Page 55 of All Tied Up

“I was getting dressed!”

A loud throat clearing stopped them in their tracks. They both looked up.

“Children,” Sebastian greeted them sternly. “Is this how we behave in the hallways?” He looked every bit the headmaster, with a somber suit and his hair gelled back. He looked larger than life, sex and authority and dominance driving his posture. It was his eyes though, burning with a cold, steady passion, that made Neil feel shaky.

In his head, he’d imagined sinking to his knees to beg forgiveness with his eager mouth. Now that he was doing it, he just felt uncomfortable.

So Neil was actually doing this. He was going to walk into a room full of almost strangers and get spanked by a really hot Dom who was pretending to be a principal or headmaster or something.

“Sorry, Mr. Alvarez.” Jamie didn’t look at all apologetic.

No, that should be Jasmine, Neil reminded himself. He kept forgetting. Thinking of her as female wasn’t difficult, but the name thing was really throwing him.

Neil echoed the apology, feeling contrite and hoping the apology would help. “Sorry, Mr. Alvarez.”

Sebastian, whose last name Neil was almost certain was not Alvarez, which was another thing for him to remember, only returned his apology with a glare. His apology hadn’t been accepted. That felt horrible.

Obviously they hadn’t broken school rules—that was just a game. He’d thought this would be sexy, but something about it was a little too real. He’d been looking forward to the idea of having his misdeeds punished by Sebastian’s firm hand, but instead it just felt like he was disappointing him. He hated the idea of disappointing Sebastian. And his eyes were just so cold.

His struggle with the strange names didn’t help. It was like they’d put up barriers between themselves, and where he’d expected connection, he just felt distance.

“I told you I didn’t want to see you in my office again, Jasmine.”

Jamie shrugged with a seductive flounce.

“And you,” Sebastian turned to him suddenly, “you should know better.” He glared, but he was also scrutinizing, as if just staring hard enough would make Neil divulge all of his secrets.

Neil felt… squirmy. There was some of the hot lust he’d expected at the idea of his first real spanking from a real Dom, but mostly he just felt the heavy sense of shame and disconnection that wasn’t arousing at all. His cock, which had been practically bursting when Jamie was teasing him upstairs felt like it wanted to crawl back into his body.

Sebastian paused longer, eyes boring into him. He knew that Sebastian was making sure he was OK, even if it didn’t feel like it. That still settled him down a little. He had to remember that Sebastian was trying to take care of him.

He opened his mouth to speak, throat suddenly dry. This was a game. This was what he wanted. He couldn’t exactly chicken out in the hallway.

“Sorry, Sir.” He’d already forgotten Sebastian’s fake name. But he squared his shoulders, putting on a mask of confidence.

Sebastian gave him one more penetrating look, then slowly nodded. Neil felt like he’d passed some kind of test. At least that part was over.

Sebastian turned toward the door. “Follow me, both of you.”

Jamie flounced after him, and Neil followed their departing backs. He had to assume that it would get better once they got into things.

Sebastian strode into the dungeon, where a stately desk in glowing dark wood stood at the front of the room. The folding chairs from last night were arranged in rows and mostly filled. Neil caught a glimpse of eager faces, a mixture of clothing from jeans and t-shirts to leather and lace.

He’d been aroused before at the thought of an audience, but when he was already off balance, it made everything feel worse. He was starting to feel sick to his stomach, and everyone was watching him. When he followed Jamie/Jasmine up to stand in front of the desk, he could feel the gazes burning into his back.

Sebastian cleared his throat again. “Jasmine. Since you’ve been here so many times before, perhaps you’d like to tell the disciplinary committee what you’re doing here.”

“Sure thing, Mr. A.” She wheeled around to face the audience, while Neil watched from the corner of his eye. “I was in the boy’s dorm.” She shrugged.

She had so much confidence, and she genuinely looked like she was having fun, playing up to the audience. That was what Neil needed to focus on. For Jamie, this was all a game, a chance to put on a false identity and get spanked by her very real Daddy.

Neil promised himself he would show the same confidence. He just had to get through a little more, and then he could feel a man’s hand spanking his ass the way he wanted for the first time.

“And what were you doing there?” Sebastian asked.

“Studying.” She twirled one braid around a finger.

“Don’t add lying to your transgressions, Jasmine.”