The Primal's Kitten

Chapter Nine

I woke the next morning and rolled onto my back, instantly gasping in pain. I had almost forgotten my misstep the night before and the punishment that followed. After rolling onto my stomach, I grabbed my phone off the charger and looked through my notifications. Twitter, i********:, f*******:, but not a word from John. I guess he was just busy so I climbed out of bed and went into my bathroom to shower since I figured Lish and Gavin were already awake. They always woke up before me, and after my spanking last night, I had slept extra hard. I took a long look at my butt in the mirror, there were bruises blooming where last night there had only been welts in the shape of his hand. I turned on the shower and stepped under the steaming spray of water, trying to wash off the low feeling I had woken up with. It raised my spirits a little, enough to put on some makeup before I changed into some soft leggings and a t-shirt, my hair pulled up into a ponytail. I found Gavin and Lish downstairs waiting for me in the living room, coffee already in hand. “Hey sleepyhead, you ready to go do brunch?” Lish seemed excited that I was awake, though her attention was soon grabbed by the new bit of bling around my wrist. “Did John get you that?” I nodded a little and fidgeted with it for a minute, still feeling awkward. “Yeah, he gave it to me after dinner.” I smiled a little, but I hadn’t sat down yet and thankfully Lish and Gavin just took this as a chance to get up themselves and finish getting ready to go. The three of us got in the Jeep in relative silence but before we were even to the end of the street, Lush was bombing me with questions. “So does this mean you’re under consideration? Are you two like dating now? Are you going to the play party together in two weeks?” I sort of blinked at her. “Can all this wait until I have at least had a cup of coffee? You know I’m not one to chat when I first wake up.” I did not have the brainpower to sort through all her questions at the moment and it was making my grumpy just trying to keep up with the cheerful tone of her voice. Gavin was a lifesaver at that moment, changing the subject to something about their own plans for said party, working out some of the finer points of various scenes they had planned together and one he was going to help with for her play partner. 

I sat in silence for the most part until we pulled up at our favourite little brunch spot, Mama Angelo’s, nearly pushing Lish out of the car to race through the cold to the door. I needed to stand for a minute, it hurt to sit, and while Gavin’s Jeep was pretty comfortable, it was not meant for those with bruised behinds. I had to resist the urge to rub it while we stood there waiting for a booth to open up, but was soon seated again. Squirming just a little I finally settled in and ordered coffee, thankful that our waitress was quick so I could start sipping on the dark brew while pretending to look over the menu when in reality I was just trying to avoid Lish and her million questions. “So, are you going to fill me in or not?” Lish was quick to start in on me but was cut off from any more questions due to the perfectly timed arrival of our waitress. We all placed our orders for food and a pitcher of mimosa’s to share and settled back to wait. Lish gave me the look of all suspicious looks and I didn’t have anything else to keep her from asking, so I took a deep breath and started to tell her about the night before. “Dinner was good, we ended up at that swanky new place across town. The food was delicious, well what I ate of it. John insisted on ordering for me and I guess he missed it when I told him I don’t eat meat.” I shrugged a little, yeah I wasn’t telling her that I thought he ignored me on purpose, she didn’t have to know. Besides, I wasn’t even sure that he had ignored me, right?

Lish gave me another look, egging me on to continue the story since it seemed what she really wanted to know is if we’re official, and how I came to have the new bracelet. “We went back to his place for a bit to chat, he has a gorgeous house. Seriously, you should see some of the art he has! So we sat on the couch and talked a little, and he gave me the bracelet and asked if I would be his.” It sounded so romantic when I put it like that and I couldn’t help but grin. Gavin had been quiet the whole time but was watching me with a veiled expression of curiosity. “And what got you punished?” I almost spit out my coffee when his soft voice floated across the table. How the hell did he know!? He smirked, shaking his head at me as my cheeks burned red. Lish looked between the two of us, surprised since she hadn’t picked up on my discomfort and had chalked my mood up to lack of coffee. “I sassed him when I shouldn’t have and then I earned five more for biting him while he was spanking me,” I whispered it across the table, my cheeks a deep red of shame. I couldn’t even lift my gaze to either of my friends because of the embarrassment. I wanted to be a good submissive but he had caught me off guard with the punishment. Our food and the mimosa’s arrived a minute later and our conversation turned to the party and the various other events coming in the next few weeks. I was happy to change things from myself, it made me feel even more awkward and I wasn’t ready to say anything to them about my uneasy feeling around John. 

Two hours later we were all stuffed full of food and Lish and I were tipsy on mimosa’s as we made idle chatter, paid the bill and got ready to leave. My phone chimed in my purse and I pulled it out hoping to see a text from John, but it was from my mom, asking me something she could have googled. I shot her a quick reply and tucked my phone back in my purse, trying to hide my look of disappointment. We piled back in the Jeep and rode home in good spirits, Lish and I signing loudly to the radio and Gavin trying to pay attention to the road as he laughed at the pair of us. When we got home Lish and Gavin went to their room and I went to mine, flopping onto my stomach in the middle of my bed. I scrolled through my phone, poking at various social media apps until I heard a knock at my door. “Come in!” I called out and looked behind me to see Lish popping her head in. “Hey, I know how easy you bruise and I’ve seen John’s work before, I thought you could use these.” She stepped toward me and tossed a small bag, it smelled heavenly. “Arnica for the bruising, lavender to relax you, oatmeal for your skin, and Epsom salt for muscle pain. Add a scoop to the bath and soak, trust me, you’ll feel better.” I just chuckled. “How do you know all this?” “A friend I made at KinkCon suggested it to me after a really rough scene. It worked wonders, so I always make sure I have what I need to make it.” I grinned and hugged her tightly, “You are a lifesaver Lish, thank you,” I said before letting go of her and making my way toward my bathroom, bag in hand.

Once the water was flowing at just the right temperature, I poured in a decent amount of the mixture in the bag and then tied it off and set it on the shelf. The steam from the bath made the whole room feel warm and soft, and the scent was surely relaxing me even as I stretched and tied my hair into a bun. I took a mask packet from the shelf and applied it in the mirror before climbing into the bathtub. I loved this tub, deep and wide so that my whole body fit under the water. There were portable jets stuck to two of the sides and I clicked them on before turning on the LED candles and reaching up to click off the light. This was the best bath I had ever lounged in and I vowed to get Lish something for giving me the mix of herbs and things. My bruised skin was eased by the arnica, and all my muscles were happily turning to goo in the hot water, soothed by the Epsom salts and the lavender. I stayed in the bath until the water was too cold, even with the jets circulating what was left of the warmth deeper in the tub and then climbed out to wrap myself in a fluffy towel. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt, and when I looked in the mirror, my bruises seemed to be less angry and dark. I took my time smoothing lotion over every part of me, even working some of it into the bruises in an attempt to work out some of the pooled blood. I hoped it would help. I let my hair down and pulled on a pair of loose black sweatpants and a red tank top and headed for the stairs, hoping Gavin and Lish were already talking about dinner. 

Gavin was the first to notice me when II stepped into the kitchen, “Hey sweetness, you feeling better?” Of course, he had to ask, the ass. “I feel delightful, thank you very much,” I shot back with a smirk and turned to hug Lish tightly. “And for your part in this, dinner is on me, what are we getting? I am starved.” Gavin and Lish both laughed and shook their heads, but pulled out the pile of menus from all the local places. I dig through them for a moment before pulling out the menu for a sushi place that delivered, to the surprise of Gavin and Lish, who immediately started trying to get me to pick something else or let them help pay. I refused on both counts and wrote down what I wanted so Gavin could order, handing him my card. The three of us ordered enough sushi for a small army, plus noodles and a few other things, and settled down to pick a movie and chat until the food arrived. 

We settled on Edward Scissor Hands after a much-heated debate, and I popped it into the DVD player while Lish poured wine and Gavin went to answer the door. Thankfully the coffee table was a decent size because the food barely fit on it, even with nothing else in the way. We all sat on the floor and ate while the movie played, it was a quiet and peaceful evening. My phone didn’t chime once, and I didn’t notice until I went to bed, finally checking it. Nothing from John again. I guess that’s just how he was, right? I mean, not all men need to be in contact all the time, though I would have figured he would at least check on me now that I was his. Maybe he was just more of a hands-off type of guy unless we were together in person? I shrugged and plugged my phone in, then rolled over and fell into a deep, relaxed sleep, lulled by the faint smell of lavender that still hung in the air and clung to my skin from my bath earlier.