Challenge to Him

by Lisabet Sarai

  “Can you not consider sharing with the poor unfortunates upon whom your wealth is founded?” Her face was shadowed, but her voice was like music.

  “Are you lobbying for that extra dollar in wages, Miss Alcott?” Slipping his arm around her back, he stroked the side of her breast through the velvet.

  “That was, if you recall, a part of our bargain.”

  He ran his finger down her neck, along her collarbone and into the hollow between her breasts, all bared by the evening gown. She shivered and pressed against him.

  “I’ll think about it, Olivia. Meanwhile, what about your part of the bargain? Your agreement to follow my orders in every particular? You weren’t very obedient this evening.”

  “You never ordered me to lie—Sir.” She gazed up at him. Now, finally, he could see the sparkle in her eyes. “However, if you feel I deserve it, well then, you must punish me.”

  Andrew took her arm and led her back into the echoing halls of Wavecrest. “That’s exactly what I plan to do.”

  Chapter Six

  “Seven!” The strap whistled through the air. Olivia steeled herself as leather bit into the tender flesh of her ass, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Her lips pressed together to contain her cries. Her eyes were screwed shut to hold back tears. Each stroke hurt twice as much as the previous one, but she was determined to endure the punishment Andrew MacIntyre had decreed—twenty lashes with his hand-tooled belt of Moroccan cowhide—without complaint.

  “Eight!” A starburst of pain exploded at the point of contact, then faded to a throbbing ache, echoed by the insistent pulse in her clit. Her buttocks, already sensitised from his earlier spanking, felt as though they’d been roasted over an open flame.

  “Nine!” Despite her determination to be stoic, she could not help flinching away from the vicious strap, but she could not escape. Her bonds permitted only the most limited movements.

  Andrew had her bent over the footboard of the bed with her buttocks in the air, her chest upon the mattress and her arms stretched over her head. Ropes looped around her wrists and pulled them towards the far bedposts on either side of the pillows. More rope fastened her ankles to the legs of the bedstead, keeping her thighs spread wide. She could do little more than wriggle, and when she did, her pebbled nipples rubbed against the silk coverlet and triggered another sort of agony.

  The pain was terrible and yet somehow it excited her beyond belief. It was not the sensations per se that inspired her arousal. She feared the next application of the lash as much as she craved it. What thrilled her was the realisation that she embodied Andrew MacIntyre’s darkest fantasies. Everything he’d ever imagined, she could give to him. Unquestioning obedience. Willing surrender. A ripe, strong female body for him to use as his toy and his comfort. In the breathless moments between his strokes, they were deeply connected by complementary need. That connection was intoxicating.

  “Ten!” The belt snapped as it met its target, landing precisely on the delicate underside of her rear cheeks, near the crease where they met. The awful sting forced a cry from her throat, before she caught herself. Hot embarrassment at her weakness mingled with the fire consuming her ass and the fever in her pussy.

  Her inadvertent vocalisation made Andrew pause. “Olivia, are you all right?” His fingertips brushed across her welts, waking new pangs that sizzled straight to her sex. She arched backwards, seeking greater contact, and was rewarded by the warmth of his palms, massaging and soothing her battered flesh.

  “I’m fine, sir.” The confidence and certainty she heard in her own voice amazed her. “You may continue with my punishment.”

  “No, no—I don’t want to damage you.” His hands wandered along the curve of her hips to her waist, then up along her sides to the splayed swell of her breasts, flattened against the mattress. Everywhere he touched, he kindled shivers of delight. He had to lean over her to reach that sensitive spot and the wool of his trousers stung her abraded skin. Awkward, constrained by her bonds, she rubbed against the hard bulk prodding her buttocks. His sigh of pleasure only added to the heat building between her thighs. More of his weight settled upon her back. If only he were naked!

  “Miss Alcott, I’d love to thrash your delectable ass until it’s twice as red as it is now. But it’s too much—much too much for the first time.”

  “I deserve it, sir—ah!” He had wormed his hand beneath her body to capture her swollen nipple in the pincer of his fingers. “Oh!” He ran his tongue down her spine to leave a wet, tingling trail. “And—ah—oh, sir!” He’d pulled back far enough to slide a finger into her soaked depths. Although he kept well away from her clit, the stimulation still had her teetering on the edge of climax. “I—oh!—I can handle it, sir. It’s not my first time.”

  The admission tumbled out before she could stop herself.

  “What? What do you mean?” His growl suggested anger, but his fingers continued their slippery dance among her folds. She fought the waves of release threatening to engulf her, struggling for clarity and control. Men were so possessive. How could she explain that Dmitri was long gone, that now, tonight, she belonged solely to Andrew?

  “In Paris—I had a lover, a master—oh, please, don’t stop…”

  He’d pulled his hand abruptly out of her weeping pussy. The sense of loss was devastating.

  “I’ll do what I want. Go on, slut, tell me more.”

  She squirmed against the ropes that kept her from touching him. Their welcome bite helped her to focus.

  “He was a poet. Russian. He knew—knew me in a way I’d never experienced. I didn’t understand at the beginning, but he showed me, taught me…”

  “I knew it, damn it all! I felt it, the first time I saw you.” Tears welled in her eyes at his harsh tone. “Did he whip you, this master of yours?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Cane you?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Torture your nipples? Gag and blind you? Suspend you from the ceiling? Stuff his fist into your anus? Mark you with his blade?”

  Shame flooded through her at this litany of sins. Even Andrew MacIntyre was appalled by her secret desires.

  He grabbed her rear cheeks and pulled them apart, as if to inspect her most private parts. Her juices painted the insides of her thighs, clear evidence of her perverse excitement. His nails dug into the welts he’d inflicted. Sweet torment winged through her helpless body.

  “Speak up, slave. I want an answer. Which of these obscene things did your so-called master do to you?”

  Olivia fought a paralysing sense of humiliation, unable to reply. “All of them, sir,” she whispered finally, terrified of his reaction but compelled by the force of his will. “All of them, and more.”

  Andrew abruptly released his hold on her, backing away so that she could no longer sense his heat. Was he leaving, abandoning her in this compromising and uncomfortable position? Had he gone for his knife, to cut her free and dismiss her? She craned her neck, but he was out of her line of sight. She heard quiet rustling as he moved about the enormous room. Was he retrieving an even more painful instrument with which to punish her?

  “Sir?” she ventured, well aware that slaves were not supposed to speak unless specifically instructed to do so. The quaver in her voice revealed her desperate need. She didn’t care. “Please, sir… I’m sorry…” There was no answer.

  Her heart spiralled down into a pit of gloom. A vision of her future stretched before her, bleak, sterile and unsatisfying. She recalled her despair when Dmitri had left her, the blank hours, the months of aching, unrelieved need. For some reason this was far worse. Though she’d known Andrew less than a day, the sense of connection was far more powerful than she’d ever felt with her sly, seductive Russian master. Dmitri had been irresistible but cruel, a true sadist who had loved to see her suffer. Andrew, in contrast, appeared to be a basically decent man, despite his deviant sexual needs—although those needs were less deviant, apparently, than her own.

  If only
she’d kept her mouth shut.

  Then all at once he was behind her again, his strong hands gripping her hips and his rigid cock poised at her entrance. In an instant, Olivia soared back to the heights of arousal where he’d taken her during the beating.

  “What are you sorry about, wench?” A single jerk of his pelvis seated his cock in her wet depths. Gasping at the sudden, delicious intrusion, she couldn’t answer. He moved inside her, hard and sure, glorious and right—stretching, filling, fulfilling. His wiry pubic hair scratched the backs of her thighs as he buried himself to the root.

  Olivia strained against the pull of her bonds, arching her spine, wanting more. Instead, he drew back, emptying her. He rubbed his slick cockhead back and forth across her outer lips, carefully avoiding her clit and driving her crazy.

  “I beg you, sir, don’t tease me…”

  He laughed and swatted one sore butt cheek. “Be still!” Pleasure and pain rippled through her in alternating waves. “I’m in control here. You’re just my slut—the repository of my lust. And a very filthy little slut at that…”

  Was he in fact disgusted by her past? Perhaps not to the extent that Olivia had feared.

  She relaxed, opened herself, let him use her. In response, he slid back inside and resumed his thrusts. As she gave herself up to him, he rewarded her by increasing both the force and the speed with which he fucked her. She floated on a cloud of bliss, releasing any thought of her own satisfaction. She was content to be a vessel for her master’s pleasure.

  “Yes—uh—I’m surprised—a well-bred—educated—socially conscious—ah! You’re so damn wet, Olivia—so tight…” He drifted off into incoherent grunts as he drew closer to the point of no return. His magnificent cock grew longer and fatter than ever as he rammed it into her depths.

  She focused on the stony bulk that stretched her so wide, clenching her inner muscles in rhythm with his strokes. Her one desire was to feel him spend inside her. He did not chide her for disobeying his exhortation to be still—but then, by now he was beyond speech. Later he might rebuke her—might even punish her…

  It could have been the tantalising notion of his punishment that tipped the scales. It could have been the exquisite swirl of his finger around her clit. It may well have been the fact that even on the brink of his own climax, Andrew was aware of her and her desperate need. Whatever the cause, as he exploded and filled her with his spunk, she came as well, in a rainbow-tinged cataract of sensation that left her trembling and breathless.

  He slumped on top of her, a welcome weight. His jism leaked from her cleft to dribble down her thighs. Her shoulders ached from pulling against the bonds. Her ass throbbed in the aftermath of her strapping. Olivia realised that her face was stretched into a silly grin. She felt ridiculously happy—no, more than happy, full of joy at the marvellous way she and Andrew fitted.

  Her lover—her master, at least for the moment—stirred and moaned.

  “By God, Olivia! Are you trying to kill me?”

  She struggled to suppress a giggle. “Of course not, sir!”

  He clambered off her, then circled around to plant an energetic kiss on her lips. “You’re an amazing woman. I had no idea…”

  “I thought you said you knew, when you saw me…”

  “Minx!” He leaned over to pinch a welt. “You’ll pay for your insolence. But let’s get these ropes off first.”

  Her muscles screamed in protest as she brought them down to her sides. Her fingers and toes were numb. Shaking his head, he chafed her wrists and ankles to stimulate the blood flow. “My apologies. I should not have kept you tied for such a long time.” His manner was almost tender as he boosted her body onto the bed. She rolled onto her side to spare her wounded ass the friction from the bedclothes.

  “I didn’t mind, sir.”

  “It’s my responsibility to see that you come to no harm.”

  He stretched out along her body, facing her. Caressing her cheek, he searched her eyes. “You really didn’t mind, did you?” She heard wonder in his voice.

  “No, sir.” Olivia swallowed the lump in her throat. Honesty was the only alternative. “Actually, I liked it. I liked it all—the rope, the belt, the teasing, the roughness—the way you acted like you owned me.”

  “What about the Russian?” Andrew’s voice caught, a signal of unaccustomed uncertainty.

  “Dmitri is the past. That was more than four years ago. And I should never have trusted him. After six months together, he simply disappeared one day—taking most of my money with him, I should add.”

  “Did you—did you love him?”

  Olivia had the feeling her companion didn’t want the real answer, but she felt compelled to tell the truth.

  “I did, at the time. He was the first person to see—well, who I am. What I want. When he left me, I thought I’d die. I spent more than one night leaning on the railing of a bridge over the Seine.”

  “The bastard didn’t deserve you, Olivia.” Andrew gathered her to his chest and took possession of her mouth in a kiss that brooked no refusal. Not that Olivia had the slightest inclination to refuse.

  “I agree, sir,” she continued, when he finally permitted her to catch her breath. “But—ah—do you think that I went too far with him? When I admitted what he had done to me, you seemed upset—maybe even shocked. Does it disgust you, sir?”

  Andrew rolled her nipples between his fingers and pulled them into tight, throbbing peaks. “You’ve got to be joking, Olivia. I wasn’t disgusted. Just terribly envious. So many firsts that you and I will never have.”

  A little thrill skittered through her. He sounded as though he was expecting their relationship to extend beyond the weekend. Olivia pushed the tempting notion out of her mind. Aside from their carnal inclinations, they had nothing in common.

  However, there were still many hours before sunrise. As she snuggled in the circle of his arms, enjoying the way he dragged his nails over her breasts and down her belly, she stifled a yawn.

  “Sir?” she ventured after a long comfortable silence.

  He trailed his fingers through her tangled hair. “Yes, slave?”

  “What about the other ten strokes of my punishment?”

  Andrew MacIntyre released a hearty laugh. “Don’t worry, Miss Alcott. You’ll get everything that’s owed to you.”

  Chapter Seven

  “I can’t do this, Andrew. I’m sorry.”

  Andrew and Olivia paused together atop the mezzanine stairway that led down to the Great Hall. Music filtered up, along with the swell and ebb of conversation. Although it was barely nine p.m., Catherine MacIntyre’s ball was already in full swing. Her guests had arrived earlier than they would have under normal circumstances, eager to survey the competition—and to catch a glimpse of the unorthodox house guest Andrew had invited to participate in the closely scripted rituals of the wealthy. Gossip had spread the news far and wide. Functions at Wavecrest were usually well-attended in any case, but no one wanted to miss tonight’s festivities.

  “Of course you can.” He tucked her arm under his and pulled her body closer. The French perfume he’d bought surrounded her with an aura of roses, but underneath, he thought he caught a whiff of her feminine musk. “You look exquisite—the gown is perfection—and you’re far cleverer than any other girl attending. You’ll charm everyone.”

  He surveyed his companion with smug approval. With its simple, elegant lines, the peacock-blue silk he’d commissioned suited her to a T. The low-cut neckline left her arms bare and exposed a generous but not improper expanse of fair skin. The fabric clung tightly to her breasts and torso, then flared out over her hips and swept to the floor in a sapphire cascade. Unlike some of the fussy fashions he’d seen, the gown had little ornamentation, aside from the ribbons that hung from the waist, draping the skirt in gleaming loops of satin.

  Diamond teardrops swung from her earlobes. A matching diamond on an almost invisible chain nestled in the hollow of her throat and a blue-dyed ostrich f
eather arched over her upswept, mahogany-brown curls.

  Yes, the outfit was worth every penny of the small fortune he’d paid for it. Olivia Alcott was a pearl without price.

  Olivia shook her head. “They’ll know the instant they set eyes on me. I’ll die of embarrassment.”

  “Nonsense. No one can tell whether you’re wearing undergarments. With your figure, you’ve no need of a corset, and it’s warm enough that your nipples are scarcely visible…” He punctuated his assertion with a tweak that made her gasp.

  “Don’t!” She jerked away from him. He held her fast.

  “Olivia, did you not agree to be my consort this weekend?”

  “Yes—yes, sir…”

  “And to obey me without question?”

  “And have I not done so?” Her eyes sparkled in her flushed face and he knew she was reviewing the same glorious recollections that had him half hard in his tailored tuxedo trousers.

  “Yes, yes, you’ve satisfied me in every way, my lovely slut. Tonight, though, I need you more than ever, here by my side. I must make it clear to my mother and to society at large that I am not in the market for a wife.”

  “So I’m to play the role of your mistress, then?” The sharpness in her voice surprised him. He brushed his lips across her ripe ones, savouring her sweet breath.

  “What do you care what those hypocrites think of you? You’ll never see them again.”

  Olivia did not answer. She peered down the stairs, into the brightly lit hall—the lion’s den. “You’re right,” she answered at last, her voice low and resigned. “It doesn’t matter at all. Let us go.”

  Andrew guided her down the carpeted steps, his hand upon her elbow. He’d planned to make an unobtrusive entrance. However, when they appeared in the arched entry, every single person in the room turned to survey the new arrivals.

  Couples stood frozen on the dance floor. Wine glasses paused halfway to their owners’ lips. The orchestra continued to play, but the occupants of the room were as motionless as machinery without power.