Chapter 5

Hell.

Olivia was in hell.

She was going to find out who had talked Luke into assless pants and she was going to make them pay. 

The man had a damn fine ass. 

But those pants?

Like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

She hadn’t realized until she’d had everyone kneel down and then began to circle around him as she’d explained the various times a submissive might kneel and how they might position their hands when they did so. When she’d caught a glimpse of the pale skin of his ass bright against the gleaming leather of his pants, she’d nearly choked on her words.

While she couldn’t prove Luke had help getting dressed, and she definitely couldn’t prove who had offered the help, she had her suspicions. Michael was both a sadist and liked to stir shit up and she was pretty sure this had his name written all over it.

Pure fucking torture. As if she hadn’t already been aroused just by Luke quietly kneeling down and going through the different hand positions as she described them. All of the subbies were doing so, but her attention was focused on Luke. The others had their own dominants to focus on them and correct them as needed.

And now she was distracted as hell because all she wanted to do was get him on the spanking bench and see how he liked the crop he kept eyeing so curiously.

Topping him tonight was such a bad idea. Too late to back out now though. She told herself she wasn’t happy about that.

She wasn’t.

******

Kneeling was strange.

Even though he’d had the image of kneeling to pleasure Olivia orally, kneeling for the sake of kneeling… well it wasn’t quite as easy as he’d initially imagined. Although he liked a bossy woman, being entirely quiescent, unmoving, waiting for her to do something… it felt odd. Luke considered himself secure in his masculinity, but there was definitely something unsettling about being the only man kneeling in the room. He didn’t think the other men were judging him, and yet he still felt awkward.

Which was not something he’d thought he’d feel and he was just as disturbed by his own reactions as he was disturbed by submitting.

Actually submitting and doing something he wouldn’t be inclined to normally do.

Which was harder than he’d thought it would be.

It became a little easier when Olivia circled back around to the front of him and he saw the expression of approval, arousal, and pleasure on her face. Suddenly kneeling for the sake of kneeling didn’t seem so bad at all. Not if she was going to look at him like that.

“Everyone up to your feet,” she said. She wasn’t yelling and her voice didn’t even sound raised, yet everyone in the room heard her. Luke could hear the others’ movement as he rose. “Good, now back down and into position.”

He frowned.

Hesitated.

She’d had them stand just to immediately kneel back down again?

Slim fingers hooked into his harness and Luke found himself suddenly being pulled forward and down. Not onto his knees—bent over. He hadn’t realized how much pull the harness could have, yanking his entire upper body down with it, and he now realized exactly why a submissive man might wear one.

SMACK!

A little yelp of surprise and pain escaped his lips at the feel of Olivia’s crop snapping against the bare skin of his ass.

Dammit.

Listening to Michael had been a bad idea. 

Again. 

He should have learned his lesson already.

That wouldn’t have hurt nearly as much in pants that actually covered his ass. 

His cock didn’t seem to mind though. The little bite of pain was actually making the traitorous shaft throb in a pleasant way. Another little yelp across the room made him wonder if someone else had hesitated and paid the price.

“When your dominant tells you to get on your knees, you get on your knees,” Olivia said silkily, her voice like a caress that had his cock jerking again. Instead of letting him straighten, she used the harness to direct him back and down, so settling onto his knees was the natural movement. Her boot tapped against the inside of his right knee. “Spread wider, the way you were before. Good.”

Releasing the ring in the center of his chest, she straightened, smoothing a hand over his hair, running her fingers through it. The small touch was a reward, one which made his skin tingle.

Part of him wanted to rebel again, another part of him wanted to follow her hand and lean his head against her leather-clad thigh.

“Some of you are probably wondering why I had you stand just to kneel down again,” Olivia said. “However, three of you obeyed even if you weren’t sure why, and that is the correct response.” Part of him wilted a little, knowing he wasn’t one of the three. “In a scene, your dominant may ask something of you which seems odd, nonsensical, or even power-trippy. If you’re worried about your safety, you can always safeword. However, you should also consider there may be a reason you’re ordered to do something, even if you don’t know what it is at the time.

“I wanted you to get up and kneel down again so you could practice getting back into position. You’re going to need to practice this at home. I can tell Morgan has been practicing on her own even after her relationship ended because of how graceful she is. Most dominants won’t fault beginners for kneeling unattractively, but some will, and I have found most submissives prefer to feel graceful as they kneel. The only way to achieve that is practice, over and over, and eventually it will be natural and you won’t even need the small corrections back into position once you’re on your knees. Now. Everyone back up.”

Luke rose, suddenly aware of how inelegant his own movements were as he did so. And when Olivia ordered them back down again, he didn’t hesitate this time but he definitely wasn’t as graceful as he wanted to be either. He found himself peeking over to see Morgan, who was flushed pink with pleasure as she completed her own flowing movements.

Yeah, he definitely didn’t look like that. It was like comparing a ballerina to a water buffalo. 

Olivia’s hand threaded through his hair again and she pulled his head back. His breath caught in his throat as she leaned forward over him. His immediate impulse was to look at the creamy mounds of her breasts, but he found he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her silver, steely gaze. The confines of his pants felt exquisitely tight as his heart rate picked up, blood rushing through his body and pooling in his groin.

“Don’t compare yourself to others,” she murmured, low enough he would be the only one to hear. “Especially those with far more practice than you. Just do the best you can do and I will be pleased.”

I will be pleased.

Luke didn’t understand why those words had such an electrifying effect on him, but they did. In that moment, with her eyes boring into his, her hand gently but firmly gripping his hair and bending his head back, all he wanted to do was please her.

“Yes, ma’am,” he managed to choke out.

The smile he received in return was enough to make his hands twitch where they were resting on his thighs—her stated preference—because he wanted to reach up and touch her. But he knew doing so would be unappreciated. Probably even punishment-worthy. Which might not be so bad except he didn’t want to disappoint her.

Not even because he was pursuing her and he wanted to prove he could do this, but he just didn’t want to see her expression change to displeasure and disappointment. That would be worse than any physical punishment she could administer. Was this part of what it meant to be submissive?

“Good boy,” she said, and then chuckled as the expression on his face changed. He might not want to disappoint her, but he didn’t really want to be called ‘boy’ either. He was a man, dammit. “You’re doing very well, cupcake.”

With another stroke of her fingers through his hair, she released him as she straightened up again and Luke tried to decide whether or not he liked ‘cupcake’ better than ‘boy.’

******

Olivia made herself remove her hand from Luke’s head because it was far too tempting to keep stroking the silky strands. Far too easy to imagine gripping his hair exactly like that as he laved his tongue over her pussy. Basically, touching him only made her want to touch him more.

Thank goodness he couldn’t touch her back. 

Because she really, really wanted him to.

She was also relieved this was a class setting. If this had been happening a year ago before the classes started and she’d been the one to do an Introduction Scene with him, where they could be in private and sex might have been on the table… Olivia wasn’t sure she would have been able to resist. 

Clearing her throat, she made herself step back. “Good. Everyone up.”

Rae was starting to look a little mutinous, Morgan was as graceful as she’d been since they’d started this exercise, Samantha anxious to do everything perfectly already and even more anxious when she couldn’t, and Domi was practically vibrating with excitement. Interestingly, when Brian put his hand on the back of Rae’s neck and murmured something in her ear, she looked pleased for a moment… and then a little startled and then a bit mutinous again. Olivia had a feeling she was struggling with submitting just as much as Luke was. Maybe more than. Brian seemed to calm her more than Mitch had last lesson though. 

“Now, everyone on your bench. We’re going to use leather cuffs on your wrists and ankles and everyone will receive a light, erotic spanking.” Suddenly, all of the subbies—including Luke and Rae—looked both anxious and anticipatory. Mentions of bondage and spankings could do that. Grins flashed around the room as her Baby Doms exchanged glances.

Ignoring them, Olivia turned back to Luke who hesitated and then turned towards the spanking bench. His body language telegraphed a nice mix of tension and excitement, his muscles bunching as he straddled the bench and slowly bent forward.

Damn he had a damn fine ass.

And had marked he was willing to try anal play and possibly anal sex on his survey.

Olivia was doubtful he’d ever experimented with either on himself and she had to admit, the idea of being the first to introduce him to either was even more tempting. She’d always had a thing for playing with a man’s ass. Although, she knew a lot more about how to make it both pleasurable and psychologically palatable than she had the first time she’d fingered her boyfriend’s ass. Not that she’d ever gone in dry or been anything but gentle, but a lot of men found the psychological aspect even harder to handle.

This was the point in the class where she could focus mostly on her own submissive, although she still kept one eye on the rest of the room at large and her ears perked for anything that sounded remotely like ‘red.’ Her Baby Doms were all well trained, but new submissives could be panicky, especially when it came to bondage. She didn’t expect any problems from Morgan, and probably not Domi either. Her money would be on either Samantha or Rae for issues. Which was why she’d given them to Brian and Kincaid, who could both be steadier than Zach or Mitch.

But most of her focus was on the gorgeous man in front of her, draped over the spanking bench with his ass in the air, framed by the black leather pants he was wearing, and tension in every line of his body.

Placing her hand on his back, just above where the leather straps of the harness crossed, Olivia stroked down his warm flesh, passing over the straps and caressing his skin. After a moment he relaxed under her strokes, and she smiled, feeling the rush of power she loved so much which came whenever a strong man submitted to her. 

Crouching down beside him, she ran her hand down his arm to his wrist, unsurprised when he turned his head to watch her. Although he’d relaxed somewhat, there was still a nice mix of trepidation in his eyes along with his arousal. She knew his trepidation would only grow—hopefully in a good way—as she secured the restraints on his limbs.

“Is this too tight?” she asked, slipping one finger between the leather and his skin to make sure. 

“No, it’s good.” Luke blinked at his wrist, staring at it like he’d never seen it before.

Olivia grinned. This was fun. 

As she moved to his other side, her grin faded a little. She wasn’t supposed to have too much fun. 

******

When Olivia put the first cuff around his wrist, securing him to the bench he was laying on, Luke had felt a little spurt of panic. He’d thought it would get worse when she put on the second.

Instead, when the second cuff went on his wrist, he tugged… and relaxed even more than he had when she’d stroked his hair and back. The strangest feel of freedom, of a burden being lifted, flowed through him. He literally could not touch her now.

Could not take charge.

Could not be expected to.

He hadn’t realized how much trying to think had made him feel tensely insecure with women before. Always wondering if they liked what he was doing. If he was doing it right. If they were faking their reactions. If they wanted him to do something else. And, after Samantha, if he wasn’t giving them what they needed.

None of that mattered now. 

Because Olivia would tell him exactly what she wanted him to do, she definitely wouldn’t put up with anything she didn’t like. She’d probably never faked anything in her life, and he couldn’t give her anything right now because he was all tied up. He could only take what she wanted to give to him. 

As she put the cuffs on his ankles, restraining him completely, he didn’t think he’d ever been so in tune with his own body. He was normally so focused on what the woman he was with was feeling. Now he could feel the air brushing over his back and ass. The warmth of the leather under his chest. The softness of the cuff lining around his wrists. 

When she actually touched his ass, just placing her warm palm on the cheek and curving her fingers around to hold the flesh, Luke actually moaned. He felt her touch intensely, every point of contact between her body and his, and in the moment it was incredibly erotic even though she hadn’t actually done anything yet.

Her hand lifted.

SMACK!

His body jerked.

It stung, just as much as the crop, but… it felt good too.

Especially when she rubbed the spot a moment after.

SMACK!

The other cheek flared with the sudden stinging burn.

Luke’s hips moved and his cock rubbed against the padding on the bench through his pants, making him groan at the combination of sensations.

Okay, he got how a spanking could definitely be erotic now.

SMACK!

SMACK!

The sound of flesh meeting flesh was heard all throughout the room now, along with soft, feminine moans and whimpers, punctuated by Luke’s deeper ones as Olivia continued to spank his ass. She moved her hand all over both cheeks, not neglecting a single spot and making him burn in a way he’d never experienced before.

After every impact of her hand, Luke’s hips lifted, offering himself up for another, and then his groin would rub against the bench and his pants would shift around his tightly constrained cock, and he was completely consumed by the sensations assaulting him from every side. There was nothing else to concentrate on, nothing else to worry about, all he had to do—all he could do—was feel. 

SMACK!

SMACK!

SMACK!

He groaned, fingers curling around the hand rests, gripping them tightly as sexual tension wound around him. Every movement felt like hot bliss, but he didn’t want to cum in his pants. Something he had not anticipated would be an issue. It was definitely becoming one. 

Just when he thought he might beg Olivia to stop, just to keep him from losing control like a randy teenager, the hard swats stopped. Hands rubbed his ass, gripping the flesh hard enough to make him cry out and then shudder as her fingers gentled to a caress. Luke panted against the bench, wondering if he was about to embarrass himself. 

When he felt the restraint on his ankle loosen, he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed.

******

Around the room, everyone was finishing up their spankings, moving into aftercare. No problems so far. 

Samantha had taken the punishment swats Kincaid had given her very well, and he’d then rewarded her with caresses and softer touches. Once she’d been tied down, Rae had submitted almost as quickly as Luke had. Funny how bondage could have that effect on anxiously reluctant subbies. Not always, but both Luke and Rae definitely benefited from being restrained.

“Slowly,” Olivia murmured as Luke pushed up and swayed a little on the bench. 

Damn but he was pretty with that almost dreamy expression on his face, his ass a nice, dark pink from being spanked. She could see the outline of his cock against the front of his pants in stark relief now, not just a bulge. Luke was aroused as hell and it was difficult not to reach out and place her hand over his shaft to torment him further.

But the scene was over.

Aftercare now and then playtime was over. Next class he’d be with Lisa. 

Even though Lisa was devoted to her submissive, Karen, Olivia couldn’t stop the little jab of possessiveness that speared through her. She pushed it aside, ignoring it. It was unimportant for now anyway.

She helped him up from the bench, taking his hand and leading him over to one of the alcoves. For class purposes they were perfect for aftercare, giving each couple a little bit of privacy but still being open so she could keep an eye on everything. The curtains were not to be drawn during class. 

Sitting on the bench and scooting in, she smiled at Luke’s expression of bemusement as he stared down at her. Taking his hand again, she pulled him down so he was laying on the bench, his head on her lap, facing away from her body.

“This is aftercare?” he asked as she began to gently stroke her fingers through his hair.

“Yes, this is aftercare,” she said, leaning to the side to reach for one of the water bottles conveniently kept in a shelf under the table.

“Mmmm.”

To her surprise, alarm, and reluctant delight, Luke flipped his body over to bury his face in her midriff, wrapping his arms around her waist. Olivia froze, unsure of what to do. 

Aftercare was for both the submissive and the dominant, but it was up to her as the dominant that the submissive received the care they needed. Something about the way Luke was clinging to her, snuggling into her, made her feel he probably needed this kind of tactile care. Which wouldn’t have been a problem except it made her yearn for things she shouldn’t. 

He owns this club. He owns this club. He owns this club. He is technically in charge of you.

Only technically.

No, don’t go there, don’t equivocate or make excuses. It would be a fucking terrible idea.

I’ve had worse ideas.

Have I?

She returned to stroking his hair, feeling far more conflicted than she could remember ever being in years.

Olivia wanted him.

Olivia shouldn’t get involved with him. 

So far both impulses were running about equal.

At least she thought they were equal.

The soft, squishy feeling in her chest as he sighed happily and shifted again, cuddling her like a teddy bear, indicated the former might be pulling ahead.

But it was such a bad idea.

******

After changing back into his regular clothes, Luke found himself back at Olivia’s office door. Her presence was like a siren’s call, one he couldn’t resist even if he wanted to. 

When he’d gone back to the locker room to change, he’d been very thankful the Doms had all just needed to put on their coats and leave, giving him the space to himself. The entire time he’d been cuddling with Olivia in the alcove his cock had remained hard and ready, although without the urgency he’d felt on the bench. Inhaling her scent, feeling her fingers running through his hair, had been sensually erotic.

Since he’d had the room to himself, he’d jerked off hard and fast, his knees shaking with the intensity of his orgasm.

Yet, strangely, he felt like he could easily go for round two. Maybe because his ass still tingled and felt incredibly sensitive against his jeans, even through his underwear. Or maybe that was just the effect Olivia had on him. 

“Come in.”

Was that a touch of resignation in her voice? Expectation? Hard to tell through the door.

For a moment he was just a little disappointed when he opened the door and saw she had changed as well. It only made sense of course. He doubted sitting behind that desk in her club clothes would be very comfortable. She still looked hot, just in a more naughty librarian kind of way in a red button down shirt opened deeply enough to show a bit of cleavage and her hair still up in the French twist.

She raised her eyebrow at him as he sauntered across the room, settling back into the same chair he’d taken last time. The slight soreness of his bottom as he settled into the comfortable seat felt odd but not entirely bad.

“What’re you doing?” he asked, keeping his tone casual. Asking as a friend, not a partial owner of Marquis.

“Making notes about tonight’s class. Is there something I can help you with?” As she spoke, she picked up a pen, tapping it soundlessly against the blotter on her desk.

Instead of answering her, Luke let his gaze drift over to the vase of roses on the side of her desk. “Beautiful flowers.”

Her lips pursed and he was pretty sure she was holding back both laughter and an impulse to yell at him.

“You should stay out of my office when I’m not in it,” she said. 

He noticed she didn’t actually order him to stay out. 

It was hard not to look smug. She’d liked the flowers. And the chocolate, he assumed, since the bar was missing.

“Do you have a reason to think I was in here?” he asked as innocently as he could. 

Again she looked like she was holding back either a smile or a scolding. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure which he would like better from her. 

“If I catch you, you won’t like the consequences.”

“Well, we don’t really know what I like or dislike yet, but I’m willing to experiment if you are,” he said flirtatiously, leaning forward, which ignited some of the tingling sting back in his ass.

This time he was sure she was holding back a laugh.

“Out,” she ordered, pointing her finger at the door. “I have work to do.”

“See you Sunday, Scarlet,” he said with a wink, standing and sauntering back across the room. He ignored her scowl at the nickname.

Just before he opened the door he glanced over his shoulder and caught her staring at his ass.

Maybe listening to Michael hadn’t been such a bad idea.