“Um, that’s not the bad news. I kinda might have promised him you’d be there. You know, at your own engagement party.”
I groan and collapse into a chair. A hoard of workmen have moved into my head, and they must be doing demolition, because my head is pounding.
“I know,” Rachel whispers. “I couldn’t stop him. I could only buy time. He’s left you alone because he thinks you’re resting up and getting ready for the ball.”
“A ball? You mean the engagement party?”
“He kinda invited everyone in Olympus. At least, everyone who matters.”
Meaning: the rich and famous and powerful. The jackhammering in my skull increases.
“The board?”
“Yep.”
“The donors?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah,” Rachel agrees. “I couldn’t stop him. When I wouldn’t give him your location, he was going to track your cellphone and show up to surprise you.”
I clutch the phone. I am having a heart attack. There’s no other way to describe this tightness in my chest.
“Daphne?”
Breathe, just breathe.
“Okay, Rachel. Thank you. When is the ball?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Of course it is.” I can’t react with shock—I have no more to give. “Can you get a dress and stylist ready?”
“You’re going?”
“Of course I am.” What better time to break off my engagement? Not ideal, but it has to be done.
It’s time to finally stand up to Adam.
Ten minutes later I knock on the library door. I’m dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, a brand new sports bra cradling my breasts. Feels weird to be wearing clothes.
Logan’s reading a paper, ignoring my approach. I almost go to my knees, but decide against it. We need to have this conversation as equals.
“Logan, I need to talk to you about something.”
He lowers the paper and blinks at my clothed form. His ice-blue gaze pierces me. His mask is white today. “I think you mean, ‘Master.’”
But I don’t lower my head. “Yes, you’re Master, but you’re also more than that. You’re Logan and I’m Daphne. And I need to be able to talk to you.”
I walk forward to the table and climb onto his lap. His jaw flexes and his hands come to my hips. For a second, I’m not sure if he wants to toss me off or not, but then his hands start to massage my flesh. Oh, his touch feels so good. I want to melt into him and languish in his touch. I want to go back to last night when he held me in his arms and it felt like he was beginning to trust me.
But no, I have to stay strong. This has to be said.
So I hurry to get it out all at once. “Adam’s planning an engagement party. I just found out. It’s tomorrow.”
Logan’s frozen to stone underneath me. And his voice is ice when he asks, “Are you looking for my permission?”
“What? Gods, no! I’m telling you I need to go break it off with him. To his face. It all got out of hand. I never said yes—”
“Then how did his ring get on your finger?”
Logan hoists me by my waist and deposits me on the floor. Apparently he can’t stand my touch or proximity anymore because he prowls to the far side of the room.
“No. I forbid it. If you want your father’s patents, you aren’t to leave the grounds.”
He’s lashing out like a wounded animal.
I approach Logan with my head held high. “I was weak then but I’m strong enough now. I know I am.” All I can do is reiterate what I said last night and pray that he’s strong too. Strong enough to believe in me. In us. “You’ve shown me my own strength. You’ve let me explore who I am and who I want to be. I know my mind and what I want.”
I reach out a hand to touch his cheek. “And it was never Adam.”
He still flinches when I say Adam’s name.
“I don’t trust him,” he growls, his eyes narrowing behind his mask.
“Do you trust me?” I ask.
His jaw tightens again and I see the conflict in his eyes as he finally says, “I’m trying to.”
Oh, Logan. What happened to this man that’s made it so hard for him to trust? But he’s trying. He just said so and I’ve seen it firsthand. It means so, so much. It means that there’s a chance for us.
So I kneel on the floor at his feet and bow my head. And utter one simple word. “Master.”
Twenty-One
Present Day
Logan
She’s so beautiful and perfectly submissive. Or is it all an act? The constant question that tortures me.
Her request has taken me off guard.
But she came to you. She didn’t try to hide or run off behind your back. And she wants to break the engagement. And the reality is, last night things shifted. I swore I saw the truth shining in her eyes. Can I trust it? Can I trust my own judgment when it comes to her?
At some point, there has to be a leap of faith. She’s sure as hell asking me to leap, wanting to go to this fucking engagement party. But what she said, about being strong now… Will I be weak when she’s strong?
She’s continually abandoned herself to me and put herself in my hands, so bravely.
I’ll show her that I can be brave too, and I’ll send her out into the world stronger than she’s ever been.
I’ll fucking leap.
And all the while, there she kneels, so gorgeous, her fall of black hair so silky and smooth, at my feet.
“Strip,” I order. “And follow me.”
She immediately pulls her shirt off her head and discards her bra, then shimmies out of her leggings and underwear, exposing acres of golden skin.
My erection immediately pulses to life. I want to grab her and mount her right here. But that’s too exposed and besides, with as unsteady as I feel, I know a scene will do us both good.
I lead her to the dungeon. The one place where things have always made sense between us. My thudding heartbeat calms as soon as we step into the room. Yes. Calm. Control. It soothes over me like the ocean tide.
Daphne is silent, observing, peeking up even though her head is lowered. Naughty sub.
“Eyes down.” I give her ass a swat.
She lowers her eyes and twitches in place, rubbing her legs together. I grow even harder. She’s as excited for this as I am. Maybe she knows she needs it, too. She said I make her stronger, and she’s going to need that strength if she’s going to go back out in the world to face everyone who cowed her before.
I put my hand on the small of her back and lead her over to the spanking bench.
It’s a custom piece, leather-bound with padded knee-stands and arm rests, along with an amply stuffed chest piece for her to lay face down on without disturbing her nipple piercings.
She climbs on with no inhibitions. So damn brave. I help place her limbs in the correct position. Her pussy is exposed so beautifully and I can already see that she’s wet. She responds so well to her Master.
The rush of adrenaline hits me all at once and we’ve barely even started. I want to ride this high forever.
“Don’t move,” I order, then quickly, I walk to a nearby cabinet and gather supplies. I’m back only moments later, running a smooth length of rope between my fingers.
“Keep still,” I whisper again as I begin to bind her wrists, looping the rope down to her elbows and capturing her in place like a beautiful butterfly pinned to a board, first one arm and then another. I want her to feel the constraint like an embrace, holding her still, folding her in. Keeping her safe.
Then I move to her ankles and repeat the same process there, winding the rope up her calves and binding her in place. Her toes flex in response and I smooth a hand down her skin after I’m done.
“Good girl.”
The bindings have spread her legs even wider, her pussy perfectly exposed. Along with that gorgeous ass of hers.
I can’t help running a hand down her spine a
nd then grabbing both globes in a harsh, massaging grip. She squirms underneath me and uses the smallest, limited bit of movement she has to lift her hips and push more into my grasp.
Her enthusiasm for my touch and our play—gods, it gets me every time. I squeeze harder, digging my thumbs in as I massage her flesh.
But no, I can’t let myself get distracted.
I have a plan. And new toys.
I pull away from her and walk over to the newest toy. I have to wheel it over. She tries to look over her shoulder to see what I’m doing, but I prepared. The bench is angled so that she’s got no view.
“I’ve got a surprise in store for you, pet.”
I prepared it earlier today and I wheel it right up to her opening. I didn’t get the height quite right and I have to make some adjustments. But with just a few turns of the lever, the contraption with the large dildo on a retractable pump is ready to go.
I start slow and add a little lube to the huge, flesh colored vibrator.
I don’t turn it on at first, just wheel it even closer so that she can feel the large silicon cock at the lips of her sex.
I’ve moved over to her side so I can see the look on her face. One of the highest thrills of being a Dom is watching every reaction on her face to each new sensation I introduce.
She’s surprised and, I note, a little disappointed.
“I wish it was you,” she whispers. Her words make my chest tighten in pleasure, but still I lean over and whisper right in her ear, “You have to earn Master’s cock in your pussy.”
And fuck me, but I enjoy the shiver that runs down her spine and the goosebumps that rise all over her pretty flesh.
More rise when I continue, “But right now you’re going to be fucked the way Master wants. And you’re going to love every minute of what I do to your body.”
She nods even as a large, explosive breath puffs out of her chest.
“Now relax, kitten, and take what Master gives you.”
I run my hands down both of her hips and then nudge the contraption closer, penetrating her pussy.
She gasps as she opens to it.
It’s large. Larger than almost any man. It’s stretching her.
I keep an eye on her face, hungry to experience every new moment of sensation with her. Where I’m taking her, I want to participate in every moment of the journey.
I bite my lip even as my cock fights at the seam of my pants.
“That’s right, kitten. Now we’re going to start moving.”
She hiccups a breath but then nods.
I keep one hand on her hip as I turn the machine on to its lowest setting, both vibration wise and pistoning in and out.
But no matter how prepared she thought she was, nothing could have equipped her for the machine and the monster cock attached to it.
Her hands grip desperately at the leather of the bench and her toes curl as the vibrator begins to slowly invade her, in and out. It comes out covered in her juices, slick and glistening.
“It’s stretching you so wide, isn’t it?” I breathe out. “You can barely stand it. But you’ll do it for Master, won’t you?”
She nods, looking up to where I stand. “Yes. For you.”
“You can take it. I’ll never give you more than you can take. You know that.”
She nods, and tears glisten in her eyes. But they aren’t tears of pain. Her body has relaxed, her grip loosened. “I trust you,” she whispers and her eyes flutter closed.
She’s giving herself over to it.
Truly submitting.
Trusting me completely.
And the flood of power and security and control at her trusting me to take her there, at being with her in this moment—
I want more.
I want it all.
I remove the mask I’ve been wearing and set it aside. Daphne’s eyes widen when I stalk around the bench, viewing her from every angle. I’m not going to take it easy on her. That’s not what she needs right now.
“Beg me for more.”
A line creases her forehead even as she starts to squirm on the bench. I know the expression well. She’s chasing her pleasure and wants to please me. Gods, the rush—
More. I need more than just watching. I need contact. I need to be more intimately connected. Now. Because I need this as much as she does.
I pour lube on my finger and then I approach her backside. I know where I want to go. I need her to open herself completely.
This willingness to trust her is so new and if I’m honest, there are still doubts… But if I can strip her bare, take her to her deepest, most vulnerable place and connect with her there, then maybe I’ll finally know the truth for certain.
“Open for me,” I command. “Don’t hold anything back.”
I slide my finger down her ass and approach her dark little rosette. I don’t wait or give her time to brace. That’s the whole point. No hiding.
I tease my finger around her anal entrance and then press inside.
Her muscles are loose. Maybe from last night, or maybe because it’s impossible to clench while she’s being plowed by the machine.
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t notice the intrusion. She cries out and her entire body shudders. She feels everything, might even be more hypersensitive.
And I love it. I love every second of feeling her hot, tight body coiled around my finger. I love feeling the jolt as the vibrator bottoms out inside her and pulls back, and her little oofs and moans of surprise and pleasure.
I’m opening her up in every way.
I press another finger in and finally, I meet some resistance. She’s taken me before, but not with a cock in her pussy at the same time.
“I don’t know if I can,” she whines.
“You can and you will.”
“But—”
“I am your Master and you trust me. Now give your body over to me. Give yourself to me completely.”
I crank the machine a notch higher and it begins fucking her faster. She jolts with every thrust in and I continue my exploration of her ass.
I don’t intend for this to go quickly. I want her body worn out. At its limits.
So I continue to explore her ass to my heart’s content, delighting in the contours of her body and feeling her every reaction from the inside as she gives in.
She gives in, but never stops reacting. It’s part of what makes her so special. She never takes a moment for granted. She continues to feel everything.
She’s impossible and refuses subspace almost willfully, like she’s so desperate to hold onto every second of feeling and sensation.
But I’ll take her there. I’m determined to give her that gift. To take her so far inside her body that she’s able to float out of it.
I withdraw my fingers and quickly wash my hands at a sink in the corner, then return and pick up a soft leather flogger.
“You trust me, so give yourself over to me.” I run the flogger over her ass and then flick it, smacking her bottom with the tresses.
I continue in a rotating infinity pattern, raining down smacks in a pattern that has her ass quickly turning a beautiful pink.
Every couple of minutes, I pause and check her face. I’ve been keeping it light. At this point, I just want the buildup of a slow intensity.
But I think I’m getting where I want to go, because her moans have been getting lower and deeper and her eyes have dropped to half-mast. We’ve been at it for about twenty-five minutes.
Her inhibitions are down. She’s giving in. It’s an almost unconscious process, but for it to work, it requires absolute trust.
I want to prolong it. I’m not nearly ready to let this go, I feel like a fucking conqueror with her so limp and compliant and riding high beneath me, her body a ship I’m carefully captaining.
It’s time to relax for a little now, to prepare for what will eventually come. I massage her ass, rubbing in the sting while not creating any more. Again her moans deepen. I want to record the sound to pl
ay back on repeat.
I’m hard as stone but it’s not important right now. I have a job to do and I mean to do it perfectly.
For the next ten minutes, I keep her at altitude by applying a heavier smack with the flogger every minute or so and then continuing with my massage. In truth, I’m as desperate for the contact with her flushed skin as I’m hoping she is. If her satisfied moans are anything to go by, she’s loving every single thing happening to her.
When I check her face next, she looks even further gone and I know it’s time. Higher impact, another intense five-minute push. I switch out the flogger for a cane and start to stripe her ass, up and down.
She jerks and groans with every strike, her body trembling and pussy suctioning and slurping and making fucking pornographic noises around the vibrator as it thrusts in and out of her.
At the end of the five minutes I toss the cane away and pick up the small pocket vibrator, switching it on and moving to her side. I reach underneath her hip, around to her clit.
She jolts and cries out in ecstasy the moment I make contact. I bend over her body and hold onto her ass, one finger curving towards her hole. I want to touch every inch of her possible.
“Break for me,” I whisper, pressing my forehead to her ear. “Break for me and give me everything.”
She howls and shudders as her orgasm breaks, tears streaming down her cheeks in huge rivulets.
“That’s right,” I murmur, bending even closer. “Yes, that’s so good. Don’t hold back. Give me it all.” The whole time I keep mercilessly at her clit and she howls from the bottom of her lungs.
She’s magnificent. I’ve never in my life seen or even experienced such a pure exaltation of pleasure and abandon. But I experience it through her. With her.
I don’t know how long it goes on but it feels like forever, and at the same time, over far too soon.
But when she’s limp and laying crumpled over the bench, I know she’s had enough. I hurry to turn off the machine and slowly, gently disengage it from her drenched, dripping pussy and roll it backwards.
I’ll come back for cleanup and sterilization later.
Right now she’s the most important thing.
Swiftly I untie the soft shibari ropes and free her. She continues lying limp against the bench even though I’ve released her.
Beauty and the Thorns Page 10
