by Raine Miller
Zoe didn’t know how to respond. The heat in the room rose, but her body felt chilled.
“We’ll help you prepare, and you won’t be alone,” Jason added, his tone guarded.
The first lady narrowed her eyes. “Men like this don’t know what civilized is, don’t know what the meaning of integrity is. They’re pure evil. They hunger for supreme power and control. That’s why we have to warp our logic when dealing with them.”
Zoe stiffened but attempted to keep her nerves intact. “The FLC kicks them in the balls, but not literally. Discredits them and drops them to their knees with a sex scandal.” Did she just say that to the first lady?
Faith smiled. “Zoe, you’re a professional. You’re trained to remain calm when dealing with terrorists, drug or arms dealers. Am I right?”
“Yes, but I’d be more effective in the field,” Zoe argued.
“This is the field. It takes months to find people and establish top-level security clearance. You have the physical appearance our targets are interested in—blond, young and attractive. The FLC must never be made public under any circumstances. You will complete your training with Jason and Melissa by next week.”
“Next week?”
“There’s a reception planned a week from Friday, and a number of the delegates will be attending, including President Majeed Kadir from Iran.”
“Nice guy.” Zoe tried to keep her tone light.
“Our intel determined he’s a sociopath,” Jason added. “He’s worse than what you’ve read about in the news. His latest feat was attacking a group of British soldiers. Kadir staked twenty of the murdered soldiers’ heads on spikes and lined them along the border.”
Zoe pressed her hand over her heart and felt nauseated. “My brother’s in Iran right now. Won’t I be putting him at risk?” She lowered her gaze, fists clenched as she tried to grasp the horror of what she was getting into.
“I’ve known about your brother,” Faith said. “Kadir won’t know who you are. There will be no connections made between you and your brother.”
“Good. Then it’ll be my pleasure to whip that SOB’s ass. Sorry, ma’am.”
Faith smiled. “Don’t be. But he’s not a sub. He’s a Dom and a sadist. He’ll want a submissive. He prefers slaves, actually. You’ll be his slave for the session.”
Zoe let out a breath and shot Jason a look that meant business. He returned an innocent shrug. “I guess we better get busy.” Heat rushed to her face. She knew what busy meant.
Faith walked toward the door. “Welcome to the First Lady’s Club, Zoe. You’re officially our newest member.”
Tyler Kirkwood, a Secret Service agent who had the demeanor of a Marine, was waiting to escort the first lady back to the residence. He closed the door behind her.
CHAPTER 15
The Master must stay in control in all situations, especially when an inexperienced sub struggled with her emotions and desires. Zoe stood in the middle of the room, head lowered, hands at her sides, and body shaking. All Jason wanted to do was take her up in his arms and walk away from all of this. That couldn’t happen. Duty came first. Wasn’t mixing emotions and duty what nearly got them killed in the past? They could get through this. It was early evening. After this session, he’d take her to dinner.
“Zoe, I know this job isn’t what you expected.” Crap.
When she raised her head to look at him, tears sparkled in her eyes. “You really think I can do this?”
“Yes, I know you can. It’s not what either of us expected. Missions change. We can do this.”
Except for her sharp tone, she blanked her expression. Not only was she in agent mode, she was drawing away from him. Would he lose her when this was over? His chest tightened. He refused to believe that. Zoe was good at hiding her emotions, though she had a couple tells.
“Get it over with now and tell me what you really think of me. I know you’re pissed,” he said. “Get it out of your system now so we can get to work.”
“How do you know I’m pissed?” Her tone was calm and even, not giving away the storm of fury he guessed was building inside.
“You’re trying not to cry. You cry only when you’re really angry. And you’re tapping your hands at your sides, a nervous twitch.”
She stopped the tapping. “Yes, I am pissed.” She shrugged at that. “So now what? You spank my ass, and I say, ‘Yes, Master, more’?”
“You call me, sir. I’m not your Master.”
“Let’s get on with it.” She unbuttoned her pale gray suit jacket, but left it on. Beneath it, she wore a pale green blouse, scooped low enough to reveal the swell of her breasts. The skirt was tight along her hips and thighs and stopped a couple of inches above her knees with a back slit and pleat, revealing more leg and a hint of lacy thigh-highs.
His groin responded to the rim of lace. He reminded himself he needed to stay in control during this session. Her life and the lives of those involved in the FLC were at stake. How could he do this while she was upset? “Have a seat. We’re not going to do this when you’re not mentally prepared.”
She breathed in through clenched teeth. “I’m fine. Really. I want to do this. Finding out ahead of time probably wouldn’t have helped.”
His gaze followed her slim legs to the pencil-thin heels. How did women walk in the damn things without breaking their ankles?
“Okay, you’re about to get a crash course in dominance and submission.” Jason stood in front of her, toe to toe, his nose almost touching hers, as if he was about to interrogate a prisoner. “It’s more than just putting up with an asshole, withstanding some pain and humiliation. You must be utterly convincing. So much so you believe it yourself. You have to convince yourself you’re the slave of a monster. Willingly.”
Zoe opened her mouth to speak. He raised a finger and shook his head. She stopped and lowered her eyelashes and nodded.
“Do not speak while I’m giving you instructions. When I’m finished and you have a question, you may ask, but you must say exactly, ‘Sir, may I ask a question?’”
He paused a moment to see if she would argue. When she didn’t, he continued. “I will push you to your limits emotionally, physically, spiritually. You may find you love it or hate it. You may find you love me or hate me.” Did he see a flicker of sadness in her eyes? “Do you understand so far?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“You must watch your expressions. A Dom and Master can see defiance in your eyes, a pout, tension in your muscles. You must be aware of every mannerism, every sigh or roll of your eyes.”
She nodded.
“While you’re in this room, you are my slave and will do my bidding without hesitation unless you have a valid question. And it better be a valid question or you’ll be punished. While you’re in this room, you’ll refer to me as sir. Or any other male who I say has claimed you as his slave. Discipline or the power exchange is not an easy concept if this is not your world. Couples who are in this lifestyle agree to a pace that’s right for them. This is a different situation. Our goal is not a loving BDSM relationship. It’s to bring down a monster. Do you understand?”
Zoe sighed and wet her dry lips. “Yes, sir, I get what you’re going to do will probably seem cruel, but what happens when it becomes too much? If it’s more pain than I can handle?”
“I will give you a safe word. Someone else will always be in this room with you. Myself, another Dom or another Secret Service agent. If it becomes too much, before you call out the safe word, you take a deep breath and consider whether you can take a little more. Think about taking part in bringing down an evil man, possibly stopping his connections to terrorism by withstanding some pain and discomfort. But I don’t want you to be injured, either. Your safe word is red. If you can’t speak, raise your left pinkie or blink your left eye. Those will be tells to me that you’ve gone beyond your limits. And I’ll stop it. Promise.”
“Okay.”
Just like old times, they were planning a missio
n together. He was feeling that rush of adrenaline, but not in a good way. They were in a fortress of security, but he didn’t feel good about this one. There were no guarantees it would go down the way they planned or achieve the result they intended. “You understand we can’t predict how the target will behave. You have to prepare yourself for anything.”
“I understand that. Rarely is a mission flawless,” she said. “I can handle it. At the worst, I’ll end up with a few bruises on my ass.” She gave a nervous laugh, and he knew she was trying to show her support for this project. A look passed between them. They also both knew any mission could turn to shit at any moment no matter how simple it might seem.
“I need to ask you if you have any health issues. I don’t think you do. But I haven’t seen you in a while. Haven’t broken any bones lately, knee injury, blood pressure, heart condition? Anything I should know about?”
“No, I had a recent checkup and work out regularly, including my hand-to-hand combat training.”
“You won’t need any martial arts while on your knees,” Jason said. “Make sure you don’t get pissed and try a few jujitsu moves on our target.”
“May I ask one more question, sir?”
“Of course.”
She looked him squarely in his eyes. “What about us? How will this affect our relationship?” Her voice cracked a bit, giving him a kick in the gut. She was right. Their relationship was shaky as it was.
His insides balled into knots. “I don’t know, Zoe. What we have is outside this room. Not in here. We can’t let our relationship interfere with this project.”
She nodded and glanced down at the floor. “Projects interfered in the past. Don’t you think this one will, too?”
He shrugged. “That’s up to us. The stress of this type of job has consequences. But I won’t let anything happen to you.” He cupped her chin and kissed her tenderly. Her lips were soft and hesitant, but soon she opened her mouth for him and urged him on. When she moaned and gripped his arms, he knew she was getting turned on, and so was he. He broke the kiss and stood back. The swelling of his cock was a warning. He had to stay in control, not get overly aroused. Her life and the success of this project depended on it.
“Let’s get started, sir.”
He raised an eyebrow at her, and she clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing her error. “Sorry, sir.”
“That could be a fatal mistake. Submissives give up control, surrender to it. They never give orders.” He ran his hand through his hair. Did he have enough time to break her of old habits? “First lesson. Remove your skirt and underwear slowly and place them neatly on the chair. Then bend over the spanking bench from the opposite side so the pad is at your waist and your hands are gripping the kneeling pad. Keep your shoes on and spread your legs.”
The vulnerable position would elevate her ass at the perfect height. When was the last time he’d fucked her from behind? She had the sweetest ass, and he remembered she did enjoy sex like this with a little prompting. No way could he halt the raging erection now. Even the pending mission with the psychopath wouldn’t distract Jason’s libido. This was why he and Zoe shouldn’t work together. Was he making another mistake?
Zoe expected her lessons in dominance and submission to be awkward, embarrassing, even painful, but she hadn’t expected to be a little turned on by this. Her reactions to Jason would be different than to Kadir.
“Don’t ever hesitate,” he said brusquely.
And don’t give orders or suggestions. When she was on a mission, she had a methodical mind-set, especially if she was in charge of a particular aspect. There was no time for discussion. That came in the planning weeks before a mission. In the field, orders were given and carried out, adjustments made if needed. She’d have to bite her lip to keep from trying to take control of the scene. When it came to sex, she was too accustomed to telling her lover what she liked or didn’t like while making love. A little faster, slower, I want you inside me now. Being a submissive was a whole new world.
Naked from the waist down and feeling self-conscious, even though she was with Jason, she bent over the bench as he ordered. With her legs spread, everything between was exposed. Cool air tickled the tender folds of her pussy. She was wet and quivery anticipating his next move. Her leg and ass muscles tightened, expecting to feel the strike of his hand or a flogger.
Surprisingly, she wanted to feel the sting of that sensation again.
“While I’m training you, no pleasuring yourself. Leave that collection of vibrators in your drawer at home. I will know. Because I will ask you each time, and you better not try to lie to me. Your pleasure and your orgasm are mine to give, as well as your pain and punishment.”
Her body heated up as he walked over to the table of implements, picking up various toys, floggers, and canes then placing them back down. Glancing over to her, he saw she was watching him, frowned and ordered, “Eyes front and down.”
Gripping the pads on the knee rest, she kept her gaze on the floor in front of her and tried to stop the trembling. She’d rather be completely naked than be naked from the waist down. Something about wearing her business jacket and blouse and this position made her feel embarrassed and ashamed. It was demeaning, but at the same time, why was she feeling wet and her pussy clenching, aching to be filled with his cock?
Jason stroked her hip and ass. “I’ll start off light then increase the intensity. You’ll need to build up your tolerance to this and a number of things.”
“What things, sir?”
“You’ll see. Keep your legs spread and your ass high.” He shoved her blouse and jacket up higher. Then the thongs of the flogger brushed over her skin like a velvet caress.
She arched her back, sighing. The first strike caught her off guard, and she cried out. “Ow, fuck.”
“No swearing, slave.” He struck her again.
“Sorry, sir.” She bit her lower lip, preventing the fuck you response. Each time the flogger lashed her butt in a different spot, moving up and down her thighs in rapid succession. After several hits, he stopped and smoothed the tender areas. His hand felt cool on her burning skin.
“How are you doing?”
“Okay, sir. It stings, but I’m trying to get used to it.”
“Good girl. Let me know if it becomes too much.” A knock at the door made her jump, and she tried getting up. He pressed a hand to her back. “I didn’t tell you to get up.”
“But someone—”
He stared her down with a scathing look, and she stopped. “You’ll be punished for arguing with me.” He took a black cloth from the table and covered her eyes, tying it behind her head. She couldn’t see anything.
“I’m sorry, sir. I forgot, but we’re in the White House. It was a reflex.”
“No excuses. As your Dom, you must put all your trust in me, completely surrender.” He walked over to the door while he was talking and opened the door. “Come in, we’re just getting started.”
Zoe strained to hear a response or listen to the shoes on the wood floor. A woman or man? She wasn’t sure. The footsteps sounded like boots or heavy shoes, so maybe a man. If so, who? They wouldn’t have her be Kadir’s slave so soon, not when she wasn’t trained yet. There was too much at stake.
“We’re having some difficulty with discipline. She’s being defiant. I blindfolded her for punishment.”
She felt a hand on her arm. “Stand up, Zoe,” Jason ordered. “I want our guest to finish undressing you. Don’t resist, or my punishments will get more severe.”
“Yes, sir.” She stood on shaky legs, feeling humiliated, knowing whoever was in the room could see her bare bottom and pussy. She shaved her pussy, and the moisture there was probably visible, too. Resisting the urge to cover her sex with her hands, she placed her arms straight at her sides.
The stranger slowly unbuttoned her jacket, slid that over her shoulders and placed it nearby, then she felt tugging on her blouse as buttons from the bottom up were unfastened. The silky mat
erial fell away. She shivered as the cool air hit her skin.
“Nice,” Jason commented. “Now the bra.”
She felt fingers at her back. Were they a woman’s or a man’s? She couldn’t tell. Then a click and the bra dropped away. Her nipples tightened from the cool air, but also because she knew she was being observed, completely exposed to the unknown stranger.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” Jason said. “Her bottom is slightly pink from the flogger. I think she can take more of that, but I have something in mind for her in a moment.”
Zoe waited for a response, but there was probably a nod.
“Zoe, clasp your hands behind your back. I want our guest to touch your breasts.”
Zoe opened her mouth to protest, but bit her lip instead.
“Is there a problem with that?” he asked.
“No, sir. I would love for our guest to touch my breasts.” She tried to sound sincere, but her tone was anything but.
“Do it,” Jason ordered. “And make her nipples hard and raw in any way you like. Zoe is trying, but she’s not convincing.”
The stranger was gentle at first, cupping her full breasts, squeezing them and pinching the nipples, then Zoe felt a tongue over the tip of one, rubbing and flicking. By reflex, Zoe pulled back.
“Don’t resist.” The hoarseness in Jason’s voice made her cringe. She felt like a child being scolded. “And watch the expressions on your face. Later, we’ll work on how to look at your Master and be convincing.” He smacked her with something hard and stiff across the backs of her thighs.
“Oh,” she moaned.
“Yes, I know that hurts. It’ll be a reminder when I see you make a face, press your mouth together in a defiant pout, glare at me in anger. All these reactions will be noticed easily by Kadir. You’re supposed to be a compliant submissive. Our intelligence gathering discovered that one of his subs, who decided to get a little smart-assed, was sold to the white-slave market.”
She heard a smacking sound and suspected he was hitting a cane against the palm of his hand. Would he strike her with it again? Her muscles flinched, anticipating the sting, and surprisingly, she craved it.
