take the pain, take the pleasure

When Violet stumbles into the room after classes, Liam is sitting in her desk chair.

He’s leaning back, effortlessly beautiful and taking up the space like it’s his, like he sits there to do homework each day. To be fair, on some days he does. She just wasn’t expecting him to sit there today.

"Liam?" Violet inquires in mild surprise. She ventures carefully closer, dropping her pack and closing the door, shielding the world out until it's just the two of them. The look on his face makes her pulse skitter, her heartbeat picking up. It promises retribution.

"Don't pretend like you don't know what this is about."

Oh. Oh.

"Did you think that just because Xaden isn't here, you could get away with this shit?" His voice is dark, a touch angry. Liam pats his leather-clad thigh. "Clothes off. Over my knee."

There’s no give in Liam's tone. No room for cajoling.

Reeling in surprise, Violet swallows dryly and stares at the large hand, at the lines of the rebellion relics swirling up Liam’s fore-arm. She realizes too late that she was supposed to move

“Do I need to repeat myself?” It’s a sharper tone than Liam ever uses with her, and Violet jumps into action.

“N–no,” she murmurs, following his orders in a daze, stripping efficiently. Liam watches impassively as she unlaces her corset, his blue eyes tracking every move she makes but his lips a flat line of displeasure. There’s contradiction in the way he’s leaning slightly forward, anticipating her moving closer, and in the way his shoulders are tense, signifying that he’s not entirely comfortable.

She approaches warily, knows from the way he tilts his head and studies her face that he’s considering re-confirming their safe-words, but she pushes her chin out stubbornly and Liam smiles. For a second, it’s fond, and then he grabs her chin in an unforgivable grip.

“Don’t you give me that attitude,” he warns. Violet blinks, but can’t help the look of defiance on her face.

“I did nothing wrong!” she protests, and his eyes flare in indignation.

“I did nothing wrong,” he mocks, and she fights a smile. It’s not the time for that. “If you did nothing wrong, I wouldn’t need to put you over my knee, now would I?”

It sends a flash of heat down between her legs, the flippant way he refers to what is about to be both a very pleasant and unpleasant experience for her.

“Now, stop stalling,” Liam commands in a dangerously soft tone. “Unless you want to accumulate more reasons to get punished. I can easily add–” Violet shakes her head in his grip, and he releases it. “No? Then bend over.”

She does, placing herself over his powerful thighs. He raises her legs into the air, makes it clear she’s not to brace them on the floor, and her cheeks heat in embarrassment at the position she’s in.

Liam runs his hand softly, kindly, over Violet's ass, like he's not about to make it sting. "Oh, sweet girl, why do you feel the need to be so reckless?" he wonders, but it’s a rhetorical question. "I think I best make sure you feel this tomorrow. So that you'll remember what happens when you do stupid things."

The first blow is surprisingly strong, and Violet squeaks, instinctively jerking away, but there’s nowhere to go.

“Liam!” she exclaims in half a moan, half a plea.

“No, pretty girl,” Liam says firmly. “You’re not wheedling your way out of this. Don’t even try.”

Fuck, he’s so confident for a man who only weeks ago shied from the thought of spanking her at Xaden’s request. It’s a hell of a turn on to push back and realize that Liam will be solid and strong on this point, just as he is with all others. That Violet is seemingly powerless against his determination.

The next blow makes her wince, and he doesn’t stop.

He tans her ass with the palm of his hand, precise blows to her sit-spots, one after the other. Violet is squirming on his knees, moaning and shouting and gasping and keening in turn as her ass sends signals of pain but her core signals of pleasure.

“Is it hurting?” Liam coos, and she nods her head as he takes a break, stroking her burning skin. “Good.” There’s something darkly satisfied in his voice. “It should. And you’re doing so well, Vi, not kicking your feet. Staying in place for me to punish, like you deserve.”

That makes a rush of wetness trickle from her, into her folds, and Violet presses her thighs together. Liam laughs above her, smoothing a hand down her thigh, fingers barely skimming where she’s soaked and ready.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he sighs. “So ready for me, and you won’t even get my cock.”

“Please,” Violet begs, even though she knows he was firm on this point. He’s not comfortable taking this that far, to where he might lose control of himself, not the first time he uses spanking as a proper punishment for her while they’re alone. But gods, she wants him, wants to get fucked.

“Ah-ah,” Liam says and lands a sharp blow on her ass, making Violet cry out in surprise at the sting. “Bad girls don’t get to be filled by cock. But if you take your spanking nicely, perhaps I’ll give you my fingers.”

Their compromise, that he now twists so beautifully to fit this scenario, to keep the momentum.

Fuck, she wants his fingers. Wants to come, clenching down on something.

“Yes,” Violet gasps. “I’ll be good, Liam, please.”

“A few more, I think,” Liam muses. “I don’t think you’ve learned your lesson yet. I want you sore enough to remember this tomorrow. Remember whose you are, and who has access to this pretty ass, should you fail to behave.”

Then his hand is moving again, coming down on her upturned ass with hard slaps. He spaces them out, lets the burn linger and travel up her spine and down her legs in electric shocks, before he gives her another.

The next three are in quick succession, sharp and deliciously hard.

“Oh– oh– oh–,” Violet moans, her spine arching as she fights to not move away, to stay still and take it.

“That’s it,” Liam encourages. “You’ll take what I give you, so just stop tensing and relax. So much easier if you just submit to it.”

His words lull her into a calm for the next two blows.

Oh, she will remember this tomorrow, in Battle Brief, in physics, on Tairn's back – she'll remember how it felt to be caught between Liam's knees and his unforgiving hand, her ass tilted up for punishment.

He pauses, and for a second Violet thinks he's done, but that's unlikely. Liam did promise her he’d punish her properly. No – he's reaching for something on the desk, and a second later he's dangling a familiar item in front of her face for her to view.

Her round hairbrush, with the wooden handle.

Fuck.

“Xaden said your ass is acquainted with this particular brush,” Liam teases, his voice promising sinful things. “That he’s once bent you over this particular desk chair and spanked you hard for mouthing off at him in Battle Brief.”

“Yes,” Violet replies faintly, her head spinning. She’s uncertain if it’s blood rushing to it or the memory of Xaden pulling her pants down, spanking her with her own brush while he tangled his other hand in her hair, pushing her head down.

Then he made her sit down on her sore ass in the chair. He handed her the same hairbrush he’d just punished her with, and commanded she brush the tangles out of her hair. Xaden had watched, jerking himself off slowly, while her core throbbed, empty and soaked.

The humiliation of it still makes her blush.

“Perfect.” Liam runs the cool wood down her spine. “Then you’ll take two swats on each side, pretty girl, just because I want to hear how it sounds on your skin.”

“You’re an asshole,” Violet accuses him softly on a hitching breath, and he laughs lowly.

“And don’t I know it.” He sounds proud, unapologetic, before patting the small of her back. “Hands.”

For a second, Violet contemplates disobeying. Just to fuck with him. Then she remembers the brush in his hand, and hurries to comply.

But it’s too late – Liam has noticed.

He gathers her wrists into his left hand, presses them down against the dip in her spine, and bends over to whisper in her ear.

“That’s two more,” and Violet swears quietly under her breath. “One for back-talking, and one for the hesitation.”

Six.

She can take six.

Except Liam’s swats aren’t gentle, and after the first two, her eyes are watering. At the fourth, she lets out a yell, a few tears trickling down her cheeks, and Liam comments softly,

“You scream so prettily, Vi. Two more – you brought them upon yourself.”

She did.

The flat side of the hairbrush lands with a thud, the pain so different from Liam’s hand, and she moans. Fuck, it’s no wonder she’s this turned on by pain and so good at twisting it to suit her needs when she’s been in pain all her life, but the blooming soreness from the brush is it’s own brand of ow.

She jerks when he lands the final one, her hands trying to escape his grasp in an instinctive need to cover her sore ass, to protect it, but Liam holds fast as she struggles, as the pain and accompanying pleasure radiates through her.

“Fuck!”

“There we go,” Liam assures her, but while his tone is softer, more caring, it’s still not dropping out of the role he’s taking. “All red and sore for me. Bet you’ll be unable to sit still tomorrow. What a good girl you are for me, Vi.”

She melts at the words, at his hand releasing her wrists and stroking soothingly down her spine. The hairbrush hits the desk with a clatter and he presses a familiar orb into the palm of her hand.

“Time for your reward, don’t you think?” His right hand strokes Violet’s inner thighs as she nods fiercely, desperate for his hands on her throbbing clit.

Liam swirls his fingers lazily over her wetness, through her folds, and Violet squirms to meet him with a litany of please, yes, please, trying to get him inside of her.

“Be still!” Liam commands sharply, pinning her hips down against his thighs with his left arm. “You don’t seem to learn, do you? Always so quick to misbehave again.”

“I’m sorry, Liam, please–” Violet begs, and he teases at her entrance with a single finger, circling it with his nail thoughtfully.

"I don't require maintenance spankings from Xaden to keep from being bad, but perhaps you do," Liam muses. "Perhaps, to remember what happens when you disobey, we should bend you over the end of the bed some evenings and remind you? Perhaps make it a regular thing, so you can’t ever sit without remembering your promises.”

Violet whimpers, because fuck, if that doesn’t sound intriguing.

“Or perhaps, each night when you've finished brushing out this hair Xaden loves so much, you should bend over the desk and wait to see whether one of us will come to remind you? Four swats with the hairbrush, perhaps, in case you weren’t as good as you should be?"

Violet shudders.

Liam pushes his finger into her slowly, needing little pressure to sink in, his mouth spewing filth all the while in that dark, gently threatening tone. "Do you think Xaden will refrain from punishing you when he comes home, just because I already have?" Violet doesn't answer, too busy releasing hitching whines as he finally gives her something to clench down on. "Hmm?"

"No," Violet moans weakly, panting as the finger moves in and out at a maddening, glacial pace.

"No," Liam agrees, and it's a shameless fantasy they're indulging in. "I don't think so. He'll take one look at your red little ass, and ask me what you've done. And when he hears..." Liam slips another finger in, and while the two aren't enough to be a proper stretch, they feel deliciously big in her empty, fluttering core that craves to be filled. "I think he'll want to punish you himself."

Violet hangs her head at the idea he’s presenting her with, indulges Liam in the thought process. Her breaths are short, shallow, as Liam fucks his fingers into her steadily, slightly faster now. He's shamelessly hard under Violet's body, enjoying the web of punishment and pleasure they are weaving. "What do you think he'd do?" she whines.

Liam trails his other hand thoughtfully over her thigh. "Perhaps he'd spank these lovely pale thighs, since your ass will be a bit bruised and tender. Or perhaps, he'd make you sink down on my cock, then seat himself on my thighs behind you and slap your perky little tits as you ride me. What a sight that would be." The free hand he has on her thigh trails up her body and around to squeeze a breast gently. “These pretty breasts all pink, hard nipples deliciously sore… Gods, you get so turned on when we play with them, let alone when we overstimulate them like that. I bet you’d be dripping wet around me.”

Violet moans in response, enjoying the steady pace of Liam's fingers accompanying his words.

"Would you like that, my perfect girl?" Liam croons, and Violet keens as his fingers thrust a tad sharper, curling. It's not enough to make her come, not yet, but it will be. "I think you'd like that," Liam muses. "Being at his mercy while you're taking my cock."

Oh, she would. She does.

"Or perhaps–" Liam sounds a bit breathless, like Violet herself is feeling. "Perhaps, pretty girl, he'd sit you on his lap, spread your slim thighs open over his broad ones, so you couldn't close them while he slaps this little pussy of yours." Liam punctuates the last words with a twist of his fingers, and Violet can't help the loud moan that spills from her.

Fuck, the images Liam is painting are driving her mad, just as he intends. Her thighs, forced open, hooked over Xaden's powerful legs so she's exposed to whatever punishment he wants to lay on her... Her sore ass against his hard cock under her, his hand delivering pain and pleasure in equal measure against her dripping core with gentle slaps, until she's squirming, protesting, a mess on his lap.

"Look at you," Liam sighs contently. "You're fluttering around my fingers, Vi. Close?"

She doesn't need to answer, but she forces out a breathless yes.

"Mm," Liam agrees, flicking her clit absentmindedly with his thumb, like it isn’t exactly what she wants him to do. "Do you think he'd give you a set number? I don't. I think he'd keep you guessing how many there's left, how many you have to take before he hitches you up higher onto his lap and slips his cock into your sore body. How many before he fucks you hard."

They both know this is fantasy, not reality, but it still makes Violet gasp, her body unable to stay still as Liam drives her higher.

"And he would. He doesn't care if you've been punished, if you’re too sore–" A filthy lie, a perfect lie. "–he'd just keep you in place with his shadows and hands as he takes you.”

Liam pauses, waits.

“Oh, I thought that image would tip you over," His tone is casually cruel, mocking. "No? Well here's another for you: after he'd taken you, it would be my turn to fuck you. You'd be so sore, so caught in that mix of pleasure and pain you love, limp and lovely and easy for me to manhandle into whatever position I like." Liam's voice goes lower, rough, for the next sentence. "And when I was done, Xaden would be hard again. So you wouldn't be done, you'd have to take him again. Yeah, there you go, pretty girl, come for me."

Violet does, lighting cracking into the orb clutched in her fist.

She goes still and rigid on his lap, riding the waves of pleasure, unable to breathe as every muscle tenses up. Liam’s fingers inside her are suddenly too much, too much, as she clenches on them, the whirlwind of feeling through her body firing every nerve simultaneously. Liam laughs happily, pleased as she spams around his hand, her body jerking slightly before it goes pliant, loose. Violet sinks down into the feeling of his legs supporting the middle of her body, anchoring herself as her mind floats.

Liam waits patiently, lets her enjoy the aftershocks and the lovely bliss that takes over.

“Let’s get you up,” he commands softly when Violet is able to groan slightly at the way her head is filling with blood, the dizziness accompanying it becoming too much.

She scrambles to find her balance as she tries to move. Liam helps her off his knees gently, setting her onto shaky legs and spreads his thighs so Violet can stand between them. He rubs a comforting hand over her spine.

“Was that alright, love?” He asks softly, and Violet meets his sky-blue eyes with a dazed smile. “How are you doing?”

“Good,” she replies. “It still feels like I’m weightless. Gods, I needed that.” Violet grabs onto the back of his neck, then changes her mind and laces her arms around it instead, falling forward and nuzzling her face into the junction of his neck. “Thank you,” she whispers into his skin, feeling inexplicably shy as Liam wraps his arms comfortingly around her.

His voice is warm and fond. “You’re welcome, Vi.”

They stay there for a bit, Violet cuddling close into Liam’s chest, until their breathing is matched and Violet feels like their heartbeats must be, too. When she starts sagging too much, Liam grabs onto her waist and lifts her to the bed, settling her on her stomach. Violet listens as he goes to the cream they’ll use for occasions like this. When he returns, he strips down as well, to his boxers, slipping into bed beside her.

“Want me to do it now?” Liam inquires quietly, and she turns her head to him like a flower seeking the sunlight, sending him a tired smile and agreeing hum.

Liam is infinitely gentle as he massages the cream into the sore areas, and Violet melts into the bed as he continues upward, soothing tension and knots from her muscles with his clever hands. She feels like a puddle, like there’s nothing keeping her together.

Finally, he must deem it done, because Liam settles on his back on the bed, opening his arms invitingly, and Violet shuffles sideways onto his chest.

“Graceful,” he comments and she sticks out her tongue at him, but he catches it between two fingertips for a moment, fast as he is, and laughs at her indignation.

“Fuck off,” she mumbles, melting into his chest, the warmth of his skin against hers so perfect. He always runs hot, just like Xaden. Sleeping between them is like having her own furnaces surrounding her. Violet thinks she perhaps dozes for a bit, but comes to with Liam running his fingers through her hair.

Blinking, and feeling less lethargic, Violet props herself up on one elbow and meets Liam’s sunny smile.

“Hi,” she says, and leans down to kiss him softly.

“Hi, yourself,” Liam grins. “How are you feeling now?”

Violet rolls her neck, working out a crank, taking stock of her own body. “Very good,” she confirms, and some worry that shadowed Liam’s eyes eases. “You have magic hands.”

“I do, do I?” Liam wiggles his eyebrows and Violet crinkles her nose at him, but laughs. “Tell me more about my magic hands. Which part are you referring to? The part where they spanked you, or made you come, or massaged you until you near fell asleep?”

“Oh, stop it,” Violet scoffs, slapping at his chest lazily, but it only makes his smile widen. She grins down at him, nudging his nose with hers and then pretending she’s going to take a bite out of it. He slaps a palm over her mouth playfully.

“See, my magic fingers are good for many things!” Liam whispers conspiratorially. “Like shutting you up.”

Violet rolls her eyes, and licks his palm. He withdraws it with a smile.

"So...what exactly were you punishing me for? Did you ever figure that out?" Violet asks with a bit of a laugh in her voice. Liam huffs in amusement, running his fingers through her hair.

“Not really, I couldn't think of anything. Beyond your usual tendency of being too reckless, of course. Xaden’s the one who is good at coming up with excuses to punish us. But did it matter?"

"Not really,” Violet hums, stretching out happily on top of Liam, enjoying the way it makes the skin on her ass pull taut, the sting reigniting. “Though we really should ask Xaden for some ideas to use next time he’s away. I’m afraid you and I just aren’t as creative when it comes to thinking up scenarios.”

“Mhm,” Liam agrees. “He’d tell us we’re being lazy, though. But he’d love to help out, I’m sure.”

Violet hugs her arms tight around Liam. It never feels good when Xaden is away. It feels incomplete. Still. she loves the man under her so indescribably that she can’t complain too much. At least they are together.

Xaden is alone.

She can’t dwell on that thought for too long.

Instead she leans down into Liam’s space, breathes, “I love you,” against his lips.

He claims her in a slow, deep kiss, his hands tracing over her body as his mouth takes hers again and again. It’s a comforting, familiar kiss. Liam beneath her is always a treat, all of him spread out for her perusal, and she pulls back slowly, dragging her nails through his hair and against his scalp. He throws his head back with a slight groan, the generous curve of his mouth falling open.

“Can I suck you off, Liam?” Violet asks softly, and Liam’s eyes widen. They’re not scening anymore, but she likes the way his eyes go dark, like he’s contemplating fucking her mouth. Then the look gentles into something calmer, a lazy sort of desire, and she swallows.

Fuck, he’s beautiful. Violet kisses down his throat, over his Adam’s apple, and Liam breathes out a yes as she sinks lower. He’s already lifting his hips to strip off his own boxers, always so considerate, and Violet thanks him by nipping a line down the dip by his hipbone, nosing softly at his cock. Unsurprisingly, he’s hard for her, and she licks a broad stripe up his length.

Liam’s hips shift restlessly, his hand reaching down to tangle in her hair carefully. His breathing is shallow, unsteady, little sharp exhales telling her exactly what Violet is doing right as she continues.

She takes the tip into her mouth, licks it carefully, playing with her tongue across the slit and swirling it around him.

“Fuck, Vi,” Liam groans, and she grabs his cock in her hand to angle it so that she can tilt her head up to meet his gaze while keeping her mouth on him.

His sky-blue eyes are intense, pupils blown, and the desire on his face hits her like a blow.

Shit, taking care of Liam, making him feel good, is such a privilege. It’s one of her favourite things to do.

“Gods, your mouth…” Liam fists the sheets with one hand, the other at the nape of her neck, stroking the sensitive skin and sending shivers skittering down Violet’s spine. His breathing is ragged. “I love it– around my cock.”

His words make undeniable arousal flare in her again, and in a quick move, Violet pulls her head back and clambers forward, sitting astride his hips, the head of his cock teasing at her entrance. She’s still slick from Liam’s ministrations and her earlier orgasm, and well on her way again, besides. Just Liam’s sounds and the sight of him against the sheets has got her going.

“What–” Liam has time to say, his hands coming up to grip her hips on instinct, helping her balance.

Then Violet is sinking down on him slowly, and he loses the rest of the sentence.

He fills her deliciously, and she takes her time working herself down slowly, reveling in the simple pleasure of it. Liam throws his head back with a moan, and Violet echoes it as she bottoms out, holding there to feel the way he stretches her out.

“Violet,” Liam gasps, and she braces her hands on his chest, over his heart, as his chin tilts down again so he can look at her. His words are slightly broken, stilted by the way he’s holding himself back from fucking into her, but no less sincere. “You look like– a goddess, darling. So beautiful.”

“Liam,” Violet sighs as she rolls her hips slowly, decadently.

“Mhm,” he acknowledges, readjusting his hands, angling one so his fingers can reach her clit. “I love you.”

“Oh,” she breathes out at a perfect roll of her hips on him. “Love you too.”

She rides him slowly, with smooth, calm motions, enjoying the feeling of him inside her, stoking embers into a warm fire that spreads. The movements and the exertion ignites the burn in her ass again, a sharp contrast to the sweet pleasure she’s taking from Liam. Liam’s hands follow along her motions, the one on her hip sometimes sliding up to cup her breast, her chin, to stroke down her arm. The other stays resolutely between her legs.

He looks at her like she’s something precious, and meeting his eyes feels like baring her whole soul.

“Feel so good,” she whimpers, and he smiles, fond and pleased, the dimple in his cheek adorable. There’s a reverent look in his eyes as he watches her ride him, raising up and sinking down onto his cock, over and over again, finding the perfect angle.

“Yes,” Liam agrees breathlessly. “Take what you need, Vi. Anything. Everything–” He groans as she slams down just a tad harder, but his finger is still at work against her clit in an incredible show of coordination. “I’m yours,” he says, and Violet knows he means it. They are each other’s, just as they are Xaden’s and he is theirs.

“Mine,” she agrees, her voice breaking on the word. She doesn’t stand a chance against the waves of pleasure ready to overtake her, not with the way Liam is making her feel with cock, fingers and words.

Loved.

She moves a tad faster, takes what she needs like he told her to. He must sense the shift, because his hand slips around to cup her ass gently, with just enough pressure for the soreness there to flare, and she shatters on a quiet moan of his name. Liam follows her with a few sharp thrusts up, groaning all the while.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, Vi–”

The world spins with pleasure and electricity, and lightning crackles outside. Somewhere in the haze between being fingered while bent over Liam’s lap and now, she let go of the conduit.

But the flash of power doesn’t hurt anything inside the room, so Violet drops forward onto Liam’s chest, unable to hold herself up. His hands wrap around her waist.

“That wasn’t what I had planned,” Liam pants. Violet can only imagine he meant to be a gentleman, meant to let her rest and not reciprocate. But fuck that. Liam deserves just as much love and pleasure as she does.

“Are you complaining?” Violet returns lightly.

Liam laughs, a bright sound, and for a second all is right in the world. She forgets the looming war and dark wielders, forgets that Xaden is out on the front lines, forgets that she’s balancing enough secrets to drown someone for the sake of the people she loves.

Violet kisses him, and tries to stay in this moment forever.