by Gemma James
He reached out and pulled me to my feet, and his eyes sizzled as he scoured my body with a single glance. “God, I’ll never get over how gorgeous you are.”
His words cast a sheen of desire down my spine. “Same here,” I whispered.
Reaching for the clamps, he smiled. “Is your cunt wet, Kayla?”
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes, Master.”
He gestured to my chest. “Present your breasts.”
Pulling my shoulders back, I thrust them forward, peaks hard and tingling at just the thought of him clamping them. The fierce pinch would hurt like hell and cool the fire between my legs.
He held up the jeweled chain, and I lifted my chin to allow him access to the discreet built-in ring in my infinity collar. He attached the top of the contraption to the collar, and dainty layers of chains draped my chest. At first glance, people would think it was an elaborate necklace. But if they looked closer, they’d noticed two single chains lowering between the valley of cleavage.
He took a nipple between two fingers and rolled with a light caress. He did the same to the other side, making them extra sensitive, causing an ache that would intensify the sting once he tightened the clamps. Gage often found reasons to punish me so he could play with my nipples in his most favorite and sadistic way.
“These belong to me. Your cunt belongs to me. Don’t ever forget that.” He pressed one vise against a tingling bud and closed the prongs. A sharp twinge shot through me, coalescing at the tip of my breast.
“I’m the Master of your pain, the Master of your pleasure.” He clamped the other side, eliciting a whimper.
“Loosen them, Master. Please,” I whispered, barely able to catch my breath. Stones the color of his sapphire eyes dangled, and the added weight heightened my agony.
“Sorry, baby. You’re going to suffer tonight.” He held my chin in his hand—his modus operandi when it came to putting me in my place. “Don’t you ever walk out on me like that again.”
What he wanted was an apology, but he wouldn’t get one. My nipples throbbed, leaving me with nothing nice to say, so I said nothing at all.
Pulling another clamp from his pocket, he bent and gathered the two sapphire stones together. He attached the additional chain to the tiny hooks at the ends, and the chain tickled my belly.
I watched him in fear and a little wonder as he spread the lips of my sex and placed the third clamp. I gave out a stunned cry, but instead of the familiar sharp ache I expected, that contraption between my legs felt so damn good. Too good. One glance into his eyes told me that was his intention.
To keep me on edge, aroused with no end in sight, my nipples connected to my clit. Pain connected to pleasure. All of his toys chained together for his gratification.
The next five days until our anniversary seemed to span for decades.
Sliding his palms up my thighs, Gage remained kneeling on the floor. I lost my breath because it wasn’t often that I had my husband on his knees at my feet. An expression of awe blanketed his face. His eyes heated, darkened to indigo, and the need for control arose in me once again.
I wanted to dominate him.
Wanted to make him writhe.
Make him howl and beg.
Make him submit to me.
Warmth crept up my neck and flushed my cheeks as he stood and reached for the butt plug.
“Bend over,” he said, his voice thick with seduction.
I planted my hands on the mattress and gave him my ass. Holy hell, this man was my Master all right. And he was absolutely shameless. I told him as much, to which he laughed as he worked the plug in, using enough lubricant that it wasn’t too uncomfortable. But then the thing went off, sending vibrations through every nerve in my lower extremities, and I arched my back, expelling a deep moan.
He whirled me around and pushed me onto the bed, then he pulled a pair of lacy thigh-highs from his pocket. Taking my foot in his hand, he began rolling one up my calf, past my shaking knee until the lace top banded around my thigh. He grazed my pussy with his knuckles for a few laborious seconds before giving my other leg the same treatment.
“You’re fucking exquisite.” He rose to his full height, rubbing the front of his pants. “A test of control indeed. Finish dressing. Something light with a short skirt that flares. I want easy access to that sweet ass.”
Oh my God. My nipples were pinched to the point of numbness, and I couldn’t move without my clit aching, but he somehow ignited me with mere words.
Dressing was a no-brainer. A flirty black dress with a draped top to hide the clamps, and a strappy pair of the standard four-inch heels he required I wear most of the time. The simmering lust in his eyes told me I’d chosen the right outfit.
“Ready?” he asked.
Was I? I honestly didn’t know, but I took his hand, anxious to find out.
9. The Edge of Decency
The restaurant gave off a vibe of sin. Low lighting invited couples to sit close and whisper dirty things to each other. Red walls and sleek black tables made me think of passion and sex. Bypassing the section of tables in the middle of the room, the petite hostess halted at a private dining booth and pulled back a gauzy gold drape.
Dining booth didn’t come close. The alcove had all the makings of a place to share a meal, but the horseshoe shape of the black cushions, along with red and gold accent pillows, spoke of something else. Something sinful, dark, and forbidden.
Gage had more than dinner on his mind.
“Mr. Channing, your private dining booth is ready.”
Gage gestured for me to slide in before him, all the way to the back wall. As he settled next to me, he ordered a bottle of wine.
“Excellent choice, sir.”
The way she said “sir” made me bristle, and I couldn’t explain why. I didn’t like the flirty smile she aimed at Gage or the way her cleavage threatened to spill over the white top of her uniform.
“Have you been here before,” I asked after the hostess left to fetch our wine.
“A few times, yes.”
“With Katherine?”
He frowned. “Do you intend to waste the whole night talking about her?”
I dipped my head, letting my hair hide the flush in my cheeks. “No.”
He swept my hair back. “The past doesn’t matter, Kayla. There’s only now.” He turned my face toward him, refusing to let me hide. “No one has ever captivated me the way you do.” He leaned forward and brushed his mouth over mine, barely touching, merely hovering with the promise of more.
“The thought of your pretty nipples pinched between my clamps is enough to make me hard. Only you can do that.”
Keeping my lips parted, I closed my eyes and breathed him in. Allowed myself to fall into his snare. He lowered a spaghetti strap, his warm fingers trailing over my goose-bumped skin. His touch skimmed over a clamped nipple through my dress.
I sensed the slow unraveling of his control, felt his lips teasing mine, his tongue aching to mate. To own.
The hostess fractured the moment with her presence. “Your wine, sir.”
Gage and I broke apart, and I was glad I wasn’t the one on the other end of his dark glare. “We require privacy. Announce your presence before entering next time.”
“Of course. I’m sorry.” But she didn’t seem sorry at all as she set two menus onto the glossy table, followed by wine glasses and a bottle of red. I didn’t bother reaching for the menu since Gage always ordered for me anyway.
She filled our glasses half full. “Your server will be here momentarily to take your orders.” Her red lips curved into a suggestive smile. “Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?”
I swallowed a growl as Gage dismissed her. Silence fell upon us, giving me time to stew over how gorgeous my husband was. He turned heads, commanded respect without earning it. His entire being harvested power and sexual prowess.
Had his jealous streak rubbed off on me?
Our serv
er arrived, and this woman was no less attractive than the hostess, but she showed respect by not openly flirting with a married man. Gage rattled off our orders before she exited through the curtains, leaving us alone again, stowed away in our intimate booth.
“Your jealousy is a major turn-on.” He downed his glass of wine in two drinks, which was so unlike him. Then he set the glass down with a heavy hand, leaned back, and lowered his zipper with a taunting smile.
“Come over here and grind on me.”
“What?”
He raised a brow. “Did I stutter?”
“N-no.” But I couldn’t help but observe the people on the other side of the gossamer drapes, their movements resembling shadowed ghosts in the dim restaurant. This place had been designed for public displays of indecency.
Gage took my chin in his firm hand. “The only thing that matters right now is your Master’s cock.”
I opened and shut my mouth at least three times. I’d married this sex-crazed, brazen man a year ago, yet he still managed to knock me off my axis way too often.
“Kayla, my cock isn’t going to fuck itself.”
He had no shame. None. Zilch.
“Here?” My eyes shifted around the private space, and I almost expected the waitress to appear.
He thrust his hips the slightest bit, flaunting his hard-on with too much pride. “Yes, here.” He aimed his patented devil’s grin my way. “Now hop on before I bend your sexy ass over the table and take my belt to it.” He tilted his head. “Somehow, I think that might gain more attention than you quietly riding my cock.”
Swallowing nervously, I stood and was about to lift a leg over his lap to straddle him when he whirled me around and fit my body between his knees. He lifted the back of my dress then pulled me down in one swift motion until his erection nestled against my bare ass. He spread my thighs wide, making me shoot a hand out to grip the table for balance.
“I want deep inside you.” His low tone whispered down the side of my neck. “Lift up,” he said, hands on my hips. I raised my bottom, and he pulled me down until I sheathed him. And we both moaned, on the brink of madness.
I arched my spine and sank against him, back to chest. He ran his fingers down my thighs, teasing with each inch of material he touched before he reached underneath my skirt and carefully removed the clit clamp.
“Ow!”
“Shh,” he said. “Unless you want to be heard.” His tone was much too satisfied.
I breathed noisily, trying to survive the sudden rush of blood to my pussy, and trying not to cry out again.
“This isn’t so bad, is it? I might just eat my dinner like this, with my cock buried inside you.” The plug in my ass started vibrating.
“Oh God…”
He wrapped his arms around my waist, remote to the plug clutched in his hand, and rested his chin on my shoulder. “Can you stand it, Kayla? Me inside you like this? Can you stand the thought that when the server brings our dinner, she’ll see you spread and sitting on my cock with nothing but your skirt hiding your beautiful cunt?” He stroked my throbbing clit. “Hiding the way our bodies are joined.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“You said I’m shameless. I’m about to prove you right.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I take great pleasure in making you squirm.” He tilted my head back, and his mouth opened over my throat, left a wet trail to my ear.
“Mmmmm…” I lifted my hips the slightest bit, aching to feel him pushing in and out, rubbing that mystical spot that sent me out of my mind every time.
“Damn, Kayla.” His breath blasted my neck, and his hands returned to my hips. “Fuck me to the edge.”
I lifted then sank back onto his cock, the table shaking under my grip. “What if I can’t stop? It’s been days. I don’t know—”
He bounced my body up and down, cutting off whatever I’d been about to say.
“More,” he groaned, yanking me down to glove him again. “Give it all to me. Everything but your orgasm, baby. Save that for our anniversary.”
I melted into him, not only molten lava between my legs but deeply touched by his words. This meant something to him. Beyond the sexual games, the teasing and denial, lived a man who wanted to make a single night special. Memorable.
I gently rode him, my hips swiveling at a steady pace that brought him deep inside me on each rotation. The point of no return neared for us both. But I wouldn’t stop until he told me to. My job was to take his cock for as long as he wished, as deep as he wanted, and hold back my orgasm.
And holding back would give me the ultimate prize—his submission for a night. He hadn’t been kidding though when he said he wouldn’t make it easy. He slipped his fingers under my dress, up my sides, and unclamped my nipples. Blood rushed my sensitized peaks, and a hoarse cry escaped my throat.
“Keep fucking me, baby.”
I hadn’t realized I’d stopped. I pushed upward then impaled myself on him again, making him moan. God, how I wanted to send him hurtling over the edge, take control from his iron-willed fist.
“Harder,” he growled, taking my nipples between his fingers.
A desperate plea fell from my lips. Desperate and treacherous. I couldn’t let him win this cruel game. The stakes were too high, meant too much.
“I mean it. Fuck me until you’re there. I can wait on the edge for hours. Can you?”
Frustrated tears slipped from my eyes. Gage had practiced the art of control for years, and I was weak in comparison. He’d won this battle before it had begun.
“Take my cock like you mean it.” He tweaked my nipples with teasing fingers, keeping time to my undulating hips.
“Please, don’t make me come.”
“That’s a first. You usually beg for the opposite.” He grabbed my earlobe with his teeth, pulled, then let go. “But you want something, don’t you?”
“Yes!”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Tell me what you want again. This time in detail.”
Drawing an unsteady breath, I visualized it, held onto it, and willed my body to stay strong.
Don’t give in.
“I want you tied to the bed, naked. Unable to move.”
“What else?”
“I want to suck your cock for hours, but I won’t let you come.”
I’d make him hurt. He’d regret every wretched thing he’d ever done to me.
“I believe you have a little sadist in you, Kayla. What else?”
“I want you gagged, blindfolded.”
Helpless.
He grabbed my hips and yanked my body down with a vicious thrust. “I should make you come right now just to end this madness.”
The idea of a role reversal unhinged him, made him grasp for the upper hand. A year ago, he’d promised his submission was a one-time deal, and he intended to hold to that promise, even if it meant fighting dirty. A blizzard would grace hell before he’d willingly give me control again.
He not only meant to push me to the edge, but he meant to throw me off without a parachute. Thank God our dinner beckoned because I was ready to leap, to hell with the consequences.
10. Crossroads
Beyond frustrated from Gage’s week of sexual games, I gave caution the finger and took a logic-defying risk on Friday morning.
I went in for my shift at the hospital.
If Gage found out, it would ruin our first anniversary. But I was going stir crazy in that house, cooped up like Rapunzel. Only I wasn’t a girl held captive by an evil sorceress that thirsted for power. I was a sex slave held prisoner by my husband’s deviant desires.
He’d given me explicit instructions with no room for bending the rules, yet here I was, not only at the hospital to see Emma, but I was sticking around afterward to have lunch with Simone. I entered the cafeteria, attention on my cell as I read the text Simone had sent, telling me she’d snagged us a table. Two steps into the busy hub of the hosp
ital at lunchtime, and I collided with a warm body.
I lifted my head and took in Ian’s masculine jawline, shadowed with stubble. Forgoing his normal white doctor’s coat, today he wore teal scrubs.
“Excuse me,” I muttered, veering to the right and attempting to go around him.
He followed my movement. “Do you have a minute?”
I’d managed to avoid him for weeks, but now everywhere I turned, he was in my way. Literally. “There’s nothing left to say.”
“I know where I stand, Kayla. Is it too much to ask that you have lunch with me?” His mouth quirked in an endearing way. A sexy way.
I couldn’t do this. He was trying so hard to squirm back into my life, but he was wasting his time. Folding my arms, I focused on his chest. “We can’t be friends.”
“Because of Gage?”
“Yes, because of Gage. He’s not okay with this.”
“I don’t give a fuck what he’s okay with.” He tilted my chin. “You shouldn’t care either. Are you not your own person anymore?”
I frowned, once again thrown off by his odd mood swings. “I’m not doing this with you.”
“Doing what? Getting a harsh dose of truth? Or sharing a meal?”
“Take your pick. Besides, I’m meeting someone, so if you’ll excuse me…?” I stared him down.
“Your wish is my command.” His barbed tone pricked at my roller-coaster emotions. God, the way he spoke to me hurt. He stepped to the side and swung an arm out in a display of grand gesture, his body language screaming at me.
Go on, he silently taunted. Pretend I don’t exist.
His presence shook me up, made me want to bolt, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing his words chewed my heart up and spit it out. I went through the lunch line in a blur, my spine tingling with the notion that he was watching me. I turned around and scanned the raucous room, but he’d disappeared. Instead, I spotted Simone, who raised a questioning brow.
Carrying my food, I squeezed between tables, went around a small group of nurses chatting, and settled into the seat across from her.