by Gemma James
He considered me carefully. “Go ahead.”
“I’m worried about Eve. Would you…allow me the privilege of calling the hospital to check on her?”
“No.”
I jumped out of my chair. “How can you be such a cold-hearted bastard?”
Displaying an irritating air of calm that nicked at my anger, Gage rose from his chair and crossed the dining room without a word. He halted in front of the tall hutch in the corner and withdrew something from a drawer. My stomach sank when I recognized the ball gag in his hands, similar to the one he’d used the previous night. He closed the distance between us and held it to my mouth. I clinched my jaw, displaying one last hint of fiery anger, and then parted my lips. Fighting him would only make things worse—I was beginning to understand this game he played.
Gage grabbed my hand and led me back to the basement. He took a seat in an overstuffed chair and pointed to the floor. I gave him a questioning look, as I wasn’t sure what he wanted.
“I shouldn’t have to spell it out for you, Kayla.” He raised a brow. “You know your place by now, so stop being stubborn. Obey me.”
I dropped to my knees.
“We’ll discuss phone privileges another time, perhaps when you’ve found a way to rein in that mouth.”
He didn’t speak to me for the next hour. Drool trailed down my chin, dripped onto my breasts, and my knees ached and burned. He sat, a perfect picture of calm, reading a book while I suffered in silence. The stubborn part of me refused to give an inch. I wouldn’t move, wouldn’t shift and squirm or make a sound. I’d match him calm and raise him in strength any day.
6. Forbidden Release
Dinner went much more smoothly than breakfast. I managed to make it through the entire meal without a cross look from Gage or a punishment. Upon returning to the basement, he led me straight to the bench. My composure shattered.
“What are you doing, Master?” I resisted, which only caused him to firm his hold on me. “Why? What did I do?” I made him drag me across the room, thrashing the whole way.
“Knock this off right now!” He bent me over and spanked my ass. “Now crawl onto the bench before I issue a repeat of this morning.”
I climbed up and got into position, and like the night before, he strapped me in. My body shook, from the chill in the room, from my absolute vulnerability. I jerked when his hands kneaded my ass.
“Don’t hurt me, Master.”
His hands smoothed up my back. “You need to learn to trust me. I won’t punish you unless you deserve it. Have you done anything to deserve it tonight?”
I hadn’t thought so.
“Answer me.”
“No, Master.”
“This isn’t about punishment.” He swept my hair to the side and trailed his fingers down my spine. “We’re going to explore anal play,” he said. “I don’t want this to be traumatic for you, so we’ll ease into it by using a butt plug, but eventually I want to fuck your ass.”
“Don’t do this.” My voice broke.
“If you want me to stop, you have the power in one little word, Kayla.”
I whimpered as he spread my cheeks. Oh God, it was going to hurt. He was bigger than my ex, and when Rick had forced himself into that tight space, I hadn’t been able to sit down for days. I’d been a week postpartum, and he hadn’t wanted to wait for me to heal after giving birth.
He moved away and opened a cupboard. When he returned, his cool hands slid over my butt again. I felt trapped, absolutely helpless. I could do nothing to stop him, short of saying the word that would void our contract. We both knew that wasn’t going to happen. A squirting sound broke the utter quiet in the basement, and Gage applied a cold, jelly-like substance.
I automatically tensed as he dipped a finger inside.
“How does that feel?” he asked.
I gritted my teeth. “It burns, Master.”
“Relax your ass.”
I willed my mind past the pain and concentrated on releasing the tension in my body.
“Better?” he asked.
Surprisingly, it was. “Yes.”
He used his fingers for a while before introducing the butt plug. “You need to stay relaxed. If you don’t it’ll only hurt more.”
“Please, Master, don’t. I’m not ready for this.”
“Yes, you are. You’re only fighting it because you’re scared. I won’t hurt you, but you’ve gotta loosen up.” He slowly inched in the plug, and I let out a screeching cry.
“Stop,” I sobbed. “Please…stop.” I fought against the restraints until the leather cuffs bit into my tender skin.
“Relax your muscles,” he said again. The pressure in my rectum increased as he shoved it all the way in. He reached between my legs and circled my clit. “Let your body adjust to it.” Something about the husky quality of his voice caused tingles to spread through me; I was stunned to find myself aroused.
What the hell was this man doing to me?
“How does it feel now?”
I wet my lips and tasted the salt of my tears. “Weird, Master.”
“Does it still hurt?”
“A little.” Not like it had when my ex had forced his way in there. Maybe the difference lie in the preparation.
He crawled onto the bench and straddled me from behind, and I heard him unzip his pants. Gage pressed against my back and whispered directly into my ear, “Are you turned on?”
“Yes, Master.” Humiliation washed over me.
“Do you want me to fuck you?”
I gave him the answer he wanted to hear. “Yes, Master.”
Before I could take my next breath, he thrust into me. I was already wet and ready for him. The pressure from the butt plug heightened the pleasure, making each plunge a sensation that drove me closer to losing control. I moved with him as he pumped in and out, no longer caring if I was acting like a desperate hussy. The need inside me clawed to the surface; I could deny it no longer. I was on the verge of release, breaths coming in gasping pants, when he painfully fisted my hair.
“Not yet, baby. Not until I give you permission.”
“Gage!” I cried out again, barely managing to rein in my orgasm. “I can’t, Master!”
He groaned. “Yes you can.”
I dug my fingernails into the leather of the bench, groaning as the pressure built to the erupting point. “Please, Master…please…”
He shot upright onto his knees and smacked my ass. “Not yet.”
I let out a scream as the violent orgasm tore through my body. “Oh God!” I arched my back, curled my feet, and wondered if the wave would ever end.
Gage came then, releasing a hoarse cry that caused my insides to clench all over again.
“I couldn’t stop it, Master.”
“You know I’ll have to punish you for that, right?”
Gasping for breath, I let my head fall to the bench and nodded. At the moment I didn’t care. I’d never experienced such an intense orgasm. Ever. I closed my eyes, my heart still pounding a fast beat, and allowed the overwhelming surge of emotion to spill over.
7. Vulnerable
As part of my slave duties, Gage assigned me a list of chores Sunday morning. After I’d done the dishes, folded his laundry, and vacuumed, he reinserted the butt plug and ordered me to scrub both of his bathrooms on my hands and knees.
Only his idea of clean surpassed mine by a hundred miles. He’d made me redo my first attempt, instructing me to use a toothbrush. I’d since moved on to the bathroom in the basement and was now scrubbing the grout between the tiles with a vengeance, all the while silently cursing him.
“R” is for rotten scoundrel.
“S” is for Satan.
“T” is for—
I gasped as the pressure in my ass shifted—it had been there for so long, I’d begun to get used to it. I stilled as he teased me by sliding the plug out a couple of inches, only to push it back in. I couldn’t decide if I liked the sensation or not. He did it again,
and I unconsciously raised my ass.
“You like that, huh?” He dipped his fingers between my legs, and the toothbrush fell from my hand and clattered to the floor.
I moaned with each thrust, with every motion of his fingers. I didn’t recognize the woman I’d become; on hands and knees on a bathroom floor, coming undone as my boss fucked me in the ass with a butt plug.
Gage pulled away. “Get up.”
I obeyed and slowly turned to look at him. He was completely naked. Warmth flushed my cheeks. Ashamed of what he’d reduced me to, I had a difficult time meeting his gaze.
He pulled me against him. “You need a shower, and I need you to take care of this.” He grabbed my hand and closed my fingers around his erection. I stroked him as he backed me toward the stall. Gage guided me inside and switched on the shower. Hot water cascaded over us, coming from all directions from the multiple shower heads.
He pushed my back against the wall. “Hold on to these,” he said, lifting my arms and folding my fingers around the two handles built into the shower stall. “Close your eyes. I want you to feel every touch, every sensation.”
My eyes drifted shut, and his soapy hands glided over my skin, fingers teasing breasts, smoothing down my stomach, caressing between my thighs. He left no area untouched. My pulse fluttered at my throat, and when he laved his tongue there, I arched my neck and let out a sigh.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered against my skin. “So responsive to my touch.”
The warmth of his mouth closed around a nipple. I whimpered, overcome with need, and tightened my grip on the handles. The way he set me off reminded me of the night I’d spent with Ian all those years ago. I hadn’t experienced such intense desire in years; my ex had surely never made my body hum.
Gage grabbed my ass and hoisted me against him. “Wrap your legs around me,” he said. “Keep your eyes closed.”
I obeyed his command. He ran his hands up my back and burrowed them in my hair. I parted my lips and tasted water as it streamed down my face. His mouth came down on mine, and my mind fogged over as his tongue swept inside. His kiss was sensual, urgent, possessive, and erotic, all rolled into one. He kissed like he smiled—with a devilish edge that was too tempting to ignore. He delved deeper, and I lost my mind as he thoroughly possessed my mouth. For a few blissful minutes, I forgot how he’d forced me there, forgot about the beating, the humiliation. For the first time in years, I felt alive.
He broke away, and without thinking, I opened my eyes; I’d never seen his so bright. In that moment I saw him for the first time. Really saw him, his face softened in vulnerability.
“Turn around,” he said hoarsely.
Limbs shaking, I did as I was told.
“Grab the handles and climb up.”
I looked down and noticed the built-in seat, made specifically to accommodate a woman’s knees. I got into position, and Gage ran his fingers down my spine. He palmed my ass and then dipped the plug in and out.
“Master…” I moaned and arched my back.
“Yes, baby, just like that. You’re gorgeous in this position.” He lightly spanked me. I jumped, not because it hurt, but because the slap was so unexpected. He slapped my ass again, and then he spread my cheeks.
My heart thundered in my ears as he removed the plug and applied lubricant. Apprehension twisted my insides.
“Hold on to those handles,” he said.
Gage’s thick cock slowly pressed in. His intrusion stretched me further, and I gasped for breath at the intensity of the burn, clamped my fingers around the handles, and focused on breathing. I now knew how pleasurable it could feel if I let my mind and body accept it.
“How does it feel?”
“It burns, Master.”
“Try to relax.” He pushed in another inch.
“I can’t!” My knuckles turned white. “Stop—”
“Relax your muscles, Kayla. I’m not trying to hurt you.” He groaned softly against my ear. “I’m being as gentle as I can, but if you can’t loosen up you’ll have to endure the pain. This won’t be the last time I fuck you like this.” He took his time, easing in a little more with each thrust. My knees trembled, and Gage wound his arms around me and palmed my breasts, supporting me with his strength. He sipped at the water sluicing down my neck and dove deeper. “You feel so good.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, and after a while my body grew accustomed to his. With a final jerk, he came and collapsed onto my back. We stayed frozen like that for a while, me relieved it was over, and him coming down from the high he’d achieved.
He got up and shut off the water. “Come on,” he said, gently tugging on my arm. I got to my feet. We dried off with fluffy towels, and he ushered me into the basement. I eyed the bench, remembering my forbidden orgasm from the day before, and wondered if he planned to strap me onto it and beat me again.
But he bypassed the bench and headed for the bed. “Have you been wondering how I’m going to punish you?”
I bit my lip and nodded.
He crawled onto the mattress and sat with his back to the headboard. He patted his lap. “Come here.”
I blinked. “Do-do you want me to straddle you, Master?”
“No, I want you to sit facing away.”
I hesitated a second before climbing onto the bed. The friction of my skin sliding along his excited me.
“Lie against me.”
I reclined against his chest. Gage wedged his legs between mine and spread my thighs.
“I want you to touch yourself until you reach the point where you’re about to orgasm, then I want you to stop. If you come, there will be consequences.”
I swallowed hard. I’d never gotten myself off before in front of another person, and I’d certainly never had to hold back. With tentative fingers, I reached down and stroked myself, slowly rubbing in a way that was familiar and sensual. Yet the usual build-up was absent. I squirmed and tried to force myself into the right mindset, but after several minutes my breathing was still too even, the tingles in my body too weak.
He kissed the hollow of my shoulder. “Close your eyes,” he whispered, “do whatever you have to, but get yourself to the edge. You’re not stopping until you do.”
I inhaled a deep breath, closed my eyes, and turned my mind off to anything but the feel of his warm skin underneath me, the zinging sensation deep in my stomach as his hands brushed across my breasts. My center liquefied as my fingers circled with increasing speed. A blissful ache rushed through my limbs, and my heartbeat reached a thundering roar. I jerked my hand away. My chest heaved in his hands, and I panted and squirmed, hating how the ache lingered between my legs.
Gage’s own breathing had grown heavy. Just as the pressure started to subside, he pushed my hand back to my crotch. “Do it again, and stop before you come.”
I tunneled my fingers through my slick folds, and my body immediately responded. He made me rub myself to the edge several times, until I was openly moaning and grinding my butt against his erection. Blood rushed through me, molten lava coalescing at the epicenter between my legs. On the brink of exploding, I trembled so violently that my legs cramped. He whisked his thumbs across my nipples and I almost burst into flames.
“Please,” I groaned. “I can’t…”
He trapped my hands in his. “Control it. Hold it in. You don’t have my permission to come.”
I arched and dug my fingernails into his skin. Several minutes passed in silence, and when he pushed my hand back to the center of all that throbbing heat, I thought I’d die. He forced me to the edge one last time, and then he slid from the bed and fastened my hands to the headboard. “Wouldn’t want you to give in to temptation,” he said with a crooked grin. “I’ll be back in an hour. Hopefully you’ll have calmed down by then.”
8. Home
As a reward for my iron-like control over my body, Gage took me out to dinner that night. After existing in a naked state for two days, I found the sensation of clothing against my skin
wonderful. Now I almost felt normal, seated like a lady, surrounded by fashionable people at a fancy restaurant with an attractive man smiling back at me from across the table.
Almost.
Beyond the surface, nothing about the situation was normal, especially since the man in question had inserted a butt plug in my ass before we’d left the house. I recrossed my legs for the fifth time and tried not to squirm.
“You’re gorgeous. I’m a lucky man to be accompanied by the most beautiful woman in the restaurant.”
Luck had nothing to do with it, but I kept my thoughts to myself. I’d managed to get through the rest of the day without further punishment or pain, if you didn’t count the pulsing ache between my thighs that refused to subside. He’d given me more chores to complete and had come to me for sex twice already. I hadn’t been allowed to orgasm; as a result I was tense with sexual frustration.
He lowered his gaze to my breasts and smiled in amusement. “Still feeling a little uncomfortable?”
I clenched my jaw. My nipples had been hard pebbles of need for most of the evening. I felt them poking out now.
“Answer me, Kayla.” Even in public, he didn’t hesitate to wield his authority over me.
“Yes, Mast—” I broke off, remembering that I wasn’t supposed to call him Master in public. “I’m sorry. Yes, I’m “uncomfortable.’” That was one way of putting it.
The waiter arrived at our table. He was young, maybe a couple years younger than my twenty-eight years. He flashed a boyish grin at me, and Gage’s expression darkened.
“Good evening,” he said, “we have several specials on the menu tonight. Can I interest you in a bottle of wine?” He directed the question at Gage and then took a small step back at the dangerous look in his eyes.
“A bottle of Pinot Grigio, please.”
The waiter scurried away, and Gage blasted me with his granite expression. “Don’t look at him when he returns. I’ll order for you.”
I lowered my gaze. Just bite your tongue. The weekend’s almost over, just get through it.
The waiter returned a few minutes later, and in my peripheral vision I saw him present a bottle. Gage went through the whole swirl and taste routine and gave a nod. Wine swished into my glass an instant later, and the waiter left after taking our orders.
