“Remember to safeword if you need to, otherwise this goes on until I’m satisfied you’ve got what you need from it—agreed?”
“But what about what you need? What if you need more?”
“You seriously think I’d beat you beyond your limits for my own satisfaction?” The reprimand was all in his tone.
“No, Sire. Please forgive me.” Her contrition was genuine.
“You’re forgiven—and that’s enough distraction.” He smacked her backside, and experienced a surge of pleasure as she hissed when her clamped nipples came into sudden contact with the cross.
That pain would still have been stinging her flesh when he took the strap to her buttocks. The first crack was like a gunshot and the impact lifted her onto her toes, as if she were a complete beginner.
“I’ve only just started, pet. You can do better than that.”
“I’m sorry, Sire. With respect, it’s been a while.”
The second crack laid a pleasingly pink stripe just below the first. Before the third landed, the years melted away. For the first time since he’d lost the woman who was his life, Guy truly embraced the darkness within him. Liz had been reborn as Maddie, a thrilling, shining phoenix risen from the ashes of their shared past, and now he could soar with her once more.
After a couple more strokes, Guy set the strap to one side, using the task as an excuse to rest his hand at her waist and close the distance between them. He nuzzled the side of her neck and inhaled deeply. “Beautiful.”
She shivered, not through cold, but through apprehension. No doubt she was remembering the thrilling journey of discovery they’d made together. When she’d welcomed his need to dominate and control the pain she’d craved, he’d found his soul mate. The memories stirred his blood and revived the sense of possessiveness he’d developed shortly after meeting this woman for the first time.
He wrapped her braid in his fist and pulled, exposing her throat. Her pulse throbbed beneath her ear. Like a vampire in one of those god-awful films Ros had watched endlessly as a teenager, he yearned to sink his teeth into the tender curve of Maddie’s neck and shoulder. Then she’d be his for eternity.
He quirked an eyebrow. Maybe she’d like that, a different kind of role play to spice up their future games. For now, he settled for a few hard kisses and a warning nip before releasing her hair.
“I think it’s time we removed the clamps, don’t you?”
Her breath hissed when he released her nipples from their vicious traps, the pain so sharp her knees buckled. In a flash, Guy had his arm around her waist, pulling her back to support her with his body and keep her tender, abused flesh free of the cross. Respiration fast and shallow, she leaned into him, with a whispered expression of gratitude so faint he barely heard it.
“I’ve fantasised about having you here like this.” The slow movement of his hand over her abdomen anchored her close to the granite-hard erection that was giving him hell for his decision not to fuck her. “Wet and willing, eager for my cock in your cunt and your ass. You remember how it felt?”
“I remember, Sire.” Her breathless admission resonated with truth.
“And you remember what I used to do to get you that way?”
The corner of her mouth twitched with a hint of a smile. “Yes.”
Guy reached for the cane, a thin length of rattan with a black grip, and his favourite from his extensive collection. He wrapped his arm around Maddie’s waist and pulled into his body, so close she’d know exactly how much he wanted her. He stroked her cheek with the cane’s pommel.
She sucked in a breath and every muscle in her body tensed. “Please.”
“I haven’t finished with you yet. Be ready to give me your tears, pet.” He pressed his lips to her skin, anointing her with a chain of soft, drugging kisses. “I need to check how wet you are first.”
Without waiting for a response, his hand moved even lower. His middle finger slid between her slick folds and tested the pulsing, tender nub of flesh they protected. She shuddered, whimpered when he applied more pressure, and her arousal drenched his finger.
“Half a dozen, Madeleine,” he whispered close to her ear. “Are you ready to wear my stripes?”
She gave a jerky nod. “I’m ready.”
“Give me a colour.”
“Green, Sire.”
Guy stepped back, his sense of control ice-cold and absolute. It was time to cement their connection, to prove he could be the man she needed. He was still the man who loved her beyond all reason, had never stopped loving her. He was the man who’d be there for her into eternity and beyond.
With the greatest of care, he stroked the back of her thighs with the cane. A little tap here and there helped to build the sense of anticipation. Then, without warning, he raised the thin rod and brought it down with a gratifying snap across both cheeks of her bottom.
“Count for me.”
>>><<<
“How do you feel?”
Wonderful. Refreshed. Renewed. Invigorated.
Free.
A stream of adjectives swirled in joyous celebration through her mind. So many years of denying her longing for a scene, her longing for her Master. Maddie tumbled through a soft haze of remembered pain—the good kind, not the kind that had broken her heart over and over again. Echoes of it still rippled over her skin where she’d welcomed his expert use of the cane. She shifted a little, starting at the sensation of the chain’s links between her folds. The makeshift chastity device spoke to the most basic of her submissive needs, the desire to be owned.
Maddie understood the need behind the way he’d pulled it tight before locking it into place. It was what had made them fit together so perfectly—his need to be in control, and her need to hand it over. And for both of them, the degree of control could be as extreme as this, the chain between her legs that meant she’d have to beg for permission to use the bathroom. It reminded her of those crazy, idyllic weekends they’d spent at his London apartment, where he’d kept her naked and fucked her hard.
“At peace, Sire.”
A hand planted on her hip turned her on her side. Inexorable pressure brought her into intimate contact with a familiar hardness. Guy was still a force to be reckoned with. She longed for him to take her. His palm slid down her thigh to her knee and lifted her leg over his hip, opening her up to him.
“Enjoy it while you can, pet—I haven’t finished with you yet, not by a long chalk.”
Maddie shivered at the hard edge to his voice. Back then, he’d known her limits, and time after time, he’d demonstrated his skill as a Dominant by taking her to the very edge of those limits. What else had he lined up for her now?
She gasped at the tight pinch he applied to her nipple, every bit as vicious as the clamps he’d preferred earlier. He rolled the fleshy bud between his thumb and forefinger, applied a twist savage enough to send delicious splinters of razor-sharp pain between her legs. She whimpered—God, how she wanted to touch herself.
“You don’t have to go back to work till Monday. You’ll stay here till then, and take whatever I choose to give you.”
Submissive need squirmed low in her belly at the dark promise underscored by his words. She shivered with the memory of him telling her he’d given the household staff the weekend off, and they were alone. When she went back to work, would her bottom still be wearing his stripes, the way it had so many times before? Would her throat still be sore from the screams she had no doubt he’d wrench from her soul?
And yet… His words shone a glaring spotlight on an even deeper secret she still kept from him, something he’d unknowingly given her a long time ago. How it had ended… even now, the sense of grief could choke her. She could never tell him—it wasn’t the sort of thing she could drop casually into a conversation. Besides, if he found out that truth, he’d never forgive her.
“Madeleine.”
The sharp undertone to his voice jolted her out of her thoughts. “Yes, Sire?”
“You dis
appeared into your head.”
A sharp smack landed on her thigh. It smarted like hell, but she didn’t dare rub it. “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”
“Bullshit. We both know you will, but I’m in too good of a mood to do anything about it right now.”
His first kiss was on her forehead, full of caring and without a hint of sexual desire. The second came when he tilted her chin up and crushed his mouth against hers with a passion bordering on incendiary. The scrape of his beard added a delicious tingle of sensation.
At the end of the kiss, he stroked her cheek, looped a stray strand of hair around her ear.
“One day, Madeleine,” he said. “One day you’ll trust me with whatever it is that’s bothering you so much.”
She hardly dared breathe. She could deny the words, but that tone… it was a tone that would never entertain the notion of defeat. It belonged to a man who was certain, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that he’d get what he wanted, and sooner rather than later.
At all costs, she couldn’t let that happen. He could never know the truth. He could never know about their child.
If she ran, the threat to her and Yana need never become a threat to him.
If she ran, she could protect both Yana and Guy.
And if she ran, she would lose him forever.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“I’d like you to come to London with me.”
Maddie sat back in her office chair, one elbow leaning on the arm. Ever since Guy had taken to popping in to see her unannounced, it was a miracle she got any work done. At one point, she’d made a comment about his new job not keeping him all that busy. His response, after informing her that he didn’t need to be in London all the time, had been to put her over his knee. While she expected the spanking, she hadn’t anticipated her knickers coming off in the process.
Not when she was in her office.
She still wasn’t sure whether she’d then deliberately made the mistake of goading him by asking for them back before he let her up. The additional half-dozen sound slaps to her arse had been a delightful dessert after the main course.
“When did you have in mind?”
“Your long weekend off. I thought we might arrive for lunch on Friday, spend some time together, have dinner, take in a show, and then find something to do before going to Aegis on Saturday evening. We can take it easy on Sunday morning, and I’ll have you back here by mid-afternoon.”
Maddie’s pulse raced. First time around, she’d loved their visits to a club, adored the freedom of being able to express who she truly was. She could kneel at Guy’s feet and no one would think any less of her for it. “I think I’d like that.”
“Good. In the interests of full disclosure, there’ll be more to our visit to the club than socialising and maybe a little playing.”
“There will?” Maddie was intrigued.
“It’s nearly three years since I bought the place. I figured it was about time I made myself known. Unfortunately, the novelty of the mystery surrounding the ‘new’ owner’s identity hasn’t worn off yet.”
A melee of thoughts tussled for superiority. “You own Aegis?”
He nodded. “And I’d like you to accompany me as my submissive.”
Maddie sat up straight, her hands clasped on her lap and her gaze lowered. “I’d be honoured, Sire.”
“Do you have something suitable to wear?”
The short answer was no. Until she and Guy had had their watershed moment and resumed their D/s relationship, her kink life had been strictly BM—Before Mission. Consequently, all the trappings of that life, including her fetwear, had been disposed of, and until now, apart from some toys, she’d had no reason to replace them. “Not really, Sire. I could probably put something together from my wardrobe, but if there’s a strict dress code, I doubt I have anything truly suitable.”
Masculine fingers took a firm grip of her chin and tilted her head up. His gaze burned into her, setting her submissive soul on fire and making her wet with aching need.
“That’s what I hoped you’d say. I’ll pick you up at ten o’clock. Oh, and one more thing—between now and then, when I’m not around, you keep your hands off my property.”
“Sire?”
“You know what I mean, Madeleine. Your toys stay in the drawer, and your hands and anything else you can dream up to use to get you off stay away from your breasts and your cunt. Who owns your orgasms?”
His dark intensity sent every submissive cell in her body into overdrive. “You do, Sire.”
“Good. Make sure you remember that.”
>>><<<
The double knock on the door was a sharp reminder to Maddie that she belonged to the man on the other side of it. And the moment she opened it, she was his to do with as he pleased until they returned to her apartment the day after tomorrow. She smoothed her skirt over her thighs, gathered her composure and went to meet her Master.
As soon as Guy crossed the threshold, she was overwhelmed by the compulsion to kneel. She was already wet for him. Days of orgasm denial had left her edgy and needy, and climbing the walls with frustration.
While he’d forbidden her to touch her own body, he hadn’t denied himself the same privilege. Oh, he hadn’t made it easy for her. Making it easy for her would have meant leaving her alone, but he didn’t do that. He’d picked her up for lunch most days—that in itself had been bad enough, sitting across a table from him, knowing she couldn’t touch him. Did he leave it at that? Of course not.
Each time, on the way to eat, he’d taken a detour to a secluded spot. The first time, she hadn’t known what to expect, but the ritual was quickly established. He’d watch while she wriggled out of her knickers, then he’d hold his hand out for them. After tucking them in his pocket, he’d slip his hand between her legs and play with her clit. A finger inside her had spread her arousal over the taut, sensitive bud, and he’d driven her to within a heartbeat of orgasm.
He’d forbidden her to come, but continued to torment her over lunch. Whoever invented the remote-controlled, wireless bullet vibrator had gone straight to the top of Maddie’s shit list.
On the first day, she’d made the mistake of asking for the return of her underwear when he’d driven her back to the hotel. The unscheduled visit to her rooms had ensured that not only was she late back to work, she was also unable to sit comfortably for the entire afternoon. When it came to delivering a punishment spanking, Guy was second to none. The ginger root in her anus that night had formed the last phase of her punishment. It had stung like a bitch.
He greeted her with a hard, demanding kiss. The thrill of it went all the way to her toes.
“Are you ready for this, kitten?”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Lift your skirt and stand with your legs apart.”
The black lace thong was soaked even before his finger stroked her clit. Her hips rolled into his touch, and earned her a stern look. “Do I need to put you in chastity before we leave?”
Her gaze dropped. “No, Sire.”
“Good. Take them off. You aren’t going to need anything like that until we get back.”
With a wiggle of her hips, she removed the offending item of clothing, and handed the thong to her Master. Another for his growing collection.
“Now kiss me properly.”
One of her favourite commands. She stepped closer to him, rising on tiptoe to press her mouth to his. Lips parted, tongues explored, and when his arms went around her, one hand strayed beneath her skirt. Fingers dug into her buttock with enough strength to leave prints.
“You know the rules.” His voice was gruff with a need that echoed her own. “We’ll call in at a place I know and get you kitted out for the club, but when we reach the apartment, you strip. While we’re within those walls, I want my property naked and accessible at all times—no clothes, no closed doors. You’ll deny me nothing. Understood?”
Her stomach turned a somersault. The implications of what he demanded
were exquisitely intense, harsh in a way he knew she needed. “Understood, Sire.”
The drive to London was pure torture for Maddie. Every few miles, Guy would order her to stroke her clit and pinch her nipples until she was on the verge of coming. Each time, he denied her the ultimate pleasure.
As a result, when they reached the store he’d told her about, her legs were barely capable of carrying her inside. They didn’t stay long—her Master knew exactly what he wanted, and they soon set off on the final leg of their journey to his apartment.
The penthouse property was located in an exclusive block with underground parking. As she preceded Guy into the lift, Maddie swayed under the assault of memories of the times she’d accompanied him here before. She was grateful for Guy’s strength as he instantly appeared at her side.
“Are you all right?”
His hand at her waist was her cue to lean into him. “It’s silly, but… I never thought I’d come here again. I know they’ve updated the décor since then, but that’s just cosmetic changes. Fundamentally, it’s…”
Her voice trailed off. How could she adequately explain to Guy how deeply this return to the past affected her? When he’d mentioned his place in the city, she’d subconsciously assumed he’d meant somewhere else.
His arm tightened around her, pulling her against him so he could kiss her hair. “The apartment hasn’t changed much either. Will it bother you?”
The genuine concern in the quiet enquiry brought home to Maddie how much her welfare had always mattered to him. “Honestly? I don’t know? I hadn’t thought about it. With you there, though, I know I’ll be all right. I’ll be all right.”
The lift came to a smooth halt. The doors glided open, revealing the small foyer that provided a buffer between Guy’s inner sanctum and any visitors. It was lighter than she remembered, more contemporary, with an impressive piece of modern art hanging over the console table set against the wall on the left.
No Going Back (Club Aegis Book 6) Page 16
