Nobody's Hero

by Kallypso Masters

  “Sounds like your mother wasn’t the only one who suffered his abuse, Adam.” She reached up to cup his cheek and brushed her finger across his lips. The slight tremble told her he might be fighting to maintain control. Good. He needed to lose it for once.

  Adam’s grip tightened on her face and he pulled her closer. “I really don’t want to talk about it.” He paused. “Follow me, kitten.”

  She stepped toward him—what choice did she have? He grinned and took her hand, turning to leave. But she wasn’t ready to let go of this conversation. Well, her mind wasn’t ready; her body was right back to doing what Adam said.

  “Adam, I think if you faced the trauma of your childhood, you’ll free yourself from what’s haunting you right now.”

  Adam turned and she could tell he was pissed by the glare in his gaze, but she stood her ground. “One fucking nightmare doesn’t make me haunted.”

  “It wasn’t the first one, Adam.”

  She felt his hand jolt involuntarily. “What are you talking about?”

  “In the hospital, while you were feverish, you said some things…”

  “What kinds of things?”

  Karla glanced away. How could she repeat those words he’d spoken about his mother doing something so unspeakable? Wanting to comfort him—and perhaps herself—she wrapped her arms around his steel-banded waist and pressed her cheek against his hard chest. His heart was beating fast and hard against her face. She ached for the little boy inside Adam who had been treated so badly as a child.

  Just when she thought he wouldn’t return the hug, at last Adam reached around her and held her, giving her the courage to speak the words. “You were begging your mother not to lock you in something. You were telling her you’d be good, begging not to be…” Tears stung Karla’s eyes, but when Adam tried to break off their embrace, she just held him tighter. “Oh, Adam. I’m so sorry. No child should have to go through that kind of torment.”

  “I don’t need your pity.”

  Again, he tried halfheartedly to remove her arms from him, but she knew he’d have succeeded if he really wanted to. She held on even tighter. “I’m giving you my love, Adam, not my pity.”

  His body grew even more rigid. This time, he reached for her arms and pushed her away from him until he could look down into her eyes. “That’s even worse, kitten.” He turned and walked back across the hallway, closing the door to his bedroom, blocking her out. Again.

  “Oh, Adam. What did they do to you?”

  If Adam wouldn’t talk, then she’d have to find out on her own. If she ever found his parents, she’d be sure to give them a piece of her mind, because the way they’d treated him as a boy made Adam, the man, unable to accept her love. She wouldn’t leave it up to him anymore. She may be the first slave ever to declare war on her Master, but she would take no prisoners in her effort to win Adam’s heart.

  Chapter Nine

  Karla curled into a ball under the quilt, fighting the urge to cry. Fail. She felt as if a wet blanket had been thrown over her. Cassie had described that feeling during one of her bouts of depression after the attack during college. But why should Karla feel depressed? Adam had finally begun seeing her as a woman.

  Master Adam doesn’t want me.

  After their argument over his nightmare, he’d sent her to sleep alone here in her room. She’d cried for hours, then had fallen into a restless sleep for the last hour or so. She needed to make amends. How? She didn’t’ even know what she’d done to displease him.

  Clearly, he didn’t want her anymore. Tears spilled over the bridge of her nose and onto her pillow. The stabbing pain in her chest smothered the air from her lungs. She should go wake Cassie to try and talk this through, but her friend hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep last night either. No, Karla needed to fight through this, whatever this was.

  Go to Adam. He can help.

  Not now, please. She didn’t want to deal with the mysterious voice of the woman who kept telling her what to do. It was enough that she had to take orders from Master Adam. Besides, he'd made it clear he didn’t want her. He’d rejected her. Another sob tore from her throat; she curled up even tighter, trying to lessen the area these feelings could bombard by making herself a smaller target.

  Go to Adam.

  She groaned. All right, already! I’m going!

  She threw the quilt and blankets back and swung her stiff legs over the edge of the bed. She grabbed Adam’s robe; his lingering scent making her want to cry even more. She didn’t want to throw herself at him if he didn’t want her. But she did want to feel his arms around her again. She needed him to make this awful pain go away.

  Problem was, he was the reason for her pain.

  Karla’s heart pounded as she crossed the hallway to Adam’s bedroom and heard his bathroom door close. She opened his door and peeked inside the bedroom. No Adam in sight. She glanced at the hot tub and cringed. Adam said he understood what they were doing out there. Did he, or was he still upset with her?

  The shower spray started, bringing her back to the present. Wasn’t a slave supposed to find ways to please her Master? Surely her Master would welcome having his dutiful slave wash his body, even if he hadn’t ordered her to do so. Then maybe he would hold and cuddle her again. She needed him to touch her.

  Maybe taking care of his needs would help her not feel so abandoned and alone.

  Oh, Lord, if he rejected her offer, though, Karla knew something inside her surely would shrivel up and die. The shower door open and close, and she reached for the bathroom door handle. Her hand stilled with it turned down only halfway. She leaned her forehead against the cold doorjamb.

  Move, Kitty! She wasn’t going to complete her mission standing outside Master Adam’s bathroom door. She didn’t have a lot of time. He took quick showers; must be his Marine training. She wanted him to love her with his whole heart, the way he’d loved Joni.

  Perhaps this was just another pipedream, like her recording career. Master Adam may never be able to love another woman, if he couldn’t let go of Joni. His long-dead wife still controlled his heart with an iron fist.

  She opened the door and peeked inside to see if she would be approaching him without being seen, or if she needed to go on a frontal attack.

  Singing? The last thing she’d expected to hear was Master Adam singing in the shower. He kept his voice low, but he definitely was singing in a voice that sent shivers over her. The man was full of surprises. She hoped they'd have years together for her to discover every one of them. Then she heard a couple snatches of the lyrics.

  “Under my thumb. The girl who once pushed me around.”

  What girl? Her? Is that so, Master? She smiled. Maybe there still was hope yet. Taking another deep breath, she poked her head the rest of the way through the door, her long loose hair dangling toward the floor. His face was in profile and turned toward the spray with his eyes closed. Perfect. She resumed her full height and pulled her shoulders back. To achieve her goal in that shower stall, she’d need to approach him from a position of power, even if she was supposed to be his slave and under his total control—and felt like worthless crap at the moment.

  She let the robe slip from her body and walked across the tiled floor to the shower stall, encased on three sides by clear glass. She’d never seen one like this before. Very open. Very revealing. She stopped to catch her breath at the sight of Adam’s gorgeous chest again. His pecs made her knees give out. And those nips called to her like a siren’s song, just as they had when she was sixteen. His six-pack abs also looked as firm as when she’d first seen them nine years ago. The man took care of his body.

  Lickable. Even as a teen, she’d fantasized his body would be delicious to lick. She watched him reach out and pick up a bottle of body wash and he squirted some into his hand. A familiar woodsy scent permeated the air. He rubbed a lather into his hair.

  Before he finished his shower, she’d better get inside to help. Master Adam was naked and hers for the pleasi
ng. She only hoped he’d accept what she had to offer him.

  * * *

  Adam heard the shower door open and felt someone soft, warm, and naked press against him. His eyes were closed to avoid getting shampoo suds in them—not that he had any doubt who had joined him. “What the f…?”

  “Good Lord, Master, this water is freezing!” Karla must have adjusted the temperature, because the water soon turned very warm, not that he needed any help warming up with her in here with him.

  He groaned, quickly rinsing off the shampoo, then dried his eyes on the towel hanging over the shower door. Karla stood looking up at him like some innocent Alice who’d just taken a wrong turn in Wonderland and wound up in the shower with him. Damn her. He needed that cold water again to keep himself from stirring awake, because his willpower was nil when it came to Karla.

  “Karla, what the fuck are you doing in my shower?”

  “Shhh, Master. Don’t mind me. Your slave just needs to…wants to help bathe you.”

  “I’ve been bathing myself since I was a kid. I don’t need any help.”

  “But you haven’t been bathed by me before, Master.”

  Her sultry smile left no doubt he wasn’t in the shower with a little girl. He definitely caught a glimpse of his feisty Karla again. He felt his balls tighten. She squirted the Oak body wash into her hands and lathered them, running her sexy hands over his chest and abdomen. Gooseflesh raised along her treacherous path. That wasn’t all she raised. He also felt his nips harden into tiny pebbles beneath her fingers. She balanced herself on tiptoes and pressed her lips against his.

  Adam pushed her away, holding her steady by her forearms when she might have lost her balance. Last night, he’d abused her body in a way he never should have. She was practically a virgin, and he’d taken her rough and hard, and then had taken her again an hour later. Even if she’d said she wanted it, she didn’t know what she was unleashing.

  “Don’t. Kitten, you need to go back to your room. Now.”

  The wounded look in her eyes did him in. Her chin quivered, and she turned to reach for the stall’s door handle. He growled and pulled her back toward him, grinding his lips against hers in a gut-wrenching kiss. He knew he should stop there, but his tongue delved inside her sweet mouth. Their tongues mated in a sensual dance, sucking, retreating. His cock throbbed against her abdomen.

  Cool it. You aren’t getting any this morning.

  Karla broke away, gasping for air. “Sir, I think you’re trying to distract your slave from her duties.” She turned him toward the spray to wash the soap away. The tip of her pink tongue stuck out between her lips as she focused on her task. His dick bobbed, aching to bury itself inside her sweet pussy again.

  Damn it, he’d promised himself that wouldn’t happen again. How did she keep short-circuiting his brain?

  “Karla, I want you to…”

  Her pink tongue traced a path toward his left pec and laved his nipple. He wouldn’t have thought it could get any harder, but it did. Shit, her tongue felt so good. What would it hurt to let her explore him a bit? He could stop her before things went too far.

  After washing his other nipple with her tongue, she pulled back and smiled up at him. “I’ve been fantasizing about doing that since I was sixteen.”

  Thank you, God. All he’d needed was that reminder of how young she was. Now he’d be able to kick her out of here.

  Karla rubbed her nipples against his chest until he felt her nubs turn to stone against his water-slickened skin. Fuck. The woman didn’t play fair. With a groan, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back, then bent down to take her erect nipple into his mouth. He nipped playfully at first, then bit down harder.

  “Ahhhh!” Her moan of ecstasy, coupled with the jutting of her hips toward him, caused his dick to harden even more. He released her hair just as her fingers threaded through his and pulled him closer. He sucked her further into his mouth, then pulled away, taking her tit with him.

  Sweet Jesus.

  She gasped for air. “Sir.” The breathy word made his dick bob. “I haven’t finished washing you. Turn around…Sir.” Somehow he didn’t think adding the title made her words any less of a command. Clearly, the woman was just playing at being his submissive…his slave. She’d more naturally swing toward being a Mistress, if given half a chance. Not that he'd allow her to top him, of course.

  Her hands reached up to his shoulders and she began to try and turn him. Her touch and those incredibly sexy blue eyes made him forget himself for a moment, but he halted. No way was he going to let her see his back.

  He needed to re-establish his place as her Master. He needed for her to fucking safeword.

  “Turn around, kitten.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes wide, pupils dilated. When she didn’t respond, he reached down and slapped her ass. Hard. The surprise on her face made him even harder as the sting of his hand against her wet butt grabbed her intention, the sensory memory of their time in his office a few hours ago now front and center in his mind. Minutes ago, he’d intended to march her out of the shower, but now all he wanted was to bury himself to the hilt inside her tight pussy. She might as well learn that with him, it most often would be rough sex.

  “I. Said. Turn. Around.”

  She complied, but more slowly than he’d like. “When your Master gives you an order, kitten, you need to comply more quickly or risk his displeasure and your possible punishment.” Grabbing a fistful of her hair again, he pulled her head back with one hand, while he pushed her roughly against the shower stall glass. He wished he had a mirror positioned where he could see her breasts pressed against the glass, but at the moment, all he wanted to do was touch her pussy. He reached down and his finger zeroed in on her clit. Slick. He slid down her cleft and he shoved two fingers inside her without impediment. Her gasp made his balls ache. She was ready for him.

  He took her hands. “Use your hands as a cushion.” Prying her fists open, he laid her palms flat against the glass, in front of her face. Things were about to get rough, and he didn’t want her banging her head on the glass while he was banging her pussy. “I’m going to fuck my slave, fast and hard, and she isn’t going to come until I tell her she can. Is that understood?”

  He heard the hitch in her breath that told him her excitement level had raised, too. She nodded. Damn it. She wanted it rough?

  “Answer me.” He wanted to be sure she wanted him to do this. He didn’t get off on non-consensual sex.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Her breathless response told him all he needed to know. He stepped back, grabbed her hips and pulled her toward him until her head and hands slid down the glass. He had her back bent at a perfect angle for leaning over and grabbing one of her tits between his finger and thumb. With his teeth against her shoulder, mindful not to bite in the same place as he’d bitten her earlier, he rammed his stiff cock into her tight sheath.

  “Oh, God!”

  Hearing her words and feeling her pussy spasm around him was all the encouragement he needed. He stood up and began pumping hard and fast, just as he’d promised. When he heard her head hit the glass, he slowed the pace and released her tit. “Hands in front of your face.” She adjusted her hands, and he began pounding his pelvis against her firm ass again immediately. She’d surrendered herself to his control. His hand moved to her clit again. He felt the erect nubbin and took it between his finger and thumb, much as he had her nipple, he pressed until she screamed in pain.

  “Ow. Stop!”

  “Did you just tell your Master to stop, kitten?”

  She sucked air in and out of her lungs and he watched her shoulders rise and fall with the effort to regain control. No chance. He pinched her again and her pussy clamped onto his dick like a vise. Shit.

  “I’m sorry, Sir. Please, use your slave as you wish.”

  Hearing her referring to herself in the third person pissed him off. He didn’t want her to see herself as his property. His slave. Was
that what she wanted?

  No way. Not Karla. Safeword, damn it.

  “I don’t need your permission, kitten. I’m already using your body as I wish.” He released his hold on her clit and began stroking her rapidly until her mewling whimpers told him she neared the peak.

  “Please, Sir. May I come?” She gasped for air.

  “No.”

  Her groan of frustration made him throb. He removed his hand and grabbed her hips again, pounding into her mercilessly. “Oh, Adam. Please don’t make me wait!”

  “What did you call me?” He ground the words out between clenched teeth, but didn’t slow his pace. She felt so fucking good sheathing his dick.

  “I’m…sorry, Master. Your slave forgot herself.”

  What would it take for her to call off this ridiculous arrangement?

  Deprivation. If she enjoyed everything he threw at her when it came to BDSM and rough sex, then deprivation was the next weapon in his arsenal. He felt himself about to come, but first ground out the words for her punishment. “Kitten…you are not permitted to come.” His balls tightened, and his shaft began to pulsate as his hot cum spurted inside her.

  “Sir. I don’t understand.”

  He heard the confusion and need in her voice as he slammed into her, harder than before and heard her head bang against the shower wall again. Shit. Go easier on her, jarhead. He couldn’t let her get under his last defense. He hated himself for it, and didn’t understand his need to push her away while at the same time bury himself inside her.

  “A slave never questions her Master. If you don’t want this arrangement any longer, then safeword.” With a few more strokes, he finished shooting his load inside her hot pussy. His hand shook as he fought the urge to reach down and give her pleasure, too. But depriving her of one orgasm wasn’t going to kill her. He needed to show her being his slave meant he had total control of her body. He needed to continue to show her how bad this arrangement was for her until he could get her to fucking safeword.