Trust

by Sherri Hayes

  We lay there until the phone rang, letting me know the food had arrived. I helped Brianna out of the water and quickly dried us both off. “Go get in my bed. Don’t bother getting dressed. I’ll be in with the food in a few minutes.”

  By the time I slipped on a pair of sleep pants and reached the front door, the deliveryman was already there waiting. I paid him and went into the kitchen to grab a tray. Once the food was unpacked and loaded onto the serving tray, I carried it into the bedroom where Brianna was waiting. She was lying down, under the covers, facing the bathroom. When I ambled into the room, she shifted to look at me.

  I set the tray on the nightstand beside the bed, stripped out of the pants I’d thrown on to answer the door, and climbed in beside her. She immediately crawled to my side, and I held her for a few minutes, basking in her closeness. “I know you probably aren’t hungry, but I want you to try to eat something.”

  She didn’t respond.

  I leaned over and brought the tray to rest on my lap. Stabbing a piece of chicken with my fork, I lifted it to her lips. Brianna took the offering and chewed slowly. I speared another bite and popped it into my mouth.

  It was slowgoing, but she swallowed down eleven bites before she glanced up at me and said she didn’t think she could eat any more. I gave her a soft kiss and tucked her back into my side while I finished eating. She’d eaten more than I’d thought she would.

  We spent the rest of the evening cuddled up in my bed watching movies. Every now and then, we’d talk, but we avoided anything that would lead back to John. She and I would discuss that more later, but she’d had her heart crushed by her visit—I knew she’d had high hopes that had been dashed.

  At two in the morning, Brianna awoke from a nightmare. It was the first one she’d had since moving back in, and I had no doubts as to the cause. John was very lucky he wasn’t within arm’s reach at that moment.

  She awoke twice more after that. It was a long night.

  The next morning, I let her sleep in while I got something to eat and checked my e-mail. When she finally opened her eyes, I was sitting several feet away in a chair with my laptop. It reminded me again of some of her first nights with me, except this time, she was in my bed and not her own.

  “Hi.” She brushed her hair away from her face and sat up with her back against the headboard.

  “Good morning. How are you feeling?”

  “Tired.”

  “Considering how many times your sleep was disrupted last night, that’s not surprising.” I paused and closed my laptop. “Are you hungry?”

  “A little.”

  I stood, set my computer down on the chair, and went to get her robe. Slipping the silk up over her shoulders, I made sure it was securely wrapped around her before placing a sound kiss on her lips. “Let’s go get you something to eat, and then we’ll talk.”

  Breakfast was a quiet affair—even more so than usual. I allowed her to mull over her thoughts while she ate and was happy when she finished all of the eggs and fruit I’d placed in front of her.

  When she was finished, I led her over to my chair, and she curled up in my lap, gravitating to her favorite position. “We need to talk about your visit with your father.”

  “I know.”

  “How did it feel seeing him again?”

  Brianna ran her hand absentmindedly over my chest. Normally she’d be playing with the buttons on my shirt, but I wasn’t wearing one. “Nervous. Scared. Even though I knew he couldn’t hurt me with Cal there, all I could think about was the last time I saw him—when he sent me the flowers and tried to take me away.”

  “I’d say that’s a pretty natural reaction.”

  “I just thought it would be different. That he’d be different somehow.”

  “In what way?”

  “I guess . . . I guess I wanted him to apologize for what he did. I was hoping he’d be sorry.”

  I kissed her temple, wishing I could give her what she’d wanted.

  “I told him what Ian . . . what he did to me.”

  “Did he say anything to that?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t give him a chance. I told him, and then . . . then I left.”

  All I could do was hold her and let her grieve. In a way, she’d lost her second parent. That was never easy no matter how it happened.

  I didn’t end up going in to work at all that day. Brianna needed me too much, and to be honest, I needed her. Her visit with her father had been trying for us both.

  Over the next few weeks, Brianna and I rehashed her visit with her father several more times. Her nightmares continued, but none were as severe as those she’d had that first night. I wasn’t completely sure they were entirely because she’d seen John again. The trial was inching closer, and soon she would come face-to-face with her torturer once more.

  I had her journal about it multiple times as she worked through her feelings. While the visit hadn’t been what she was expecting—hoping—it had provided a few more insights into John’s thinking. He’d still been in love with her mother. It was obvious to me as soon as Brianna shared that aspect of the conversation. It took her a little longer to wrap her head around it. She’d always believed their divorce had been a mutual decision—that they’d fallen out of love with one another. Brianna wasn’t sure how she felt about the new information.

  Toward the end of January, contemplation of John’s motivations were put on the back burner as preparation for the trial ramped up. We both took several trips to the prosecutor’s office to prep. It was tedious and highly emotional. It also didn’t help with Brianna’s nightmares.

  Two days before the trial, I decided it was time to present Brianna with the charm I’d bought for her. She’d surprised me in many ways over the last several weeks. After talking to John, she’d seemed to gain more resolve to see this thing through to the end. She wanted Ian punished for what he’d done, not only to her but to at least two other young women.

  Brianna was in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch when I came up behind her and kissed her shoulder. “Hi.”

  She giggled. “Hi.”

  Brianna was truly amazing. She was so beautiful and all mine. I took the cloth out of her hand and threw it in the sink. Leading her into the main room, I instructed her to kneel. I could tell she was confused by the look on her face, but she did as I instructed.

  With my empty hand, I lifted her chin, holding it in a position where she was forced to look up at me. “Brianna we’ve talked a lot about your being my submissive. You wear my collar, but when I gave it to you, it was meant to give you a feeling of security . . . safety. Although I hope you still feel safety and security wearing my collar, I’m also hoping you want it to mean more, as I do.”

  Releasing her chin, I opened my hand.

  Brianna stared at the ornate charm I held in my palm. A small sigh left her lips as she opened her mouth and released a breath.

  I’d had the charm custom made for her after she’d returned home. It was a solid platinum heart with an eternity symbol carved in the center. I’d planned to hold on to it for a while—until she was ready—but things felt different between us. Brianna wasn’t the scared little girl anymore who didn’t know what she wanted. She’d made her choice to be with me—as my submissive. I wanted to acknowledge her choice—and mine.

  “Will you give every part of yourself to me, trusting me to make sure your needs are met? Protecting you? Cherishing you? Loving you?” I paused and knelt down in front of her. “Will you accept this heart—this symbol—and wear it to show the world that you are mine?”

  Brianna nodded, and I saw her start to tear up.

  Cupping the back of her head, I brought our mouths together. I put everything I was feeling into the kiss, trying to show her how happy she’d made me with one simple nod of her head.

  “I love you,” I whispered, breaking the kiss and resting my forehead against hers.

  Brianna reached up and ran her index finger gently along the seam of
my lips. She watched her finger moved back and forth several times and then smiled up at me with an almost mischievous look in her eye.

  I laughed. She really was going to be a handful once she got over her fears. Brianna might not have realized it, but I had a feeling she had a playful side in there. I didn’t think she would ever be like Sarah or Lily, but I could see her being playful once in a while, and that was okay. We’d figure it out, just like everything else.

  Standing, I helped her turn a little so I could add the charm onto her collar. I was careful not to remove the collar from her neck, only unclasping it enough to slip the heart onto the circular ring.

  She placed her hand over the heart and smiled up at me. “Thank you, Sir.”

  I took her face between both my hands and kissed her gently . . . reverently. “No. Thank you, Brianna. I am truly honored.”

  Brianna leaned into my hands, and I moved to sit on the couch. Lifting her onto my lap, I proceeded to kiss her. It was rather innocent at first—well, as innocent as our kisses ever were. That was until she squirmed just right, and my cock decided it had been ignored long enough and wanted in on the action.

  Brianna

  Stephan leaned me back on the couch, pressing me down into the cushions. The heart he added to my collar felt heavy as it lay against my collarbone. I was his now, really and truly his. There were no more questions as to whether or not I could be his submissive. The occasional doubt surfaced in my mind every now and then, but Stephan always said we’d figure it out as we went, and we always did. He never made me feel that my fears were stupid. Instead, he acknowledged them and set out to find a way to dispel them.

  He kissed me while his hands explored. It was cold today, so I’d worn a sweater, but that didn’t seem to deter him. Stephan slid his hand up underneath my shirt and palmed my breast, kneading and squeezing.

  It didn’t take long before he was working the sweater over my head and throwing it over his shoulder. I had no idea where it landed, but I didn’t have much time to care as he pushed the cups of my bra down and went to work on my nipples.

  All too soon, I was writhing beneath him. He was sucking on one of my nipples while pinching and pulling on the other. Shots of electricity pulsed from my breasts directly between my legs.

  I let out a low whine when he stopped what he was doing to my breasts and reached down between us to unfasten my jeans. He chuckled. “Patience, Brianna.”

  Without waiting for a response from me, he removed my shoes and shimmied my jeans down my legs, leaving me only in my panties and my bra—although the bra wasn’t covering much. I thought he would finish removing the rest of my clothes, but he didn’t. Not right away, anyway. Instead, he removed all of his own clothing, including his boxers, and stood near my head.

  He cupped the back of my neck with his right hand and drew my mouth toward his erection. There was no need for instruction. I knew what he wanted, and I gladly provided it.

  The salty taste of his penis as it hit my tongue only made me want more. I loved the taste, the feel of him in my mouth. He groaned and tightened his hold on my head as I sucked harder.

  I ran my tongue along the head and thrilled when he jerked his hips, causing him to go deeper into my mouth. Soon he started to move his hips in shallow strokes as I continued to lick and suck as if there were no better taste in the world.

  He was close. I could feel it in the way his body moved, in the rhythm of this breathing. Stephan surprised me, though, by pulling out of my mouth. He looked down at me and smiled, running his thumb along my bottom lip. “Not yet, my pet. As much as I love coming inside your pretty mouth, I will be inside you when I come this time. You are mine.”

  Stephan ran his index finger along my collar and palmed the heart he’d recently added. He looked up, meeting my gaze. “Mine.”

  Releasing the heart, he lowered his hand to first my left breast and then my right, cupping each one, weighing it in his palm, before pinching the nipple. He held my gaze. “Mine.”

  Ever so slowly, he trailed his hand down over my stomach, rubbing my skin lovingly, before continuing downward. He cupped his hand over my sex and pressed firmly. Heat and moisture pulsated under his fingers. “Mine.”

  I swallowed and nodded. Yes, I was his. Completely and totally his.

  He didn’t lower his gaze as he removed my panties and slipped two fingers inside me. With his free hand, he started playing with my nipples again. It didn’t take long until I was moaning and arching my back. How he could do this to me, I had no idea, but I loved it.

  Kneeling between my legs, he removed his fingers. Seconds later, I felt the head of his penis slide inside.

  Stephan rocked his hips back and forth, entering me inch by inch. The slow progress was driving me crazy. I wanted to feel him. All of him. I wanted that completely full feeling I only got when he was seated inside me to the hilt.

  Once every inch of him was inside me, he wasted no time pulling almost completely back out and thrusting in again. This time, however, there was no slow. The inward thrust of his hips was hard and fast, and my muscles surrounding his erection reacted to the pleasant intrusion.

  He kept up a steady pace as I climbed higher and higher toward the peak. It felt so good. With every thrust of his hips, the heart charm bounced against my neck, almost as a reminder of his possession. I felt my climax building, edging closer, and Stephan leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Come for me, my pet. Let me see that beautiful face of yours as you climax around me.”

  His words had the desired effect. I grabbed hold of his upper arms, arched my back, and moaned through my orgasm.

  Stephan kept moving his hips, not letting up for a moment. About a minute passed . . . or I thought it was about a minute . . . I really didn’t know. My mind was fuzzy. All I could do was feel as my body continued to tremble from my release. I felt something brush against my hip and then press against my clit. It wasn’t until he began moving it in a circular motion that I realized it was his thumb. “That’s it. One more time for me. Let go and feel.”

  I couldn’t believe it, but the heat began to build again, just as strong as before. Stephan started pistoning faster and moved his thumb in time with each of his inward thrusts. He kissed the pulse point in my neck and then latched on to it, sucking hard. It was all I needed to send me into another mind-blowing climax.

  Chapter 45

  Brianna

  I was shaking as I got dressed the morning the trial was scheduled to start. Although I wouldn’t be testifying that day—wouldn’t even be going to the courthouse—I was nervous. I couldn’t explain it exactly, but I was. Knowing that the next several weeks would decide Ian’s fate was nerve-racking. What if the jury didn’t believe me? What if I got up there in front of all those people and froze, unable to speak?

  Stephan told me not to worry too much. He’d be right there, and Dr. Perkins was working with me on what to do if I started to feel that my anxiety was getting the better of me. She also told me that if I couldn’t look at Ian while I was up on the stand, that was okay.

  Even if I didn’t look at him directly while I testified, I would know he was there, watching me. I would be coming face-to-face with Ian for the first time since Stephan had taken me away, and I had mixed feelings about seeing him. On one hand, I was scared to death—hence the shaking. On the other, I wanted him to see that he hadn’t broken me—that I had survived despite everything he’d done to me.

  Slipping my shirt over my head, I caught sight in the mirror of the heart Stephan had given me two nights ago. It was beautiful. The heart was solid, with the exception of the infinity sign that had been carved into it.

  Placing my hand over the heart, I took a deep breath and looked at myself once more in the mirror. I remembered standing months ago in my bathroom, questioning who and what I was once Stephan had informed me I was no longer a slave. That girl had been lost. She’d had no direction. Fear of the unknown had been almost worse than knowing she was nothing more than
someone else’s property.

  I was no longer that girl.

  “Everything all right in here, sweetheart?” Stephan strolled into my bedroom in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, looking extremely casual for a Monday morning. He’d made arrangements to work from home until the trial ended. His uncle and the senior vice president were stepping in to cover the meetings and conference calls Stephan wouldn’t be able to attend. I was grateful and was once again reminded of how lucky I was that he’d rescued me. Unlike my father, Stephan knew I needed him.

  “I think so.” My voice trembled with my anxiety.

  He opened his arms, and I went immediately into them, surrounding myself with the solace he was offering. Stephan brushed his lips lightly against my forehead. “Are you sure you want to watch the news coverage?”

  We’d discussed it last night, and he’d agreed to let me watch the morning news so I could hear what was going on. Emma had explained the first day would consist of opening statements by both the prosecution and defense. No one would testify today, but it would set the tone for what was to come.

  I wasn’t allowed to be in the courtroom yet. Neither was Stephan. Those testifying couldn’t be present until after they took the stand so that their testimony couldn’t be influenced. In a way, I was glad. It meant I didn’t have to be in the same room with Ian yet.

  “Yes. I want to hear what they have to say.” I paused.

  “And?”

  “And . . . I don’t know how I’m going to react when I see him again. In person, I mean. I want to . . . I want to try and prepare myself.”

  He sighed and hugged me closer. “All right. Let’s get us both some breakfast, and then we can turn on the TV for a while.” Stephan tipped my chin up so that I was looking at him. “If you start getting agitated, I’m turning it off. Understand?”