Redemption: A Christmas Romance Novella Read online

  “And the computer theft?” His boots scraped across the floor; he was moving again. Getting into position? Oh, how she just needed to see where he was!

  “The payroll thing? I—well, I didn’t pay that back.” No sense in lying. He seemed to know already. She didn’t know how, and she figured he wouldn’t be forthcoming if she asked.

  Maybe all of this was just some sort of way to get back at her for what she’d done. Maybe her parents put him up to this, or one of her old friends. Maybe they hadn’t all given up on her.

  “Why’d you take the money?” he asked. She still couldn’t see him, but she heard the leather belt swinging against his leg.

  “I needed it.”

  A hard lash landed across both her asscheeks.

  “I got in trouble! I maxed out my own credit cards and took too many personal loans, I couldn’t pay rent. My student loans were due. I needed cash. My parents wouldn’t lend me any money, so I had to do something!” Didn’t he understand? She had to pay back the personal loans she’d taken. The men she borrowed from weren’t the understanding sort.

  “Your parents couldn’t lend you any money. Isn’t that the truth of it?” Another slash across her thighs. She rose up to her toes, trying to hold in the scream and failing. Fuck, he hit hard.

  “Yes! That’s what they said! So, I took the credit card out, so I could use my paycheck to pay the personal loans off. You don’t understand. Those men would have hurt me.”

  “Why did you need money from them in the first place, Celeste?” he asked, but it sounded like he already knew. All of this he knew. He was just making her say it to humiliate her. As though being naked, bound, and whipped wasn’t enough.

  Three more lashes, quick, one right after the other making their way up her ass when she didn’t answer. She danced and cried out, but he didn’t seem to care.

  “Why?”

  “It’s complicated,” she said, gasping for breath.

  Two more lashes, right over the same spot.

  “Stop!”

  “I haven’t even started, yet. The punishment doesn’t begin until the confession ends. We’re still working on the confession,” he announced and laid down four more lashes while she screamed.

  “Okay! Okay!” she yelled and stomped her foot. “I fucked up—messed up,” she quickly corrected. “I wanted to start my own business. An Etsy store, but I did everything wrong. I needed money to start, so I borrowed it, thinking I’d have the money back quick. But I didn’t. And then I just got into a bigger and bigger hole. It was all just one big mess. And everything I did to fix it made it worse.”

  Painting had always been a passion, and she’d been amazing at it. But she didn’t do her research, didn’t know anything about business planning, and she’d sunk everything into supplies and storage space and a studio. Only to have three sales the first month. It didn’t even cover the rent on the studio. By the fourth month, she had to close up shop, but the damage was already done.

  His fingers traced a line across her ass, and she realized she’d started crying. Stiffening at his touch, she focused on the sensation of his skin against hers. Warm, soothing. The burn of his belt faded with his attention.

  “Very good, Celeste,” he whispered and placed a kiss on her shoulder. “Very good. Just a few more questions then I’ll start your punishment.”

  Four

  Celeste hadn’t told him anything he didn’t already know, but still her confession shook him. He’d pegged her for being selfish, and she definitely had put her own needs ahead of everyone else, but she’d been following her passion. Misguided but not malicious.

  There was still hope for her.

  The big man had been right.

  As always.

  He checked her ass to be sure there weren’t any bleeding welts. His intention was to make her ass burn for her transgressions but not permanently harm her. If he had broken skin with what he’d already delivered, he’d have had to change to a different form of punishment.

  All clear.

  “Last question. You were due into work this morning to meet with your HR representative. Why?” He trailed his fingers over the curve of her ass again. Nothing in the rule books said he couldn’t enjoy touching her while she made her confessions.

  She let out a little sigh. “They were going to fire me, probably have me arrested for the payroll scam.”

  “How’d you do that anyway? You said you were an artist.”

  “It wasn’t hard to hack into their payroll system once I had the login details of one of the girls in that department. I just added a withholding to the system with a company match. It was only on my paycheck. I didn’t involve anyone else.”

  “And they know you did this?” he asked.

  “They told me last week there’d been a glitch in the payroll software and that money had been withheld from my paycheck accidentally. They were going to pay it back to me in my next paycheck. I assume, since I was supposed to meet with HR, that they found out it was me.” She pulled on her restraints again. Stubborn girl.

  “So you lied to them about not knowing anything about it?” Even with the account she used being across the world, they’d eventually figure out it was her. Such a mess she’d made. But she wasn’t a lost cause. She was a horrible criminal, leaving traces of her work all over the place. Maybe, somewhere deep down, she wanted to be caught.

  “Of course I lied! Why would I—” She shook her head. “Yes, I lied.” She pressed her forehead against the wall in front of her. Slowly she was seeing the errors, or maybe she had always known them, but now she was being forced to face them.

  “You’re going to get twenty licks of my belt, Celeste, for each transgression we just talked about. Stealing from work. Stealing from your parents and for lying. That’s how many?” he asked, still running his fingers over her curvy body. She felt so good, so warm; he couldn’t help but keep contact with her.

  “Sixty.” She sucked in a breath. “I don’t think I can take that many.”

  “More lies.” He pinched her ass, making sure to capture one of the welts between his fingers. She squealed and rose on tiptoe. “Tell me why that’s a lie.”

  “Okay!” She wiggled her hips, trying to get away from him, but he wouldn’t be evaded.

  “Tell me, and I’ll let go,” he said calmly. It was a simple lesson. Obey and there would be rewards. Not difficult.

  “Because I’ve taken that many before. I can do it.” She threw her head back and yelled up to the ceiling. Smart girl. She’d already figured out he knew the answers to every question he asked; all she had to do was speak the truth. There would be no lying to him.

  He released her ass, patting the little red blotch he’d created and stepped away from her. “That’s right. You’re no virgin to the belt, or a cane, or a paddle. Though you’ve never had a razor strop and, if you try to lie to me again, that’s what I’ll use.” He unwound his belt, tucking the buckle in his palm and letting the rest hang loose.

  “Did you interview my ex-boyfriends? How do you know all that?” She tried to turn her head to look at him, but he’d bound her so she couldn’t see. It was better she not know when it was coming but only know that it was.

  “I already told you, but you chose not to believe. That’s your problem, and it is a problem, Celeste. It will make tomorrow very difficult for you.” He rolled his shoulders. “Now, sixty straps. I don’t need you to count them, I just need you to take them. Don’t bother begging. Until I’m done, it won’t end.”

  “Wait! Sixty for fun is one thing, sixty like this—I don’t—”

  “You don’t have a choice.” He swung back and unleashed the first lash. She hissed but took it well enough. Continuing with the punishment, he brought his belt over her ass, down her thighs and back up again, counting each stroke in his mind while watching her body’s reactions.

  If she really, truly couldn’t handle it, he’d stop, but she took each lash like a good girl. Giving her no choice in the matt
er had helped her resolve to handle the punishment.

  Over and over again, he strapped her, watching her ass clench, her thighs redden. He tried to ignore the beauty of it all, but his cock wouldn’t listen. By the time he was half finished, his dick hurt from pressing against the zipper of his jeans. Her screams rang out like music. The little gasps and sobs were like fresh-wrapped presents.

  “Please!” she begged him, but it was useless. He said sixty, and she was getting sixty. He only slowed the thrashing when he was nearing sixty, almost not wanting it to end. Lessening the force, he arrived at the last lash. He paused to catch his breath. It took no little effort to deliver such a punishing strapping.

  “Last one,” he said softly. He doubted she could hear him. She was openly sobbing now, promising him everything. To be good, to be the best, to never be naughty again. But he’d ignored it all. A punishment earned was a punishment delivered.

  He brought the belt down over the upcurve of her ass. “There. Done,” he said and went about sliding the belt, now warm from its use, through his belt loops again. Once it was buckled, he went to her.

  Touching her hot, red skin made her hiss, but she didn’t yell at him.

  “You’ll bruise a little. And it’s gonna be a bitch to sit for a day, but you’re okay,” he said, more to himself. She probably didn’t care much about all that at the moment.

  He unclasped the cuffs and caught her when she stumbled back, exhausted. He moved down to the floor, pushing himself back against the wall and cradling her in his arms.

  Red blotches covered her face. Tears streaked down her cheeks, and her eyes were puffy from all the crying she’d just done. He watched as her eyes searched out his face and readied himself for the anger and hurt he’d see there.

  “I was horrible, and I’m so sorry,” she whispered and turned her face into his shirt, wrapped her arm around his neck and softly cried into his chest. He patted her back, soothed her hair away from her face.

  “It’s done now, Celeste. Your punishment’s over.” He lowered his head and kissed the top of hers, inhaling the sweet smell of her new innocence. She didn’t know it, but she’d just broken through a barrier

  She still had many more to go.

  Five

  Nothing in her experience compared to the unadulterated pain of her ass after Adam finished the strapping.. None of her previous boyfriends or play partners ever went so hard, so fast, and had been so in tune with what she needed.

  She’d searched for that level of punishment and had found nothing. But Adam. He’d taken her from defiance, to stubborn resolve, straight through regret, and settled her at atonement. Then, if she wasn’t already raw enough, he had held her until she fell asleep in his arms.

  When she woke again, she was still in the damn stall, but a blanket had been draped over her naked body. The gate was closed and, she assumed, locked again. Not that she felt like running. Having no idea where she was and being completely nude, running away didn’t seem like a bright idea. And when she moved, making the pain in her ass front and center in her mind, she figured the punishment when caught—and she had no doubt that beast of a man would catch her—would be worse.

  “You aren’t horrible.” His rough voice cut through the silence. He stood at the gate, leaning on the planks and giving her a solemn smile. “You were misguided, but now I’m here, and I’ll guide you.”

  She sat up. “What does that mean?” She wiped her face. She must have looked horrid with a red nose and puffy eyes. She didn’t look pretty when she cried as it was, and she’d been ugly crying by the time the last strap landed. “You said my punishment was over. Doesn’t that mean I go home now?” She pushed herself to her feet and walked over to him, folding her arms over her chest to cover herself at least a little from his eyes.

  He reached out and brushed her hands away. “Don’t cover yourself from me, Celeste.”

  “You said—”

  “Your punishment is over, yes. And it is. The slate is clean, but now you have to learn. And to do that, you have to give yourself over to me, completely.” His eyebrows moved up when she started to cover herself again.

  She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling the overwhelming urge to cry again. Apparently, once that door of emotions opened, she couldn’t shut it again. Damn him.

  “I don’t understand half of what you say. You say I’m on the naughty list, but I haven’t believed in Santa since I was a kid. My parents told me they made him up. You know things about me no one else does. How is that possible? You’ve stuffed me in a stable with actual hay, and you’ve whipped me. I just—I can’t do this. I just want to go home.” She walked away from him, not caring that he would see how red her ass probably still was, and sank to the floor in the corner.

  “As to your punishment, you’re not on the naughty list anymore. And if you want to stay off, you have to go through the rest of the training. Your parents, like many misguided adults, don’t understand the importance of Santa, of hope. They think they’re doing the right thing by taking that away. But it’s the magic of Christmas that they steal when they do that.”

  She shook her head. Enough was enough already.

  “So, I’m supposed to believe you’re Santa’s elf? He sent a hot, tattooed guy to kidnap me, spank me, and train me to be good? Santa? The fat guy in the red hat?” She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling. If not for the constant throb in her ass, she’d think she was dreaming.

  “I’m not the typical sort of elf.” He grinned. A genuine smile. No lurking sinister thoughts behind it or promise of more pain. Just a smile.

  “Obviously,” she said.

  “Celeste, one of the biggest problems you’ve had is your lack of trust. You don’t let anyone in. You don’t depend on anyone. Why is that?” he asked, opening the gate and stepping inside. He left the gate open, but she remembered her last attempt at running and didn’t bother to get up.

  “You don’t already know? You seem to know everything else.” She swept her gaze away from him. She’d rather see his annoyance than the pity she saw there now.

  “I don’t know your intentions, your feelings, only your actions. So, you’ll have to tell me.” He squatted in front of her and captured her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. “You have to be honest.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Just tell me what I have to do so I can go home. What’s the training? Do I have to learn how to sing Christmas songs and make toys? Do I get to work in Santa’s toy shop?” She heard the bitterness in her tone but didn’t care. She was tired, and hurting, and too raw to explore things she’d tucked away years ago.

  He frowned. “No. Everyone’s training is different. What will get through to you won’t work with someone else.”

  “Oh, been at this long? You’ve held other women hostage?” She winced when his grip on her chin intensified. He’d made her face her own truth but facing his wasn’t so easy, apparently.

  “Deflecting isn’t going to work with me, Celeste.” His hard glare unsettled her. She’d forgotten for a moment how dangerous he could look, how unrelenting he could be.

  “Let’s just get on with it,” she said through gritted teeth. He may have seen her be weak, but she was coming back around. She could get through whatever he gave her, and then she’d be done. Maybe the dream would end, or she’d wake up from whatever drug-induced mess she’d made of herself in that bar, but this would go away, and she’d carry on.

  “If that’s how you want to start.” He let go of her chin and grabbed her hair, fisting it at the scalp and yanked her to her feet. She smacked at his hands, but he was stronger, so much stronger.

  He led her out of the stall and into the open space of the stable. She caught sight of it then and doubled her efforts to get free of him.

  “Remember, pet, you asked to get on with it,” he growled in her ear and shoved her over the wooden horse.

  Six

  He’d scratched the surface with her, but barely. She wa
s wound so tight inside that just the bit he unraveled shook her. It was her own fear that made her act out now, but that didn’t make him change the course of action.

  After he shoved her over the horse and had her wrists and ankles bound in place, exposing her tits and her ass for him, he was ready to start.

  “Don’t strap me again!” she demanded.

  He paused in his step and turned to face her. She glared at him through her own spread legs, upside down. Completely absurd, but there she was, doing it all the same.

  He stalked back to her and smacked her twice across the ass with his hand.

  “I determine punishment and reward. I determine when you’ve had enough or how much more to give. I make the rules, and you obey them,” he ground out, smacking her twice more before heading back to the closet. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the sound of her insults from his mind. She was afraid, and she should be. Nothing was going to be easy for her today, and she only had until morning to make the changes. If he failed, if she failed, she’d live the rest of her life with a void she couldn’t fill.

  And she deserved better than that.

  He grabbed the items he needed and went back to her side.

  “My ass hurts. Please, no more.” At least she’d stopped making demands.

  “I wouldn’t have spanked you just now if you hadn’t yelled at me, Celeste. Learn who’s in charge, learn to give over, and you won’t experience the punishments.” He stroked her ass, soothing away the new burn with his healing touch.

  “Is that better?” he asked, looking at the back of her head.

  “Yes. How did you do that?” Her cheeks clenched at his touch.

  “I can take away the pain as easily as I give it. I don’t want you hurting right now. I want you focusing. I want you to pay attention to what I do, what I say, and I want you to obey.”