The Submissive's Last Word (The Power to Please #4) by Deena Ward Read Free Book Online Page B

not fair, or sane, or safe for that
matter.”
    “Okay,” I said slowly. “I can see that. I didn’t realize it
though.”
    “Also, you always, always have the right to say no.” His
dark eyes were deeply intent, as if he couldn’t emphasize the point enough.
    “I don’t think he was mad at me for saying it. I think he
was mad about the way I said it, how I did it in front of Ron.”
    “It doesn’t matter. He didn’t give you a safe word. You did
what you had to do, exactly as you should have. You stopped him. Never, and I
do mean never, should you be punished for using a safe word or for saying no if
you have no safe word. This is a sacrosanct rule. Period.”
    Gibson stopped walking, met my eyes. “You said he gave you a
safe word the night of your punishments.”
    “Yes.”
    “I have to know, at any point or points during that night,
did you use that safe word?”
    I shook my head. “No.”
    “Not even once?”
    “No.”
    He started walking again and we headed into the shadowy
grove of trees. “Why didn’t you use it? I can’t believe that you weren’t
overwhelmed by what was happening. You couldn’t have been prepared for the
intensity of it. In particular, the hood. It was too advanced for your level of
experience.”
    “It was hard, but he told me he had to use it to make
everything feel worse. He couldn’t strike me as hard as I deserved since I was
so new.”
    “Did you consider using your safe word when he put the hood
on you?”
    “No, not really. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t realize how
it would change things, either.”
    “Okay.”
    He thought for a while before continuing. We strolled
side-by-side through the clump of trees, blotches of light dappling the path.
Squirrels chattered in the branches, warning us away from their stores.
    “I want to make sure — you never, not once, used your safe
word?” Gibson asked.
    “I said no.” I felt a little annoyed all of a sudden by his
tone. It seemed like there was something of an accusation in his question.
    “Why not?”
    “Because I didn’t. Because I handled it, like I was supposed
to.” I picked up the pace, the increase of speed in my stride matching the
rapidity of my defense. “I took my punishment, and yes it was hard and yes it
was painful and awful at times. But I did it. And I was proud of it. If it
weren’t for Michael’s video showing me up as a gullible fool, I’d still be
proud of it.”
    Gibson touched my arm, effectively slowing my pace. “Don’t
misunderstand me, Nonnie. You have every reason, then and now, to be proud of
how you coped that night. I’m not sure how you did it. Everything was against
you. You were honest, sincere and brave. You weren’t a fool. Do you have any
idea how much you must have surprised Michael with how well you did?”
    Maybe it was strange, but Gibson’s compliments made me feel
good about myself. “I think I have some idea,” I said. “He told me he didn’t
expect me to be able to take so much. Maybe he actually meant it. I don’t
know.”
    “So, tell me if I’m correct. For you, that night was a point
of pride. You pleased Michael, did everything he wanted, even though it was
difficult for you to do.”
    I nodded.
    “And the fact that Michael set you up, videotaped the whole
thing and had other people present, all of that destroyed the honesty of the
events and wiped out your sense of pride in the night.”
    I swallowed hard. Yes, he summed it up correctly. I nodded
again.
    “You’ve had two different concepts of what happened that
night,” he said. “One involved honest atonement and forgiveness, the other
duplicity and ridicule. You think the second kills the first, but what if I
were to tell you that you’re wrong? That there was a third truth present that
night?”
    “I don’t understand,” I said. He’d gone too deep for me.
    We were leaving the small woods, then, heading back out into
the open ground, following the path down to the lakeside. The