Page 122 of Redeemed

“Last chance. Tell me why you want fucking off the table, and I’ll stop.”

Haven whimpers but shakes her head. Her shoulders and back are lined with tension. She’s bracing herself. Hoping she can make it through this, or that I’ll take pity on her.

Not in a thousand years.

The first time the flogger hits her ass, Haven jolts but doesn’t make a sound. The second, her hands curl into fists. The third, she hisses into the mattress.

“Why?” I ask as the falls make contact with her ass again.

She shakes her head, and her body shakes with a sob.

“Fine, then.”

I don’t relent, taking note of her reactions. Her skin reddens beautifully, and the sound of leather slapping skin lulls me into a familiar place I’ve learned to embrace. The monster in me feasts on the sight of Haven shaking in fear, on her muffled cries of agony.

She’s not used to something like this. A better man would ask her if she wanted this, if she needed a break. Hell, he would’ve given her a safeword.

But that’s not who I am, and she chose to throw herself at my feet anyway. There won’t be any going easy on her.

After a minute, I pause, admiring Haven’s round ass and the dark marks that paint her skin. Naively, she relaxes, and that’s the moment I start up again.

Her screams fill the room, nearly drowning out the sound of the flogger thudding against her skin. The only thing that would make this better is if I could see the tears I know are streaking down her face.

Over the past few years, I’ve gotten my revenge on her tenfold, but that could never stop me. I’ve become addicted to her pain. It’s my own personal drug, one that I’d hide from the rest of the world forever if I could. But even I have my limits, I suppose.

After a particularly brutal sob is ripped from her throat, I pause again. Haven heaves in a breath and claws at the sheets. She’s trying not to cry—I can see it in the way she shudders and drops her head.

“Tell me why, angel.” With my free hand, I massage her ass. “You know I can hold out longer than you can.”

“Just stop,” she cries.

“Give me an answer, and I will.”

“I—” She lets out a sob. “Colton, I can’t.”

“You know that’s not good enough.”

The flogger comes down on her upper thighs, and she twists, trying to curl into a ball. She barely gets anywhere, and then I’m on her, shoving her back into place. With a hand to the back of her neck, I push her face into the sheets.

“I wouldn’t resist if I were you. Seeing you all helpless does something to me, angel. I’m struggling to keep control as it is.”

“Thisis controlled?” she shrieks.

“Oh, you have no idea,” I say as the flogger meets her thighs again.

I could’ve thrown her onto the bed and fucked her raw by now. Could’ve gagged her, clamped those pretty nipples of hers, and tied a vibrator to her clit until she passed out.

Maybe I am going easy on her.

That thought doesn’t sit well with me, so I pick up my pace, falling into a steady rhythm that turns the backs of Haven’s thighs the same color as her ass. I need her to understand that she can’t beg me for mercy without giving something in return, and I think I need the reminder, too.

“Stop,” Haven sobs.

“You ready to answer me?”

She’s breathing hard, and while I give her a moment to catch her breath, I drag the flogger across her lower back. It’s feather-light, but she still jumps.

“You have five seconds before I start back up.”

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