by Cynthia Dane
Every movement, every action belonged to Ethan today. They were for his benefit. For his needs.
As the woman who belonged to him, nothing made Jasmine happier than serving and pleasing him. Every time he smiled, every time he said, “Good,” was a flutter in her heart. Her existence was to serve; to serve was her existence. Jasmine couldn’t live this kind of scenario more than once in a while, but when she got into it? It was amazing what it could do to her. The freedom it offered! No longer was Jasmine beholden to the opinions of the heavenly social class. They didn’t matter. They could think she was no better than the dog shit on their shoes and she would go on happily knowing that her Master was pleased with her.
So when Jasmine gracefully picked up Francesca’s wineglass and poured the perfect amount before putting it back down, they were both shocked. After all, Jasmine was the queen of wine mishaps, according to the rumor mill.
“Er… thank you kindly.” Francesca forced herself to turn her head as if she weren’t sizing Jasmine up in a new light. All over a poured glass of wine? Once upon a time, Jasmine would have thought it perplexing. Now she understood. That simple gesture had raised her standing by about five points. Out of 100, but five points was still five fucking points. “I hear this wine is quite good,” she went on to say to the rest of the table. While she spoke, Richard held up his glass and grinned as Jasmine filled it for him. Once everyone at the table was taken care of, she sashayed back to her seat, in time for the menus to arrive.
Most of the conversation centered around business. Jasmine spaced it out, happy that she didn’t have to speak or do anything else. Ethan was busy conversing for the first forty-five minutes, while salads and appetizers made their way around. The sommelier took care of the next round of drinks, but Jasmine took the initiative to fill Ethan’s glass. It was only right.
Francesca caught this gesture and decided to cling to it. “You two are getting married soon, yes?” she asked sweetly, yet Jasmine could hear the snort in her words. “Everyone is talking about it.”
“Oh?” Ethan chose then to finally relax in his seat. “Hopefully it’s good things. I’m spending a good dollar to retrofit my garden for the ceremony. I want everyone there, if possible.” His dry chuckle told the guests that it was okay to say they weren’t coming. Typical Ethan. He hadn’t looked at the RSVP list at all. The Blakes were in the second batch of RSVPs that came back to the manor two weeks after the invitations initially went out.
“There’s so much mystery surrounding dear Jasmine’s wedding dress. I’ve heard that Oscar de la Renta himself has offered to design a custom gown.”
Jasmine must have squeaked at the thought, for Ethan sent her a warning glare. “As you can see from my fiancée’s reaction, that hasn’t happened, but it’s quite the rumor.”
“I love a good wedding dress.” Francesca did her best to smile, but it made her face look more lopsided… if that were possible. “I wore Dior for my wedding years ago. I’m such a hag. I cut out pictures from the society pages and put them in a scrapbook, so I can remember who wore what. So, Jasmine…” She bore her teeth at the silent fiancée. “Who is designing your dress? I have to know.”
The engagement ring was put on full display as Jasmine gestured to her throat and shrugged. “She’s not telling,” Ethan said. Jasmine glanced at him, and in turn caught a look of deep thought on Adrienne’s sharp face. Thinking about the dress you would’ve worn if you said yes? Adrienne would wear Dior or Oscar de la Renta, for sure. “I certainly don’t know. Bad luck, and all that.”
“Yes, many things are bad luck surrounding a wedding. My silly husband here had the misfortune of stumbling into my dressing room on our wedding day and seeing me before the ceremony. Accidentally, he says.”
At this defamation to his matrimonial character, Richard dropped his napkin. A draft caught it, making it land closer to Jasmine’s feet than to Richard’s. Without thinking, she bent down and picked it up.
Nobody else could see at that round table, but when Jasmine plucked that napkin and hastily sat up, her skirt rode up her thigh and exposed how barren she was beneath.
Richard saw. A lot.
Oh my God! Jasmine had to play it cool. So what if a flash of her ass was caught by some other man? Yeah, so what! This was the 21st century! Free love, as her parents would say! Flash that ass to some old guy she never met before!
It was a good thing she was passing him a napkin, because poor Richard, who probably hadn’t accidentally seen a woman’s most intimate place this up and close personal in so long, needed it for the bloody nose he was about to get.
“Ah… er… thanks…” He excused himself to the restroom. Jasmine pulled her skirt down and pretended to not know what had happened. I’m glad Ethan didn’t notice. Her ass was already going to be red later, if the scenario from earlier kept up.
Somehow Jasmine made it through another course of food and then dessert. She kept to herself, occasionally catching looks from the other people at the table. I am a picture of decorum, of grace, and of manners. She followed many of the tips Adrienne and Caroline had given her regarding how she ate. Luna would be shocked to see how straight Jasmine could keep her back.
“Tonight was lovely,” Francesca declared, as they received their coats from the maître d’ and made their final farewells for the evening.
“Absolutely.” Richard kept clearing his throat every time he ended up around Jasmine. It didn’t help that she was assisting Ethan into his travel coat and some of her skirt rode up her thighs. Starting to get drafty down there. He better give me my underwear back soon. What the hell was he doing with them in his pocket, anyway?
“I’m glad you two had a pleasant time.” Adrienne saw them off down the hall. When she returned, both Ethan and Jasmine were ready to depart. “What was all that about tonight?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Ethan checked for his wallet and offered his arm to Jasmine.
“Don’t play coy with me, Ethan. And you!” She pointed to Jasmine. “You can speak. What is this? Some sex game of yours?”
Ethan accepted Jasmine’s arm and took one step forward. “You wouldn’t know.” They walked off, Adrienne grumbling about how they were lucky they didn’t freak out the Blakes instead of somehow enchanting them with that weird display of kink.
“You were wonderful tonight,” Ethan said, as they stood on the curb outside and waited for the car. “Exactly the reactions I thought I would get.”
Jasmine giggled. The limo pulled up, and Ethan opened the door to the backseat before their driver could.
“To the penthouse, please,” Ethan said once the limo was moving into traffic. He raised the privacy window after that. Is he going to ask me to pleasure him in here? Jasmine rubbed her hand against his thigh and spared him a smile as high as the life she lived.
“I suppose you want to know what’s going to happen now, right, my flower?”
Jasmine couldn’t help the tingles she felt when Ethan pulled her underwear out of his pocket. “Whatever you have planned for me, I’m sure I’ll love it.”
“I will do my best to ensure that’s true. You’ll be happy to know that even after our afternoon activities, I’m fully prepared to start over again. I may need your help, of course.”
She had trouble containing how haughty that made her feel. Haughtier than the broads talking about boarding schools and skiing in Europe. “Of course, Master. Whatever I can do to improve our night.”
Ethan grabbed the back of the head and kissed her, full and deep. “You can start by thinking of all the ways you’re going to give yourself to me tonight. We’ve only just begun.”
Chapter 17
“I’ve thought a lot about today,” Ethan said, jacket off and glass of scotch in his hand. “Planning it, that is. When a man’s fiancée says that she’ll do anything, his imagination starts to go in different directions. Let me tell you, my flower, if I made you do everything I initially wanted you to do today, you
would have passed out in the car and slept your way through the rest of today and tomorrow.”
Jasmine remained still in the middle of the living room. She knelt, toes pushing into the rug behind her as she stared at the expanse of the city sprawling outside the window. Her hands clutched behind her back, the diamond belt off again and hanging from Ethan’s fingers.
“I realized that wouldn’t work very well, and I want you to appreciate every breathtaking limit we push.” The diamond belt caressed Jasmine’s hair and shoulders. “So I want you to think of today as a practice run. If you obey, and if you enjoy it, I’ll show you the full scope of my plan for you next time.”
Next time? There is gonna be a next time? Jasmine wasn’t sure how much of this she could take… and like hell she would let Ethan become anything more than the occasional Master in their relationship. We’re still vanilla most of the time, right? Ethan was plenty alpha in everyday life. It came effortlessly to him. The way he touched her, spoke to others, and walked with that confident gait of his told the world that he was a man to be respected, whether it knew him or not. The world does know him. Ethan Cole was not a household name outside of the stupidly rich, but his was a name that would quickly command respect once someone met him.
“I want to make sure I’ve trained you well first, my flower. I know we don’t spend a lot of time together like this, but you are one of the quickest studies I’ve ever met. It’s one reason I’ve always been greatly fond of you.”
His hands stormed down the front of her dress, ripping it apart, exposing her to the tinted windows overlooking the city from so high up. They can’t see me. Nobody can see me. Didn’t matter. The illusion was there. The whole world was watching Ethan take what was his.
“Of course there are other reasons I’m always so drawn to you, my beautiful flower.” Ethan was still stroking her, even though he had ripped a cocktail dress that cost who knew how much money. He can do that. He can rip anything he buys me for these types of nights. Knowing Ethan, if he liked this dress on her enough, he would buy her another one for regular use. No point crying over ripped expensive dresses. “I may have been initially drawn to your beauty and energy, but it takes a lot more than that to keep me around. I can find beauty anywhere. I can find engaging conversations in any corner of the universe. To find a woman that I’m so ready to consume? A woman who challenges me intellectually, whether she knows it or not? A woman who isn’t afraid to stand up to me, even when I’m continuously training her for the world of BDSM? You’re everything I could possibly want in not just a girlfriend and sex partner, but in my wife. Every time I look at you, hear your voice, or read your texts, I’m reminded that you are mine, and no other man is as lucky as I am.”
Jasmine didn’t say anything. She had been ordered to not speak unless prompted. So far, Ethan hadn’t prompted anything. She was content listening to him sing her praises, anyway.
“Yet there is still so much we haven’t done.” The belt slid down Jasmine’s skin, gently rubbing her peaking nipples as they poked through her black bra. “I don’t want to get married until we have sampled everything we could possibly be interested in. We don’t have much time, do we?”
Jasmine shook her head. Ethan kneeled behind her, clutching her to him, breath so hot and needy in her ear that she nearly fell over in his backward embrace.
“I want to do everything with you, Jasmine.” The urgency coursing through him passed to her, fueling Jasmine with arousing adrenaline. “I want to fuck you and make love to you at the same time. Do you understand? That they don’t have to be different things?”
Her nod was slight, but he understood.
“I want to do everything with you, and yet I know we can’t. Not at the same time. Yet I can’t stop thinking about it. If I completely gave in to my needs right now, you would be feeling me inside you, fucking you like it was my last chance to do so.”
Jasmine shuddered. His lips were heavy against her throat before he spoke again, hands wrapped tightly around her breasts.
“Like you have to obey me as my sub, I have to control myself as your Master. You’ve never stopped being human to me, Jasmine, but sometimes I fantasize about losing it and taking you like we were both nameless animals.”
That doesn’t sound so bad right now… Every time he moved, she gasped, wondering if this was going to be the moment she was pushed onto the floor and fucked.
“So I’ll ask you this: have you enjoyed today so far?”
Jasmine bit her lip. It was hard to promptly respond when his hands squeezed her so hard. “Yes, sir. Today has been a good day.” Letting him make all the decisions. Forgetting about the wedding, the people who disliked her, how nervous she was during those dinners… they didn’t matter. All that had mattered was Ethan and what he wanted from her. What he would give her in return for her obedience. Freedom. And pleasure. Two things a woman desperately wanted.
“Good. I’m glad to hear that. Would you want to do it again? Be honest with me. Don’t tell me what I want to hear.”
She had to think about it, but she only had a couple seconds before Ethan lost his patience and went on to the next phase of his plan that night. “Yes, Master. I would want to do it again.”
“Soon?”
“Maybe. Don’t ask me that right now, please.”
“All right.” He relaxed his hold on her, one hand lingering on her breast while the other felt her stomach. “Have I told you lately that you’re the most beautiful woman in the world?” Squeeze. Clench. Bruise. Jasmine let out the most pitiful whine as her fiancé manhandled her like the prize she was. “The idea of being only with you for the rest of my life doesn’t scare me in the least. I don’t want anyone else. No matter how beautiful or charming another woman is, she is nothing compared to you. You are brighter than all the stars in that sky.”
Jasmine looked, beyond the window and into the cloudy night sky. The occasional patch of moonlight and stars appeared, but they were hard to see in the middle of a busy city. “Brighter than the moon?” she asked, hopeful.
“Brighter than the sun. When I see you, I’m blinded by my love clouding my eyes. I get tunnel vision. I only want to look at and experience you.”
“I feel the same way about you.” How many times had she been stopped in her steps at the sight of Ethan, whether he was in one of his stark business suits or cotton nightwear? How many times did she feel relief flood her because he finally made an appearance, whether it was late, on time, or early? How many times? How many?
How?
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world, Master,” she said, staring down at Ethan pulling apart more of her clothing. “You could do almost anything to me, and I would love you more for it.”
That was a dangerous thing to say, but that was the beauty in it. Jasmine trusted Ethan to the point she could say such things and know that he wouldn’t take it as license to do anything she wouldn’t like. Probably. Once in a while he brought something up that Jasmine would have nothing of, but for the most part, he knew her like she knew him. I wouldn’t marry him otherwise.
“There’s a lot I want to do to you but would never dare, Jasmine.”
“That’s why I trust you, Master.” She dared to turn her head and intercept his next kiss. “You know exactly when to press forward or back off. I would never marry a man I didn’t trust with both my body and my heart.”
“I want both like you don’t believe. Even when I’m going at your body with every force in mine, it’s because I’m trying to reach your heart so you know how much I love you.”
“However you want to express it, sir.”
“Only if you want it. I’ll only take you to those places if you want me to.”
“I do,” Jasmine whispered. “Please, sir, make use of my body as you will. I’m all yours. Know every inch of my body before you marry me, and I’ll know every inch of your soul.”
He forced her down, hands tearing at her dress while his mouth clamped down so hard on h
er flesh that she moaned into the rug that slid beneath their movements.
“You are mine, aren’t you?” Tear. Thrash. Rip. Jasmine didn’t need these clothes, did she? But it was telling that Ethan wouldn’t completely remove the torn dress from her body, leaving her to squirm beneath him in nothing but her lingerie. He liked the look of torn fabric on her. It was a sign that she belonged to someone. To him, and his virility that made him do such things. “I want the whole world to know. It’s not enough to take pictures with you and show you off to the world when we get married. No. I need to make them see how I own you, and how you own me in turn. They must know what kind of man you turn me into.”
He stepped back, pulling Jasmine up with him and hauling her over to the window. How many times had Jasmine stood in front of these windows… during the day, during the night? It wasn’t unusual for her to stand in her PJs on a sunny morning, eating a bagel with cream cheese and taking in the sights of a busy commercial district going about its day. Just like it wasn’t unusual for her to admire the hustle and bustle of night, even at two in the morning. There were always lights on in windows. Cars going by far below. Planes in the sky. This wall of floor-to-ceiling windows was Jasmine’s way to watch the world go by with the greatest view possible.
Now she was pressed against it, and if these windows weren’t tinted, anyone with an angle to see in would have the sight of their life.
Jasmine shrieked to feel Ethan pull up her skirt and feel how wet she was already. The shriek wasn’t loud enough to even echo in the room, but it made her shock clear. He’s going to do it. He’s going to fuck me against this window. A thrill like that didn’t often happen to Jasmine. Oh, sure, Ethan fucked her in a multitude of locations, but nothing like this. He liked to keep things private. Behind closed doors… and curtained windows.
Even though nobody could see them, it didn’t mean the fantasy wasn’t there. Jasmine pretended that people could see them. That the office drones stuck in the office on a Friday night could look across the street and see her getting pounded by her hot fiancé with her breasts pushed against the window.