll.

“Whose brilliant idea was this?” Joanne asked with a pout when Max prepared the punishment wheel, aptly named, Devil’s Pleasure.

“It was a combined effort. Now, no glaring at me, Violet. You had this coming. I must say, I’ve often wondered why the subs don’t enjoy this wheel as much as the Doms do,” he taunted her with a wide smile.

“Maybe we should strap you in. Just to see if you’d still find it as enjoyable then,” Joanne asserted.

The members that had gathered around them to watch, laughed.

“Some of the, shall we say, pleasures on the wheel require certain parts of your body to be naked. I’ll leave the choice up to you, my pet. You can strip before I put you on the wheel or we can remove the relevant piece of clothing if it is needed.”

Joanne had never been shy of her body but as she glanced around, the memory of the leering eyes of the sheikh’s guards flashed through her mind, watching them when they relieved themselves, or groping at the women’s breasts.  She shuddered.

“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to remain clothed for now, Master Jag.”

Max drew her against his chest and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “Relax, Jo. Everything will be done at your pace. If you feel uncomfortable or need to talk, you call out yellow and if it becomes too much, you use the safeword. Remember the universal one?”

“Red.”

Max’s gentle smile and tender touch soothed her mind and the memories dissolved into darkness.

“Lance, would you assist me, please?” Max lifted her onto the wheel and they quickly strapped her into a spread-eagled position.

“As you can see, your right index finger is pointing outward. I’ll turn the wheel and once it stops, your finger will be pointing at the punishment you’ll be receiving. Ready?”

Joanne was miffed enough not to respond.

Crack! Crack!

“Ow! Dammit!” She shrieked as Max slapped each thigh with his hand.

“You know better, Violet. I asked you a question,” Max warned in an ominous tone that set off butterflies in her tummy. They tickled the submissive inside her whom she had been trying to suppress.

“Yes, Sir, I am ready.”

“Here we go.”

Max winked at her and with a heave, he set the wheel into motion. She circled around one and a half times. She closed her eyes and prayed it wasn’t one of the harsher punishments on the wheel.

Joanne didn’t realize that the Masters had the skill to control the wheel rotations. Max didn’t want her punishments to be harsh, so he ensured she landed on nipple play.

“I’m not sure this is a punishment for you, my pet. If memory serves me correct, you love nipple play,” Max taunted her as he turned the wheel so that she was upright. “However, Violet, you’re not allowed to climax.” He chuckled at her expression. “Yes, luv, I remember how explosive your nipple climaxes used to be.”

He turned to the small crowd watching. “Her punishment is nipple play, in other words, everyone here gets to play with her nipples. You may lick, suck, nibble or even whip them for two minutes. Who wants to go first?”

“I would like the honor, Master Jag.”

Joanne watched a beautiful Domme step forward. “You are quite a beauty, little one,” she purred as she traced Joanne’s nipples that were peeking out of her corset. “I’m glad Max got you out safely. I’m Mistress Pam. Shall we see what you’re hiding behind this gorgeous corset, my pet?” She yanked the corset down, watching as Joanne’s breasts bobbed in reaction.

“Beautiful.”

“Your time starts, now,” Max said, smiling as Joanne’s eyes flared when Pamela’s ruby lips locked onto her pink nipple and she sucked strongly. Joanne’s belief that she won’t be aroused easily was already waning by the time Max called time.

Lance took over. He nibbled and pulled on the nubs that were hard and aroused by now, clearly enjoying himself. He palmed her breasts in a firm grip and suckled with gusto.

Ethan elected for a nipple whipping that completely threw her non-arousal theory out the window. By the time he stepped back, her clit was pulsing in tune with her nipples, demanding attention.

“Do not come, Violet. If you do, another turn on the wheel will be added,” Max warned.

“I fucking hate you,” Joanne snapped through clenched teeth. Her breath wheezed from her throat when he stepped closer and traced the taut edge of her nipple with his finger. Her loins reacted with a flush of heat.

His smile attested to the knowledge of the affect he had on her body. He sniffed the air. “Hm, I remember that beautiful bouquet, my pet.” Max tweaked her nipple, soft and then harder, watching her with narrowed eyes. His cock flexed in reaction to the enticing scent that tingled his nostril.

“I’m surprised you can distinguish mine from the hordes of pussies you’ve been sniffing at,” Joanne managed to puff with taut lips.

“You wound me, my pet. Painful as a spear right through my heart.” He placed his hand in a dramatic gesture over his heart. His eyelids lowered in a lazy wink. “Master Blade, you’re up.”

“How many more,” Joanne asked.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Max made a show of glancing over his shoulder, before lowering his head and breathing hotly over her quivering nipples. “Another ten or twelve, I’d say.”

“Fucking hell.”

“Nah, baby. Be honest. This is heaven for your tits. Just look at them perking up for Master Blade.”

“Go aw-a-y,” Joanne whimper turned into a low moan as Keon started lapping at her nipples leisurely. 

Ten minutes later, she was cursing and begging alternatively. Her loins throbbed painfully with every suck, lick and nibble, arousing her to the brink of insanity. She could feel the prickles of a climax sting at her clit. It was something she’d always been proud of—her orgasm control—but a year of abstaining, and feeling Max’s eyes scorch over her, pushed her very close to the edge.

“Time.”

“Oh, thank god,” she puffed as Master Wade pulled his head back and released her nipple with a loud pop.

“Enjoyed that, didn’t you, my pet?” Max took a deep breath. “From the delightful scent permeating the entire room, a little too much in my opinion, especially as this is supposed to be a punishment,” he drawled.

“Just turn the fucking wheel,” Joanne snapped irritably.

“Careful, Violet. Your disrespect is starting to show,” Max warned with a deep voice.

This time the wheel did two full turns before it rocked to a halt.

“Ah, now that’s more like it,” Max said with a satisfied grin. “This is one of my favorites, Violet. Care to guess what it is?”

Joanne’s eyes narrowed. Max used to have too many favorites for her to guess accurately. She wracked her brain.

Tickling!

“No! That’s not punishment! That’s torture,” she gasped. It was something she hated with a passion. Why the hell is it even listed here?

“But so much fun,” he said as he ran his fingers lightly along the underside of her arm to gently tickle her sides. She jerked away but couldn’t suppress the giggle.

“No, Master Jag. I beg you; not that please!”

A smile spread on Max’s face as her tingling laughter filled the room with every tickle of his fingers on her sides and the pit of her arms.

“I’m willing to do just about anything to hear you giggle, luv,” he said and continued to tickle her mercilessly until tears were running down her face.

“Please stop! I beg you, Master Jag,” she gasped amidst uncontrollable laughter that kept bursting from deep within her. It was so infectious that everyone watching, chuckled along with her.

 “Now, wasn’t that refreshing, my pet?”

“You’re a fucking asshole,” Joanne managed to say, still gasping.

“If you want to insult me, I expect you to do it at least correctly, sub,” Max warned.

“You, Master Jag, are a fucking asshole,” she snapped.

“You’ve always been a fast learner, my pet.” Max was in his element. He loved the way her eyes lit up with anger at him. The fact that she didn’t try and hide it, excited him to no end. It was the thing that challenged him as a Dom—a bratty sub. It offered so many satisfying opportunities to exert his dominance.

“Are you ready for your final turn, Violet? I have a craving to hear your throaty cries fill my ears.”

“Just fucking spin the wheel, Sir asshole!”

“You might have been out of the lifestyle for a year, sub, but in here, I won’t tolerate your continued disrespect.” This time there was no mistaking the warning in his voice. Joanne stared at him, realizing just how badly she’d been behaving. She’d become so used to be the one in charge that she was on the edge of acting like a Domme herself.

“Care to try that again, Violet?”

“Please spin the wheel, Sir,” she cooed in a sugar-sweet voice.

“That’s much better,” Max chuckled dangerously and set the wheel turning. By the time it stopped, Joanne was feeling giddy. There was anticipation in the room about what was coming. When Max pulled out a short-tailed flogger from his toy bag, she knew why.

“I see you know what’s coming, luv and I’m delighted that it excites you so much.” He dragged in a deep breath with his nose tilted upward. “Ah, such an enticing aroma. Is your pussy eager to feel the sting of my flogger, my pet?”

Joanne bit her lip. She refused to respond and wished she could press her knees together to contain the lust that throbbed afresh in her loins.

Max walked closer. He pressed his face closer. “I expect an answer when I ask you a question, sub.”

“Then no, Master Jag, my pussy has no such eagerness.”

“Ah, well, that’s debatable,” he said as he tapped the handle of the flogger against her clit. His smile was devilish when she gasped. “And as your tits are still so beautifully displayed, it would be a shame to neglect them.” Max smiled broadly. “Master Swinx, what does the wheel say?”

Lance cleared his throat and read it out loud, his deep voice laced with amusement. “Twenty pussy lashes with a short-tailed flogger.”

“Hm, tell you what, Violet. How does twelve pussy lashes and four on each nipple sound?”

“Tell you what, Master Jag, this mathematics lesson is boring me.”

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

“Ooow, shit!” She screamed as the strips landed with unflinching accuracy on her nipples—hard, with the intent to hurt.

“That was for your continuous insolence and as result; it will now be sixteen lashes on your naked pussy and four on each nipple.” With that his fist closed around her black satin thong and with one hard yank, he ripped it from her hips. His eyes remained steadfast on her as he stuffed the torn panties into his pants pocket.

Joanne watched him, unblinking. She was mesmerized by his bulging thigh muscles that rippled as he spread his legs and slapped the strips of the flogger against his leathers. It was no wonder women were drawn to him like flies. He was too gorgeous for words, especially when his blue eyes glinted with wicked intent.

Max approached her and pressed the tumescence of his cock between her legs. He held himself there, enjoying the sensations that rippled through his loins at the contact.

“You love the sting of the leather against your skin, my pet, I taught you that, years ago. Do you think you’ll react in the same way when you feel the sting this time?” He whispered the words inches away from her ear. He loved the heat of her body pressed against his. The flair in her eyes told him she did too.

Max breathed in deeply, feeling the anticipation build for what was about to happen. Watching a sub’s reaction to his flogger was always thrilling for him. He drew the handle against her clit and with slow deliberation, moved it in a circular motion, coating it with her juices. He took a step back. His fingers tightened in a firm grip as he flicked his wrist, ending in a playful tap against her labia.

Her breath wheezed from her chest in reaction.

“Yes, my pet, that’s the reaction I’m after,” he said in his deep, soothing voice and flicked his wrist again, sharper this time. The strips swished through the air. The leather strips splayed with a fiery sting across her sensitive labia. She jerked and arched her back as another two followed directly after.

Joanne was struggling to remain somewhat composed. The reaction of her body was in sync with Max’s silent command with every swing of the flogger. Just as she drew in a deep calming breath, she heard the swish of the leather strips.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

“Ahh . . . fuck!” She cried out as the strips connected with her nipples. This time Max didn’t allow her a breather and followed it up with four more directly on her pussy. He pulled his hand back sharply just as the strips connected, causing the ends of the strips to snap on the inside of her pussy lips with stinging fire.

The pain shot to her brain at the same time it settled into pulsing warmth deep inside her core; a demand that throbbed through her entire lower body.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

“Oow! Goddammit, that hurts,” she screamed when the four strikes fell on her nipples.

“Deep breath, my pet, because these will hurt even more. Remember, Violet, don’t come.”

With those words, the strips cracked in five successive strikes directly on her clitoris. Her scream echoed through the dungeon. Her back arched and her hips did a dance against the wheel. Pain exploded through her mind at the same time as the desire blazed closer to the periphery of her need to climax.

Then Max was there, pressing his body against hers. He brushed the tendrils back from her brow as he watched her struggle to find her breath.

“Ah, fuck, Jo, you’re so beautiful in this moment.”

“Please . . . I need to . . .” she gasped and ran her tongue over her suddenly dry lips as she humped her hips back and forth against his.

“You’ve done so well, my pet, so yes; I will grant you one wish. Tell me, Violet. What is it that you need?”

“Come, please Maximilian, I need to come!”

Max felt himself drowning in her smoky gaze. The way her voice turned husky when she mentioned his name flowed through his mind like the smoothest whiskey. He hated that name, but on her lips, it sounded perfect. So much so that he didn’t even reprimand her for not using his club name.

He reached between them and allowed his fingertips to dance over her clit.

She bit her lip.

He smiled.

“More,” she begged with fluttering eyelids.

Max complied and drew slow circles around her clit, taunting her before he dipped his finger deep inside her wet, hot channel, to pump his hand in and out teasingly.

“Yesss . . . fuck, yes,” she sighed. Her head pressed into the padded surface of the wheel. Max’s lips found the arched invitation of her throat, then latched onto her rudely erect nipple and sucked strongly. He added a second finger and then a third. His thumb tapped her clit as he began to finger fuck her with deep, short jabs of his hand; finding the swollen ganglia on the front of her vagina and toggled his fingertip against it.

Joanne shattered within seconds. The cry started as a low keen, but soon escalated into a full bloodied scream that echoed throughout the dungeon.

“Ah now, can’t let this go to waste,” Max murmured. He fell to his knees and buried his face between her legs.

Joanne’s eyes rolled back in their sockets as Max lapped and sucked at her juices. He continued to feed her climax without mercy until she slumped weakly in her bindings.

“No more. Please, Master Jag . . . I can’t . . . ohhh,” she puffed as another climax tore through her. This time she was unprepared and struggled against the darkness that settled around her mind. Her breathing faltered as she felt herself lose the battle. “Max! I . . .”

Joanne’s breath puffed from her lips as she passed out.

Max smiled.