by Cyna Kade
Anyway, that’s why I didn’t give you the cabin. Now, no one can buy it for a year. If you chose not to stay, I’ll understand. I just hope the conservation group can hold out against him. I doubt it though. I’m sure he’ll offer them a lot of money or a trade in some other rural area. They’ll sell too.
Not sure what will happen in a year but I’m hoping that you inherited my backbone. I know you’re strong. I know you love the area. Be brave. Don’t let the bastard win and watch out for him. He’s not ruthless. Ruthless I know you could fight. No, he’s more dangerous because he’s intelligent and charming. He and I enjoyed each other’s company so much that we’ve worn a path between the cabin and the mansion. He’s an unusual man. I’ve spent many a night playing chess with him. He always wins. Everyone likes him even as they hate what he’s doing. I know he has a plan but I don’t know what it is. I know he needs to be here for some reason, something that drives him. Be careful. I’d like to say stay away from him but I doubt he’ll stay away from you and that’s why I think you’re the one to defeat him.
Love,
Gramps
He always wins. The statement shocked Julia. She’d played chess for years and she’d rarely been able to beat her grandfather. The fact that Alex always won didn’t bode well for her chances of success. And what did Gramps mean by his strange statements? These summer people are different. She was the one to defeat Alex Thornton. What did Gramps think she could do? Julia shook her head. Leave it to Gramps to set her an impossible challenge and to explain it all without explaining anything.
She wanted to be angry. The terms of the will had certainly surprised her, especially the part about the conservancy getting the land if she failed to live here for a year. That was shocking and upsetting. She’d always thought she’d inherit the cabin. She was the only one in the family who cared about it and up until a couple of years ago she’d visited for a month every summer. Gramps was right, she did love the place and given her current circumstances, she was delighted to move here. She hadn’t expected this kind of problem though.
Now two people had warned her about Alex Thornton. If both Maggie and her gramps thought he was bad news, what could she do? How could she fight him, or would she even want to? The smart thing to do would be to ask for his help to survive the year and then sell to him. If he gave her enough, she could buy another cabin at a different lake. She looked around and her heart nearly broke. She loved this shabby cabin. She didn’t know how she’d survive the winter but her grandfather had managed the feat. She owed it to him to make a valiant effort. Alex Thornton wasn’t going to defeat her.
Chapter Two
Charlene had been waiting ten minutes when a group of four men headed toward her. Charlene kept her head down but she couldn’t prevent her eyes from glancing up and evaluating the men. The blond was muscular and must be over six feet two inches. The others ranged from five feet ten inches to six feet. The blond dominated the group. Charlene hoped she’d have at least one session with him. His athletic build and sharp blue eyes promised a memorable experience.
The men reached her. “Charlene?” asked the blond.
She nodded.
“I’m Alex. Welcome to Primeval Lake.”
Charlene smiled. “Glad to be here.”
Alex reached out, grasped her chin, stepped close and gave her a hard kiss. “Let’s hope you still feel that way next week when you leave.” He nodded to one of the other men. The man grabbed Charlene’s suitcase. Alex held her arm and helped her. High heels weren’t made for climbing in and out of a boat. They made her helpless even if they made her feminine. Within a few minutes, they were on their way.
Charlene gasped at her first view of the mansion. It was centered in the woods at one end of the lake, like a jewel sitting in the midst of an ancient forest. She’d never seen such a beautiful residence. Huge windows soared to the sky and reflected the lake and clouds. She could just see balconies on one of the other sides.
The boat came to a smooth halt next to the dock. Two of the men jumped out and tied off the vessel. Once again, Alex helped her.
“Thank you,” she said.
Alex suddenly took her by the shoulders and forced her to her knees. “As per the contract you signed, you are now on my land and required to fulfill the terms. Thank you what?”
Charlene blanked for a moment. Alex’s quick action had startled her.
“Thank you what?” he prompted her again.
She gulped and remembered. She looked up and said, “Thank you, Master.”
“Much better.” He nodded toward the shortest man. “Mark will take over now. Obey him.”
“Yes Master,” she said, proud that she’d remembered this time.
Alex and the other two men moved away. She saw Mark cast a quick, startled glance at Alex before he moved to take Alex’s spot.
Mark stood in front of Charlene for a long moment. “Charlene, have you ever done this before?”
“No Master.”
He sighed. “It shows. You have a lot of work in front of you if you expect to please me.”
Charlene’s heart sank, was she doomed before she even started? “Yes Master.”
Mark held out his hand and helped her up. “Let’s get you settled.”
Mark led Charlene around to the back of the house. A doorway led to basement stairs. She hesitated for just a second. She’d hoped to have one of the rooms with a balcony. As if he read her thoughts, Mark said, “The upstairs rooms are for the guests. You are not a guest. You’ve agreed to be a submissive. Your room is down here.”
“Yes Master,” she said in a faint voice.
Mark led her down a dark hall until he came to a door with a large number six on it. “This is your room. It’s number six but you don’t need to remember that. I’ll make sure you’re always in the right place.”
“Yes Master.” She noticed that the door just had a plain handle. There was no lock on the handle and then she saw a slide lock near the top. Was she going to be locked in? She gulped. Was this really what she wanted? It was too late now. She moved forward but paused at the entranceway and looked at the paper posted outside her room.
“It’s your listing of dos and don’ts,” Mark said. “We wouldn’t want there to be any misunderstanding. For the next week, you are required to be in this room unless a Master lets you out. Do you understand?”
“Yes Master.”
“Good. Take a shower and stay naked. I’ll be back soon.” Mark opened the door and ushered her in.
“My suitcase—”
“What did you say?” Mark roared.
Charlene cringed. “I’m sorry, Master.” She hoped those were the words he wanted to hear. When he didn’t say anything, she dropped to her knees.
“Better,” he grudgingly admitted. “I’ll answer your question because you’re new here but never again ask me a question without permission. Do you understand?”
“Yes Master.”
“Good. You won’t need your suitcase while you’re here. Take a shower. Stay naked. I’ll be back.”
He closed the door and Charlene heard the slide bolt click into place. She slowly stood and looked around. There weren’t any windows but there was a nice plasma display with a forest scene on it. The walls looked funny so she leaned forward for a closer look. Acoustic tile…the room was soundproofed. Well, of course it was, other guests wouldn’t want to hear sex noises. That was the only reason it was soundproofed, wasn’t it? She shook her head and continued her inspection.
There was no dresser, no nightstand, only one straight-backed chair. It didn’t look very comfortable, unlike the bed. The bed was a king-size four-poster with a thick mattress. Charlene bounced on it and fell onto her back. She sighed in comfort before continuing her explorations. She looked up and noticed the canopy had strange webbing on it. Unusual design but what was on the posts? She rolled onto her knees for a closer look. It took her a minute to realize the posts had rings and chains attached. A thrill r
aced through her and she fought to breathe as she realized their purpose. She lay back on the bed. What had she gotten herself into?
* * * * *
Alex smiled as he remembered Mark’s response to the gift of Charlene. He’d covered well but Alex had known him for too long. No one, least of all Mark, had expected to be first. Everyone knew Alex broke in the new submissives. And Alex had originally planned to initiate Charlene since he’d seen her flick her blonde hair in the video the lawyer had sent. She was a nice little piece of tail but nice pieces of tail were easily come by and he had another target in his sight.
He wanted to know about the woman at Tilman’s camp. He wanted—no, he needed—to know everything about her before he paid her a visit and started her seduction. And he had to seduce her. He had no choice. The compulsion was profound and strong. How deep were her reserves? How long could she last? His need seemed to grow the longer he was away from her. He’d never known a craving quite like this.
Alex strode through the front door and took a quick look around. There were a few people in the living room to the right and he could hear a few more people in the kitchen at the back of the house. Everything seemed quiet. No one claimed his attention as he strode to the tempered-glass spiral staircase on the left, ignoring the matching one on his right. The dual staircases led to the south and north wings of the house. The northern wing was for guests. The southern wing belonged to him alone. At the top of the southern stairs were two doors.
The right door was heavy steel and wood, designed to keep out most people. Once a month, he let the cleaning staff in but only with his supervision. He wasn’t worried about a little dust and the rest of the area he kept picked up. He’d rather not share his bedroom and private dungeon with very many people. He usually used the basement rooms. Only a couple of women had made it to his upstairs dungeon.
A door at the left led to his office. He’d set it up as a combination office, den, library room. It was wood paneled and masculine. A large bookshelf lined one wall. Another wall held a bank of video monitors. The third wall held artwork and the fourth wall had an interior balcony he rarely used. The door to the balcony was usually left open. It looked out over the entryway with a view of the windows at the front of the mansion. He ignored the view as he powered up his computer. The satellite dish on the roof allowed him to connect to many different databases, including a few secure ones he’d gained access to through his government contracts. He didn’t think it would take long to find out everything he wanted to know about the woman.
Not having her name wasn’t insurmountable. He was guessing her name would be in Tilman’s will. Since he’d been involved in the process of buying the two other south-side properties, he hadn’t paid too much attention when Ben had died, although he missed the chess games. It had been a long time since anyone had challenged him. Alex had always won, but he’d had to work for the wins. Ben had been an interesting character. He’d continually surprised Alex and that was an accomplishment. Alex only hoped the woman could do the same.
It didn’t take him long to find the will. He whistled when he realized what Ben had done. There was no way for Alex to purchase the cabin for at least a year. He’d been a crafty old bastard. Alex had been trying to buy but Ben had stalled him at every turn. Ben wasn’t interested in money. He refused to bet the cabin on any game of chance. He’d continually blocked Alex’s plan to own the entire lakeshore. Alex wasn’t happy about the will but he was certain he could use the information to help gain the woman’s trust. As he expected, he’d found the woman’s name in the will—Julia, Julia Theresa Tilman. Now he could find out more.
He checked every social network. He was startled when he found nothing. Everyone in the world was on at least one social network. Julia was on none of them. Maybe she took after her grandfather and had his distrust of technology.
Alex widened the search. He found an engagement notice. Alex raised an eyebrow as he read. The marriage had been planned for May. This was June. Was she married? He searched for a marriage document and couldn’t find one. Broken engagement? He wondered who’d called it off. He dug deeper. There! He found a brief notice in a society gossip column. Julia had called it off after finding her fiancé with another woman. Excellent!
He stumbled upon the second notice by accident. Julia and forty other people had been laid off from the Cambris factory in New Mexico. New Mexico? What had she been doing there? Her engagement notice had been in a New York paper. Strange. He did a little more digging and found that her parents lived in New York. They’d posted the notice.
Alex leaned back and itemized the information he’d found. Julia was twenty-six with a broken engagement. She’d been laid off from her job and her grandfather was dead. She seemed to be estranged from her parents. No close friends or at least nothing that indicated close friendships.
His smile was predatory. She was alone. She was probably reeling from all the changes in her life not to mention the codicil in her grandfather’s will that demanded she spend a year at an isolated cabin if she wanted to keep it. Good. She was vulnerable. He’d pay her a visit this afternoon and start his campaign. He’d really like Julia in his private dungeon by the end of summer. She’d be the perfect addition.
* * * * *
Mark went to his place after he left Charlene. Cabin number five belonged to him now. He’d bought into Alex’s plan just last month and he was still excited to have his own dwelling. Maybe in a few days he’d move Charlene here. In the meantime, he needed to take care of his tools.
He pulled out a whip and flicked it in the air. It was a little stiff. The whip was new, just like him. He’d never whipped a woman but he liked the idea of threatening a woman with it. Luckily Charlene wouldn’t know the difference since she had zero experience. Mark pulled out a jar of oil and went to work on the whip. Charlene could wait while he took care of his tools. He knew she’d get nervous. He wanted her nervous. A nervous submissive was good. She’d make more mistakes that way.
He couldn’t believe Alex had given him the woman. He’d expected Alex to play first and that would have been fine with Mark. Mark loved watching Alex work. Alex dominated everything he did. It seemed to come to him effortlessly. Mark had seen Alex take other Doms and make them submissive to his will. The man was that good. He always got his way in everything.
Mark had bought into Alexander’s scheme early. They’d met eighteen months earlier, when both had been at a bad BDSM club. He and Alexander shared the same philosophy about sex. All that was necessary was the consent of the people involved. No one else had the right to censor a consensual sexual experience.
Mark, like Alex, was tired of trying to play sex games in cities. There were too many neighbors, too many nosy people who wouldn’t just let them play. The sexual games Mark liked were perceived through the societal filter of domestic violence. Alex and Mark didn’t get angry when they played. Anger created the risk of real hurt and neither one of them wanted to damage women that way. Their games seemed violent to people who didn’t understand. There was the very real risk of being jailed for their preferences.
That was why Alexander’s plan was pure genius and luckily he had the money to make it happen. A lawyer vetted every guest. All signed contracts, very explicit contracts. The guests couldn’t argue later that they hadn’t understood what they were getting into. Alex had too much documentation and too many people were involved. Not to mention the fact that every room had cameras. There was always a record of what went on in a room. Speaking of cameras, Mark walked to the console and flicked a switch. His eyebrow rose as he realized Charlene hadn’t taken a shower yet and she was still wearing her clothes. He’d made a mistake, he realized. He should have had her strip immediately, while he was still there. Well it would only take a few minutes to rectify that mistake. Oh this was going to be so much fun. He’d finish the whip later. He set it aside and he headed back to the mansion.
* * * * *
Later that afternoon, Julia unp
acked her supplies. She’d just sat down to make a list of all the things she had to do the next day when there was a knock on the porch door. She startled a little. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Townies always waited a day before visiting and there really weren’t any close neighbors left on the lake. Who could it be? She shook her head. There was only one way to find out.
She walked out onto the porch to find Alex Thornton, the large blond man from the restaurant, standing there. She stopped, startled by what she saw. She’d been seeing auras for so long that she usually took them for granted. She hadn’t seen an aura round the man when he’d been in the restaurant but now he was enveloped in dark crimson. It was the largest Julia had ever seen, even worse, she wasn’t sure what it meant.
“Hi. As you probably already know, I’m Alex Thornton. I knew your grandfather and I’m so sorry for your loss. He was an interesting man.”
Julia dragged her attention away from his aura. “Thank you,” she said. Her heart pounded at the man’s nearness.
He continued, “Since we’re neighbors I thought I’d bring you a welcome present.” Alex held out a basket containing fruit, chocolate and goodies.
Julia gulped. This close, the man was overwhelming. His scent washed over her like a musky storm. Her cunt clenched. Even though his aura frightened her, she was ready to jump him right there in the doorway. Her face flared as she locked eyes with him again.
His smile was gentle. “I was hoping you’d invite me in.”
“Oh…oh, of course.” Julia stumbled back. Then she silently cursed herself. What was she doing allowing this man inside? Both her grandfather and Maggie had warned her to stay away from him and now, not a couple of hours later, here she was letting him into her home.
Julia froze as Alex brushed by her. He was much larger than she’d thought, at least six two, maybe six three. His muscles bulged as he moved to the kitchen area and placed the basket on top of the table. Julia just stared. She was ready to come and he had barely touched her. It was her curse to be always ready for sex but this was extreme even for her. She swallowed hard and remembered her manners.