by Riley Murphy
He snapped his fingers once. “I want you to kneel at my feet.”
The words rocketed through her. Unlike kneeling on those stupid mats, this was different. Personal. Erotic and intimate somehow. Without complaint she sank down as he told her.
“Look at me.”
She did without hesitation.
“You did well today.” He reached out and curled two fingers around the collar and tugged her forward. “I love this on you. You made me proud in front of Lenny by not complaining or getting angry, even though I know you were.”
He stared at her and she stared back, unsure what he wanted from her.
Dipping his head, he whispered, “Thank me.”
“Oh thank you, Sir.”
“You’re welcome.”
He was staring again and she tried not to frown while she waited.
“Do you have anything positive to share with me before you go to bed?”
She thought about what he was asking. And then thought about the day. Quickly she rifled through a dozen things she could have shared, but positive? Hm. Then it came to her. “I love the roses.”
A ghost of a smile played around his lips before he let go of the necklace and sat back. “Do you know what orange roses signify?”
She frowned. It would figure. Didn’t the guy do anything, one thing without intent? “No…Sir.”
“Desire. And the fact that they’re grouped in six signifies something too. Tomorrow in your free time I want you to look that up, and then tell me tomorrow night when you say good night to me.”
She nodded.
“Don’t you have something else to say to me?”
Her previous frown deepened and she shook her head.
“You do. Take a minute and think. I’m throwing you a bone here because in the future I want to be surprised hearing the words.”
Now she remembered. “I belong to you, Master.”
He lifted her chin and looked her right in the eyes. “Yes you do. Tell me again.”
A thrill went through her and her breathing quickened. His look combined with his close proximity and his hand on her had her trembling. This time when she said it she meant it. “I belong to you, Master.”
She was rewarded with the softest kiss imaginable. Unhurried, yet filled with a brand of ownership that turned her insides to jelly. By the time he pulled away she was sure if he asked her to kiss his feet she would have, but he didn’t. Instead he caressed her cheek before he sat back once more.
“Good night, Jo. Get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a trying day for both of us.”
She stood and went to the ladder steps that led up to the beds. She’s been right to call this a treehouse because that was what it felt like. And the second she scooted down over his mattress to the bottom where her section was she got a better look. Spying the length of her area running perpendicular to his made her scowl. It looked like a fucking crib…but then once she settled and eyed the room below through the rails, she decided she wasn’t going to complain. The rails were the only things standing between her and certain injury. If they weren’t fencing her in and she took one wrong roll in the middle of the night? Well, she didn’t want to think about that. Instead she stayed very still as she covertly examined the corner of the room where the Sybian was. All kinds of thoughts and fantasies played in her mind until Ted called up.
“Turn over, Jo, and face my bed. Stop analyzing and get some sleep.”
Easy for him to say. She rolled over and punched the pillow a couple of times, pretending it was his head.
“Jo.”
With a harrumph, she threw herself down and slammed her eyes shut. Repeating the silent mantra, “I will not kill him in his sleep. I will not kill him in his sleep.”
“Try, ‘I belong to my Master’.”
Her eyes popped open and she gasped. How did he…? “Fuck you,” she whispered in her softest of soft voice, for no other reason than it gave her perverse satisfaction knowing she could do it and he’d never know. She let out a contented sigh and had just resettled when he called.
“I heard that by the way.”
So fucking what.
This time, however, she wisely kept the words to herself.
* * * * *
Jo pushed the sheer fabric of her outfit back up on her shoulder again and inputted the last of her calculations. Examining the totals, she nodded and sat back. Not too shabby. Her clients would be pleased.
For the hundredth time she checked the clock at the bottom of the screen. Ten minutes to two. She had ten full minutes to get a handle on this rush of adrenaline that spiked every time she thought about what was going to happen at two.
Think about something else. Anything else but Ted and that deadline. She powered off her computer and closed it with a snap. The only thing that came to mind? Was her morning before work started when she’d knelt in front of the long window and thought about the positive things from the day before. It didn’t take her too long, as finding the roses was the only item on her list. Well, that, and they hadn’t killed each other—that probably counted as a good thing.
Actually, now that she thought about it, just doing this form of meditation before a busy morning was nice. It was grounding. It gave her a center point to start her day. Maybe she could write about that in her journal…or maybe after she got through the afternoon she’d have something better to write about.
No point putting off the inevitable. She got up and went to the door. When she opened it, Ted was right there on the opposite side of the hall. Leaning with his back against the wall. One leg raised and bent at the knee with foot flush against the rich cherry-wood paneling.
“Hi.”
“Hi back.” He used that foot and pushed off to stand. “All finished?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Good.” He stepped forward and held out a hand. “You look great by the way.”
She made a dubious face and laced her fingers in his. “I do? I was thinking I looked like I Dream of Jeannie in this get-up.”
He stared down at her. “Yeah, I loved that show.”
She could tell he meant it. The fact that both of them apparently watched “oldies sitcoms” struck her as funny and she laughed. “Why, because Barbara Eden had to call Larry Hagman Master?”
“Yes.”
She wasn’t laughing now. The way his gaze burned her up had her sweating. “It figures.”
“Does it? That show was a veiled attempt at portraying an acceptable D/s relationship. The only problem with Hagman’s character Captain Nelson? The guy was a switch.”
“Ya think?”
“I did a paper on it in high school.”
“Get. Out!” Without thinking she slapped him on the shoulder and when he stiffened she realized how un-slave-like the action was. He probably thought she was trying to flirt with him or something. Well, she had been, but she hadn’t done it on purpose. Besides it was too soon for that. “I ah,” she straightened one side of his collar, “didn’t mean to be so…um—”
He tightened the grip he had on her hand and pulled her along down the hallway as he offered, “Flirtatious?”
“Yes.”
“It’s bound to happen once in a while.”
That statement almost caused her to stumble. She wanted this kind of exchange between them to happen more than once in a while. So did his comment mean he didn’t?
By the time they reached the third floor and he pulled her through the door she was going to question him about it, but then saw the stool. A squat and sturdy wooden stool that was parked right beside the Sybian. It wasn’t this that commandeered her attention though, it was what was on it.
“Is t-that a flogger?”
“What?”
Like he didn’t know.
She pointed. “On the stool over there.”
His expression was totally blasé when he replied, “Yes it is.”
“All rightie, I’m out of here.” She spun around and got
one foot out the door when the air left her lungs with a whoosh as he scooped her up. Once the breath returned to her, she kicked and squirmed and pushed and beat against the steel bands of his arms.
It was as if he didn’t even notice her flipping out in his forced embrace when he matter-of-factly said, “No you’re not.”
“Put me down.”
“Not until you stop with the dramatics.”
She wasn’t going to. No fucking way. Oh she knew she’d agreed to this when she signed that contract, but it was one thing on paper and quite another when you saw the thing in broad daylight. Yeah, it was daylight. Didn’t kinky pain shit happen to people in a dark and dingy basement that smelled like…like a barroom after hours? Hell no, she wasn’t going to stop. Never.
Which, as it turned out, happened to be five minutes later when her heart clattered and her chest heaved as if she’d run the Boston Marathon in record time. She was suddenly too exhausted to move another muscle and the fight drained right out of her.
“That’s better.” Ted carried her over to the Sybian and gently eased her down. He held on to her until she had her bearings and then he bent and whispered in her ear, “I want you to take off your outfit. I want you to do it nice and slow. Entice me.”
And she wanted to tell him to go fuck himself. To eat shit and die, but then she smelled his cologne. Heard his soft and encouraging words and suddenly she found herself doing exactly as he’d told her to do.
Damn…
Chapter Sixteen
Ted wasn’t sure Jo would do it. So when she took off her top and tossed it aside he let out the breath he’d been holding. He was ready to get their new relationship started, and he didn’t want to come up against any more roadblocks. The plan was to be as normal as possible so she’d follow his lead.
“Now the bottoms.”
She didn’t look at him as she did his bidding, which really turned him on.
“Very good.” Once she was naked he came forward and took her by the hand. “Come on. We’re going to face this fear of yours together.”
“I don’t want to.”
The grumble in her voice had him biting back a grin. He needed to be serious when he responded. “You want what I want, and what I want is for you to face the monster under your bed and get to know him so he won’t continue to scare you.”
“Monsters are monsters for a reason. They’re supposed to scare you.”
They stopped at the stool and he let go of her hand. “I don’t believe that. It isn’t the monster you’re really afraid of. I’ll prove it to you.”
“No.”
He stared down at her bowed head and sighed. “I think your first essay to me is going to be a thesis on how the word ‘no’ is useless in a slave’s vocabulary.”
Slowly her head came up until she glared at him. If looks could kill he’d be pushing up daisies. “I agreed to be your ‘sex’ slave. So when it comes to sex I won’t say no. In regards to other things? You’ll just have to fu—um, deal with it.”
He stepped forward, but she didn’t step back. Not very encouraging. Clearly she had drawn her line and he was going to have to drag her over it if need be.
“You signed the contract and I do believe I offered you more than one out even after you signed. This flip-flopping is getting tiresome. The way I see it? It’s far too late for you to be redefining our arrangement. It is what it is and it is as I say, or it’s not at all.”
He watched her carefully and imagined he could actually see his words and their meaning sink in, because her stance and expression changed. Yes, gone was the pillar of strength and in her place was a woman teetering on the edge. Shit, the last thing he wanted her doing right now was crying. He couldn’t take that.
No emotions. Remember that. He remained silent, determined to wait her out.
“I’m scared.”
Fuck. He knew how much that admittance cost her so he had to fight the urge he had to pull her into his arms and reassure her. She wasn’t his girlfriend anymore. He needed to keep his distance if he was going to have her in his life. She made that bed and now she’d have to sleep in it.
“Look at me.” When she did he ignored her tear-shiny eyes and asked, “Are you going to listen to me without talking back?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He reached to the side and collected the flogger. Holding it between them, he said, “This is not the monster you’re afraid of.”
She kept her gaze fixed on him when she spoke, “I’m pretty sure it is.”
He shook his head. “And I’m pretty sure that the monster in every case turns out to be a person’s fear of the unknown. Face that with courage and you get to know it and him. Then there’s no more fear. Just like the concept of pain. Remember what I told you?”
She slowly nodded.
“Once you know what the worst is and you’ve handled it? You can accept it and process the experience on a personal level until the pain, or in this case monster, has no power over you.”
“I trust you.”
“That’s what I expect. Now,” he returned the flogger to the stool and stepped back, “I’m going to explain how we’re going to proceed. If you have any questions you better ask them before we get started. Okay?”
“Yes.” She was eyeing the stool and he thought she was going ask about the flogger, but she didn’t. “What’s your Kindle doing there? Are you going to take pictures or something?”
“Pictures?”
“Yeah,” she pointed to the ground next to the stool where he’d put it.
“A Kindle doesn’t take photos and no, if it puts your mind at ease, I will not be taking pictures today.”
She let out a relieved breath, still frowning. “So why is it there?”
This wasn’t exactly where he wanted to start with his explanations, but with her zeroed in on his reader he figured he’d have to. “I’m going to read while I’m waiting.”
She shot a look up. “For?”
“For you to do what I want instead of what I’ve forbidden you to do.” He shrugged. “I think it’s going to be a timely process.”
He actually thought it was going to be hell for both of them, but he didn’t add that.
“Sounds exciting.”
He didn’t like the face she made. “Jo.”
She drew in a heavy breath and then blew it out. “Just tell me what you want me to do.”
“Actually, it’s what I don’t want you to do that’s more important.”
“All right.”
He stared her down until she readjusted the belligerent tilt of her chin. She had balls he’d give her that. When she was looking a little more demure he let it rip. “From now on every time you come you will say ‘I love you, Master’.”
She gasped.
“You’re forbidden to come otherwise.”
“That’s…that’s…the flogger and now this? And the figging even? You’re using all my hard limits against me.”
Well, if she thought she was uttering some form of revelation to him she’d be dead wrong. “Of course.”
“You can’t do that. It’s against the rules.”
She looked so ticked off and frustrated he wanted to smile. “If there are any rules between us I make them. So if the idea gives you comfort, consider it a rule.”
She searched his face while the wheels spun. Her mouth opened, closed and then opened again. “Okay, I think I need to phone a friend. This isn’t right.”
“Colin?”
“No. Ethan. He’d never pull a low-down dirty trick like this.”
“You’re right. Maybe you should have picked him to Top you instead of me. And as to phoning him? This isn’t a game show, so it’s out of the question.”
She crossed her arms and he loved how her breasts rested on the shelf her forearms made. “I’m never going to say that. I told you before I can’t. I won’t. And you can’t make me.”
He tapped the tip of her nose with his forefinger before she jerked ba
ck. The fact that she swatted at his hand like she was getting rid of a pesky fly made him chuckle. “You will because I said you will.”
“You think this is going to be so easy. It won’t, I—”
“No.” That got her antennae up and waving. “I never said this was going to be easy. Especially for you.”
“Why, because you think I’ll crumble the first chance I get?”
He closed the small space between them and helped her uncross her arms. “No,” he whispered while he rubbed over her hardened nipples with the backs of his hands. “Because I know you won’t crumble without a fight. Knowing this, I’m going to give you two options. Either you do as I’ve told you to do and we move forward with your training or you don’t and we hang back until you’re forced to comply.”
“I’m not going to say it.”
“You will.”
“Then hang back it is. I’m sorry if that makes you mad.”
He took one look at her stubborn little face and sighed, “No you’re not. And as to me being mad? How could I be? This second option might be more grueling for both of us, but the end result will be worth it. A lesson has a tendency to stick better when there’s suffering involved.”
“Oh yeah? No worries because I’m ready.”
She didn’t fool him. He felt her little tremors and they weren’t caused by fear. She was ready all right, but not for what he had in mind. He was sure. “First I want you to know what you’re dealing with, then we’ll talk about how ready you are.” He reached around her and picked up the controller that was sitting on the machine. “Turn around and watch.”
The second she did, he moved in to crowd her. Pressing against her back and bringing his arms around to circle her as he clicked on the device. “You see how it moves.” He adjusted the dial to show the different settings. “Put your hand on the leather. Feel how steadily it vibrates.”
“It’s strong.”
“Yes,” he curled down and spoke into her ear. “Now do you see why you don’t have a chance to fight me? Whether you want to or not, this is going to make you come, and when you do you’ll have to say the words I want you to say, or else you’ll be disobeying me.”
