by Anya Summers
He carried her from the bathroom, depositing her in the bed, sliding in next to her. He held her close as she drifted off, kissing her temple.
"Get some rest, sweetness," he murmured against her forehead.
Her eyes slid closed on a sigh. When was the last time she had felt this happy?
Chapter Seven
When Ophelia opened her eyes for the second time that morning, she discovered herself alone. If it weren't for the muscle soreness and tenderness in her posterior, she would have chalked last night up to a dream. A really explicit, highly erotic, mega-watt fantasy, but a dream nonetheless. Except it had been real; every single mind-blowing orgasm.
The power Tobias held over her, his ability to melt her insides and resolve with merely a glance, made her uneasy. She had surrendered everything to him without question last night; her body, her soul, and part of an organ she'd thought long buried. Was she that dependent upon his praise, his acceptance, and his touch? He'd blustered past any barriers she had and decimated them as he fucked her into the stratosphere. The admission from his lips that he was a Dominant, had made a puzzle piece fall into place. But was what they had a basis for a relationship, or just good times between the sheets? His upset over her leaving him after their first night together had been real, she'd felt it.
One of the reasons why she seldom dated, apart from her obsession with eighteenth century fictional men, was because too many of the men she'd interacted with were weak-willed ninnies. They were more adept at discovering the latest metrosexual craze than they were at being a man. That didn't mean she wanted an asshole, far from it. Los Angeles had its fair share of men who thoroughly believed they were God's gift to womankind, moving from one beach bunny fashionista to the next in search of a perfection they would never find. Yet even those men, when pressed, lacked surety of confidence in themselves.
Whereas Tobias entered a room and every other male dimmed in comparison. She had never questioned what he was going to do to her last night, and then once again this morning. A part of her trusted him inexplicably, knowing that he would push her to her limits, and test her, but never break her. Where her fear really lay was in letting him see the truth, know about the horrible thing she had done that had repercussions she still felt to this day. Six years ago, she'd killed her parents. She was the reason they'd died in that car accident. It was her greatest shame. One she would never escape.
If it hadn't been for her temper tantrum the night before, they might still be alive. She'd been marginally upset over the fact that she wanted to go to the ski lodge with her friends at the start of her senior year. It was an annual tradition that seniors at her high school did each year, and Ophelia had wanted to ride with her tight clique of friends. They were all meeting up early for lunch before meeting the bus caravan to Big Bear Lake. When her parents had explained they couldn't get her to her ski trip until the designated school meet-up time, Ophelia had thrown a temper tantrum, screaming at them how unfair they were when all she needed was a ride to meet her friend's parents.
If she'd been less of a spoiled brat, then they never would have rushed on the way back from their appointment the next morning. Never would have lost control of their SUV and rolled it down an embankment off the 405. She'd shut off after that, her emotions went into hibernation mode, and she'd stopped living. There'd been days on which she had wished she'd been with them that morning.
Then, in a strange turn of events, somehow, someway, the flogging had soothed some of her raging guilt more than any of the tears she'd cried over the last six years. Ophelia didn't understand it. Couldn't wrap her brain around why she'd had that specific reaction to the punishment. And it left her with so many questions about who she was at her core that her knee-jerk reaction was to burrow back inside her protective shell until the feeling dulled and passed. What did enjoying the flogging, the pain of it a balm to her senses, make her? Deranged? Sadistic? Or just plain pathetic?
Tobias had taken such tender care of her after their lovemaking. She'd never had a man wash and tend to her that way, ensuring that she was comfortable. Her heart fluttered beneath her breast. If she weren't careful, and didn't rein this relationship onto even footing, she'd lose herself in him, ceding him emotions she'd thought had died long ago on the 405.
Emerging from the bed, her muscles protested the movement. Her body felt like she'd run a marathon with a survivalist obstacle course included, she was so sore from last night. In all the carnal indulgences of the previous night, she'd almost forgotten the main reason she'd flown five thousand miles. Although her sister's announcement had changed everything, and Ophelia wondered if she should even try to talk Zoey into coming home. Would she even listen to Ophelia at this point?
She took a few minutes to dress and get ready for the day, noticing tiny bruises on her hips in the shape of fingerprints. Her bra chafed against her raw, slightly bruised nipples. And she couldn't even begin to think about her bottom being covered in lash marks. Just seeing the reminder of Tobias' fevered attentions made moisture flood her sex and her knees tremble.
Oh, she had it bad for him, and what was more, she knew it.
Ophelia vacated the room and went in search of Zoey. Last night, she'd been so jet lagged and exhausted from her travels, she'd barely taken note of the home she was in. Grand didn't even begin to describe it. The ceiling's moldings were lined with gold filigree. The heavy oaken doors and frames displayed some of the finest inlaid scrollwork this side of a museum. The halls had glossy wooden flooring in an aged mahogany, complete with oriental carpet runners spanning the immense length of the hall. The cream-colored walls sported artwork and all manner of historical artifacts.
She stepped into the elevator, her brain still not at a functioning level, and pressed the button on the bottom. The doors closed soundlessly. The conveyance whooshed as it descended, a slight ding sounded as she reached the first floor. The doors slid open and she exited without really thinking, not minding her surroundings. She was too embroiled in her own inner turmoil to pay attention. She glanced around, casting her gaze up and down the area she was in. This couldn't be right at all. Shaking her head, Ophelia reflected that she really shouldn't be unleashed upon the world without coffee. It was like she had stepped off the planet. The hallway was dim, with low LED light panels along the floor and ceiling. The walls were made of see-through glass with black curtains shrouding the rooms, giving the hall an unearthly gleam.
She thought she had taken a wrong turn or been sucked into a time warp. What was this place? That was when she heard it. A garbled moan, followed by the sound of flesh connecting sharply with flesh. What the hell? As if pulled by marionette strings, Ophelia padded forward to where the hall opened up into a nightclub of sorts. It made her think of Dungeon Pleasures back home. Curtains fluttered as she passed, stirred by air currents, and she caught glimpses of outlines moving, her mind sure she wasn't seeing couples mid-coitus.
It was there in the center of the room, on a raised dais of sorts, with a rather impressive crowd for the middle of nowhere Scotland; that Ophelia saw maybe thirty or so people had gathered, reclining on leather couches as a woman was being disciplined on a spanking bench. She was bound with leather straps in a kneeling position, completely bared to the spectators. The rosy cheeks of her bottom flushed bright red from the man's hand as he whaled on her backside. A second man stood near the woman's head, bare, his chested finely coated in sweat as he thrust his dick inside the woman's waiting mouth.
Her face was positioned in such a way that Ophelia couldn't tell by sight who the woman was, but she recognized the voice coming from the woman moaning on stage. Shock blasted her system as she raised her gaze, spying a leather-clad Declan as he brought his hand down with another loud crack. The other man, the one in the throes of ecstasy as he thrust his cock inside the woman, she didn't know. But she knew the woman. Her world tilted and she was speaking before her brain connected with her actions.
"Zoey?" she cried. "What the hell
is going on?"
The crowd gave an audible gasp at the intrusion, which should have set off warning bells in Ophelia's befuddled brain, but it didn't. It only seemed to make her interruption resonate that much more in the space. Declan grimaced at Zoey's startled cry, staring daggers in her direction. The ginger-headed stranger yelped and withdrew his dick from her sister's mouth, with pain slashing his features.
"Remove her from my club immediately, please." Declan nodded toward Ophelia as her sister began to sob on stage.
Tears streamed down Ophelia's face. What the hell was wrong with the whole scenario? Why was her sister, of all people, acting submissive? Why hadn't anyone warned her? They'd all acted normal. And why did she feel like she didn't know Zoey anymore—or herself, for that matter? Mom and Dad had not raised them to be this way. Had their deaths caused herself and Zoey to need the darker side of sex?
At first, Ophelia didn't recognize the man from the audience was who stood and marched over to evict her from the spectator sport happening until it was too late. Tobias Ford glowered at her with all the fury of a thunder god bent on meting out death and destruction.
"I've got this one, D. Take care of your little sub." Wrapping his hand around her, Tobias ushered Ophelia out of the center area, retracing her steps back down the hall and then into the elevator. Tobias didn't say a word to her, but she could infer by his rigid stance that he was pissed.
Well, bully for him.
She should be the one who was pissed off. They should have better security measures in a place like this. Not to mention, Tobias had seen her sister naked. As much as she tried to rationalize it in her mind, Ophelia couldn't seem to. Whatever this freak show was, she was finished. No way in hell would she raise her child in an environment like this.
How could her sister do that? Allow something like that? And Lia felt like the biggest hypocrite in the world because she'd submitted to the same type of degradation, minus the extra man and crowd on the scene, a few short hours before. Scotland, Tobias, witnessing her sister like that—it was all one big horrible mistake. Ophelia never should have come here—or left her house seven weeks ago, for that matter. Then all of this could have been avoided.
Tobias didn't say a word, maintaining his 'silent as the grave' façade as he ushered her back to her room. He stayed silent, pulling her across the room to the couch. That damn thing. She'd love to set that thing on fire. What was it with the two of them and couches anyway? She assumed he was going to sit and talk with her, like reasonable adult human beings treating each other with respect. Ophelia couldn't have been more mistaken. It was why she didn't put up a fight and tolerated his iron grip on her arm as he led her from the den of inequity.
Instead of having her sit next to him, he pulled her face-first across his lap until he had situated her bottom across his thighs. With one hand he held her wrists in a vise grip, and with the other he drew her pants and panties off, shoving them to her thighs until her bare bottom was exposed.
She bucked at his firm hold. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" she cried indignantly.
"You interrupted a scene, Lia, embarrassed your sister, and the man who owns the home you so graciously find yourself a guest within. For that, you will be punished. Do not enter the dungeon area without mine or Declan's permission again, do you understand?"
"The dungeon area? I was looking for the first floor and pressed the lowest button on the elevator. Is it my fault it wasn't clearly labeled? How the hell was I to know there was a scene happening? Like I know exactly what that is, when it looked like Declan was beating my sister. I can't believe this is how guests are treated."
"Regardless of your ignorance, when you spied the scene, you chose to interrupt instead of retreating and waiting to discuss it with your sister and her fiancé at a later time. Ignorance is not bliss in this case, and you will be punished."
The first whack startled her more than it hurt. Tears stung her eyes as he proceeded to paddle her bare bottom. Pain seared her backside as he walloped her, the stinging blows coming in a ceaseless rhythm. She laid her head against the couch cushion as tears streamed from her eyes. Her ass burned. Her whole backside was enflamed. She'd never forgive him for this. He may not know it yet, but whatever he thought they'd begun last night was over the moment he chose to spank her versus talk to her.
She couldn't stop the sobs. Her whole frame shook. Ophelia hadn't even realized Tobias had finished spanking her. He pulled her close, cuddling her, allowing her the release of tears. She cried at the missed opportunity of what might have been between them, at losing her sister and finding herself alone, and went about extinguishing her feelings, shoving them behind bars and throwing away the key. She'd done the same thing after her parents died and it had served her well. And if she ever felt herself wavering again, feeling like she was missing out on life, she'd remember this time, and keep herself from doing anything this stupid ever again.
"Sweetness, don't make me do that again. It was not pleasant for me. In the future, around Mullardoch Manor, don't enter a room until after you've knocked and been invited in. And do not, under any circumstances, go into the dungeon. Are we clear?" Tobias said.
Drained from her crying jag, she nodded. She'd play along for now, act like she had capitulated to his request, but after his actions, coupled with what she'd witnessed between her sister and the owner of Mullardoch in the so-called dungeon, she was out. He'd never touch her again.
"Good. Stay here until your sister comes to see you. I'll ask the cook to send some food up for you."
"Okay." If she said any more, she'd likely start screaming at him. The last thing she wanted was another spanking. As it was she worried she'd have trouble sitting comfortably for the next few days. Who knew that she'd be treated like a petulant child being sent to her room?
"I have to go and meet with Declan so we can firm up the security contract. After your intrusion into the dungeon, the measures I have proposed need to be implemented as soon as humanly possible. We'll talk later tonight. Leave your door unlocked for me." He turned her face up toward his, placing a light kiss upon her lips. Then he disentangled himself from her and exited the room with a final glance over his shoulder before he left her alone completely.
Unable to sit any longer, Lia started pacing around the room. Rage unlike anything she'd ever known barreled through her body. How dare he spank her like that? How dare Zoey not talk to her and make sure she understood what type of relationship she was in, or that there were places that were off-limits? She was working herself up into a frenzy, she knew it, but like a train about to derail she could do nothing to stop the fury bubbling to the surface.
She even tried going into the bathroom and splashing cold water on her face in an attempt to bring her fury to heel. Nothing worked. Ophelia was tempted to smash the room to bits, having to keep herself away from any of the breakables in the room as she paced. She was spitting mad by the time there was a knock on her door.
"Come in," she ground out, grinding her teeth, attempting to restrain the snarl from her voice.
Zoey opened the door and entered, wheeling a cart laden with food offerings. Always the caregiver, coming to soothe Ophelia's hurts and treating her like a child instead of a grown woman. There had been a time when her coddling had been sorely needed after the accident. And Lia had never envied the position Zoey had been put into when their parents had died leaving them orphans. Ophelia knew her sister had placed parts of her life on hold for her, to make sure she didn't flunk out her senior year, that she went on to college, and just continued with the business of everyday living. Lia knew that. Her guilt, part of it at least, was brimming with regret for Zoey that she had been cheated out of being a normal twenty-something instead of playing mom to her sister. So she didn't begrudge Zoey wanting or even needing her own life. If anything, Ophelia hoped her sister found the happiness she so rightly deserved.
"I wanted to make sure you had something to eat. I wasn't sure if you'd had a
nything since dinner last night. And we need to discuss what you saw." Zoey pushed the cart to the table near the couch and still hadn't looked directly at her. "Why don't you sit and eat something?" she went on, handing Lia an empty plate when she didn't jump at the offered feast.
The smells from the cart made her mouth water. She hadn't eaten since the night before, and this baby was taking her hunger to new levels. They did have a lot to discuss, and perhaps it was best if she didn't have what was sure to be an involved conversation on an empty stomach.
"I'll stand and eat, if you don't mind." Ophelia closed the distance until she stood next to the cart, filling a plate with the finger food offerings. Munching on a carrot, she gazed at Zoey who finally met her observation. Embarrassment mingled with grief in her sister's eyes.
"I'm sorry about what you saw earlier. I should have told you last night, but with your news I forgot to mention it," Zoey apologized, remorse filling her voice.
Ophelia swallowed the bite of cheese that had lodged itself as the moment of truth was upon them and replied, "Zoey. I just don't know what to think. Why didn't you tell me that Declan was your fiancé in the message you left me? And then, when I arrived yesterday, you said nothing as to the type of relationship you have with him, and what goes on here. You could have warned me."
"Ophelia, what I do or don't do is none of your business. I love you but I have needs that I didn't even know I had until I met Declan. I can't make you understand them, only know that I wanted what was happening in the dungeon before you so rudely interrupted."
