by Nikki Wild
I pushed away a twinge of shyness, focusing instead on the sweet anticipation. It hit me that this was part of the game. The waiting. The wondering. The imagining.
He walked around to my head and leaned down, staring into my eyes.
His piercing gaze ripped right through me. When he raised his hands, I saw the blindfold. I cringed, the thought of being plunged into darkness, of not being able to see him, to see what he was doing terrified me. I hadn’t even imagined he would do that.
When he slipped it over my eyes, I whimpered. Everything turned black and I was left all alone. There was nothing to think about but the darkness and what was coming next.
The fear I’d felt earlier was back. The tiny twinge of anxiety I’d felt before rushed through me, filling my veins, filling every inch of my heart and every dark corner of my mind with white-hot fear.
I waited, relying on my other senses now, to find him, to anticipate what was coming. But suddenly, there was nothing. I couldn’t hear him breathing. I couldn’t smell him.
Accessing anything but the darkness was impossible.
Was he gone?
Was this part of the game?
A huge mind-fuck of fear?
“Bear?” I called, my voice echoing back to me. I was still on all-fours and I contemplated standing up and feeling my way around. But, still I waited, my ragged breathing the only sound in the room.
“Bear?” I called again, rotating my head. I took another deep breath and reached an arm out in front of me, hitting his abs.
“Oh!” I cried, my finger sliding across his rippling skin.
“I didn’t tell you to move,” he growled. My hand fell back to the ground and I swallowed hard, letting my head hang down between my arms.
“I thought you left,” I whispered.
A hard slap landed on my ass and I jumped and let out a loud yelp.
“Does that feel like I’m gone?” he asked.
“No!” I cried, as he hit me again. His cock brushed against my thigh as his palm landed on my ass cheeks over and over again, until I was whimpering and writhing, my hips dipping down to lessen the blows.
“Stop moving,” he said, grabbing me by my waist. He sat down on the nearby chaise and pulled me over his lap, his hard, naked cock pressed against my belly. The spanking began again, harder this time and with nowhere else to go, no way to decrease the impact, I had no choice but to sink into it, just as I had before with the whip.
His hand turned red hot, my ass burning hotter and hotter with each firm slap.
Over and over, the stinging blows echoed through the room. Skin on skin, our bodies sliding together as he kept hitting me. My legs flailed uncontrollably as he continued. Hot tears stung my eyes, sliding from under the blindfold and down my face as I whimpered below him.
“Bear, Bear…” I cried, shaking my head.
He stopped and my stomach flipped.
“Do you want me to stop?” he growled.
“No,” I cried. “I want—I want you to fuck me!”
“I’m not ready to fuck you,” he said, his cock throbbing hotly against my navel. “You haven’t earned that yet, you little slut.”
I whimpered again as the purest, strongest desire I’d ever felt rushed through me. To be told no, to be refused his cock when I needed it the most, hurt like nothing I’d felt before. It only made everything worse. It flipped something inside of me and the tears began to flow freely now.
“Please, Bear!” I begged. I didn’t care anymore.
“No!” he yelled, his hand landing hard on my ass once more. I hung my head again, falling limp against his lap, taking whatever punishment he thought was best, just wanting him to get it over with so I could feel his cock inside of me again.
I stopped resisting. I let him hit my ass, and after a second, he switched back to the whip. The crack of the leather echoed in the room, mingling with my cries as he hit my thighs, my ass, the whip occasionally falling against my pussy, the blows sending electricity straight to my clit. My juices flowed freely, the wetness seeping onto his thighs, as I lay there, melting into my punishment, taking it like a good girl.
I wanted to please him.
I wanted to hear him call me that again.
It was as if his approval had become my drug, intoxicating me with his game. He hit me again and again, and then he said it, stopping and rubbing his hot hand over the burning stinging flesh of my ass.
“Good girl,” he growled. “You take it like a good girl, Chloe…I’m proud of you.”
I came in a fit of raw pleasure, my body seized by waves of hot heavenly pain that sent me crashing over the edge of consciousness. His fingers slipped deep inside of me, transporting me into a blissful eden of blackness, ripping my body from this universe and sending me to a starry explosion of lust.
“Bear!” I screamed, his fingers delving deeper as I spasmed around him, my juices bursting forth like a damn had broken loose. He growled above me, pulling his fingers away and then laying me on the chaise on my back.
He shoved his cock inside my spasming pussy, slamming inside of me smoothly, my juices covering us both. My body exploded again, a massive, sweeping wave that left me limp below him as he fucked into me savagely, his hands digging into my hips as he held me in place, his hips flying in the air as he fucked me so hard, so fast, so fucking deep.
I reached up, clawing at the blindfold, desperately wanting to see him.
He slapped my hands away, growled and kept fucking me. Harder and harder his cock slammed into my pussy, fucking me with such precision and strength and intention that every nerve in my body was alive. Harder and harder, faster and faster, until I heard him panting, his breath growing ragged and deep until he stiffened, his cock throbbing and exploding inside of me, his hot wetness filling my pussy as my body seized once more, spasming around him as I cried out his name over and over and over.
“Bear, Bear, Bear…” I cried, tears running down my face.
“Shh, Beauty, shh,” he cooed, holding me close, his arms wrapped tightly around me as he kissed my forehead. “You’re okay, baby…”
Twenty-Four
I awoke in his bed to the sound of the shower running. I stretched my legs and winced, my hand flying down to my ass. It was still hot. It stung like crazy.
In the light of day, laying in his gigantic bed and looking out the window at the view of the city below, things seemed so strange now. We’d gone to bed last night, holding onto each other like we’d found some sort of salvation. And yet, now, in the bright light of day and all alone with nothing but the very real pain that was throbbing through my body, somehow it didn’t seem quite so magical.
I’d been drunk last night.
Drunk on the power I’d allowed him to have over me.
Drunk on the relief of letting someone else be in charge.
Drunk on the act of giving my body away to him.
I crawled out of bed, grabbing his robe on a nearby chair and sliding it over my naked, red skin. I looked down at my ass and gasped. Not only was it red, but there were tiny little angry welts all over it and outlines of his fingers that would surely bruise later.
My stomach had bright pink streaks criss-crossing over it, remnants from the leather straps he’d used. My breasts were swollen, my nipples sore from his pinching. I rubbed my wrists, sliding my fingers over the sensitive, raw skin there.
“Jesus,” I said, under my breath. I walked out to the terrace, staring down at the city, as I tightened the robe around me, the cold air whipping around my face, tiny snowflakes falling onto my hair.
The people below looked tiny from up here and I couldn’t help but wonder if any of them were licking the same sort of wounds as I was this morning.
I couldn’t deny that I’d loved it. Every second of it had been filled with this forbidden delight that I’d never experienced before. But I couldn’t help but wonder…how far was this going to go? What was his limit?
The rougher he got, the more turne
d on he was. Fuck, it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t admit that I felt the same way. We both enjoyed whatever this was. I didn’t have a name for it. I didn’t know if he did either.
My mind was spinning as I heard the shower shut off. A minute later, he joined me on the terrace, naked and dripping with tiny beads of water, his hair wet. He smelled like soap and minty toothpaste. I smiled at him, shaking my head as I watched snowflakes land on his eyelashes.
“It’s freezing,” I said. “You’re crazy!”
“I like it,” he said, lifting his face to the sky, the snow falling around him. He was a beautiful, magical vision, his perfectly sculpted body looking like something out of a magazine. He smiled and spun around, raising his hands up in the air and laughing. My heart soared as I watched him, amazed at the light that was shining from him in such a purely joyful moment.
Who is he?
He had so many different layers that I couldn’t keep up.
I shivered, the flesh on my ass stinging even more out here in the cold. He stopped spinning and closed the distance between us, pulling me into his arms and kissing me. I melted into his warmth, closing my eyes and leaning into his chest as he wrapped his arms around me.
I wanted to stay there forever, the snow drifting around us on his peaceful terrace, high above the frantic pace of the world below.
I had no idea where any of this was going.
I didn’t know if this was love.
I had no idea what he was thinking.
I didn’t know what our future held.
All I knew was that in that moment, no matter what happened, no matter where I was in a year or a week or even tomorrow, I had—for a brief moment—experienced perfection.
“Let’s go inside,” he said, breaking the spell. “I have to get to the office.”
I sighed and reluctantly followed him in.
“Oh, me too!” I said. “I’ll take a quick shower, if that’s okay?”
“Sure, but we can’t be seen going in to the office together. Max will be waiting outside for you.”
“Oh,” I said, my heart sinking. After all that stuff last night, part of me thought we’d reached another level. “I see.”
He looked at me for a quick second, a flash of something in his eyes that I couldn’t quite name, and then he turned and walked into his closet, leaving me standing in his room alone.
“I’ll see you at the office,” he yelled from the closet. “Lock the door on your way out. Towels are in the top cabinet in the bathroom.”
So, that was it?
He was just going to leave me here alone like that? No hug or kiss goodbye? I walked into the bathroom, my heart heavy, feeling like I was doing the walk of shame or something.
I’d let him do things to me last night that I never would have allowed anyone to do—and I’d liked it. It felt so intimate, so personal. I turned on the shower and climbed inside.
When the tears came, I told myself it was because of the pain of the water hitting my raw skin.
By the time I got out of the shower, the tears were gone and so was Bear.
Twenty-Five
Massive. That’s the only word I could come up with. I’d skipped going into the office, choosing instead to finally take the opportunity to drop by the site of the unfinished hotel. Most of the exterior was finished, but it was missing key elements, like landscaping and lighting, before it would really shine.
When I stepped inside, wearing a hard hat and a name badge that I’d been given by the foreman, I felt like the breath had been ripped from my lungs. It was so big, too big, way too fucking big. I looked straight up through the atrium style tower, the doors of hundreds of rooms looming like one of those unending mirrors in a fun house. I felt sick.
What the hell had I gotten myself into?
I stepped over a pile of tools, lifting my knees up high, which only made the fabric of my wool slacks rub roughly against the welts on my ass. I winced in pain, shaking my head as I tried to take in the scene before me.
I was expected to come up with a cohesive design that would flow perfectly throughout the hotel, starting with the massive lobby, including every single one of the seven different floor plans of guest rooms, the ballrooms, the conference rooms, the endless amount of terraces, the offices, the penthouses and the nightclub located on the very top floor.
Just little old me and my one assistant.
Never mind what was I thinking accepting a job like this, but what the hell was Bear thinking?
All I knew about was sitting in my little studio apartment on Southwest Alder Street in downtown Portland and sewing my little vintage handmade dresses. Where in the hell did all of this come from?
Bear was crazy! I was crazy! This entire town was insane, this entire situation was so out of control. It was too much. That dungeon? What the fuck?
My head spun and I reached out for something to hold onto as the room began spinning. There was nothing around and I’d somehow stupidly convinced the foreman that it was safe to leave me alone in a construction area.
I stumbled outside, gasping for air as I reached the sidewalk, tearing off the hard hat.
Max waited patiently, just as he had every single time I’d needed to go anywhere. He was always around. And so was Bear. Even when he wasn’t there, I was drenched in his memory.
Ever since I’d stepped off his plane, I was overwhelmed by him.
And why?
Because he had some warped ‘sense’ about me when I was still practically a kid?
He’d made me feel things I’d never felt before, but I wasn’t sure I was really ready to feel them. How could I give myself away to someone when I didn’t fully understand myself yet?
Yes, I was supposed to say yes, but I was starting to think saying yes had gotten me a lot more than I could handle.
My breathing grew shallow and I spun away from Max and began walking down the sidewalk. It took exactly ten steps to realize I had no fucking idea where I was going.
I stopped, took a deep breath and walked back to Max.
“Can you please take me to the library?” I asked.
“Of course, ma’am,” he replied, with a curt, professional nod. I’d not given him much thought before, he’d kind of blended into the whole scene that Bear had created. He had a slight accent that I couldn’t place and he was darkly handsome, with beautiful olive skin and green eyes. He’d been so quiet.
After he pulled into traffic, I hit the button and the glass slid down.
“Max, where are you from?” I asked.
“Somalia,” he said.
“Wow, that’s far away from New York,” I said.
“It’s even further than you think, ma’am,” he replied, smiling at me in the rearview mirror.
“Why are you here in New York?” I asked.
“I’m a refugee, ma’am. Mr. Dalton took us in when our family fled the war. I met him when I was working at an elephant sanctuary in Kenya years before we fled. We became friends and when he heard we needed help, he was very generous to my entire family.”
“That’s wonderful,” I said.
“Mr. Dalton is a very good man,” he said. “He gave me a job after he helped us get settled here in America. My family and I owe him our lives.”
I nodded and smiled, my heart swelling a little. Bear was a good man.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” I said. “Thank you for answering. I heard your accent.”
“I’m happy you asked. I always welcome an opportunity to talk about my home country and I love singing Mr. Dalton’s praises,” he said.
I smiled and sat back in the seat, thinking about Bear the whole way to the library. I was impressed with the loyalty that Max felt for him. Bruce seemed to feel the same way to all of his employees. Bear was obviously a good man. He’d not done anything to make me think that he was.
Hell, he had a hell of a lot more faith in me and my abilities than I did. Maybe I just needed to believe in myself more. Maybe what he’d
said about believing in yourself was right.
Maybe these were the boundaries I need to push up against.
I vowed not to give up just yet. I’d been close as I'd started to walk down the street back there, but now that I was in the back of the car again, under the watchful protectiveness of Max, I felt a little more stable.
When the car slowed, I looked out the window and gasped.
“The New York Public Library, ma’am,” Max said. “The second largest public library in the country! Just call me when you’re ready and I’ll be here right away.””
“Thank you, Max,” I said, staring in awe at the beautiful building in front of me. “I might be a few hours.”
I jumped out and was immediately swept up in the sidewalk traffic. It flowed around me like a river and I somehow managed to cross it without getting mowed down. Slowly, I walked up the huge stone steps, in awe of the majesty of the building. Two huge lion statues flanked the steps and people of every size and shape and color swarmed around me, their voices a symphony of a hundred different languages.
My head was swimming, but I managed to make it through the front door, only to be swept up in the awesome beauty of the architecture.
I wandered around for half an hour, lost in the columns and art and hundreds of thousands of books. I passed through exquisitely molded archways that were bordered by huge intricate murals, masterpieces that had stood the test of time, watching over generations of visitors.
Once I’d asked for help finding books on interior design, I got lost in the thousands of books I found. There was so much information I had no idea where to start. I fought to suppress the overwhelming feelings from rushing back and grabbed as many books as I could carry to check out.
By the time I made it back outside, I realized I’d forgotten to call Max. I stumbled to the street with my tower of books, struggling not to slip in the slushy, muddy snow soup that covered every street and sidewalk in this city. I bumped into a man, who reached out and grabbed my arms to help steady me.
“Thank you,” I said, looking up at him gratefully. His eyes shifted away quickly. He nodded and kept going.
