Chapter Five
Cassandra
I suppose there were worse things than being punished by two Greek men you’d pushed to the limit yet again, but, at this moment, I certainly couldn’t think of any. My punishment had begun with Deo’s hand rising and falling to swat all over my ass. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it wasn’t truly awful… for the first two dozen strokes that was.
When the direction of the swats changed, no longer falling directly on either of my nates, but slapping at an angle to connect with the sensitive skin on the under-curve of my right buttock, I knew the ‘warmup’ was over. A slap at the underside of my left cheek caused me to yelp sharply and arch as best I could. “Ow! Please!” I begged, grateful when I felt Deo’s palm press against my ass. That was his signal that the spanking was done and yet when I tried to pull my hands from Draco’s in preparation of being lifted, I felt Deo’s hand at my waist, pulling me into him even tighter and the touch of his flesh replaced by something foreign. As it tapped gently, I gasped. How could I have forgotten?
When the spoon lifted, I bit my lip, promising myself that I’d accept the second part of my spanking with dignity. I’d prove that I truly regretted disobeying Draco. There were millions of these wooden implements. They were a common item found in every household in America and kitchens around the world most likely. They were used to stir things, to help create beautiful, delicious dishes. How bad could it be?
Bad.
Very bad.
Very, very bad.
Please! Ow! Oh, God! No! Ouch! Stop! Enough! I’m sorry! were just a few of the phrases that I babbled nonstop as that spoon took bites out of my butt. Every staccato thwap was sharp and crisp, each added another ember to the fire that I was afraid was going to burn for the rest of eternity.
I arched, I cried, I tried to swim off Deo’s lap, but it was useless. His arm was like an iron band around my waist holding me to him, and Draco’s hands easily contained mine, leaving me no option other than accepting every single punishing pop of the spoon. I began to make promises that I truly meant with every fiber of my being. I assured them that I’d learned my lesson. I swore that my feet would be planted so firmly in whatever spot they directed me to stay that not even a bulldozer would be able to push me over. I promised that I would never, ever disobey them again. That when I was allowed behind the wheel of a car again, I’d be the safest driver in the entire world. And when the last swat came, I made myself a vow as well. I pledged that when this was done, when… if… the fire flaming across my ass was ever extinguished, I was going to make sure that every wooden implement, spoon or not, was banished from our house.
“I hope you remember those promises, Cassandra,” Deo said, his palm once more splaying across my ass, stroking as if to make sure the fire wasn’t allowed to even begin to ebb. “I don’t like punishing you, but I will continue drilling the lesson into your ass until you really do absorb the fact that disobedience will not be tolerated. Understand?”
“Consider me a freakin’ sponge,” was on the tip of my tongue, but while I was stubborn at times, I was smart enough to know when snark wasn’t a good idea. Well, that and the fact I’d learned that a wooden spoon was a very good teacher.
“Yes, sir.”
“All right then.” Before I knew it, my hands were released and Deo had lifted me to stand before him. My hands itched to move behind me, to rub at the painful mass that was my butt, but Deo reached out to turn me to the side, his other hand pointing toward the bed. “Go on now. Here’s your chance to prove your understanding. Let’s see how well you demonstrate your ability to soak up Draco’s lesson.”
It wasn’t the swat to my ass that had me gasping, it was the look on Deo’s face. Shit!
For some reason I didn’t think he was part bat, or that he had psychic abilities. From the look of displeasure mixed with disappointment, I instantly knew I wasn’t anywhere near as clever as I’d thought. “I-I said that out loud… didn’t I?” I asked softly. “About the… sponge?”
“The freakin’ sponge? Yes, you did.”
“I-I was just…” With a sigh, I shrugged because really, what could I say that wouldn’t just make it worse? Words would be nothing more than an attempt to excuse behavior that had not only been snarky, it had been disrespectful. Instead, the moment he released my arm, I moved… not toward the bed and Draco as I just couldn’t leave Deo like this. Instead, I bent over and picked up the spoon that he’d dropped to the floor beside the chair and laid myself right back over his lap. Looking behind me, I held out the spoon.
“Please, sir.” I knew I should say more, but, honestly, I had no idea what to say. My mate proved far more intelligent than I as he merely took the spoon from my hand, tucked me into his waist and began.
This time I put all thoughts of just enduring out of my mind, and well… became that sponge. I allowed every searing swat to imprint itself not only on my aching ass, but on my mind and… more important, in my heart. I didn’t beg, didn’t make empty promises… I simply accepted his dominance. Gave him my complete submission. The next time I was lifted from his lap, my face was wet and more tears ran down to drip off my chin.
“Tha-thank you,” I managed.
“You’re welcome.”
He didn’t have to tell me what to do or where to go. I moved the few feet to the bed and after giving my second mate a nod, turned and bent my torso over the bed. A nudge of his shoe between my bare feet had me widening my stance. Draco didn’t make me wait, didn’t make me even ask for the whipping I’d been told would be coming. Instead, he placed his hand on the small of my back to help me maintain my position.
“A dozen and I want you to count each one. Let each stroke so…”
“I will, sir,” I said when he paused. “I will let every one soak into my heart and my soul.”
“Good. Then let’s get this finished.”
Nodding, I pressed my cheek to the bed, clutching the duvet a bit tighter the moment I heard the first whoosh of air being displaced as his belt sliced through it. Anticipation of that first bite of pain had time appearing to slow as the leather completed its arc to crack against my ass, driving the breath from my lungs.
“One!” I shouted, the fire flaring hotter as the belt licked across my ass again. “Two!” Despite my determination to accept the punishment with dignity, by the time I called out, “Six,” I couldn’t help but wag my hips from side to side in an attempt to cool the burn. As Draco continued to place each stroke with precision, I could picture the bands of crimson covering my ass.
“Position, Cassie, and push your bottom up,” Draco instructed as I stuttered out the number ten. “I want your ass nice and high for these last two.”
Sliding my feet apart, I felt heat flood my face. I could feel the air waft across my sex and knew that this position afforded my mates not only a view of my striped ass, but my pussy… my wet pussy. I felt Draco’s hand press a bit firmer against my back in a silent reminder to push my bottom up. Arching my back, I lifted my ass and was rewarded with the snap of leather across the lower curve of my cheeks where they merged into my thighs.
“Eleven,” I managed, bouncing on the balls of my feet as my body accepted the new flare of pain.
“Last one,” Draco said, and I closed my eyes, fingers twisting burgundy fabric in anticipation.
Though prepared, my head still reared back and I screeched as his belt licked across my sit spot, burning hotter than those before.
“Number,” Draco reminded softly.
“Tw-twelve,” I said shakily.
I can’t explain how or why, but I did absorb the lesson. It wasn’t that these men were capable of causing my ass to burn; anyone larger or stronger than I could do that. It was that these men cared for me so deeply that they were willing to give me pain in order to hopefully keep me from putting myself in danger where the price paid could be death. Understanding didn’t mean that I didn’t hurt. I did. It had been the harshest punishment I’d been given to date and one I would do all I could not to see repeated.
This time when I was touched, it wasn’t by one of my mates, it was by both. Each one moved to stroke a hand down my body, mirroring each other’s movement as my hair was pushed off my tearstained cheeks. Again and again, they softly ran their fingers through my hair and down my back until my tears ceased and my cries turned into moans. I couldn’t explain it, but accepted that I must be wired differently than most women. Did I hurt? Yes. Had the fire they’d lit gone out? Hell, no. But, God, I wanted… no, I needed their touch. And not just these soft, soothing strokes. My pussy throbbed in time with the pulsing in my ass, my clit as swollen as my buttocks.
“Are you ready to make your penance?” Deo asked.
“Yes, sir,” I said, meaning it with all my heart.
“On your hands and knees in the center of the bed.”
They helped me up onto the bed and while I moved to the center, they removed their clothing. I got into position, knowing how they wanted me: my head and breasts to the mattress, my knees spread as widely as possible, my butt high in the air. I could feel the air moving across my upturned ass, soothing the burn in my buttocks and letting me know how very, very wet I was between my legs. I knew I was making my penance, but I also knew that it would take just the barest touch to send me over the edge.
I licked my lips as my mates joined me, Draco settling between my legs and Deo moving to kneel before me. Without preamble, Deo slid his hand through my hair before closing his fingers into a fist and pulling my head from the mattress. With a tug, he had my chin up, my eyes no longer looking to the side, but straight ahead—directly at his erection that was jutting from his groin. Like my pussy, his cock was already glistening.
“Open,” he said, and the moment my lips parted, he slid into my mouth. I barely had time to take a breath before he was pushing against the back of my throat. “You’ll take every inch.”
I jolted forward a bit when Draco rammed into my pussy, impaling me with one hard thrust. “You come without permission and the spanking you just received will be repeated,” Draco growled, his hands gripping my hips but his thumbs sliding over the raised wheals from the belt that had not yet faded.
Every thrust in my mouth and my pussy had me climbing higher and higher. Each tug on my hair and squeeze of my already punished buttocks had me moving closer to the edge of the cliff. Every time my lips brushed against the black hair of Deo’s groin, his cock filling not only my mouth, but my throat, my nipples tightened. And every time I felt Draco’s balls slap against my pussy as he buried himself deeply in my cunt, my clit swelled. I was one big mass of nerve endings, every touch, every sound, every move threatening to shatter me. My eyes watered, my ass burned, my throat ached, but I craved every sensation.
“God, you’re fucking beautiful on your knees filled front and back,” Deo said, pulling his cock almost totally from my mouth, allowing me to gasp for breath, to ready myself for the next deep plunge. “I’m going to come and you are going to swallow every drop.”
“Yes, sir,” I said, though the words came out far less articulate because of the huge cock in my mouth.
“We’re going to fill you together,” Draco said, withdrawing until only the head of his cock split the lips of my sex. “And when we say, you are going to show us that you have learned your lesson.”
“When we give you the order, you are going to come and come harder than you’ve ever come before. Do you understand?” Deo picked up the instructions as his fingers untangled from my hair and he placed both his hands on either side of my head.
“Yes, sir,” I said again, aching to prove that I truly had learned the folly of my choice and that I did want to obey… I wanted to so very badly.
“Good girl,” Draco said, his hands tightening on my hips.
It was like they were telepathic or connected in some mystical way. Without words, as one they thrust back into my body. They fucked me as they wanted and as I needed: hard and fast. Within a few strokes, I felt both their cocks swelling and tensing and then jerking as they erupted at the exact same time.
“Come, now!” The order was given by two men but was one voice. The combined hoarse shout was enough to send me toppling over the cliff to hover on the current of ecstasy before my strangled cry filled the air as I began to plummet toward the earth.
* * *
The next morning, the sunlight was streaming through the window when I opened my eyes. My face was pressed into the pillow, my nightgown hitched up around my waist. I leaned up on my elbows, turned my head over my shoulder, and peered behind me.
My ass had been so tender that I’d spent the night sleeping on my stomach. How was it even possible that there was not a single speck of the red my mates had painted with hand, spoon, and belt remaining on my buttocks? I shook my head, reaching back to probe the surface of my pale hillocks. “Ow,” I muttered, discovering that lack of color didn’t mean no pain.
“Good morning, princess.” Deo sat in the chair in the corner of our bedroom. I sat up, struggling to bring my nightgown down over my bare skin—though who knew how long he had been viewing my bare ass from that chair already?
“Good morning, Deo,” I said demurely. My evening with my mates had left me with the feeling of surrender, of submission. My disobedience and snark had turned to ash by the fire they’d ignited on my ass. “Where’s Draco?”
“He is running the perimeter of our property.”
My brow knitted together. “Is everything okay?”
“Just a precaution, my sweet.”
I yawned, stretching and shaking the night from me. The red numbers on the alarm clock told me it was early. “Hey—we have a few hours before I go to work.” A smile spread across my face. I loved lazing around our beautiful manor on early mornings, begging Draco to make me pancakes—which he sometimes did.
“Not this morning. I have work to do.” Standing from his seat, he approached the bed, easily plucking me from the covers to set me onto the floor. My bare feet planted in the soft carpet, my nightgown falling into place. His eyes snapped to mine. “And you will have to go with me until Draco returns.”
“Why?” I mused as he took my hand. Without answering my question, he led me down our cold marble staircase, through the hall, stopping at the door to his office. Opening the door with his free hand, he switched on the light.
I hadn’t been back in Deo’s private home office since the first night he had unexpectedly taken me over his knee.
Leaving me in the center of the carpet, Deo walked to the other side of his office. I felt small, standing alone barefoot, wearing only a thin nightgown. My feet turned inward, and I clasped my hands behind my back while Deo pulled out a wooden chair from the edge of the room.
Lifting the heavy antique chair, he walked to the front of the desk and placed it facing across from his own office chair, as if he were expecting a client.
He stood by the chair, his big hand wrapped around the ornate carvings in the wood. His dark eyes locked on mine. When he spoke, it was with sternness.
“I have work to do. And after your impulsive behavior yesterday, I feel I can no longer let you out of my sight. With Draco gone to assure that our borders are secure, you will have to stay with me while I work. If you cannot be trusted, you will be watched, every moment of every day.”
My gaze dropped, my cheeks burning with shame. “I really did learn my lesson. You can trust me.”
“Words are easy to say,” Deo said. “It takes action backing up those words to make them real. Understand?”
I had to nod because, well, I knew I wasn’t above making promises when in trouble and then tending to forget those promises once the moment passed.
“You will sit on your punished bottom as I work. You will spend this time thinking to yourself about the importance not only of obeying me and your guardian, but the importance of the words you say.” Holding a hand out to me, his brow raised as he beckoned me. “Come.”
I tiptoed across the carpet, making my way to my ‘naughty chair’. With a sigh, I sat down gingerly, flinching as my sore bottom contacted the wooden surface.
The heat of his body, the largeness of him looming behind me, made me shiver. His deep voice rumbled, “Your punished bare bottom, Cassandra.”
I stood, quickly lifting my nightgown around my waist, the cheeks on my face burning as hot as the punished ones beneath me had after my spankings last night. I sat down slowly, a quiet, “Oohh,” escaping my lips.
My hips shifted back and forth, trying to find a comfortable position. Deo, still standing behind the chair placed a heavy hand on each of my shoulders.
“Be still.”
I stopped wiggling, slumping down in the chair.
Deo walked around the desk, taking his seat behind it. “Sit up straight,” he warned, his eyes narrowing.
My spine straightened, my ass pressing into the wood.
Giving me one final disapproving look, Deo sat down in his chair. I watched as he pulled folders from the drawers.
“What are you looking at?” I asked, trying to take my mind off the throbbing that had begun in my butt.
Quirking his eyebrow, Deo asked, “What are you supposed to be doing?”
“Thinking about how naughty I am,” I mumbled.
“Reflecting on the importance of obedience, the consequences of your unwise choices, and the value of the words we speak, is what you were asked to do, young lady. Do you need to write it out in lines, or can you focus?”
I had assumed this ‘time out’ in Deo’s office couldn’t be more humiliating. I was wrong—it could get worse.
“Or maybe you could pen an apology note to your mates? For disobeying our commands? For putting yourself at risk?” he suggested.
“I’ll be good,” I said, straightening my posture.
Turning his attention back to his work, my husband mumbled, “Lines and a letter might not be bad ideas. I’m putting them in my back pocket.”
His eyes focused on his papers, and I allowed myself the pleasure of one small eye roll.
“I felt that, Cassandra,” Deo murmured, not bothering to look up as he scanned his documents.
I sighed. I sat. I tried to concentrate on being good, but my mind would not stop wandering to what had happened in the bedroom. The way Deo and Draco had punished me, the way they’d taken me as I paid my penance.
Even my thoughts of our time in the bedroom could not keep the boredom from creeping in—I am not one to sit still for extended periods of time. I listened to the clock tick. I tried to crane my neck to see over the desk and read his papers without being noticed—and failed—receiving such a sharp look I sat back in my seat. After what felt like hours of agony, my butt aching, my mind dying of boredom, Deo finally looked up from his papers.
“Come here.”
“Thank the Gods,” I muttered, standing and stretching. “That was forever, Deo,” I whined.
Deo looked at his watch, then gave me a glance that was a mixture of disbelief and amusement. “That was exactly one quarter of an hour, Cassandra Ambrosia.”
“Oh,” I said sheepishly, giving a shrug. “It felt like hours.”
Deo pushed himself and his chair back from the desk, making room for me to crawl into his lap.
Funny how sitting didn’t feel anywhere near as awful when I was doing so with my mate’s arms wrapped around me. I curled my arms around his neck, burying my face into his chest. I practically purred as Deo’s hands stroked my hair, my back.
After a moment of petting, Deo sat back. I looked up at him, my eyes locking on his.
Worry crossed his face, flashing in his eyes and softening his tone. “Now if you ever so much as dare to take one step out of that building without an Ambrosia male escorting you, I swear there will be one by your side, every second of your day, even when you are in the restroom. You will not be afforded even one moment of privacy. Do you understand me?”
My stomach dropped at the concern in his face. I had taken things too far yesterday. My guilt was quickly overrun by dread—I could not imagine being escorted to the restroom, much less having any one of the Ambrosia males witnessing moments that were meant to be private. I would be on my best behavior. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. I have an important matter I need to discuss with you. A matter that was brought to my attention by Draco. And the reason I was unable to meet you at the office to explain everything in person yesterday. I was investigating.”
I opened my mouth to release the string of questions that had been burning in my mind since that strange morning. Deo placed his finger over my lips, silencing me.
Giving me a stern look, Deo admonished, “I will speak, and you will listen.”
I gazed downward. Deo was becoming less and less patient with my lawyer tendencies. He seemed to enjoy his new habit of spanking my argumentative side right out of me. And now he had a partner, our co-mate, to help him keep me meek—not that I was complaining. Having two hot Greek doms was a dream come true for a woman like me. But despite the harsh punishments it still took all my will power to hold my questioning tongue.
“Are you ready to listen?”
I nodded.
“Good. I will tell you as much as I feel it is safe for you to know, at this time.” His eyes softened as he gazed over me. “We three enjoyed our vow ceremony and extended honeymoon. Did we not?”
“It was wonderful,” I gushed.
“It was.” Deo gave the tip of my nose a kiss. “And our ceremony was everything we had hoped it would be. My mind rests easy knowing you have Draco as well as myself to love and care for you.” He chuckled and shook his head.
“What?” I asked.
“Yesterday, when you tore out of here and Draco had to follow in the Escalade, our mate said you were wrapping up a little concert before parking your car?”
Feeling a blush creep into my cheeks, I remembered singing cheesy pop songs at the top of my lungs into my tube of lip gloss. It was a little ritual I had begun the very first day I had started at the firm… a way to calm my nerves. Though I’d long ceased to need it, it had become a habit and I still enjoyed the private moment right before I went into work each day.
“I can’t believe he saw me,” I said, embarrassed, burying my head in my hands.
“Draco found it quite cute—as he does most of your antics. He is made quite soft by your adorableness. So much so that when you took off for your first coffee run, he didn’t stop you, but hung back. Only once he was sure you were making your way safely back to the building, did he enter before you,” Deo said. I knew it to be true—though firm and strict, Draco was the softer of my two mates, spoiling me in little ways.
“You already know of the changes I have instituted. With these direct attacks looming in our future, I needed to protect you. I knew you would be restless, getting yourself into trouble at every turn if you were unable to work or leave the house. And I wanted to protect our friends.”
“Cy and Andrew?”
“Yes, and Debbi who you are so fond of. Cynthia and Andrew were already too far in to let them go. They will be better off under the employ of the pack. But Debbi—I knew it was best to get her out altogether. And we needed somewhere to train, hone our skills. So, I bought the building, outfitted it with the training gym, a room of maps, and a floor holding every historical writing the Ambrosia family owns. Your new job will be to work alongside Artem—sorting through all the information and helping us gain any clues we can to prepare for attacks. Your mind processes information so quickly—always working as if trying to solve a puzzle. We will study and work, and—if possible—break this curse once and for all.”
A thrill ran through me at his proposal—I wanted nothing more than to break the curse of the Ambrosia family. Should we have little ones one day—I shuddered at the thought of them in danger.
“I had planned to meet you at the office yesterday morning, myself, to explain our new business arrangement. I wanted to be there with you… but it was not possible.” He looked as if he was unsure whether he wanted to share the information with me.
Reaching up, I stroked the soft beard on his worried face. “Tell me.”
“Better to show you.” Reaching around me, Deo opened another drawer of his desk, retrieving a wrinkled newspaper. Holding it out to me, he smiled but the grin did not reach his anxious eyes.
Taking the paper from him, I spread it over my lap. The headline read, Nearly Three Dozen New Jersey Law Enforcement Officers Missing. No End in Sight of Disappearances. Running my eyes quickly over the page, I absorbed the information. The story was about the New Jersey police officers who had come for us at the castle. Days without turning up, they were missing from their posts. As they continued to not arrive for their scheduled shifts, fellow colleagues from the department began to speculate to local news sources, some giving up information about the officers being thought to be corrupt. One anonymous officer was quoted as saying, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were tied up in illegal Mafia activities.” Another anonymous source said, “We all suspected something corrupt was going on. They may have fled the country in fear for being found out? Fleeing from the mob? I don’t know, but let’s just say, these weren’t good guys. Not like the rest of the squad. Now those are some stand-up men. Shame they all get a bad name when a couple creeps get in the mix.” Scanning down further, I read a line that made my breath hitch in my chest. Since the mysterious disappearance of the first twenty officers, twelve more officers have failed to turn up to one or more of their scheduled shifts. My gaze snapped up at Deo.
“They are on the move, already. Aren’t they?”
“Perhaps.”
“They are looking for me—they are coming for me,” I whispered. Looking back at the paper, I memorized the features of each of the newly missing officers who were pictured. They were all young looking with self-assured, somewhat cocky expressions on their handsome faces. A flash of one of the men coming straight at me brushed through my mind.
“Not so fast,” Deo said.
Slapping my hand on the paper, I demanded, “Then tell me what are they doing, Deo? Collecting valentines for the nursing homes? You heard the demons. We have come for the one who breaks the vow. That is what they said.” I shuddered at the memory of their high, nasally voices chanting in an unnerving cadence. “They are coming for me.”
“Watch your tone, young lady. You do not want to find yourself over my lap again. Is your ass not sore enough?”
Holding my tongue, I squirmed, the move reminding me of my punished rear.
Stroking my hair as he often did, Deo looked over my head, a look of almost what seemed to be desperation. “We have more time. I’m sure of it. Every recording, every document we read said as much.” His eyes returned to drop to mine as he gestured at the papers on his desk. “Everything I have studied all pointed to more time…” His voice trailed off but not before I heard, “We need more time.”
A shiver ran down my spine. They were coming for me and they would not be long. I could feel it in my bones.