Sub Rosa

by Emma York

  Once I was dressed, I felt a little better, though my head was still pounding and I was in yesterday's clothes. I couldn't stay in here all morning. I had to get home at some point, get showered, get changed, get ready for work tonight.

  It was only when I walked downstairs that I realised how hungry I was. It was always the same when I had a hangover. I went from the appetite of a songbird on a diet to wanting to vacuum up an entire fridge of food. The smell of bacon drew me along the hallway like I was a cartoon character drifting along a visible cloud of scent and I eventually found a kitchen the size of my entire place. At the far end, about a mile and a half away, he was pouring out two mugs of coffee.

  "Morning," he said, walking over and passing one of the steaming mugs to me. "Sleep well?"

  "Yes, thanks. Listen, about last night. Can I just say sorry for-"

  "It's fine," he said. "Don't even worry about it. Just go through there and get sat down or it'll get cold."

  "You made breakfast? I'm honoured."

  He nodded. "Now go sit."

  I did as he said, walking through a door into the adjoining dining room. There was a long dark wooden table in the middle of the room, morning light streaming through the tall windows in the far wall. I had barely sat myself down before he appeared with plates piled high with bacon, eggs, and beans. "Perfect," I said with a grin. "How did you know?"

  "Because it's what I always want after I've been drinking."

  "Oh God, don't mention drink. I never want to see another drop of wine again."

  "That's going to make working as a barmaid a bit awkward. How is it?"

  "Good," I replied through a mouthful of bacon. I chewed quickly. "Really good."

  We fell silent for a couple of minutes. Whenever I looked up, he was watching me and I felt certain he was judging me for last night, that he couldn't wait to get rid of me. "Listen, I should explain."

  "Explain what?" he asked after draining the last of his coffee.

  "I get nervous sometimes. I think it's my mum's influence."

  "She makes you nervous?"

  "She makes everyone nervous."

  "Really?"

  "She doesn't mean to. It's just she can be quite prudish at times and I guess it rubbed off on me. I don't like letting her down and if she knew I was in the house of a man I barely know, well, let's just say she wouldn't be very impressed. And here I am talking about my mother. Sexy, right?

  "Anyway, so I might have drunk a bit too much and made an idiot of myself and I'm sorry. There, you can hate me now."

  "I don't hate you. Far from it. Did you know you snore by the way?"

  "I don't, do I? Oh, God, that's even worse."

  "It was adorable, don't worry. Like how a cute little mouse would snore. At least you didn't throw up everywhere."

  "There's still time if you compare me to a cute little mouse again."

  He picked up a piece of toast and bit into it. "Tell me about yourself. Do you still live with your parents?"

  "Not anymore. But it's just my Mum."

  "Dad?"

  "He died a long time ago."

  "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

  "It's all right."

  "So you're not still living at home then?"

  "No."

  "How you finding life in the real world?"

  I laughed. "It's interesting. What about you? Where are your parents?"

  "Somewhere in the Caribbean. Barbados or Bermuda or somewhere starting with B last I heard."

  "Birmingham?"

  "Could be for all I know. They've been cruising for about ten years now."

  "Open relationship is it?"

  He blinked before grinning. "Very good. Almost didn't get that one."

  "So is this their house or yours?"

  "All mine. They live in the big house in the country."

  "So this isn't the big house?"

  "No, this is the poky little place in the city."

  "Poky?" I looked around at the dining room big enough for a town hall meeting. "This is poky?"

  "Listen, Alice, we can talk about my house all morning but I need to know something first."

  "What?"

  "Did you ask me to kiss you because you were drunk?"

  "Yes. I mean, no. Sort of." I fanned my face, feeling my cheeks starting to burn. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

  "Because," he interrupted, "if I do kiss you, there's no turning back."

  "Turning back? What from?"

  "From making you mine. Once I've kissed you, I own you. Do you know what that means?"

  I shook my head slowly, still trying to process the fact that he even wanted to do it. I barely registered what he was saying about owning. He wanted to kiss me. He wasn't repulsed by me, he didn't hate me for what I'd done last night.

  "It means you do every single thing I tell you without question or hesitation. I will take you to the heights of absolute pleasure like nothing you've ever known and in return you will submit yourself to me entirely."

  "Is that the rules of the auction?"

  "No, it's the rules of who I am. And who you are. I don't want a one night stand, Alice. I want so much more than that. So I'm only going to ask you this once. Do you want me to kiss you?"

  EIGHT

  ETHAN

  I stood up, pulling her to her feet, keeping her hands in mine. I looked closely into her eyes. "Do you want me to kiss you?"

  She opened her mouth to answer. I leaned forwards ready to take her, to own her, to possess her body and her mind. Then her phone rang.

  "Shit," she said, fumbling into her pocket. I didn't even know her skirt had a pocket. "Sorry."

  I stepped back, trying not to laugh. There was me asserting my dominance over her, waiting for her to say yes. And then this.

  "Hi, Mum," she said into the phone, mouthing, "Sorry," to me.

  "It's fine," I whispered back, gathering up the plates to take them into the kitchen.

  "I know you rang last night. I saw the missed calls. No, I'm not dead. I was just tired."

  I pushed my way through to kitchen. Things weren't going exactly how I had planned but she was still here. That was the important thing. I decided to make a couple of calls while she was on the phone. The first was to the office to check in, let them know I wouldn't be in today, get a few meetings rescheduled. The second was to let my lawyer known Jason Fry was back in town. He knew to tighten down the contact points, make sure no other ideas slipped out to him.

  We could afford to take the hit on one idea, even if it had taken a year to work up. But we couldn't afford for him to steal everything and I knew he would if he thought he could get away with it. I'd seen the look in his eyes after the auction, that bitterness that said he would be looking for any chance at revenge he could get.

  I finished on the phone then dumped the dishes in the dishwasher. Once that was done, I returned to the dining room. She was still on the phone. "Of course I'll be there, I wouldn't miss Sunday dinner with you for the world but do we have to talk about it now? I'm just a bit busy that's all. No, I'm not doing drugs." She looked at me and rolled her eyes.

  "I'll be in there," I mouthed, heading through to the conservatory. It was where I kept my gym equipment. It was too soon after eating for running or cycling but I could do my regular morning weightlifting without too much trouble while she finished on the phone.

  As I pulled off my top and lay down on the bench, I found myself comparing her relationship with her mother to mine with my parents. It was intriguing to see how different they were. Her mother clearly worried about her as if she was still a child.

  My parents had never worried about me. They'd never called to have a conversation like that. I always thought that was what made me so independent. From when I was a kid, I had to take care of myself. The only thing they knew was problems could be solved with money. For me, it wasn't that simple. If I fell over and scraped my knee, all the money in the world wouldn't make it heal quicker. All I wanted was a bit of a
ttention. Instead I got a new bike.

  I found myself lifting faster, gritting my teeth at the ache in muscles, doing my best to ignore it. I started to sweat as I moved onto leg lifts. I got through my whole routine and she still hadn't appeared. That gave me time to shower.

  I'd had a shower room installed next to the conservatory. It meant I could work out while looking out at the grounds and not have to traipse upstairs to get clean afterwards.

  There was a fresh suit in there ready for me, same as every morning. I was just stripping out of my shorts when I heard a knock on the door. I thought for a brief second before saying, "Come in."

  She walked in. "Sorry about-" she began before stopping dead. She looked straight down at my cock, her eyes widening before she forced her gaze back up to my face, "that." She began to stutter. "Y...y...you're naked."

  "I'm about to shower," I said. "Hard to do it with clothes on."

  It was a deliberate test. I was tired of mucking about. I didn't have forever with her. Once she'd seen my body, she'd either run or stay. This was the quickest way to find out which. If she ran, so be it.

  She didn't run.

  She didn't move. She just stood there repeating herself. "You're naked."

  "You never answered my question."

  "Wh...what question?"

  I took a step towards her, lifting her face by putting my finger under her chin. "Whether you want me to kiss you."

  She paused and in the quietest voice imaginable, she said, "I do."

  I leaned towards her, pressing my lips against hers. From the moment I kissed her, something passed between us. It was a spark running from her into me, something that was mine forever, something that could never be taken away.

  I knew she felt it too, she closed her eyes and warmed to the kiss, her lips parting slowly as my hands slid around her back, drawing her towards me.

  I ignored the throbbing desire in my cock. All I wanted to do in that moment was hold her close, feel her warmth, her slight trembling frame as I stared at her, unable to believe it was finally happening. I had wanted so much more but I hadn't realised this was all I needed, one kiss. It was enough to tell me she couldn't leave, she couldn't walk away.

  I had to stay with her. She had to stay with me. Everything else that followed was a direct consequence of that tiny spark that passed between us. I knew that I would do whatever it took to keep that spark alive, to nurture it into a burning fire that she had created, something no one else had ever done for me before.

  It was immensely powerful and the longer we embraced, the stronger it became until by the time we parted, I was a changed man. I didn't just want to use her body, I wanted to own her soul.

  "That was nice," she said, swaying on her feet.

  "Now I need to shower," I said, thinking already of the future. Leave her wanting more, it would not be long before she was begging me for more kisses, for much more than just kisses too. But that could wait. First I was going to get clean. Or so I thought.

  NINE

  ALICE

  I couldn't let him go. From the moment he kissed me, I was his. I melted into his arms and I wanted it to last forever. The world faded and there was only us. I had known him such a short spell of time but with that kiss, it was as if he was returning to me from long ago, as if I'd been missing him my whole life and hadn't even realised it.

  Then he just walked away. I couldn't let him. I grabbed his hand, turning him back towards me, not caring how pathetic I sounded. "Please, kiss me again."

  He smiled. My eyes ran down his body again, seeing how hard he'd become.

  When I'd finally managed to get off the phone, I'd felt drained beyond measure. He had been on the verge of kissing me when she'd rung. I'd already had two missed calls overnight. Another one and she'd be on the phone to the police. I had to answer. But the call had turned into an interrogation, her hearing things in my voice that I didn't even know were there.

  I had managed to end it by promising her I would tell her the truth if I started seeing anyone. At that point, I hadn't.

  But when I walked into the little room off the conservatory and saw him naked, I forgot about my mother. I forgot about feeling drained. The only thing I could think about was his body and how good it looked. He had the muscular torso and firm muscles of a bodybuilder, combined with strong arms that looked like boughs of trees, they'd keep me so safe if he held me in them.

  That wasn't all I saw. I tried not to look, wondering if he hadn't realised he was naked. But my body betrayed me. It was already heating up by the time my eyes moved down to what lay between his legs. It was big. It was making me wet just to look at it. The thought of that inside me made me shiver as he crossed the floor towards me.

  I became wetter than ever when he kissed me. I wanted him inside me, my body ached for him, feeling empty where I had felt nothing before. I felt an absence, a lacking that could only be resolved by him sliding that stiffening cock into me. I would grip him so tightly.

  "Kiss me," I said again, standing on tiptoe to reach him.

  "Strip," he said in response, taking a step back. "Slowly."

  I gulped. He had his hand where I wanted it, on the shaft of his cock. He was stroking it slowly.

  I did my best but I was no club floor worker. My fingers were shaking so badly, I got my top stuck over my head, pulling it free a second later and trying my best sexy pout to make up for it. I couldn't believe I was doing this but after he'd kissed me things were different. He gave me a command. I followed it. The doubts could still churn around inside me but the action was inevitable. I had been told to strip so I did.

  I unhooked my bra, holding it over my chest as the straps fell away, doing my best to tease him but hiding what he wanted to see. Letting the bra fall, I grabbed my breasts, hiding them and spinning away from him. With my back to that cock, I slid my skirt down, bending forwards as I did so. When it hit the floor I stood up, doing the same with my panties, feeling his eyes on me. I didn't get to stand up before his hands were on me.

  I gasped as he spun me round, plunging his tongue into my mouth. He pushed me backwards until I was pressed up against the wall, unable to move away, his cock digging into my skin, the heat of it making me tingle inside with desire.

  His fingers slid down my body, briefly groping my breasts before sliding lower.

  His mouth went to my neck, nuzzling and grazing and distracting me from my fears. Anxiety melted away as his hand went between my legs, sliding over my pussy and finding my wetness, pushing eagerly into me.

  I thrust my hips onto him, groaning louder than I ever had, feeling a sense of release as he started to thrust into me with two fingers, widening me, exploring my insides, driving me wild with need for him.

  If I glanced down, I could see his cock, rock hard, a single clear drop on the tip. I wanted to taste it so badly.

  His fingers kept moving inside me until I felt an orgasm approaching. It seemed to take no time at all. He hadn't even touched my clit. I knew he would have to if I was to come but I also knew the lightest touch would get me there.

  When he pulled his fingers out, he stepped back, looking down at my body. "Turn around," he said.

  I did as he asked at once, feeling his hands on my ass, groping and caressing in equal measure.

  "Bend over."

  I leaned against the wall, my hands holding me up as he grabbed my hips, his cock sliding over my pussy, teasing and tormenting me. "Please," I muttered.

  "Please what?"

  "Please fuck me."

  The moment my mouth closed, he was in me. I screamed with mingled shock and surprise as he plunged into my wetness. There was a brief pain of resistance as I coated him in my juices and then there was just a heavy sense of perfect fullness. He was huge, there was no room for even another inch.

  He held himself inside me. I was able to feel him throbbing, hear his heavy breathing behind me. It must have taken some self control to remain still as I wanted him to fuck me so hard. I w
as on the edge of an orgasm but he wasn't letting me reach it. He knew exactly what he was doing.

  He slid out, leaving me so weak, I almost collapsed. "Get on your knees," he said, his voice little more than a deep growl.

  TEN

  ETHAN

  It was difficult not to fuck her as hard as I could but I had learned a lot about self control over the years. I knew it would be all the better for teasing her and for teasing myself.

  When she had stripped, I felt a sense of relief combined with lust. I had wanted to see her naked so badly, it hurt. And now I had. She looked incredible. When she bent over and lowered her panties, her pussy was glistening with wetness so much I couldn't wait.

  I brought her to the brink of orgasm while listening to those perfect moans of hers. Then I stopped to fuck her just once, to thrust into her a single time.

  Now she was on her knees, staring hungrily at my cock as I stroked it gently in front of her face. "Do you want this?" I asked, brushing it over her lips.

  "I do," she replied, lunging for it.

  "Then say please."

  "Please, Ethan. Please give it to me."

  "Give you what?"

  "Please give me your cock."

  "You want it in your mouth?"

  "I do. Please put it in my mouth."

  "Use your mouth to pleasure me. Keep your hands behind your back."

  She did as I asked. She was already proving to be the perfect submissive. Her lips slid over the head of my cock and then I was in heaven. I filled her mouth, almost choking her.

  Watching her use her face to fuck my cock was exquisite. It would have been nice for her hands to be on my shaft but to see someone so innocent greedily tasting me was so much better, using only her mouth to bring me close to orgasm worryingly quickly.

  Her hands slid around to feel my chest. I pulled away at once. "What did I tell you?"

  "I'm sorry, I forgot." She again lunged for my cock but I shook my head.