“Understood what?” she asked before he gave her another bite.
“Why you needed the release. Why it was the perfect way to get to you. You’ve been almost unsettlingly quiet the last several days, except for when you woke up screaming from nightmares. We could see you having flashbacks during the day, and it was obvious you were holding in a lot of emotion and it was taking its toll on you. The spanking seemed to break the dam you’d built up.”
“Did it ever.”
“And I think I even understand why Samson does what he does. I guess when he told me he was a sadist, I let my imagination get the best of me. You know, like that he beat on hapless masochists who begged for it with villain-like glee. I watched him, baby. He was utterly focused on you, your every move, every twitch, probably every breath you took. He knew what he was doing…where he was taking you, and why. Now that I see the results, and understand what he does, I also understand why. Because he couldn’t stand seeing you suffer. He had to do something to help you. And when he was through, it seemed like…No, it didn’t ‘seem like’ anything at all, the satisfaction was written all over his face, because you let him help you.”
He continued feeding her bites as she mulled over what he said. “I’m glad you were there.”
“I wanted to be there for you, even though I had no intention of participating. I’d be too nervous about hurting you and probably miss all the cues that he’s trained to watch for in a submissive. Although…” he added, trailing off as he gave her another spoonful.
“What?” she murmured over her mouthful.
He winked at her. “I might try a sexy spanking with you sometime. You know? Just something for fun while we’re fooling around.”
Cassie giggled. “We’ll discuss that later, when my butt cheeks aren’t boiling hot.”
Samson’s laughter rumbled as he came down the hall to lean against the door frame. “How’s your ass?”
“It’ll recover. How’s your hand?” she quipped as he closed the door and locked it behind him.
He came around to the other side of the bed and sat down beside her. “I think I’ll survive,” he murmured as he stroked her shoulder. Vulnerability softened his tone. “Thank you for trusting me, Cassandra.”
“You earned that trust, honey. I won’t say it was fun, but I do feel like a heavy load has been lifted from my shoulders.”
“You’ve been carrying that burden a while, I guess,” he said and then looked over at the bowl in Ivan’s hand. “Is Ivan taking good care of you?”
“You both are.” She touched their forearms and said, “Thank you. Both of you. You knew what I needed.”
“Speaking of needing something,” Samson said as he showed her the tube in his hand, “this is a soothing cream. I like using it for aftercare. It’ll help with the stinging and with any welts that are still there.”
He tugged the blanket loose and tilted her on her side toward Ivan and his heavenly dessert. She went with it, squeaking when he smoothed some of the super chilly cream onto her still-very-hot bottom.
“How do you feel otherwise, chiquita?” he asked, his blue eyes meeting hers, his question clear.
“Better. Wrung-out, but better.”
He nodded. “There’s not much we can do about the situation with your father besides help you see that he gets proper care wherever he winds up after all the dust settles. But Ivan and I are going to be here for you. I don’t know if you remember much of what I said earlier, but I was being serious when I said that you are enough for us, just the way you are and who you are, and we want to be there for you no matter what comes at us down the road. Now, you need more rest, unless you want to have supper.”
“Nope,” she said with a shake of her head as she pushed the blanket off of her and came up on her hands and knees, hissing when her butt made contact with her heels. “Ivan spoiled my appetite for dinner…but I’ve developed an appetite for another kind of dessert. If you’re both willing, that is.”
Ivan had his fly unbuttoned and unzipped in the blink of an eye. Samson worked the top button loose on his jeans as he chuckled and slid down onto the bed. “Sweetest words I’ve ever heard, chiquita. I’ve been hard ever since you started squirming over my lap.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
When Ivan returned home from picking up the belongings he’d kept at Hermione, mostly tools of the trade, as well as the few articles he kept in his locker, he left them in the truck until they could sit down with her later that night to finally talk.