Rome was the only woman who had my entire focus. “Your assumption was right.”
“I’m glad she finally kneeled. I didn’t think she had it in her.”
“Oh, she does.” I couldn’t believe I left the house with her still on my bed, her ass beet-red. “I’m here to resume my duties as the head honcho of this place. Anything specific I need to take care of?”
He shrugged. “Everything. I haven’t been doing shit.”
“I should have known better.” I clapped him on the shoulder then walked to the stairs. I intended to get out of here as quickly as possible when I had my woman waiting for me at home. I didn’t want to sit in that leather chair when I could be naked in bed, my arms wrapped around the sexiest woman on the planet.
I made it to the second landing when Isabella emerged out of the shadows like a spider from the corner. “There you are.” Her hands were on her hips, and she was dressed entirely in black—except the shoes. Her heels were bright red, just like her lipstick.
“Good evening, Isabella.”
She blocked my way down the hallway to the office door, doing her best to put on a good attitude. The hurt was in her eyes—no matter how much she tried to hide it. “You gave her my ring?”
I assumed she would start off the conversation differently. This woman never failed to surprise me. “It was never yours. You just wore it for a period of time.”
“No, it was mine.”
“I took it back, in case you’ve forgotten.”
She looked like she was seriously considering slapping me across the face. “You think that whore can handle you? She’s gonna snap like a twig, and you know it.”
I resisted the urge to grab her by the neck. “Call her that again, and see what happens.” I took a step forward, crowding her in the most threatening way possible. I wouldn’t raise a hand to a woman, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t give her a good scare.
Isabella knew I wasn’t messing around. “She’s gonna break, Calloway. We both know it.”
“She’s doing a damn fine job. We’re very happy.” I stepped around her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
She snatched me by the arm with her petite hands. “Calloway—”
“Don’t touch me.” I moved out of her grasp, officially ticked off. “I’m not yours to touch.”
She dropped her hand and didn’t move any closer. “I don’t understand. She didn’t give you what you wanted, so you came back to me.” The earlier hostility quickly faded away, replaced by her raw vulnerability. “And she didn’t care that you betrayed her?”
“She was hurt—deeply. But she understood why I did it.”
“And now you’re throwing me away all over again?”
My anger disappeared when I felt the hurt emanating from her. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with her again in the first place. This was my fault. Isabella was getting better, and I dragged her back down. “I explained the circumstances very clearly. I never misled you about my intentions. But I am sorry for hurting you. You’re a beautiful woman, and you can do much better than me.”
“You’re the only one I want, Calloway.” Tears formed in her eyes. “Then you gave her my ring. I wore that for a whole year—day and night. And then you just hand it off to someone else…it’s like our time together never happened.”
I bowed my head, feeling like a jerk. “All I can do is tell you I’m sorry. But that’s it.”
“Sorry, what?” she hissed. “For treating me like shit?”
“In a nutshell, yeah.”
She poked her finger in my chest, hitting right between the pecs. “You’ll get what’s coming to you, asshole. I can promise you that.” With tears streaming down her face, along with a nightmare expression, she stormed off.
My pride wanted to tell her off for touching me again, but the logical part of me said I should let it go. Isabella was a loose cannon, and she wasn’t thinking clearly right now. It was best to let her storm off with the last word. Maybe it would inflate her ego and make her feel a little better.
I walked into the office and locked the door behind me, making sure there wouldn’t be any surprises. Even though Jackson had been occupying the office for months, it felt exactly the same. The desk was organized the same, and the leather chair was adjusted to my preference. It was dark, the art lights along the ceiling set to the lowest brightness.
It was perfect.
I sat in the chair and felt my back relax against the leather. Like no time had passed at all, I felt like a king in my own universe. My black ring felt heavy on my right ring finger, symbolizing my complete commitment to one woman.
Everything felt the same, but it felt different as well.
I finally had everything I wanted.
I was the strongest and cruelest Dom I’d ever known.
And I was a man very much in love.
16
Rome
The bed shifted when Calloway’s weight hit the mattress. He was as thick as a horse and as muscular as a bull. He couldn’t enter a room without making the floorboards creak or sit on a cushion without causing it to sink.
Without opening my eyes, I reached out and touched his bare chest, feeling the muscle underneath that warm skin. I scooted closer to him, eager to be beside the man I couldn’t live without.
His lips found my temple, and he kissed me. “I tried not to wake you.”
“I’m never truly asleep unless you’re beside me anyway.” My arm circled his waist, and I rested my face on top of his chest.
“How are you feeling?”
After a few hours, the sting had faded away. My ass cheeks were almost as pale as they’d been before he spanked me. “Good. That cream helped.”
“Tomorrow, you won’t even know I was there.”
“That’s a shame…”
He chuckled in my ear. “Be careful what you say, sweetheart. You’re talking to the man right now, but the beast can rise at any moment.”
I hooked my leg around his. “I’m too tired for the beast. I just want Calloway right now.”
“Alright, you can have him.” He set his alarm on his phone before he placed it back on the nightstand.
“How was Ruin?” I wanted to ask him how work was, but was it really work? He owned a business where people went to fuck. It was a strange way to make a living, but now that I was his sub, I really had no right to judge.
“Good.” His tone suddenly became clipped.
Paranoia sat in my heart now that Calloway had betrayed me. Anytime he was there, I wondered if he gave in to the temptation of the atmosphere and wound up with a sub in one of the playrooms. The accusation was offensive, so I didn’t dare ask.
Calloway picked up on my slight change in attitude. He was in tune with my moods in the same way I was in tune with his. “I just went to the office then left. Nothing else happened. Nothing else will ever happen.”
Even though he broke my trust, I believed him.
“But I did run into Isabella… She was a peach.”
“What did she say?”
“She’s upset we got back together. She feels used. She feels hurt.”
“I can imagine.” If I’d lost Calloway and watched him commit to another woman, I’d be heartbroken too. When I saw that blonde sign her soul over to him, I was devastated. I knew I had to act quickly to get him back.
“She’ll move on eventually. Just hope it’s sooner rather than later.”
“She’s a pretty woman. She’ll find someone.” We had distinctly different features. She looked like she was born out of Ruin, a creature of the dark. With that jet-black hair and confidence, she appeared to be the perfect partner for a Dom/sub relationship. I was ordinary, a regular woman you would see on the street. With one look at me, you would have no idea that I ever set foot inside a place like Ruin.
“I have no doubt she’ll find someone. I just hope it’s the right someone.” His lips brushed over my shoulder, warm and full of affection. “After running into her, m
y night was pretty boring. I’m trying to clean up Jackson’s negligence. I’m surprised employees were even paid while I was gone.”
“I’m sure the place would have shut down if they weren’t.”
“I just don’t get Jackson. He says he wants the responsibility, but then he neglects everything. It’s not that hard. If he kept his dick in his pants for just one hour a day, he could take care of the basics.”
“Does he get paid from Ruin?”
“Yeah.”
“So he gets paid to do nothing?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he said quietly. “He really affects the tone of Ruin. He’s like the unofficial publicist for the place. He connects with members and makes sure they have a good time. He’s a people person. It’s nice because I’m not a people person at all.”
“You don’t say…” I teased.
He chuckled next to my ear and held me against his body. “You know you’re the only person in the world I actually like.”
“Like?” I questioned.
“You know exactly how I feel about you, sweetheart.”
We ended the conversation there, and both slipped away into our dreams, our bodies still locked tightly around one another. I didn’t have a single nightmare now that Calloway was there to chase away my bad dreams. He was my guardian, my protector from everything.
Work was the same as usual. I had a project with Chad and Denise, and we worked together in the conference room for the rest of the day. It seemed like all my colleagues had officially accepted me back on to the team despite my personal relationship with Calloway. Perhaps Calloway’s speech made them realize they were being ridiculous. Or maybe they just took their boss seriously when he said he would fire them all.
It’d been a pleasant working environment ever since.
At the end of the day, Calloway and I went home. We sat in the back seat of the car together, but Calloway didn’t take my hand like he usually did. He stayed on his side, his eyes glued out the window and his brooding nature filling the back seat.
I knew exactly what that meant.
I hadn’t returned to my apartment and brought my things over because I wanted to take things slow, but that didn’t stop me from being with him every hour of the day. When I returned to my apartment to grab new clothes, I was slowly bringing everything back to his house. So, in a way, I was pretty much moving back in anyway—just at a slow pace.
We walked into the house, and the second the front door was shut and locked, I knew which version of Calloway I was with.
The beast.
“Strip.” He loosened his tie and dropped his jacket on the floor. He slid his shoes off with his feet, never breaking eye contact with me.
My eyes moved to the ground, and I did ask he asked, peeling off my dress, underwear, and heels. I was used to standing naked in front of him on a daily basis, watching his eyes stare at my tits appreciatively. The look always made my skin burn white-hot, feeling his attraction to me without him having to do or say anything.
“Follow me.” He walked upstairs as he unbuttoned his shirt. It fell off his shoulders and onto the floor just before he walked into the new playroom. It’d been under construction for a week.
That must have meant it was finished.
The second I stepped inside, I noticed how different it was. The old guest bedroom had been transformed into Calloway’s playground. The window that overlooked the front door had been covered with a new wall, making it impossible for anyone to see what we were doing inside. The previously gray walls had been covered with maroon wallpaper, making it feel royal and mysterious at the same time.
Cases were placed against the walls, housing the same types of toys that I witnessed at Ruin. There was an assortment of whips, various chains, and cable ties within the glass cases. The ceiling had been constructed of a wooden platform that possessed a suspension system, along with a thick length of rope.
I couldn’t believe this place was officially in his house.
The playroom still made me tense and uncomfortable. When we were at Ruin, I felt out of my element. I only sucked it up and did it because losing Calloway was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Doing this somewhere I felt comfortable made the experience much more tolerable. There was no one else here—just the two of us.
“Stand here.” Calloway tapped his foot against the floor at the center of the room. “Now.”
I stood where his foot had been and returned my gaze to the ground. I could hear the clanking sound of his belt as his pulled it out of the loops and dropped his slacks. His boxers came next, adding to the pile of clothes.
“Safe word?” He walked up to me with his black belt in his hands.
“Green.”
He secured my wrists to the fastener in the rope, his eyes glued to mine the entire time. His intensity was arousing but also terrifying. Whatever he was about to do to me would deeply please him. That gave me a thrill of excitement, but also a spasm of stress.
He pulled on the suspension until my feet hung a few inches off the ground. I swayed gently as my body shifted, slowing coming to a standstill.
I wanted to ask what he was going to do, but I knew better than to ask questions.
He stepped back and surveyed my position, the black belt still in his right hand as he stood completely naked. His impressive cock was happy to see me. It was thick and long, eager to be buried inside me.
And I wanted him buried inside me.
He slowly walked around me and lifted the belt, the leather gliding over my skin gently. It was rough to the touch, the individual grooves feeling like bumps against my skin. It started at my tummy then glided around to my ass as he reached the rear. “I’m gonna whip you, sweetheart. And you’re gonna count—just like last time.”
He was going to whip me with the belt…?
“Do you understand?” His powerful voice echoed in the room even though he didn’t raise his voice.
“Yes, Master.” He usually preferred Master over Sir, so I chose that title.
He gave me a playful tap on the ass. “Good. To ten.” He moved behind me, his bare feet tapping against the hardwood floor.
I knew it was coming, so I immediately tensed as I hung from the rope. My back and ass were burning even though no contact had been made. I dreaded the pain before it even arrived, thinking of the way he’d spanked me with his palm.
With no warning, Calloway slapped the belt over my left cheek. The touch wasn’t as bad as the final slaps he gave me earlier in the week, but it was enough to make my nerve endings fire off. I rocked with the momentum and swayed from the ceiling.
I almost forgot to count. “One, Master.”
He struck the belt against his palm, making a loud slapping noise that reverberated against the walls. It was an audible warning of what was coming next. “Good, sweetheart.” He struck again, hitting me a little harder than last time.
“Two, Master.” I bit my bottom lip as I swung forward, enjoying the pain but also afraid of it. The most arousing thing about allowing Calloway to dominate me was how much he enjoyed it. When he came into his element, he was a very erotic man. The muscles of his arms bulged and his core was tight. He was frightening, but utterly delicious.
He hit me three more times until we reached the halfway mark.
I knew it was going to get rougher from here on out. “Five, Master.”
He circled to the front then stood directly in front of me. His lips found my belly, and he slathered the skin with kisses, his tongue gliding along the small abs of my core. He moved down as he took a knee.
I inhaled when I knew what was coming next.
He hooked my legs over his shoulders and kissed me where I was most tender, ravishing the area with scorching kisses. My head tilted back, and I closed my eyes, savoring the feeling of his tongue as it circled my throbbing clit.
Like the gentleman he was, he brought me to orgasm within minutes, listening to my screams for more. He sucked my clit harder and even g
ave it a gentle bite, making my hips buck against his face.
“Master…”
He gave me a few final kisses before he rose to his full height. My arousal was smeared across his lips, a bright shine that made me want to kiss him just to taste myself. “Good girl.” He walked behind me and smacked the belt against his hand. “Ready, sweetheart?”
“Yes, Master.”
He struck me across both cheeks, the bite of the metal digging hard into my skin. It was harder than he’d ever hit me before.
I swung forward and gasped at the pain, not expecting it because I was too focused on the remains of the orgasm that still thudded between my legs. My head dipped forward, and my hair hung down my chest. “Six, Master…”
He struck me again, hardly giving me a chance to recover. He hit me hard, with far more aggression than the way he’d spanked me last week.
Tears pooled in my eyes, immediately bubbling and breaking the surface. It hurt more than any other strike he’d given me. The pain started on the surface of the skin then burned deep into the muscle. The stinging in my eyes increased until the tears escaped. “Seven, Master…” I didn’t want any more. In the beginning, the pain was tolerable and Calloway’s desire was a turn-on, but now it was becoming unbearable.
He slapped his belt against me again, using nearly all of his strength to strike me.
This time, I sobbed out loud, feeling the pain drill right into the bone. “Ahh…” I shut my eyes closed and felt the hot tears pour down my face. I felt the strain of the rope at my wrists and tried to loosen the hold by grabbing on to the rope with my fingers. I actually considered saying the safe word because I couldn’t take any more of this.
“You didn’t count,” Calloway barked. “And you’ll be punished for that.” He smacked me twice in a row, hitting me with the leather of the belt and making me cry out in pain. “We’ll start at five again.”
I could barely make it to ten in the first place. There was no way I could start over. “Calloway.”
He slapped me again. “It’s Master. For that, we’re starting back at one.”
I didn’t want this anymore. Now it wasn’t fun. It was just painful and degrading. Maybe his other subs could handle this kind of torture, but I couldn’t. If that made me weak, so be it. If Calloway couldn’t compromise, then—
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