Misadventures with a Master

by Meredith Wild

  That’s it. I can’t take a minute more. I push to my feet and turn to get my shoes. I hear him rise from the chair behind me.

  “Where are you going?”

  Steadying myself on the bureau, I hook on one of my stilettos. “Home. I have a perfectly good vibrator that will get me off if you don’t want to.”

  Without warning, he lassos his arm around my waist and tosses me onto the bed. I bounce with the force of it and open my mouth, ready to tell him to go to hell, until he starts unbuttoning his shirt, a different kind of fire in his eyes.

  “You want me to fuck you?”

  The way he says it, the question feels more like a threat. I sink back onto the bedspread, cautiously hopeful. My heart races. He’s pissed off, but I’m not sure if it’s enough for me to stop him if he’s finally ready to give me what I want.

  I trap my lower lip between my teeth and nod, unwilling to let my smartass mouth screw this up.

  He yanks the crisp white shirt off, revealing his massive shoulders and chiseled abdomen. I bite my lip harder. He climbs over me, and I fall back. Then his lips come down hard on mine. I lace my arms around his neck and draw him closer. He settles between my thighs, and it’s divine—the pressure of his body pushing me into the mattress, the hard ridge of his erection teasing me through our clothes. I sigh. Every time he touches me, it’s bliss. Water in the desert. But it’s never enough to truly quench my thirst.

  I lift my hips and add to the friction between us. His groan rumbles through me. I feel it in a rush to my clit before he finds his way there, pushing my panties aside. I arch against him, urging him on. More, more, more…

  Then he shoves two fingers deep inside me, deeper than he’s ever gone.

  “Ow!” I widen my eyes at the sudden sting.

  “What about this, kitten?”

  He doesn’t pull away. He adds more pressure, enough that I almost give in to the urge to scoot away and ease it.

  “Did you think I didn’t know? Did you think I couldn’t feel it when I was making you come all those times?”

  I bite my lip so hard it might bleed. I’ve never made a point to advertise my virginity. Charlotte doesn’t even know. It’s always been easier to find friends to get into trouble with when they didn’t think I was so innocent. But for all my thrill-seeking, I could never bring myself to go through with it. At least not with the blue bloods who were prowling DC for their next hookup. Not until Demitri seduced me with a look. The first command off his lips, and I was his.

  But now he seems even more pissed than before, and I wish like hell I’d told him.

  “I wasn’t trying to keep it from you,” I lie.

  He pushes harder, and I wince at the discomfort.

  “You want me to break it with my fingers or my cock?”

  “Your cock,” I whisper.

  “Then tell me the truth when I ask you a question.”

  I take a few shaky breaths and fight tears. I’m so angry with myself. “I didn’t want to scare you away.”

  “Do I look like someone who’s easily intimidated?”

  He withdraws from my tender tissues, which is both a relief and its own kind of agony.

  “I’m not like the other girls. The subs you usually go for.”

  He manages a dry laugh. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  I wilt. Having Demitri this close, pinning me to the bed, I feel so exposed, unable to escape the truth he now knows. I turn my head and squeeze my eyes closed.

  His lips are a warm whisper along my neck, and I relax a little at the tender touch.

  “I can’t wait to break you, krásná. And when I do, you’re going to bleed for me. I’m not going to slow down. I’m going to kiss your tears and fuck you harder. Your mind and your body. Until you can’t tell the difference between the pain and the pleasure.”

  He sinks his teeth into my neck, and I shudder. His promise is electricity lighting up under my skin, willing me closer, tighter, seeking his mouth again. We’re deep in another kiss when a shrill sound severs the contact. My purse vibrates once, then twice. He lifts himself up and hands it to me. I check it quickly. It’s a text from Charlotte.

  Can’t wait for you to visit! I’m

  working on plans for New Year’s

  Eve. Let me know if you want to

  bring a date. Zane’s already in

  bodyguard mode about it, so a

  distraction would be great!

  She appends the message with an eye-roll emoji. A weak smile tugs at my lips. I toss the phone down. The little spark of excitement I feel about seeing my best friend in New York is quickly replaced with my own frustration for not silencing my phone. Because now the moment is gone.

  Demitri has his shirt on and is buttoning it up again. “I should go.”

  I frown. “Why?”

  “I have work to do.”

  “One night away from the club isn’t going to kill you.”

  He shrugs into his suit coat and comes to me. “Something came up that needs my attention.”

  I refrain from reiterating how much I need his attention, because I can tell it’s not enough to make him stay. I stand, wishing I had my heels on. He’s so much taller, but he brings his arms around me and pulls me to him. Lifting me off my toes, he finds my mouth once more and kisses me with the passion I’m desperate to know more of. I never want it to end, and then it does.

  “Good night, kitten. I’ll call you for your next lesson, okay?”

  I sigh and nod, trying not to show him how hard it is to say goodbye.

  Chapter Three

  Demitri

  Master.

  That’s what they call me. Plenty of submissives have surrendered to me over the years. Never once have I been completely consumed by one… My kitten.

  From the moment Katherine Harrison stepped into my world, she’s been the exception to every rule, a very sexy distraction that I didn’t need. Choosing her as my new plaything was about as safe as playing a game of Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun.

  Her father holds enough political power to crush any man he doesn’t approve of. I’m certain he wouldn’t approve of anything I’ve been doing to his only daughter. I’m dancing with danger. A little bit of danger never stopped me before, though. Especially now that I want Katherine in a way that would terrify most…in a way that should terrify her.

  Leaving her in the hotel room was far from easy. She wears me down a little more every time we’re together. Her virginity should deter me more than anything, but the circumstance only makes me obsess more over what I can’t have. What I refuse to take.

  I’ve held back for months, feeding her hopes and desires just enough to keep her coming back for more. And as long as she keeps entertaining our little lessons, she stays away from Crave, which keeps both of us out of trouble with her father. Because she’s too spirited to take no for an answer.

  I don’t want to turn her away either. I’ve come to love this game of Cat and Mouse that we’re playing—even if the current heavy ache in my balls suggests otherwise.

  I approach Crave’s private back entrance, slide my access card into the reader, and turn the handle on the door. The smell of pussy and sex greets me. My cock instantly hardens, and I fight to compose myself. Being here tonight is going to be torture.

  Of course, I have the power to do something about it. Crave is literally crawling with willing subs. With one snap of my fingers, I can have my pick of any one of a dozen women, a few of which are already eye-fucking me as I pass through the club’s main floor.

  There’s just one problem. None of them are Katherine. I’ve been fantasizing about training her sinfully sweet mouth all day. I would have, too, except Ronan called and shot that plan all to hell.

  Relieved to reach my office, I open the door to find a man sitting behind my desk. Ronan Lockhart is tilted back in my expensive leather chair with his feet propped up on the edge of the mahogany. He’s staring at the security monitor that
hangs on the adjacent wall like it’s some sort of porn video. In his right hand is a half-drained glass of my most expensive bourbon. The nine-hundred-and-seventy-five-dollar bottle of Parker’s Heritage is uncorked on my desk. Friend or not, he seriously needs to learn his place.

  I walk around to where he is sitting and knock his feet off my desk, causing him to spill some of his drink.

  “What the hell, D? This shit’s expensive.” He wipes the bourbon off his arm with his shirt sleeve.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m the one who fucking bought it.” I snatch the glass out of his hand. “Get the hell out of my chair.”

  Ronan stands, glowering. His six-foot-three frame matches mine in height, but my thirty extra pounds of muscle give me quite an advantage over him. He can challenge me all he wants, but he knows how a showdown between us will shake out.

  “What crawled up your ass?”

  As he walks off, I turn the glass up, finishing it in one gulp. “I had important plans tonight before you ruined them. If I’d known you were coming here to drink up all my booze, I would’ve stayed where I was. I left a beautiful, needy woman for this meeting.”

  “Well, excuse me for interrupting your fuck fest with the precious feline. But this meeting is more important.”

  “It better be.”

  Ronan’s expression turns solemn. “It’s Lennox.”

  Lennox Novak.

  One name. That’s all it takes for my blood to boil. The monster inside me rises to the surface—one that’s capable of unspeakable things. The version of me that Katherine’s never seen and never will.

  I slam the empty tumbler down so hard on the desk, I’m shocked when the glass doesn’t shatter. “What about him?”

  “My sources are telling me he’s here…in DC.”

  “The Czech government is watching him like a hawk. He’s not even allowed to leave the country.”

  “How he got here shouldn’t be your concern. It’s the why part.”

  My eyes narrow. “You and I both know why he’s here.”

  He nods. “It’s just a matter of time before he tries to make contact. And when he does, I need you to accept a meeting with him. If we plan this out well, the agency can bring him down and we can put him away for good.”

  I shake my head. “That’s not going to happen. I won’t agree to any meeting.”

  Ronan gives me an incredulous look. “The man murdered your parents and left your sister for dead. He’s been untouchable for years. And now that he’s practically in our backyard, you don’t want to do something about it? Are you insane?”

  Ronan’s eagerness to bring Lennox down is fueled by more than a desire to help avenge my family. Eliminating one of Eastern Europe’s largest criminals would be the ultimate career boost for him. Ronan might be my most trusted friend, but he values his career with the CIA just as much as his alliance with me. The intel I’ve been feeding him over the years has already helped him rise in the ranks at the agency. I’ve never minded helping him on other cases. But this one is personal.

  Very fucking personal.

  “I can’t be in the same room with him and not put a bullet in his head, Ronan. There’s no way I can meet with him and not lose control. And if I lose control, I’ll start a war that puts people I care about at risk. I left that life behind for a reason. Adriana has paid enough for my sins.”

  I’m not about to bring danger to my sister’s front door. Not after everything she’s been through. She’s been happy here in DC for a long time, and I plan to keep it that way.

  “Don’t you think I want that too? I would never put Addi in danger. I would never let anything happen to her.”

  Ronan drops down into the chair across from my desk. Calling her “Addi” is a bit too personal for my liking. I’m ready to press him on it when my phone chimes with an incoming text from Katherine.

  Can’t sleep. Thinking of

  stopping by the club for a while.

  As much as I’d love to pick back up where we left off on her training lesson, I’m too amped up over Ronan’s news. And I don’t want her anywhere near Crave. Not tonight. Not ever.

  I exhale a regretful sigh and type my reply.

  Not tonight, kitten.

  When I look up from my phone, Ronan is studying me hard.

  I narrow my gaze. “Is there a problem?”

  “You’ve gotten too close to her.”

  “I don’t remember asking your opinion.”

  Ronan doesn’t back down. “I’m not giving you my opinion, D. I’m simply stating facts. You’ve got feelings for her. Admit it.”

  I set my phone on the desk, trying my best to appear impassive. Except Ronan is exactly right. From the first time I laid eyes on Katherine Harrison, I knew she’d be different. Her curiosity drew me in—the way she’d watch the club from the dark corners. Always watching, never playing…until I tempted her to play with me.

  I had to seek her out after that first encounter. I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t stop feeding the infatuation. Now I’m every bit as preoccupied as she is with the things we haven’t done. I want to discover all her insecurities, test all her limits. I want to fucking break her. The only problem is I’m afraid she’s going to break me first.

  “She’s a submissive in training, nothing more,” I say in a clipped tone. I don’t know who I’m trying to fool. Even I don’t believe my own words.

  Ronan straightens in his chair, a smug smile spreading across his face. “Oh, yeah? Prove it. Pick a girl from the floor and take her to one of the playrooms.”

  I glare at him. “I don’t have to prove a fucking thing to you.”

  Ronan shoots me a triumphant smirk and leans back in his chair. “You just did, kamaráde.”

  Chapter Four

  Katherine

  Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

  Letting out a loud groan, I blindly pat my hand next to me in search for my vibrating phone. I open my eyes, and the time displayed on the bright screen slowly comes into focus.

  9:02 a.m.

  Shit.

  I snooze the alarm and sink into my pillow long enough to feel the fatigue pull me back under. I only caught a few hours of sleep last night. Thoughts of other subs satisfying Demitri’s needs kept me up to the point of exhaustion. I have no right to be jealous, but I am. He had to be needing a release. He was still hard when he left me, going to the one place where he’d be surrounded by horny, willing subs. He can’t possibly be satisfied from what little I give him.

  My heart twists. Just the thought of him with another woman makes me sick. Why won’t he treat me like the others?

  Because I’m still a virgin.

  His rejections make sense now. I thought I could hide my inconvenient secret, but I should have known someone like him would know instantly that I’ve never been with a man. No one knows my body better than he does. But no matter how hard I try to please him, he won’t take me the way I want him to.

  The alarm goes off again. God, how does ten minutes pass so damn fast?

  I turn twenty-two today, and I’m running out of time to make it to the restaurant in time to meet my parents. I throw off the covers, bolt up out of the bed, and quickly get dressed. I cinch my hair into a low bun, slip on the diamond earrings my grandmother gifted me for my sixteenth birthday, and quickly check my appearance in the mirror to ensure I’ll pass inspection.

  Satisfied, I grab my cherry-red peacoat and take the elevator down.

  “Good morning, Miss Harrison.” Derrick, the building’s young doorman, winks as I pass by him in the lobby.

  I smirk and raise my hand to hail a cab. “Morning, Derrick.”

  I praise the taxi gods when a car slows at the curb. Derrick opens the door for me and ushers me in, his hand firm at the base of my spine.

  “Thanks,” I say tightly.

  By some miracle, I make it to the restaurant with a minute to spare. In my father’s desperate attempt at trying to make us appear to be a normal family, my presence at our monthly Sun
day brunches has become mandatory. Of course, nothing about our lives is remotely normal.

  My father’s rising legal and political career destroyed any semblance of normalcy years ago. Now my parents pencil in quality time with me on their calendar like a routine dental appointment. Except these fake attempts to appear to be something we aren’t make me resent them that much more. I’m so tired of pretending, tired of acting.

  As the host leads me to the table, I run my palm down my navy-blue shift dress and plaster my best fake smile on my face—the one that often fools even me into believing I can be the perfect daughter in a perfect family. But we’re not perfect. We are far from it.

  My father stands to greet me and leans in for a brief hug. I wait for him to acknowledge my birthday, but he doesn’t. I give him a quick kiss on the cheek and glance over to the empty seat beside him where my mother normally sits. Her customary mimosa is also missing from the table.

  I carefully situate myself into the chair across from him. “Where’s Mom?”

  My father gives me a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Your mother decided to stay a few extra days in Naples. I guess she doesn’t want to give up the sunrays yet. She sends her love, of course.”

  Swallowing down the hurt, I nod and reach for the tall menu in front of me.

  I can’t believe it. They forgot my birthday. Again.

  I quietly berate myself for getting my hopes up. I’ve learned to shoulder the disappointment so many times before. I don’t know why I thought this time would be any different.

  The waiter takes our order, and then my father and I resume our awkward silence.

  He takes a sip of his coffee, studying me hard. “How’s school going?”

  “Fine,” I say. “I really enjoyed my classes this semester.”