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Nora waited for the first blow of the riding crop But it remained on the bed Instead, Søren stepped directly behind her and brought his hands around her head and rested theently he ran his hands over her hair and her ears, her neck and shoulders He slid them up and down her back, up and down her arms It had been years since he’d done this, since he’d reclai every inch of it He passed his hands down her inner thighs and over her calves She shivered as his fingers caressed the soles of her bare feet He worked his way back up her body, touching her stomach, her hips, her breasts and all the way back to her neck There was no part of her he didn’t touch

With his hand flat against her throat he tilted her head back so that it rested against his chest

"Why are you crying, Little One?" he asked

"Because I love you, sir"

"Are you scared?"

"Not anyain and touched her tears

He kissed her neck where the collar met her flesh When he pulled away, she iainst hers He took the crop off the bed and Nora braced herself The first strike hit her a few inches above the back of her knee A red line of fire burst across her skin The second strike landed on the oing to leave a bruise

The sound wasn’t the worst part although that whipping noise as it cut the air certainly added to the agony of anticipation Once she heard that sound, it was too late No stopping it He struck her a dozen one to her brain and she’d lost her ability to count A dozen times A hundred times What did it matter? Søren would hurt her until she couldn’t take anymore, and then he’d take her until she didn’t hurt anyht the crop around her body

"Kiss," he ordered, and she kissed the leather tip "What do we say?"

"Thank you for , sir"

He didn’t untie her immediately Instead, he left her there while he wiped the crop with a soft cloth to clean it, wrapped it in the black felt it had coo the thought of her exploring her Do crop into three pieces Now he treated it with the same respect he treated his own i hi crop and put it away for her They had coether She couldn’t wait to see where they went next

Søren returned to her and pressed his hand into the welts on the back of her body She flinched and winced as his every touch renewed her pain

"Are you mine?" he asked her

"I am yours Forever"

And she was hers But she was his too, and alould be

At last Søren released her wrists from the rope cuffs He turned her and bent her over the bed, pushing her feet wide She heard hireith the anticipation of having hiers, and she exhaled in pleasure, her hands digging into the sheets