Drawing a Line

Chapter Thirteen

Drawing a Line

The walk back gave Sansa time to contemplate how she planned to approach Ramsay. She had already decided he needed to be disciplined, but previously when she'd done this to him, it was to make him malleable, and mostly it was out of malice to make him hurt. This punishment was nothing like that, and she had to wonder if Ramsay would see the difference.

Ramsay heard the familiar click of Sansa's shoes far before she'd opened the door; he had fretted for close to an hour awaiting her return and what it would bring for him. He half expected there to be a line of men trailing behind her and was more than a little relieved that was not the case. Ramsay had thought to try and explain himself more now that it was just the two of them, but the words seemed to die in his throat as he just stared mesmerized by his own building infatuation with her. Ramsay's eyes fixed on her plaintively, and he swallowed hard at the seriousness on her face reflecting back at him; it was apparent that she was definitely still unhappy with him.

Sansa casually strode up to him looking down to observe the mournful expression on his face. She wanted to comfort him already without even having started to deliver his punishment. He was only defending himself after all; would it really be so bad to grant him a small reprieve? No, she knew that she couldn't because this moment was setting a precedent for every other such encounter. Sansa knew she had to hold herself together and remain strong no matter how much she just wanted to forgive him and let the incident slide.

The fact of the matter was that Ramsay had let himself lose control, and that kind of behavior had to be tempered without leniency. Sansa knew this punishment would need to be a severe thrashing that left no desire for a repeat offense. It would not be worth repeating, she'd make sure of it.

She straightened looking the part of the noble she'd been bred for as she addressed him coolly, "I don't think I have to tell you that I firmly disapprove of the way you reacted with those men, and that because you took it upon yourself to attack one of them, I'm going to have to punish you and punish you harshly." She didn't wait for Ramsay to reply as she moved away from him to the basket that held many objects Ramsay was not fond of.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and Ramsay's eyes blinked seeming to open a little wider at her admission. He licked his lips spinning his head to follow her in his apprehension of the word 'harshly.' Would she take her glass cock to him roughly despite his injuries? She had him strip naked already and lie flat on his stomach, so it was a definite possibility. Sansa would do as she willed Ramsay knew, so he had no plans to ask her, not that he could, as he was already stunned silent by the terror that coursed through him.

As he watched her move through the contents of the basket, Ramsay thought she might instead bring out the dreaded wooden dildo, that although wasn't as large as her glass double ended cock, he remembered vividly. It was the first invasion he'd suffered in that way followed by almost a whole day enduring the object in him cinched with rope to keep him from being able to get free of its penetration. It was a horrible torture; he was still sore now, and the thought of having to go through that again had his heart racing in a panic.

Sansa didn't bring out either of the two items she could stick into him though, what she did withdraw from the basket was the thick leather strap.

Ramsay wasn't happy to see this particular item come out either, but it was preferred to the other alternatives he knew lay within the confines of the basket. That also wasn't to say the strap wasn't just the first implement of pain on the agenda either. This thought sent a shiver to pulse through him as Ramsay numbly watched Sansa move back around the mattress to his side. She was readying to strike when he finally found his voice calling out in justification, "I couldn't stand aside while they insulted not only mine, but your honor as well! Surely you can't expect me to abide such disrespect without cause for action?!" It had been true, he'd been pushed to attack Reginald by his audacity to talk impertinently about him resulting in also insulting Sansa by proxy. (Although to be honest, in regards to Sansa, Ramsay was mostly attacking out of jealousy that they had seen enough of her that they actually could comment on her body. He didn't have her, but that didn't mean he wasn't feeling just as possessive of her as she was of him.)

Sansa responded with the strap bringing it down in a powerful strike that had Ramsay immediately stiffen letting a yelp escape from the suddenness that the strap struck. She didn't pause in her assault now as she annunciated her speech with steady severe lashes, "I understand that they were harrying you, and you felt the need to defend yourself even to defend me, but you should have addressed the matter with me instead of taking it upon yourself to attack them. It's not your place! I would have fixed the situation!"

He clenched his jaw as his eyes darted back and forth internally struggling not to shout further from the intensity of the sting that now radiated across the lower half of his ass. Sansa was precise in her aim lining stripe after timed stripe up the curvature of his rear starting at the top of his thighs where he sat to the highest point of his backside. Unlike the first time, she was careful to avoid hitting anywhere other than this area so as not to truly hurt him outside of her intentions. The steady arch of swats over already tender skin had Ramsay clenching rigidly and grunting when a particularly sensitive area was brought to light by the lick of the strap. Ramsay had been down this road with her before and knew how bad this could be (child's punishment or not!), and as such, his resolve to withstand the inevitability of giving in to the relentless building pain was quickly eroding.

As the blows continued, Ramsay turned away gritting his teeth and sinking into an internalized place to avoid succumbing to calling out, he had to endure and take this like a man! He didn't want to be weak in this as well, but he found his body jerking left and right of its own volition in an attempt to dodge the pain, and Ramsay knew it would only be a matter of time before he wilted in this way as well.

After three thorough layers up and down Ramsay's ass, Sansa noted the far off look Ramsay had taken on even though his body was shaking with the strain of her ministrations and he was letting out grouses of obvious pain, she could tell that he wasn't there with her. Ramsay had put himself somewhere else mentally as she'd seen him do before to bore the mental and physical trauma she'd caused him. That wasn't at all what she wanted from him, so the strap stilled in her hand.

Ramsay let of the breath that he'd been holding as his mind refocused slowly turning his face up to her silently thankful he'd managed to brave through the strapping without folding as he had the first time. Sansa hadn't been hitting him nearly as hard though as she had, so it was a little easier to keep his composure although he was still very tender, and the heat that radiated off of his skin spoke that he would be feeling that way for some time.

Sansa laid the strap across the arm of the chair staring down at Ramsay with the same seriousness she'd afforded him upon her return to the dungeon. He gulped knowing that from the look that still played across her face that she was not satisfied. "I want you to rise up onto your knees Ramsay.

There it was. Ramsay felt a lump form in his throat as his eyes moved away from her to stare down at the mattress. His body quivered slowly complying with the demand to lift into the position Sansa wished although mentally Ramsay wailed in anguish. He felt his internal soreness acutely at the thought of her penetrating him now, but he offered no opposition not wishing to anger her further. Why hadn't he just kept his mouth shut when Jove had pushed him? They had wanted this to happen to him, and even though they were not witness to it as they'd hoped, those urchins still got what they'd sought out all along. Ramsay began to wallow in his own self-pity feeling quiet sorry for himself as his eyes trailed about to watch Sansa move around the bed and hike up her dress.

Ramsay was confused as Sansa moved onto the bed at his side and not from behind him as he'd expected of her, and she'd not returned to the basket to grab any of her other implements of torture. This was something new, and that in itself made Ramsay tremble in anticipation.

Watching Ramsay pull his form up for her positioning himself in clear submission for her to take him as she'd done with her glass cock the first time made a wave of intense heat flush and ricochet through Sansa causing her to instantly swell and moisten. It was then she also noted how he shuddered reactively as she drew closer to him. Sansa's eyes regarded Ramsay with a hint of sadness; he was terrified of what she would do to him, and where that had excited her before, now that she actually had begun to care for him, this reaction from him made her feel nauseated.

She understood the need to instill a level of fear in Ramsay so that he would not challenge her authority, he had needed to be broken from the abhorrent beast of a man he'd previously been, but that level of cruelty was no longer necessary. He needed structure and care now not abuse, and she would show him they had moved past the point where they had started and hoped that she could still maintain the same level of control without such a level of severity. As it was, Ramsay readily obeyed her, and she felt no fear of him turning against her as Jon had warned although such a warning still lurked at the back of her thoughts keeping her mindful of every move she made and every reaction to it Ramsay countered with.

Sansa worked her legs under him noticing the perplexity dancing in Ramsay's eyes trying to understand this new tactic she was introducing and what it would mean for him. Once she'd worked herself fully into position she stated calmly, "Lower yourself down onto my lap, Ramsay."

Ramsay did as he was told without hesitation although his expression was wrought with uncertainty as his worried brow studied her over his shoulder; his big blue eyes wavered a concentrated stare watching her adjust his hips where the cleft of his ass sat high on her right thigh and his groin lay in the crease of her thighs. He felt her heat and his body responded without further provocation causing his cock to swell and press against her. He turned away coughing lightly and feeling his face redden at his body's betrayal; knowing Sansa would be well aware of his hard on had only made the feeling of his embarrassment that much more keen within him.

For Sansa's part, she did her best to hide the small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips to know even though she was punishing him, he still wasn't immune to feel something for her in this way. She ran her hand gently across both scorched cheeks watching as his ass rippled in a quivered response, and goosebumps raised on his flesh to her touch. Sansa had to admit feeling his body jitter and tense on top of her with his groin swelled and pressing down onto her sex only served to further excite her.

She refocused putting her head back where it needed to be. This was discipline, she need not confuse the two with either herself or him. She took in a deep breath grabbing a hold of Ramsay's hip and pulling him taught against her own hip before bringing down her palm in a well-placed smack.

Ramsay's back arched having not expected to have her take to swatting him with her hand, and as her hand made its mark again and again on his already smarting flesh (that only seemed more pained after the small respite) his cock shrank quickly forgetting the attraction of where it had been placed. He bit his lip tensing at the pain and trying to regain that mental state he'd found when she'd been strapping him moments earlier. This of course wasn't as easy shifting on her lap and feeling the intimacy of how he was draped across her with her hand holding his form fast to her.

"Why are we here, Ramsay?" Sansa asked after peppering his ass a good twenty swats. She'd paused leaving her hand pressed against the cleft of his ass.

Ramsay, knocked from his own mental coping, turned back to give her a bewildered furrowed brow wondering what exactly she was expecting from him.

After a long moment of silence, Sansa resumed with four very harsh swats harder than what she'd just delivered pausing in the same place she'd stopped prior affixing him with a stern glare.

His mouth hung agape as he desperately tried to formulate his thoughts past the pain she'd just caused him, and when her hand rose in an arch to hit him again, Ramsay quickly blurted, "Because I attacked the guard!"

Sansa straightened seeming somewhat mollified that she had gotten an answer out of him, but it wasn't enough apparently as she prodded further, "And…"

Ramsay was unsure what more she wanted as he mimicked, "And?"

She frowned turning back beginning to swat him anew with more severe blows to his very tender cheeks.

Ramsay panicked as he squirmed under the continued onslaught, "Wait! Please! I… I don't know! I don't know!"

"What should you have done?" she coaxed stopping in the same fashion and leveling her eyes at him calmly.

His lips formed into a pout and he dropped his gaze from hers realizing she wanted him to spell it out for her. He didn't like this at all, but he also didn't want to continue getting his ass pummeled; it wasn't worth it, not with her anyway. "I… I should have told you," he grumbled barely audible to himself let alone Sansa.

She sensed the displeasure in his tone, and even though his words were what she wanted to hear, his attitude was not. Sansa moved back wordlessly to delivering firm hard slaps to his backside.

Ramsay's head spun in alarm shocked that she had resumed spanking him, he didn't understand what more she could want other than perhaps for him to reiterate it louder. He called out loudly now as he twitched on her lap, "I should have come to you! I should have come to you instead of attacking him!"

The stop and go of her colliding hand had made Ramsay incredibly sensitive, and every time Sansa restarted it felt ten times worse to endure, or maybe she was just hitting him that much harder? He didn't know, all he did know was that it hurt, she was hurting him because he'd severely displeased her, and the burn was sending his head into a harried state of anxiety. The fact that she was still so upset with him had his stomach tightening as he yelled out desperately, "I'm sorry Lady, Sansa! I swear it won't happen again! Please!"

Sansa was lost herself as she continued to strike his ass fervently. Her thoughts returned to Petyr Baelish standing over him with a dagger and how close she'd come to losing him, and he'd not meant half as much to her at that point as he did now, "You are so pigheaded! Arrogant! Impulsive! Ramsay! You foolish man! Don't you see I very nearly lost you once already! I can't protect you if you don't let me! You put yourself in danger when I'm not around, and I've no way to stop one of them from killing you and taking you from me!"

Ramsay was stunned to hear the words coming out of her mouth and even more so as he saw her eyes break tears to flow down her face. Could she really care so much for him? His chest tightened, and he felt tears spring to his own eyes as he warbled, "I… I'm sorry. I didn't…" he could no longer speak as his own tears fled from his eyes, and he began to softly cry overwhelmed by the feelings she was projecting towards him even if abrasively so. The fact that she wanted to keep him alive tugged at something inside of him that had already been awakened by her but that was still afraid to come out like a wounded animal hiding in the dark. He wanted nothing more than to believe in her with every fiber of his being, but he was wholly terrified to feel her want of him now. It was foreign just like many of the emotions Sansa evoked in him, but it wasn't unwanted. In fact, the tenderness she continued to share with him grew like a blossoming seed seeking the sunlight, tender and fragile, easily crushed and cultivated completely by the light she chose to shine upon him.

Sansa had stayed her hand seeing Ramsay's tears spilling from his eyes, and unlike before, he did not hide them from her as she reached out her hand to caress the side of his face, "I'm sorry to, Ramsay. I don't want to lose you. Not now. We've become too much to each other."

Her words caused his body to convulse in another wave of tears although he was filled with a soaring happiness. He kissed her palm thrice over as he sniffed, "Thank you lady, Sansa. It means so much to me to hear you say so."

"Lean up," she spoke softly to him, and he shakily turned his head to face forward and raised his lower half from her, so that she could remove her legs. Once he'd done so, Ramsay felt her leaning over his body to unclasp his left wrist followed by rising from the bed and unclasping his right.

Ramsay laid stock still watching what she did in amazement. There were no guards present, and if he'd wanted to hurt her, now would have been an opportune moment for him to have done so. He didn't wish to of course, it was the last thing he wanted to do, and this trust in him from her now made his chest tighten further.

She ran her hand gently through his hair, "Sit up for me, Ramsay," Sansa's voice was soft and melodious.

Ramsay pushed back to tentatively brace himself on his knees sitting on his heels to look up at her questioningly.

Sansa lifted her dress high enough to climb onto the bed moving on her knees up to him where they faced one another. His eyes were wide watching her circumspectly as she ran her hands down his shoulders to his elbows giving him a gentle tug to pull him to her. Ramsay's eyes followed her hands, and as she pulled him forward they locked back on her eyes. He let her draw him to her easily his breath escaping in quickened bursts as he then felt her arms wrap around his frame and gently hug him.

His own arms reached about her clasping her almost desperately as his emotions boiled over and he began to sob in silent shudders into her shoulder.

She held him tighter tears blossoming in her own eyes to feel his hurt reverberating through her chest and leaked out through tears wetting her shoulder. She kissed his ear affectionately, "We're going to be okay. I told you I'd take care of you, and I will. You just have to do a little to help me to keep you safe as well."

He squeezed Sansa a little tighter in response too afraid to speak without sounding like a complete mess. He'd lost all his composure to her once more, and he wasn't sure how it kept happening, but he didn't care half as much as he thought he would or at least how much he would have when he'd felt far more insecure around her. All Ramsay wanted was for her to continue wanting him as she'd professed to want him now.

Ramsay stilled after a few minutes but remained calmly resting his head against her shoulder, and Sansa was content to let him stay that way as she gently laid kisses on his shoulder and up his neck while her hands gently glided up and down his back. She could feel his heart and his breathing calm into a steady rhythm as the two loosely held each other.

Finally, Ramsay leaned back to look up at her with that haunting intense stare that sent a shiver down her spine, it spoke of a wonderment of her and a desire to be with her. She bent forward to kiss him then unable to stop the tide of her own feelings. He inhaled deeply kissing her back passionately. Unlike earlier, he didn't reach to pull her to him and instead only inclined his lips to meet hers. In his passiveness, he was trying to please her.

He did. She pulled away with half-lidded eyes leaning her forehead to his as her hand brushed back his hair and caressed his ear sweetly, "I have to go now," she whispered sorrowfully. Sansa pulled away from him and planted one more kiss on his forehead.

Ramsay's eyes fluttered to watch her, and when he saw her waiting expectantly, he slid back down onto the mattress and extended his arms for her to reattach to cuffs.

Sansa did so silently before moving to cover him with the furred blanket tucking it around him to ensure he would stay warm. She was going to tell him about the fact that she was to leave in the morning but thought better of it. Ramsay looked so content now as he settled down on the mattress with a small smile brightening his face. Sansa didn't want to take that away from him; let Ramsay have a restful night as she was more than sure the news she planned to share with him come morning was not going to sit well with him.