Micah and Isla exchanged glances and shrugged. Micah clapped his hand on Ever’s shoulder. “If that’s what you want, then I’ll make it happen.”
Chapter Nine
Present day
Ever spooned one more dollop of his creamy Greek yogurt over the bowl of fresh fruit. Mina would be down any moment now. He’d awakened her half an hour earlier by pushing her legs apart and satisfying the needs of his morning erection. She’d climaxed, though her pleasure hadn’t been his goal.
He was a tad nervous, because as he’d shouted his release when he’d taken her in the middle of the night, he’d heard her softly spoken declaration of love. It should have warmed his heart, sent him soaring as it had the first time she’d told him that she loved him. But it didn’t. Instead he was apprehensive. Part of him didn’t believe she knew the difference between feelings of love and the euphoria of sexual release.
The fact that she was here, and that she’d agreed to the majority of his terms, was a testament to her good intentions. Still, he’d been burned by her once, and he was finding it difficult to trust her again.
He carried both bowls to the sunny breakfast nook nestled in a curved bank of windows on the far side of the kitchen. It was a modification Mina had suggested, a dreamy gleam in her eyes as she envisioned them sharing the first meal of the day. Since the house had been completed, he’d taken most of his meals there, fighting the thoughts of what could have been that assailed him.
She came through the kitchen, her bare feet treading silently along the patterned tile. He’d originally planned for hardwood, but she’d wanted tile. The February weather was cold, and he’d turned on the heated floor so that his naked slave wouldn’t get cold. He spread a soft towel over the cushion on her chair. “Sit. Eat breakfast.”
Hot coffee steamed next to the bowl of fruit. She inhaled deeply, and a satisfied smile settled on her lips. “Thank you, Master. You make the best coffee.”
He waited until she was halfway through her meal before he asked a necessary question. “Tell me about last night. What worked for you, and what didn’t?”
She froze, staring at the contents of her bowl. “I…I…I’m not sure.”
Processing her first night as a submissive in one chunk might be overwhelming. Ever decided to help her. “We established that you have trouble masturbating. Was that your first time, or your first time with an audience?”
“My first time with somebody watching.” She nearly whispered her response. Ruddy undertones rose to the surface of her cheeks and neck. It was sexy as hell.
“How did you feel about that?”
Though the blush stayed, it didn’t spread. She stabbed at her fruit as she considered his question. Finally, she nodded. “It was hot. I think what I liked best was seeing your face, knowing that you were enjoying what I was doing. When you tied me up and wrapped me in plastic wrap, I think half of what got me off was watching you. I loved it when you came on me. I’ve had that fantasy for a long time now.”
Her admission surprised Ever with what it revealed about her true need for submission. “Good,” he said. “Because it will happen again.”
She shifted in her seat, squeezing her legs together. It seemed talk of it turned her on.
“Spread your legs, slave. If I happen to drop my napkin, I want an eyeful when I reach down to pick it up.” He grinned as he gave the order, loving the way her blush deepened.
“Yes, Master.”
He heard the telltale slide of her flesh over the fluffy towel. “Good girl. Now, let’s discuss your punishments.”
She started. Though she sat across the table from him, it was a small affair. He lifted his foot and put it on the edge of the chair between her legs, knowing that the touchy subject would drive her to instinctively draw her legs together. They hit his foot and moved apart.
“Sorry, Master.” She lowered her gaze demurely, waiting for him to accept.
“You were afraid of the spanking, yet you agreed to it. Even…before you left…the mention of it made the blood drain from your face. Why?”
She put her fork down and pushed her food away. The intense sorrow in her expression clutched at his heart. “My father used to beat my mother. Nobody knew about it, and I trust you to not tell anybody. She stayed with him until I went to college because she couldn’t take the chance that I’d be alone with him. He didn’t touch me, not even for a hug or anything, but she thought if she wasn’t there to be his punching bag, then he’d take it out on me.”
Ever felt sick. He dropped his fork into his bowl and reached across the table. She hesitated for a few seconds before giving her hand. “I’m so sorry, Mina. I never knew.”
“Well, I never told you. I’ve never told anyone.”
He felt the weight of her shame and fear. He wished she’d told him this all those years ago. Perhaps the wounds had been too fresh, too raw for her to confront. It explained so many things. “Thank you for telling me.”
She nodded, a tiny movement that betrayed her fear.
“That explains why you’ve forbidden impact play, but it doesn’t explain why you agreed to spanking as a punishment. It doesn’t have to be a punishment, honey. It can actually be quite pleasurable. And as you learned last night, there are other ways to punish your transgressions.”
The fear morphed to bafflement. “I don’t see how spanking can ever feel good, and I know there are other ways to punish me. I still have nightmares about the time you tied me to a chair and wouldn’t let me come. I thought that a spanking would be quick and easy, and I was right about it being quick. I think it’ll get easier as I get used to it. And if that whole forcing-me-to-orgasm thing was a punishment, it was very ineffective. I’d sign up for that ride again and again.”
Ever struggled to keep a tight rein on the gamut of emotions her analysis produced. He noted that forced orgasming wasn’t a punishment, which worked fine for him. The gift his mother had purchased, a forced orgasm tower, had arrived the day before. He planned to use it.
But the part about her having nightmares… He’d considered that a light punishment. He hadn’t even denied her a few hours later when he’d taken her to bed. He blinked. “Nightmares? Why?”
She removed her hand from his grip and looked away. “Too much, too soon.”
He’d known that punishing her had been a mistake, but he’d never realized the extent of the damage he’d done.
“I know I said I wouldn’t push, but this is important. Nothing we do together should give you nightmares.” He wanted to reach for her hand again, but he also didn’t want to overwhelm her.
Vulnerable and lost, she stared at her breakfast. “I didn’t understand how you could do something like that to someone you professed to love. Finding out the way I did only made it worse.”
Ever chewed his lower lip, uncertain whether he should follow through with his plans for the weekend. “Mina, why are you really here? What do you hope to gain from this weekend?”
“Gain?” She echoed his word with a frown. “I’m not sure. I only know that I wanted to see if things could have worked out between us.”
He picked at his napkin, unraveling the stitching bit by bit. He had wondered the same thing himself. The years spent without her hadn’t been bad, but they hadn’t been great either. He’d dated, had relationships, but he’d never met anyone with whom he felt a connection that came close to the one he felt with Mina.
Carefully, he put a feeler out there. “Your wish expires tomorrow. Do you really think two days is enough time to know definitively whether or not it would have worked out?”
Her brow wrinkled as she considered his question. “I don’t know. How different is this from the way things would be if I’d moved in with you?”
Ever shook his head. There was no way of knowing that for sure. “We would have negotiated terms, worked out the kinks. I’ve never lived with a submissive before. I didn’t quite know what to expect.”
He still didn’t, but he wasn’t
going to reveal that to her.
“Would you keep me naked all the time?”
“Hell yes.” He grinned to soften that blow. “Unless there was something specific I wanted you to wear or you negotiated terms for being dressed. I’d let you wear clothes when we had company, though you’d probably end up naked at a play party.”
It was her turn to blink. “Play party? Like one of those parties where the Doms all play with each other’s subs?”
“It depends on the limits each master, mistress, and submissive sets. For example, at tonight’s party, I won’t let anybody have sex with you. That’s your limit and mine. I will, however, let some of them touch you. In those instances, it will be at my direction, and you will treat those hands as extensions of mine.”
The color drained from her face. No doubt she was imagining who he’d invite to a play party. She was familiar with most of his friends already, though she would meet a few more tonight.
She attempted to speak, but nothing came out. He let her gather her wits, watching as she swallowed several times and strived to control her breathing.
“And so that means you would touch other subs?”
That wasn’t the question he’d expected. If she’d objected to being touched by other people, he would have negotiated the details of that limit. However, she’d seemed to accept his terms, showing concern only that he would pay attention to other subs.
“Yes. Sometimes I help out with other people’s scenes.”
She sat silently, staring out the window. The vista before them was magnificent. The barren trees were draped with snow. In the window behind him, the mountain dropped away to reveal the green-and-white valley below.
“Mina? Does that bother you?”
The question seemed to bring her back to the present. “I don’t know. It depends on whether you’re throwing it in my face or…” She scrunched her brows together, and her eyes moved with the speed of her thoughts.
“Or?” he prompted.
She swallowed. “Is it wrong for me to want to be bound or kneeling by your side, not part of the scene, but not excluded?”
“Not at all. I encourage you to voice your wants and needs to me. Being a submissive doesn’t mean you exist to serve me. As a Dom, I have an intrinsic desire to see to your needs.”
Her breath caught. “You’ve said that before.”
“Yes, and I meant it. Think back, Mina. Was there one time I didn’t make every attempt to see to your needs? Even when you refused to confide in me, I tried my damnedest to make sure you were fulfilled and that you were happy.”
She shook her head, agreeing with him, though he knew he’d failed her in the end. There was more she wasn’t telling him, but it would come out in time. He couldn’t force her to reveal everything until she was ready. Patience had never been his strong suit, but if he wanted a future with Mina, he had to dig deep.
He stood. “Put away the dishes, and tidy up the kitchen. When you’re finished, go into the great room and kneel on the cushion in front of the fireplace.”
* * * *
Sounds traveled up the large, curved staircase leading down to the lower level. Mina knelt on the oversize throw pillow he’d left for her in front of the massive stone fireplace and listened, trying to discern what he might be doing down there.
She rested her bottom on her heels, keeping her back straight, knees wide, and arms clasped behind her back. She wasn’t sure where she was supposed to face, but the stairs let out in the hallway near the kitchen, so she wouldn’t be able to see him when he came up anyway.
She wasn’t upset that he’d made her clean up the breakfast mess. He’d cooked the meal, and she’d cleaned up his kitchen before. She was a little on edge about the idea of a play party, and of other men being allowed to touch her. The old Everett would never have allowed anybody that liberty. She wondered how friendly he would get with the other submissives at the party. Though she’d put on a good face earlier, the idea didn’t sit too well with her.
Nearly twenty minutes had passed before she heard the quiet sounds of him coming up the stairs. He breezed into the room with a bundle in his arms. It was a cloth, which he unrolled onto an accent table next to an upholstered chair. He draped a towel over the seat and motioned her closer.
“Come sit. Keep your legs apart.”
She sank into the plush upholstery, noting how much easier it was on her delicate bottom than her heels. At the last moment, she spread her knees until they were stopped by the arms of the chair. It was comfortable, but it seemed so unladylike.
Ever sat across from her on the sofa. He wedged himself in the corner and rested his arms along the back and side, easily dominating the space. “Attending a play party requires trust and negotiation. That wasn’t in our original agreement. If you have an issue with it, now is the time to speak up.”
She didn’t want to voice her misgivings, but he’d asked. “I don’t really know what happens at a play party. You said you wouldn’t let anybody have sex with me, but you would let them touch me. I’d like to know who and how. Also, will I be naked?”
His gaze traveled slowly over her body. “No. I’ll dress you appropriately, though you won’t be wearing much. For tonight, you’ll wear my collar, and that signifies that anybody who wants to talk to you must have my permission. You should remain by my side with your eyes demurely lowered. If somebody speaks to you, you must look to me for permission to speak.”
On the plus side, she didn’t have to make small talk with anybody. On the negative side, he hadn’t addressed her main concern. “I’m not sure how I feel about having other people touch me, even with your permission and supervision.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “That’s where this whole idea of trust comes in. If you’re ever going to submit to me, then you need to trust me completely, in all ways.”
The fact that she was here with him showed a hell of a lot of trust. “I trust you. I don’t trust anybody else.” She knew she could call that as a hard limit, but it wasn’t a hard limit. It was a soft limit. An exceedingly soft limit.
“You’re not required to trust anyone else. I’m responsible for you. That should be enough.” His expression remained neutral, which she found surprising. Normally he was pretty reactive. She thought he’d at least scowl at her argument.
She had to press the issue. “So you’d let another Dom touch my pussy?”
“Perhaps. I might let a sub touch your pussy.”
The idea of a woman’s hands there made Mina shiver, but she wasn’t sure whether it appealed to her. “Would you let them finger me?”
He shrugged. “It depends on whether I think you can take it.”
“Isn’t that the opposite of possessive?” This revelation didn’t fit with her picture of him.
“You still couldn’t come without my permission. I own your orgasms. I control your pleasure. That hasn’t changed.” He lifted the corner of his mouth in a crooked smile. “I can see that you’re very interested in this idea.”
She shifted, and then she shifted back when she realized she’d altered the position he’d ordered her to assume. “I wouldn’t like to see you finger another submissive.”
He laughed, and she didn’t see what was so amusing. When his humor died down, he nodded. “Do you have an objection to me holding the vibrator while her master flogs her?”
Mina scowled. “I’m not sure.”
“Then it’s something to think about.” He wiggled his knee, showing a bit of impatience. That was the man she knew, always on the go. “Play with your pussy.”
He’d warned her about this the night before, that he would expect her to masturbate by herself.
She wet the tip of her finger in her mouth and put it on her clit. Looking at Ever, she saw that she had his complete attention, and the swell in his jeans was growing. So she lifted one leg and slung it over the arm of the chair and pushed her hips forward to give him a better view of her pussy.
He grinned in approval. “
That’s it. Make it good for your master, and you might earn a reward.”
She wasn’t sure what constituted a reward, but she’d always been motivated by positive reinforcement. Tracing her finger around her clit, she tempted him with slow circles. The friction and his expression acted in concert to heat her passion. She rubbed and played, taking the time to get to know her pussy the way she’d discovered exactly how he liked his cock sucked.
Soon she was breathing hard. In the back of her mind, she knew he wasn’t going to let her get off easily. He wanted a show, so she moved away from her clit and slipped two fingers inside her body. She’d never done this before. It felt different from when he did it. The pressure of her fingers was less confident and firm. Though it generated an enjoyable sensation, she felt a little cheated. She preferred him.
“I want to watch you come.” He gestured to the table next to her chair. “Use one of those.”
She turned her head to peruse the selection arrayed on the cloth. Though she’d seen many of the toys in sex shops, she had no idea what some of them were. Vibrators, she understood. Ditto for clitoral stimulators. But she didn't know what to do with the ones that had extra arms and projections. Was she supposed to ride with a buddy?
Gingerly, she selected a vibrator that looked a lot like the one she had at home. Simple and powerful. She played it over her clit and around her labia before slipping it into her pussy. Closing her eyes, she gave herself over to the wonderful sensations. When she masturbated at home, she often imagined him watching her. There was no sweeter bliss than to have this fantasy come true.
“Open your eyes, honey. Look at me.”
In her fantasies, he never interrupted with commands. He told her she was beautiful and sexy, but that was all. The order came as a bit of a shock, distracting her from her impending climax, but she welcomed the warm vibrancy of his voice.
She opened her eyes. He pinned her in place with the force of his gaze. She understood that she wasn’t masturbating. Her hands and the vibrator were a proxy for his hands and his cock. He wasn’t just watching; he was fucking her. That knowledge excited her even more.
Safe Word: Oasis 5: Mina's Heart Page 17