“Goodnight master.”
“Mmm, goodnight Katherine.”
Kate smiled to herself, he was so easy to wind up. Getting ready for bed, she realised that her period had started. That accounted for her tiredness and aching breasts, she was always tired when it started, but luckily, because of the pill it only lasted two or three days. Thank god she’d packed her tampons.
Going downstairs to get a glass of milk and some painkillers she heard loud screams coming from the playroom. My god, someone was going through it. Then she wished she could be a fly on the wall, she was curious about the whole business of training a dom. Once in bed she picked up her book and tried to read, but the noises from the playroom, even though it was soundproofed, kept intruding.
Finally she heard voices on the landing heading towards Damien’s room. Then the sound of water running. Eventually Damien strode into the room, his face looking cruel. Going straight to Kate he grabbed her and pulled her to him, obviously intent on fucking her.
When Kate said “No wait.” He growled angrily and said “Shut up and spread your legs.”
Kate slapped him hard and shouted “Stop it Damien, my period’s started, I can’t do this.”
Rearing back he stared at her incomprehensibly.
“It’s that time of the month. I’m sorry, I can’t help it.”
“Oh my god, are you alright. In pain or anything?” he asked frowning.
“Yes, I’m good. I’ve taken some painkillers. They only last three or four days.” Kate shrugged. “As I said I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry, why didn’t you say? You’ve had a hectic weekend, I wouldn’t have taken you to the tattoo parlour or club. And I certainly wouldn’t have let you play polo.”
“Damien, it’s a natural occurrence, not an illness, and I’ve always done everything I always do during it, well apart from making love,” Kate laughed.
“Well as long as you’re O.K. once Paul and Kerry have left, I’ll go to my own room for tonight.”
“There’s no need to do that, just because I can’t have sex doesn’t mean that you can’t.” Kate licked her lips seductively.
Damien’s eyes darkened “That wouldn’t be fair on you.”
“Well you could make it up to me when I can have sex again,” she smiled.
As he peeled his clothes off she asked “What about the people in your bathroom?”
“I’m not asking them to join us,” he growled then he laughed and said. “They’ll see themselves out.”
As he took her in his arms and kissed her gently Kate sighed happily, once he’d had her mouth he’d be hers completely. When she took his aching cock into her mouth he groaned and pushed further, to the back of her throat. Removing her mouth she growled “Stay still it’s my turn now.”
Chuckling he did as he was told, giving himself over to her ministrations completely. She teased him until he panted for release and finally grabbing her head fucked her mouth hard. Yelling as he came and spurting hot against the back of her throat, Kate swallowed hard then took her tongue around the length of him licking him dry.
Pulling her up his body he kissed her deeply and then curled round her, holding her tightly to him.
Chapter 16
Damien woke her at six the next morning; Kate groaned and snuggled back into her pillow.
“Move Katherine, we are leaving at seven fifteen.”
When she didn’t move quickly enough he pulled the duvet off the bed and swatted her bottom.
“Ouch, that hurt,” she yelped.
“Then do as you’re told” he growled.
Moaning and muttering to herself Kate managed to make it to the shower. Her breasts ached and the nipple rings felt really uncomfortable. And the small of her back throbbed, “What a day to feel like this” she groaned.
By pure bloody mindedness, determined not to give in she managed to dress, tame her hair and apply a natural looking makeup. As she hurried out of her room, Damien was coming out of his and they met at the top of the stairs. Looking at her smart black trouser suit, crisp cotton, lemon shirt neck blouse and sensible court shoes, he did a double take.
“What?” she asked.
“You look so business like and young,” he muttered.
“Is that wrong?”
“No, but I look too old for you.”
“Don’t be silly of course you don’t, well apart from the wrinkles and grey hair.” Kate laughed.
“You are arguing with me again Katherine, and I don’t have wrinkles or grey hair,” he growled as he followed her downstairs.”
“What about breakfast?” Kate asked as he steered her towards the front door.”
“We’ll eat on the plane.”
Turner was waiting and as soon as they entered the car, he drove smoothly away. Arriving at the airport they stopped by a medium sized jet and Turner got out and held the door open for Kate; then as soon as Damien got out he took the car to a parking spot.
“This is yours?” Kate gasped.
“Yes, I told you we’d take my plane.”
“But I didn’t expect it to be this big.”
“It’s a company jet, lots of my people have to travel on it. Come on let’s board.” And he pulled her up the stairs.
As they entered the cabin Kate gasped again. It was laid out like a sitting room with many comfortable looking chairs, clustered around tables. Most of the chairs were taken and as they entered the occupants all stood up. Holding Kate close to him Damien said “Good morning everyone, this is Kate Jackson who is coming with us today in an advisory capacity.”
Ten pairs of eyes gazed at her, most were friendly or curious but two or three looked hostile. Damien went round introducing each by name, Kate remembered the two women, who were hostile, but had difficulty remembering all the men. As Damien led Kate to a chair, moving one of the men so that she’d be sitting next to him, Turner entered the cabin, the stairs were removed and the door was locked. A pretty blonde went round checking seat belts, as the plane taxied to the correct runway. Once the stewardess had taken her seat, the plane moved into position and finally took off.
As soon as they could remove seat belts, Damien called them all to order and proceeded to tell them what was occurring in Yorkshire. Kate listened quietly trying to understand everything that was said. Some of the men waffled pointlessly, and she made a note of their names; Damien sat back and let them argue among themselves. The stewardess brought in warm croissants, muffins and bowls of fruit, then she walked round with a coffee pot. Kate was just going to have coffee but Damien said “No, tea for Kate please Ella.”
“Yes sir,” Ella said, quickly going off to get tea.
When she came back with a tray on which was a teapot, milk and sugar, Kate thanked her sweetly.
“You’re welcome,” Ella said winking at her.
The thought hit Kate that Ella was a sub, had she subbed for Damien? Kate frowned not happy at the thought. Once she’d eaten her breakfast she realised that she needed the loo, so she excused herself and went to ask Ella where the toilet was. Ella led her to the rear of the plane and opened a door, to Kate’s surprise it led into a luxurious bedroom with ensuite.
“This is lovely, Ella.”
“ Yes, Mr. Masters had this especially put in.”
“Have you been with him long?” Kate asked, wanting to know if Ella had subbed for Damien. When Ella told her, quite naturally, that she’d only been with him since he moved to London, and then not exclusively but for a few private flights, as it was alot easier than package holidays, Kate felt relieved that Ella was not close to Damien.
Saying thank you and that she’d be out shortly, Kate went into the ensuite. After using the facilities she sat on the bed with a glass of water and took some painkillers. When the door opened she thought it was Ella so di
dn’t look up.
“What’s the matter Kate? Do you feel ill?” Damien asked hurrying to her side.
“I’m fine, just needed some painkillers and didn’t want to take them in front of your staff,” she said, taking his hand as he stood in front of her.
“You’re in pain, I shouldn’t have let you come. Why don’t you get into the bed?” Damien suggested looking at her in concern.
Standing up and putting her arms round his neck, Kate cuddled into him, “Only if you join me.”
Damien laughed “Ah, a ploy to get me into bed. Sorry can’t do, I want more than a cuddle when I’m in bed with you. But are you sure you’ll manage today?”
“Of course, I’m not ill, this is quite normal, stop worrying.” Kate stretched up and kissed him.
When they returned to the main cabin everyone became quiet and Kate felt the daggers in her back from the two women. Damien started allocating areas that he wanted checking out. He wanted to know about the town, what it had and what it needed, and was sending teams to look at everything. When he said that Kate as well as Dan, Trevor and Rachel would visit the factory and site with him, there were a few mutters, especially from the other girl Beverley.
Damien heard them muttering and looked around frowning. “Someone got a problem with any of that?” he growled.
Of course they all shook their heads and said,” no.” But one or two looked totally pissed off.
Ella hurried to clear the food and dishes away, saying “We’ve made good time, we’ll be landing shortly.”
There was a lot to clear away so Kate got up to help.
“Katherine, you don’t need to do that,” Damien ordered. “Rachel, Beverley, please help Ella. You can see we’ve made a bit of a mess and she needs help!”
Rachel glowered at Kate and was about to say something, but thought better of it, and helped tidy up with bad grace.
Once the plane had landed they split up into groups and headed off to do their reconnoitring. Turner had collected a car for Damien’s group, a large seven seater, and Damien ushered Kate into the comfortable middle seats; Dan sat next to Turner and Rachel and Trevor were delegated to the small seats in the back. Kate could feel their eyes boring into the back of her head, but saw that Damien was impervious.
The factory site was in a terrible mess, the grounds were overgrown, with rubbish littered among what had been gardens. The main building looked solid, in the fashion of nineteenth century factories, and the mill wheel looked reasonable and suitable for repair. Across the stream, which too was full of rubbish, stood a separate building that could have been a barn; on the other side, well away from the main building stood a stable mews complex. Made from old hand made bricks, it must have been where the horses and their carts had been kept. Set in a horseshoe shape it was entered through a brick roofed passage, decorated with a crest. The courtyard was made of old cobbles and the stables themselves were extremely roomy.
As they drew up to the factories main entrance four men came out to greet them. Turner stopped the car and jumped out to open the door for Damien and Kate. Damien waited for Kate and took hold of her hand pulling her to his side; Rachel made a fuss getting out of the car, causing Damien to frown and compress his lips. As Trevor helped her Dan joined them as they were welcomed by the factory owner, son and solicitors. The owner introduced himself as George Cruikshank, his son as Adam and the solicitors as Bailey and Ferraby.
“Damien Masters,” Damien said. “And this is Kate Jackson and Dan Shaw.”
The men shook hands, but both George and Adam smiled at Kate and squeezed her fingers. They looked alike but the son looked arrogant, a spoilt little rich boy, was Kate’s assessment of him. The Cruikshanks led Damien and Kate into the factory leaving the solicitors to talk to Dan, Trevor and Rachel.
Entering the factory Kate was surprised at how old fashioned everything looked. Opening her bag she took out a notepad and pen and started to note her impressions. Damien glanced at her in surprise but turned away with a smile on his face. His little sub was taking this very seriously, he should have known, because she gave one hundred percent to everything she did.
Kate listened carefully to everything they were told, but didn’t ask any questions leaving that to Damien and Dan; she was interested in the thread that was being used, and stopped to talk to one of the machine operators.
“What is this wool made from?” she asked. “It feels quite synthetic.”
“Yes it is, it’s acrylic,” the woman answered.
“Oh, but isn’t Yorkshire famous for its wool?” Kate asked.
“Yes, but we’ve been told it’s not competitive, so this comes in from abroad.”
Kate could see from the woman’s face that she wasn’t proud of what she was producing.
“Don’t you make anything from pure wool?”
“Not now, Mr. Mathew tried to bring in some higher class items but Mr. Adam was against it.”
“Who is Mr. Mathew?” Kate asked.
“Mr George’s youngest son. He didn’t like what we make so tried to design a different line. He brought in some beautiful local Merino and other local wools, but he was overruled. That wool is still in the stockroom.”
“Would it be possible for me to see it?”
“You need to ask Mr. Adam, it’s not my place,” the woman replied quickly turning back to her work.
Kate felt a hand in the small of her back and her skin crawled. Moving away quickly she turned to find Adam crowding her space.
“Come along little lady, we’re moving on,” he said putting a hand on her hip.
“Thank you, I can manage,” Kate said moving away from him.
Catching up with Damien she took his arm, and he turned towards her in surprise, but as she smiled at him he lowered his head to hers.
“I’d like to look in the stockroom, if you could arrange it; I have an idea,” she said quietly.
Damien stood up and said “George could one of your workers take Kate to wherever she asks to go?”
“Of course, of course, Adam could...”
“No” Damien intervened. “Just one of your foremen perhaps. I have lots to discuss with you and Adam.”
A young woman was waved forward and told to take Miss Jackson wherever she wanted to go. As Rachel passed Kate she curled her lip and hurried to catch up with Damien and the others. The worker introduced herself as June and asked where Kate would like to visit.
“The stockroom and the design studio, if that’s alright. Oh and please call me Kate.” And she smiled at June in a friendly way.
June led her through the machines to a doorway with plastic flaps and they pushed through into the stockroom. One area had stock waiting to go out, then there were shelves with the acrylic thread on them; many in garish colours. At the back jammed onto a few small shelves was the Yorkshire sourced wool. As soon as she felt it she saw designs in her head for subtle delicate designer knitwear. It was dyed in natural shades and made Kate think of a wood in Autumn.
“This is gorgeous, why hasn’t it been used?”
June shrugged. “It was Mr. Mathew’s idea, but Adam knocked it on the head; he wants cheap to supply catalogues etc.”
“But he can’t compete with stuff from abroad,” Kate frowned.
“I know.” June sighed,” which is why they are desperate to sell. The rumour is they’re millions in the red,” then June put her hand to her mouth. “ Please don’t tell them I said that, I need this job.”
“Don’t worry June, I’m on your side,” Kate said putting her hand on her shoulder.
“Do you think we’ll keep our jobs if Mr. Masters buys the place. We’ve heard he’ll knock everything down and build luxury houses.”
“All I can tell you is not to worry. Now will you take me to your design team.”
; “Design team? Oh yes it’s this way.” June led Kate to some stairs at the back of the building and led the way up them.
At the top a door led into an untidy dusty room with some shelves and desks. Kate frowned at the girl and boy sitting with their feet up on their desks drinking coffee. When Kate walked in they didn’t move until June said “This is Miss Jackson. She’s with Mr. Masters who is interested in buying the factory.”
The two sprang to their feet, and stood not knowing what to do.
“Well, you look really inspired in your work,” Kate said frowning at them.
“Sorry,” the girl said. “But we have no work. Mr. Adam copies other patterns, all we’re allowed to do is decide which different buttons and zips look best.”
“You haven’t designed those monstrosities that are being made down stairs. Well that’s a relief. Have you ever made any designs?” Kate asked.
“Yes we’ve both made loads of drawings and have actually made some up in the Yorkshire wool,” the boy said.
“Where are they?”
The boy went to a shelf and took down a large box. Taking it to the desk he opened it to reveal tissue paper enclosing each woollen item. As he laid them out Kate smiled, pleased with what she saw.
“What’s your names?” she asked.
“I’m Karl and this is Sarah.”
“I like your designs, if you are anything like me I’m sure that you’ve been doodling lots of them. I’d be pleased if you could make up a portfolio of both your ideas for me, will you do that?” Kate asked.
Looking at each other, Karl and Sarah both said “Well as long as we don’t get into trouble.”
“Who knows that you have these samples?”
“No one, we weren’t supposed to do anything with the wool,” Karl answered.
“Well then it will be our secret,” Kate smiled at them, willing them to agree.
“Right, then ok.” Sarah said.
“Could you take them down to our car, without anyone seeing them? You’ll be helping to save people’s jobs if you help me.”
“Well in for a penny in for a pound, let’s do it Sarah,” Karl said picking up the box.
Kate / Katherine Page 20
