by Deana Birch
Before cranking the car, he reached inside his jacket for his phone one more time. Three simple yet perfect words were his reply from Claire.
As you wish.
* * * *
Taking Claire into the club that Saturday night had a twofold purpose. Most importantly, it was for her. But as the manager on a busy night, Luca would be able to survey the scene and let his presence be known, not that he could imagine his eyes on any person but sotto. But Gwendelyn had arranged for a group of German female subs to play for the night, their bill having been negotiated and paid for by one of the male Masters who had met them in Berlin.
Luca smoothed the front of his black suit and rode the elevator, the bag he’d stared at too much over the prior day in his hand. The corridor on the third floor remained quiet, but the energy from his staff’s preparations bubbled up the stairway at the opposite end of the hall.
His trust would rely heavily on Max for the evening, as well as the eyes of his security team. With a swipe of his keycard, the heavy, massive door to his suite clicked open and he found his sotto exactly where he expected her to be.
In a white short-sleeve dress, inappropriate for the season but delectably perfect for the evening ahead, with nude high heels on her feet, Claire sat on the edge of the couch, her eyes fixed on the floor.
“Good evening, cara.”
“Good evening, Sir.”
“You may give me your eyes until told otherwise.”
Claire’s posture straightened with her gaze and she smiled.
The urge to return the warmth suppressed itself, and Luca rubbed his lips together. “You’re stunning, as always. You never cease to impress me.”
“Thank you, Sir. As are you.”
He dipped his chin and again hid his content. While the compliment was noted, appreciated and charmed his ego, it was her confidence to give it that pleased him most. He crossed the room, placed the bag on the floor and, with a quick unbutton of his jacket, sat next to his sotto.
“You must be confused as to why you are dressed—and so perfectly in white.”
Her fine neck begged to be kissed. Her toned legs were pure beauty. When had his own restraint battled him so much?
“A little, Sir.”
He reached over and ran his thumb over her impeccable cheekbone.
“Tonight, I want to take you into the club, let you witness more, discover…”
Her slate blue eyes danced over his face, confirming that he’d read her longing correctly.
“But it is my opinion that you are not ready to do that as sotto. My calculation is that you would be more comfortable as Claire.”
She blinked a few times.
“For now”—he held her hands in her lap—“we must make small steps together. And they will result in a large stride for you.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“Now, there are three very important things we must do before crossing that threshold.”
He waited for her long exhale and the little roll of her shoulders.
“One, you must understand the rules.”
“Yes, Sir.” The affirmation came with a quick nod.
“Cara, you are not to leave my side. You are not to speak to any other Master. If you become uncomfortable with what you’re witnessing at any time, you are to communicate that to me immediately. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Brava. Now, to ensure that you are safe, as I mentioned before, you will need a collar.” He reached down into the bag and pulled out the bundled tissue. Before opening it, he met her eyes again. “You need to be clear about what this is, sotto. One day, when you find a permanent Dom, he may offer you a collar to seal your connection. This is not that. This is a training collar to keep you safe within the walls of this club. It stays here, in my suite, and if deemed suitable for you to return to the public area, will be worn at that time. Or in here, if I decide to use it as part of your training.”
Claire’s regard fell to the paper on his lap.
“Eyes.”
They fluttered up to his own.
An unfamiliar pain stabbed his gut. Something was off.
“Do you not wish to see the club tonight, sotto?” he asked.
“I do, Sir. I do. Thank you for understanding.”
“Would you like to see your collar? It’s custom for your training.”
The trace of worry he’d thought he’d seen disappeared with a smile of her pink lips.
“Yes, please.”
Luca presented Claire with the package and she delicately unwrapped the layers. With care, she lifted the white leather collar from her lap and examined it.
“It says ‘sotto’.”
“So it does. Would you like to try it on?”
She nodded.
“Words, sotto. You must use your words.”
“Yes, please, Sir.”
Luca took the neckpiece from her hands and she lifted her tied-back hair. The breath she let out allowed him to tug it tight and he fastened it in place. A tension left his shoulders and hers at the same time and pride swirled in his chest.
“Would you like to see yourself?”
“Yes, please, Sir.”
He stood from the couch and offered her his hand. Luca led her to the dark tiled en suite, where he spun her shoulders and they both gazed at the new addition in the mirror.
The simple band separated her neck from her chest and she raised her hand to touch it.
“You are exquisite. And you continue to make me more and more proud.” Luca brushed her hair away and laid a long, lingering kiss below her ear. He wanted to keep going, to taste more of her, but he withdrew.
“Now,” he said as he found her eyes in the mirror, “the final element before you wander these savage halls.” He trailed his hands down her arms and back up. “To the bed, bent over, panties at your ankles. Eyes down.”
Luca’s ego allowed him to believe she’d gulped.
She obeyed, because she was a good sotto. A splendid one, actually.
He crossed the room, admiring the sight of her, and opened a drawer. He found the untouched package, along with the bottle he needed, and broke the seal on both.
“Sotto, I have been reviewing your limits.”
Every day since you sent them.
He walked back to the bed and stood behind her, the even-toned cream ass on full display in its understated glory. He set the packages on the bedside table and ran a hand over her cool cheeks.
A quiet purr released from her throat.
Why had he bought this club? Staying in the suite and playing with the divine specimen in front of him would have been enough to fulfill him for weeks.
He dipped a finger between her folds and spread her readiness in a wide circumference around her clit.
“So pleased, sotto. I am so pleased with you.”
“Thank you, Sir,” she whispered.
With a crook of his finger, he gathered the slick and trailed it between her ass cheeks.
“Tell your Master, sotto. When you had anal sex before, did you enjoy it?”
Her rim flinched, and he circled it in light brushes.
“No, Sir,” she said as she moaned.
“I shall remind you of your words of yellow and red, sotto.” After a little more teasing, Luca pressed his finger harder and broke through the tight seal. With his other hand, he massaged the lovely flesh along her hips. “Tonight, as you walk through the halls of my club, you will know who your Master is, not only because he is by your side and will not leave you but because he will be thinking of being inside you the entire time.”
Luca removed his finger from her ass and reached for the lube and small plug he’d set out. After squirting the clear jelly into his hand, he warmed it and coated her sinfully tight hole. He teased the opening with the dull bullet-headed plug. Claire’s muffled whimpers made his cock throb against his tight pants and he once again cursed his responsibilities.
“Push out a little and
relax, my sotto. The sting will be over quickly—or so I’ve been told.”
Without much fuss the plug was in place, its jewel-studded end shining between her cheeks. Luca begged his memory for any reason to flush the round skin and drew a blank. She had been too good. He wiped away the excess lube and told her to stay put as he quickly washed his hands then came back to her. Bless her uncaptured heart, she was in the same position as he’d left her.
The temptation to touch her again was too much and he massaged her lower back and ass one more time.
“My sotto, once again, you exceed all expectations.” He bent down and slid her white lace back over her rear. “You may stand and turn around.”
Claire moved slowly and faced her Master. He kissed her forehead, left cheek and soft mouth. “Cara, you’ve done so well. I feel you deserve a reward. So, before we leave this room, I will grant you whatever you wish…within reason.”
Chapter Twenty
Claire
Whatever I wish?
Claire rolled the words around in her brain. What she wanted was just further proof of the Luca-induced metamorphosis she was learning to embrace and not fear.
Before his illness, her sex life with Liam had been…special. He’d been soft and tender. He had teased and satisfied her in any number of ways and she had always been happy to return the favor.
But Luca was fire and ice. Shocking her. Enflaming her. She didn’t simply want to repay Luca for the immeasurable satisfaction he’d given her. She had an overwhelming urge to kneel before him in a very different way.
And make sure he was thoroughly satiated before he entered the scene on the floor below. Jealousy? She gave her head a small shake and stuffed the unfamiliar emotion down. It wasn’t possible. This was temporary. That was the agreement.
“Anything I wish, Sir?”
His chocolate gaze held a hint of trepidation at her response and she fought the urge to grin. “Within reason, sotto, within reason.”
She thought about ordering him to sit on the couch and nearly laughed out loud at the very idea of trying to top the Dom. Instead, she took his hand and led him across the room. Only hesitating a moment and remembering to keep her voice strong, she lifted her gaze to meet his again. “Please sit, Sir.”
Luca did as commanded, an amused smile tugging at his lips. “Si, sotto.”
Claire resisted rolling her eyes heavenward, but fuck, that man was even more sexy when he lapsed into Italian. He’d never know the effect his pet names had on her. She dropped to her knees and gently pressed her hands on the inside of his thighs, urging them apart.
He trailed the tips of his fingers along her jaw. “I wanted to reward you, sotto.”
She smiled and made quick work of releasing his belt clasp and pulling it free. “Tasting you is my reward, Sir.”
A soft string of Italian met her reply but Claire was too focused on her goal, sliding the zipper down and freeing him from the two layers of material. She lifted her eyes to his once more as her hand closed around the base of his shaft. She licked her lips with deliberate slowness before she planted soft kisses on every inch of his thick cock.
Just holding him excited her, spurred her to be as creative as she could. From day one, he’d played her body likely a finely tuned instrument that he’d had years of experience with. She was certain she could offer him the same.
She ran her tongue the entire length of him over and over as she dove her hand inside his pants and began stroking the soft skin she found there. The leg on her left gave an involuntary jerk and she smiled. Perhaps Luca wasn’t impervious to surprises after all.
The muted moans and sharp intakes of breath that escaped Luca’s mouth as she danced her lips, her tongue and her hand across his warm flesh caused an immediate flare of heat between her legs in response. The plug moved slightly inside her as she shifted her weight from one knee to the other. An involuntary groan rumbled in the back of her throat.
“Madre mia.” He stroked the top of her head, his breathing becoming more labored.
She caved, giving them both what they were panting for as she closed her mouth around the head and took him deep into her throat until her lips met her hand. With every rise, she swept her tongue across the tip, and with every descent, she wrapped it around his shaft.
Claire met his heated stare as she sucked on the head and pumped her hand up and down his slickened length. Within the space of a breath, his grip in her hair tightened as his own fell against the back of the couch. A guttural roar akin to a wild animal ripped from his mouth as hers was filled with hot liquid. She licked every drop, her head spinning from the knowledge she had brought pleasure to her Dom.
She massaged him as his breathing slowly returned to normal. He lifted his head and opened his mouth but Claire stuck an index finger in the air. She rose to her feet and disappeared into the small bathroom, collecting the washcloth, towel and basin he always used on her.
She knelt before him again, running the soft cloth across his skin and drying him before covering him and securing his pants.
As she stood to store the items away, he closed his hand around her wrist. “Drop them.”
Obediently she set the carefully folded material and basin on the floor seconds before he tugged her onto his lap. He crashed his mouth into hers with a ferocity that surprised her. Her subsequent gasp gave his tongue the open access it demanded as it tangled with hers.
Countless minutes later, he released her lips. “That was your reward?”
A wide, admittedly proud, smile spread across her face. Even though she was in her sub role, she couldn’t help it. The knowledge she had evoked such a primal reaction from Luca Bernardi was headier than any drink she’d known. “Yes, Sir.”
Luca pressed his forehead against hers with a light chuckle. “Cosa dovrei fare con te, sotto?”
Claire lifted one slim shoulder helplessly. “I’m impossibly slow with Italian.”
His lips brushed across her temple. “I said clean up. We need to go downstairs.”
Rusty though her command of the language was, Claire was certain that hadn’t been what he’d said, but she simply stood and nodded before collecting the items from the floor. “As you wish.”
His voice stopped her when she reached the bathroom door. “You are magnificent, sotto.”
* * * *
Luca made small circles with his thumb on the back of the hand firmly clasped in his. Without breaking his stride, he bent down and whispered in Claire’s ear. “If there is a scene you want to watch, let me know. Otherwise, eyes down.”
She jutted out her lower lip but she dropped her gaze obediently as they entered the club. This wasn’t at all what she’d expected for her first official trip to the club under Luca’s ownership—temporary ownership, she reminded herself—to be like. “Yes, Sir.”
He pushed her pout back into place. “Now, now, sotto…do we need to go back upstairs so soon and correct your behavior?”
Heat flushed her cheeks. “But, Sir, isn’t there a room here for discipline? Public discipline?”
His sharp intake of breath was followed by her back being flattened against the wall and the hard planes of Luca’s body pressed to her front. “Eyes, now, sotto.” His jaw flexed, and his dark stare bored through her with more intensity than she expected. “Do you want that? Do you want me to tie you in one of the public rooms and punish you?” He lifted his hand to her cheek then slid it down her chest before reaching around to cup her ass. “With a crowd watching us? Lusting after every inch of your creamy skin, salivating over the ass I make red with a paddle?”
Oh fuck. Need shot between her legs. The taunting plug moved with Luca’s possessive grip. The air left her lungs on a stuttering exhale, but she forced her voice to remain controlled. “As you wish, Sir.”
His nostrils flared, but otherwise he didn’t move—didn’t blink, didn’t even appear to breathe. “Soon, cara. Soon.” Luca intertwined his fingers through hers again. “Tonight, we watch
.” He brushed his lips against her neck before moving next to her ear, his breath inflaming her flesh. “You will watch the scenes, sotto, and I will watch your every reaction.”
Luca stepped back and pulled her close to his side again. Claire immediately dropped her gaze, her stomach rolling when his deep chuckle vibrated against her arm.
“Oh, sotto, so obedient you are.”
They wandered through the wide, open space, separated with half walls or ornate drapes for various scenes and designated play spaces. She fought the mounting irritation at not being able to see what was going on around her. Luca would occasionally bend down and describe scenes, asking if she wanted to watch. Nothing caught her attention until…
“A Mistress has her little sub lined up for inspection.”
Hearing the scenes played out through his voice was nearly better than seeing them for herself. Nearly.
“And it appears the sub hasn’t groomed herself properly.” He clicked his tongue.
Her first visit to the club—well, only the bar below because that was all Luca had allowed at the time—flashed in her mind. Three gorgeous girls flirting, kissing, touching…under the watchful eye of a Master. It was the first time she’d seen something so blatantly erotic played out before her eyes and she needed more. “May I watch, Sir? Please?”
Silence. His silence was always so telling. After several nerve-racking beats, he finally responded. “Yes, sotto. You may look now.”
As desperately as she wanted to witness the scene before her, her eyes went to him first. Always Luca first. “Thank you, Sir.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up and he inclined his head before moving to stand behind her, gripping her hips. “Since you requested this, I expect your eyes to stay fixed, sotto, no matter what happens around you.” His voice dropped to an impossibly low tone. “No matter what I do to you, you may not look away.”
