Salvaged by Love (Thalia Book 3) (The Thalia Series)

by Jennifer Bene

  She had too much on her mind.

  The text message was from Analiese asking for verification, again, about the girls only weekend Julie was trying to plan in London. The plan was for everyone - Julie, Analiese, Chloe, Lauren, and Maggie - to attend one or two of Thalia’s yoga classes and then spend two nights in a huge penthouse suite enjoying massages and room service and chick flicks. She wanted to tell them yes. She wanted to be excited about it and chat about it with James like she would any other topic.

  But the weekend was two weeks away, and that meant it was on the other side of The Decision.

  Thalia had begun thinking of the day in capital letters. She had no reason to think that James would want to break things off. He seemed to spend all his time making sure she knew how much he liked being with her - but logic holds no power over the heart. And Thalia’s heart was aching at the remote possibility that tomorrow James could tell her he wanted her to move on. She’d already spent too many hours wondering where she’d live. Her paychecks from the yoga studio couldn’t possibly pay for a flat in this part of the city, which meant moving far from the studio she worked at. Which meant taking the tube to work instead of walking a few blocks. Or she could go back to the states, try and find a new place to start a new life –

  Thalia wanted to throw up just thinking about it. Why wouldn’t her head just shut up?! She knew she was going to tell James she wanted to stay, and she was ninety percent sure he wanted the same.

  Maybe eighty-five. Eighty?

  She groaned and yanked her mind away from the doom and gloom and tapped out a response to Analiese that felt like a rock settling in her stomach: I’ll know for sure tomorrow. I’ll text as soon as I can! Promise! She dropped the phone into her lap and sighed. None of the girls, except Maggie, knew about her deal with James. They knew she’d had a bad Dom before him, which was an understatement to say the least. They knew that James had helped her get away from him - but she wasn’t going to burden them with the whole nightmare. Which meant it was pretty much impossible to bring up the odd deal she had with James.

  “What’s wrong, baby?” James’ voice pulled her out of another bitter reverie.

  “Huh? It’s - um, it’s nothing.” She shrugged and turned back to the television, internally hoping he’d drop it. But that wasn’t going to happen.

  “Thalia.” His voice had that edge, the one that sent shivers down her spine and made her want to drop to her knees. “What’s our rule about honesty?”

  Dammit.

  “I’m just thinking about tomorrow. That’s it.” Her hands were twisting in her lap as she stole a glance at him. “Don’t worry, I’m not trying to say anything today, but it is on my mind.”

  “It’s on mine too, pet.” He clicked the television off and stood, moving over to the couch to tower over her. When she looked up at him she felt better, when he brushed her hair back from her face and cupped her cheeks she finally felt the painful tension in her chest ease for a moment. He was still there for now, no use ruining today over what might happen tomorrow. His voice was dark with promise when he spoke again, “I have two options for this evening, and you have to choose. I will not choose for you.”

  He knew her too well. She nodded against his hands, “Alright.”

  “First option, we can watch a movie, drink a bottle of wine, and go to bed where I will give you a massage and then we can pass the time by seeing how many times I can make you come before you beg me to stop.” He smiled down at her, his thumb tracing her bottom lip.

  So far, so good, that sounded like a very nice evening.

  “Or, second option, we can go to the playroom where I’ll work your body in a very different way, but we’ll still play the game of how many times I can make you come until you beg me to stop.” That turned his smile molten, his eyes were that dark, bottle glass green that sent a wave of heat to her core. She was instantly wet under the panties she wore, her hard nipples pressing against the cami top. James could do the romance thing like a pro. He could, and had many times, make her feel like she was in an impossible fairy tale. But that’s not what her favorite part of their relationship was, it’s not what made her body shiver just at the sight of him, and her choice was clear.

  “I’d like the second one, please.” Thalia was breathless as she felt his eyes scorch down her body.

  “You’re going to feel it tomorrow, pet.” His voice had an edge of warning to it, a definitive heads up for what he had planned for her. It did nothing to deter her, in fact her body heated up and did everything but set off fireworks of affirmation at the promise.

  “That’s what I was hoping, Master.” She smirked as her eyes traced his lips. She wanted to kiss him.

  His eyes came back to hers and the edge of his mouth tilted up. His voice was clear and intense. “Good. Then strip. When you’re ready meet me in the playroom, pet.”

  James brushed her cheek before he stood back up, immediately turning to head down the hall to their bedroom.

  At least this would effectively, gloriously, distract her until morning.

  Her hands shook a bit as she stood up from the couch and slid her panties down. The cool air against her pussy told her better than anything how wet she already was. Tugging the camisole over her head she put both items on the couch before walking to the playroom. The door was open, but the room was empty, so she stepped inside and knelt by the door. The peace of submission washed over her as she dropped her eyes to the floor and waited. She lived for this.

  In the quiet of the flat she couldn’t tell how many minutes passed as she steadied her breathing from the excitement his options had brought her. She tried not to guess at what he had planned. Spanking? The belt? Would he bind her? Did he have some new toy he wanted to try? Her mouth was dry as she heard the padding of his bare feet approach the room, and then the door closed.

  Their last session before The Decision was starting.

  James didn’t speak as he moved past her into the room. She heard the cabinet open, a rustle of a drawer and something else, and then it shut. He returned to her empty handed. “Stand up.”

  When she did his eyes devoured her, sending shivers across her skin that hardened her nipples further and sent heat between her legs. He touched her elbow and moved her to the middle of the room, where he tapped the insides of her feet and she knew to spread her feet apart. Then he drew her arms up behind her head and let her interlace them. Her heart rate was picking up, her nerves a symphony of excited tension as he left her standing there. She wanted to look around, to take a peek at what he had in store for her, but not knowing had its own benefits.

  “So you said that you want to feel this session tomorrow, pet?” James’ voice was a purr behind her and she tried to hide the tremor of need that it caused in her muscles.

  “Yes, Master.”

  His chest brushed against her back and she leaned back slightly, keeping the position he’d put her in but still pushing for more contact. His lips pressed to her shoulder in a warm kiss, his hands gliding up her waist, her ribs, and then up her arms. “I want you to feel me tomorrow as well.”

  A soft moan slipped past her lips as his hands trailed down her arms and over her front. Cupping her breasts, his fingers pinching her nipples until she was pushing her chest forward into his hands. She felt his groan against her skin as her body reacted to his touch. Just as his pinches bordered the line between pleasure and pain he released them and trailed his hands down over her hips. Her skin was lighting up under his ministrations, desire unfurling slowly inside her, and she found she wanted to beg him already for more.

  But it was way too early in the night for that.

  James pulled her back against him by her hip, his mouth drawing on the skin of her shoulder in small sucks and bites that she knew would leave marks. It sent a pulse to her core to know he was choosing to mark her, and his hand slid between her thighs to answer it. His fingers swept up the cleft of her pussy, already soaked in anticipation, but he was teasingly
gentle. Thalia’s hips tilted forward, seeking more.

  Then he let go of her completely, her body rocking back on her heels at the absence of his chest, his hands. She had to tighten her grip behind her head to avoid breaking position. “Master!” Her voice was a plea, but James only chuckled.

  “If you wanted the easy path, pet, you could have chosen option one.”

  Thalia groaned and forced a breath, trying to calm the tension in her body that James seemed in no rush to ease. “Yes, Master.”

  “Good girl.” His voice was smooth, but edged with humor as he approached her side. He had moved something behind her, but she couldn’t focus as his hand returned between her thighs. His fingers brushed across her clit and she moaned, biting down on her lip as she pushed forward again. James teased her clit for a moment before he moved in front of her and crouched. She felt the flush in her cheeks from her arousal as he moved a wide based stand between her thighs.

  Ah, so he did have a new toy.

  A metal pole extended up from the base, and at the top of the pole was a dildo pointing straight at her pussy. He grinned at her, his excitement at getting to use his new toy overriding his usual calm and collected expression. “I think you’re going to enjoy this quite a bit, pet. This is going inside you, and it’s your job to keep it there.” With a click the pole extended and she moaned and looked up at the ceiling as she felt him push the dildo up inside her. Her pussy stretched around the smooth head, and she groaned as he slid it deeper until it filled her completely. When he locked the pole at its new height she opened her mouth to breathe and James captured her lips in a kiss, his hand around the back of her neck. Her hands itched to touch him, to rock on the dildo as his tongue moved against hers. Just the idea of it had her moaning against his lips, her grip behind her head loosening. But he broke the kiss before she moved.

  “Now, no matter what I do to you, you will hold this position, and if you break position, or move off the pole, or come without permission, you’ll earn a punishment. Do you understand, pet?” His voice was all dark excitement, and she couldn’t resist it. Her pussy tightened around the dildo and she whimpered at the promise of his plans.

  “Yes, Master.” A quick nod and he rewarded her with a smile before he disappeared behind her again. The first smack of his hand against her ass caused her to jerk forward, and the pole moved with her, dangerously tilting until she shifted her feet back into place. The movement had caused the dildo to rub inside her and her legs shivered at the sensation.

  Ah. That would be the game of the evening then. No restraints, no bondage - nothing to help her hold position except for her own willpower.

  Fuck. She was terrible at this game.

  The next set of spankings had her gripping her fingers tightly behind her head as the sting in her skin caused tingles to rush over her. Heat blossomed on her ass as he warmed her up. Each time his palm landed her body shifted and the dildo rocked inside her, rubbing against her slick walls in a torturous tease that had her whimpering. At twenty he stopped and she grabbed a deep breath. Her ass was glowing with heat, her pussy clenching around the dildo buried inside her, making it impossible to ignore the rising need between her thighs.

  “Your skin is beautiful, pet. All pink and ready. How is the pole?” His voice was a mocking tease.

  “It’s wonderful, Master. Thank you.” Thalia made her voice one of perfect submission, and her lips curved up at the sound of his quiet chuckle behind her.

  “I’m not sure you’d be so cheeky if you knew what I had in my hand, pet.” He moved closer to her and she felt the movement of leather strands across her ass, trailing up her back until he pulled the flogger away. Over their months together Thalia had learned that James collected floggers like other people collected art or memorabilia. With a fervor and excitement that completely belonged to his Dominant side. Various types of leather, designed in a myriad of ways to cause a hundred different sensations when wielded in different ways. Would the one in his hand be heavy and feel like dense thuds across her skin making her body shake under each blow? Or would it be designed so that the tip of each leather strand felt like a swarm of stings landing on her skin? Lighting her up and making her gasp and whimper. “Breathe, pet.”

  Thalia drew in air she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding, and then sparks of pain lit up her backside. She cried out just as a matching strike landed on her other side. Thin strands, maybe oiled leather as sharp as the sting was. Another burst of sharp stings and she lifted onto her toes, the shifting of the dildo inside her distracting her for a moment. James picked up a rhythm, the falls of the flogger stroking across her back and ass and thighs in a criss-crossing pattern that left an electric network of fading stings across her skin. Tears pricked her eyes, but a moan burst from her lips.

  She loved this.

  He moved in front of her, and she drank in the sight of him. Strong shoulders, firm chest, toned arms, his hand holding the balanced handle of a red and black flogger with a silver ring on the end. He pressed the handle to her lips and she kissed it, and he rewarded her with another smile that ratcheted up the heat inside her another degree. When he stepped back his hips shifted and her eyes dropped to the V that disappeared under the edge of his pants. And beneath that? The very evident bulge of his erection that made her whimper.

  God, she wanted him.

  “Not yet, pet. Ready for more?” How he had so much restraint she had never figured out.

  She nodded, ignoring the stinging along her backside and the dripping wetness between her thighs. James adjusted his grip on the flogger and she tightened her hands behind her head. “Yes, Master.”

  The first lash came across her stomach, and her body jerked backwards. The pole pressed the dildo hard back inside her when she moved forward and she squirmed, gritting her teeth against the moan. James quickly picked up the same rhythm as before, only now the flogger landed across her breasts, her stomach, her pussy and upper thighs. She clenched her fists in her hair to hold them there, her hips rocking forward and back on the dildo. Heat suffused her skin under the stings, her body singing, and she knew she was moaning steadily. She bit down on her lip, and then he landed the tips of the flogger across her pussy again. Electric sensation pulsed through her, and the orgasm she hadn’t been aware had been building crashed over her. She was shuddering. Pleasure echoing back inside her on the tails of the pain from the flogger. Thalia had folded forward, her arms wrapped around her head as she breathed through the wave of pleasure, willing her legs not to buckle as they shook.

  “Oh, pet. That was lovely to watch, but you really should have asked permission.” James’ voice was a delicious taunt that pulled her back to their session.

  Thalia made herself stand back up, presenting the way he’d told her, but her body was a shivering mess in the aftershocks. The heat of the flogger covered her, front and back, from chest to thighs. The dildo was shifting in time with her wavering legs, teasing her body.

  James had set the flogger aside and stepped back in front of her with the strap. Her lips parted on a whine, an inarticulate plea for mercy that made him step closer to her. “Have something you want to say, pet?”

  His fingers found her clit and they moved against her, making her legs shake. She bit down on her lip and shook her head. He was pushing her back to the edge and she hadn’t even taken the punishment for her first orgasm.

  “You know if you come when I’m using the strap, you’ll earn another punishment.” His Dominant voice had her whimpering again. It had happened before, especially when he wound her up like he had.

  And she knew by the tone of his voice he’d push her there again.

  “Yes, Master.” Her voice was breathy with need again already. His fingers continued rolling her clit as he kissed her, her moan trapped between their lips, his tongue finding hers. She wanted to move her hands, she wanted to touch him. But she held position, reveling in the incredible feeling of his mouth on hers. When he pulled back he left her gaspi
ng. She was soaked, the dildo hard inside her as she clenched around it.

  “Ready?” His eyes were molten as he lifted the strap up and she kissed it too. She could tell he was fighting a smile this time, and pride filled her up, made her stand a little straighter when he moved behind her.

  “Yes, Master. Thank you!” The last words came out as a cry when the first lash of the strap landed. The fiery line across her ass seemed to have a direct line to her clit, sending a pulse of pleasure through her when the sting faded. Two, three, four. She was going to lose it. Her body tightened around the dildo inside her until she was whimpering, begging. Irrational words tumbling from her lips that she couldn’t stop. “AH! I’m sorry, I’m sorry I came! Please, please!” Another lash that had her dancing forward, the pole between her legs leaning dangerously until she came back to herself enough to shift back, readying for the next blow and keeping it inside her. “Master, I’m sorry! Please, stop!”

  Another.

  The fire in her skin was impossible to ignore, her body teetering on the edge of a glorious tingling abyss. No way could she stop, and she didn’t really want him to even as she begged. Not with the way he got so turned on watching her squirm, the way he told her she was doing so well, his voice making her shiver until the next lash landed. Her voice an aching cry that dissolved into a moan even as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her fists tightened in her hair again, but it only pushed her further, and she fell with the next stroke of the strap. Dissolving into the endless pulse of pleasure that came from between her thighs and washed up her body.