Page 25 of Tame Me

“Ayla, stop and breathe for a moment. Okay?” Reid says. “Keep your eyes on me, and just breathe with me.”

I nod and take a deep breath before slowly blowing it out. We match our breathing, and I can focus on him, even when Thane walks around behind me. I do flinch slightly when I feel his hands on me, but then relax when he starts kneading my shoulders.

“Good girl, Ayla,” Reid praises. “Now… What triggered you?”

“His belt,” I tell him. “He took it off and it… I think it reminded me of Dad. When I’d get in trouble, he’d make me kneel and whip me with a belt… I was always shirtless when he did it, though.”

“Why would you be in trouble?” Reid asks.

“Because I left last night,” I say.

“And you think you deserve to be punished, or you are anticipating being punished?”

“Both, Sir,” I say, dropping my head again.

“What do you think an appropriate punishment would be then?” Reid asks.

“Probably to get whipped,” I mutter.

“Even though the mere thought of it had you terrified of Thane?” Reid asks.

“I jeopardized my placement here,” I say.

“How about this?” Thane says, gently turning me to look at him. “Your punishment will be that you write me a letter and explain why you did what you did, including with Missy. Until then, you are not my submissive.”

“What?” I ask. “You can’t…”

“Thane, I don’t know…” Reid starts.

“Because I will be yours,” Thane continues. “I need you to see that I will never ask you to do anything that I won’t do myself. I know how to submit, and I will happily do so for the right person.”

“Wait,” Reid laughs. “Oh, I’m sticking around for this.”

“The stipulation is you have to write the letter before you go to bed, and you cannot change anything I already have set in place,” Thane tells me. “I want Reid to help you, so understand that you still are submissive to him.”

“Yes, Sir,” I say excitedly, but then I stop. “Wait… This is hardly a punishment for me.”

“No, it’s a reminder that you are in control, Ayla. Not every lesson will be taught with pain,” Thane says as he pulls me up to stand. “But this is also for me.”

“You?” I ask. “Why?”

“I knew you were triggered because you spent all night in a night terror. I was taking my belt off for comfort’s sake. I should have known better than to do that. So, this is my reminder that I need to be mindful of what I do and when.”

“Oh,” I say.

“Reid…” Thane says as if he is warning him.

“I’ve got you,” Reid laughs. “Ayla, how do you want to punish him?”

“Hmm,” I say. “Well… He wasn’t thinking of how things would end up, so he should be hyper aware of the ending.”

“I regret this already,” Thane deadpans.

“I think he should be edged until he calls a safe word. Then he comes until he calls it again,” I say.

“Is this productive?” Reid asks.

“Yes,” I say firmly. “He wasn’t considering the consequences, so now he will have to think about the ending when he is begging to come and when he is desperate to make it stop.”