by Marlee Wray
When they were underway, she asked, “Is the dress okay?”
“No.”
Her eyes darted to his profile. He didn’t look angry; he was just stating a fact.
“Too sophisticated?”
“Too tough. You don’t belong in alligator or snakeskin. Kittens are soft.”
“You’re right,” she said, smoothing down the fabric. “I couldn’t put my finger on what made me hesitate to wear it. I don’t have a lot of dresses. I’ll make some time to shop and see what I can find.”
“I’ll take you,” he said.
Her eyes widened. She loved the way he looked and his style, but it was pretty minimalist. The black knit shirt was only amazing because it was stretched over his mouth-watering muscles. He was so tough-looking. She couldn’t picture him shopping in a women’s clothing store. “Do you like shopping?” she asked, surprised.
“No.”
“You think you should supervise?”
“No, you’ve got good instincts. You just need to trust them. I’ll take you because I don’t want you eating boxed noodles so you can pay for new dresses.”
She blushed. “I don’t get myself in trouble with shopping or anything like that. I’m good at budgeting. It’s just sometimes…”
“You run out of money,” he said. “I wasn’t broke in college, but it took nonstop hustle to get and stay ahead.”
“I do a little freelance work, which helps, but the business side of things is time-consuming and tricky for me. I didn’t want it to interfere with school. I should get a part-time job—”
“No.”
“But you just said you worked all along.”
“I had the time. You don’t.”
“You didn’t go to class much, did you?”
“I went to classes I liked.”
“But not because you had to. I think you read things and remember them. Better than other people do.”
He smiled.
“I bet a lot of people underestimated you when you were young.”
“They still do. I use it.”
“Do you not want people to know how smart you are?”
He shrugged. “I lived in a tough neighborhood growing up. That world respects strength.”
She stared at his profile. She felt so in awe of him that it was like being pulled underwater by a strong current. Just when she caught her breath, another wave came crashing over her. “Thank you for telling me,” she whispered.
“I didn’t tell you. You figured it out.”
“Do you mind?”
“No. Kittens are curious,” he said with a sly smile.
She laughed. “I’m glad it’s okay. I really want to know your secrets, so I can know you.”
“You’re going to find out plenty of my dirty secrets, I promise you that.”
“Good,” she said softly as they pulled up to a restaurant with white lights strung through the trees and a stone fire pit burning on the side patio. “Please don’t take me to places that are really expensive.”
“Why not?”
“It’s against club rules because money can be coercive. Also, I’m afraid it’ll get confusing.”
He pulled up to the valet station. He got out and tossed the guy his keys, then came around the car and opened the door. She hesitated, glancing at the tiered landscaping, definitely expensive.
She got out of the car, and he led her to a corner of the deck. “Shouldn’t we tell them we’re here?”
“Sit,” he said.
She did, and he pulled a chair right next to hers. “No one tells me how to spend my money, Kate. I’ll take you where I want to take you and buy you what I want to buy you. And there’s not a damn thing wrong with that. Know why?”
She shook her head.
“You’re not with me for my money, kitten. If I want to coerce you into doing something, I won’t use money to do it. I’ll just whisper in your ear.” He leaned forward, his voice low and deep. “If I want you on your knees, that’s where you’ll be.”
Her gaze was trapped in his. She wanted to drop to the ground immediately.
“Does that have anything to do with money?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“You won’t take a part-time job because your free time belongs to me. Understand?”
She nodded, swallowing hard. It was dizzying how glad and how nervous his words made her.
A waiter approached. “Mr. McLeod, have you been helped?”
“Not yet. Bring a glass of Lagavulin, a couple of waters, and a menu for her.”
“Of course, sir. One Scotch?”
“One,” he said with a nod.
The waiter left.
“You don’t drink Scotch, do you?” he asked.
“I never have. Can I try a sip?”
“Of course. What do you like to drink?”
“Water’s good.”
“It is. What else do you like to drink?”
She glanced away.
“What?”
“Milk.”
“What’s wrong with that? When I was a kid I went through a gallon a week. Never had a cavity.”
“I really like milk!” she said. “My suite mate, Maya, thinks it’s gross. She makes fun of me all the time.”
“She’s crazy. What about alcohol?”
“Not really. I’ll try something if you want me to. Not wine, though, if that’s okay. Some kinds seem to give me headaches.”
Rory sat back and studied her.
She grimaced. “Do you have a big wine collection? Is it disappointing that I don’t drink it?”
“It’s not disappointing at all.”
“Oh, good,” she said and smiled at him.
“You’re so goddamned beautiful,” he said.
She looked down at her hands, overwhelmed again. He must have been with so many girls more beautiful than she was, but he made her feel like she was the first one he’d ever seen. “Thank you for thinking so.”
The waiter dropped off the menu and the drinks.
“Bring her a glass of milk,” Rory said.
The waiter nodded and left again. Rory advised her on what to order, emphasizing that he wanted her to choose something with a lot of protein to make up for the fact she’d had almost nothing but carbs all day. She felt a little guilty, but got the steak and jumbo shrimp combination when he forced her to tell him what looked really good to her.
He took a swig from his glass and set it down, moving his chair even closer. “There are a couple of things we need to talk about.”
“Okay,” she said, clasping her hands in her lap.
“Earlier you said you’d try something alcoholic if I wanted you to.”
She nodded.
“You put yourself in my hands.”
“Yes. Didn’t you want me to?”
“Sure I want you to. I’d be wrong though if I didn’t point it out and remind you that it’s a choice.”
She nodded.
“I’ve been bending and breaking a lot of the club’s rules because I know exactly what applies to us and what doesn’t. But I’m not sure if I’ve also told you that I think our club is the best of its kind and that it has a lot of important rules that I would never break because they absolutely apply to us, to who we are and how we choose to live. You need to know that.”
“All right.”
“I go after what I want. If something or someone gets in my way, I go around them or over them. I’m hardwired that way.”
“I like that about you.”
“I know. I’m glad. What I’m trying to say is if you give me power over you, I’ll take it. Even if you don’t offer it up, I’ll try to take it, sometimes without realizing it. But this thing between us is new, and we haven’t talked about a lot of important stuff that we probably should have before I started getting you to break rules. Hell, I didn’t even give you a chance to learn what the rules are.”
“I guess that was probably wrong. But it doesn’t feel wrong to me.
When I’m with you…” She didn’t even understand what she felt for him. “I feel so many things.”
He slid a hand over the side of her face and neck, then pulled it back. “Here’s your food.”
He moved his chair back to where it belonged and they talked about casual things, like what classes she was taking and the things she liked about Pennsylvania, where she was from. She mentioned that she loved the view from the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. That reminded him of the Rocky boxing movies, and he confessed that he’d tried to use a fake ID to join a gym for fighters when he was fifteen. That hadn’t worked, but it got his foot in the door for an after-school job cleaning up.
“That led to more. They never let me in the ring to spar when I was underage, but they taught me things and let me hit the bag, which was a big deal to me at the time.”
“Did you want to be a boxer?”
“No, but I liked learning from those guys.”
“I was a fighter too. Online,” she said with a small smile. “Video games.”
“Which ones?”
“A lot of different ones. Do you play?”
“No.”
“Not physical enough for you?”
He shook his head.
“That was part of why I stopped. I got too busy,” she said. “But also, I guess I really wanted to play games that were more physical.”
“Then you joined the right club,” he said.
At moments, like now, something predatory and uncivilized emerged in his eyes, and those were the moments she waited for.
Chapter Six
He’d given her the choice of being taken back to school directly after dinner, but she’d asked if she could stay with him a little longer.
“A little longer or a lot longer,” he said casually. “I could chain you up and keep you.”
“Would you be more likely to do that if I was good? Or if I was bad?” she asked with mock innocence.
He smirked. “It’s cute how you think your behavior will influence what I do.”
“Won’t it? If I’m bad you’ll punish me, right?” she said, hoping to edge things in that direction.
His gaze slid to her. “You don’t have it in you to be bad enough to justify all the ways I’ll punish you. Most of the time, I’ll do it just because I want to.”
She shivered. “I really want to see what it’s like.”
“Didn’t Master J show you what it’s like?”
She looked out the window. “A little.”
They were silent the rest of the way to his house, and she wished she could read his mind. Master J had said he wouldn’t be angry. Was he right? The problem was that she didn’t even know whether she wanted Master J to be right. She was certainly jealous when she thought about Master Rory with other women.
They arrived, going down a long driveway to a house with a lot of rectangles, sort of a modern take on Frank Lloyd Wright. Inside Rory tossed his keys on massive chunk of raw stone whose top had been ground down to make a table top.
Rory pressed a button and the recessed lights in the living room ceiling came on, revealing a fireplace and long couches built into the walls, with enormous windows rising to the ceiling. There were a couple of coffee tables in a style that matched the built-in sofas, but there were also large expanses of open carpet. It was a room a person could breathe in. On the fireplace wall there were built-in bookshelves.
She started toward the books, curious about what he read.
“Come over here, kitten,” he said, sitting on the couch.
She turned and started to him, but he held out a hand to stop her.
“Take off the dress and the boots.”
She was nervous, of course, but a part of her also wanted to undress for him. She’d worn a lacy dove gray bra and matching panties, the prettiest set she owned, hoping he’d see it. She undressed, setting her dress and boots in the corner.
His eyes raked over her. “Come to me like a kitten would,” he said in that low, uncompromising voice.
It took her a moment to understand, but when she realized what he meant, her body reacted, tightening and anxious to play these games. She dropped to her hands and knees and crossed the carpet with a little swish of her backside. It was too bad she didn’t have a tail to flick. She reached him and rubbed her cheek against his leg.
He put one hand in her hair, the other rested on his thigh. She licked his knuckles with the flat of her tongue.
“You were a kitten before? Whose?”
She shook her head.
“First time?”
She turned her head sideways, resting it against his leg and looked up at him and nodded.
“You’re good at it.” He ran a finger along her throat. “Beautiful little kittens need collars.”
Her heart squeezed.
“Know what I mean?”
She nodded. Being collared would mean she would belong to him, which was exactly what she wanted.
“Give me a kiss,” he said, leaning forward.
She rose up and kissed him, nibbling at his lips and teasing him with her tongue. He put a hand behind her head, twisted his fingers in her hair, and pulled her head back. He kissed her hard, his tongue in her mouth deep enough to almost kiss her tonsils.
When he let her go, she had to take a deep breath to catch it. She moved forward, inching close to the zipper of his jeans. She really wanted to take him in her mouth. She’d been thinking about it since she’d first seen him. Her fingers slipped forward.
“No,” he said.
She dropped back on her heels and pouted.
He chuckled. “Tell me what happened with Master J in his office.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Do I have to?”
“What do you think?” he demanded.
She took a breath and blew it out. “He had me strip for him. He touched me a little and examined me. Then he spanked me and other things.”
“What other things?”
She hesitated.
“Kate,” he said in a warning tone.
“He, um, used his fingers to make me feel better.” She looked over his shoulder at the darkness beyond the windows. “Are you mad?”
“At you? No. Why would I be mad?”
“I let him do things to me. It felt wrong.”
“Why?”
“Because I could tell you wanted it to be you. And I wanted it to be you too.” She rested her chin on his thigh, staring at nothing, and whispered forlornly, “Why did you let him have me?”
“If I’d known that’s what it would feel like to you, I wouldn’t have.”
“He kept me in his office so you couldn’t watch.”
“I know. Did you want me there?”
“Yes.”
Master Rory studied her for a moment. “I knew the first time I saw you that you were mine, but I didn’t think you knew yet. I also thought you deserved some time to learn under the club’s protection.”
“So you were waiting patiently?”
He laughed. “No, I didn’t wait. And I wasn’t patient. Look where you are,” he said with a shake of his head. “I did everything I could short of punching J in the face to get him to give you to me to train. When that didn’t work, I broke into a file cabinet and stole your cell phone number and address.”
“You did?” she asked, rising up.
“They were trying to do the right thing, but their keeping you away from me for even one scene was more than I could take.”
“I feel so much better.”
“You do, huh?” he said, sliding her hair from her neck. “It all sounds good and romantic to you, does it? You know, you have no idea what I’m like, how hardcore and rough I can get.”
“I’m waiting for you to show me.”
He studied her face with a dark expression.
“I came to the Marquis Club looking for something,” she said. “It was you. And myself. I came there because I wanted to figure out if I’ll like in real life all the things I fanta
size about. And when I saw you, I thought, he’s the one I want doing things to me.”
He exhaled loud enough for her to hear, and it was one of the sexiest sounds ever. “Tell me your hard stops and anything I should know from your past,” he said.
Her heart pounded. This was it. After she told him this, everything would really begin.
Chapter Seven
Kate had confided in him about the past, watching his face closely. If her hard limits bothered him, she couldn’t have known it by his face. He was intent, but his expression gave away nothing.
He led her to the master bedroom, which was large and cool with light gray walls and a light fixture that looked like it was made of steel and chunks of broken glass. The room had sleek furniture with a minimum of flourishes, and yet it wasn’t cold or unwelcoming.
The bedspread was a dark charcoal color and silky soft when she trailed her fingers over it. She realized when she noticed his gaze on her bra that she matched the decor.
“Take off your clothes,” he said.
Licking her lips and nodding, she reached back, unhooked her bra’s clasp and shrugged out of it. She set it behind her and then eased her panties off too. Her pussy was bare and smooth from the waxing she’d had that morning. She hoped it would feel petal soft to him, but the bare skin, more than anything, made her feel exposed.
Her heavy breasts were lower without support, but still firm. His gaze was on them and her large cocoa-colored nipples.
“Turn around,” he said in a husky voice.
She did. She had long legs and a firm bottom. Her spin classes kept her fit.
She glanced over her shoulder when she felt his thumbs pressing into the base of her back right above her butt.
“It’s like you were made to order.”
She exhaled. It made her so happy that he liked her body.
He splayed his hands over her hips and then slid his hand around to rest on her flat belly. He eased her back against him. She felt his erection through his jeans, his fly rough against her skin. Her belly tightened, and heat spread through her.
His big hands cupped her breasts, squeezing slowly. He caught her earlobe in his teeth and bit down hard enough to cause her breath to catch. Waves of desire rolled over her.
He released her. “On the bed. Head down. Ass in the air.”
