I ate that meal alone at the same oddly small table in the corner of the kitchen. I had no idea where everyone else was eating or what they had been served. I didn’t dare ask.
Dinner was much the same. At six o’clock, Master Roman ushered me to the kitchen where I once again ate alone. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots. Blessed water. I’m not fond of cooked carrots, but I dragged them through the mashed potatoes and ate every bite anyway. This was the first day in a long time when I’ve had three solid meals and didn’t end up with a grumbling stomach in the afternoon.
Evelyn was sometimes in the kitchen working at the counter while I ate. Sometimes she would leave for a few minutes and return. She made limited small talk, encouraging me to finish up and get back to the office. At least she smiled warmly.
The same could not be said of Nancy. I have yet to see her smile. Her face is usually permanently blank. I’m not sure if it’s her personality or genetics.
The third person who is also a fixture in the house is Weston. He is older than both the women, or at least appears so. He moves slower, and I have no idea what his job is except to man the front door in the event someone arrives. To my knowledge the only person who came or left today is me.
I hang tomorrow’s clothes up in the bathroom, set my alarm, and slide into my bed. I’m both tired and wired at the same time. Thoughts of the day are not going to make it easy to sleep.
In fact, when I close my eyes, I instantly picture myself on my knees again. What is it with that visual? It’s disturbing that I can’t shake it. I’m also still aroused, and this renewed imagining gets my pulse beating faster and draws my attention to my sex.
Perhaps tonight is the night I could stroke my clit until I finally experience an orgasm. More than likely I will again be left frustrated and sore, losing sleep to visions of kneeling before the formidable Master Roman. I still won’t be able to reach that elusive place.
Sighing, I roll onto my side, curl up in a ball, and take several deep breaths. Luckily, that’s the last thing I remember. Blessed sleep takes over.
Chapter 15
Master Roman
I’m alone in my home gym, silently working out harder than usual. Pushing my body to its limits. Fighting off images of Lucy. Unsuccessfully.
The day was long. I pushed her hard.
She exceeded my expectations.
I shouldn’t have kept her as late as I did. I took a risk. If I push her too hard, she might quit, and that’s the last thing I want. On the flip side, I also don’t like her going back to her own apartment at the end of the day either. I hated knowing she would walk to a bus stop and then travel for over half an hour before walking again to get to her apartment. It’s not in the safest neighborhood.
I jump on the treadmill and start jogging, trying to burn off my frustration. Lucy has been living in that apartment for two years without incident. I have to trust that nothing will happen to her between now and the day I convince her to move in with me.
That day can’t come soon enough. In fact, preparations are already under way. Nancy has made all the arrangements. Before the end of the week, a bedroom will be ready for Lucy. I have my doubts that Lucy will be ready to use it yet, but I want to be prepared.
She is skittish, nervous around me, but also intrigued. There is no doubt she knows she is submissive or else she wouldn’t have come to my club for five nights to watch. Memories of watching her fidget as she stood mesmerized by every sort of apparatus in Surrender make my cock stiff even as I jog.
I adjust my dick and pick up the pace, desperate to chase the images away. I’m growing more possessive of her in my mind. I can’t picture myself bringing her to Surrender or any other club. I want her all to myself.
She’s a loner, but I can’t know for sure if that’s by accident or design. I’ve pegged her as introverted. She’s quiet and reserved and spends a great deal of time chewing on her lower lip while hiding in the shadows.
A noise behind me has me jerking my gaze around to find Claudia strolling into my gym. She’s smirking. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. Weston let me in.”
I turn off the treadmill and hop down, grabbing a towel to swipe across my face. “What’s up?”
She wanders around my gym, dragging her fingers over several pieces of equipment. Even though it’s late in the evening, her blond bob is still perfect, as is her makeup. In twenty years I’ve rarely seen her not completely put together. She is still wearing a tailored skirt and matching suit jacket in gray. Her blouse is a pale yellow and looks fresh as if she’s just gotten dressed. I know she hasn’t.
I wait for her to speak her mind.
She finally stops, leaning her ass against a piece of equipment. “Julius told me you hired Lucy. How’s it going?”
I smirk. “Today was her first day. It went fine. If you’ve come here to lecture me—”
She holds up a hand. “Of course not. What good would it do me anyway? I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing and that you’re following all the rules you expect every member of your club to follow.” She lifts a brow.
I cock my head to one side. I’m sure Julius has informed Claudia about my nefarious methods, but the truth is Julius doesn’t realize how far I went to accomplish my goals. Yes, he arranged a PI and is well aware I made sure Lucy applied for a job with me, but that’s all he knows. Which means, that’s all Claudia knows. “If you’re asking me if I intend to get consent every step of the way, don’t insult me. You know me better than that.”
“Do I?”
“Claudia…” I warn. She may be a Domme, but she’s not my Domme.
“You’ve taken over her life, Roman.”
I nod. “Yep. And it’s a good thing too. Her previous job sucked. They were taking advantage of her. She wasn’t making enough money to afford the absolutely shitty apartment she rents. She’s skinny. It’s obvious she hasn’t eaten a proper meal in years.”
“And that gave you the right to interfere? What if she loved that job?”
I groan and drop down onto a bench. “Get off my back. I’ll take care of her, and you know it. If I’m wrong about her—and God help me I can already assure you I’m not—I’ll let her go. I’ll give her an amazing severance package and help her find another job. Happy?”
She doesn’t smile. “Don’t be an ass. I know you well. You’ve never done anything like this before. I’m worried about you.”
I throw out my arms. “Maybe the reason I’ve never taken a fulltime sub is because I’ve never found the right girl.”
She narrows her gaze. “How old is she?”
I shoot daggers at her with my eyes. “Don’t go there, Claudia. Ageism doesn’t become you. She’s legal.”
She rolls her eyes. “You know I’m the last person who would judge someone by their age. I’ve been with people twenty years older than me and twenty years younger. But none that I intended to keep around.”
“You never intend to keep anyone around,” I point out.
She laughs. “Good point. Just…please, be careful and take things slow. I know you’re an amazing Dom, but don’t let your personal attraction cloud your judgment. You’ll hurt her if you push her too hard.”
I know Claudia means well, and she’s right, but she doesn’t know Lucy the way I already do. And I will heed her advice. “You have my word.”
Claudia heads for the doorway. “Invite me over to meet her officially soon. If she’s going to be part of your life, I want to get to know her.”
“I will. As soon as she’s more settled.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” She turns to smile at me and then leaves the room. I can barely hear her footfalls as she walks away.
After a few minutes, I exit my home gym and take the stairs from the basement to the second floor two at a time. I lock myself in the master bedroom and beeline for the shower, stripping along the way.
I toe off my shoes and drop my clothes in the hamper before entering the shower. Ther
e is no door. When I renovated the master bath a few years ago, I had a walk-in shower and a large jetted tub installed. I’ve never used the tub, but as I stare at it now, I picture Lucy lying in it someday.
That’s absurd, of course. Lucy won’t be entering my bedroom. The set of rooms I’m preparing for her is in another wing of the second floor. She will reach it from a back set of stairs. She won’t have permission to wander freely in my home.
If I’m right about her—and I’m growing more certain by the hour—she will thrive on the structure. She will be happier than she’s ever been when she finally submits to me fully and permits me to train her to be the best version of herself.
Claudia has valid points. I understand and appreciate her concern. But this feels right. In my bones. It has from the moment I saw Lucy, and so far, nothing has changed my mind. Everything has solidified my opinion.
I’m beginning to suspect she is a middle, not a really young child but someone closer to puberty. I still can’t know for sure what age suits her, but that’s not important. I’ll explore several with her. There is no rush. If needed, she can spend weeks at a time living in different age brackets until I determine what age is most appropriate for her.
As I stand under the flow of hot water, letting it sluice down my head, I close my eyes. I’ve spent the majority of my adult life looking for the perfect submissive. I’ve known I wanted a little for almost as long as Lucy has been alive. She’s young. Is she too young? I don’t think so.
A twenty-two-year-old woman can know her mind and what she wants out of life. Far better than I probably did at that age.
My dick is so hard there is no avoiding the need to jerk off. I sigh as I finally permit myself to wrap my palm around the length and drag it slowly up and down my shaft. I tip my head back, eyes closed, and pretend Lucy is on her knees in front of me, that it is her fingers on my cock, and that she is about to lick the tip.
I flatten my other palm on the tile wall to steady myself as I grip my dick harder and jerk faster. It doesn’t take long for me to come, long jets of my semen squirting into the spray of water. I’ve done this every night for a month now. Thirty-three nights to be precise.
I also haven’t been with another woman in that time. At first, I tried to shake her image. I attempted to scene with a few of the women I normally play with. I couldn’t get into it. It wasn’t fair to them. My mind wandered. I haven’t dominated another woman since that first weekend.
I’m pretty particular and discreet with my dominance. Even though I own the club, I don’t scene when it’s open. I have regular submissives I trust who meet me before the club opens, usually on Saturday nights, to scene. I find I’m more relaxed during opening hours if I’ve already gotten my own need to Dominate out of my system. Plus, I prefer to monitor my club and be fully involved in my job when I’m there.
When I’m not at Surrender during business hours, Julius handles everything. In the past year, I’ve turned more and more responsibility over to him. Often I have only come to the building one or two nights a week and only for a few hours. But since first spotting Lucy five Fridays ago, I have been in the club every open hour. I wasn’t willing to take the risk that she might show up when I wasn’t there. I wanted to watch her every move for the entirety of her six visits.
Instinct told me she might stop coming at any time. She might find herself overwhelmed or even spread out her six visits.
Those days are over. I’m lucky enough to have arranged for her to be under my roof now almost fifty percent of the time. It’s not enough, but it will have to do for now.
I shiver. The water has grown cold. I quickly rinse my body and turn off the dial. I need sleep. I need to be on my game again tomorrow. I need to ensure Lucy is properly groomed to be mine. Every decision I make with regard to her training makes a difference.
I will not fuck this up.
Chapter 16
Lucy
I’m early. It’s my second day of work, and I’m ridiculously punctual. I’m early because I woke up after only a few hours, unable to go back to sleep. After flopping around from side to side in my bed for over an hour, I finally gave up and got in the shower.
The bus makes me nervous. Since I was dressed and ready to go earlier than necessary, I left my apartment and made my way to the bus stop. I’m going to stress about the bus every day, so I tell myself this way is better. If I get on the earlier bus each morning, I won’t have to worry about it being late or not coming at all.
This plan has a problem though. It’s dark outside. And probably not safe. In fact, a man drives by me slowly at one point, his window down, calling out to me. He laughs when I ignore him and pick up my pace.
There is no reason for me to wait for the bus I took yesterday, and as soon as I board an earlier one, I know I will prefer it. There are far fewer passengers. I don’t have to share my bench with a stranger.
I’m not nervous when I arrive at my stop. Even though it’s still dark, I’m in a better neighborhood. I walk as slowly as I can toward Master Roman’s home.
Nevertheless, I arrive at the ridiculous hour of six fifteen. I wait until six thirty to ring the bell, and am immediately buzzed in.
When I reach the rear entrance, Evelyn opens the door before I can reach for it. “Goodness gracious, girl. The sun is just peeking over the horizon. You don’t need to arrive this early every day.” She ushers me inside, and I close the door behind me.
“I couldn’t sleep, ma’am, and the bus makes me nervous. I don’t want to arrive late.” I have no idea why I’ve shared so much information with Evelyn, but she doesn’t seem annoyed.
She shoots me a smile as she returns to the kitchen island where she is already hard at work herself. I wonder if she lives here. Probably.
“Master Roman won’t like the idea of you wandering around outside in the dark. He’ll have a fit.”
I freeze in my spot. My face heats up as a flush rises. The last thing I want is for Master Roman to get involved in my transportation issues. I don’t want him to think for a moment that it’s a problem. I need this job. If he feels I don’t have adequate transportation, he might fire me.
I consider asking Evelyn to please not mention my problem to Master Roman but decide against it. It’s probably better to hope she lets it go or forgets. Tomorrow I’ll waste more time before I come into the house. After all, Master Roman’s mansion is not in a dangerous location. I could bring a book and sit outside the gate reading in the mornings before seven. I’m confident the streetlight will be sufficient to see the pages.
Of course this plan will only work during the summer. As soon as winter falls, I’m going to have an entirely new problem on my hands. But I’ll deal with that in the future. Hell, if I really manage to keep this job and make as much money as my contract implies, I will be able to take an Uber here instead of the bus. That will save me hours of stress and worry.
Taking a deep breath, I quietly shuffle down the hallway and enter Master Roman’s office. Like yesterday, the door is open.
Master Roman is standing behind his desk, looking for all the world as if he’s already been hard at work for hours. His brow is furrowed when he meets my gaze. “Did you take the bus to get here, Lucy?”
I swallow. How has he already learned of my situation? There is no way Evelyn could have informed him of my problem during my short walk from her kitchen to his office. “Yes, Sir. I don’t have a car.”
He crosses his arms and stares at me, lips pursed before he finally parts them again. “Don’t do it again. It’s not safe. It’s dark. You must have left practically in the middle of the night, and then you spent fifteen minutes pacing outside my gate before ringing in.”
I flinch. I lift my hand and nearly slap my own forehead as I realize there must be a camera outside. Of course there is. I stop myself from reacting just in time and lower my hand to my side.
Master Roman rounds the desk and then leans his butt against the front, arms still crossed. �
��Weston monitors my camera.”
“I see, Sir. I’m sorry to have bothered him. I didn’t want to come inside too early.” My voice is too low. I know I’m frustrating him. But he doesn’t realize his order to stop taking the bus would mean total disaster for me. I don’t have the means to afford other transportation, especially not until after I’m paid.
I knew this would be a problem as soon as it got cold or snowed, but I hadn’t anticipated facing the issue so soon. I can’t pay an Uber tomorrow. I don’t have even five dollars in cash until I get paid.
My hands are shaking, and I’m fighting against the flush and rising emotions. Part of me is about to cry. The last thing I want to do is tell my new boss that I can’t afford an Uber. He might think I’m wasteful if I don’t have enough money saved up for such things.
Master Roman narrows his gaze. “From now on Weston will pick you up in the morning and bring you home at night.”
My mouth falls open. I’m speechless.
Master Roman rounds his desk and lowers onto the seat.
I force myself to speak. “That’s not necessary, Sir. I don’t want to put him out.”
“You’re not. He’s my employee. He does what I instruct him to do.” Master Roman doesn’t look at me as he speaks. He has already grabbed his mouse. His attention is on his computer screen. “This discussion is over, Lucy. Go to your office. I left you plenty to do.”
I stare at him for a moment, uncertain about how I feel. Part of me is grateful. Most of me is unnerved. I need this job. If Master Roman decides the burden of getting me to his home isn’t worth it, he will fire me.
Finally, I shuffle across the room toward my office. The door is standing open. I leave it that way. Master Roman has never insinuated that I should close it. In fact, I’m confident he prefers to be able to keep an eye on me, and he likes to be able to call out to me easily.
Raising Lucy: Surrender, Book One Page 8