Page 67 of Pressure

17

Marissa sat snuggled next to Lance in the back of a car as they made their way back to Solitaire on Thursday evening. There was still a crisis at his company, but they'd stopped the bleeding and salvaged the relationship with the client.

"Will Jodie be here this weekend?" she asked as she stared out the window.

Lance squeezed her hand. "As far as I know. Why?"

Marissa shrugged.

His fingers dug into the back of her neck and she sighed. "It was just really hard watching you with her last weekend. I know you said you're not sleeping with her, but I still had to watch you be all dominant with her and I know you spanked her after I went upstairs."

Lance kissed her temple. "I'm sorry. She's my responsibility for now, but as soon as possible, we'll arrange for another house Dom to take over her training."

Marissa turned and pressed her forehead into his shoulder. "I'm sorry I'm such a jealous bitch."

He cleared his throat and tugged her head up by her hair.

"Call yourself a bitch again and see what happens." When she nodded her understanding, he kissed her nose and let go of her hair.

"Your feelings are not unnatural, nor do I mind you having them. This is a weird situation for all of us. I like Jodie and I'll do right by her in making sure she gets what she signed up for, but I don't care about her the way I care for you. You're my priority so stop beating yourself up."

"OK," she whispered, still feeling self-conscious over her jealous feelings toward Jodie.

He kissed her again and winked. "You might want to start practicing saying, Yes, Sir again. Because starting tomorrow night, I'll have no reservations about punishing you for breaking the rules."

Her grin was instant. "Yes, Sir."

He shook his head. "I think you forget just how good I am at punishing you."

She grimaced. "I remember very well, Sir. After the spanking debacle you became quite inventive with your punishments. It just makes me even that much more irritated that spanking triggers me the way it does."

It was something she'd finally dealt with in therapy, but she didn't think she could ever submit to a spanking, especially not a punishment spanking. Her father was fond of wielding his belt harshly and often. Parents from his generation called it discipline. She preferred to call it abuse.

"Hey, where'd your head go, love?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Nowhere good," she admitted. "The good news is I can actually talk about spanking now thanks to my therapist."

"I'm glad you're seeing someone. How often do you go?"

"Usually once a week, but we'll skip a week every so often just because we can."

He nodded. "Just let me know if you need to set up a teleconference with your therapist or go back to Chicago. I don't want to stunt your progress, and I'm sure I've been the subject of some of your sessions so if I'm causing problems, I need you to speak up."

Her heart constricted. He was so sweet. But she didn't want to cry or get too mushy, so she turned to sarcasm, her usual weapon of choice. "A bit arrogant of you to assume you were a subject of my sessions," she said, though there was a grin on her face. Truth be told, he was the subject of all of them for the first six months.

He didn't need to know that though.

Thirty minutes later, they arrived at Solitaire and Lance opened her door for her.

Lance tossed her his keys to the front door. "Go on in. I'll be right there. I just need to check in with security."

Marissa climbed the porch stairs and unlocked the door. The alarm didn't chirp when she pushed the door open which meant it was disarmed.

A startled scream escaped her lips when she saw someone laying on the couch along one wall.

"Oh shit, sorry," Jodie said, sitting up. "I wasn't expecting anyone but Lance."

"He's um. Still getting our bags out of the car," she said with a shaky breath.

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