On this side, closest to us? A short, uncomfortable looking black stool.
Sylvain lets me go. He walks around to the other side. He sits, and then looks surprised to see I haven’t moved.
He gestures at the stool. “Please.”
His voice prompts me into action. I quickly stride across the floor and sit down.
Dammit, but I hate how I’m acting like a frightened hare!
He puts his hands together and brings his chin on top of them. For a few long, anxious seconds, he just watches me.
I bite my lip and squirm a little. “You had a proposition?” I ask.
My voice squeaks. Oh my God, I am not doing well under pressure.
“Yes,” Sylvain answers. “Although I’m wondering if you can’t guess at it yourself.”
I try to find a comfortable position on the stool. It’s impossible. I absolutely loathe how its short legs make my head almost a whole foot below Sylvain’s. The power-dynamic implications are clear here.
“You want to know who I am,” he tells me. “You want to know what we’re doing here. But most of all, I think…” he reaches across and holds out his hand. “…you want to know why it is you are so drawn to me.”
Sheer arrogance, I think.
“Give me your hand, Dani. I won’t hurt you.”
Slowly, I untuck one hand from under my legs and reach over to place it on his.
I suck in a breath when our hands connect. A jolt of electricity shoots up my arm.
“Ah,” he says. “You felt that.”
I nod meekly. “Yes.”
He curls his fingers around my palm and holds on tightly. “Do you remember,” he asks, “the first thing I said when we touched hands?”
“You told me my fingers were cold.”
“Yes,” he affirms. “They still are. It’s one thing we are going to have to change, if we go through with this.”
“What’s ‘this?’” I ask him.
“Oh, I think you know, Dani. You knew from the moment you saw me.”
“Tell me,” I say. “Tell me exactly what you mean. And say it plainly.”
“Plainly,” he murmurs. “Fine. You want it plainly? Here it is:
“I want you to be my submissive.”
Chapter Sixteen
The blood rushes from my head. I feel abruptly dizzy.
The word echoes through my mind:
Submissive.
A yearning opens up inside of me. It is one I did not know I had.
All the associations of that word stream through my head. Domination. Pain. And of course, boundless pleasure.
The yearning grows stronger.
“So,” Sylvain says. “It is not so easy as saying yes. There is an initiation you have to go through.”
“Initiation?” I ask. My voice is barely above a whisper. My body trembles with excitement. “What’s kind?”
“A testing of sorts. To determine if I am right for you, and if you are right for me.”
His unwavering gaze makes me feel very, very… privileged.
As if I am the only one who exists in the entire world for him.
He tightens his grip on my hand. “Still interested?”
“Would I be sitting here if I weren’t?” I ask. I mean for it to come off as confident. Instead, it falls from my lips full of false bravado.
He tilts his head to the side. “No,” he says softly. “You would not.”
He releases my hand and stands. He walks to the window and clasps his arms behind his back. He looks out at the full moon.
“You don’t yet know a tenth about me,” he says. “Nor a hundredth. And I don’t know a tenth, a hundredth, about you. But who we are… what we were, before this? What we will become, in the aftermath? None of that matters. Because,” he turns to me. “As soon as you sign your submissive contract, we will become a man and a woman. Nothing more, nothing less. I will show you the heights of pleasure your body can reach. I will impart upon you strength—the strength to endure, to sustain, to block the pain. Because, make no doubt, Dani…” his dark eyes bore into me. “I will hurt you.”
I swallow.
“And I will do it again, and again, and again, until you are molded into the precise image of the woman I envision you to be.
“I will also give you pleasure. At the start, your pain will be pleasure enough for me.”
I lick my lips and try not to waver under his gaze. My heart is thundering in my chest. I can hear the blood pounding through my ears.
My whole body is buzzing. I take very small, very quick, very shallow breaths.
“And then what?” I ask. The words come as a squeak.
“And then we will proceed with your education,” he says. “I will teach you how to pleasure me. I will show you things the likes of which you have never envisioned. And I will, Ms. Middleton—” he steps right in front of me, and leers at me from his height, “—ruin you for all other men.”
My mouth goes dry. I swallow, then choke, and then cough.
Sylvain smirks. “You shouldn’t be scared, though. A proper Master has the utmost regard for his submissive’s well-being. You would be of no use to me were you to become suddenly incapable.”
“Incapable?” I breathe.
“Incapable of performing your duties, as they will be outline by me verbally from time to time. They may change as we progress. That is of no great concern. The biggest thing for me, Dani…” he slides a finger along my jaw, to my chin, and tilts my head up, “…is complete and utter obedience. It is what I expect. If you cannot promise me that—” his fingers tighten on my chin. He squeezes hard. “Then I am afraid our little game will be over before it ever began.”
He lets go. I gasp and fall forward.
He chuckles. “You’re so uptight. I will ease that, for you.”
“This is just—a lot to take in,” I manage.
“But you want it,” he says, eyes focused. “You want it, yes?”
The yearning inside me throbs like a living thing.
Why am I so enthralled by this? By him?
“Yes,” I answer.
“I know,” he says. In a fluid motion, he goes to his knees. He’s so tall that even with me on the stool, we’re eye-level.
His hands come up to rest on my legs. I swallow hard. His fingers press firmly into my flesh.
Slowly, he moves his hands up my legs. He maintains unbreakable eye contract.
Those hands slip past the hem of my gown. They feel so… so sinful against my inner things. Up and up they go, sliding along my legs, until they stop just a millimeter away from my throbbing core.
“You’re mine,” he says. It’s not a question. His voice goes an octave lower and becomes raspy. I’m instantly turned on. “Dear God, I can feel your heat.”
I flush and press my legs together. But his hands are unyielding. He utters a firm, “No.”
And just like that, I relax my leg muscles. I’m frozen in place, caught with a man’s hands beneath my skirt.
“It seems you can follow direction,” he says. “Good. That’s very good, Dani.”
“Now—” his hands tighten on my skin. “I want you to spread your legs for me.”
I squirm. I wasn’t expecting this. Not so soon.
“Now?” I whisper.
“Yes,” he says. “Pull your gown up. Let me see your beautiful pussy.”
I feel like I’m in a dream. My hands move of their own accord. They grip the bottom of the skirt, even though I don’t remember telling them to do so. Slowly, they pull it up, revealing my slender legs.
“Yes,” Sylvain breathes. His gaze has moved further downward. “Higher. Higher. All the way, now. Good girl.”
He starts pushing my legs apart. “Now spread for me.”
I’m shaking. I’ve never done anything like this before. Not this quickly, not this abruptly, not with a man like him.
“Sylvain…”
“Alastair,” he corrects. “Or Master. When we’re toget
her, you do not use my first name.”
I bite down another rush of arousal. “Alastair,” I say. “Maybe this isn’t—”
“Spread. Your. Legs,” he growls. His fingers press into my panties. All the sensitized nerves there fire at once.
I moan.
“Receptive,” he says. The word is so quiet I think it’s meant for himself. “That’s perfect. You’re perfect. I wonder what happens if I do…
“This.”
His middle two fingers slide past my panties and into me. I gasp, and instantly press my legs together. My hands grip his wrist and push him away.
“No.” He stops me. “Don’t hide from me, Dani. Never hide from me. There isn’t far you can go.”
“Alastair…” I say.
My words cut off as his fingers start working my folds.
He’s rough and unyielding. I grip onto his arm and hold on for dear life. His fingers thrust in and out of me, so hard, so fast that I can barely accommodate them. The stretch… it’s too much. It’s too soon.
“Alastair you’re hurting me,” I cry.
He ignores the protest. If anything it makes him work harder. His eyes are now focused solely on my pussy.
Such intensity, I think. Such—
“Oh God!” I cry out, as he coaxes a sudden rush of blistering pleasure out of me. “Alastair, Alastair, Alastair!”
“Come,” he tells me. “I want you to come for me. Can you do that? I need to feel your orgasm. Do it with my fingers in you. Do it now!”
Again and again, he hits the most sensitive spot inside me. My gasps become thready moans. I let go of his arm and curl my fingers in his hair. He works his hand faster and faster. The pain fades and is replaced by the harshest of pleasure.
And suddenly, without warning, without any sort of real build-up, I come. I climax against his hand. My eyes roll back, and I moan. My body shakes as the orgasm washes through me, brief but very, very intense.
When it’s done, I fall forward. I support myself against his shoulders.
“Alastair…” I breathe.
“Lesson number one,” he tells me. “I can always make you come. A true Master puts the needs of his submissive first. The mark of a great one… is that only he knows those needs.” He presses his fingers against my lips. “Now lick yourself off.”
***
I leave Sylvain’s—Alastair’s—study a trembling ball of nerves.
I’m still reeling from the orgasm. No man’s made me come before.
As soon as it was over, he withdrew a thick binder from his desk and flung it on my lap.
Inside was the submissive contract.
He promised more of what he gave me later. Every time I was with him, he told me, it was my responsibility to come.
For a girl who’s had a total—max!—of five real orgasms her life, all of them self-induced? It feels like a tall order.
But if he can touch me the same way again? Well then… maybe it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility.
Only when I’m safely in my room with the door locked do I exhale the breath I was holding for what seems like forever. I duck under the covers. I’ll look at the contract tomorrow. For now…?
For now, I want to float on my Alastair-induced high.
Chapter Seventeen
I wake up and bolt instantly upright.
My heart is racing. Something’s wrong, something’s—
I catch the remnant of a bad dream I was having. It makes me shudder. As it fades into the dark banks of my memory, I look around the room.
For a moment I’m disoriented. Where am I? I think. And why is it so bright out?
Then I look at the clock—and panic shoots through me.
It shows 1:00pm! I slept for nearly twelve hours!
Shit, Sylvain’s going to be pissed, I think. Then the most curious thing happens. A memory bubbles up, of him on his knees before me, his hand caught between my legs, the needy moans tumbling out of me…
Oh God. That’s no dream. That was reality. It happened last night!
I glance at the desk. Sure enough, there lies the unopened binder.
Nausea washes through me. I think I’m going to be sick.
I fight it down and get to my feet. Oh yeah, I think as I move around. I’m definitely sore.
Christ!
I approach the desk. I poke the binder with a finger.
It doesn’t bite.
But feeling its hard surface brings all of this to a very scary immediacy.
What was I thinking, going up there last night? What the hell was I thinking? Whatever I thought I wanted—that wasn’t me!
I’ve always been the good girl. Always the one to play by the rules, to never step out of line. I was supposed to be here this summer alone with the castle and my books! That’s it!
All the fantasies I had were supposed to be contained in stories! When I planned this whole thing out, there definitely weren’t any alluring, secretive men involved, looking to make me their… their…
I swallow.
Their submissive.
“Okay,” I tell myself. “Okay, okay, okay. Just think! You haven’t done anything yet.”
The feeling between my legs lends hard evidence to the contrary.
“Oh God!” I exclaim. I fall into the chair and cover my head with my arms. I really did do it, didn’t I? I can’t deny it. I can’t get away from it. I can’t—
I can’t say I didn’t like it.
Holy crap. I go still. That’s true. That’s very, very true.
I look at the binder once more. I slide it closer and flip it open.
Contract of Understanding between Master and Submissive, it reads.
The first line goes:
This document outlines the rules and expectations governing the relationship between Master ______ (Sylvain’s written his full name in the blank space) and submissive ________ (there’s a space for mine).
I scan the rest of it without any of the parts really sinking in. They don’t need to. I know the gist.
Sylvian Alastair wants to own me.
Of course it’s not real ownership. Such a thing is illegal. But for all intents and purposes?
That’s what the contract amounts to.
Can I do it? Can I willfully sign away myself for the next—how long is it again?
I flip to the back, looking for the dates. They are the same as the ones of my employment contract.
For the next three months.
I close the binder and take a deep breath. I push it away.
In truth? I think I can.
Even worse? I think I want to.
That is what scares me the most.
Chapter Eighteen
I don’t know what Sylvain expects from me today. Seeing him after the things he did last night…
All of it still feels so unreal. I can’t decide whether to think of it as a dream or not.
After I shower and change, I make my way slowly to the castle. I drag my feet. I’m dreading the would-be confrontation.
I wonder if I should think of him as Sylvain or Alastair. “Sylvain” comes more naturally during the day. Sylvain is who I knew him as when I was just his employee.
Now he’s something altogether different.
I wish I could call Min. She’d know what to do. But he would hear the conversation.
The only option is asking him to use the private phone in his study. Would he let me? I wonder…
I look up at the towers as I approach. Sylvain insinuated there was something up there. Some hidden part of him. Something he keeps locked away…
I shiver. I have a very good idea of what sort of thing it might be.
The main doors creak loudly as I push them open. Nobody is inside.
“Hello?” I call out.
If Sylvain is here, he gives no indication.
The first step into the castle makes my mind flash to last night. I feel his hand between my legs again.
I let out a smal
l, quiet moan.
Then I snap to myself. How could I be thinking of that? I have a very real, very important decision to make:
Do I stay, or do I go?
I walk to his study. The steps feel firm under my feet.
The doors are closed. I come up to them and try the handle. No go. They’re locked.
Strange, I think. That’s never happened before.
I start to turn away. Then I stop. Where would I go? I cannot hide. I need to see Sylvain. Once and for all, I have to understand exactly where things stand between us.
I knock on the doors.
I wait. The sound echoes on the other side.
Then I hear footsteps. Sure, firm, and confident.
My heart begins to pound.
Sylvain opens the doors. He’s in a beige bathrobe. His hair is wet. For a moment, he seems surprised to see me.
That quickly passes. His eyes focus on mine, and a fire flares behind them.
“Dani.” He murmurs my name as if I’m his most intimate lover. “Come in.”
I swallow. All my resolve—whatever it was—vanishes.
I’m instantly the little girl before him again.
He stands aside and lets me through. I walk stiffly by him.
I’m afraid of what he might do.
His desk is strewn with papers. They look like architectural drawings. I wonder what that’s about.
The room’s returned to its prior state. There is no evidence of anything having gone on here last night.
The stool is gone.
“Please,” Sylvain says. “Sit.”
He gestures at a pair of armchairs in the corner. I walk to them as carefully as if I’m stepping on eggshells.
I lower myself into one chair.
He comes over and takes the opposite one. There’s a small tray of figs on the little table between us.
Sylvain reaches for one. He brings it to his mouth.
Then he stops.
“Would you like a taste?” he asks. His voice is soft.
I shake my head, only managing to hide a small portion of the nervousness I feel.
“No, thank you.”
Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) Page 226
