THORNE: Rose's Dark Contract

by R. B. O'Brien

  She stopped shaking and nuzzled into my chest, her breathing normalizing again, and she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  Sorry? Why was she sorry? Fuck! She never stopped thwarting me. She was too unassuming. Too innocent. I could no longer deny the guilt that engulfed me. I actually cared about her feelings. Jesus. What was happening? How could this be happening…to me?

  “Sssh.” I needed to soothe her. Fuck it. Just for this one night. What harm could come from it?

  “Please don’t make me go into that crate again. Ever. Please William. I learned my lesson. I will obey you. Please.”

  I didn’t know how to respond. I wanted her to disobey me. I knew she didn’t have a fighting chance. I wanted her to come without permission, to bring her to the point of no return. I wanted to punish her. It’s how I got my kicks, and usually, my PA’s suffered through the punishment, but not because they were afraid, but because they couldn’t wait to please me. They were willing partners in the power exchange, in the humiliation, in the game.

  God, she was truly naïve, and I couldn’t help but worry now that I had gotten in too deep, too fast, too unexpectedly, even though I had planned to have her months ago. Somehow, I didn’t envision it like this. Jennifer’s warnings taunted the back of my mind. Many of my PA’s got close to me, and that’s when I would let them go, before they could get too hurt. But I, I never got close to any of them.

  I continued to carry her. I couldn’t make her any promises. I brought her to my master bath and began to draw water. I always enjoyed pampering my PA’s after harsh punishment, so ultimately, they would come to trust me and my sadistic games. Aftercare was paramount. Trust was everything, and I couldn’t help but feel as if I may have broken it with Victoria.

  I knew my care towards her was different. This was not premeditated aftercare and pampering on my part. It was spontaneous. Sincere. Genuine. I tried to ignore that fact. I would get back on track tomorrow. Tonight was out of my hands at this point.

  I grabbed a towel from the warmer for her shivering body and wrapped it tightly around her.

  When the bath was full, I instructed her to sit down, and before I could stop myself, I sat in with her, engulfing her little body between my legs, her back to my chest. She still trembled slightly, unsure of my intent. Fuck. I was unsure of my intent. But in that moment, I felt tender towards her, and I stroked her gently, kindly, pouring water down the back of her hair, washing her back, kissing her neck.

  “It’s okay. You can relax. I want you to tell me what frightened you so much?”

  She hesitated.

  “Obey me, Victoria. You are safe right now, but you still need to obey me. I cannot have it any other way.” I spoke firmly and felt her body shiver and tense. I stroked her hair to soothe her, to lull her.

  “I lost my parents at a young age and went to live with my grandfather and when he died too…well, I told you I had no family. I still have nightmares about it. I was so afraid of who would take care of me after that I hid in a closet, confining myself. I didn’t want anyone to find me. I almost died. Dark, confined spaces are unbearable for me.”

  Jesus Christ. I wanted to know more but pushed the urge from my mind and focused on just consoling her instead. “That’s horrible, Victoria.” And in that moment, I caved. I had nightmares of my own. I knew about nightmares all too well. “I will never use the crate with you again, Victoria. I promise. I wish you would have told me this. The contract explicitly states that you are to tell me if there is something on the list that you absolutely can’t handle. To use your safe word. In fact, I should probably punish you for the fact that you didn’t tell me about this, that you didn’t use your safe word. And I very well may.” I suddenly felt angry at her, at myself. “I have many other methods I can and will use for your disobedience.”

  “I’m sorry I disappointed you so soon. I was afraid to tell you about my past. But there is nothing else on the list that terrifies me like this. I promise you.” She turned around and kissed me. And immediately, my cock stiffened. I wanted her. My anger left me as soon as it came. Had I really given her a chance to tell me anything? Or had I spent all my time intimidating her?

  “Come. Sleep in my bed tonight.” I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience, not even recognizing my voice, my tenderness. I carried her wrapped in a towel to my bed and placed her down on it. I removed the towel from her body and stared at nude form in awe. It was that beautiful.

  “Roll over onto your stomach, and spread for me, baby,” I said softly but definitively.

  And she did. So compliant.

  Slowly, gently I inserted a finger into her with one hand from behind, and touched her clit from underneath her with the other. Somehow I knew she was ready for me. Her kiss told me that. She was wet and when I quickened my movements inside of her, she moaned in agonizing bliss.

  “Oh Victoria. I want to take you again. I will go slow this time, exceedingly slow. I want to savor you. Come as much as it suits you.”

  “Yes,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

  And I made slow, romantic love to her, listening to her beg for release as we finally came in tandem, together. She cradled up into my arms, and we both fell into a deep sleep. I don’t remember ever feeling so peaceful in my entire life, except when I was very, very little, before…

  * * * * * * * *

  I awoke to the loud voice of Jennifer. “Get the fuck up, sleepyhead!” And then, a gasp.

  “Sssh,” I ordered. I looked into Jennifer’s astonished face. “I know. I know. I fucked up. It won’t happen again. You were right. The crate was a bad idea for her. Okay? You feel better? All smug and righteous?”

  “Yes,” she smiled, but then changed her mind. “No, actually. What happened? How bad did it get for her to be here right now? Jesus, Will. What happened?”

  “Sssh. Let her sleep. She starts work tomorrow, and I won’t let her have much of a respite for long. You know that. This was a fluke. I’m an asshole. That’s not about to change. This was a one-time deal. She knows that. And I certainly know that.”

  I shooed Jennifer into the kitchen. Holy Christ! It was after 1:00 in the afternoon.

  “You’re not as big an asshole as you let on, William. I would have never left last night if you were the true sadist you claim to be. Don’t forget how well I know you. You don’t need to pretend with me. But I’ll admit, there is something different about her, and I just think you need to be careful. I have never seen you like this.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Jenn. She is prone to nightmares, that’s all. She had one last night and I went to her. She was screaming in her sleep,” I reasoned.

  “So, you will continue to use the crate for punishment?” she questioned. “With her?”

  I couldn’t lie. “Well, actually, no. I conceded never to use it again. She’s afraid of dark, confined places. Sounds like a bit of claustrophobia.”

  “Jesus, Will! Did you think you might want to gauge her threshold first? You’re going way too fast. I’ve never seen you like this. You need to slow down with her. Take into consideration that she was lured by you, not like your other PA’s who basically begged you to do this to them. Slow the fuck down, and think about what you’re doing. I’m really worried about you.”

  “She absolutely wants this.” I was starting to get angry. I didn’t need anyone worrying about me. “She knows exactly what this is. She knows my expectations and didn’t want to leave. We can have this conversation at the end of the three months. I’m going for a run,” I barked and headed to the door.

  “Well, get the fuck dressed then first.” I looked down at my completely naked body. We couldn’t help but start to laugh, alleviating some of the tension between us. When I snuck into my room to grab some clothes, there she lay, peacefully content, and that pang punched my stomach again as I let her alone. Jennifer was right; perhaps I needed to cut my losses.

  I found resolve: Starting tomorrow, I wouldn’t touch her. She would
simply be an actual personal assistant, and I would let her go at three months. I would start my search over again, enlisting Jennifer’s help this time. And god damn it if it didn’t make me feel…sad.

  Chapter Seven

  I tried to ignore Victoria when she came out of the home office with Jennifer the next morning bright and early. She was in a silk robe, and my cock noticed the outline of her breasts. I could see her hardened nipples and I wanted to suck them into my mouth and make her whimper.

  I had made sure not to see her again the day before. I didn’t know what I wanted. Jennifer had a stack of papers and was going over the agenda for the day, for the week, what Victoria could expect as my personal assistant. Our eyes met as Jennifer spoke rapidly to Victoria, throwing names of my clients at her, cases I was working on, projects I was a part of. I watched Victoria trying to digest all the information, as she smiled at me. I felt my lips upturn, even as I willed myself not to look in her direction.

  “It’s okay that you overslept today, but do not get used to it. Though you don’t need to go into Winston-Salem today with Mr. Thorne, there will be days when he expects it, and you need to be ready. Today, you will start in his home office, I will train you, and you will need to be on your own by the end of this week. You can get dressed later.”

  “Yes, of course Jennifer. I will. I am a quick learner.” Victoria pulled her robe tight around her, but her beautiful body was hard to contain. The rounded tops of her breasts snuck out and I had to turn away. I was realizing I had no control when I was near her, and I needed to get out of the house and into the car for the twenty-minute drive into town for a meeting.

  “Well, I hope so. Mr. Thorne is meticulous in his work. He will be all business during the work day, make no mistake about that. And he will expect you to be a keen worker, sharp at all times. Though the contract says three months, he will dismiss you earlier if you do not pull your weight. Do you understand?” Jennifer seemed angry with her. The poor girl. We all seemed angry with her. She was different, and it was putting us all at odds, uneasy and high-strung.

  “Yes. Absolutely,” I heard Victoria say with conviction, which caused Jennifer to sigh, an acknowledgement that she knew she was being short with Victoria for no reason. I snuck out of the house without a look back.

  * * * * * * * *

  When I arrived back at the house, it was already 8:00 pm. I had several meetings that went over schedule, some contentious, and I was exhausted and overwhelmed.

  I could smell that Jennifer had dinner waiting for me, and while I was starving, I couldn’t think of anything but Victoria. I wondered how her day went, if she survived, and what Jennifer thought of her. And before I could think any further, Victoria bounded out of the home office and offered to take my coat and briefcase, just like every other personal assistant had done before her.

  “How was your day?” she asked pleasantly as she hung my belongings in their proper spot. Her hair was in a low bun, pushed to the side, and she wore business attire of the utmost professionalism, a skirt that fell to her knees and a fitted jacket over a button-down blouse in muted colors. And still, she exuded raw sexuality. Jennifer had her in uncomfortable, five-inch pumps, which amused me, considering she never even left the house, but it antagonized my cock. I had vowed to stay away from her sexually. And there I stood wanting to rip the clothes off her body.

  She pushed the hair that hung in my face aside and smiled. “Sometimes when I look at how dark your hair is, I wonder if it will ever get that peppered, distinguished look when you’re older.”

  I said nothing, trying to ignore my rising attraction to her.

  She stared up at me, locking her gaze with mine, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her. It would be nothing to have my former personal assistants on their knees, sucking my cock the minute I walked through the door after work. But I brushed her aside, staying true to my promise to myself. She would work for me, I would get her back on her feet, and I would dismiss her in three months.

  “My day was fine, Victoria. How about you? Has Jennifer done well by you? Are you feeling as if this job is something you can do?”

  “It’s overwhelming, and I feel like I could read through your notes until midnight tonight, but by the end of the week, I should have the hang of it. Do I drive in with you for the meetings or do we go separately?” She was breathless. Excited. I could see the wheels turning in her mind, her intellect so attractive to me.

  “We will probably drive in together, and when the meetings are over, Ralph can take you back when I no longer need you.”

  I looked into her eager eyes. “If that is all, I will eat dinner and retire early. Thank you, Victoria.”

  She smiled but her god-damned eyes. She tried to mask the hurt behind them by looking away quickly and fiddling with her bun. “Goodnight then,” she whispered and turned.

  I entered the kitchen, and Jennifer was humming with her headphones on when she jumped, startled to see me.

  “Hey there. Hungry?” she asked.

  “Yes, thank you. How’d it go today? With Victoria?” I began to stuff my face with the eggplant parm and pasta Jennifer had made and loosened my tie to unbutton my shirt. She poured me a glass of Pinot Noir. “Damn, woman. This is good. Any chicken too?”

  “Slow down, champ. No. No chicken. Your new PA is a vegetarian. But you’d know that if you had vetted her out instead of letting your penis do all the thinking. And I thought you might want to eat with her tonight. Go get her. She’s been waiting for you.” Jennifer was a tiny thing, barely 5’3” tall, but her spunk made up for it in spades.

  I stopped mid-bite. “She hasn’t eaten yet? It’s after 8:00 pm. Since when do my PA’s wait to eat with me?”

  “Since you broke all your own fucking rules. Now go get her, so she can eat for god’s sake.”

  “No, Jennifer. When I’m done you can go get her if you want. I’m not eating with her. In fact, I’ve decided that I will honor her three-month contract but it will be on a purely platonic level. Then I am cutting her loose. I will need to find a new PA, and I can’t go without one, so can you start the new search ASAP? The right way? The way we’ve always done it?”

  Jennifer sank down at the island with me. Her face, always completely free of make-up, looked troubled. “I hate to admit it, but I think you are making the right choice. You are just not yourself with her. You could get sloppy. But it may be easier on her if you let her go now and still pay her. She has already really fallen for you.”

  “Fallen for me? Please. She doesn’t have a place to live. She needs to save her money, get back on her feet. I will just have to keep my distance. She is emotional that’s all.” I took a bite and swallowed. “How’d she do today?”

  Jennifer paused and rubbed her hands down her thighs and sighed. “Actually, she did great. Probably the smartest PA you’ve ever had. She was really blown away by your anti-smoking crusade. The courage it must take living here, going against such powerful people. Wanted to know all about it…”

  “And I’m sure you kept your mouth shut about all that…”

  “Of course. What choice do we have? But it only made her fall a little harder for you, regardless of the lies you want to keep telling yourself. I’m sure if she knew our whole, sordid story, she wouldn’t be so enthralled.”

  I couldn’t stand to talk about the past. “I’m done. Feel free to go get her.” And I picked up my plate and glass.

  “Leave it there. I’ve got it. You pay me well, my dear friend. Don’t lift a finger.”

  I went over to her. She withdrew her hands from the pockets of the worn overalls she was wearing and I hugged her, exhaling. She hugged me back tightly. The day was stressful. I knew that taking over the Pierce building would put a lot of people out of work, but I also knew I had to send a clear message to the tobacco industry. I had been buying and selling real estate, preparing for this very day most of my adult life, making enough money, getting rich, just so I could start in on what I had wa
nted to do for years: Put the tobacco slime out of business. Now that I had one of their largest buildings in my possession, figuring out what to do with it took up most of my days.

  “Hey. You okay?” Jennifer asked me, putting her hands against my cheeks the way my mother did before she cared only about the bottle.

  “Yeah,” I said, lying.

  “It doesn’t get any easier, believe me, I know. But we have each other. We can count on each other. Always. Never forget that.”

  I turned my face. I hated to open up and show my emotions, to let anyone see my fears, my insecurities…except Jennifer. She knew everything about me; I didn’t need to pretend with her, and I needed her. And though she had found love, she never questioned my decision regarding it. She never judged how I chose to live my life, to live without love, to fulfill my needs through unconventional ways. She never did, because she understood why. And that was the only thing keeping me from believing I wasn’t a complete monster.

  As I stood to walk out of the kitchen, there Victoria waited to walk in. She had an uncanny way of just appearing. Her hair lay loose down her back now, and I could see she had washed all traces of make-up from her face. Even like this, especially like this, she looked absolutely beautiful. Jennifer’s shopping spree for Victoria pissed me off.

  “Am I interrupting?” Victoria fidgeted uncomfortably, pulling the flimsy robe around her body in an attempt to hide what lay under it, a tiny nightie. “I thought I’d just grab a plate and eat upstairs if you don’t mind. I thought you’d be done by now.”

  “Oh, Victoria. Come on in. Eat in here. Mr. Thorne is on his way out,” Jennifer said guiltily, running both her hands through her short hair and walking to the sink.

  I couldn’t help but stare at Victoria. I tried not to. Her natural beauty beckoned me, and I touched her lips with my thumb. They were so plump, so appetizing. I wanted to take her to bed. Tie her up and have my way with her. I wanted to lick every inch of her body until she begged me to stop. I wanted her lips tightly wrapped around my throbbing cock until I spilled every last drop of cum down her throat.