Page 17 of Shrouded Desires
“Yes, Master.” Raine repeated. “I remember.”
“Good boy.” Max drew him into his arms for a quick hug and whispered something Storm couldn’t hear, but whatever it was it had Raine flushing and glancing in his direction. “Now, I’m going to leave you two to it. Back to basics, Raine. That’s a direct order. Don’t let me hear that you disobeyed.”
“No, Master.” Raine whispered.
Max released Raine, then shot Storm a smart assed grin. “Have fun.” He clapped his hand on Storm’s shoulder. “Good luck. You’re gonna need it.”
“It’ll be fine. I’ll give orders and he’ll obey.”
“Sure, he will.” Max chuckled. “Let me know how well that works out for you.”
Storm waited until Max left the room before approaching Raine. Now that the other man was gone, Raine seemed to be withdrawing into himself.Which won’t do.
“Relax, Raine. I’m not going to bite you.” He rounded the desk to sit in the seat that Max had vacated. “Come here, please.”
He waited to see if Raine would obey or not. Just because his Master had told him that he needed to obey Storm, didn’t mean that Raine would find it easy to follow another man’s orders. The fact that Raine chewed on his lower lip was a testament to that.
“I don’t like to repeat myself, boy.” He gave the words just a bit of an edge.
“Sorry, Sir.” Raine took a deep breath, then moved toward him. He stopped directly in front of the desk, much like an errant pupil in front of a principal’s desk. Not that the idea wasn’t a hot one, but Storm wasn’t thinking about a possible role-playing scenario at the moment. Putting Raine in the correct headspace to come to an agreement was his end goal.
“No.” Storm gestured to the space next to him.
“O...kay.” Raine hesitantly rounded the desk, nearly tripping on the pillow that Storm had removed after taking over the office space. “Crap...” He flung his arms out as he stumbled. Only Storm’s quick thinking kept him from hitting the floor.
“Should’ve warned you that I put it back.” He steadied Raine before slowly releasing him. “Sorry about that, boy.” He gestured down to the pillow. “I know you missed it.”
“It’s okay, Sir.” Raine quickly looked away from the thick pillow, focusing on something over Storm’s right shoulder.
“No, it’s not.” Storm would’ve run his fingers through his hair if he had any. “Kneel, Raine.”
Surprise flickered over Raine’s face along with something else that Storm couldn’t decipher. Lust, trepidation, or maybe a bit of both? He’d figure it out eventually. “Is this my punishment, Sir?” Raine finally whispered.
“What?” Shock raced through Storm. “No. I want you to relax before we talk. Max said you love to kneel with your head on his thigh when you get stressed. I thought offering you the same might help you get in the correct headspace.”
Raine shook his head. “Doubtful, Sir. With all respect, that’s something that only Master and I indulge in. To do it with another dominant...” He squeezed his eyes shut. “...I can’t. I mean I can, but it won’t have the same result.”
“Okay...” He blew out a deep breath. “...I won’t push it, but I need you to relax, or at least be open to the conversation I want to have with you.”
“I...” he pursed his lips. “...don’t know if I can relax with you, Sir. I know that I have a punishment coming, and it’s all I can think about. I fell asleep thinking about it, and I woke up this morning thinking about it. It’s like a huge cloud hanging over me.”
Storm studied him for a moment. The boy was serious about his nerves. Perhaps he should get the punishment over with. Discipline and maintenance spankings were closely related and could have the same effect on a sub who was unbalanced.
“Alright. We’ll do it your way - this time.” He pushed back from the desk making room for Raine. “Over my lap, boy.”
“Ah...now?” Raine’s eyes widened in surprise.
Storm knew it was hard for Raine to give over to another, but for his own good, Raine needed this. And since Max couldn’t give the boy what he needed, that left Storm. And he took his responsibilities seriously. Even temporary ones. So, when Raine finally lowered his body across Storm’s lap, he dug deep for the Dom he used to be, the one who craved the emotional connection as well as the physical, to deal with the hurting sub in front of him.
“Why are you being punished?”
“Because I broke a rule.” Raine’s response was faint.
“And?” Storm prompted.
“I could’ve been harmed by my actions.”
“Correct. You scened without your dominant’s permission. In this case, mine, since at the moment, I’m a stand in for your Master, right?” He kept one hand at the base of Raine’s spine while he used his other hand to lightly kneaded the welts hiding under Raine’s pants.
