Rescuing Regina Read online

  “I can be responsible when I put my mind to it.”

  He raised a brow

  “Okay, not really. But I’m learning.”

  “Yes, you are. And that, my dear, is why you are handcuffed to the coffee table, folding my laundry at my feet.” He leaned down to kiss me. I let him. I wanted to comment on how turned on I got by humiliation, but had a feeling he already knew.

  Just sitting at his feet made me wet.

  “What is the point of folding clothes? You’re just going to wear them the next day.”

  In answer he got up, left the room, and returned with the ball gag.

  “Open.” He fixed the straps around my head while I tried to kill him with my eyes.

  “I hate you, you bastard,” I said. With the gag it came out “uh huh huh, huh huh huh.”

  “Be polite.” He wagged a finger in my face.

  “Urr.”

  ***

  “We need to talk.”

  I finished clearing away his breakfast and danced over with a coffee refill. I’d gotten pretty graceful on the high, high heels.

  Cole motioned me to sit.

  “It’s been a week, and I’d like to talk about what happens next.”

  A week of humiliations and perpetual horniness. I got my fair share of orgasms, and so did Cole, but I hadn’t gotten him inside me in the way it really counted. I wasn’t looking for a declaration of love. Or maybe I was. But I’d settle for a declaration of lust.

  “Regina, are you listening to me?”

  “What? Yes! Just say the last thing you just said again.”

  “I told you Monday you start volunteering.”

  “Where?”

  “I haven’t decided. But you don’t need to know. You just need to be ready.”

  “Fine. You sure I just couldn’t be your secretary? I’ll wear stockings and garters and kitten heel pumps. And blow you under the desk.”

  “No.” He shook his head. He proffered his coffee cup. I sighed and filled it, ignoring how serving him made my pussy clench.

  “Oh, why not?” I pouted as I finished pouring.

  “Conflict of interest,” he grunted. “People think we’re living together. I can’t pull strings to hire you.”

  “As if there isn’t enough nepotism going on around here.” I grouched. “I’d be so good, too.” I put a hand to my ear pretending it was a phone. “Welcome to Licking Bottom, how can I help you?”

  Cole spat coffee into his newspaper. I watched in delight as he sputtered. “Regina, what the hell?”

  I made sure I was out of arm’s reach but couldn’t stop my grin.

  “Very funny,” Cole said through clenched teeth, dabbing a napkin at his wet suit. He rose and went off to change. As he passed me, he smacked my ass so hard I jumped.

  “You love it!” I called after him.

  I was on hands and knees, wiping the mess off the floor when two polished shoes stopped in front of me.

  “I’m off to the meeting,” he said, and hesitated.

  “What?” I rose up to tall knees. He looked so handsome in his uniform. The last sheriff had opted to wear a suit most of the time, emphasizing the time he spent in meetings versus patrolling like a regular cop. No matter how busy he got, Cole took a shift on the regular beat every week. Just his way of keeping his finger on the pulse of the community, he told me. The night he’d caught me he’d been on patrol.

  “I’ll be back pretty late. I may not have time to get you to your mom’s.”

  His truck sat in the driveway and the keys were hanging by the door, but I didn’t mention that. He probably wasn’t ready to trust me driving his vehicle. Smart man.

  “Do you think you can wait until tomorrow morning to see your mom?”

  I checked in with my gut, and the biggest feeling was relief. “I think so.”

  Cole studied me. I had the feeling he’d known I’d be glad to skip a visit.

  “You’re a good daughter,” he said.

  I scrambled to my feet, mumbling something about getting the laundry. Cole caught my arm, halting me mid-escape.

  “I mean it. You’ve done the best you can. No mother could ask for more.”

  I sucked in a breath, praying my tears wouldn’t fall. Turning my back to Cole, I said, “I don’t know about that. I could make a bunch of money and buy her a house. Or at least send her on a cruise.”

  Cole wrapped his arms around me. I fixed my eyes forward. If I looked back at him, I’d burst into tears.

  “All’s I need is a few grand,” I added.

  “Oh yeah? How are you going to earn that?

  “I once dated a guy whose dad owned a chop shop. I bet I could get some money off parts of your truck.”

  He spun me around. “Are you seriously joking about that?”

  I giggled.

  “Young lady, you’re gonna regret that.”

  I grinned at his furious expression. “You’re going to be late.”

  Glancing at the clock, he bit back a curse.

  “Wait here.”

  He stomped off, and I heard him on his cell, explaining he was running behind schedule. When he returned to the kitchen, he still looked pissed.

  Excellent.

  With a snap of his fingers, he ordered me to stand in front of him. “I’ll be back tonight, but even if I’m not, you’re going to behave.”

  “Always, sir.” I fluttered my lashes.

  “Just to make sure…” He fixed the ball gag around my head. Then he cuffed my hands behind my back.

  “Ut uh ‘ell?” I screamed as best I could through the gag.

  “This should keep you busy and out of trouble.”

  I glowered even as he kissed my head.

  “I’ll bring sandwiches for dinner. Oh, and Regina,” he called halfway to the door.

  “Oooh?”

  “Don’t forget the laundry.”

  ***

  After a half hour of handcuff hell, I glanced out the window and realized Cole hadn’t left. He sat in his patrol car, a cell phone at his ear. I stood and made sad puppy eyes at him until he glanced up. He sighed and exited the car. The first thing he did when he returned was undo the gag and the handcuffs. I massaged my jaw as he chafed my wrists.

  “Did you learn your lesson?”

  “Yes.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. As much as I liked goading Cole, I didn’t want a repeat of the past half hour. “You didn’t leave?” A part of me guessed he wouldn’t leave me so helpless.

  “I’m going to go now. I wanted you to know that tomorrow you start volunteering.”

  “You chose a place?”

  “Nope. Mr. Roberts did.”

  My gut clenched like I’d been kicked. “Is he…is he very angry with me?”

  “Not gonna lie, Regina. When he first found out you took the money, he was hurt. Not angry, though. He cares about you, almost like a daughter.”

  I knew that. Before I went to college, I’d given him a thank you card with my high school picture in it. He kept the picture on the shelf with framed photos of his whole family.

  “If you’d only stolen from him once, and told him right away, he probably wouldn’t have fired you.”

  “I really fucked up didn’t I?” Tears filled my eyes. “I’m such a screw up. Total waste of space.” My voice sounded defeated and pathetic, even to my ears. “I wish my mother had just gotten an abortion. Everyone would be better off.”

  Cole moved so fast I didn’t see him until I was over his lap receiving the first hard swat. He kept spanking, harsher and harsher until I was wriggling and crying.

  Just as quickly, it was over. Cole set me on my feet and fixed me with the sternest stare I’d yet to see. “Regina. If I ever hear you say that again, or talking down, you will think that spanking was a walk in the park. Understand?”

  I bobbed my head up and down. Anything to avoid that punishing palm. My hand crept back to rub my bottom, and Cole caught it in his firm grip.

  “Answer me.”r />
  “I understand.”

  “Good girl.” His tone softened, and he pulled me into his lap. I lay tucked against him on my side and he rubbed my bottom until I relaxed against him. I stayed very quiet. The spanking had undone me, but it had also stemmed the tide of self-disgust. No one had ever cared enough about me to stop me talking down on myself. Cole’s violent reaction both shocked and steadied me.

  “Feeling better?”

  “Yes. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay, sweetheart.” Cole kissed my shoulder. “I told you I’d take care of you, and I will. But I won’t tolerate anyone saying bad things about you. Not even you.

  “Thank you,” I said, and meant it.

  He chucked me under the chin. “I’ve got to get back to work. I’m going to be pretty busy for a few days, but I’ll make sure you’re occupied. The minute I get a chance, we’re going to resolve the situation with Mr. Roberts, once and for all.”

  “Okay,” I said, though I didn’t like the sound of that.

  Chapter Eight

  The days settled into a routine, with Cole working long hours, as he’d warned me. I wondered if he kept himself busy so he could keep his hands off me longer. It pleased me to think I was that much of a temptation. Of course, the more he stayed away, the more I wanted him. Whenever he worked from home, I made myself as loud and obnoxious as I could, which only earned me the gag. Often I found myself watching him, admiring the grace in his long fingers on the keyboard, the timber of his voice as he gave someone instructions.

  “Regina,” he called one day, without looking up from his papers. “You’re doing it again.”

  I blinked. “Sorry.”

  “Keep it up and I’ll give you a new rule—no looking above crotch level.”

  “That’s only going to make it worse.” I went back to my work, only to look up when a shadow fell over my hands.

  Cole stood behind me, tracing the delicate strap of my skimpy outfit. His touch spread tingles through me.

  I turned to face him. We were mere inches apart. “Cole?”

  “Regina,” he said, and then he was all over me. Touching, kissing, claiming, his hands sliding up and down my body as I pressed myself into him and whimpered. When the kiss ended and we broke apart, both of us were breathless.

  “Bedroom,” he ordered. “It’s time.”

  Squee!

  But when I got there, I saw a wooden rectangle on the bed, and realized what he meant. Cole stalked into the bedroom after me. I met his eyes, once, and saw darkness there. I didn’t look at his face again.

  “Strip.”

  Slowly, I removed the little white apron. “What’s going to happen?”

  “I told you you’d get paddled for stealing. I think you need it.”

  I let the maid outfit fall to the floor. “Will it hurt?”

  “Yes.”

  I stood to the side of the bed, arms wrapped around myself watching Cole remove his shirt and belt. His bare chest was a thing of beauty, a product of his daily run and five hundred pushups executed in crisp, military style.

  He motioned for me to move to the foot of the bed. My breathing picked up as he picked up the paddle and examined it, before setting it down and picking up his belt. He doubled it over and tested it against his palm, snapping it. I jumped.

  Cole crooked a finger at me to get me to come closer. Close to hyperventilating, I obeyed. The man couldn’t be more intimidating with an executioner’s hood.

  His fingers curled around my hips, warm and reassuring. “It’ll hurt, but it’ll feel good.”

  I let out a broken laugh. “How’s that?”

  “After this punishment, it’s over. You’re forgiven. We never have to speak of it again.”

  He waited for me to answer, but for once in my life, I couldn’t speak. I’d do anything for this man, but he never stopped pushing the boundaries of where I wanted to go.

  After a minute of silence, he laid the belt on the bed. “Regina, look at me.”

  I did, and he rewarded me by cradling my face in his hands. His hazel eyes, his aquiline nose, his handsome features blurred.

  “We don’t have to do this,” he said.

  “Yes, we do.” Somehow not going through with this discipline was worse. Not only did I deserve it, but worse, I’d let down Cole.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then get into position.”

  I put my hands on the bed, stuck my bottom out as the target.

  Cole ran a finger down.

  “Hand first, then belt, then paddle.”

  His hand clamped on the back of my neck and I steeled myself.

  The blow didn’t come. Instead, his long fingers danced between my legs, strumming my clit to a fever pitch. I gasped, and writhed, teetering on the edge of orgasm.

  “Being turned on will make this less painful,” he said. “I told you, Regina, I’m going to take care of you.”

  At his words, I relaxed completely. His left hand remained at my neck as his right squeezed my bottom. He didn’t have to hold me down, but his touch made me relax. I could struggle all I wanted; he wouldn’t let me get away.

  Cole started spanking me. Light at first, then building at a steady crescendo. He paid particular attention to my sit spots, but even my thighs got a few swats. After a few minutes, the swats grew harder. I ground my chest into the bed, gritting my teeth. I didn’t cry out, though. The slow buildup meant I could take the pain.

  My bottom stung and felt red hot to touch by the time Cole finished the hand spanking. I wasn’t anywhere near my limit. He stopped and palmed my bottom, squeezing and releasing. The rough massage worked the sting away.

  “You okay?”

  “Yes,” my reply came muffled by the bed.

  I heard him moving behind me and braced myself. Up next was the belt.

  The first lash sliced across my bottom and I reared up off the bed.

  “Back in position.”

  “I’m sorry,” I gasped.

  “Do you want me to hold you down?” Without waiting for an answer, he put a hand between my shoulder blades and pushed me back down onto the bed.

  The next blows with the belt made me jump, but I realized I could breathe through the pain. It burned and then faded.

  “You’ll think twice before breaking the law again. You pull anything like that again, you’ll answer to me.”

  I gasped as he laid a lash over a previous one. My hands flew back to protect my bottom, and he quickly captured them and held them in the small of my back. The next few lashes came down harder, and I realized how much he’d been holding back.

  “Ow,” I cried. “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re gonna be.” The belt caught my lower buttocks, blazing a trail across my sit spots.

  I cursed.

  “Do you need me to gag you? Swear again and I’ll get soap.”

  “No.” Somehow I knew being unable to call out would make things worse. “Please. I’ll be good.”

  “You better be. From now on, you get so much as a speeding ticket, you answer to me.” The belt came down again and again. “And if you find yourself in trouble, you ask for help. No more riding it out alone.”

  I didn’t ask him to stop. The pain seared through me, cleansing fire. I cried out the tears I’d bottled up for years, ever since a phone call about my mother’s condition dragged me out of my sophomore year, back home. It wasn’t fair.

  “What’s not fair?” Cole asked, and I realized I’d spoken out loud.

  “My life! Everything!”

  “Talk to me, Regina.” He dropped the belt on the bed, and massaged my bottom.

  “I’d gotten out! I’d almost escaped this hell hole. I survived my childhood here. Wasn’t that enough?”

  “That’s it, let it out.”

  “I hate this place! I hate my life! I just want to leave.”

  He sat and pulled me into his arms. “When you came back to take care of your mom, you didn’t ask f
or help. Why?”

  “I didn’t think anyone would—”

  “Your old boss gave you your job back without a second thought.”

  “I didn’t want to ask for anything more than that. I didn’t deserve it.”

  He tugged me closer. His hand rested at the back of my neck, holding me against him.

  “You deserve it.”

  He ended the hug and I almost cried out at the loss of his arms around my body.

  “Almost done. Back into position.” His tone was incredibly gentle.

  I moved, resting my head on one arm. I reached for his hand with the other. He took it.

  I squeezed his fingers as he tapped the paddle against my bottom.

  “This will hurt,” he warned.

  The blow took the breath from my lungs. But then I was falling, floating softly into another place. I relaxed, gave in, and let Cole take over.

  A few more sharp taps with the paddle, but the pain felt far, far away.

  “One more.” It cracked down a final time, and felt as if Cole had hit me with all his might. I cried out.

  It was over.

  Tears leaked out of my eyes.

  “Shh, Regina. Forever. You’re forgiven.” Cole rocked me in his arms until the storm passed, my big, gulping sobs quieted.

  “Cole, I—” I started to say I love you. But that wasn’t what I meant. Whatever I felt went deeper than love. I love you, I’ve always loved you, I’ll love you forever, was more like it. But I couldn’t say that without knowing he was ready to hear it. He’d asked me to obey him, and I had. He’d said nothing about love. “Thank you.”

  He lifted me and put me to bed. As soon as he lay down behind me, his arm wrapped around me and pulled my body flush to his.

  I lay there quietly, filled with the floaty feeling. Eventually, though, I came down. Thoughts raced through my head in time to my throbbing bottom.

  “Cole? What are we doing? Do you know?”

  He seemed to understand what I was asking. “I’m claiming you.”

  “Claiming me? Like what, I Tarzan you Jane sort of thing? Isn’t that sort of old fashioned?”

  “I guess I’m old fashioned then.”

  “I’ll say.”

  “Regina.” His voice, like his touch, was firm and soothing at the same time. “Stop fighting this.”