by Anya Summers
Ignoring the fear and embarrassment at having to disrobe before her boss, Jenna undressed. She just prayed he didn’t want sex from her. If there was one thing she never mixed, it was who she slept with and her work. It was too important that she be able to earn a living. No man, no Dom was worth losing a job over. From what she’d heard about Jared, he didn’t sleep with the help, but she’d had bosses before attempt to use sex as a weapon.
Jenna folded her waitress uniform up and stacked it on the nearby leather chair. Then she slid the cuffs on around her wrists, fastening the buckles. She wasn’t a prude by any means, but still she was uncomfortable. Jared rose from his seat and approached, looking every inch a Dom in his leather pants and shit-kicker boots. Her breath caught in her throat when she spied what he was holding. In his large palms was a black leather collar with silver chains attached to it.
“Bend your head forward,” he ordered, his face a stern mask. Unwilling to spark his anger and chance risking her job, Jenna did as he asked. He affixed the collar around her throat. For her, it was akin to wearing a scarlet letter. Wearing a collar just for punishment, from someone who wasn’t her own Dom or Master, added to the humiliation—and besides, she preferred cuffs as a symbol of ownership.
Then Jared connected her wrist cuffs to a short length of chain that imprisoned her hands together before her. He slid a black leather flogger into his back pocket, then, with his hand around the second length of chain that acted much in the same manner as a dog leash, led her out of his office.
On the elevator, he gave her further instructions. “Once we are in the club, you are not to speak unless it is to use your safeword. Remind me again what it is?”
“Red, Sir.”
“Good. Easy to remember. Deep breaths, lass, this part will be over shortly,” he murmured, chucking her chin gently with his free hand.
This part? What did he mean by this part? Before she could ask him, the elevator doors slid open with a quiet ding onto the club level. All other thoughts fled as Jenna ignored the interested stares of club goers and focused all her energy on Jared’s back. He stalked ahead of her, his long legs eating up the distance to the raised dais in the center of the club, and she had to hurry to keep up with him. In the center of the stage was a leather padded sawhorse. Shame inflamed her cheeks at needing to be disciplined before the whole club.
She kept her lips tightly closed as Jared attached her wrists to the sawhorse. Jenna was bent forward, the horse turned into a stockade. The way he positioned her body, her naked rump was presented to everyone in the club. Then he spread her legs apart and fastened Velcro cuffs around her ankles. So now every club attendee had a direct view of her pussy.
Lovely. Her day just kept on getting worse by the minute.
Anticipation tingled along her spine as Jared moved around behind her. An unmistakable figure emerged from the shadows. His hard gaze was trained on hers with a satisfied gleam in their dark depths. She didn’t bat an eye or lower her gaze but stared at Carter head on.
“Jenna, I’m going to begin. If it gets to be too much, use your safeword, lass,” Jared ordered quietly in her ear.
She nodded. The flogger cracked against her bum. The leather straps snapped and cracked against her skin. Jenna cried out at the unexpected force of the blow.
Then Jared swatted her three more times in rapid succession. Jenna’s gaze was unwavering as she glared defiantly at Carter. With every stroke, her blood heated. The air whooshed from her lungs. Her cry was a garbled, high-pitched moan. The more blows Jared struck against her ass cheeks, the louder her wails became. They were a mixture of pronounced pleasure and pain.
And through it all, she stared at Carter. Not cowing or bowing to his dominant air, but daring him, defying him with every harsh lash against her ass. She’d earned this discipline, yet she would never yield to the likes of a Dom like Carter, who apparently thought the world should bend to his will. It was there in his bearing as he glowered at her.
Except her body was enjoying their wordless glaring contest. A little too much. Jenna imagined it was Carter issuing her discipline. His rather large hands holding the flogger and raining brutal swats to her behind and making it burn. Flames licked at her core and sparked her arousal.
Through the pain, she held on, not willing to give Carter an inch as he viewed her discipline. The rest of the patrons hardly existed. For Jenna, the only ones present were her and Carter. It infuriated her that this man had such a hold on her.
The flogging reached a crescendo. The fever pitch of Jared’s whacks to her bum made her eyes water, and heaven help her but her body overrode her unwillingness to show weakness before the enemy.
She came. Hard.
Jenna screamed. “Ahhh.”
Her body shook from the sheer force of her climax. She strained against her bonds as tremors racked her frame. But she never, for one second, took her eyes off Carter. The man didn’t blink, his face unreadable. His jaw was clenched, his mouth a firm, unyielding line.
Then Jared put a warm blanket around her shoulders as he gently began undoing her restraints. Once her body was free from the sawhorse, Jared more firmly wrapped her form up in the blanket, hefted her in his strong arms, and carted her to a nearby couch.
Her boss sat with her cradled against his chest. But she didn’t feel arousal with him, just comfort. Jared stroked a gentle hand down her blanket-covered back. “You did well. But that was only the first half of your punishment.”
“What do you mean, Sir? I thought you said…” Then in her haze she remembered he’d mentioned something about ‘this part’.
“That your punishment was to be of my choosing. There was more than one Dom you harmed with your actions today,” Jared responded, his gaze warm but firm in his resolve.
“I don’t understand,” she replied, but oh, she did. The pit of her stomach sank into her toes. He meant Carter. The man who’d driven her to temporary insanity.
“The rest of your punishment will be to serve Master Carter for the next week. Do you understand, Jenna? It means you will belong to him this week as his submissive,” Jared explained, the command behind his words firm and not a little daunting.
All the air in the room vanished. Jenna had to beat back the fear clawing at her chest to keep herself from hyperventilating. She had to submit to that Dom? Carter was the offended Dom, but these were Jared’s rules. He decided on punishment for the subs in his employ, and had chosen to hand her off to the sasquatch. Jenna didn’t have a choice, at least not any good ones. If she wanted to remain employed here on the island, her only option was to do as Master J directed and submit to Carter this week. She cursed at herself internally at feeling the wetness trailing over her cheeks. She hated showing weakness of any kind.
There was only one course, one road which she could tread. Jenna needed her paycheck too damn much to be able to refuse. There was no other way around the punishment, as barbaric as it might be. There were too many people depending upon her and the money she made here on the island for her to welch now.
She saw no way out of her predicament. Sensing the behemoth’s presence nearby, she nodded her acquiescence and responded to Jared, “Yes, Sir.”
“Carter, you will let me know if there are any problems with her discipline,” Jared addressed the damn sasquatch over her shoulder.
Unable to stand the suspense, Jenna confronted her punishment head on. The Dom was a six foot six—give or take an inch—cowboy who opted for jeans instead of leather pants, and a black Stetson. And the way his gaze traveled over her, the possession and unbridled lust he showed her in his dark gaze, caused her internal emergency sensors to blare code red.
From a mere glance, she understood the man would attempt to flay her open, both heart and soul, and enjoy the unmaking. He’d turn her into a slave, try to bend her to his will, and she only prayed that she was strong enough to withstand his dominance. There was too much riding on her shoulders to fail.
“That I will. Com
e on now, darlin’, let’s go get ourselves acquainted,” Carter said, the deep timbre of his voice making her think of drinking hundred proof whiskey around a campfire. Backed into a corner, she accepted the proffered hand. His work roughened fingers closed around hers, and a torrent of tingles erupted in her system where he touched her. Carter helped her off Jared’s lap. Her free hand clutched at the blanket around her shoulders. Jenna infused her gaze with every ounce of her wrath at having her choice taken from her and directed it at the man of the hour.
The sasquatch had the audacity to return her glare with a sardonic grin. Tremors raced along her spine.
The disparity and difference in height as he dwarfed her left her feeling unsettled. The man reminded her of a mountain: strong and immovable. With a victorious smirk on his lips that she wanted to remove. Carter swooped her up into his arms when she wobbled on her feet as her resolve to see her punishment through wavered. He carted her, blanket and all. He didn’t take her to a nearby couch or scene area, but headed past curious onlookers and patrons directly out of the club.
Jenna fought the distinct and altogether surprising urge to turn in to him as his musky scent, which was part dark woodsy spice and part manly Carter, enveloped her. It made her want to rub her face against his chest and see if his skin tasted as good as he smelled.
Dammit.
She couldn’t deny that she was attracted to him. As much as she wanted to beat the arrogant man upside the head with her serving tray, his touch, his arms around her, rekindled her internal forge, and by the time he placed her in the front passenger seat of his cart, she was thoroughly aroused. Watching him saunter around to the driver’s side and slide in beside her, Jenna understood she was going to have one hell of a difficult time submitting to Carter while remaining unmoved by him.
She clutched at the blanket around her shoulders. Looking out at the illuminated path, she tried to center herself, her posture rigid in the seat.
“Relax. I’m not an ogre,” Carter said, his deep baritone causing her chest to buzz with tingly sensations. He drove the cart with precision and command over the path, but she could feel his gaze on her. He kept studying her with his enigmatic gaze.
“I never said you were, Sir,” she murmured. His presence was all-consuming, dominating the small space of the cart, and she hated that he stirred her.
“If you truly object to being with me, I won’t force you,” he commented as he parked the cart beneath his villa and shifted all his focus toward her.
It was more of a concession than she’d believed she would receive from him. She couldn’t deny her attraction any more than she needed air to breathe. It didn’t mean she was okay with Jared forcing her hand. She consented to being with Carter but she had reservations about it. Loads of them. She admitted, “I don’t object to it, much. But forgive me, Sir, I’m not sure why you would want me after this morning.”
“What can I say? I enjoy a challenge. Besides, I’m used to working with finicky mares on my ranch and get a thrill at having such untamed beauty bend to my hand and my will,” Carter murmured, his voice gruff and low.
Jenna curled her fingers into her palms against the blanket to keep from wrapping them around his throat and strangling him. The damn sasquatch had compared her to a horse. She was not a freaking horse but a grown woman. She might be submissive, but she would fight him tooth and nail this week. He might have control of her body, but she would never grant him anything more, and certainly not her full submission.
She’d be lucky if she didn’t murder him by week’s end.
Chapter 3
Carter almost laughed at the steam emitting from Jenna’s ears over his remarks. She was a firecracker and definitely spurred his interest. Never before had he had a submissive with such passion. The challenge she presented, captivated him.
Then there was the little fact that after seeing her waltz into the club, her killer body on display, he could have practically cut diamonds with his cock he’d been so hard. She had perfect, round, high breasts, with deep rose nipples that had been puckered into hard points. Her torso was sleek, he could span her waist with both of his hands, and then her hips curved out, becomingly framing her bare pussy. He could imagine her long, lithe legs wrapped around his waist as he fucked her senseless.
Not to mention that she’d held his gaze as Jared had flogged her. Passion had suffused her expression, her mouth open. The high-pitched moans she’d emitted had fueled his lust. Carter, for once, was glad he’d been enchanted by her face and watching her orgasm. If he’d slipped around and viewed the scene from the other direction, watching Jared redden her behind, he didn’t know if he would have been able to control himself, and would likely have come in his jeans like an unschooled youth. Or he would already be balls-deep inside her.
As it was, he didn’t want a perfunctory screw with the little sub. He wanted all of her. He wanted to make her crave his touch and have her gift him with her submission on a freaking platter.
And he could surmise from the tense set to her shoulders and ‘fuck off’ attitude that he had his work cut out for him. Never let it be said that he didn’t rise to the occasion when it was warranted. And Jenna commanded every ounce of his control.
He helped her from the cart and led her into the villa. The place was luxurious, spacious and airy with its circular design. His favorite part was how intricate and detailed every piece of furniture was, even in the kitchen. There were hidden loops everywhere to attach an unruly submissive’s cuffs. It was something he was taking note of: all the little extras he might want to add to his own home when he got a spare minute.
The bed was an extra-large king which was downright perfect for a man his size. Often, when he had to travel for business, he’d end up in a bed where his feet hung over the end. That wouldn’t be a problem here. And the thing he enjoyed most was the small dungeon area equipped with one of his favorite devices: a St. Andrew’s Cross.
He had plans to strap her in and fuck her until his legs gave out.
“Have a seat on the couch,” he ordered.
She shot him a furious glance but then complied. They were going to have to work on that, among other things. He went to the dresser and withdrew his special cuffs, with his club’s logo on them and his initials burned into the dark brown saddle colored leather.
He strode back over to the couch and sank down beside her. “Give me your wrists.”
She stretched out her hands. It caused the blanket shrouding her small form to slide down and expose a wealth of her creamy skin. He had to draw his tongue back into his head at the sight. She was so gorgeous, she made him ache.
And then he slid one of his cuffs around her wrist. At the feel of her hand trembling against his, shock infused him, followed by the need to comfort her. Of all the things he would have expected from this brash and brave submissive, her fear sliced him open to the bone.
“Jenna, look at me,” he murmured, waiting until her cornflower gaze met his. “You have nothing to fear from me. Understand? I realize you don’t know me yet, but I won’t ever harm you. Will I push your boundaries this week? Yes. Do I plan to make you come, repeatedly, to the point you won’t be able to walk the next day? Yes. Will I discipline you should you disobey me? Absolutely. But you don’t have to be afraid of me, all right?”
She nodded and blinked back moisture from her gaze. “Yes, Sir. I am sorry about this morning.”
“Sorry that you did it or sorry that you’re being punished for it?” he asked.
“And if I said the latter?” she asked as he slid the second cuff on, pleased that her trembles had diminished.
“Then I would say thank you for being honest with me,” he murmured. The chit was completely incorrigible.
“Forgive me, but are you sure it’s me you want this week?”
“One hundred percent, so stop fussing and trying to finagle a way out. You belong to me this week, darlin’.”
Her demeanor shifted from somewhat open and friendl
y, to rabidly incensed. Carter would put a stop to her attitude. Right. Now. Without preamble or warning, he shifted her onto his lap and gripped her chin in his hand.
“Look at me,” he ordered. And then he waited for Jenna to comply. It took her a few heartbeats. He noticed the pulse at her throat flutter.
Then she finally, with aching slowness, lifted her gaze, lingering when she reached his lips before ascending completely. Her pupils were dilated and her breathing shallow. He bit back a grin. She desired him. That was as good a place as any to start.
While one hand cupped her jaw and held her gaze steady on his, his free hand roamed over her body. He palmed one of her apple-sized breasts, and was pleased when he rasped his thumb over the nipple and it puckered into a beaded point.
“Now that I have your attention, we are going to go over my rules and discuss your hard limits. The rules first. In my presence, you will always be nude and wearing my cuffs. You will submit yourself to me wherever, and whenever I choose. I do not put up with mouthy, disobedient subs. If you are glib, talk back, or refuse to do as requested, you will be punished in the manner of my choosing. Understood?” he asked, searching her gaze.
“Total domination and the loss of my free will. Got it, Sir,” she said and then bit her lower lip when he pinched her nipple. Her eyes went wide and she uttered a quiet moan. This little sub liked the pain.
He had to contain his chuckle at her response. She would not break easily, his little firebrand. “Pretty much, darlin’, may as well get used to it. Now, what are your hard limits?”
“The only thing that is a definite no is medical play. I can’t stand needles. I’ve been known to pass out from the flu shot. And I don’t necessarily care for public scenes.”
“And yet you submitted to your punishment with Jared. Are you and he an item?”
“Jared? God, no. It’s not that he’s not attractive—he is—but he’s my boss and I have a strict no sleeping with the boss policy,” she said with a shake of her head.