Page 60 of Pretty ’n Peak

“Use your safeword if you need it.” There was movement behind him, then Austin sketched the shape of his shoulders—tracing with his hand on one side, the crop on the other.

The leather settled on his shoulder. Tap, tap, tap, just a little harder than the flogger, biting into his muscles. And then it came crashing down. He hissed out a breath. There was a flash of fire at the surface, like electricity jerking through him. Then, as promised, a deep ache just below it.

Somehow, his brain translated all of that into the sweetest pleasure.

“More?” Austin asked, his warm hand rubbing the area he’d just struck.

“Please.” He wasn’t above begging. His cock was throbbing.

Austin traced over his shoulder again, and then repeated that fiery tapping and the bright sting. After that, there was no break, no pattern to it. Just the steady rhythm of Austin working over his muscles, seducing him with the lighter, stinging taps. Making him moan when they bit into his flesh.

Sweat flowed down his face as his breath raced between his lips. He could feel his hips moving, desperately seeking friction for his pulsing cock.

“So good, baby,” Austin echoed his thoughts. “So good for me. So good for all those people watching you.”

God, yes. It was a rush. He knew Austin was getting off on this. Knew that he was turning on everyone in the crowd.

His whole body was alive.

He was made for this.

The harsher taps increased, until he was on fire with them, the hot slashes over his skin and the deep reverberations that seemed to be painting his body from the inside out.

“Beautiful, Mateo,” Austin cooed as he gentled the strikes again.

This time, Austin’s soft shirt felt like sandpaper against him, awakening a hundred small hurts. He hissed, even as he pressed back into it.

Austin kissed his shoulder, making him shiver. He wanted a thousand more of those kisses. A million.

“How are you doing, boy? Close to yellow, or still green?”

He answered with a sense of wonder. “Still green.” Still so hard he thought he would burst.

“Can you take a little more for me?” Austin’s voice came out deep and throaty. “I want to push you.”

There was a dangerous curl of desire in Mateo’s gut. Austin might be the most comforting, supportive man he knew, but he was also a sadist—something that hadn’t fully been real until this moment.

Mateo got the sense that the first two rounds had mostly been for him, Austin giving him a taste of the things he craved the same way he’d been mentoring him all weekend.

This round would be for both of them.

No, not quite that. In this round, he’d be giving himself—giving his pain—for his Dom’s pleasure.

“I can.” He cleared his throat. “I want to please you.”

“Gooood boy.” Austin drew out the words, his hand sliding possessively up to wrap around the front of Mateo’s neck.

Oh, fuck that was hot. Mateo was a toy. A plaything. Even though he could still breathe easily, there was the intoxicating threat that perhaps Austin would control that, too.

“Just one question. Do you prefer the sting or the thud?”

Mateo shook his head. He had no idea. Not when everything felt so good. “Your choice, Austin.”

Austin nuzzled the towel aside to kiss his ear. Tenderly. Sending shivers through him as he whispered dark promises. “Then I’m going to use the cane.”

Mateo nodded. It was the only thing made out of some sort of synthetic material, the thin length flexing easily in his hands when he’d held it earlier.

“Do you remember what I said? It will leave welts. I’ll try not to break the skin, but it might happen. It’ll only be a handful of strikes.”