COMPLETED | Take Me Down The Rabbit Hole (BDSM | 18+)

XXIX

Aspen closed his eyes and blindly reached for one of the implements, feeling his hand close around a broad wooden grip.
Thea laughed. "That has a word cut-out spelling 'Princess', Aspen," she informed him, and Aspen blushed, immediately dropping his hand.
He was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of toys Thea had in this closet. It was almost as if he had stepped into his own toy store, and every item here was his for the taking.
His entire body shuddered with the next breath he took while his eyes traveled over the rows of paddles hanging from the wall.
Some, like the one he'd just blindly reached for, had words cut out of their surface so that when the implement met with the spankee's skin, the word would be etched there in bruises, which either meant that the person administered the spanking would hit particularly hard or go over the area twice.
Just like the ones that had simple holes drilled into them, these hurt more.
There were slim ones, wide ones, square ones and even one that looked like someone had removed the lining from a table tennis bat to repurpose this item for something else.
Again, as if it was an instinct, Aspen reached for it and his hand closed around the slim handle, pulling the implement off its hook on the wall.
"This one," Aspen informed Thea and offered the not-table-tennis-bat to her.
"Interesting choice," Thea commented, but she stepped aside, letting him out of the closet.
"I do things differently than Alan and my brother," she said softly, guiding him to the bed and helping him bend over before she flipped up the back of his robe.
"My brother and your Master are picture-book sadists," she continued her explanation, running her fingertips over his skin. "Many of the people I instruct think that because I am my brother's sister, that must be the case for me, too."
Aspen listened, noticing that there was something strangely relaxing about the cadence of Thea's voice.
"Is it not?" he asked, and Thea chuckled.
"No, pet. BDSM can be practiced for different reasons. People like my brother and your Master do it because they like having control over somebody's life, though I would argue that for Alan, there is a humanitarian aspect to it, seeing as Spencer had such a troubled upbringing. But I don't do it for myself, I do it for the submissives."
Aspen felt a cool wooden surface press lightly against his skin, and then, the first spank landed. It felt good.
"Mistress, if you don't do it for yourself, then why do you have high expectations for submissives?"
Thea rubbed the paddle over his punished skin in circles before she spanked him again. "Because I want these people to be aware of what they are getting themselves into. A BDSM relationship, whether it includes a lot of sex or not, is emotionally draining, and at the end of the day, even if the submissive doesn't want to, there's always a dominant waiting for them to share their feelings and emotions. That's hard. It sucks, sometimes, and it can put cracks in the foundations of a relationship, just like communication problems can put cracks in the foundations of vanilla relationships."
While she spoke, Thea continued her rhythm of spanking him and using the implement to rub the sting out.
Aspen wasn't crying the way he'd have cried if Alan had spanked him for the same reason, but still, with every impact, a little bit of the tension left his body.
"A submissive has to be aware of this, even if most of my clients see me because that's their biggest issue. One of mine has sessions with me back to back with their actual therapy sessions, and they've told me that engaging in a non-committed relationship with me has helped them process their problems in therapy. It all depends on how a person is built."
"So you're a therapist."
Thea laughed again. "Cake decorator," she corrected him, spanking him again. "Now, the thing with you, pet, is that Alan has already broken you down in a way a sadist breaks down a masochist, but he's failed to teach you a very important thing that every dominant should be capable of."
"What is that?"
"Respecting personal boundaries," Thea deadpanned. "I've been friends with Alan for a long time now, and since I know my brother, I can see where my brother neglected to be a decent human."
The paddle whipped down on Aspen's ass again, and this time, he inhaled sharply.
"Not everyone can have a fairy godmother domme, Ma'am," Aspen mumbled, and Thea laughed again.
"No, I suppose not," she agreed.
There was a soft thud as Thea dropped the paddle on the bed, and resumed running her fingertips over Aspen's skin.
"I don't know how serious you are about being and staying a dominant when Alan lets you go, pet, but be assured that how to please a woman won't be the only thing I'll teach you."
There was a soft pop, and then, something cool and wet hit Aspen's skin.
Thea took her time massaging the ointment into Aspen's skin.
"I did think about becoming a sex therapist, but after my parents learned that Leo had opened Aphrodite specifically for kinky folks, they didn't speak to him for a while, and the bakery business is much more secure and more widely accepted," she confessed. "Maybe in a few years, people won't have to have these kinds of conversations anymore."
"Don't worry," Aspen said softly. "Once E. L. James dies and the Fifty Shades books enter the public domain, we'll all be free."
Thea exhaled lowly and withdrew her hand. "I'll get you some more water," she announced. "Please clean this paddle and return it to the closet, but feel free to look around, I'd be curious to know if I own any implements you haven't tried yet."
Aspen straightened up and stretched. "Thank you," he said. "For the spanking, and for the water."
"You're welcome."