by Lucia Jordan
Lacey tried her best to conceal her jitters as she walked up to the front entrance of the elegant house. A butler opened the door before she could knock.
“Guests are gathering in the evening room, ma’am,” he told her, and gestured toward a back hall. “The playrooms will be open all night. If there is anything more you need, please see one of the attendants in the green jackets, or ask for me, Fisher.”
“Thanks, Mr. Fisher.” Lacey tried to sound casual but she could already feel her cheeks turning pink. Playrooms? What kind of games do these people play?
Walking back through the house she heard the low sounds of people talking and laughing over a background of soft classical music. Hoping she wouldn’t be walking in on an orgy in progress, she took a deep breath and entered through the doors that were standing open.
Two dozen men and women occupied the room, which had been furnished in a striking minimalist style featuring nothing but gray, silver and chrome. The entirely neutral setting had the immediate effect of making the occupants’ coloring and outfits stand out as if the guests themselves were mobile works of art. With the exception of a few green-jacketed attendants carrying trays of drinks and hors d’oeuvres around the room, everyone wore either black or white.
So everyone here is either a dominant or a submissive, Lacey thought. She would never have guessed that from looking at them. All of the guests were gathered in small groups and seemed to be doing nothing more than chatting and sampling the food and wine. She did spot a few couples holding hands or sitting close together but there was nothing at all licentious about it. She might have been at an upscale party anywhere in the city.
“Welcome.” A tiny, catlike woman wearing a black satin jumpsuit intercepted Lacey and offered her a glass of champagne. “I’m Nadia. What is your name, my dear?”
“Lacey.” She took the glass but didn’t sip from it. She rarely drank at all, and the last thing she wanted to do here was get tipsy. “Is — has Christopher Wolfe arrived yet?”
“No, but Chris never watches the time. I think he invented being fashionably late.” Nadia smiled. “Come, I will introduce you to our friends.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not — that is, I didn’t come here to, ah, mingle,” Lacey said, feeling a little desperate. “I just need to see Mr. Wolfe as soon as he arrives. I have to speak with him about something very important.”
“So it seems. Very well, I think I will put you with my David.” She tucked Lacey’s arm through hers and gave it a pat. “Only to sit with him, my dear. David will assure no one tries to mingle with you before Chris arrives.”
Lacey accompanied the woman across the room to long row of French doors and out onto a wide wooden deck, where more guests sat gathered around a blazing fire pit. Nadia introduced her as “Chris’s friend, Lacey” and sat her beside a muscular bald man dressed in white.
“This is my David, Lacey.” To David she said, “She has come to speak with Chris. See to it that no one interferes with her before he arrives.”
“Yes, Mistress,” David said, his deep voice oddly meek. He watched Nadia walk away before he turned and gave Lacey a shy smile. “I haven’t seen you before at a gathering. Is this your first Black and White?”
Lacey nodded, and folded her hands around the stem of her champagne. “You have a beautiful home, Mr. Zellwood.”
“Please, it’s David.” He ducked his head. “My wife deserves the credit. Nadia makes all the decisions.”
Lacey couldn’t believe such a huge man could be controlled by such a petite woman. “She’s also your dominant, is that right?”
“I’m her domestic submissive. She’s a professional Domme. She also has a number of clients. You’re new to the scene?”
“Yes. Actually, I don’t know anything at all. I’m only here to speak to Mr. Wolfe.”
“Then you need to understand our rules of etiquette, or you’ll be escorted out of the party,” David told her. “You can’t approach Chris directly. You have to let him come to you. Speak only when you’re spoken to. Oh, and do whatever he says.”
“But I’m not his submissive,” she protested.
“You’re dressed in white and you came alone. Among our group, that means you’ve made yourself available to be claimed by any dominant present.”
Suddenly Lacey became aware of how many of the guests dressed in black were watching her. “How do I not get claimed, David?”
“It’s a little late for that, Miss Easton,” a hard voice said.
Lacey looked up into Christopher Wolfe’s angry eyes. “Sir. You’re here.” She nearly spilled the champagne down the front of her dress as she stood. “Please, may I speak with you in private?”
“Yes, you definitely will.” Christopher plucked the glass from her trembling fingers and handed it to David. “Excuse us.” He took hold of Lacey’s arm. “Come with me.”
Lacey didn’t expect to be marched through the house so quickly. She stumbled a few times. “Mr. Wolfe, I am so sorry. I did try to see you in the office, but you’d already left—”
“Quiet.” Christopher pushed her through a doorway into a dark room and closed the door behind him. “Were you informed of the proper etiquette?”
“Yes, but—” Christopher covered her mouth with his hand.
“Obviously not. You don’t speak without my permission here. If you do it again, I’ll punish you. Understood?” When she nodded, he hustled her backward until Lacey felt something soft press against her legs. “Lift your hands over your head.”
Lacey gave him a pleading look.
“Not very submissive of you, Miss Easton.” He took hold of her arms and hauled them up, looping something soft around her wrists that tightened and held her arms up. “You may be used to challenging the doms in your circles, but here we have rules. When you wear the white, you’re not permitted to fight.”
Christopher stepped back and looked at her from the top of her head to the toes of her shoes. “If you’d ever worn this in the office I’d have dragged you into the nearest closet — oh, and you’re fired, by the way.” He took his hand and ran it down the front of her body and back up again, cupping her breast briefly before he cradled her face. “God, you’re even more beautiful than I thought.” He bent his head to her neck and breathed in. “Vanilla.” He chuckled. “I think something like ppium might be more appropriate.”
Lacey felt his thumb press down on her lower lip, and when her mouth parted Christopher slipped it inside to stroke her tongue.
“Suck it for me so I can get a feel for your mouth. Like that, yes,” he said as she obeyed him. “Don’t be timid, sweetheart. My cock is a lot bigger than this.” After a few more moments of her suckling he drew his thumb out. “Who told you about the party?”
“No one.” She trembled as he moved even closer. She smelled the heat and dark woodsy scent of his skin. “Mr. Wolfe, there’s been a terrible misunderstanding—”
“There certainly has. I was told all about what a nice girl Lacey Easton is.” He brushed his thumb over the pebbly peak of her breast. “Does anyone know what a submissive little slut you really are?”
“I’m not,” she protested. “Please, you’ve got it all wrong. Let me explain before you ruin your life and your company.”
He took a step back. “What the hell do you mean?”
“A man was sent here to take pictures of you and maybe video tape you having sex,” she said quickly. “They’re going to use them as blackmail.”
“They?”
“I don’t know who the man is but the woman involved is your assistant, Miss Bonner. I heard her giving him instructions on how to get in, and what to do.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why should I believe you?”
“I can’t prove anything, sir. I overheard them only because of a glitch with my phone.” She swallowed hard. “How else would I have known about this party, and what to wear, and how to get in?”
Christopher stared at her for a long moment, then release
d her wrists. “You don’t move from this room.” He strode out, slamming the door behind him.
Lacey finally looked around her, cringing a little as she saw the huge bed covered in fur and draped with various lengths of red velvet cords.
This is where he brings his lovers. He ties them up with those cords when he has sex with them. That’s why he did that to me. Lacey couldn’t help moving toward the bed or reaching up to feel the cords. The silky brush of the fabric against her skin. Remembering how it had felt binding her wrists made something deep inside her tighten and grow hot.
The door opened again. She spun around to face Christopher. As she did, one of the cords fell around her neck.
“The party is over.” He pulled the cord from her neck, winding it around his hand as he did. “Let’s go.”
Lacey didn’t resist or speak to him until they were outside and moving toward a long black limousine. “Ah, Mr. Wolfe, my car—”
“Give me your keys.” When she did, he tossed them to the waiting attendant. “I need a car delivered.”
Lacey’s eyes widened as Christopher also gave the man the license number of her car as well as her home address. “How do you know all that?”
He jerked open the door to the limo. “Get in.” When she didn’t move, his jaw tightened. “Now, Miss Easton.”
*
Lacey slid across the soft black leather seat until she had wedged herself in the corner, and looked out the window at the other people walking to their cars. Every guest was leaving and none of them looked happy. Christopher must have related what she’d told him about the blackmailer to Nadia and David, Lacey thought with a small pang of guilt. She hadn’t meant to ruin the party. Considering the lengths these people went to in order to preserve their privacy, maybe she’d done them a favor.
She gave Christopher Wolfe a quick sideways glance as he climbed in. He still looked furious. As the limo drove out to the main road he gave the driver her home address and then pressed a button that raised a privacy shield between the front and back of the car.
“Don’t apologize to me again, Miss Easton,” Christopher said before she could say anything. “Nadia found the man sent to photograph me. His cameras have been confiscated and the digital photos he’d already taken of the guests destroyed.”
“But … no one was doing anything, ah, scandalous,” Lacey said. Except us.
“Not everyone at the gathering had their spouse with them.” He gave her a cynical smile. “You probably prevented a half-dozen very expensive divorces. Why are you huddling over there like that?”
“Because you look like you’re ready to throttle something. I don’t want it to be me.” She cringed at her temerity. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It’s an astute observation.” He looked down at the red velvet cord he held in his fist. “I made several assumptions about you and said some very harsh things to you. That, I very much regret. I apologize, Miss Easton.”
“Really, sir, it’s not your fault.” She looked down at her hands. “I shouldn’t have intruded on you and your friends but I couldn’t think of another way to reach you.”
His expression grew distant. “Nevertheless, I am very sorry. Quite grateful as well. I would appreciate your continued discretion regarding this matter. Of course I’ll see to it that you are compensated accordingly.”
“I didn’t expect to be paid for this, Mr. Wolfe. I wasn’t planning to tell anyone anything. So you can keep your hush money.”
His icy tone thawed a few degrees. “I apologize again for offending you. Perhaps you would be more interested in taking a permanent position at the company.”
“I don’t work for you any longer,” Lacey said.
“I shouldn’t have fired you for coming to my rescue,” he said. “You may disregard that entirely.”
“No, sir, I was fired before I came here.” Lacey noticed he was shifting closer to her. “Miss Bonner terminated me when I came to your office to warn you.”
“Did she.” His mouth flattened. “It doesn’t matter. Tomorrow Miss Bonner will be gone. You can resume your position.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She tried to smile brightly. “It’s all right, sir. I’m sure my agency will find me another job right away.”
Christopher turned and shifted closer to her. “Why isn’t it a good idea, Miss Easton? Why did you go to all this trouble to protect me? Why is your heart beating so fast I can see your pulse fluttering at the base of your throat?”
She ducked her head and tried not to breathe in his scent, but it was all around her now, enveloping her like midnight in the forest. “I don’t know.”
“I do.” He was right beside her now, so close she could feel the heat of his body mingling with hers. “You’re afraid of what will happen if you stay. What you’ve been thinking about since you came to work for me. Or perhaps since I tied you up in that playroom. You’re thinking about it now, Lacey.”
“It can’t happen,” she whispered.
“Why do you think I went to that party?” he murmured, lifting his hand to her hair and sliding out her pearl combs. “I’ve been watching you since your first day, wondering what your hair would feel like, what your skin would smell like. Wanting to hear you say my name while I tied you down, stripped you naked, and made you my plaything. But you were my employee, which made you out of bounds.”
Lacey shook her head, and her hair cascaded down, spilling over his hand and her shoulders. “Please, Mr. Wolfe—”
“Today I told David I wanted a redheaded submissive so I could get you out of my system. So I could fuck her and pretend she was you. But you don’t work for me anymore, Lacey. It can happen right here, right now.” He spanned her throat with his hand and bent his head down until his mouth was a whisper away from her lips. “Say ‘please’ again and it will.”
Lacey closed her eyes, trying desperately to control the outrageous needs coiling inside her. She was a nice girl who had just tried to do the right thing. She didn’t want to know any more about Christopher Wolfe’s dark secrets or twisted desires. But his soft-voice confession had made her nipples harden and her sex grow damp. She couldn’t bear this terrible yearning for another moment.
She looked at him through the tears clinging to her lashes. “Please.”
“Such a polite girl.” His beautiful mouth curved as he cradled the back of her head with his hand. He kissed her and she kissed him back.
Christopher Wolfe kissed her as if they were already lovers, his mouth open and wet and hot as he ravished hers. The deep, utterly carnal kiss stunned Lacey into stillness. And then he was dragging her down on the leather seat, pushing her onto her back as he brought her wrists over her head and tied them together with the red velvet cord.
“That’s how I’ve wanted you,” he told her, his voice almost a growl as he reached beneath her for her zipper, and tugged it down. “No, don’t move. It excites me too much. I’ll rip your pretty dress to shreds.”
Lacey gasped as he jerked down her bodice so violently that it caused her breasts to pop out of her bra.
“Red. I knew it.” He covered one tight, rosy nipple with his mouth and sucked at it while he clamped his hand on the other breast and fondled her roughly, a rumbling growl coming from his chest as his knee forced her thighs apart.
Christopher lifted his head, his breath warming her wet nipple as he pulled up the hem of her dress. He pushed his hand inside her panties and felt the slick heat of her folds.
“God, you feel like warm honey.” He rimmed the entry to her sheath with one fingertip. “I’d think about this in my office and jerk off, imagining your pussy.” He penetrated her with two fingers, sliding them in and out. “Then I’d think of you bending over my desk and pulling up your skirt to show me your bare ass. Just that would make me come.”
Lacey trembled under him. “You did that because of me?”
“Just seeing you smile made me hard,” he murmured. “I’ve already
waited too long. I have to be inside you, Lacey. Now.”
He was going too fast and still she wanted more. “Yes, please.”
“I told you not to move.” Christopher ripped her panties off in one brutal jerk and then tore open his trousers. Lacey spread her legs as much as possible as he pressed his cock against her. Her eyes widened as she felt the broad, satin dome press in, stretching her soft folds and penetrating her tight sheath.
“You’re so fucking tight,” he muttered, moving his hips in short, hard thrusts as he squeezed another inch of his shaft inside her. “Don’t fight me. This is what we both wanted. Now, you’re going to take it.”
Lacey trembled. A moan escaped her as he kept pushing deeper and deeper, his shaft so hard she felt impaled. “Mr. Wolfe — sir — I can’t … “
“You can. I can feel it. You were made for my cock.” Christopher shoved his hands under her hips, lifting and adjusting her to a different angle, then stroked all the way into her, his cockhead lodging against her cervix as she stretched around the root of his shaft. “There. You took all of me, my sweet girl. Now brace yourself — I’m going to fuck this hot little pussy of yours until you come all over me.”
He kissed her mouth and chin and the side of her jaw, his big body lifting as he propped himself on one elbow and drew out of her before pushing back in.
“Oh, oh, Mr. Wolfe.” The invasion of her delicate sheath sent a shudder through Lacey. The rough, inescapable friction of his shaft drew a new gush of wetness to ease the stroke. “Please, I don’t — please.”
“I like how you beg me.” He stared down at her face as he drew out and slid back in, his lips parted and his breath harsh, dark eyes boring into hers. “It makes me want to pound your pussy even harder. Would you like that?”
“No, I don’t think … oh.” Her body tried to cling to his cock but he dragged himself back out, waiting until she begged again. “Do whatever you want to me. Please, just don’t stop.”
“I won’t, sweetheart.” And then he seemed to lose control, his hips coiling and jerking as he plowed into her faster and faster.