by Rebel Rose
I allowed Emma Lia to sleep longer than two hours. I could say that I got caught up with calls for work and time got away from me, but that would be a lie. I went into her room a little after noon with the intention of waking her, but I couldn’t do it when I noticed how angelic she looked.
Dark hair splayed on the pillow beneath her head. Ivory skin against the white sheets. One of her rosy nipples peeking out from beneath the sheet covering her body. I just wanted to enjoy looking at her sleeping figure for a little while… just in case she happened to be the luckiest person in the world and pulled the right key on her first try.
One minute of standing over her turned into an hour of my sitting in the chair in the corner of the room watching her. And I’ve postponed her pulling a key for long enough.
I place my hand against her upper arm and glide it up and down her silky, smooth skin. “Bebelle.”
She stirs lightly, her baby blues peeking through narrow slits. And then those slightly parted lips widen, turning up on the outer edges, and a pair of dimples make an appearance. I can’t remember ever being the one to bring that kind of smile to a woman’s face. “Hey, you.”
Hey, you. I’ve also never had a submissive that would say anything so casual, even when I allowed her to be at ease. The conversations I’ve shared with them have been stiff and formal. But I find that I don’t mind the relaxed nature I have with Emma Lia outside of a scene, even when we’re in the bedroom.
“Do you feel rested?”
“I do.” She twists and stretches to see the clock. “And I should. It’s a quarter after one. Why didn’t you wake me already?”
“I hated to; you were sleeping so soundly.”
“Does sleeping soundly mean that I was snoring again?”
“Just a little heavy breathing.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
She pulls the sheet up to cover her exposed nipple when she notices my staring. “I need to shower if we’re going out.”
“You’ve already showered.”
“True, but I smell like sex now.”
“I happen to like the way you smell after I’ve fucked you.” The mixture of our body fluids is a divine scent.
“You like it when I smell funky?”
“You don’t smell funky. You smell well fucked, and I like it. I also take pleasure in knowing that you’re walking around with my cum still inside you. No shower.”
“You’re awfully bossy for a man who might not even be my Dom anymore after I pull that key.”
Now that just pisses me off. “I am your Dom.”
She shakes her head. “Not if I pull that key… which you owe me right now.”
I don’t allow people to hang shit over my head or to taunt me with anything, and I’m damn sure not going to let her.
I grab the sheet and yank it from her body. She’s still naked, and I would consider taking advantage of that again if she hadn’t just pissed me off so badly. “Get your ass up. Now.”
She looks at me with wide eyes and then rises to a sitting position, sliding to the edge of the bed. “Give me a second to grab my robe.”
I grip her wrist and lead her toward the door. “No robe, sweetheart. We’re getting this shit done and out of the way right now.”
She jerks her wrist free of my hold and stops in the hallway. “You owe me that key. Why are you acting like an asshole about it?”
“I’m not acting. I am an asshole.”
She follows me to my office and watches as I unlock the cabinet. I remove the box of keys and slam it on my desk. “Rules. You can feel of the keys for as long as you like, but you can’t look at them. Once you pull a key, it won’t go back into the draw box. Understood?”
“Understood.”
She reaches into the box and moves her fingers around, digging for longer than I like. Makes me get worked up when I see the concentration on her face; this woman is a cheat with magic fingers. I worry that she’s outsmarted me and come up with some kind of tactic for finding the right key. And that it will work.
Fuck, I realize in this moment just how unprepared I am to let this girl go.
What the hell is going on with the increased beat of my heart? And in the pit of my queasy stomach? And my damp palms?
She pulls a key and holds it up between us. “This is it. My freedom.”
“Only one way to find out.” I hold out the padlock. “Do you want the honors?”
“Sure do.” She smiles and takes the padlock from my hand.
The key’s shaft slides into the hole without a problem, and my heart jumps into my throat. Fuck, has she done it? Pulled the right key on her first try? It’s not possible.
Except it is. She has a one percent chance of getting it on the first try. One percent isn’t much, but it is a chance.
Her brow lifts. “Ready?”
“Go for it; I’m not worried.” Lie. I am mildly panicked.
“Okay. Here goes.”
She turns the key and nothing happens… with the exception of the smile disappearing from her face.
Thank fuck.
“Damn it,” she hisses.
It’s a dodged bullet. Another victory over this woman by fate’s hand. It has decided that she is mine for a while longer.
I hold out my hand, and she places the key on my palm. “I’m still your Dom. I’ve only begun to show you what that means.”
“What are you going to do?”
My eyes scan her naked body, and at least a dozen ideas come to mind. All of which will make her scream.
“Anything I want to do to you, bebelle.” I let her think about that for a moment before I finish. “But later. Right now, I want to take you out.”
She did a fine job of taunting me about the key, about earning her freedom, about leaving me. It doesn’t sit well. My little submissive must learn that I’m not one to be goaded.
I think Miss Grant needs to be introduced to the flogger soon.
3
Emma Lia Grant
“Would you care for some freshly squeezed lemonade, miss?”
I stop reading and place my book over my stomach, looking up at Ray through my dark sunglasses. “Does it have lots of vodka in it?”
“No, miss.” Ray chuckles. “I’m sure it would be tasty with some Grey Goose, but Mr. Broussard would be unhappy to come home and find you sloshed.”
“No. I don’t think he’d like that at all.” I certainly don’t want to provoke Mr. Broussard again. Not after the spanking he gave me last night for teasing him about the key and my leaving. My ass has just now stopped stinging. But that orgasm after the spanking… it was worth it. And I had earned another key by the time he was finished with me.
Two keys down. That’s two keys out of the way of pulling the right one.
“I would love some lemonade. Thank you, Ray.” It’s another scorcher today. I haven’t checked the temperature, but it’s an easy ninety.
Most people would be inside where it’s cool, but I love sitting in the garden behind the house. I find it peaceful. And the hot weather is fitting for my reading of The Thorn Birds. Makes me feel more drawn into the setting of the miserably hot Australian outback.
“Hey! Whore!”
Whore?
I stop reading and look in the direction of the female voice carrying from the back door. The former sub. Boy, has her attitude toward me changed since our last encounter.
“Hi, Claudia. How are you today?”
She looks like hell. “Fuck the niceties. I want to know what the hell you’re doing to Tristan.”
What I’m doing to him? The man is a Dom. You don’t do anything to him unless he commands it. “Is that a serious question?”
“I’m dead serious, whore. I want to know what you’re doing to him.”
“First of all, stop calling me whore. I’m not here by choice. And secondly, have you met Tristan Broussard the Dom? I don’t do anything to him that he doesn’t tell me to do.”
She crosses her arms and shakes her head. “I don’t b
elieve that for a second.”
“I honestly couldn’t care less what you believe.”
“Tristan is different with you. Softer. How are you making him be that way?”
She seems to know an awful lot about my relationship with Tristan. “How do you know that he’s different with me?”
She looks away, her eyes on the ground. “He told me that you kissed and that you made love.”
I don’t understand what Claudia wants from me. A confirmation? A denial?
She loves Tristan… and he’s fucking me. Why is she putting herself through the torment of asking me questions about us? There’s only one answer that I can think of: she is a true masochist who not only enjoys physical pain, but also emotional pain.
“I was Tristan’s sub for more than a year, and he never kissed me. We never made love. He couldn’t even fuck me face-to-face. I want to know how you made him do those things with you.”
I doubt it matters what I say. She isn’t going to accept that my relationship with him is different from hers. “I’m not his puppeteer. I didn’t make Tristan do anything. He wanted to kiss me. He wanted to make love to me face-to-face. He’s the one who wanted vanilla.”
Vanilla. Her face jerks upward to look at me when I say that word. “Tristan doesn’t do vanilla.”
“Tristan does do vanilla. And he does it very well.” I’ve never had better.
“He does it very well? What does that mean?”
“What do you think it means?”
“He made you come?” I hear the disbelief in her voice.
“So many times, I’ve lost count.”
“You’re lying; Tristan does not allow his submissive to come.”
I shrug and pick up my book from my lap to return to reading. I’m tired of this conversation, and frankly, what we did or didn’t do is none of her business. “Makes no difference to me if you believe me or not.”
“Don’t think for one second that Tristan will ever love you.”
I look up from my book. “I don’t give a fuck if Tristan Broussard ever loves me or not. I just want him to keep his end of our deal and give me what he promised.” So I can get the fuck out of here and go back to my life.
“What did he promise you?”
“That’s between us.”
“You’re going to fall in love with him. He’s going to crush your heart, and when he does, I’ll be there laughing my ass off.”
If I were a weak woman like Claudia, that might happen. But I know who I am and what I want. And it’s not Tristan Broussard. “He’s a selfish asshole. I could never fall in love with a man like him.”
“Let’s revisit this conversation in six months and see what you have to say then.”
Not gonna happen. “I don’t plan on being here in six months.”
“Good. Because I don’t plan on your being here in six months either. And just so you know, I am going to win him back.”
I’m about to tell her to fuck off when Ray comes out of the house, a phone other than mine in his hand. “Mr. Broussard has been trying to reach you, miss.”
Shit. I forgot my phone inside. He won’t be happy that I’ve missed his calls.
I take the phone from Ray. “I have a call to take, Claudia. I’d appreciate some privacy.”
“Don’t mind me.”
Tristan is going to chew my ass out. That’s not really something that I want Claudia to hear.
“Hello.”
“Where have you been?”
Shit. He’s mad. He’ll probably use this as a reason to spank my ass again. “Just outside. I’m in the garden reading.”
“You should have taken your phone with you.”
“You’re right. I should have. I’m sorry.” I already know that an apology isn’t going to save my ass if he wants to punish me.
“When I come home, I want you to be showered with your hair in a knot on top of your head. You know the way I mean. And your make-up… do it heavy with deep red lips.”
Deep red to match my butt cheeks? “What would you like me to wear?”
“Nothing. I want you to be naked when I come to your room.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Did I hear you say something to Claudia before you answered the phone?”
“Yes, Sir. Unfortunately.”
“Is she harassing you?”
“Painfully so.”
He mutters something under his breath that I can’t quite make out. “Tell me that you want me to eat your pussy when I get home. And make sure she hears.”
I look around to make sure Ray isn’t in sight. “I want you to eat my pussy when you get home.”
“Mmm,” he groans. “Now tell me that you’re going to come all over my face.”
I would almost rather die than say these things in front of anyone. Even Claudia. “I’m going to come all over your face.”
“Fuck you.” Claudia’s voice spews like venom through her clenched teeth.
I suspect for a moment that’s she’s going to attack me, but instead she spins around and stalks toward the house. A part of me is amused by her response after the way she just spoke to me, but another part of me feels sorry for her. She loves a man who will never love her back. A man who may not even be capable of loving a woman. A man who would be cruel enough to have me say hurtful things about what we’re going to do in bed together.
“She’s gone.”
“What did she say to you?”
“It began with her demanding to know how I was making you change.”
“And?”
I’m a little embarrassed to say the rest. “She told me that I was going to fall in love with you, and you’d crush my heart and blah, blah, blah. Just ridiculous shit like that.”
“No woman should ever fall in love with me.”
I laugh. “I don’t need to be convinced of that.”
“I’m glad you understand. I wish she had.”
“What time are you coming home?”
“I should be there around six.”
“I’ll be ready.”
“On your knees.”
“Yes, Tristan. On my knees.”
4
Tristan Broussard
Three. Two. One.
My thighs are burning and quivering when I bend my knees and lower the weights to a resting position on the seated leg press. The fuckers don’t need exercise after the workout they’ve been getting with Emma Lia since she accepted the terms of my deal.
I’m between reps when Easton appears by my side. “Sorry I’m late. I hope you didn’t get your panties in too much of a twist while you were waiting on me. I know how you are about that shit.”
Easton knows me well. “You lucked out this time, man. I was too busy thinking about my new submissive to notice that you were late.”
He lifts his foot from the floor and stretches his calf. “Where in the hell did you come up with that one?”
“The Biloxi casino. Blackjack table. She’s a professional gambler.” I don’t want Easton to know about our deal or that I’m blackmailing her into being my submissive, so I leave off the part about catching her cheating.
“How old is that girl? Or rather how young is she?”
“Twenty-two.”
“Fuck, I haven’t had a twenty-two-year-old in a long time.”
Easton demands excellence. With the exception of Claudia, he isn’t one to bother with amateurs and newbies. And learning takes time. You don’t find many twenty-two-year-old experienced submissives walking around the club.
“What is her name again?” he asks.
Mine. That’s her name. “Emma Lia.”
“Emma Lia. Fuuuck, she’s hot.” He smiles when he says her name, and I want to throat punch him. I’m so fucking obsessed with her that I despise even hearing her name on his lips. And I hate that she is the reason behind his smile.
“She doesn’t know anything about being a submissive, but I’m completely obsessed with her. I don’t know how to explai
n it.” The degree to which I want her isn’t reasonable.
“I admit that I had a difficult time fucking Claudia when there was a hotter woman in the room. I actually imagined that I was with your girl instead of Claudia the whole time.”
A bubble of fury inflates inside me. “You better be fucking with me.”
“I’m not, man. I couldn’t help myself.”
“I am not cool with that.” I don’t want any man thinking about Emma Lia. Especially Easton. And especially like that.
“Whoa, fucker. Why are you getting so pissed off?”
I turn away to adjust the weight on the leg press, avoiding his question.
“When do I get my turn with her?” he asks.
I grunt and blow air through my lips as I straighten my legs. “You don’t.”
“I’ve always shared with you.”
I slowly bend my knees. “And I’ve always shared with you, but this one… this one is different.”
“I’m well aware of how different she is. That’s why I want my turn with her.”
His turn with her? No. Fucking. Way. “I’ve already told you, E. I’m training her to become what I want for my needs. Only mine.”
He moves to the leg press beside me. “I can help you train this girl. Hell, think about how great she’d be if she had two Doms teaching her.”
The thought of Easton touching Emma Lia makes me want to throw him through the fucking wall. “She’s vanilla. I have to take things slow with her. Two Doms would freak her out for sure.” Not that I would even consider letting him come near her.
“What have you done with her so far?”
“Beginner stuff—fucking, oral, edging, spanking. Basic submission and obedience.” I choose to leave off the vanilla part.
“How was she?”
“This girl… she’s a natural, and she can’t be described. She’s something that must be experienced.”
“Which is exactly what I want.”
I shake my head. “Forget about it, E. I’m not budging on this one.” Not even for my best friend.
“You can be one selfish fucker sometimes.”
Won’t argue with that. “I’ve barely introduced Emma Lia to the lifestyle, and she’s already fully embracing it. She pleases me in ways that I can’t explain.” Hell, her existence alone pleases me. “And she has the tightest pussy that’s ever been wrapped around my cock. It’s fucking amazing.”