by Stone, Anna
Yvonne’s eyes met Ruby’s. They burned hot. Was it anger, or something else?
“What are you doing in here?” Yvonne’s voice was edged with ice.
“What does it look like?” Ruby gestured around herself. “I found all your toys. And I’m intrigued.”
“No.” Yvonne shook her head. “No. You need to get out of here.”
“Why? And don’t say you don’t want me.”
“I don’t want this .”
Ruby gave her a playful smile. “So you do want me?”
Yvonne tore her eyes away from Ruby. “I already told you our arrangement is purely financial. It can’t be anything more.”
“And why is that?” Ruby crossed her arms, abandoning her attempted display of submissiveness. “I know you’re not shy about sex. Everything I’ve found in this room is proof of that. And I understand what you meant now, about your tastes. ”
“No, you don’t,” Yvonne said firmly. “This isn’t a game, Ruby!”
“I know that. And I get it. I get what it is that you want. I want that too. Whatever you want from me, I’ll give it to you.”
“That isn’t how this works.”
“Then how does it work? Show me. Please.”
Yvonne folded her arms over her chest. “No.”
Ruby let out a frustrated groan. “I don’t understand you! You look at me like you want me, and I want you too, Yvonne. I want this.”
Yvonne shook her head. “You have no idea what you’re asking of me, Ruby.”
“What, do you think I haven’t been with anyone who’s into kinky stuff before?”
“Not like this. Look at you.” Yvonne waved a hand in Ruby’s direction. “You don’t understand any of this, otherwise you wouldn’t be doing what you are now, offering yourself up to me on a platter. You have no idea what you’re doing. You’re obviously a complete novice.”
“Maybe you’re right. But you can teach me.”
Yvonne shook her head again. “I’m not the right person to teach you. This just demonstrates that. You’re rash, controlled by your desires. You need someone who will slowly and carefully ease you into this world. I am not that person. I can’t be that person for you.”
“Why not? What are you afraid of? That you’ll hurt me?”
“Physically? No. But there are so many other ways to hurt someone.”
“You won’t hurt me,” Ruby said. “I trust you.”
Yvonne scoffed. “You don’t even know me. ”
“You’re right. I don’t know you, not really.” Ruby looked down at the toys on the bed around her. “But I understand what it is you want, on some level. You want control. You want power. You want someone who will give both to you.”
Yvonne didn’t move or speak, but her eyes, which had shifted from green to brown in the low light, seemed to sizzle.
“And I can tell that you’re the kind of person who takes this seriously. I can tell that if I give you control, if I place myself in your hands, you won’t abuse that power. I know that you’ll take care of me.” Ruby fixed her gaze on Yvonne, her voice growing softer. “Yvonne, I want this so badly. I want you so badly.”
Silence fell between them. Yvonne stared back at Ruby, saying nothing, but Ruby could see the battle going on within her. Yvonne held her body stiff and still, as poised to pounce on Ruby like she was Yvonne’s prey.
But when Yvonne finally spoke, it was with an icy calm that sent a shiver through Ruby’s core.
“Show me.”
Ruby blinked. “Show you?”
“Show me how much you want this.”
“I will. Anything.”
Silence fell between them. Ruby awaited Yvonne’s instructions, the sound of her pounding heart filling her head.
Still standing in place in the doorway, half in shadow, Yvonne lifted her chin and looked into Ruby’s eyes, before speaking a single word.
“Crawl.”
A prickly heat rose to Ruby’s skin. She stared back at Yvonne, the cold fire in the woman’s eyes enthralling. She didn’t try to fight it. She was powerless to do anything but follow Yvonne’s command.
Ruby slipped off the bed and dropped to her knees.
Her palms hit the wooden floorboards.
She cast her eyes down, and she began to crawl toward Yvonne.
Deep within her, desire flared to life. As she crawled to the other woman, the space separating them seemed to grow even more vast. But slowly, on her hands and knees, Ruby crossed the distance between them.
She reached Yvonne’s heeled feet, but she didn’t look up. She simply knelt there, her head bowed and her eyes downcast, her heart thundering in her chest. Seconds stretched out. Yvonne was still and silent. Ruby remained on the floor, prostrating herself before the other woman, awaiting her command.
But instead, Yvonne took a step back, then another.
Then she turned on her heel and strode out the door, shutting it behind her.
Chapter 7
Y vonne looked at the time. Almost 8 p.m. It was a Friday, so the office was nearly empty, save for a few stragglers. Yvonne would normally be heading home around this time too, but she had no intention of leaving any time soon. Not with Ruby in her apartment.
She turned back to her laptop, trying to focus, but she couldn’t stop playing that scene over and over in her mind. Ruby, kneeling on the bed before her, surrounded by Yvonne’s toys. Ruby, looking back at her, her eyes filled with a desperate yearning. Ruby, on her hands and knees, at Yvonne’s feet…
Yvonne shut her laptop. She needed a distraction.
She left her office, heading toward the office of Mistress’s CFO. If Yvonne was lucky, Lydia would still be around. Unlike the rest of the members of the executive team who had started Mistress together, Lydia had only joined them recently, although she’d worked with Mistress as a consultant for longer. Yvonne didn’t know her very well, but she had a question about finance, Lydia’s area of expertise.
Yvonne reached Lydia’s office. The auburn-haired woman was still inside, packing up her desk. Yvonne knocked on the door. Lydia waved her in.
“Do you have a moment?” Yvonne asked. “I’ll make it quick. I have a finance question, but it’s personal, not business.”
Lydia shut her bag. “Go ahead.”
“I need to set aside a sum of money for someone without her spouse being able to touch it. How would I go about doing that?”
Lydia frowned. “That’s a little complex. Normally, I’d suggest you create a trust, but in case of a married couple, both spouses would be legally entitled to the money in it. I’d recommend you speak to legal, especially given the circumstances of your marriage.”
“My marriage?” Did Lydia think Yvonne was talking about herself? “This isn’t about me. This is for someone else. A friend.”
“If you say so.”
“I mean it. I want to give someone money she can use for her family’s needs, but I don’t want her husband to have access to it.”
“I see.” Lydia paused in thought. “She has children?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, a trust for the children could work, with their mother as the sole trustee. If you include a provision that the money can only be used for expenses related to the children and their care, it will prevent her husband from getting his hands on it. The definition of ‘care’ is broad enough that there’s a lot of wiggle room, so she’ll still be able to spend the money relatively freely. But once again, I’m not a lawyer. You definitely need to speak with one.”
“I will,” Yvonne said. “I’m just looking into options right now. Thank you for your help.”
“Any time.” Lydia paused. “Is everything all right?”
Yvonne nodded. “Just trying to help a friend.”
Fortunately, Lydia didn’t pry. Yvonne appreciated that about her. She was cordial but reserved.
Yvonne nodded to her. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
She left Lydia’s office and headed back
to her own, taking a seat behind her desk and opening her laptop again. Yvonne didn’t actually have any work to do because ever since Ruby had moved in, she’d been staying late at the office. She’d gotten all her extra work done already.
But after the other night, the idea of simply being around Ruby was torturous. What had passed between them that night—Ruby, offering herself up to Yvonne, Ruby, on her hands and knees at Yvonne’s command?
It had only made Yvonne want her even more.
Yvonne let out a long, hard breath. Her command had been a challenge, one she’d given to Ruby with the expectation that Ruby would back down.
But Ruby hadn’t backed down. She’d done exactly what Yvonne had commanded, without hesitation. And she’d remained at Yvonne’s feet, unspeaking, unmoving, the perfect, willing, eager submissive.
Yvonne closed her eyes, picturing it again. There had been something different about Ruby that night. Something about her in that moment that had stood out to Yvonne. However, Yvonne couldn’t quite put her finger on what exactly it was.
It didn’t matter. She had to stop thinking about Ruby. The more Yvonne thought about her, the more she was tempted by her. But getting involved with Ruby in any way, let alone such an intimate way, would be a mistake. For starters, Yvonne was paying Ruby, which introduced all kinds of complications. They were stuck together for a year. If things got awkward between them, it would be an uncomfortable year. And if something went wrong, Yvonne’s inheritance would be at risk.
But the most important reason was exactly what Yvonne had said to Ruby that night. Yvonne wasn’t the right person to introduce Ruby to the twisted world of BDSM, especially not Yvonne’s brand of it. Yvonne was in too deep, her tastes too extreme. Ruby was a novice, and Yvonne didn’t have the patience to hold her hand through it. She wasn’t that kind of Domme.
The door to Yvonne’s office opened. She looked up to find Madison strolling into the room, her coat and bag on her arm.
“You’re still here?” Madison asked.
“I have work to do,” Yvonne lied.
Madison sat down in the chair in front of Yvonne’s desk. “You’ve stayed late every day this week.”
“I’ve been busy. The shareholder meeting is coming up. I need to present them with our strategy for the next quarter.”
“Doesn’t your wife miss you?”
Yvonne pressed her lips together. “She’s not my wife.”
“I know that. But the rest of the world doesn’t.” Madison crossed her arms. “The two of you are newlyweds. It’s awfully suspicious that you’re working all the time instead of spending time with her. Wasn’t the whole point of this charade for everyone else to think the two of you are a real couple? You should be rushing home every day to be with her, not hanging back at work for hours.”
The same thought had occurred to Yvonne, but she’d ignored it.
“So tell me. What’s going on? Why are you avoiding going home?”
Yvonne closed her laptop and pushed it aside. “Let’s just say, Ruby has been getting under my skin.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised.”
Yvonne frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re not exactly a people person,” Madison said. “And all of a sudden, you’re sharing your life and space with a stranger. It’s no surprise that tensions are flaring.”
That was true. There was plenty of tension between Yvonne and Ruby.
“Yvonne, if you’re going to be stuck with Ruby for a year, you need to figure out a way to coexist. No, you need to do more than just coexist. You need to get along. Hiding in the office isn’t going to help with that.”
Yvonne scoffed. “Are you seriously lecturing me on how to fix my ‘marriage?’ I thought you didn’t approve of it in the first place.”
“I don’t. But I know you well enough. I know that you’re too stubborn to do anything other than see this ridiculous charade through to the end. So you need to make it as easy as possible, which means you need to make nice with Ruby.” Before Yvonne could protest, Madison stood. “I need to get going. Blair left an hour ago, and unlike you, I’m not about to leave her waiting up for me all night. Just think about what I said. Make nice with Ruby. And go home .”
Yvonne muttered a goodbye. Madison left her office.
Yvonne opened her laptop up again. ‘Making nice’ with Ruby was not an option, no matter how much Yvonne wanted to.
That image flashed in her mind again. Ruby on the bed, in nothing but a simple black dress, her hair falling down her shoulders like gold silk. All Yvonne’s toys scattered on the bed around her, a tempting cornucopia of tools with which Yvonne could lavish endless agonizing pleasures upon her. Yvonne should have been furious that Ruby had invaded her space, gone through her things, touched the precious toys she so painstakingly cared for and stored. Yet Yvonne had been too deeply distracted by her desire for Ruby to care.
As Yvonne played the scene over again in her mind, she finally realized what that change, that shift in Ruby had been that night. It was as if the mask Ruby wore, the one that transformed her into a seductive fantasy, had fallen away. At that moment, Yvonne had gotten a glimpse of the real Ruby.
It had been the real Ruby who had said I want this . It had been the real Ruby who had pleaded for Yvonne to teach her. It had been the real Ruby who had gotten on her hands and knees and crawled to Yvonne’s feet.
And that side of Ruby was even more irresistible than the woman Yvonne had met at the bar.
Ruby stared at herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. It was late, almost midnight, and she was alone in the apartment. There was no sign of Yvonne at all.
As far as Ruby was concerned, that was a good thing. Since that night in Yvonne’s ‘playroom,’ Ruby had been avoiding Yvonne. However, she suspected she didn’t need to avoid Yvonne at all. Yvonne had been spending even more time out of the apartment than before. Ruby had no doubt that she was the reason.
Crawl. Despite all the days that had passed, Yvonne’s command still haunted Ruby. She kept replaying the scene in her head, over and over and over. She’d been so helpless under Yvonne’s gaze, unable to resist the urge to do exactly what Yvonne had told her. And the worst part?
Ruby had enjoyed every second of it.
Ruby rinsed out her mouth and splashed some cold water on her burning face. Just thinking about that moment gave her the same thrill that she’d felt that night. Ruby had always had submissive tendencies. She liked giving up control, liked letting others take charge in the bedroom. But it was one thing to have someone spank her during sex, or to mess around with a pair of handcuffs. This was something else entirely. That moment when Ruby had gotten on her knees and crawled to Yvonne’s feet—it had triggered something inside her, that dark, insatiable side of her that craved submission. And she may have been imagining it, but she had sensed a shift in Yvonne too. What had passed between them?
It had felt so right.
But Yvonne had turned her back on Ruby. She’d left Ruby kneeling on the floor. And that stung .
Ruby headed back into her bedroom. It was time for yet another night spent lying awake, wondering if she’d made a mistake by agreeing to this sham of a marriage. The situation had been bad enough before, but Ruby had made things even worse. She should never have tried to seduce Yvonne.
Could she really survive a year of this? Of living with a woman who was equal parts sexy and cold? Who awakened all of Ruby’s fantasies, who pushed all her buttons?
Shedding everything but a t-shirt and her underwear, Ruby slipped into her bed then turned off the light. She shut her eyes, desperately willing sleep to come and save her from everything she was feeling. Regret. Hurt.
Desire.
Ruby sighed. Despite it all, despite Yvonne literally turning her back on Ruby, she wanted Yvonne even more.
As the beginnings of sleep finally began to take her, Ruby heard the faint sound of the front door opening at the other end of the apartment
. So Yvonne was home. Ruby didn’t care. As Yvonne’s footsteps echoed down the hall, growing closer, Ruby rolled over and pulled the covers up over her, waiting for Yvonne to pass and continue to her bedroom.
But instead, the footsteps stopped at Ruby’s door.
Ruby’s heart thumped. She waited. Five seconds, then ten, then twenty. But all she heard was silence. Perhaps Yvonne had already moved on and Ruby hadn’t heard her? Ruby turned over in bed again, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling nagging at her.
Quietly, Ruby switched on the lamp, got out of bed, and padded to the door. She turned the door handle and opened it wide .
Yvonne . Yvonne was standing in the doorway.
Ruby looked at the woman’s face. In the dim light, it was shrouded in darkness, but Ruby could see that it was set like stone, even more expressionless than usual.
But within Yvonne’s eyes, a fire smoldered that set every part of Ruby’s body alight.
“Yvonne,” Ruby whispered. “I-”
“Don’t speak.”
Ruby fell silent. Yvonne gazed back at her, probing, piercing, stripping away all of Ruby’s layers, until all that was left was the part of her that had answered Yvonne’s command to crawl that night. Ruby cast her eyes down, unable to bear the heat of Yvonne’s gaze.
Yvonne took Ruby’s chin in her fingers and tipped Ruby’s face up to hers. Before Ruby could take a breath, Yvonne’s lips were on hers in a deep, demanding kiss.
Ruby crumbled.
Chapter 8
R uby closed her eyes, her lips and body crushing back against Yvonne’s. She clung to Yvonne’s dress, holding onto her while pulling her closer, overcome by the woman’s relentless kiss. If she’d had any doubt that Yvonne wanted her, it was gone now.
Their lips still locked, Yvonne pushed her way into the room, backing Ruby against the bed. Ruby fell upon it, taking Yvonne down with her.
Yvonne straightened up, staring down at Ruby, her eyes blazing with hunger. “The other night,” she said, her voice firm and low. “In my playroom. Everything you did, everything you said. It wasn’t an act.”
