She looked at him and took his face in her hands. “Arsen, please never talk about not being able to live through anything. You can make it through whatever is thrown at you. I’m sure of that. The thought of dropping your case and walking away from you is a thing that would break me down. I think above anything else, you can teach me strength. In more than one way.”
Arsen was confused by his feelings for this young woman who laid in his arms. She was a child in so many ways, but she had something about her that told Arsen she was so much more and she was meant to be in his life. Maybe his life needed changing. Maybe hers did too.
“The things I could teach you are things you’ve never even thought about, I bet. For instance, did you know you hold so much power to influence people using your body, and I don’t mean giving it to them?” He stroked her hair and had to lean in and smell it.
“Body language, you mean?” she asked as she lay her head on his chest and ran her fingers in circles over his abs.
“Yes, but it’s so much more in depth than just how you do little things. The moment I saw you, I had a strange reaction to you that I’ve never had before. I also have never talked this much to anyone, especially a woman. You do something to me, Steele.” He leaned over her and kissed her cheek. “This is crazy and I know it, but please try this thing with me. We can hide it until all this legal shit is over.”
Steele’s body froze in his arms as she tensed up.
“Arsen, are you asking me to see you in secret?”
“I am, but much more than that. I want you to start to learn about how it is I want this relationship to be. Fuck, I can’t believe I used the word, relationship. I haven’t had one since, well, in forever. And that one ended horribly, but I always say that you should do what scares you or your life is no life at all. It’s time I follow my own advice.” He pulled her up so they could be face to face.
Her large breasts were a bit distracting, and she was breathing a lot with what he figured was excitement. “Arsen, I can’t be everything you want in a woman. If you expect me to not look at you unless you tell me to, I can tell you right now, that shit will get old quick. Some crazy sex I can handle, but all the rest, I think that’s going to be impossible.”
“All the rest can come in baby steps, and it doesn’t have to be any more than what you want.” He cupped her chin and gave her lips a feathery kiss.
“I could be really good for you and you for me, once I show you how great life is when you follow my rules.”
“Your rules,” Steele said. “I do have to say that you must be right about holding onto an orgasm until the other person is ready to climax too. That was right. You do have to speed up your climax though.” She laughed.
Arsen frowned.
“If I asked that of you would that be appropriate?”
Steele looked as if she was contemplating what he said, yet another thing he absolutely adored about her was the fact she would think about things before answering. Steele said, “No, it wouldn’t.”
“So a small set of rules for you to get used to wouldn’t be too much to ask for a woman who is not my sub as of yet?” he asked.
“Or maybe never,” she said. “How would you feel if I never felt like being put in that category?”
Arsen had to stop and think. He had to be honest with himself as well. He was a man who had a single purpose for women in his life. Not a night had passed with him staying in a sub’s bed or her staying in his. Would Steele understand that?
“How about we both bend some of our own personal rules for ourselves? For instance, I’ve never allowed a sub to stay in my bed all night, nor did I stay in theirs. But, I’d like you to stay the night with me. This is a huge rule that I’m letting go for you, so you can let something go for me. I’m all about your safety at all times.”
Steele’s face pinched as she asked, “Your girlfriends never got to spend the night with you?”
Arsen frowned. “None of the women who have been my subs or other sexual partners were my girlfriends. For that matter, nor will you be. I don’t do girlfriends, Steele. I do business transactions.”
“You’re the one who said the word relationship, not me,” Steele reminded him.
Arsen found himself at a loss for words. He was being a man that he wasn’t. He was being the same stupid boy he was with Beth, offering her all he had to give only to be tossed away like trash when he couldn’t stand up to her father.
“I might be wrong about this whole thing,” he said. “Forget about it. I’ll have Paul take you home. Go get a shower and dress.”
Steele could tell something had gone through his mind that shut him down. “I’ll do it, Arsen. I’ll take your secret relationship offer and we can see how this works out with no one being any the wiser if it doesn’t. You can set some rules for me and I can see if I can live my life while following them. You have proven to me that at least one of your rules makes me quite happy after all.”
Arsen shook his head, had she said what he thought he’d heard?
“Are you sure, Steele? I mean, I can’t make you any promises. I can’t tell you there won’t be punishments for breaking my rules. You have to understand that.”
She snuggled into his wide chest and smiled up at him. “As you told me, that’s how I learn to stop doing the thing that makes you crazy, right?”
“Right,” he said.
“So, what are your rules, Arsen?” she asked.
He had so many he had to think. He couldn’t dole out any hard ones or she might not stay and he wanted her to stay more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.
STEELE
After a hot shower while Arsen left her alone to go write his rules down for her, Steele toweled off and wrapped the fluffy white towel around her body. Her arms ached a little from being tied up, but she loved it and ran her hands up and down them, remembering how awesome the whole thing had been with Arsen earlier.
The bedroom door opened and Arsen came in wearing only black pajama bottoms. Steele’s breath halted as she thought him the most beautiful man she’d ever seen.
“Hey,” she said.
His reaction was instant.
“Don’t speak to me until I speak to you, Steele.”
She looked down as his tone was harsh and it was a reaction she didn’t seem to be able to control. She pressed her lips together in a hard line. Standing still, she had no idea of where he wanted her.
He took her arm and pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed. Arsen handed her the paper that was full of his rules. She looked up at him as he paced in front of her.
“You want me to read these now?”
He stopped.
“Yes. Out loud please and ask me about anything you don’t understand.”
Steele cleared her throat as Arsen resumed his pacing.
“Steele must do as Master says at all times.”
She stopped and shook her head. He looked at her.
“What? Of course you know that’s the first rule, Steele.”
“Um, I’m not your sub and you’re not my Master, so that word will have to be stricken from this document if you expect me to take it seriously.” She looked directly into his dark eyes and found them boring into hers.
“It’s just a term, we use. How would you have me write it?” he asked.
“Just put your name in place of every single use of the word, ‘Master.’ I can’t express to you enough how degrading that feels to me. I will not be degraded at any time, Arsen.” She looked back at the paper.
“Fine, I’ll change that since this is not a dom/sub contract. So, go on and read the rest,” he said as his eye twitched and his hand flew to cover it.
Steele noticed though and frowned. “I’m making you upset, aren’t I?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m just not used to this kind of behavior out of any woman of mine and it’s taking some getting used to. Please continue.”
With a shrug of her shoulders she read, “I’ll just re
ad this as if you’ve already changed the word then. Steele must do as Arsen says at all times. Steele will stay every night with Arsen.” She looked up at him. “You want me to live with you?”
“I don’t want to call it that, no.” He stopped his pacing and looked at her. “You share an apartment with another person and that’s not appropriate. Your things can stay there, for now anyway. You sleep in my bed, so I know you’re safe.”
“But Gwen depends on my financial help. And I don’t really want her all alone every night. That makes her not safe,” Steele argued.
“She’s not mine to worry over. You are, or will be, if you accept this. This rule is non-negotiable I’m afraid. Perhaps you could help her find another roommate. You can still help her pay the bills if you want to as I’ll be giving you a credit card to take care of all of your expenses. And you should, as you need to keep that room, you know in case things don’t work out.” He resumed pacing. “Keep reading.”
“We’ll discuss the credit card thing later as I will not be taking money from you. That’s a thing a prostitute does and I’m anything but that. Okay, next rule is, Steele will make herself readily available to Arsen at all times. She will be given a cell phone that is to be used only to communicate with Arsen and she will answer his calls and texts, if not immediately, then within thirty minutes. It should be noted that there will need to be a valid excuse for not answering right away and any excuse deemed unworthy will have repercussions,” she said then shook her head. “I have school, Arsen.”
“And I’m aware of that and would never ask you to come to me or answer my calls when you’re in classes, Steele. You need to trust me. I have no intention of ruining your education. I’d only like to enhance it and will if you allow me to exert my expertise with you. You can be assured I’ll never do something that would harm your career or your mind, body, or soul. I’ll care for you more than you ever thought possible.”
“Okay then, moving on,” she said as she continued. “Steele will not pleasure herself unless Arsen asks her to. What the hell, Arsen? Gee that’s really gross.” She kept reading. “Steele is not allowed to orgasm until Arsen tells her to. Yeah, I got that one. Moving on. Arsen has a say on who Steele is friends with.”
“That red head is out, Steele. She’s a real bitch and I don’t want her to have any influence on you.” He took her chin in his hand. “That won’t be a problem, will it?”
She shook her head. “I hate her anyway. I will have to stay firm on Gwen though. She’s my friend and will always be.”
“Then I will schedule a time for us all to be together so I can see how you two interact with one another and I will deem if the relationship is one that enhances your life..” He let her chin go and walked over to grab a bottle of water from the night stand. “Please continue.”
“Steele’s body is only to be given to Arsen to do with as he wishes.” She looked at him and frowned. “So you want to be exclusive I see, but I’m not your girlfriend. Okay. And what about you? Are you going to be only with me?”
“You have to trust me. I don’t plan on being with anyone else and if I am, I will be honest with you about it. But you have to realize I am the master of myself and as such, I can do as I please. As long as you are pleasing me then I see no reason why I’d even want to have sex with another, but that is my decision to make. Also, if you ever do decide to move all the way with this thing and become my sub then I can allow another to have sex with you if I want as your body will be mine.”
“Fuck that, Arsen!”
“I should’ve put that in there as well, but I’ll be sure to add it soon. That language is not to be uttered out of those precious lips of yours. For now, just know that it does not please me for you to utter curse words. And when I’m not pleased, it will reflect on how I treat you. Do you understand me, Steele?”
“I sure do. But please be advised that I will not be given to anyone else at this time. Not unless we do make a dom/sub contract. Which is getting more and more unlikely. And just so you know, if you think I’m going to be the only faithful one in this relationship then you’re far from correct.”
Arsen frowned and said, “Like I said, as long as you’re pleasing me I don’t see that happening.”
Steele smiled. “It’s just that I think I’d be really jealous is all, Arsen.”
“Noted,” he said as he ran his hand over her cheek.
“Okay then, Let’s see. The last thing here is pretty long. Steele must follow a diet and exercise program that Arsen develops for her. If she is caught straying from the diet and exercise program in any way, she will be punished. All foods and drinks must be consumed within a twenty-four-hour period. The program will include required times to go to bed and wake up.” Her eyes moved to him. “So, you want me to lose weight?”
Arsen got on his knees in front of her. He took her hand in his and kissed the top of it then looked up at her. “Not at all. I love your body and as such I want to keep it healthy. I want you around for a long time after all. These rules are all only to help you be the best you can be. The addition of punishment for falling off the program serves to help you stay on the plan, that’s all. You’re beautiful and I want you to know that. Everything I will do is only to your benefit.”
“I see, okay then.” She laid the paper on the bed. “So these are the rules for now anyway. I suppose as time goes on you’ll be adding to this.”
He nodded and got up and sat beside her, still holding her hand. “In time when you see just how much I’m doing for you, making things better for you, I think you’ll understand why the dom/sub thing is important. You should want to please me in every way that I want. You should want to show me how thankful you are for me. You should want me to dominate you and make you mine in every way possible.”
“You make it sound kind of romantic,” she said and ran her hand over his leg.
“Romantic? I wouldn’t say that,” Arsen said then stood up. “So, if I change the word Master to my name then you’ll sign it and we can start this?”
“Let me really look it over one more time before I say yes to that. It’s a lot to take in you know,” she picked up the paper and gave it one more read through.
Arsen watched her carefully as she read. He seemed to be noting every little frown she made and Steele was wondering if he was second guessing some of his rules. In the end, she found they were all something that she could live with, or try to anyway.
“Change those words and I’ll sign, Arsen.”
Arsen looked as if he had to stop himself from jumping up and down and Steele was shocked to find him grabbing her up into his strong arms. So un-dominate-like, she thought.
Her next thought was what had she gotten herself into?
For Acceptance Part 4
Arsen’s Rules
By Michelle Love
STEELE
Step for step, Steele matched Arsen’s strides as they ran side by side in the park near Arsen’s penthouse. Both were wearing the running shoes Arsen had researched and bought them, New Balance 1500v2s.
After only one week, Steele knew more about Arsen than she thought possible. The man himself that was. Not the man he had been or anything about his dealings with the women who had been found dead.
No, not the past Arsen. Only the present Arsen and that man she was falling for more and more with each passing day. He was strict and demanding in many ways, but he was also caring and at times she saw something in his dark eyes that told her he was beginning to soften.
He made his list of rules and she’d followed it better than he thought she would be able to. Arsen showed her respect for how well she managed to understand what it is he wanted from her and why. Her only real weakness with the rules thus far was her love of soda.
The diet he placed her on did not allow any soda ever. Nor caffeine in any form. Her mornings had been hard and the one glass of orange juice that she was allowed each morning was just not cutting it. That’s when he came up with the morni
ng’s activities to get her juices flowing each day.
Steele could say this about the man. He may have strict ways, but when she told him how her body was reacting to the sudden loss of the things that she’d used to get her going, he came up with alternative ideas to get it going again. Though he seemed tough as nails and a real chauvinistic bastard at times, he really was thoughtful and concerned with her overall health and safety.
They ran in the dawn’s light. Earlier than most so they wouldn’t be spotted together. Their relationship was being hidden because of his legal problems. But he had managed to fit in some lunches and a dinner as he introduced her as part of his legal staff when people who knew him came around.
Paul waited at the end of the trail for them. Each morning he took Steele back to her apartment to get ready for school and Arsen back to his to get ready for his day at the office. Then he’d take Arsen with him. They’d pick up Steele and drop her at college, then go downtown to take Arsen to his office.
Steele thought that it was absurd, but Arsen refused to let her take her truck to school. He was more than over-protective and that was about the only thing which grated on her about the man.
They slowed their pace to a walk as they finished up their run. Without looking at her, he said, “I have to commend you on how well you’re keeping up with what I’m asking of you. I think next week I’ll add a little more to our run, maybe another mile.”
“Sounds good,” she said and grazed his hand with the back of hers as if on accident but it was on purpose.
“Thank you for the compliment, Arsen.”
He gave her a sideways glance and took her hand in his.
Mallory Page 70
