A Promise of Passion

by Maggie Carpenter

  “Oui, it is a very big thing. The name of the cosmetics line is, Bare Beauty. If you get the job, it will mean television commercials and personal appearances. What do you think? Do you want to meet with Gustav and Harry Harrison?”

  “My head is spinning,” she said softly. “Of course I do, but how, and when?”

  “They are in New York. They’ll be there for a week meeting more candidates, and Gustav wants to see you anyway. He needs to know when you’ll be ready for Spank Me Now. I am sorry, Vivien, because I said it would be soon. As much as he wants only you, I was afraid he would lose patience and start looking for someone else.”

  “I have to make a decision,” she said soberly.

  “Oui, you have to make a decision,” he repeated. “Why don’t we go to your home tomorrow so you want you can discuss all this with your brother and mother?”

  “Yesterday you stepped off a plane, and suddenly, I may have a chance to start over, but you know what just hit me? I was about to sign that other deal with a cosmetics company when the accident happened. Now it’s a cosmetics line that might be bringing me back, but it’s even better because it’s by Gustav, and it’s an entire line, not just a single product.”

  “We never know what is around the corner,” he remarked, “and whatever you decide, you will have me behind you.”

  “Dominic! I know you will,” she sighed. “I didn’t expect anything like this. I thought you’d arrive and…well, I wasn’t what would happen, but not this. What if I hadn’t invited you to come over now?”

  “I was getting worried,” he admitted. “Gustav has been asking me about you for weeks, and I had nothing to tell him. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but it doesn’t matter now. You did invite me, and here I am.”

  “Yes, here you are, and I’m so, so glad, and it’s a good feeling to know I might still be wanted out there.”

  “Ma cherie, you are wanted, you are very, very wanted,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “Now we must eat. You must eat good from now on.”

  “I will,” she smiled. “I will eat good from now on, I promise.”

  The dinner progressed, and though they chatted and laughed and held hands across the table, the thought of returning to work stayed in the forefront of her mind. By the time they left there was no doubt; she wanted to be back in front of the cameras. The only question: could she leave the farm?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  As the limousine drove through the city streets on the way back to the hotel, Vivien lifted her legs over Dominic’s lap and curled into his shoulder.

  “Sweet girl,” he purred, moving his arm around her.

  “I need to be naked with you,” she mumbled.

  “And to feel my little crop?”

  “Yes, and to feel your little crop.”

  “You have missed me taking charge of you.”

  “So much,” she sighed, “and it’s more than that. I’ve had to be control of everything for the last year and I’m tired of it.”

  “Never mind, ma chérie, this is over now, at least while I am here, and for longer if you are able.”

  The car pulled into the hotel, and consumed with thoughts of her life changing, and the erotic need pulsing through her body, she barely noticed the admiring stares as they made their way through the lobby to the elevator. Entering the suite Dominic didn’t pause when the door closed behind them, but swept her up and moved swiftly into the bedroom. Placing her on her feet he unzipped her dress, carefully slid it down her body, then laying it on the bench at the foot of the bed, he wordlessly clutched her hair, and pausing for just the briefest of moments, teasing the promise of his mouth, he kissed her.

  His lips were soft and moist, gently drifting, but she could feel his hardness pressing against her leg, then suddenly, as if a fuse had burned down to its dynamite, his passion exploded. His kiss became demanding, his mouth devouring hers, and pushing her backwards over the side of the bed, he grabbed her wrists, pinning her down, holding them together with one hand, traveling his lips to her neck as he slid his other hand inside her panties.

  “So wet,” he growled. “So wet. This pussy is mine, comprenez-vous?”

  “Yes,” she panted. “I understand, yours, all yours.”

  As quickly as he’d captured her wrists, he released them to pull off her underwear, then unexpectedly flipped her over and deftly unsnapped her bra, eliciting a surprised squeal.

  “Spread your legs,” he ordered, “spread them wide!”

  He watched her feet shuffle across the floor, then gazed fondly at her backside. It was still wonderfully red from his pre-dinner spanking, and relishing the sight of her glistening sex peeping between her thighs, he quickly undressed. His hungry cock was ready, but he would deliver a light cropping first, not just because she had asked for it, but because the need to do so was burning through his body.

  During the months of their separation, Dominic had tried to connect with other women to satisfy his dominant soul, but his few attempts had been dismal failures. His mind had remained fixed on his precious Vivien, and as much as he’d needed to scratch his itch, it hadn’t worked. Being with her again was firing a hot fever deep within him, and hurriedly retrieving the short, fat whip and a condom, he moved behind her and began sliding the leather tongue over her scarlet bottom.

  “From now on I will carry this with me in case you misbehave,” he warned, his voice low and deep. It was what she wanted and needed to hear, and he smiled as his belief was confirmed by a soft, gratified moan. “I am back in your life, so you will do as I say, oui?”

  “Oui, Sir,” she murmured, repeating his word.

  “You have been without direction for too long, but you have me to lean on and guide you now, and to discipline you when you need it.”

  Standing directly behind her, he tapped the leather swatch over her backside, landing a sudden sharp swat every few seconds. The peppery kisses made her gasp and wriggle, and she raised a foot, kicking out like a protesting filly.

  “No, no,” he scolded, “bad girl. You may squirm, but no kicking!”

  To his surprise she kicked again, and he instantly responded with a stinging strike on both cheeks.

  “OWWWW!”

  “Testing me? This is not wise, Vivien. Surely you know better.”

  “Sorry, Sir,” she bleated.

  “Do we have the understanding again?” he demanded, his accent suddenly thickening.

  “Yes, yes,” she promised.

  “So, now I must continue a bit longer and make sure!”

  Adding some force to the licks, he continued traveling his smarting discipline across her cheeks, then finally satisfied that she had learned her lesson, he threw the crop on the bed.

  “Now I will take you and fuck you hard,” he growled, grabbing her hips.

  “Yes, oh, yes,” she groaned. “I want to be fucked hard.”

  Her bleating admission sent a fresh surge of energy through his loins, and quickly donning the sheath he placed himself in position, plunged forward, and with a craving hunger he began pummeling her pussy.

  Vivien’s bottom was deliciously stinging, and Dominic’s cock was ravaging her. His thrusts were powerful and quick, satisfying her lustful craving. Her submissive soul had ached to be controlled, and spanked, and plundered, and as he accelerated his strokes, his fingers digging into her skin, she could feel her orgasm rapidly building.

  “Sir,” she wailed, “please, Sir?”

  “You want it?” he rasped.

  “Yes, Sir, please.”

  “How much, ma chérie, you must tell me how much?”

  “Ooh, Sir,” she howled, his edict pushing her even closer, “so very much. I’ve been starving, and I need this so badly. I’m so close. Please, I’m begging you, please let me come.”

  Her crimson, blotchy backside was staring up at him, her pussy was hot against his cock, and he too, could feel himself nearing the edge.

  “Come for me now,” he commanded, adding power
to his strokes. “Right now.”

  She gasped, her body stiffened, and she let out a series of high-pitched squeals as she surrendered to the convulsions coursing through her body. Squeezing his eyes shut as his seizures took hold, Dominic listened to her joyful cries, but the delicious eruption finally abated, she fell quiet, and his cock slipped away. The fevered coupling was over, and staggering backwards he grabbed some tissues from the nightstand and pulled off the condom.

  “I feel as if I can’t get enough,” she muttered breathlessly.

  “We have both been without this for too long,” he panted, laying across the edge of mattress to be next to her.

  “I want to crawl on to the bed,” she moaned, “but I think I’m too weak.”

  His heart still pounding against his chest, he slowly maneuvered her body up on to the bed, then stretched out alongside her.

  “Better?” he purred as she curled into him.

  “Yes, thank-you, better, exhausted, and so happy.”

  “Rest,” he said, kissing her softly. “I’ll be right back.”

  Pulling the covers over her, he headed into the bathroom and disposed of the tissue-wrapped condom, and as he washed his hands he stared at his reflection in the mirror.

  “I hope I haven’t told too much all at once, my sweet Vivien,” he muttered, “but Gustav will not wait forever.”

  Ambling back into the bedroom he slipped between the sheets, and as he snuggled against her, she let out a soft breath. She was drifting away, and closing his eyes he prayed the next few days would see her back in New York in front of a camera.

  It was early in the morning that Dominic woke from a deep sleep. Glancing at the clock the red digits told him it was 6:07 a.m. Doing a quick calculation he realized it would be just after 1 p.m. in the afternoon in Paris. He’d gone to sleep around 11 p.m., but his body clock would have thought it was 5.a.m. He often rose early, or stayed up through the wee hours working, so it wasn’t completely out of the realm of his regular life, but he knew it was going to take some time to adjust.

  Vivien was motionless, her breathing deep and even. She was in a sound sleep, and loathe to wake her he slowly slipped from the bed. Donning a robe he picked up his bag and carried it out into the living room. Pulling out his sketch pad and thick sketching pencil he started to draw, and like magic his hand floated across the page, the still-quiet of the early morning cloaking him in its serenity. As the image began to evolve he had no awareness of time, and caught up in the mystical experience, the minutes ticked by unnoticed. Vivian’s face was coming to life on the page, and suddenly her beauty was staring back at him, her half-lidded eyes filled with complexity.

  He stared back at them for just a few seconds, and knowing they were exactly right he traveled his pencil to her mouth, slightly parting her lips and giving one side of them the slightest curl.

  “Mona Lisa,” he mumbled. “I don’t mean it to be, but it is what my pencils says.”

  An unexpected cramp hit his shoulder, followed by an overwhelming need for some coffee. Placing the pad and pencil on the coffee table he stood up and stretched, then yawned, rubbed his eyes, and meandered across to the mirrored bar against the wall that offered several coffee and tea options, including a French Press. Setting the jug to boil, he opened the cellophane-wrapped gift basket the management had sent them upon their arrival, and found a small carton of Scottish shortbread. Downing one of the cookies in a single mouthful, he started on the second as he tore open the packet of ground coffee and dropped it into the French Press decanter. He was so involved in his task, he didn’t hear Vivien entering the room, or pick up his sketch pad, and sit down on the couch. It was only when he’d poured his coffee into a mug and was sipping it, that he turned around and saw her.

  “Good morning,” he smiled, as he moved towards her.

  “Is this how you see me?”

  “You don’t like it?” he asked, a slight panic skipping through his heart.

  “Like it? Dominic, this is…this is…”

  “What?”

  “It’s beyond words,” she breathed, “but I don’t look like this. I’m not this…the only word I can think of is…compelling.”

  “Mon Dieu,” he exclaimed, “but you are!”

  He watched her drop her eyes back to the sketch, and placing his mug carefully on the table, he sat next to her.

  “I told you,” he said softly, “you have a depth to you now. Your beauty, it has developed, it has grown into itself.”

  “I’m not sure I know what you mean, but this is an amazing drawing, Dominic. I love how my eyes are half-closed and I’m looking off to the side. It’s incredible.”

  “It is not yet finished,” he smiled, gently taking it from her hands and closing the pad. “You are a naughty girl for peeking.”

  “I wasn’t peeking,” she quipped, “it was open. I just picked it up.”

  “Ah, you really are naughty girl,” he grinned. “You did it very quietly. You knew you weren’t supposed to look.”

  “I knew no such thing,” she retorted, but then was unable to suppress a giggle.

  “Now a fib?”

  “Okay, okay, I couldn’t resist,” she grinned. “Do you forgive me?”

  “This time, but do it again, and I will put you over my knee and spank you very hard!”

  “Ouch, I can feel it already. I won’t, I promise.”

  “But still, I am glad you like it,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. “Time for some breakfast, and then to your farm. I am so looking forward to meeting your mother and brother.”

  “And they can’t wait to meet you,” she said eagerly.

  “You order up what you want to eat while I take a shower. If you want some coffee there’s some left in the press.”

  “I do,” she said nodding her head.

  “Make sure you include croissants when you call room service, okay?”

  “Okay!”

  Picking up his sketch book he carried it back to his bag, and as Vivien ambled across to the bar, he returned to the coffee table to grab his mug, then disappeared into the bedroom.

  “That sketch has to be more than an idle drawing,” she murmured as she poured her coffee, “but he’s so talented he could probably draw stuff like that all day long. I wish I did look like that. Maybe he’s right. Maybe the camera will capture me that way.”

  Feeling buoyed by what she’d seen, she walked across to the windows and stared out at the blue spring sky.

  “I won’t leave home unless I know mom and Will are going to be okay, but I want to. I want to now, I really do.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Though it was only a forty-five-minute drive from the hotel to Vivien’s farm, the mountains seemed to loom over them as the car turned off the main highway and traveled down the country road toward the house. As they neared, Dominic was surprised at the size of the house, and rolling down the driveway he broke into a smile as a golden retriever came bounding towards them.

  “Rusty?” he asked.

  “Yep, that’s Rusty. We have other dogs as well, but they hang out with Will. They’re working dogs. Rusty is a house dog, but they all run around and play together.”

  The car pulled to a stop, and as Dominic climbed from the back seat, he saw the front door open and a tall, attractive older woman step out on to the porch and walk towards them.

  “Hi, mom, is everything okay?” Vivien asked, walking up to meet her while Dominic dealt with the driver and retrieved their belongings.

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be? Land sakes, girl, you were only gone a couple of nights. We’re just fine, and look at you. I love your hair.”

  “Thanks, mom, it was so great to finally have it cut properly. Where’s Will?”

  “In the barn,” her mother replied. “I expect he’ll be coming up now that you’re here. He and Jill would have heard the car, and you must be Dominic,” she continued, moving across to meet him. “This is such a pleasure, come on in. The coffee’s made,
and I baked my famous rum cake to welcome you.”

  “The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. McKay,” Dominic replied with a wide smile, kissing her on each cheek.

  “Faith, please call me Faith,” she insisted, then leading the happy group, including the excited Rusty, she headed back into the house.

  Walking indoors, Dominic paused and checked out his surroundings. The house was as neat as a pin, but warm and inviting, and as the delicious aroma wafted around his nostrils, he inhaled deeply and let out a breath.

  “If that’s your cake, I am lost,” he exclaimed.

  “It is my cake,” Faith said with a smile. “Vivien, why don’t you show Dominic to his room and I’ll get the coffee and plates set out on the coffee table?”

  “Please, don’t go to any fuss,” Dominic said. “I don’t want to be any trouble.”

  “It’s no fuss. I loved having the excuse to bake that cake,” Faith said firmly. “I cannot tell you how delighted we are that you’re here. Go on, Vivien, let this man freshen up.”

  “You’re very kind,” Dominic smiled, “and I can see how Vivien is so beautiful.”

  “Oh, now,” Faith said, blushing slightly. “You and that continental charm.”

  But Dominic had meant it. The woman had incredible bone structure, and in spite of her age, her grey hair, and the lines that came with the dramas her life had seen, she was a stunningly beautiful woman.

  “Come with me,” Vivien interjected. “It’s just up here.”

  They walked up the stairs and turned down a wide hallway, and leading him into a cozy bedroom with a window that overlooked the mountains in the distance, he dropped his suitcase and garment bag on the bed.

  “This place is so, what is the word? Homey? So comfortable, and look at that view,” he remarked, staring out the windows.

  “They still have some snow on them. In the winter they’re covered.”

  “You have a wonderful place here,” he murmured. “Where is your room?”

  “At the end of the hall, I’ll show you. Mom is downstairs. She was tired of the stairs. She’s taken over the room where Will was recovering.”