by Riley Murphy
“A collar?”
“Don’t look so shocked. Most slaves wear collars, and you’re not just any slave. You’re my slave.”
“But this is only temporary.”
“I don’t want you thinking of it like that because for all intents and purposes it’s going to be as real and as raw as I can make it for the next three weeks until it comes time to decide.”
She stared at him.
“Are you having second thoughts?”
“N-no.”
“Good—”
“Do I get to keep my dragon pillow at least?”
“Not if you interrupt me again.” He stared her down until her expression lost some of its blister. Then he said, “You have two hours for business, and then you’re mine. We’ll use the afternoon to get set, and tonight we’ll go over the finer details.”
He turned to leave her to her work, but she called, “Didn’t the contract cover those? What kind of details didn’t we cover with all that paperwork?”
Ted walked back to her and took hold of her chin. He wasn’t gentle when he lifted, because she had an attitude he didn’t like. Best for her to know right from the start that he was a new man. Her Master who would not put up with her sass.
“We didn’t cover where your place is in my home. What you’ll be allowed to do, eat and say while you’re mine. There are rules and rituals. Things I expect and things I do not expect. You’ll have to learn them all in order to please me. If you don’t there will be consequences, make no mistake. From now on you address me as Master or Sir. You never speak to my back and you don’t raise your voice even to call to me. You come to my side and wait for permission to address me, do you understand?”
Her eyes darkened with every word he spoke, but she didn’t interrupt him, nor did she balk. Instead, much to his pleased surprise when he let go of her, she dropped her gaze and whispered, “Yes.”
“Master,” he prompted.
“Yes…Master.”
“Yes Master.”
“Yes Master.”
“Do your work, Jo.”
He went to turn away and then remembered. “Oh, and since we’ve both been tested and you’re on the Pill, there’s no need for latex. Correct?”
She nodded.
“Good.”
Trill.
Her gaze shift to her phone and he said, “Go ahead and answer it. You’re not on my clock for another two hours.”
“Great.” She scooped up her cell and flipped it open. “Randal? Yeah, hi. I know. The announcement should happen next Thursday. I can’t wait. When the stock climbs over the four-point-five mark and I option it, you’ll be the first one I call. Absolutely.”
Ted left the office, feeling uncomfortable hearing the excitement in Jo’s tone. Randal? Randal who?
He was about to turn back around to reenter and then stopped. Shit, this was her business. She dealt with people, women and men, on a regular basis so why was he feeling like he wanted to give her the third degree?
You’ll be the first one I call.
That statement rang in his ears all the way to the kitchen. Taunting him. Damn. He hadn’t even started with her, and already he was prepared to go caveman on her? Craving her first thought to be him and everything else second. Including Randal.
He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Downing half the contents, he visualized the liquid putting out the burn he had to question her about that guy. No emotional attachment. None. If he was going to be effective in his training he needed to remove emotion from his methods.
He thought about what kind of strength that would require and finished off the rest of the water. He could do this. He just needed to stick to the schedule and plan.
He pulled the piece of paper out from under the flying marlin fridge magnet and looked over the directions. He hadn’t been to Lenny’s since he’d moved the shop to the new place. It was a little closer than his previous location, so it wouldn’t take him and Jo long to get there this afternoon. Stuffing the note into his pocket, he stared at the closed kitchen door and wondered.
Would Jo freak out when he had Len solder on her collar and cuffs? He’d thought about having a set designed for her that had a locking mechanism but had quickly decided against them. He wanted Jo to know that the weight of his ownership was real and permanent…even for the three-week trial, because if all went according to his plans? By the end of that time period, it would be.
He was prepared for her stubbornness. He’d even deal with her being a brat on occasion if it meant it got them one step closer to the honesty required in a Master/slave relationship. When the phrase “The truth hurts” was coined? Ted was fairly sure they were talking about a slave’s training. Nothing hurt more than an individual having to strip away the lie they’d been living to walk in their truth. For this alone, he was ready to cut Jo some slack. Hopefully she’d appreciate it…eventually…maybe.
Chapter Fourteen
Jo examined the gold band on her left wrist and jiggled her hand. There was enough room that it turned around. At least the weighty metal was smooth and didn’t chafe. Also, she had to admit that the gold bands, all an inch wide and circled top and bottom with a braided sterling silver rope edging, were beautiful pieces of jewelry. That was how she’d chosen to think of them, especially after Lenny had soldered them on her. It had been a surreal experience. One half of her was outraged, while another part of her was secretly turned-on by the thought of being owned.
Of course, having been stuck kneeling naked at the bottom of the staircase leading to Ted’s room for the last half hour wasn’t very sexy, but it did beat the hell out of going over his lengthy and precise rules again.
With a sigh, she clasped her hands behind her back and thought about those rules. The worst? Calling him Sir or Master. She tripped over that every time. Coming in a close second? The outfit, if you could call it that. When she wasn’t naked, which by the sounds of it would only be when she was working in the office, she’d be wearing that sheer two-piece ensemble. It reminded her of the Arabian belly dancer costume she’d worn on Halloween a few years back. Only there were no sequins on it. The top was sheer and cut to expose as much skin as possible, and the bottoms were the same. The legs of the pants were open from hip to ankle on both sides. The fact that the fabric was transparent really made the wearing of it pointless, but she wasn’t going to argue. When she’d tried it on, his eyes had darkened in a good way, and she could tell he liked what he saw. It almost made wearing it bearable.
Thinking about his instructions when she entered his home, she sighed. She was to immediately undress and kneel on the mat he’d placed to one side of the hall for her. He’d been very specific about the mat, as the ceramic tile tended to be cold from the AC that blasted out of an overhead vent. At first she’d thought he was being considerate, but then he mentioned not wanting to damage his property, and all her hopes of his softening toward her died. He’d continued to keep her at a distance. His matter-of-fact and stern manner while he dealt with her only made her want to try harder to please him. She was sure if she did as he wanted without complaint, he’d eventually forgive her and forget about this Master/slave thing and go back to the way things were before.
Creak.
A thrill zipped through her. He was coming up the first flight of stairs. He was going to take her up the next flight to his room. Into his space that she’d been dying to see since the night when he’d first tied her. When he’d told her she wasn’t ready to see that area. The first floor and two of the rooms on the second were as far as she’d ever gotten to explore in his brownstone.
“Very good, Jo. Stand.”
She did and he cupped her chin and tilted it up. “Are you ready to please me?”
His expression was hard to gauge as the muted light left most of his face in shadows. Not that it mattered. This was something she was determined to do. “Yes Sir.”
“Follow me.”
Immediately she felt bereft when
he let go and walked off. She didn’t know what she’d expected. A kiss maybe? And he was leaving her? She was naked. Didn’t he care? Apparently not, because he was climbing the stairs without her. He hadn’t even turned back to see if she followed. He expects you to follow. Right.
By the time she reached the top of the stairs, he’d pushed the lone door open wide. Catching her first glimpse of the interior, she gasped.
“Yeah, my digs have that effect on people.”
Not people. Women, she was sure, and for a moment the thought of that distracted her enough to cause her to stay put instead of doing what instinct dictated she do and run the hell away.
“Come on in.”
“I’m not sure I want to.”
“Jo.” His tone was soft and inviting. Damn. “Don’t spoil a near-perfect day between us.”
Near-perfect day? Sure it was for him. He wasn’t the one who signed away his freedom, had cuffs and collar installed on him and was now standing naked in a dark hallway staring at the most bizarre bed in the world.
She walked through the door and jumped when Ted slammed it closed behind her. He probably did that on purpose to worry her, and if he had, he’d succeeded.
“Over here.” He led her to another one of those mats. Only this one was right in front of a long window, and although it was dark outside she could see the branches of a tree through the glass. Beyond the shifting leaves, she spied the stars dotting the night sky. “When you enter this room you’ll come down on this mat just as you do at the front door and the bottom of the stairs only in here, until I tell you otherwise, you’ll present in a different position. Let me show you.”
Jo nodded and sank down, kneeling on the mat.
He snapped his fingers twice and said, “Good, now bend forward.” He sighed and she knew what was coming because she hesitated. “Your modesty should have been left outside my front door. Remember?”
“I remember, but I don’t like you snapping your fingers.”
“Jo.” He tapped her sharply on the butt.
“Hey!”
“Hay is for horses, Jo. So unless you want me to stick a bit in your mouth and saddle you, I suggest you speak properly.”
She took a deep breath and bent forward.
“That’s right. Palms and elbows flat against the floor with your bottom in the air. No, I want your forehead close to the mat but not touching it. Very good.”
And very hard to maintain. Hopefully he wasn’t going to go into a long spiel here.
“This is the way you will present yourself when you enter this room or when I snap my fingers at you twice.” He came down on his haunches and ran his hand up her left thigh, bottom cheek, back and shoulder, causing her to quiver. He hadn’t touched her all day, other than to cup her chin, take her arm or just now smack her bottom. So even this little slow pet got a warm ache thrumming between her legs. “It’s a position of usage. So you’re available for me and I encourage you to practice it in your spare time as you’ll need to hold this pose more than once daily.”
Her face burned but her insides melted as his hand skimmed her breasts and stomach in an assessing fashion.
He snapped his fingers once and said, “Now, come up and kneel in welcome as I’ve showed you.”
This one was easy. It was a basic kneel. Knees together and hands behind her back with wrists crossed.
“Every morning after you’ve showered and gotten ready for the day I want you to come to this mat and kneel like this in front of the window. You’ll spend fifteen minutes thinking about the positive things you’re learning about yourself from my guidance, and each night after dinner I want you to write those things down in a journal for me to read at my leisure.”
Already she could think of a few things to write.
“Positive things. Remember that.”
Hm. That pretty much wiped the slate clean. She better start paying attention.
“If you have any questions ask them now.”
Finally. “Was that bed built onsite? It’s—” She was going to say huge, but when she looked up and her gaze collided with his, the word caught in her throat. The force of his stare took her breath away. He was so freaking handsome. So desirable to her that she wanted to dive into his arms and never let go. Instead of this state of constant arousal getting better, it was getting worse. The more strict and standoffish he was with her the more she wanted him. Ached for him. Needed him.
“I meant questions about this. We’ll get to the other items in my room soon enough and then you’ll be free to ask about them.”
She didn’t have to look down. She could have asked him another question instead, but she wanted to drop her gaze. She wanted to be good. She wanted…yeah, she did.
“Okay.” He stood and offered her his hand. “Let’s go over here so I can show you the bathroom. There’s a sauna, Jacuzzi tub and separate shower stall that you’ll use. But before you do…”
He went on to explain that she was to kneel on another one of those mats and all she could think was that he must own stock in the company. When that came to her along with the fact that she was barely listening to him she was stunned. One minute she was aching for him and the next she was distracted and in a huff?
“Jo?”
“What?”
Oh she knew he was staring down at her. Waiting for her to change her tone as she’d done more than a dozen times today, but she wasn’t going to do it now because she was confused. She imagined she could have heard the dust bunnies tumbling around, if there were any. But there weren’t. The marble stretch of floor she studied was clean enough to eat off.
The urge to fidget under the deafening silence was strong. She counted to seventy-five, and when he still didn’t speak or move, she finally looked up. Had he really been stoically staring at her like this for all that time? The guy looked like a nonplussed statue.
She kept her voice calm and even. “Yes?”
“Yes Sir.”
That correction went right through like the reverberation from an invisible slap. She wasn’t going to say it. She wasn’t. But then…she needed to say something because the statue was cracking. His stone face crumbling as a smoldering blaze ignited in his gaze.
“Yes?”
“Jo.”
She wouldn’t be intimidated. So what if his lips didn’t move when he said her name and the blaze in his eyes was now a raging conflagration. She wouldn’t be pushed or made to say it so she’d say nothing at all.
“What?” Fuck, so much for silence. He was probably going to wig out on her. Inwardly she cringed. Outwardly she scowled up at him, prepared for the shit storm.
After a taut moment he grinned.
What the hell? Why was he grinning? No! Why was she grinning back? You’ve lost your mind, that’s why.
“You’ve got spunk, I’ll give you that.”
Perfect, now they were getting somewhere.
“But I’d advise you to rein it in because there’s nothing I love more than a challenge.”
Aaaand back to square one. “Look, besides getting a fuc—ah, crick in my neck from looking up at you and calluses on my knees from all your mats, I’m pretty sure I’m losing my mind, so as a crazy person right now? Simple logic escapes me and all I’ve got left is my spunk. At least I’m being honest.” She figured she’d get that dig in before he came after her.
“Those are your mats not mine.”
“I don’t want them.”
“Trust me, you do.”
She glared. “I don’t.”
“Ah.” He nodded.
He sounded like he’d concluded something. “Ah, what?”
“Your emotions are going back and forth.”
“If you mean I like you one minute and hate you the next then yes, you’d be right.”
He laughed.
“I’m not kidding.”
“I know.”
She watched him walk to the huge tub and then sit on the edge, facing her.
“You’re
not bothered by this?”
“No.” He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed one ankle over the other. The action was unhurried and purposeful.
Great, she was back to liking him again. Worse, her insides went all jittery and the ache of desire that started in her belly slipped lower and lower still until she unconsciously squeezed her thighs together.
“I’m bothered by it.” Was that her voice all soft and husky? Maybe he wouldn’t notice.
“I can tell.”
It was an automatic reflex. Her gaze lowered before she could stop it.
“That’s my girl.”
Those words wrapped around her like a sensual hug while she tried not to shiver. This emotional badminton was a bitch.
“Are you ready to pay attention?”
“Yes Sir.”
“I like that. I like it a lot.”
Her cheeks flushed with pleasure and her nipples spiked harder. She wanted so badly for him to touch her she trembled. Had she thought a bitch? This was a fucking nightmare.
“Come here.”
She didn’t dare look at him. If she did she feared he’d see the “I want you so bad I’m aching with lust” in her eyes. Instead she stood as gracefully as she could and took the six steps to him. Standing less than a foot away. Her eyes glued to his shoes.
“Every morning before you shower I want you to kneel on that mat and recite this phrase. ‘I belong to my Master’. Say it.”
“I-I belong to my Master.”
He traced his index finger from the center of her chest down to her navel. “Say it again.”
“I belong to my…Master.”
“Hm. I think you need to say it with conviction. Say it again.”
This time his finger trailed lower and she closed her eyes and bit her lip when he reached her mound. The tingles caused by his touch penetrated deep through skin to muscles. He was slow and gentle as he intimately caressed. The sensations building until her eyes popped open and she blurted, “I belong to my Master.”
“That’s better,” he whispered as he traced his finger on her in a series of looping circles. “I was generous today. I let you keep this part of you to yourself because I know how you feel about it. But soon, I promise you, soon this will be my canvas to paint on.”
