Tethered Trust: Book 2 (Limits of Love Series 3)

by Jade Royal

  “Your princess has great taste for one so young.” I slid my fingers along the smooth skin of her calf.

  “I know, right? After that, I couldn’t just neglect the rest of me. I had to accessorize. Then Mamá insisted that I wear this belt”

  “I heard that you were down here making trouble.” I stroked her back to occupy my other hand from doing other things.

  “Ah, so Master Howard did call you?”

  “Yes. What happened?”

  “That ex of yours seems to think that she can bully me.” She laughed. “She approached me. I didn’t even know who she was. I took care of it for now, but next time I won’t be so nice. I didn’t like being targeted like that, Sir.”

  I heard the sarcasm and a bit of warning in her voice. She felt insulted, and I understood. There were also traces of vulnerability there. “Sounds like her. She’s always creating problems. I’ll take care of it. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. I’m sorry that she felt the need to approach you.”

  “I have my phone; you could have called instead of driving all the way here.”

  “I could have.” The fact that calling her wasn’t even an option in my head said a lot. It was obvious that this was about more than that. I wanted to see her, too.

  “It sounds like you wanted to see me in person.”

  “Kind of.”

  Vanessa leaned forward and seductively said. “I really want a kiss.”

  I lifted my eyebrow. “Have you been drinking?”

  “Maybe just a little. Why?”

  “Because you’re being really forward.”

  Vanessa backed away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be.”

  “No, no, no... You were saying that you wanted a kiss. The way this works is that you hold all the cards. You have all the power.” Time for a lesson.

  “Do I?”

  “Yes.”

  Vanessa leaned forward again.

  “Unh, unh, uh... that’s not how you exercise your power.”

  “No? Teach me.”

  “Doms are powerless until submissives transition their power to us. All you have to do is ask for what you want. That gives us the power to respond appropriately.”

  “I understand. Please Sir, may I have a kiss?”

  I leaned forward and watched as she held her breath. I kissed her on her cheek and pulled away. “Wish granted.”

  Vanessa grunted, and I smirked.

  “Sir, may I have a kiss on my lips.”

  I looked around me and then back at her. “Right here?”

  Vanessa looked confused. “Yes, Sir. Why not?”

  “Okay then.” I started to spread her legs and she gasped then pushed her legs closed.

  “No, Sir. That’s not what I meant!”

  I laughed, looked at her, and shook my head. “You need to be clear.”

  “May I have a kiss on these lips?” Vanessa tapped her glossed lips with the tip of her finger.

  I kissed her lightly on the lips, and she grunted as I pulled away.

  “That wasn’t a kiss.”

  “Sometimes giving you what you need is so much better than giving you what you want.”

  “But I need a much better kiss than that. That little peck definitely wasn’t enough.”

  “Are you saying that wasn’t satisfactory?”

  “Yes.”

  “How much more?”

  “Can’t I just let you know when you get there?”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “I’ll just pull away.”

  “That’s not how you hand over control to me.”

  “Right, because I have to negotiate.”

  “That’s right. When it gets overwhelming, you’ll wrap your legs around my waist.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  I pulled her dress up to her thighs to give her the room that she needed, and I moved between her legs.

  Her thighs were soft under my fingertips. I gripped them to pull her close which only increased the need to fuck. She breathed deeper, harder. I leaned into her, and she parted her lips, expecting me to kiss her. Instead, I teased her lips with mine. Her bottom lip quivered, and I pulled it into my mouth, sucking it gingerly. The moan that escaped let me know that she was exactly where I needed her. I released her lip and grunted.

  “Sir, please,” she whispered.

  “Please what?”

  “Don’t make me wait, please.”

  Her tongue darted out to lick her lip, and I licked it before pulling it into my mouth. Vanessa moved to kiss me, and I leaned back. Her sigh of frustration was my prize.

  “Seems to me that the sweet girl can’t handle the Master,” I teased.

  “Please...” she begged.

  “Now, we might be getting somewhere.”

  “Sir, I need your kisses.”

  That’s when I kissed her.

  Pulling her body into mine, I stole the air from her lungs. I pressed my lips against hers and drew the air that was left. Powerless, she gripped my shirt as I slowly fed her the air from mine. Hungrily, her lips moved over mine, needing more than I gave. Our tongues danced against one another, and I couldn’t get enough of her sweetness.

  The coolness that her mouth originally had was long gone. She was fevered now. The warmer her mouth became, the more excited I knew she was. I flexed my fingers, gripping and pulling at her silky skin. The contrast between my skin and hers awakened sensitivity that fed the lust that was driving us both crazy.

  I took my time savoring her. She was the perfect amount of sticky sweetness that you never wanted to leave your mouth. She marked me with her tongue, and I stole even more of her honey. Her arms wrapped around my neck as she tried to pull me closer, but I held firm, and it drove her wild.

  It wasn’t that I wasn’t affected by her, it was quite the opposite. My control fueled her passion, and it was damn heady. I got more of what I wanted when I held back. Her. Vanessa was seconds away from climbing my body to get what she needed, and I was only provoking her.

  She was going to wrap her body around mine because she wanted me to fuck her. Problem for her was that it was my signal to end things. Her knee inched higher and she curled her legs around me, pressing me to her core. I rocked against her heat and she gasped. I smiled against her lips and pulled away. Yeah, I knew it was cruel. That was exactly why I did it.

  Vanessa closed her eyes and lowered her arms to fist my shirt again. She definitely needed a minute. I ran my hand up her back and she quivered. I kissed her again, exercising my right to her mouth. I kissed her forehead and she rested her head against my chest.

  “Twenty.”

  “Twenty?” I repeated, confused.

  “Yes, on a scale of one to ten, that was a twenty.”

  I laughed hard. Damn did I love her humor. Vanessa joined in and looked up at me while resting on her chin. She lifted her finger and wiped my lips.

  “My gloss rubbed off onto you.”

  “Well, quit making me look suspicious.”

  “Suspicious?” she frowned.

  “Yes. Like the man who kissed you into submission.”

  Vanessa giggled. “Guilty as charged!” She blushed. “Thank you, Sir.”

  “Mmmm...”

  Vanessa turned back around to the bar and Renee was standing there in shock. I chuckled.

  “Did you just make out with him at the bar?” Renee asked.

  Vanessa whispered. “I know. That was bad, huh?”

  “No! You just told everybody in the room ‘hands off’.”

  I chuckled. “You know I can hear the two of you, right? I’m still here. And yes, she did.”

  “I kind of forgot he was still standing there,” Renee said. She was still shocked but was looking at Vanessa.

  “Good,” Vanessa stated.

  “Good?” I repeated.

  She looked at me over her shoulder. “Yes, good. Renee, can I have a bottle of water so that I can cool down?”

  “Yeah, me, too.” Renee s
aid as she brought out two bottles of water.

  I looked around and noticed the smirks and smiles that were on people’s faces. Interesting.

  “Hey, that reminds me!” Renee chimed in. She put a flyer on the counter and looked at Vanessa. “Are you guys coming to this?”

  I looked down to see the advertisement for the annual Masquerade. I wasn’t interested, for several reasons.

  Lynn was the girl that I began seeing after Shelly. She was fun at first, but I quickly realized that she wasn’t everything that she claimed to be. She wasn’t submissive, she was a whore. Two completely different things, and not the good kind.

  Lynn told everybody that we had an open relationship. At the time, I was super busy with photography work, and I wasn’t coming here to the club all that often. She was sleeping with many of the newer guys here. In the process, she pissed off quite a few submissives, and one of them lured me to the club just to show me how fucked up it all was. She was in the middle of an intense scene with two of the guys in a private room. Apparently, double penetration was her thing. If I’d known, we could have explored it together. That’s not what she wanted, though, and neither did I. Lynn usually helps to run the Masquerade. I didn’t want any part of that.

  “I don’t know,” Vanessa responded. “I didn’t know anything about it.”

  “You have to come!” Renee demanded.

  “What’s the big deal? It’s just another party,” I added.

  “No, it’s not. It’s the opportunity for us girls to dress up and wear masks. That’s the best part. We get to be mysterious.”

  “It is,” Vanessa agreed.

  “That means that you want to come?” I asked.

  “Maybe. I’m not sure. Is that a problem?” Vanessa turned to me.

  “Well, it could be. Generally, if you come to the club and you’re not wearing a collar, you’re telling everybody that you’re available. I don’t like that, and we still haven’t had our talk. Meaning that I’d either need to be with you, or you’d need to wear a protection collar from the club.”

  “Ah! That explains why Master Howard asked me where you were earlier. He made it seem like I was breaking some rule, and I had no clue what was going on.”

  “Yeah. Are you going to stand up and let me see you in this dress?” I asked, changing the subject. I really didn’t want to go to that party.

  Vanessa shook her head no. She blushed from head to toe. “You can see when I leave.”

  “That’s not how it works. The entire club has seen you in it. I deserve my turn to salivate over you, too.”

  Vanessa sighed and got down off the bar stool. When I saw the whole package, I groaned. She looked damned fine, and those shoes screamed ‘fuck me.’ The outfit was simple and didn’t look like she’d gone through much to put it together, but it fit her body like a glove. Every curve was visible, including those hips. Instant hard-on.

  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put you on top of the bar and fuck you.”

  Vanessa gasped. “Because it’s crude!”

  “No. Trust me. It’s been done before.”

  “Because you don’t want everybody to see me?”

  “Best point made thus far.”

  “Why would you want to devour me here when you can just take me to your house?”

  If it was possible, I grew harder than I already was. “What about your mother?”

  “She’s not expecting me home tonight. She said that if I didn’t come home, she wouldn’t wait up.”

  “Naughty, girl. Even your mom knows that you look fuckable!”

  Vanessa laughed. “Is that what it is? I look easy, so Mamá sent me off to be ruined?”

  “I didn’t say easy, I said fuckable. Big difference. I’m saying you look damn good, and your mother knew that a man like me would show my appreciation.”

  She laughed. “Sure, that’s what you’re saying.”

  “What I’m saying is that you look fuckable tonight, and I’m not opposed.”

  “But I’m here with my friend socializing. That’s rude.” Vanessa played coy.

  “I tell you what. I’m going to go find Master Howard, and you’ll come find me when you’re ready. Deal?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  I kissed her quickly before walking off to find Howard. It took quite a bit of effort because I’d rather show her just how much I wanted to take her right here, right now, regardless of who was watching. Vanessa made me want to act reckless. Territorial. Savagely.

  Since the split between Lynn and I, I’d not dated anybody. I dove into my work, needing a break from all the drama that she provided. I had an open situation with Shelly, but it was one sided most times. Not that I didn’t enjoy her, but she came to me for relief, and I provided it. I didn’t reciprocate or exercise the same rights. When I needed to play, I came to the club to scene publicly. I rarely had sex with them.

  I used my photography for a lot of my release. I am just as much a sucker for rope as my clients are. The different angles, rope color contradictions, and the architectural design of the scene that is photographed puts me in a whole other place. It worked, plus I got paid for it.

  I turned back to see Vanessa talking to Renee at the bar before I disappeared through the doorway that led to Howard’s office.

  Chapter 20: Vanessa

  “Ohmygod! You guys are so cute together!” Renee shrieked.

  “Stop it!”

  “Seriously, you are. Are you going to go home with him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean? That dress decided for you.”

  “First he calls me fuckable and now you?”

  “What? You know that I don’t discriminate. If I didn’t have a very awesome couple at home waiting on me, I would hit on you.”

  “Don’t say that!”

  Renee laughed. “I’m just kidding, but whatever Jamar is doing to you, he needs to keep it up. You’re coming out of that shell of yours.”

  “Well, it’s not just him.”

  “There’s somebody else?”

  “Not like that. But I do have a friend who happens to be crazy, and she lets just about anything come out of her mouth.”

  Renee laughed. “Feisty chica. I’m glad I’m rubbing off on you.”

  “As long as it doesn’t get me in trouble.”

  “I can’t promise you that. But listen, it’s almost closing time for the bar. How about you go with your beau, and I’ll start cleaning so that I can get out of here.”

  “Why are you closing up so early?”

  “We only serve drinks up to a certain time here, and tonight it’s until eleven. Most people have already exhausted their drinking limit at the bar by now and are ready to have some real fun in the rooms. My only job is to clean up, lock up the alcohol, and then set up bottles of water around the bar top to keep people hydrated.”

  “Before I forget, how’s Mistress X?”

  “She’s good. She had the babies. They’re soooooooooo cute.”

  I smiled. “I wanted to wait ‘til she was settled before I came over to bother the babies.”

  “Just let me know when you want to come over. We’ll make it a date.”

  I stood and hugged Renee over the bar.

  “Call me tomorrow, girl.”

  “I will. We can talk some more then.”

  “Do some more thinking about the Masquerade. I’d really love for you to come have a ball with me.”

  “I’ll think on it,” I said as I walked off.

  I was stopped by some guy. He had that piercing kind of stare that always made you feel like you were in trouble.

  “Hello, there.”

  “Hi.”

  “Care to dance?”

  “No, thank you.” I smiled politely but began walking away with more speed and purpose. I walked into the lobby area to ask the receptionist where I could find Master Howard’s office, but I stopped short when I saw Master Howard and Master J standing in the middle of the lo
bby chatting. Master Howard was a fine specimen. Though I’d been freaked the very first time that I saw him, it didn’t mean that I’d ignored his sex appeal. He wasn’t the kind of man that you said no to. Not because you were afraid to, it was quite the opposite, actually. He made you want to say yes. That was the very reason why he scared me stupid.

  “I heard that you’ve been walking around here without a protection collar on, pet.” Master Howard said as I neared.

  “Yes, Sir. I didn’t know the protocol.”

  “When you come to ‘visit’ Renee at work, make sure you talk to the gatekeeper so that they can call me to the front. We want you in some kind of protection collar until you guys are more comfortable with one another.”

  “Yes, Sir. What’s a gatekeeper?”

  Master Howard chuckled, but Master J answered, “It’s what we call the submissives who man the front counter. If you aren’t supposed to be here, they don’t open the gate for you to enter.”

  I nodded, understanding the code. “Don’t you mean ‘woman’ the front counter, Sir?”

  “No, I do not, brat.” Master J swatted my bottom and I moaned. “Vanessa,” he growled. “Have you made a decision?”

  “I’m ready when you are, Sir.” I felt the blush spreading over my face. I couldn’t believe that he’d done that in front of Master Howard.

  “Did you drive here?”

  “Yes. I have Máma’s car.”

  “I’ll follow you to my house. That way you don’t have to come here when you are ready to leave.”

  I nodded. “Makes sense.”

  Master Howard and Master J said their goodbyes, and we left to head to his house. Once we arrived, he led me to his studio room where we conducted our scenes. When we walked in, out of habit, I started to remove my clothes.

  “No, girl. Leave them on.”

  I did, and for some reason it felt wrong to be standing in here with clothes on. I waited for instructions, hoping that I wasn’t misreading him.

  Master J walked over to the corner where he stored all of his rope inside a huge red wood chest. He removed bundle after bundle of red rope. I was a little intimidated by the amount of rope that he was grabbing. I guess it showed when he dropped it in front of me and I flinched. He chuckled but it did nothing to eliminate my fears. I went to take a step back from him and was stopped by his words.