I tip the lowball to my lips and wait for the buzz of liquor to wipe out thoughts of her and Lennox, but most of all, Katherine. I need to get her out of my system. I should take Ronan’s advice and pick a sub from the floor. I could have any one of a dozen bent over for my hand and my cock in less than five minutes.
Maybe that’s part of the problem, though. Katherine’s always been a challenge. She’s a difficult sub. She’s a dangerous conquest. She’s complicated. And ever since she walked into my club, I’ve become a big fan of complicated, insubordinate subs.
I glare at the loud knock on the door. Everyone who works here knows not bother me while I’m in my office. I’ve been ready to snap all day. Now I just want to be alone.
The door slowly opens. Brock, one of my security men, hesitantly steps inside.
“I don’t want to be bothered,” I bark.
“I understand, but we have a problem, boss.”
I follow his gaze to the security monitor screen on the wall. Then I see the problem.
A five-foot-seven-bombshell problem.
Kitten.
The problem isn’t that she’s here at the club. The problem is the sinfully tight red dress she’s wearing.
Red. Crave’s signature color for an available submissive. It’s painting my vision with every second that passes.
I thought we were through. Maybe we are. This is either a loud-and-clear act of defiance, or she’s delusional enough to think I’m going to let someone else claim her. Not on my watch. Not in my club.
I charge past Brock and out of my office, unable and unwilling to temper the flare of possession coursing through my veins. When I reach the main floor, wide-eyed club members quickly move aside to let me through. As the crowd parts, I see her on the dance floor, moving seductively.
She’s already attracted plenty of admirers, a couple of whom think they can put their hands on her. I resist the urge to break their arms. It’s bad for business, but I also can’t fault them. I’ve purposefully kept Katherine away from this place. Only a select few actually know what she means to me. That she’s mine.
I cross the distance between us, catch her by the arm, and spin her toward me. “What do you think you’re doing?” My voice booms over the loud music.
The room seems to still as people stop and stare.
Her eyes are practically glowing with anger. “Get your hands off me.”
When I don’t budge, her cheeks bloom red. I’m humiliating her, and I’m past caring.
“I don’t take orders from you anymore, Demitri. The lessons are over.”
“I don’t think so.” I pivot and lead her away from the hungry and curious looks on the dance floor.
“Let me go, Demitri. Damn it, just let me go!”
Not in the cards. Not tonight. Maybe not ever.
Once we’re shrouded in the darkened hallway leading to the playrooms, I stop abruptly. I grab her wrists, push her against the wall, and pin her hands above her head. Our gazes lock. I’m already growing hard being this close to her.
Her eyelids lower, but her jaw is still tight with anger. “I’m tired of your games, Demitri. Fucking with my head and making me crave things I’ll never have. Just admit that you don’t want me, and let me find someone who does.”
I press into her, making her feel the length of me and all my strength. “Does that feel like I don’t want you?”
Her breathing grows shallow. Affecting her is my favorite addiction. After toying with her for so long, I know all the buttons to press. All the notes to play to get her writhing and whimpering. Begging. Yes, I think I’m finally ready to make her truly beg for it.
I lean in and drag my lips over hers, capturing the smallest hint of her taste. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in, kitten?”
“How can I know if you don’t show me?” she whispers.
The last of my control disintegrates. I crash my mouth against hers, growling when her tongue begins moving hungrily against mine. My God. This woman can work me up and break me down like no other. The taste of her is almost enough to melt my anger… Almost.
I release her and spin her around, pushing the front of her body against the rough concrete wall. I use my shoe to kick her feet apart, urging her stance wider. My hand slides between her legs, discovering the slickness of her inner thighs.
Always so fucking responsive.
“This belongs to me, kitten. Me and only me. Do you understand?”
She drops her head back against my chest and moans when my fingertips brush against the swollen wet folds of her pussy.
“Answer me.” I lean in closer and clip her earlobe between my teeth. I’m desperate to get more of her scent into my lungs.
“I would have given you everything,” she says. I can already hear the agony in her words. “You come here every night and take what you need from the other girls. I need more… I need a Master.”
I can barely breathe. For the moment, I’m glad she can’t see my face, because her words are blasting through me like heavy artillery. She thinks I’m fucking my way through the club every night. That stings, no doubt. But her honesty…the depth of her need… That’s what’s ripping me open right now.
Suddenly I can see how terribly I’ve failed her. People come to Crave to shed their skin and be whoever they need to be without the bullshit rules and expectations of the outside world. The second I found out who her father was, I refused to see her as anyone else. I forced myself to keep her in a box, entertaining our lessons together but never giving her the space to learn. To bloom.
I wrap my arms around her, binding our torsos tightly. “There are no other girls,” I murmur as I brush my lips across her shoulder. I reach for the zipper of her dress and guide the metal tab down the track, watching as the bright-red fabric separates from her gorgeous curvaceous body. So beautiful.
“You’re lying.” It comes out a broken sob.
“I don’t need to lie. I do what I want. What I want is you, krásná.”
She softens against me. Her hands have unfurled from their tight fists. I exhale my own sigh of relief. To have her here. Safe with me. In my arms. Under my command. Now I need her to know what that means.
“You disobeyed me by coming here tonight,” I breathe against her ear. “And then you blatantly wore a forbidden color.”
I seethe on that thought.
She nods, which spurs my next move. Grabbing hold of the sides of the fabric, I rip the red dress from her body in one violent move, causing her to whimper. I toss its remnants to the floor.
“You tried to seduce another man right in front of me.” I keep my tone even but firm. She needs to know punishment is due.
She nods again.
I lower my hand to unfasten my belt. In one pull, I free it from my waist. Using the tip, I tease it down the length of her exposed back before bringing the leather between her legs.
“You were going to let someone else take what belongs to me. Isn’t that right?”
When she doesn’t answer, I give her sex a hard pop with the end of the belt. She slaps her palm flat against the wall and lets out a pained grunt.
I want more of those sounds from her. Just not here.
I spin her around to face me. Her delicious breasts jut out, tempting me. I resist the urge to take her nipples between my teeth and coax out more tortured cries. Even in this darkened hallway, I can see the desire burning in her hooded gaze. It’s threatening the last shreds of my control.
“I think I deserve an answer. You were going to let someone else fuck you tonight, weren’t you?”
She casts her gaze downward. “Y-Yes.”
I deliver a hard slap against her swollen sex. She cries out, an anguished mix of pleasure and pain. My emotions aren’t that far away. Rage laced with intense lust. The urge to fuck and fight. A tornado of craving and destruction.
“Yes, what?” I hiss.
“Yes. Yes, Sir.”
I lean in closer. “I’m more than your Sir, Katherine
. I’m your Master, no matter what you might think. That means you kneel for me. You respect me. You fucking obey me. And when you do that all right, you come for me. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
She exhales shakily and meets my eyes. “Yes, Master.”
A shot of desire hits me at the way the last word rumbles past her lips. It holds a kind of reverence I’ve yet to experience from her. Then again, I’ve never lost control with her like this. She’s never pushed me this far. The devil on my shoulder wants to know how much more she can take.
“Good. Now I’m going to make sure you never forget it.”
Chapter Ten
Katherine
I’ve provoked the most dominant and intimidating man I’ve ever met. I pushed him too far. I realize that now. Now I have to accept the consequences. Hell, somehow I ache for them more badly than ever. Whatever punishment he has in store for me, I vow to endure it.
The door to the playroom slams shut behind me. He leads me toward the black leather punishing bench in the center of the large room. My heart lurches into my throat.
“You know what to do.” His voice is low. Deep and dangerous.
I’ve seen this kind of play, but I’ve never done anything like it. I’m scared and impossibly turned on. I’m almost trembling too badly to place my knees onto the side platforms. I lean forward, letting the pressure push out an anxious breath. The low tilt of the device spreads my hips open wide and positions my ass high into the air. My stomach rests on the center, and my nipples harden against the cool leather beneath.
Before I can get completely situated, my arms are suddenly forced into the leather cuffs located on the front bar. Demitri chooses the last notch on the buckles, making the restraints as uncomfortable as possible around my wrists. Once he’s secured them and given them a firm tug, he steps back and begins unbuttoning his shirt.
“You have so much to learn, kitten.”
He circles the bench, slowly studying me like a predator would its prey. Ahead of me, the long mirrored wall allows me to see his every move. When he stops in front of me again, I have the ultimate view. I’m rewarded with his bared muscular chest. My hungry eyes follow the lines of his ripped stomach muscles, moving downward to the perfectly cut V that dips below the waistband of his navy suit pants. Then the thick outline of his erection.
I can’t help but lick my lips. From head to toe, the man is perfection…an Adonis. After knowing him as long as I have, I have complete faith that he fucks like a god. And right now, he’s about to teach me the lesson of a lifetime.
He trails his fingertips up my arms, down the base of my spine, and up again. The teasing touch sends an exhilarating wave of anticipation through me. Moaning, I arch my body off the table, forcing my ass higher in the air.
He groans softly and circles behind me again. Then I notice the leather belt is still in his hand. I’m terrified and exhilarated in the same moment.
“Four strikes. One for each of the ways you disrespected me tonight. Understand?”
I’m not sure I can handle four hits with his belt, but I answer quickly. “Yes, Master.”
“Good girl. Now, count for me.”
I grab hold of the bar in front of me and brace myself for what is about to happen.
“One.”
The biting pain of the leather nearly takes my breath away. Tears instantly form in my eyes. I push them back and force my focus on the mirrored wall across from me. Tightening my grip on the bar of the bench, I prepare myself for the next blow. When I’m brave enough to speak, I resume the count.
“Two.”
The second strike lands across the opposite ass cheek, and a strangled cry tears from me. My body seems to absorb the pain faster, though, because the next thing I notice is an unexpected rush of wetness gathering between my legs. I stare at my reflection—my flushed face and dilated eyes—all signs that Demitri’s punishment is doing more than testing the limits of my pain tolerance.
How could this possibly turn me on?
I punctuate the thought with another request. “Three,” I rasp, almost welcoming the next blow as it comes and the mixture of pleasure and pain it brings.
As the sensation fades, I know I’m on my way to becoming addicted. I silently wonder how much of the blissful torture I can take if tested.
“Four.”
The belt drops to the floor abruptly.
“Enough,” he murmurs.
In seconds, he strips the rest of his clothes and rolls on a condom. Coming close, he drags the tip of his cock along my soaked tissues.
His lips part, and I attempt to shift my hips back and join us. I’m mourning the end of my punishment, but we’ve never been this close to actually fucking before. Between the two, my head is buzzing. I grip the bar with a tortured moan. Part of me wishes I could move and coax him into me, but the restraint is its own kind of perfection, keeping all that desire lit up under my skin with no place to go.
“Please,” I beg, the sheer desperation evident in my voice. “Take me.”
I meet his smoldering gaze in the mirror. I’ve never seen such a dark look grace his features. His sculpted chest is heaving, and I know he’s fighting to stay in control.
“Like this, kitten? Here?”
I move my hips back and forth, trying to urge him on. Wrapping a fistful of my hair around his hand, he tugs my head back. The bite of pain and his hot breath against my ear trigger a desperate whimper to leave my lips.
“Say it. Beg.”
“Please, Demitri,” I whisper. “Make me yours.”
He notches his cock at my entrance, thrusts forward, and enters me with such force that it steals my breath. His second thrust is just as unforgiving as he pushes himself deeper still, past the place inside me that his fingers tormented days ago.
A painful cry tears up my throat. “Oh God!”
The piercing sting of being torn inside brings tears to my eyes. They spill over as I suck in a few rapid breaths. It’s so much more intense than the whip of the belt on my skin. He’s so deep, invading the untried places inside of me. I need a moment to adjust to him, but he doesn’t allow it. Instead, he pulls out and slams back into me, this time forcing his massive length even deeper into my core. He curses something in his native Czech tongue.
“You’re so deep.” I close my eyes and try to process the overwhelming sensation.
When he moves again, I can’t help but wince at the soreness.
“You have a safe word, krásná.”
I shake my head, an almost imperceptible motion. He’s tearing me apart. It’s everything I wanted. Except I’ve never seen him this unleashed. We’re playing without limits.
I meet Demitri’s eyes in the mirror once more.
“Don’t stop,” I say.
I tighten my grip on the bar, but he goes still. He slides his palms lower, spreading me as he gazes down at the place where we’re joined. “You’re bleeding for me.” His lips part and his chest heaves.
Something inside me gives way. It feels like surrender. It rumbles deep in my bones. It tightens like a knot deep in my belly as he proceeds to fuck me. Slowly at first, then faster and harder. The fierce drives of his body into mine stirs new sensations. My inner walls tighten down on him, making every invasion more intense. I’m gasping for breath and reaching for more.
He must feel it too, because he slams into me with a growl. Hard and incredibly deep. He slips his fingers around to my clit, delivering urgent strokes designed to bring me to the edge. Again and again until the orgasm rips through me like a violent storm. Bowing my back up off the bench, I scream out his name. His last drives vault me even higher, into more pleasure than I’ve ever experienced.
“Fuck!” Demitri lets out a feral growl, digging his nails deep into my flesh as he buries himself to the hilt.
He stays there, pulsing someplace deep inside me, a place that’s his now. Even with the condom between us, I feel utterly claimed. I’m shaking. More tears spill down my cheeks
. Not from the pain, which is a distant memory now. But from the raw intensity of the moment.
I’m still turned completely inside out as he slips out of me and circles the bench. He removes my wrists from the cuffs. But before I can come down off the euphoric high, I’m being lifted up into his strong arms. Wordlessly he carries me toward the king-size bed on the other side of the playroom, where he lays me down. The aftershocks of the orgasms are still working their way through my system when he crawls over me and pins my hands above my head.
I look into his eyes, trying to read his thoughts. Possession, hunger, and something else I’m afraid to name.
“You belong to me, kitten. And we’re not leaving this room until you know it.”
Chapter Eleven
Demitri
Fine snow flurries kiss the window of my office. The sky is growing dark with impending dusk, which means a new day is beginning for me. I’d slept late after spending all night and a better part of the morning with Katherine. Fucking her. Teasing her. Tasting her. Feeling her…
Once that last boundary between us was taken away, I was a man possessed. Utterly obsessed. The hours we spent together weren’t enough, even though we both should have been beyond sated after the first round on the bench. Those memories are burned in my mind for eternity now.
She’s mine. Truly mine. She’ll feel me for days because of it. I’ve been waiting for the guilt to hit. The worry that I’ve well and truly fucked up this time, but all I can think about is when I’ll be able to see her again.
Soon, I promised, as I sent her home in a private car when morning light began to dawn.
In the meantime, I have business to take care of…
I flip Natasha’s card around and around. It’s blank white except for the ten-digit phone number printed in the middle. Lennox’s number. I can’t imagine what he wants, but I’m confident it’s nothing that will interest me. Our business abruptly concluded the second he destroyed my family in the name of money and personal gain. Not the kind of wealth that piles up in overseas accounts and sets families up for years. No. Just enough money to slip through his fingers so fast, all he could do was set up his next racket.
Misadventures with a Master Page 5