by Cynthia Dane
They were also planning a weekend trip to Boston to see Julia’s side of the family. Damon was still adjusting to having his mother back in his life, although Julia was taking things slow. It helped that she still had many of her hermit tendencies and didn’t care to be seen in public for multiple reasons. Except she apparently still had some connections with the family that sold her to the Monroes, and her son wanted to meet them. Of course, Alice would be coming with him.
The last point of discussion, after dinner was cleared away and dessert brought out, was what to do with their current penthouse. Monroe made it clear that it was a “starter home” and that they could find something more suitable to their tastes once things settled down, but it was completely in their power to remodel some rooms.
“If you ask me,” Monroe said, dabbing some whipped cream on his wife’s nose. “We should use the two bedrooms in the eastern part of the apartment as staff quarters. We’re already setting up the servant there. Perhaps the other one should be the nanny’s, when we get to that point. Oh, and we should use the second biggest bedroom as the nursery.”
Alice was too shaken up to wipe the whipped cream off her nose. “Do we have to talk about that now?” Her ice cream was now untouched. “You’re making me nervous.”
Her husband’s demeanor turned dark. Not a frightening shade of dark, but the sort of pensive that unsettled a woman. “It was part of our agreement before we married.”
“I know that.” Alice finally wiped off her nose and stared at the lazy waters beyond the glass panel. “I know that. I knew exactly what I was signing up for when I agreed to your terms.” Indeed, Monroe had succumbed to a few terms of hers as well. It couldn’t be said that Alice didn’t understand her share of contract negotiation. “But you need to understand where I’m coming from. It’s a bigger deal for me than it is for you.” She cringed. “Physically, that is.” She understood what it meant for him legally and emotionally. Perhaps not in that order. “Can you understand why I’m nervous?”
“Precious,” he said, hand wrapped around hers. “No one wants you to feel better about it than I do. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t even have to worry about this right now.” His face darkened again; his hand clenched hers until it turned red. “Except there is too much at stake. We have to try. You’re not as young as the shareholders would like.”
Alice snorted. “I’m not even thirty yet, and I’m being made to feel like an old hag.”
“I don’t think you’re anything but my wonderful wife.”
“No, no… never mind.”
“My love.” He had both of her hands now, clutched on either side of the centerpiece. The sun was setting in such a way that it created a golden glow beneath Monroe’s head. Spare me. Nevertheless, Alice stifled a laugh. The thought of her husband being an angel was too silly to comprehend. “You are the woman I have been searching for all my life. I know this has all happened suddenly. I reel from it as much as you do, but I am confident that this is meant to be, and that we will create a legacy that will renew my family’s name into something bigger and better. I can’t do that without you. You’re as much of a Monroe now as I am.”
“That position would be solidified the old-fashioned way, of course.”
“I won’t pretend that it’s not a factor. Even my father cooled down a bit after learning of your supposed pregnancy. Nothing has been more important to him than sustaining our family line. I daresay he would’ve forced me to marry within another two years otherwise.”
“A woman of his choosing.”
“Naturally.”
“I’m not of his choosing. He doesn’t approve of me. We… both know what’s happened.”
“Nothing will happen to you, I swear upon my life.” Monroe’s hands held hers so tightly that she grimaced. “I love you, Alice. I didn’t understand what I felt for you was love when we first met. I didn’t believe in love at first sight until that moment.”
Alice chuckled. “You didn’t make me feel like it was love.”
“I treated you like I would have treated any other woman until then. I’m sorry for that.”
“Don’t be. It was fun.” Her foot slipped out of her shoe and rubbed against his leg. “I’ve had nothing but fun with you in that regard.”
There it was. The wicked grin she saw shortly before he fucked her the first time. “I’ll make sure we always have fun. Including tonight.”
Alice shivered. As used as she was to Monroe’s ideas of making love by now, there was something about tonight that upped the ante. Don’t fret, girl. There’s a lot riding on it for the both of us. It didn’t even have to be tonight. Tonight was the first night out of many to come.
“I don’t know if I’ve told you this yet, Alice.” Sometimes he could speak so softly, so deeply that Alice struggled to hear him beyond That is a sexy voice. Sometimes she could not believe she was married to this remarkable man. Alice had only started getting used to the idea of dating him when he asked her to marry him. One thing she could say about him? Damon Monroe did not waste any time. “A long time ago I met someone who claimed to know my future. I didn’t believe them, of course. Do you believe in fortune telling?”
Was that a genuine question? Furthermore, was he telling her this story again? Alice would go along with it. “Not really. Suppose I could be swayed if I had enough evidence.”
“I feel the same way. I consider myself a logical man. I have to be. Yet I felt something in the universe the moment I first saw you. It wasn’t merely a spark. I’ve felt plenty of sparks with women over the years. What I felt with you was a whole fire burning in my heart.”
Sometimes? He had such a way with words that Alice got lost in the sound of his voice. This man didn’t have a minor in Rhetoric for nothing.
“You’re my soul mate, Alice. I knew it long before we even met. I saw a picture of the woman I would someday marry, and it was you. The only thing I could not anticipate was actually meeting you.”
“That’s sweet.”
“I’m serious. I know it sounds crazy and completely against everything you may have thought about me, but I’ve never been so serious about something before. I’ve not once second guessed my feelings for you. Every time we’re together, I think about how ludicrously lucky I am to have found you. We may have moved quickly, but we unfortunately did not have more time to get to know each other before this had to be done. I don’t regret it. Do you?”
“No.” Alice was too sheepish to suggest otherwise. “It is a little overwhelming, though. Not just being married, but working for such a prestigious company as yours and planning our futures so carefully. It’s a lot to take in.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help you adjust, do not hesitate to ask.”
There was one thing Alice could think of. It would wait until they got home.
They spent another hour by the river, drinking more delectable wine and dreaming of the day when they would be able to better appreciate what they shared. The mosquitos were getting more relentless by the time Monroe finally suggested they head back to their new home. Alice nervously took his hand as they slowly walked back to the limo and got in, Monroe leaving a large tip for the organizers who now cleaned up their table.
“Home,” Monroe told the driver. “Drop us off at our private entrance, please. Jim,” he then said to the bodyguard riding shotgun, “we would appreciate the utmost privacy tonight.”
“Absolutely, sir. I’ll do my sweep and then be out of your way.”
“Thank you.” Monroe put up the privacy partition after that. No wonder. He was so quick to throw himself on his wife that Alice barely had time to breathe.
Their home was spacious and quiet. The servant, who had started work that day, was out for the evening. Monroe went into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of champagne and two flutes. By the time he rejoined his wife in the living room, the bodyguard announced that everything was clear and went to stand guard in the main hall, far from the master chambers.
/>
“Come,” Monroe bade, leading his antsy wife to their room. “Let’s have a toast.”
“Another one?”
The champagne bottle opened with little fanfare. Alice accepted a filled flute with a smile. “We can’t have enough toasts. To our legacy.”
Alice toasted to this with the faintest frown on her face. Monroe immediately caught on.
“What is it?”
“If I may request one thing tonight… sir.”
Monroe finished downing his champagne and hooked his index finger around the hook on his wife’s collar. Alice jerked forward, gasping in arousing relief. “What is it?”
Her eyes fluttered beneath his gravitas. “Just do it. Don’t make me second guess anything. Don’t second guess anything yourself. I want you to completely take over tonight, Damon.” She wrapped both arms around his shoulders, forehead grazing his prickly chin. “Own me, husband.”
He pulled her hair out of its twist and snatched a handful. Alice moaned, the pulling sensation against her scalp the first of many such feelings she would have tonight.
“I already do, my pet.”
Chapter 4
Alice stood in the master bathroom, and while she was not technically naked, she certainly felt exposed to every element controlling her high-rise penthouse.
She also felt incredibly expensive.
No mindset was easier to get into than the one of Damon Monroe’s pet. She may be his wife, but she was also his obedient pet. Submissive wife, obedient pet. In truth, this was what Alice craved, not just now, but all day. All week. The amount of times she outright asked her husband for Dom/sub scenes since they exchanged vows were almost too many to count by now. Tonight, however, was different.
Alice knew the moment she walked back into the master bedroom, she would have to do anything he told her to. Monroe could act any way he pleased. He could torment her with promises of pleasure and never deliver until he was satisfied with her diligence. He could take her the moment he saw her, fucking her with such raw force that she remained speechless and dazed for days. He could tie her up on their new marital bed and leave her to think about what she had done, whatever that was.
The outfit he had chosen for her didn’t offer any answers about what he had planned. Bondage gear. Alice snorted to see it hanging in the innermost closet last night. Now she admired herself in the large, gilded mirror hanging on her bathroom wall.
The straps hadn’t been too difficult to figure out. They crisscrossed her chest, supporting her breasts as they humbly poked out between two studded leather straps. The waist hugged her hips, more straps lining her thighs before attaching to a pair of black tights. Alice stepped into a pair of stiletto Chelsea boots that added a good few inches to her modest height. Oh, good. All the better to see her breasts in the mirror. Of course her pink nipples were already hard enough to cut herself on.
Her collar remained snug around her throat. The shoulder straps of her outfit almost looked like they connected to her collar. The only things out of place with her ensemble were her bracelets. Otherwise the dark makeup she was already wearing that day matched nicely with everything else. All that was missing was a simple rubber band pulling back her hair. Her husband had requested a ponytail good enough to grab.
Alice shuddered. She took one last good look at herself in the mirror, not only checking to make sure she was presentable to her husband and the man she so desperately loved, but taking in what she looked like the night she really took fate into her own hands.
This wouldn’t be a look to share with her grandchildren, but it was a look that said a lot about who she was at twenty-eight.
“Let’s do this,” she said with a deep breath. Was it drafty in there? Or was it her naked ass hanging from her outfit? Hmph.
She turned off the light behind her. The small hallway connecting the master bath to the bedroom was dark as well.
So was the bedroom.
Her husband had turned off most of the lights in the large bedroom and lit some candles. A romantic touch. A rather erotic one, too.
He sat on the end of the bed, jacket off, but the rest of his clothes still on. His tie was limp around his neck. Cufflinks slipped through eyelets as Monroe rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. The man was so engrossed with his own physical preparations that he almost didn’t notice his wife sauntering up in nothing but a few black straps covering her body. She wasn’t even wearing underwear. Why would she? She had nothing to hide from him.
“Aren’t you the picture of poise and beauty?” Monroe stood, hand instantly going for her ass. Not to spank it, but to caress it with eager fingers. If Alice shuddered in the bathroom, she visibly shivered now. “Exactly how I pictured my glorious wife. Minus one thing.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black mask. “There we go.” The mask fit snugly on her face. Not too snug, though.
“Are you pleased, Master?” Alice didn’t touch him, even though the only thing she wanted was to run her fingers along that slit in his shirt. Warm skin and crystal buttons called to her. Ah, had she been shivering? They were all tingles now. Hot, sumptuous tingles.
“I am always pleased with you.” Monroe’s finger always fit so perfectly into the hook of her collar. “In a perfect world, I would have the time and energy to devour you every day. I’d give you everything you want, while taking everything I want too.” His finger disappeared. Only then did Alice finally notice the leash coiled on the bed. “In a perfect world.”
The leash latched onto her collar.
“Who are you, Alice?”
She raised her head. “I’m your wife, sir.”
“Yes. You are.” A tender, oh so delicate kiss graced her lips. “What else are you?”
“Your pet.”
“What is it about being my pet that is so important?”
“I…” Alice had to think about that, and the last thing she wanted to do tonight was think. “I exist for your amusement, but you also do everything in your power to take care of me.”
“We both benefit from our arrangement.”
“Yes.”
“Do you willingly submit to being mine, as you willingly married me?”
“Absolutely, sir.”
He kissed her again. “This is your last chance to make requests, my pet. What do you want from me tonight?”
Alice dared to touch him. That was a request, wasn’t it? To touch him? To feel the silk of his shirt upon her fingertips? To experience the heat and hairs of his skin as both warmed beneath her touch? “I want you to be unrelenting with me. From beginning to end, show me the best of both worlds you offer.”
“What are those worlds?”
“Being my loving husband and all-consuming Master.”
“You’ve come a long way, Alice. Remember when I asked you if you liked BDSM?”
She ignored that. Perhaps it would be to her detriment in the short term, but Alice was not interested in playing that game right now. “I remember my safe word, but I don’t want to use it. Take what you want and do what you want to me. Ask me to do anything. As of right now I am yours to use.”
“That is a lot of responsibility you foist upon me.”
“Are you saying you are unworthy, Master?”
“Now, now… no need to be glib.” Monroe tugged on her leash, bringing her head closer to his. “It simply says a lot about the both of us that you trust me so much. I’m honored to have this chance with you.”
He grabbed her ass so quickly that Alice had to place her hands on his chest to keep from falling over.
“Tell me one more time what you want.” This close, and his erection made itself known against her stomach. Waves of desire coursed over the both of them. Mostly Alice, one supposed, but she wanted to believe that they were both happy victims.
“I want you, sir. I want my husband and Master to have his fill of me, and to use me however he pleases. This is why I exist tonight.”
How far she had come since their first official date, ind
eed.
Monroe gave her a real kiss this time. A real, delightful kiss to seal this oral contract that bound them both, body and heart.
“You are mine, Alice.” Those words were spoken into her mouth, carrying with them a possessive essence that lulled Alice into that state of submissive euphoria she craved tonight. Make me feel everything. Make me terrified of nothing. Make me see that this is the start of something wonderful. “I made that decision the night I first met you. Now look at us. You’re my bride, and I get to have you any way I want until I can’t prove myself any longer. I will do us both proud. You?” He bit her lip, teeth pulling it until it popped away. “You’ll take every drop of me, sucking me dry of what makes me a man worthy of your trust. We’re proving ourselves to each other tonight, and I promise you, I don’t think we can fail.”
He backed away, pointing to their bed.
“Sit, my pet. You’re tense and need to relax before we really get started.”
Alice obeyed, as she was meant to do. Her bare ass slid effortlessly across the bed as she moved back, legs coming with her. Not once did her eyes leave him. That was how she instinctively knew to spread her legs and bend her knees.
He broke eye contact. Her husband wanted to look at his wife’s pretty petals, after all.
“You taunt me,” Monroe accused her, kneeling. “I fall for it every time. That’s what love does to me.”
He was right about one thing. Alice needed help relaxing. What better way to relax and get into the scene than by having the man she loved most tease her thighs with his circling thumbs and wandering lips?
Alice laid back and closed her eyes while her husband’s tongue tempted her toward freedom. He was gentle for now. Alice did not doubt that soon enough she would be mentally begging for mercy while physically screaming for more. She was already halfway to that frame of mind now. From the moment Monroe unleashed his tongue on her slit, she had forgotten what she was even anxious about in the first place.
