Claimed by the Beast(2)

"Oh, God, Rachel," Kayla said when she spotted her, her expression  desperate. She walked fast to her and wrapped her free arm around her.  "I'm so glad you're not hurt."

Rachel hugged Kayla back, unable to stop the tears that came. "I'm sorry  I had to call you like this in the middle of the night. I just didn't  know what else to do."                       
       
           



       

Kayla stood back and looked her over, eyeing the bandage on her forehead.

Rachel touched it. "It's nothing."

"Was he drunk? The driver?" Kayla asked, sounding more concerned than angry.

Rachel could only look at the linoleum floor and nod.

"Christ," Kayla said, looking at her with pity.

"I'm sorry. I don't really know …  Kayla, I feel totally out of control,  like …  I don't know. Everything is so different now. I thought if I knew …   what if … " He's dead? She stopped, unable to say the words aloud, the  emotion too overwhelming.

Kayla gathered Rachel to herself again and Rachel let her. "It's okay, we'll figure it out. Let's go home."



* * *



Clarissa was bawling by the time Kayla pulled into the driveway of her  own house. It took her a full hour to return home after dropping Rachel  off. The roads were slippery and when she switched off the engine, Kayla  exhaled, relieved to be safely home.

"Shh, it's okay, baby. Shh … " she coaxed, feeling flustered at Clarissa's  unending cries. As she climbed out of the car, headlights turned onto  the street and drove toward her house. It was Elijah.

She stood like a deer in the headlights, caught, her heart racing.

He was going to be mad. And that was an understatement.

"What's going on, Kayla?" he asked, climbing out of the car and rushing toward them. "Is everything okay?"

"She's hungry," Kayla said.

"What are you doing out here? Where were you?"

She looked at him then dropped her gaze to the baby.

She could feel his eyes on her for a moment. Once he'd assessed nothing  was wrong, he spoke again. "Let's go inside, get her fed," he said,  turning her and leading them into the house.

Kayla settled on the couch and Clarissa latched onto her breast while Elijah brought over a cup of water for Kayla to drink.

"Rachel called after I'd fallen asleep. She'd been in a car accident," she said.

"An accident? Is she okay?"

Kayla nodded. "Yes, she's okay. I picked her up from the hospital and took her home."

"You went out on a night like this? Why didn't you call me to get her?  Christ, Kayla, the roads are pretty bad, you could have been hurt.  Clarissa could have been hurt."

"I know. I'm sorry," she said. "She just sounded so desperate. She didn't want you to find out."

"Too late. Go on."

Kayla told him what she knew and Elijah sat quietly listening. Once  Clarissa was finished drinking, he took her and held her up to his  shoulder. Rubbing her back, he stood and walked her to her bedroom.  After a few moments, he returned.

"Tell me something, if I hadn't come home when I had, would you have told me?" he asked.

She looked up at him. "Rachel didn't want you to know," she began.

"Would you have told me?" he repeated, cutting her off, his tone just a hair different.

She dropped her gaze and shook her head. "No, sir," she said, slipping  into her role easily. He hadn't punished her in over a year and she knew  now without a doubt that he would punish her for this. She remembered  the pain of a spanking but the look of disappointment on his face was  worse. "I'm sorry."

"Stand up," he said, sounding like a disciplinarian, reaching for the buckle on his belt.

Her heartbeat picked up and her belly felt tight.

"Up, Kayla."

She slowly rose to her feet as he pulled the belt out of its loops and  doubled it over in his hand, gripping the buckle in his palm.

"Bend over the arm of the couch, pants and panties down."

"Do you have to?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"Do you think I shouldn't?" he replied, raising his eyebrows. There was no humor in his expression.

She would have lied to him if he'd not driven up when he had. She would  have done it to protect Rachel but that didn't matter. She would have  lied to him. Not to mention the fact she'd put Clarissa and herself in  danger driving on a night like this.

She eyed the belt once more, then moved to stand where he'd said. She  reached for the waistband of her pajama pants and pushed them down. She  then did the same with her panties.

"Lower," he said when she bent over.

She reached back and pushed them down to around her knees. She then bent  back over the arm of the couch and placed her forearms on the seat. She  waited, eyes wide.

Elijah moved to the side of her and pushed the shirt farther up her back as her pants and panties slid farther down her legs.

"Take your legs wider," he said.                       
       
           



       

"Yes, sir," she said, taking them as wide as possible with the pants  pooled around her ankles as they were. She remembered well the sting of  the belt.

"Tell me why I'm going to punish you," he said, not touching her. That  was the worst. There was no caress, no softness. She was to be punished.

"Because I put myself and our baby in danger and because I would have lied to you."

She didn't even have time to register that he'd swung when the first stroke landed.

"Ah!" she couldn't help but call out when the leather seared a burning stripe across her bottom.

He struck again, twice in quick succession.

"I won't tolerate lying Kayla," he said before landing another one a little higher this time. "You know better than that."

He struck again moving lower now, hitting her sit spots twice, three  times, four times. She tried not to make any noise but sound was pushed  from her with each blow. Tears stung her eyes as the belt stung her  bottom.

"And you're not helping Rachel by covering up for her."

"No, sir. I know that. I'm sorry. Ah!"

The next lash landed on the crease between her bottom and her thighs and  Kayla couldn't help but straighten, grabbing her burning behind,  rubbing.

"Down, Kayla. We're not done yet and you know better than to get up before you're told."

She glanced at him.

"Ten more if you're down now. Otherwise we start at one."

"Ten?" she couldn't help but ask, glancing at him.

"You're right. Too easy. Make it fifteen."

She opened her mouth but knew better than to speak. He would only add on  strokes. She resigned herself to it as best she could, wiped at her  tears, and bent back over the arm of the couch.

"Count."

Some spankings were foreplay. This was punishment. The difference was incredible.

She thought she remembered the pain, but she did not remember it like  this. It had been so long since she had been punished and he hadn't used  his belt in ages.

The first of the fifteen landed.

"One!" she called out.

He struck again, as hard as the last, again across her thighs.

"Two," she managed, covering her face with her hands. "Three!"

Twelve to go.

The next two he delivered hard and fast so she barely got the numbers  out. By the time they reached ten, her hands were fisted on the seat of  the couch, and she was trying hard to hold her position while sweat  dripped from her forehead.

"You would have been done if you'd done as you were told and stayed bent over. Remember that. Five to go and these will hurt."

The eleventh landed and she rounded her back, clenching her buttocks,  shifting from foot to foot. How was it possible these hurt even more?

"Eleven," she said through her tears.

"Hollow out your back and unclench your bottom. You know better than this."

"Yes, sir," she said, but the unclenching was hard.

"We're getting back on a maintenance schedule, Kayla. Every Friday night," he said as the belt cut into her.

"Twelve." What had he said? She couldn't get beyond the pain of her punishment for his words to register.

The next two strokes came so fast after each other that she barely had  time to count. The last caught her across the tops of her thighs and she  let herself fall forward for a moment before resuming her position,  knowing he'd want her to remain as she was until he dismissed her.  "Fifteen," she said, quietly sniffling.

She didn't look up when the belt landed on the couch in front of her. It was over, her punishment.

She sucked in a breath when she felt his hand on her buttock, caressing  what she knew were welts. "You'll feel these for a few days, I think,"  he said, touching another one. "If you ever lie to me or even think  about lying to me again, no matter your reason, the belt will be a warm  up, is that clear?" he asked.