Page 78 of Hideaway

Kara wrestled with feelings of hatred as Cade knelt behind her and continued his ritual of kissing her new marks. He had hit her harder the second round, and the feel of his lips burned as though he chafed an open wound. If one thing was certain, Kara would no longer remember Jace when she succumbed to agony with the smallest movement thanks to Cade’s more than diligent torture. She supposed the vicious efficiency was to be expected when you employed a professional.

Having atoned for his deeds with six kisses, Cade walked around to face Kara, anxious to gauge her physical and emotional state. She had taken a considerable amount of pain in near silence, a feat that was difficult to accomplish when a cane was involved, even with experience and training. Astonishingly, her assessment of her pain tolerance appeared to be accurate. When he stood before her, Kara raised her eyes boldly to meet his gaze. Accustomed to a version of Kara that was always perfectly composed, Cade appreciated how vulnerable she looked in that moment with tear-dampened cheeks, mascara smudged beneath her eyes, and her bottom lip unnaturally red as though she’d bitten through the skin to keep silent. He doubted if anyone had ever looked lovelier.

Cade searched her expression for any sign of devastation or surrender, but he found only determination. There was a burgeoning sense of pride blooming within his chest as he considered how the girl who appeared so delicate could be so unbelievably strong. Kara had proved that tenacity over and over from the moment they met. Cade lifted his thumb to her mouth and lightly stroked her full bottom lip, denying every instinct that told him to conquer that mouth and make it his that very instant. He read the language of her body as she leaned into him, pleading for the embrace he withheld, but satisfaction for the both of them would have to wait.

“I’ll continue here,”Cade informed brusquely as he pulled away from her, using the cane to stroke up and down the fronts of her thighs marred by the imprint of Jace’s hands. Kara swallowed anxiously. Her bruised thighs already felt sensitive to the soft touch of the cane; she couldn’t imagine how excruciating it would be to have the full force of Cade’s blows cutting into the tender skin. Even worse, she would be able to anticipate the moment of every strike and see the damage that was done.

“May I close my eyes, sir?”she asked timidly.

“You may,”Cade allowed, surprised that she was getting suddenly squeamish after she’d already been hit quite a few times. He made a mental note to implement a blindfold the next time they engaged in impact play. If there was a next time.

Shutting her eyes tightly, Kara took a deep breath as she prepared for the next onslaught. The first blow fell unexpectedly high, grazing her most sensitive region, as she exhaled sharply. She hoped against reason she would never feel the sting of the cane a couple inches higher. The next two came quickly as Cade made his way down her legs. She groaned through gritted teeth as the fourth landed on a particularly tender spot where Jace had grabbed her, washing away the past violence with Cade’s variety of brutality. Kara prepared for the worst after the fifth strike came. Never failing to disappoint, Cade brought the cane down hard on top of the preceding red welts. Kara sobbed softly in relief as the sixth brought with it a brief intermission from the pain.

As Cade sank to his knees to administer his six caresses, Kara focused on steadying her breathing and absorbing the sensations reverberating through her body. More curious than courageous, Kara tentatively opened her eyes to view the damage Cade had dealt. The sight of Cade knelt between her legs with his mouth on her skin sent a thrill through her body that momentarily wiped every other thought from her mind. She spread her legs slightly wider, willing his lips to travel upward to where her most sensitive region waited impatiently. If Cade had any inkling of Kara’s more than obvious hint, he certainly didn’t show it, keeping his attention infuriatingly focused on her thighs only. Resigned to remaining unsatisfied, Kara sought out her initial point of focus.

Shockingly, the marks of the cane appeared to look even worse than they sounded and felt. Angry red welts streaked symmetrically across her thighs, the skin broken slightly at every point where the final blow had met with the other five. She hadn’t expected Cade to draw blood; the sight of her abused skin incited emotions she couldn’t quite describe. If she were honest, she might admit that the marks of ownership inspired arousal, and she could not tear her eyes away from the sight of those red lines.

“Are you ready?”he asked, startling her from a fascination with the new adornment of her thighs.

“Yes, sir,”Kara answered almost eagerly, curious to see where he would aim his attentions next. She blanched as he laid the cane across the tops of her breasts in response to her silent inquiry.

Certainly he wouldn’t?

Kara had serious doubts about that particular part of the body being an appropriate point of application for a cane, or any instrument really. After a moment of stroking the cane against the skin of her breasts, he drew back to deliver the first blow.

“Cade!”Kara shouted in horror, breaking her pretense of submission.

Cade stayed his hand as an expression of concern washed over his features.“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly, gauging her breathing and heart rate for signs of distress. Had he gone too far? “If you would like to utilize your safe-word, do so now,”he instructed gently. He didn’t want to push her past her breaking point, but he also was hesitant to stop until her needs had been fully satiated. The choice was entirely up to her.

Kara remained silent, shamefully aware that she had attempted to stop Cade without having reached a point where she was prepared to use a safe-word.

“I see,” Cade commented with a hint of chastisement, his brows furrowed in displeasure. “As you still consent to submit to my authority, that little outburst has incurred an additional strike as punishment,” he said right beforebringing the cane down hard across the center of her ass and pulling a whimper of pain from her lips. “Now, do you have any complaints of which I need to be apprised?”

“No, sir,”she answered with heaving breaths, still reeling from the discomfort of having her ass further assaulted.

“Good.” Without another word, Cade continued with his work at the top of her breasts, delivering slightly lighter strikes to the delicate area. Though the cane hit a new spot every time, Kara felt as though she was becoming desensitized to the pain of it, the sensation morphing into something entirely unfamiliar, almost akin to elation. Kara was aware of the pain, but she found herself being pulled toward it, craving the next strike rather than shrinking from it. Slowly, the pain that had threatened to overwhelm her senses seemed to be driving her toward release. She lost count as the blows fell in a haze, slicing across her skin with the sweetest sting. Cade layered a final, brutal strike upon the imprint of Jace’s teeth on her breast before concluding the caning.

When the pain ceased, Kara’s body ached in its absence, like cold-numbed nerves upon their first, jarring introduction to warmth. As the dull desensitization slowly faded, her skin burned like fire, but the heat felt invigorating after so many days spent in numb desolation. Cade had shocked her senses from the slumber of surrender, and they screamed in agony and bliss.

Cade reverently bent his head to bestow kisses more tenderly than ever upon the raw skin of her breasts. He began with the lowest stripes, kissing and running his tongue along the entirety of the red lines. When he reached the center of her breast, he took each nipple into his mouth and sucked deeply. Kara moaned as the arousal traveled straight to the soaked slit between her legs. Far too quickly, Cade moved his lips from her nipples to the higher marks streaked across her chest. When his mouth found the twin crescents left by Jace upon her upper breast, Cade bared his teeth and bit down hard, hard enough to draw blood as Kara whimpered in both agony and ecstasy. Having finished anointing her marks with his mouth, Cade raised dark, smoldering eyes in search of hers, his body tense with passion that seemed just barely enslaved by the bounds of self-control. Were she not restrained herself, Kara would have extended every effort to set his passions free, gladly reaping the consequences of both his ardor and his violence unconstrained.

“One more to go,”Cade announced gruffly, forcing himself to draw back when all he wanted to do was be inside her that very moment. With one more spot to claim, she would be his in every sense of the word.“Spread your legs, Kara.”

She hesitated merely a moment before opening herself for whatever purpose Cade deigned, uncharacteristically willing to obey his command without question. Perhaps she had been lulled into submission due to the onset of pain induced delirium. The notion seemed plausible, but what didn’t satisfy logic was the fact that she was covered in welts and bruises and somehow felt nothing that remotely resembled pain. Somehow, Cade had mended her spirit even as he destroyed her body. Perhaps there was something to be said for the lifestyle of dominance that Cade was drawn to.

“Wider, love. I have a very specific target in mind.”

Kara complied instantly, spreading her legs as far apart as comfortably possible, his words warming her insides in anticipation. Satisfied with her stance, Cade touched the cane to the spot between her legs, gently sliding the wooden rod along the folds of her pussy, stroking her from clit to slit. Finally receiving the attention she’d been craving all night, Kara moaned as the cane slipped easily back and forth, aided by her own, dripping wetness. Cade allowed her to enjoy a moment of pleasure, appreciating the sounds that escaped her lips every time the cane made contact with her clit, imagining how she would sound when he replaced the cane with his cock.

As Kara neared release, Cade drew back the cane and delivered a final, piercing blow to the most intimate part of her body. An unearthly scream that encompassed all that was torment and euphoria and everything in between rose from the depths of Kara’s being. Cade heard it like the call of a siren, threw the cane to the floor, and made all haste to claim the reward he had endeavored all night to earn. Without the patience to remove her restraints or move her to a more comfortable position, he violently threw himself against Kara. Fervent hands tangled in her hair; he pulled sharply, forcing her mouth to his, devouring the taste of her as though he was at the brink of starvation and Kara was all that could sustain him. Keeping a firm grasp on her hair, Cade slipped one hand down Kara’s neck and wrapped his fingers tightly around her throat, pressing hard where Jace had left his fingerprints in bruises.

“You are mine,”Cade whispered harshly in her ear, appreciating the surge of dominance he felt as he held her very consciousness in his possession.

As Kara felt her vision slowly start to darken, Cade loosened his grip on her throat and moved his hands over her body greedily, tracing every inch of her skin as though it was the first time he had ever touched her, the first time she was truly his. And for the first time, Cade held nothing back. Kara gasped as rough hands brushed against fresh bruises and welts, desperate fingers clawed at raw skin, every sensation igniting the need for more. She ached to touch Cade, pulling against the restraints that rendered her powerless to unleash the raw passion that had been building inside her, like a balloon about to burst. The feeling of being cuffed in place was infuriating, and yet, she knew this was how Cade liked her—helpless, exposed, entirely pliant to his demands.

Strong fingers dug painfully into her thighs as Kara felt herself being hoisted high enough to meet Cade at eye level. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his hips and tightened to draw him closer to her body. Though she didn't have the use of her hands, Kara could certainly make due with the lower half of her body. Cade growled appreciatively at Kara’s eagerness, pleasantly surprised that the rather extensive caning had done little to quell her carnal appetites.

“Fuckme, please, sir,”Kara pleaded between breathless kisses—desperate, aching, and near death with a sheer, indescribable need to befilled.

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