MasterofVelvet

by Kirstie Abbot

  She looked utterly gorgeous. He’d half-expected her to relax automatically into an attitude of submission but instead, to his amazement and delight, she wore it with pride—her eyes positively sparkled and her smile made his heart ache with wanting her. It would be so easy to take her hand, go back to bed and make love to her for the rest of the day.

  “Just so there aren’t any misunderstandings, Beth, this collar is here to protect you.” He placed his palm over the padlock at the base of her throat, pressing it against her skin. “Anyone who’s part of the scene will know what it means, that you belong to me. Understand?”

  “Yes, Adam.”

  “And it doesn’t mean that I expect you to submit to me in any way other than sexually. I want you to get used to the feel of it—it’ll be there to tell any Dom that you’re mine, but to anyone else, it’s simply a beautiful piece of jewelry worn by a stunningly beautiful woman.”

  The flush that stained her cheeks was enchanting and had him fighting the urge to bed her all over again. Later. Other things had to take precedence for now. Beth had to know about the secure room, where it was and how to get to it from anywhere in the house—and for that he needed to show her around. Still, she’d found her way to the kitchen all right and she’d looked right at home there.

  An image exploded in his subconscious mind, generated by every primal male instinct he possessed responding to the warm female body snuggled against him—Beth, barefoot and pregnant. Holy shit! He really needed to stop thinking like that. What the hell was coming over him?

  Winterleigh was a far larger house than a man living on his own needed. It was the one thing he had fought to keep during the course of his divorce. The property had been a dilapidated wreck when he bought it on a whim at a knock-down price, and hadn’t really improved much by the time his ex-wife walked out two years later. Fortunately she’d been more interested in what she could spend so she’d been more than happy to leave the house to him. With time and money he’d managed to bring the house back to life.

  So it was with some pride that he showed Beth round the sprawling mass that was his home, although he was more interested in her reactions to the house. He wanted her to feel that it could be her home too. He wanted her to feel involved and there was one room that might encourage that.

  “When I bought Winterleigh, this was rather grandly referred to as ‘the ballroom’ in the brochure,” Adam told her when they reached the large, empty ground-floor room at one end of the house. “At the viewing before the auction, I thought the estate agent was rather more delusional than they usually are. The doors at the end open out onto the formal gardens. I was hoping you might have some ideas as to what we could do with it.”

  It was a lovely, spacious room and he could see that Beth was fascinated by the prospect of suggesting a purpose for it.

  “What do you use it for now—besides storage?” She looked over at the cluster of packing crates in one corner.

  “What you see is what you get. Any ideas?”

  Beth moved further into the room, turning in a full circle to get a feel for the scale of it. “It’s a large space—you could do a lot with this. It all depends how you see your life here unfolding.” She flashed a grin at him. “Are you likely to hold many parties?”

  Parties…the anniversary parties would have to wait for the wedding reception to happen first. A marquee in the garden, a huge wedding cake, Beth in a champagne-colored dress that made the most of her curves…

  Adam pushed the errant thought to one side—his subconscious was getting ideas well above its station. “Maybe. Come on. There’s still a fair bit to see.”

  Having quizzed Beth about the house over lunch, and been pleased with the results so far, Adam turned his thoughts to the afternoon, as did Beth.

  “Do you have any plans for this afternoon, Adam?”

  He needed to get a range set up for some target practice and was just about to tell her when the machine-gun rattle of a sudden downpour hit the French windows.

  “I did,” he admitted wryly. Hell, he still should have those same plans—he wouldn’t melt in a bit of rain but it had taken about three nanoseconds for him to talk himself into a pleasant afternoon of lounging around with Beth, talking her into keeping him occupied.

  Ah, he was getting too easily distracted now. Anything to do with this woman distracted him. The thought of being her Dom gave him a warm feeling in his chest. So did the thought of this mess being over and settling down to living here at Winterleigh, with his whole life revolving around her.

  Focus, Granger. Stick with Plan A.

  He wasn’t the only one to lapse into a daydream, he realized. Beth was lost in thought and though he couldn’t be sure, it seemed that her eyes held a certain brightness that could only be attributable to tears.

  “Earth to Beth—are you all right? You went away from me there for a moment.”

  “Sorry.” She took a moment to gather herself together. “I’m sorry, I was miles away.”

  “What were you thinking?”

  “It was just a silly thought about the rain.”

  “Tell me.”

  Beth glanced down at her hands, clasped on her lap. “I just thought that if you went out to set up the shooting range, you’d get soaked to the skin, and then…“ She closed her eyes briefly as if she were fighting some sort of internal battle. “Then I thought that you’d probably seen, experienced far worse when you were deployed. I told you it was silly.”

  Without speaking, Adam rose and came round to her, his arms enfolding her and lifting her off the stool she was sitting on. He sat down so that they were almost on eye level with each other then pulled her close to him, between his muscular thighs. She raised her hands to frame his face, the look in her eyes startlingly intense.

  “Thank you,” she whispered against his cheek.

  “For what?”

  “Everything.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “I love you.”

  Adam laid his cheek against the back of her head. His eyes closed automatically with the peace that this woman unknowingly gave to him. Now he understood fully what his comrades had fought for. It was never really about Queen and country, but the man beside you on the front line, he already knew that. What he’d never really understood, beyond the logic of it, was fighting for the family waiting back home.

  He wasn’t alone anymore.

  Regardless of what he really wanted to do, Adam kept his mind on his priorities and spent an hour outside on target practice, using the most contemporary weapon at his disposal. The antique shotguns, including a prized Purdey of which he was particularly fond, were marvelous to shoot clay pigeons with. However, clay pigeons didn’t tend to shoot back, so for the purposes of protection he had selected the potentially lethal pump-action shotgun.

  It was satisfying to confirm that his eye was still good.

  And in case, for some reason, his access to the firearms was…restricted, it might be a good idea to have his old combat knives available. He had to consider all the options.

  He reloaded the shotgun. A few more rounds, and then he could look forward to getting back to Beth. He wanted this crap done with as much as she did, and just as soon as was humanly possible. Whoever it was, they’d waited a long time for revenge. If his past were coming back to haunt him, he knew he needed to be prepared.

  Having finished on a sequence of bull’s-eyes, he took the weapon back to the gun room, cleaned it and locked it away, part of him wishing that the next time he took it out he’d only be using it for field sports.

  And now he wanted Beth.

  He’d held off thinking about her while he was cleaning the shotgun, but now he wanted to bury himself in her body and celebrate being alive with her.

  “Beth!”

  They almost collided in the hall. At the sound of her name, Beth had come running out of the family room, her feet bare. Adam caught hold of her and pressed her against the wall, his mouth crushing hers with the violence of hi
s need for her. “Now I’m taking you to bed,” he growled.

  Adam headed for their bedroom rather than the playroom. He barely made it inside before he started to peel Beth’s clothes from her body. When she was naked, he lifted her in his arms and laid her on the bed, stepping back to devour her with his eyes. She moved onto her side facing him, her eyes never leaving his as she pillowed her head on one arm, one leg slightly bent for balance. He was aware of her gaze never leaving him while he shed his clothes.

  “Beth, I want you.”

  Her smile turned him on even more.

  She’d been desperate to be with Adam for the last hour, and now the desperation was gone, replaced by pure animal desire.

  Beth wanted him so badly—she’d never realized it was possible to ache with wanting someone until now. For the last hour she’d been unable to concentrate on anything other than imagining being with this man, and right now she wanted to spend the rest of her life in bed with him.

  “Has anyone ever told you you’re perfect, Adam?” she wondered aloud, lowering her head to lick his nipple like a cat lapping a bowl of cream and gaining immense satisfaction from the noise he made— somewhere between a purr and a growl.

  He tasted warm and sexy and male and she wanted more of him, so much more.

  “Beth.” His voice was rough with desire. “Give me your mouth.”

  She obeyed and in the same instant his hand parted her thighs so that his fingers could push into her pussy. She knew she was already wet with wanting him—his fingers moved slickly over her swelling clit and her hips bucked in response, trying to fuck his hand.

  “Easy, love,” he murmured against her lips. His fingers dipped into her pussy again and then his hand moved further. She felt the tip of his finger pushing against her anus. “Has anyone ever fucked you here?”

  Beth shook her head. “No one, Adam. Never…”

  The fingertip pushed more insistently, opening her up a little. “Relax, Beth. I’m going to teach you to take me here but I need to get you ready first.”

  She’d known he’d wanted this—he’d told her so. She braced herself for discomfort at best, pain at worst but what she experienced was gentle care that robbed her of all sense of self, all sense of time. Adam’s soft words serenaded her mind into acceptance and his tender touch soothed her body into making the movements he required of her, his hand on her back calming her when she whimpered at the easing open of the place only he had ever claimed. He was the Master of her body, her mind and her senses and when his cock finally nested within her, she opened her eyes and saw their reflection in the huge mirror that almost covered one wall of the bedroom.

  The eroticism of the image was stunning. The beautiful, muscular sculpture of Adam’s body as he arched over her melted her insides all over again and what Beth felt she was watching was not lovemaking or fucking, but a mating of two people who were meant to be together.

  Always.

  Their eyes met in the mirror. Adam paused, balls-deep inside the woman he loved. He covered her hand, resting on the bed, with his, their fingers twining together. “Beth?”

  The look in her eyes had a dreamlike quality—there was no sign of discomfort now and it looked like she was enjoying the reward he’d promised her. Slowly he began to move again, every stroke controlled to maximize her pleasure. It was all for her now.

  Her fingers, still tangled with his, tightened their grasp. He knew how aroused she was without touching her pussy—he could smell the warm, feminine scent of her, a scent he could drown in.

  “Sweetheart, you have permission to come when you’re ready.”

  He pushed her thighs further apart, took hold of her hips again, and began to increase the tempo of his fucking. He wanted Beth to be a wild woman under him, to hear her scream when her orgasm came.

  Her back arched. She was getting close, he was sure, as she pushed back against him, driving him deeper inside her. Instinct took over. His left arm slipped under her waist, and as he lifted her upright, sitting back on his heels, his right arm went across her chest, pulling her hard against his body.

  Her whimpers became impassioned cries of sexual excitement. She was helpless in his embrace, vulnerable, totally dependent on him not to let her fall—impaled on his thrusting cock, arching back against his body as she surrendered to the pleasure he was giving her.

  “Let go, Beth,” he encouraged her, his voice hoarse with restraint from holding his own orgasm at bay.

  He felt her clench around him, her head lolled back on his shoulder, and then the quake of her orgasm began, her body shaking as a wild howl signaled her climax.

  Adam reached round to push the pillows out of the way, then lowered his woman to the bed. His own need for release was increasing to the point where he doubted he could control it for much longer. Taking his weight on his arms so as not to crush her, he increased his rhythm, feeling the ripples of her pleasure intensify and as he felt the semen shoot from his cock, she climaxed again.

  He held Beth while she calmed down, reluctant to let her go until he knew that she was settling. When his cock slipped out of her anus, he was both surprised and gratified by the little grunt of complaint that she gave in response.

  She blew his mind. He thought of the Beth he’d known a few days ago—his very proper, tightly controlled executive assistant—and looked at the sated, sensual woman lying limply in his arms. The love he felt for her saturated every cell in his body. Beyond any doubt, he’d go to hell and back to keep her in his life.

  It was a sobering thought but Adam knew, more surely than he knew that the sun would rise tomorrow, that his life would be worth nothing without her. He stroked her hair, lifting it away from her face and neck so that he could place a gentle kiss on that sensitive spot at the top of her shoulder.

  Taking a brief moment to remove the condom, he installed Beth beneath the sheets, sliding in beside her to gather her to him, to warm her with his body and shelter her in his embrace. Although she was still in a post-orgasmic haze, she snuggled into him, her cheek pressed to his chest, her arm lying across his waist. He barely heard her sigh of contentment.

  “Beth?” His voice was little more than a whisper. “Are you all right?”

  He felt what he thought was a nod. It must have been a nod because she nestled closer to him, a reaction so different from that of the last woman he’d made love to in this bed.

  “Love, I know you want to go to sleep but there’s something I need to know. How do you feel?”

  She looked up at him with a drowsy smile. Her hand lifted from his chest to touch his face. “Safe. Protected. Loved. Like I could spend the rest of my life just like this. If I could bottle this moment, Adam, I’d keep it forever.”

  Her kiss was sweet and gentle. Her words brought warmth to his heart and reason to his life. Her next words made him feel cared for in a way that had been missing all his life, until the moment when Beth had walked into that life.

  “May I keep you forever?”

  Adam took a deep breath. “You mean the world to me, Beth. I love you. I want you in my bed and in my life for the rest of my life.”

  He ran his finger under the golden chain around her neck, pausing when he reached the padlock. It was a work of art and she looked beautiful in it, but he had to know.

  “Beth, are you happy to wear this?”

  He felt her lips against his chest, an inch or two above his nipple. “Adam, I love this collar. I love what it means. I want to be yours—this collar means that I am and it lets everyone know who needs to know that I am.”

  As they lay facing each other, Adam—overwhelmed by a feeling of possessiveness so primitive that it drove the last veneer of civilization from him—gathered her in his arms and wrapped his leg over hers. She was the center of his world, his holy grail and he’d kill or die to protect her.

  Chapter Eleven

  Beth and Adam had been sitting tight at Winterleigh for a week. Their days had settled into some sort of routine, wit
h Adam spending his mornings on the shooting range, out running or in the gym while Beth explored the house, familiarizing herself with the layout of it and working on her novel. She still hadn’t let Adam see it yet, but it was getting more and more difficult to resist his cajoling.

  One thing that was causing her some grief was Adam’s flat-out refusal to let her stray beyond the bounds of the house and grounds. She would have loved to take a walk to the nearest village but her man insisted that she remain on his property for reasons of safety. The one time she’d tried to defy him he’d caught her before she reached the main gates, lifted her bodily into the Range Rover he kept to use while in the country and when he got her back to the house, he’d put her over his knee and spanked her so hard she hadn’t been able to sit comfortably for hours.

  Each day Dan had called Adam with the latest update on his investigation into who was intent on harming him, be it through industrial espionage or some sort of personal vendetta. There hadn’t been much to report up ‘til now but today Dan had insisted on a personal visit. The plan was for him to spend the day there and stay overnight in one of the guest suites.

  “Beth, we’re going to the shooting range,” Adam informed her, dropping a sexy little kiss on her mouth. “Dan and I need to discuss a few things. While we’re doing that, you go and do your homework.”

  Beth watched the two men leave, keenly aware of how grave their demeanor became once they’d left her. For the last few days, she’d almost forgotten how serious the situation was that had brought her to this house in the first place, but Dan’s visit brought it all back. She hoped it would all be over soon.

  Homework. Beth frowned—sometimes, she really felt like kicking Adam’s legs from under him.

  Think calm thoughts.

  Oh she knew he was taking care of her and she did feel bad about being irritated by what he’d said. She also knew she should look at the positives—she was in love with and loved by a beautiful man who gave her the sexual domination she craved, who was giving her support and encouragement in her attempts to become a writer. She was also able to give him the emotional support he needed, in spite of all his Dominant characteristics. They worked well together in so many different ways.