Taking Her in Hand Read online

  Eric had suspected she played the role to placate Colin, so she could transition from emo urchin to the princess of a very large castle. Eric didn’t blame her. People did difficult things to survive. But there had also been moments when Colin would mention things about Laci’s responsiveness to certain kinks that made Eric think it couldn’t be all acting on her part.

  He’d always wanted to find out for himself whether she really craved the life he and the others did. Eric was sure Colin had known he was attracted to Laci. Colin had even flaunted her a little to tease him. But while alive, Colin hadn’t been interested in sharing Laci with anyone. In death, though, he’d been generous.

  Of course, Eric knew the financial guardianship wasn’t just in place as an opportunity for Eric to interact with her. If there’d ever been a woman who needed a protector of her finances, it was Laci. At first, Eric had doled out the large sums of money she’d demanded, but it quickly became evident that she was blowing cash on things she didn’t need or even want. There was a room full of unopened boxes from online vendors ranging from REI to Nordstrom’s. As soon as he’d understood that she was shopping compulsively, out of grief and unhappiness, he’d cut her off.

  He’d have been lying to himself though if he didn’t admit that it turned him on to have power—any power—over her. He knew it was good for her, too. Not just because it would keep her from mindlessly burning through everything she’d inherited. It was good for her because the tug of war over the money put color in her cheeks and made her furious instead of overwhelmingly sad. When she challenged him and tried to get around the financial restrictions, it was the first time since Colin’s death that she didn’t seem lost. Eric was thinking of shutting down the direct transfers that put her allowance into her account. How furious would she be if he made her come to him in person for the money? He nearly smiled. She didn’t know him. Like Colin, he played his cards close to the vest where she was concerned. He watched situations and assessed them before he acted. But unlike Colin, he didn’t see Laci as a doll to be dressed up and played with like a precious toy. She was about to find that out.

  * * *

  There was a group of eight community members gathered in the study. Laci didn’t know them well, but she knew of them from Colin. He may not have indulged in group play, but he was a shameless gossip.

  Stuart and Allison were in their late thirties and elegantly dressed like they were headed to dinner at a fancy restaurant. They were the community’s biggest exhibitionists. George ‘Pepper’ Collins was nearing seventy, but daily workouts and Viagra apparently kept him very relevant during play. Laci played tennis with Pepper, and he nearly always won. He also nearly always managed to give her bottom a swat or two or to give her nipple a pinch when she got frustrated over missing a ball. Pepper had not been very subtle about his interest in her after Colin died.

  Jim Ochoa, who was a real estate developer, and his wife Elena, a chief financial officer of a large corporation, were in their late forties. They were both really attractive and sat on the Haywood Hills community council together. They’d also done so many kind things for her and Colin when he was sick that Laci couldn’t even remember them all.

  Dr. Glaser was wearing scrubs, and she wondered if he’d just arrived home from the hospital or if he had been doing the community ‘clinic’ hours. Colin had had certain kinks that involved medical play, so she knew Dr. Glaser from going into the clinic play space.

  Finally there was John, who was nearing fifty and very fit to the point of bulging biceps, and his wife Melody who was dressed only in a demi bra and panties and who was sitting on her heels on a small pillow in the corner.

  Laci clenched her jaws at seeing Melody there for two reasons. The first was that she knew Melody was very shy and avoided group play when she was allowed to. And second because she was there to be punished, which could only be because John had found out that she’d been loaning Laci money in violation of Eric’s instructions. How had John learned that? Had Melody confessed? Or had Eric figured it out and put a word in John’s ear?

  “Why is Melody here?” Laci asked Eric in a furious whisper.

  “To be disciplined.”

  “Do you know why?”

  “I do. So do you,” he said.

  “You and John are such bastards,” she seethed.

  “Take off your dress and hang it on that hook,” he said, nodding.

  The library was gorgeous with its dark wood paneling, built-in shelves filled with leather bound and hardcover books, and stately furnishings. Laci didn’t miss the fact though that there were not just coat hooks on the walls. There were rings and cuffs to restrain and secure submissives in various positions.

  Laci wouldn’t give any of them the satisfaction of seeing her hesitate. She pulled the dress over her head in one fluid motion and looped the straps over the hook. She took a moment to arrange the dress so it hung smoothly. It gave her extra time to compose herself. She was wearing a navy blue bra and matching panties. It was the darkest color she owned. Colin had not allowed her to wear black. He liked her in bright or pastel colors. He occasionally allowed her to wear black or darker colors when she dressed to go outside the community, but the underwear and nightwear was always fit for a little girl… a very naughty little girl in the case of thongs and sheer bras.

  She stood very still while John brought the group to order, and Eric poured drinks. She listened and could barely keep from wincing as her and Melody’s infractions were recited. Melody’s were mild, but John didn’t seem to think so. He droned on about what a betrayal it was for a wife to keep secrets from a husband to whom she’d promised to be open and honest.

  “May I say something?” Laci asked.

  “No,” several people said at once.

  She bit her tongue, literally, to keep from speaking. Eric’s hand squeezed her shoulder.

  “Remember that you’re here to accept your punishment and to ask for forgiveness,” Eric murmured near her ear.

  “He’s humiliating her. Look at her face,” Laci whispered back. “She’s about to cry, and he hasn’t even smacked her yet.”

  “It’s undoubtedly part of the punishment,” he said coolly.

  Eric Renard infuriated her constantly. She pulled her shoulder away from his restraining hand. She’d gotten the message. She wouldn’t object—out loud. At least not now.

  John finished speaking, and he and Eric exchanged a glance. Eric nodded at her, and she realized they were deciding which of the two women would be punished first. Laci steadied herself when John nodded. So she’d be first. It was better to get it over with as soon as possible since the waiting was killing her. Also, if she went first, it would give her time to recover so she could be there for Melody after hers was finished.

  Pepper and Stuart were both talking with Eric, and she realized that they were attempting to negotiate to be her punisher. She wanted to yell at the three of them that they had no right to discuss her at all. The only person in charge of her destiny was her… except that wasn’t exactly true.

  “Don’t worry, Laci.”

  She turned to find Elena standing next to her. She was so exotic and gorgeous. Laci really liked her and her style. She was extremely accomplished in her profession and always dressed to perfection in tailored suits, high heels, and burgundy lipstick when she left the Hills. On weekends, her style was softer and lower maintenance, but still very glamorous. She often wore soft knits and poly-blend skirts with bare legs and slides in a variety of lighter and brighter colors. Tonight she seemed to be in between her two personas. She had her work skirt and heels, but the suit jacket and dark lipstick were gone.

  “I’m not worried,” Laci said softly. “I was married to Colin for five years. I can deal with a lot of weird scenes, and if I really can’t take whatever they do, I’ll safeword out.”

  Elena smiled. “You’re brave. You’ve certainly had to be. But these men, our men, must be allowed to see that you’re vulnerable. Unless you’re r
eally not. If you’re completely unmoved by all that happens, then it’s good to act that way because it’s much better for us all to know that, including you.”

  Laci stiffened. She’d always counted Elena as a friend. Was she saying that if Laci didn’t break down they’d decide she didn’t belong in the community? She ran a hand through her hair, taking shallow breaths.

  Elena still watched her with a kind, indulgent expression that she probably usually reserved for her kids and her staff. There was nothing malicious or judgmental about the expression. She did legitimately wonder whether Laci belonged.

  Laci herself wasn’t really sure anymore. Had she just felt like the Hills were home because that’s where Colin was? In that case, she should sell the house and let someone else who needed a haven like their community have it.

  When Eric rejoined them, he looked down at her. She was glad he was tall. Even though he was the youngest man in the room, there was an air of strength about him.

  “Just feel what you feel. There is no wrong answer in that,” Elena said, giving her hand a squeeze as she walked away.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I need you to do something.”

  “What’s that?”

  She swallowed. “Don’t hold back.”

  He cocked an eyebrow.

  “If you were going to, don’t. I’ll yellow if I get into trouble. I won’t go straight red. So just—make me show that I’m sorry. Because I am.”

  Eric nodded and sat in a chair without arms. Laci took a deep breath and moved quickly to him, bending her knees and leaning forward. She lay across his legs and let him reposition her. It had been a really long time since she’d been in this position.

  Her heart beat faster, and her stomach clenched. She’d always gotten a thrill out of being tossed over Colin’s lap for spankings. A shrink would probably say that, as a former foster kid, she’d equated corporal punishment with real love. Her foster parents never spanked or physically disciplined Laci. They had other ways of making her sorry for doing bad things. But they sometimes spanked their bio kids, and they often hugged and comforted them afterward. After a spanking, the tension in the house disappeared immediately. Unlike when she was in trouble and the cold atmosphere could be there for days.

  Eric pulled her panties down. She sucked in a breath. Colin had always started with her underwear up, then took them down partway through when she was already warmed up and not really caring about being exposed. She bit her lip, glad her hot face was to the floor. There were half a dozen people looking at her bare ass.

  Eric took her arm and bent it into the small of her back, pressing it firmly down, securing her in place. This too was different. Colin sometimes held her arm, but only when she tried to reach back to protect herself, which wasn’t often. The fabric of Eric’s trousers was slightly rough against her belly. It reminded her that he was fully dressed and she was nearly nude. The powerful and the vulnerable. She tried to focus on that dynamic and to decide how it made her feel because Elena was right about Laci needing to—

  The first crack of his hand made every thought fly from her head. She sucked in a breath. That had hurt. A lot.

  The next one fell with a sting and a hard thud, and she squirmed.

  Then a rhythm began, and she realized that she was in trouble.

  She wasn’t sure how many spanks it took for her to say the word yellow, but it wasn’t that many. He paused and she panted. She couldn’t hear him breathing. Wasn’t his hand tired? Wouldn’t that get sore, too, if he kept spanking her so hard?

  “Ready for more?” he asked after a few moments.

  “I’m not sure,” she murmured, and there was chuckling in the room.

  “Let’s find out,” Eric said in a low voice.

  He was no more gentle than he’d been. She squirmed in earnest, trying to escape the blows that landed on her cheeks and upper thighs. He pinned her with that arm on her back and landed flurries of blows, pausing on and off when it suited him.

  She started to cry. She couldn’t help it. Her ass was on fire and felt twice its normal size. She was desperate for it to end, and for it to end in a particular way… she felt his erection against her soft middle. She was damp and throbbing between her legs. She wanted the owner of that hand that delivered such hard blows to grip her hips and give her body a different kind of pounding.

  “Please. I can’t,” she said through her tears when he’d started again.

  “Just four left, Lace. You can take that.”

  She settled, closing her eyes tight. But he didn’t deliver them. He took her panties the rest of the way off and then lifted her so she was tucked against his side, still dangling in the same position, bottom up, head down.

  He carried her to the desk and draped her over it.

  “I don’t—what’s going on?” she asked, alarmed.

  “Last four,” Eric said in a smooth, low tone. There was no harshness to it, but it was firm. He had one hand on the back of her neck and one on her lower back. She couldn’t rise up. But how was he going to—?

  The crack of the paddle made her scream. There were three more in heavy succession. It all happened too fast for her to object.

  Then the wooden paddle landed next to her face. “I won’t force her to kiss it, but she should at least thank us,” Stuart said. “She’s in need of proper training.”

  Cool hands were on her ass, fingers dangerously close to where she was excited and wet.

  “Wait,” she said weakly as the hands kneaded her inflamed cheeks. She squirmed, wanting to be touched, but not by him.

  “Red.” The voice was masculine and firm. Eric’s, she realized.

  Stuart’s hands slid from her punished bottom. “She needs comfort of a certain kind. It’s there in the way she moved for you, Eric. Look at her pussy. You know what you’ll find.”

  Eric said nothing, until he leaned over her. “I’m proud of you,” he whispered. He stroked her hair and then helped her off the desk and held her upper arms to steady her. She stared straight ahead at his upper chest and the opening of his shirt collar where his throat was exposed. The hollow seemed to ask for a tongue to lick it.

  “The second part of the punishment is for you to stand in the corner during Melody’s punishment. Can you do that?”

  “Yes,” she said, sniffling.

  “Good girl.”

  Chapter Five

  Laci wasn’t sure why hearing the words ‘good girl’ from Eric’s mouth meant something to her, but they did. Lately she couldn’t seem to handle much in her life, but at least she’d gotten through the punishment without using her safeword.

  And afterward, it had been nice of Eric to protect her from Stu’s roving hands. She’d been hyped up emotionally and ready to panic. How had Eric guessed? She glanced at him, but nothing had changed outwardly. He was as calm and cool as ever. He didn’t even seem to have broken a sweat from giving her butt a real pounding. Did anything ever get to him? What made someone like Eric Renard lose control, she wondered as he put a hand between her shoulder blades to guide her to a corner.

  She stayed still as he restrained her wrists in cuffs over her head. He checked the bindings and her hands to make sure the restraints weren’t too tight. She should have minded being cuffed, but the chain actually helped hold her up. Her legs felt watery.

  It took several moments for Laci to feel steady enough to look over her shoulder. The last of Melody’s clothes had been removed, and she was over the desk. She, unlike Laci, had been restrained there. Wrists and ankles cuffed. There was no escape.

  John slapped her buttocks a few times with his hand to warm her up, then he went directly to the paddle. She cried right away and alternated between saying “Thank you, Sir” and begging him to stop. She was very noisy during her punishment, which surprised Laci because Mel was so restrained and ladylike normally.

  John was obviously enjoying himself, taking time to chastise her when she tried to move her hips to escape
the blows. John also stopped to touch and caress her ass and pussy, noting for everyone how much his wife needed a firm hand and how much her body appreciated being corrected.

  When Melody started to wail and shriek, John stopped and tossed the paddle on the desk.

  “My little drama queen,” John said with a hint of amusement in his voice. “If you can’t take the paddle anymore, I guess we’ll have to move on to something else.”

  Melody sobbed openly, and Laci’s body tensed. Couldn’t he see that she couldn’t possibly take anymore? Why didn’t Melody use her safeword? Could Laci call it out for her? The way Eric had done on her behalf? She wished Eric was nearby so she could ask him.

  “I think you need another reminder of how things are between husbands and wives in this community,” John said and lowered his zipper.

  Laci froze. Surely he wouldn’t… not in front of a room full of people. She craned her neck to try to see the others. The only lit track lights were pointed at her in the corner and at the desk, so most of the others in the room were in the shadows. The only people she could see well were Stuart and Allison. Allison’s blouse was untucked and Stuart’s hand was under it, obviously fondling her breast. His other hand was on her hip, holding her steady while he rubbed against her.

  Jesus, Laci thought. Was Stu going to screw Allison, too?

  The thought made her mouth go dry. She knew she should feel sorry for Melody, but a part of her was pretty turned on.

  “Mmmm,” John said as he pushed into his wife. “That’s what a humbled and dutiful wife should feel like. Scalding bottom and everything below.”

  “Hear hear!” a man said. Maybe Dr. Glaser.

  John fucked Melody, whose sobs alternated with moans and mewling sounds.

  After a while she gasped out a, “Sir?”

  “Yes, you may come. Mmm, yes,” John said, increasing his strokes, the wet rhythmic sounds of their sex filling the room.