by Qwillia Rain
The chuckle that came out of Dane's mouth had nothing to do with amusement. The man on the other end of the phone seemed to realize that as he fell silent. “Let me put it in a language you can better understand. Don't fuck with me. Don't fuck with the Valerian sisters. I don't know where the error occurred, but your company will fix it. Understood?”
“You don't need to use that sort of language, Mr. Reese. I have admitted a mistake was made. More than likely one of our newer employees didn't read the order correctly. I'll see if we can get the couverture to you by the beginning of next week.”
“Not good enough. I'll expect it by the day after tomorrow.”
“I am sorry, but that won't be—”
“Don't apologize, and don't make excuses. When I order something, that's what I expect, not some piddling-ass lie about a mix-up or new workers,” Dane snarled. “I will expect the couverture to be delivered the day after tomorrow. If it isn't here, John, I'll be contacting your manager to find out why I don't have it. Do I make myself clear?”
A heavy pause sounded on the other end of the line. “Perfectly, Mr. Reese. Your order will be delivered by Thursday, per your request.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tobler. Have a good day.”
“And you, sir.”
The fact that Tobler's tone was in direct opposition to his words wasn't lost on Dane as he cradled the phone. His hard-on had eased enough that it no longer tented his trousers, and Dane could sit more comfortably in his chair.
Admittedly he didn't like being a whipping boy for someone else's fuckup. But when he considered the method of punishment inflicted—Dane grinned, and his hand dropped to stroke over the lessening firmness of his cock—it had been well worth it. He gazed out the office door toward the door that led into the kitchen. Through the round glass window near the top, he spotted Ariel prowling around her domain.
“Battle one to you, my pixie. Let's see who wins this war.”
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Chapter Six
Day 11
Ariel looked up and down the hall before she pushed open the office door and peeked inside. Feeling like a burglar in her own shop, she listened for noise from the private bathroom before she crept inside. If she had known how sneaky the bastard would get, she'd never have gone down on him in the kitchen. There wasn't an hour that went by that she didn't kick herself for agreeing to his damned contest. The fact his rules about the office meant she had tiptoed in early and stayed later than usual over the last two days to keep from being there at the same time he was only made her frustration worse. She wasn't about to admit to him, let alone herself, the number of times she'd fantasized about Dane taking control since the incident in the kitchen.
Her heart dropped to her stomach at the quiet click of the door latch.
“Are you forgetting something?” Dane's request halted Ariel as she turned from the file cabinet.
Until the challenge, she'd never considered how often she wandered into the office on a daily basis. But after their agreement, getting anywhere near the door was like touching a hot skillet without an oven mitt.
“Not that I'm aware of.” She bluffed, not quite meeting his gaze.
“Our agreement?” He strolled toward her, his hands tucked into his pockets.
“I came to get my bag.” She hefted the black backpack from where she'd left it beside the file cabinet.
“The deal still stands. You enter the office, you have to follow my orders.” He reached up to loosen the tie around his neck.
“Does the same hold true for Sadie and DeeDee?” She propped a hand on her hip and cocked an eyebrow. “Are you trying to build your own harem?” She endeavored to stir some feeling of resentment inside her, but her body wasn't cooperating. Damn it. His cool blue gaze and quiet tone only nourished the fire smoldering inside her.
“Sadie and DeeDee aren't part of this, Ariel.” He glanced at his watch. “Besides, they've been gone nearly three hours. If you hadn't kept stalling in the kitchen, we could have left after them.”
“Hey, you're free to leave anytime.” She shrugged and shook her head with a grin. “I'm a big girl. I don't require your help to lock up. I've done it a million times without you around.”
His gaze skated over her body, pausing occasionally before it continued on. “My sticking around has nothing to do with the business and everything to do with you.”
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“If you'd face the fact that I'm not interested, you wouldn't have to waste your time. In fact, Dane, we could end your little challenge right here. I'm perfectly content to stick with the status quo,” Ariel assured him as she shifted her feet and scraped her hand through her spiked blue hair.
“It's your satisfaction I want to see to.” Dane's tone matched the sincerity in his gaze.
“And I told you I'm capable of taking care of that as well.”
“That remains to be seen. For now, though”—Dane stepped forward and removed the backpack from her hand—“why don't we start with the basics?”
Ariel was determined not to let him know how he affected her. Her ovaries were doing backflips in their effort to produce enough estrogen to counteract the levels of testosterone emanating from his every pore. If her body were any more ready for him, she'd be a puddle. She wondered what it would feel like to have that fat cock of his inside her. Letting him in on the secret of her interest wasn't something she intended to do. “And what do you consider the basics, Mr. Reese?”
He grinned, set her backpack on the floor, and held his hand out to her. “Nothing as objectionable as you seem to think, Miss Valerian,” he teased.
The residual fear she refused to admit to and tried to hide made her hesitate. Ariel was surprised at the change of expression on Dane's face and the look in his eyes as he stepped closer. Even his touch reassured her when he cupped her chin. Looking away from him wasn't an option.
“I won't hurt you, sprite. I swear.” His fingers stroked through her short hair, his touch more soothing than arousing. “Trust me.”
No matter how much she might have wanted to, Ariel couldn't dredge up a biting response.
She shouldn't be surprised at his concern; she'd seen it after he'd spanked her. He seemed so intent on alleviating any uncertainty she might have, it only made her curse how appealing he was becoming to her. If this was how he worked with the women he trained to be submissives, it was a miracle half the state's female population didn't make a mass exodus to Ayerstown. Instead of speaking, she took his hand when he held it out to her, and nodded.
A curl of satisfaction slid through her when he smiled.
Why should I feel so relieved that I've pleased him? That he finds what I've done praiseworthy shouldn't be a priority to me. Ariel might deny the excitement filling her at his taking command, but she couldn't ignore the rush of her blood through her veins. Heat stirred in her core; a tingle sizzled in her feminine folds; the ache deepened in her breasts. Her body was responding to his control, and it wasn't anger or resentment or fear washing through her. It was pleasure. Hot, wet arousal only he seemed capable of creating.
“Take off everything from your waist down.”
“Excuse me?”
“Shoes, socks. Take them off. Then get rid of your pants and panties,” he informed her as he swung the ladder-back chair from in front of the desk to beside it.
“What about my shirt? My bra?” She tugged the tail of her T-shirt from her black slacks, flipped open the button, and then slid the zipper down.
“We'll wait on that,” he finished, then tugged his loosened tie from under his collar and unbuttoned the cuffs of his dress shirt. Rolling the sleeves back, Dane exposed the sleek, tanned skin over the muscles in his forearms.
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As she toed off her sneakers, Ariel could feel the heat climbing in her cheeks. Careful to keep her balance, she stripped off her socks, rolled them in a ball, and tucked them
into one of her discarded shoes. The cool look he gave her told her nothing of what was going through his mind. She tried to pull the same cloak of calm around herself. Hell, this is like a visit to the gynecologist. As if he's seen and done this a hundred times a week and it's nothing new.
Stripping away her panties along with her trousers, Ariel took a moment to fold the garments. She wondered what he'd think of her bare pussy. Would he find it intriguing or merely strange? She'd tried the Brazilian waxing a few years earlier and liked it, but no one had ever seen it other than herself, her doctor, and the cosmetologist who did the work. Her heart thumped again at the thought of Dane being the first man to view her bare flesh.
When she would have set her clothes on the floor near her shoes, Dane surprised her by taking them from her hands and setting them on the desk. He motioned for her to take a seat in the chair and waited until she sat down before he rolled the executive chair from behind the desk into the space directly in front of her and took a seat.
“No, shift forward,” he instructed. His hands reached out to cradle the outside of her thighs. He eased her forward on the chair until her bottom was right at the edge of the cushion.
“I'm going to fall off,” she complained. Her hands dropped to grip the sides of the chair seat behind her hips.
“Okay. Stay right there.” He smiled at her, his hands trailing slowly up and down her thighs. His thumbs slid from the inside to the outside of her knees; the warm, work-roughened pads smoothed over her kneecaps, then stroked the soft, sensitive flesh behind her knees. “Now open.” He tugged lightly on her legs, spreading them out, exposing her body to his gaze.
He could see the flush of embarrassment turn her cheeks pink even as the soft flesh of her pussy glistened with a hint of moisture. Her bare mound didn't surprise him. As sensual as Ariel was in her culinary creations, it only made sense that she extended her sensory enjoyment to her body. Beyond flavor, the sense of touch seemed her most expressive feature. He'd seen her use it often with the waitresses through hugs and pats on the shoulder or back. With the regular customers and the little kids who occasionally came in with their parents. Even Grimm was treated to hugs and teasing touches from Ariel.
Though he'd resented the man at first, Dane had grown used to Grimm's hulking presence in the café. The ex-con, as dangerous as he appeared on paper, was in no way someone to fear.
As long as people intended no harm to those Grimm considered under his protection, he seemed to treat everyone with quiet deference and respect. It hadn't taken long to gain a small measure of trust from the man, but only after Dane had confirmed that there was no interest beyond friendship between Ariel and the ex-convict.
Turning his attention back to the woman in front of him, Dane nodded. “Very nice, Ariel.
Nothing to interfere with the lesson I have for you. Although I have to say, I wondered if you might dye your pussy curls to match your hair.” Beneath his fingertips, he could feel the muscles in her thighs tense and tremble as he repositioned his touch upward.
Her responding laughter choked off as she protested the first part of his comment.
“Lesson?” Her voice sounded strangled. She coughed to clear it, then repeated, “A lesson? What kind of lesson?”
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He could feel her resistance to keep her legs open, so Dane eased his chair forward and set his knees against the insides of hers, preventing her from closing her legs. “Merely a little reminder about anatomy.” He smiled at her, holding her gaze as the fingertips of his left hand dipped down to coast softly over her damp flesh.
She tried to lever herself up to see where his fingers traveled. Dane shook his head and used his right hand to push her back into her previous reclining position. Despite her lush frame, his hand looked huge, spanning the distance between the curve of her shoulder and the bend where throat met collarbone. “No, I don't want you to look at this. I want you to feel it first.” His fingers danced upward to stroke over her brow and urge her eyes to shut. “Close your eyes.
Arousal is about the sensations. Sight can be one of them, but in self-stimulation, touch is the dominant sense. Remember, the skin is the largest sensory organ in your body. The heat or cold of a room can affect how you respond.” He kept his tone smooth, gentle, even. Nothing should interfere in her discovery of herself.
“One of the biggest hurdles we face at A Master's Gift is a submissive's inability to be aware of herself or himself. You can follow the instructions of your master, but your body is capable of betraying you, either through premature climax or refusal to climax.” The fingers between her labia swirled lazily through the tiny pool of liquid arousal her body had produced.
“If I can't see what you're doing, how can I learn how to do it myself?” Ariel protested. Her breath stopped, and a tiny squeak escaped her lips and her eyes popped open as he moved his right hand down to join his left.
“You feel, Ariel. Seeing can distract you. It can mislead you or create a visual barrier to your arousal.” He held her gaze for several seconds. “Close your eyes.”
“But—”
“Close them.” He waited. His fingers remained motionless, despite the minute shifting she did. The mutinous expression on her face brought a grin to his own, which he quickly hid. It also created visions of a tiny, winged pixie stomping her foot in a fit of pique. He held back his amusement until her eyelids drifted shut. “Keep them closed, Tink.”
One eyelid rose, exposing a glaring green eye. “Tink? Who's Tink?”
“You. Now close your eyes and keep them closed.” He waited, wondering if she'd demand an explanation. It was there in her gaze, the curiosity and suspicion, but she controlled the yen to ask more about the name he'd given her.
“Oh, that begs the question 'or else what?'” Her eye stayed open a moment longer, then clamped quickly shut. “Never mind,” she grumped.
Again he had to choke back the urge to laugh. She would definitely be a handful, Dane decided before he dropped his gaze to the moist flesh beneath his fingertips. Damn, she was pretty. Watching her masturbate the other day had been arousing, but with her right here in front of him, his cock was hard and hungry to feel her body around it.
“Lesson one, Ariel, is to know where to touch as well as how.”
“I think I know where, Dane. It is my body.”
“Oh really?” Dane used his right hand to hold her pussy open to his attentions while the left collected droplets of her juice. The instant his finger touched the opening to her body, she tensed. “Hmmm, interesting.”
“Wha-what?” she croaked, then cleared her throat.
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“Nothing. Yet.” You need to get used to being touched by hands other than your own. How long has it been since your last lover? Dane knew better than to voice his questions. He would wait for a time when Ariel would be more receptive and less oppositional. Smoothing the fluid over her exposed sex, Dane proceeded with his instructions. “I want to see if you really are as familiar with your body's anatomy as you say you are.”
She obviously didn't believe this was necessary based on the soft snort she gave. He knew better, and soon she would too. “You have two set of labia.”
Ariel nodded. “Yes, an outer and inner.”
Her body trembled beneath the slide of his fingers. “Paying attention to these can increase your arousal.”
Her hum of agreement could have been mistaken for one of enjoyment. It quickly turned into a groan of protest as he pulled his fingers away. Then a purr as he eased his touch higher.
“You also have nerve-rich protrusions.”
A gurgle of laughter spilled from her lips before she repeated, “Protrusions?”
Dane allowed himself to grin at her amusement. “Yes. Both can generate sensations, but only one can increase the strength of both arousal and climax.” His fingers coasted over one of the bits of tissue. “This is your?”
“Urethra.” She muttered the answer and fidgeted slightly in the seat as he circled it with a fingertip before he took his attentions farther north.
His finger caressed the tiny covering of skin near the top of her mound. “And under here?”
he prompted.
The slight pressure and heat of his fingertip had a shudder rippling through her body. The heated walls of her vagina pulsed, spilling more evidence of her arousal onto the chair seat. He watched the fine hairs on her body rise and the gooseflesh surface as he stroked over the flesh while he awaited her answer.
“My”—she coughed and cleared her throat—“my clitoris.”
Against the white of her bra and T-shirt, he could see the hard peaks of her nipples. As much as he would have liked to pull one of the berry red beads into his mouth, Dane returned his attention to the lesson he was giving. Ariel must understand how to please herself. Her failure to climax days earlier had disturbed him more than he'd like to admit. Hours he should have spent formulating ways to introduce her to submission were spent instead on analyzing how she'd caressed herself and how that related to her lack of release.
Keeping his gaze on her face, he tapped the sensitive bit of skin before he drew away from her. The protest slid past her lips, probably due to an involuntary response to his heavier attention. “Show me how you pleasure yourself.”
Her eyes opened wide, and the heat of embarrassment increased in her cheeks. He could see the denial build in her expression, but he shook his head. “Show me.” His tone was implacable.
This was going to be worse than she had expected. Challenge gleamed in his eyes and assured her there was no getting out of the situation. Not unless she was willing to concede. No damned way will I let him win by default. I can handle anything he tries to throw at me.
Again he ordered, “Show me how you get yourself off.”
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His knees pressed along hers; his hands were on her thighs, thumbs absently stroking the flesh above her knees. Other than the intent heat of his stare, they could have been discussing the menu for the next day, he sat so relaxed in the chair.
