Surrounded [Running to Love 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) by Allyson Young

archway. “I know all the implications of what I did. And I’m sorry, although I know that’s faint comfort.”
    Alistair felt his heart swell again at her words and understanding but kept his face impassive and reached for the duffel bag. “Do as I told you.” He watched her swallow and quickly turn and head toward the couch. Ash reached for the duffel, and he let her take it, stopping only to pull out the crop and the handcuffs. Her eyes widened a little, and then she shrugged. She hauled his bag away, and he followed her, branching off to go into the kitchen where he chose a sturdy chair without arms. He carried it into the living room and set it dead center on the area rug, right where the coffee table used to be. He felt himself blink and looked around. The table was blocking the doorway to the mudroom, and he realized Jackie had shut the dog away in there.
    She was perched on the edge of the couch, watching him with wide eyes, and when he set the crop and cuffs beside her, she visibly trembled. He sat on the kitchen chair and wordlessly motioned her over his lap. She immediately took her place, and he folded her skirt up to her waist and pulled her panties down to just beneath the crease where her buttocks and thighs joined. He trapped her legs between his and put his left hand between her shoulders to firmly anchor her. Ashley came back into the room with a bottle of water and sat quietly on the couch, idly fingering the crop. Her color was better, but her lips were still tight with strain. Alistair proceeded to administer the most controlled spanking of his life.
    He brought his hand down on Jackie’s ass in measured, heavy blows, the sound reverberating in the room. She flinched and clenched and cried out against it and fought helplessly against his hold. When she was crying uncontrollably, he pulled her upright and held her by her shoulders, staring into her face until she managed to look at him.
    “You nearly got yourself killed today, Jackie, and could have gotten Ashley killed. Or compromised her career. I won’t ask you what you were thinking because you weren’t or you wouldn’t have done something so goddamn stupid.”
    She gulped and nodded and sobbed her agreement. He stood and hauled her to the couch, bending her over the arm. It put her just at the right height, nearly on her toes, her ass well presented. He grabbed the cuffs and efficiently secured her hands behind her back. Ashley slid over and placed Jackie’s cheek on her thigh while he yanked her panties down to hobble her knees. He was going to crop her from the tops of her buttocks to the bottom of her thighs and didn’t want to injure her fragile pussy flesh, although smacking her there certainly appealed. Her bottom was already bright red, and he was going to lay a pattern of purple across it to join those few places that still looked tender from the night before last. It was a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget.
    The sound of the crop flexing had her tensing, and he wished he had brought the damn ginger, except this wasn’t about sex. He was tumescent but mostly because of the adrenaline high, and Jackie wasn’t aroused at all. She clearly knew the difference between erotic discipline and punishment, although…he shut his thoughts down and gave her twenty stripes in a grid pattern that welted pleasingly to his eyes. She screamed during the first half and then subsided, slipping into that place where she just accepted her fate. Ashley sat rigid during the process and was biting her lip by the end, but didn’t interfere. They locked eyes over Jackie’s writhing body, and she visibly slumped. He hurried to release Jackie and picked her up to take her to the bathroom where he stripped her and stood her in the tub. She was a tear-stained mess, and he again had to harden his heart and not console her. Something was up with Ashley, and he felt totally torn. As soon as he was able to ease Jackie into a cool tub and ensure she was coherent,