Jace knew where he’d dropped his pajama pants. He snatched them up. Instead of putting them on, he made his way to his office door and stepped in, making sure the door locked to keep Taren from following him.
“Not fair.” She jiggled the doorknob.
Life hadn’t been fair to him. Here he had planned on sabotaging Ananda’s show and he ended up on it and, worse yet, liking the contestant. If he truly cared for her, he would stay away from her after this.
Jace managed to slip his pants on as he stumbled down the stairs. When he found the back door locked, he used his keys to gain entry. With the house finally quiet, he had to be cautious when he crept back to his bedroom. His body hummed with each step. It had been a long time since he’d had anal sex. Thank God Taren didn’t stop him. He still felt like a king.
Jace opened the bedroom door. Besides heavy breathing and snoring, he didn’t hear anything else. Before going to bed, he went to the bathroom first. Although he loved the way Taren smelled, he didn’t need to rouse any suspicions if his roommates caught her distinct aroma on him.
After running a damp washcloth over his face and chest, he swished minty mouthwash in his mouth and spat it out before returning to the bedroom. He put his mask back on as he opened the door. Jace didn’t expect to see a notepad with words written on it at eye level greet him.
I know what you did, read the first page. The person holding the pad ripped off the page to reveal the next message.
Arrange it so I win this contest, read the second message.
Or I’ll go to the media and tell them this show is rigged. The person lowered the notepad.
Lord No.
“So much for the truce, huh?” Now Jace had a problem, and it had nothing to do with the sexy woman upstairs.
****
Taren woke up feeling a smile stretch across her face. She opened her eyes and found her makeshift blindfold on the pillow next to her. She’d done it. She threw caution to the wind and did something risky, yet fun. Daring, yet sexy.
The more she thought about it, the more her skin tingled. She jumped out of bed, showered, and got dressed. Thankfully the glam squad hadn’t shown up to pour her into an outfit that she would never wear, and paint her up to look nothing like herself.
In bare feet, she padded to the kitchen where she found the slaves busy working. This time, they all had on different outfits instead of the same thing. Sandy had on a long, white, transparent gown where Taren saw she wore no undergarments. Breeze had on a leather corset and black lace panties. Beauty wore a long, white satin robe. From the telltale jiggle, it didn’t appear that the slave wore any underwear, either, or at least, not a bra. Slinky drew the short straw. Except for the apron she wore while she cooked, she didn’t have on a stitch of clothing. Bubbles came to cook in an unusual outfit. A long, cream-colored cashmere sweater covered her body. Seemed kind of strange for her to be wearing a sweater in the middle of the summer. Solo’s body remained hidden under a short, tight schoolgirl’s outfit, complete with necktie and saddle shoes. Taren didn’t see Sweetheart. She wondered what she would be wearing today.
“What’s going on?” Taren leaned against the counter.
“Part of our contractual obligation.” Solo raised her hands in the air. “They each wanted us to dress this way, although I think my guy wants to see if I would do it.” She smiled. “I’m always up for a challenge.”
“Okay, I get most of your outfits.” Taren turned to Bubbles. “I don’t understand yours. Is he trying to torture you?”
“You have no idea,” Bubbles mumbled. “I’m sure there’s a reason.”
“I guess. At least it looks soft.” Taren ran her hand over Bubbles’ arm.
The slave giggled and squirmed away from Taren.
“Oh, you’re ticklish. Now I get it.” Taren nodded. “Clever. You’ll have to stay in the house though and away from the heat. Take one step outside and you’ll melt into a puddle.”
“I don’t think it’s clever or cute at all.” Bubbles screwed up her lips as she pushed in a tray of biscuits into the oven. “I think Lord No is trying to torture me.”
“Do you want to switch with anyone?” Taren didn’t want this woman to feel obligated to stay in a partnership that would make her unhappy.
“I would love to, but I don’t think anyone here wants to switch.” Bubbles wiped her hands on a dishtowel.
“I don’t care about who I’m with.” Slinky shrugged. “I can work with anyone. But we’re not the ones in power.” She pointed toward the Dominants’ bedrooms. “They have the power. They decide if they want to trade with anyone.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, Bubbles. It seems like your guy is determined to hold onto you until he gets eliminated. Thanks to Taren, he’s safe for the next show.”
“Sorry if that bothers you.” Taren strolled over to Bubbles. “I really did like what he had in his contract. Overall it made him seem hard but fair.”
Bubbles snickered. “Sure.”
“I mean, I didn’t know all that stuff about Dominants not being with anyone else while they play with you.” Taren grabbed plates from the cabinet and headed out to the dining room to set the table.
“It’s not the norm. It’s nothing for a Dom or Domme to have several people that they play with on a regular basis, as well as a lover or even a wife or husband.” Slinky followed behind Taren to place napkins and utensils beside each plate.
“So the person I have sex with could be my Dom.” Taren thought about that idea of being Jace’s lover and his submissive. She would love to make that work. “Or I could have a lover and a different person to dominate me.”
“Yep.” Sweetheart walked into the room. Besides Taren, she looked the most normal in a regular maxi dress covered in flowers and sandals. “I don’t know about anyone else here, but I would love for my Dom to take me even after the show ends.” Her smile widened. “I can tell he would be a good Dom and an even better lover.”
“How can you tell that?” Taren hoped she didn’t come off sounding jealous.
“Master told me to be myself today, so he appreciates me for who I am.” Sweetheart tucked her hair behind her ears.
Taren almost sighed out loud when Sweetheart made her innocent statement. She headed back to the kitchen to get glasses and mugs for the table.
Sweetheart waited until Taren got in front of her to make another confession. “And when I sat on his lap last night, I felt how big he is.” She fanned her face.
Taren needed to corral her nerves and not snap on Sweetheart.
Sweetheart touched Taren’s arm. “I don’t know how you chose him to be in the bottom two.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t put him there again.”
Taren had thought about that herself. Although he’d proven himself to be a great lover, she had no idea about his skills as a Dom. She’d put herself on this show to find the right one for herself.
“But then again, if you eliminate him, he’ll be free to choose a subbie or slave for himself.” Sweetheart leaned in close. “Eliminate him. I don’t need the money that much. But to have that man touch me…” She made a noise that sounded almost orgasmic.
“We’ll see what happens.” Taren forced a smile while her guts churned. “You never know. He may not be great at discipline.” She reached up in the cabinet for glasses.
“That’s okay. That may mean he’s a beast in bed.” Sweetheart laughed.
A glass Taren picked up slipped out of her hand and crashed to the floor. The activity in the kitchen stopped.
To play off her jangled nerves, Taren laughed. “Short-girl problems. Always have issues reaching the top shelf.”
“I’ll help clean that up.” Sandy ran to the utility room behind the kitchen. She came back with a broom and dustpan. “Barefoot slaves, don’t move. Don’t need you all to get slivers in your feet, especially with today.”
“What will happen today?” Taren knew they would be venturing into the dungeon finally. She didn’t know what that meant for
her.
“I heard that they want the Dominants to demonstrate one of your favorite scenes.” Breeze leaned against the counter as she looked at Taren. “So what is it? What do you like?”
“What do you mean? Like wax play or something?” Taren helped pick up the bigger broken pieces.
“Yeah, something like that. What gets you going?” Solo chugged her arms like wheels on a train. “What gets your juices flowing?”
Taren nearly blurted Jace’s name, his real name. Not just Master. “I don’t know. Wax play might be good.”
Beauty sucked air in between her teeth. “Yeah, for like maybe the last day. That’s relaxing. At least for me it is. Suggest something big. Go for whipping or caning.” She rubbed her ass. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I could go for a good paddling or spanking.”
“Spanking. That might be good to see.” Taren tossed the broken pieces into the trashcan behind her. When she lifted her head, she spotted Jace going out the back door. “Excuse me, ladies. I need some air.”
She also wouldn’t mind getting some good alone time with Jace again. She went out the back and followed him to the guesthouse. She closed the door behind herself and peered around the small space. She headed toward what she suspected to be the bedroom area, when Jace came out and met her face to face.
“What are you doing here?” He held her shoulders.
“I saw you coming out here and—”
He cut her off. “You shouldn’t be out here with me.” He looked out of the window first before addressing her again.
“I know. I argued with myself not to come out here. I said that being in a confined space with you with a bed would be a bad thing.” She peered around him to the room behind him. She assumed that the other room had to be the bedroom.
Taren looked up at him, waiting for him to do something, say something. She noticed worry etching his expression. His eyebrows furrowed together. His normally full lips now looked tight. When he breathed, his nostrils flared a little.
“What’s wrong?” She reached up to hold his arms.
Jace released her and took a few steps back. “Why do you think there’s a problem?”
She didn’t answer right away. Taren studied his face for a moment. “Don’t keep anything from me. I don’t like that.”
“I’m not. Why do you—”
“People always think I can’t take rough news. I can. I’m sick and tired of people treating me like I’m fragile.” She moved closer to the door. “I’m not letting you out of here until you tell me what’s going on.” She noticed that Jace looked like he tried not to smile, or maybe even laugh. Taren didn’t want to be mocked, either. “I’m serious.”
She didn’t realized she’d balled her hands into fists until Jace held her hands and wriggled his thumbs in the crease her index fingers made in their curled position.
“Remind me to have you in my corner if I run into any problems.” When Jace got her to relax her hands, he ran his fingertips down the side of her face. “You don’t need to be involved in whatever is going on. You have bigger issues to tackle.” He nodded toward the house. “You’re supposed to be deciding who will push you to say your safe word on a regular basis.” Jace stared into her eyes and looked like he wanted to say more.
“Tell me.” At this point, Taren didn’t care if he shared bad news or told her how he truly felt about her, whether he stayed up at night like she had thinking about the possibilities.
Jace took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you what the problem is. I need to get more time with you than five minutes here and there.”
Taren smiled. “I bet you wish you had spent more time with me when you first got to the house.”
He laughed. “You are right about that. I also wish…” He stopped himself.
A slamming door grabbed both of their attention. Taren pivoted to peer out of the window. She saw a couple of crew members behind the house smoking and talking. Then she felt Jace pressing his body against hers.
Taren’s heart pounded. Like on autopilot, she pushed her ass back to connect with his hard body. He wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Don’t stop.” She didn’t mean for her statement to encourage him to continue touching her, although she loved it. She meant for him to continue his thought about her.
When he moved his hand up to her chest, she forgot about reason if only for a moment. As soon as she moaned, she sobered to the situation.
Taren held Jace’s wandering hand and turned around to him. “Wait. You were saying something about what you wanted from me. Something you wish for. What is it?”
Jace regarded her for a moment. Then he shook his head.
Taren could almost see that wall going back up again. “I know something is going on with you. Just tell me. Maybe I can fix it.”
“Why do you care?”
Jace’s question didn’t seem indignant or angry. He sounded curious, sincere, flattered.
He chuckled. “You shouldn’t give a damn about a sadist.”
“Too bad I don’t see a sadist when I look at you.” She reached for his face, when Jace backed away from her. Taren immediately felt the chill of the air conditioned atmosphere in the room when he abandoned her.
“Maybe you should.” He had his back to her for a moment before he turned to her. “We’re going to have to stop seeing each other like this. We have to keep our interactions strictly on the show.”
Now he sounded like Kitty and Ananda. “Why is that?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll take care of—”
“No.” She shook her head. “Don’t do that. I have a say so in my fate here. Tell me why this here needs to stop.”
“Another contestant knows what we’ve done. He’s threatened to blab to the media that the show is fixed if he doesn’t win.” Jace ran his hand over his hair.
“Shit.”
Chapter Twenty
Jace could care less if someone dragged his name in the mud. It wouldn’t be the first time. As long as he had breath in his body, it certainly wouldn’t be the last time someone talked shit about him. Taren didn’t deserve that.
“Who’s the contestant? Is it Fear? I knew I should have put him in the bottom two.” Taren crossed her arms over her chest and paced. “I don’t like when people tell me what I can and can’t do.”
Jace felt his eyebrows go up. Taren must have noticed. She quickly amended her statement.
“I don’t like it when people tell me what I can and can’t do outside of a safe, sane, and consensual relationship. I make my own decisions. I know what I want and need.” She looked at Jace. “Right now I’d like to give you a little of my time.”
Jace wanted nothing more than to dive deep into her and forget about this damn show. He had to hold off on satisfying his own needs. “As much as I would love to give you some time, I’m afraid we don’t have much of it. The other Dominants are getting up right now. If they see us leaving this place together, Kitty is going to shut the show down or have me kicked out.” He put his hand to the side of her face. “Right now I do not want to leave until I get my prize.”
Unable to stop himself, Jace leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. She held onto his arms.
When she broke from the kiss, she said, “Thanks for early this morning. My butt is still sore, but in a good way.”
Jace worried his eyebrows. He had to make it look good for her. “What are you talking about? I went to my room after filming.”
Taren studied him for a moment before she broke out in laughter. “Very funny. I know it was you.”
“What was me?” He took a step back and planted his hands on his hips. “Did something happen to you?”
She took a step closer to him. “I had some really hard anal sex.”
“Really? You like that?” He lowered his voice.
Her smile broadened. “I never had it before.” She put her hands on the waistband of his jeans. “I never thought I would want something like that. It felt
wrong and right at the same time.” She started undoing his pants.
Jace didn’t stop her. He had planned on calling Aaron and getting the lowdown on the job site. He forgot all that as soon as he saw Taren. “What are you doing?”
“Breakfast of champions.” She lowered herself to her knees in front of him. “I missed dinner last night. I need a little something for this morning.”
Christ, he needed to stop her. He could care less if he got caught, but he didn’t want Taren getting in trouble because of him. By the time she unzipped his jeans and pulled his cock out, all reason and logic went out the window.
Jace had already started getting hard when he saw Taren. As soon as he’d touched her, he could have driven nails into concrete with his dick.
Taren held the base of his shaft. She used her other hand to massage his sac. Jace couldn’t help but groan at her touch. When she licked his tip, he couldn’t help but grab the back of her head and hold her in place.
As though she took his hold as a challenge, she slid her mouth down to the hilt and held him there. When she pulled back, she made sure to press her tongue against him until she got to the tip again. Then she kissed it, licked it, sucked the bit of pre-cum that dripped from it.
“You’re killing me.” Jace thrust his hips to move himself in and out of her mouth.
To answer his call, Taren started bobbing her head, back and forth. Between her skillful mouth and her eager hands, Jace felt captured. He kept his stare on the woman in front of him, but he also watched the activity at the house. He didn’t need this moment interrupted by anyone.
Taren moved her mouth faster on him. She closed her lips around him tighter. Jace felt his balls tightening.
“So close.” He looked down.
Taren chose that moment to peer up without breaking her movements. She didn’t look like she had planned on stopping.
“Jesus H.” Jace felt his legs trembling before he finally released his seed into her awaiting mouth.
He didn’t know what to expect. When she swallowed every drop and concluded it with a moan that vibrated his dick, he prayed to every god in the universe to give him the power to get hard right now to satisfy her.
Slave To Love Page 24