by Ashlee Price
She discards my briefs and bends over my crotch. Her breath tickles the tip of my cock.
She runs a finger across the smooth line between my balls and follows it up the length of my cock. I shiver.
“You shave,” she says.
“Yes,” I answer in a whisper. “I find it more… comfortable.”
Dani grins. “I like it.”
She wraps her fingers around my cock and plants a kiss on the tip. I shiver anew as the heat from her lips travels all the way down to the base and swirls in my balls, making them heavy.
She wraps her lips around my cock next and I am lost. I grip her hair as heat washes over me in waves. I open my mouth to let out gasps and suck air into my lungs.
As she moves her head up and down, the heat in my body rises. Something stirs inside my balls as that heat threatens to break free.
“Dani,” I warn as I lift my head and try to push her off me.
She doesn’t let go, though, and I tug the tendrils of her hair as something in me snaps. My cock explodes in her mouth.
Only when the explosion is over and I’m out of breath does Dani pull away. My eyes grow wide as the lump in her throat moves.
“Did you…?”
“Yes,” she answers my unfinished question and licks her lips.
My heart stops, then begins a new race. The heat that hasn’t left my body stirs again.
I sit up and push her down on the floor so I can kiss her. I pin her hands down and entwine my fingers with hers.
I taste a bit of something salty and bitter, but I don’t mind. I grind against her as my tongue delves into her mouth and my cock becomes hard again.
I abandon her mouth to plant a kiss on her neck and lick the patch of skin above her pulse. She moans. I move lower, bolder now, and take one of her breasts inside my mouth.
Dani shivers and grips my hands tighter. Another moan escapes her lips.
I let go of her hands so I can take off her jeans and her panties at the same time. A sweet scent drifts into my nostrils and turns my thoughts into a blur.
I reach between her legs to slip a finger inside her and her body trembles. Her nails rake across the tatami floor.
“It’s okay,” Dani breathes out as she looks at me through half-lidded eyes. “I’m ready.”
I swallow the lump in my throat.
I kiss her again as I clutch the backs of her knees and slowly push inside her. Her velvety skin grips me, the friction making my body burn all over.
So this is how it feels like to be inside a woman.
When I’m completely sheathed inside her, I break the kiss and pause to savor the sensation of being wrapped in something so tightly I can barely breathe. Then I take a huge gulp of air and start moving my hips.
With each thrust, Dani lets out a sound, either a moan or a gasp or something in between. I hear her nails across the tatami as well, and her hair rustling against the woven straw floor.
I move faster and now the only sound I hear is of skin slapping against skin. My vision begins to blur. My head spins.
I bury myself deep inside her just as she tightens around me even more than I thought possible. My cock quivers and leaks. She milks me of every drop as her body trembles and she lets out soft cries. Then her body relaxes and grows still. So does mine.
I pull out and lie beside her, staring at the ceiling as I suck air back into my lungs. I hear her gasps for air beside me and I turn to her.
“Are… you alright?”
Dani nods and turns her head to meet my gaze. “You?”
I nod.
She smiles and extends a hand to stroke my cheek. “See. You’re not a child and you’re not helpless either, nor unwanted nor untalented. You’re amazing the way you are.”
I take her hand and kiss it. “Thank you for believing in me.”
“How can I not?” She sits up and hands me my eyeglasses. “Promise me you’ll have more confidence in yourself and that you’ll finish that script as soon as you can?”
I put on my eyeglasses and nod.
“And that if ever you’re feeling low, you’ll call me and not sulk on your own?”
“I promise,” I answer.
She gives me a bigger smile. “Good.”
I smile in turn, but that vanishes when my gaze falls on the ring on her finger, which I somehow forgot was there.
“I’m sorry,” I mumble.
“Why?”
“Won’t Kaleb be mad?” I ask her.
She glances at her ring. “Nah. Don’t worry about it.”
She places her hand on my cheek. “It should be fine.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kaleb
“It’s not fine!” I tell Dani as I beat my clenched fist against the wall of her living room.
I wasn’t supposed to return yet. The workshop wasn’t over. And yet, the moment Jerry told me that Dwayne told him that Dani had disappeared for an entire day, my feet just took on a life of their own and brought me here.
“Where were you?” I ask her.
Dani crosses her arms over her chest. “Why are you so upset? I don’t believe it was in our contract that I should remain under twenty-four-hour surveillance.”
“Who were you with?”
She nods slowly. “I see. That’s what you really want to know, isn’t it? You’re jealous.”
I grit my teeth.
I hate to admit it, but she’s right. I am jealous.
She’s not my real fiancée, I know, but ever since we had sex in this very living room, I haven’t stopped wanting her and I can’t bear the thought of someone else having her.
It’s weird. I’ve never felt like this before. Usually, after I have sex with a woman, I lose interest in her.
But not Dani.
“Who were you with?” I repeat my question.
“Fine. I’ll tell you the truth.” She sits down. “I was with Scott, a friend of mine.”
Something explodes in my chest. “I thought you weren’t supposed to go out with other men.”
“No one saw us, not even Dwayne,” she points out.
“That’s not the point.”
“We just talked, okay? I was bored. I couldn’t just wait here sitting for you. And you hadn’t called me for days. I needed someone to talk to.”
“I was busy, alright?”
“Well, I have a life, too,” Dani spits out. “My life doesn’t revolve around yours.”
The words prick at my already wounded pride.
“You were with him all day?”
“No. If you must know, I was following up on your script. It’s a good thing, too, because your scriptwriter wasn’t feeling well. But he’s feeling better now, and the script for your movie should be ready soon.”
I grab her wrist. “Are you playing games with me?”
“Let me go.”
“This is not what you agreed to,” I remind her.
She pulls her hand away and stands up. “Then tell Tom. Tell him I violated the contract. Tell him to cancel this fake engagement.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “You’re supposed to be mine, Dani.”
“You bought my consent to this engagement, but you didn’t buy my heart or any other part of me. I don’t belong to you.”
“Until the contract is over, you do.”
“You know why I signed that contract,” she tells me. “Do you think that just because I had sex with you that I’m okay with everything now?”
I fall silent.
She puts her hands on my chest and pushes me back. “You’re the one who’s playing with me. Do you know that? It doesn’t matter if we have a contract. That’s just a piece of paper. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re leading me on and twisting my heart.”
I blink. “Are you saying you want out?”
“I’m saying I get tired of everything being fake,” she tells me. “I need something real once in a while.”
“But…”
“I will go on being y
our pretend fiancée, Kaleb, but don’t forget that I’m only your pretend fiancée.” She heads to the stairs. “So don’t ask for my heart when you haven’t given me yours. How could you, when you do everything so halfheartedly?”
With that, she disappears up the stairs.
I sit on the couch and run my hands through my hair, confused at what just went on, at what brought all of this about.
I let out a sigh.
What the hell just happened?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Hector
It’s happening.
As I flip through the pages of the printed copy of the script on my desk, I feel a sense of exhilaration.
I’ve been waiting for this for over a week and finally, it’s finished. Not just that. I’ve read a few lines and I’ve been blown away just imagining the actors saying them. I just know they’ll feel the same way I do when they get the copies that I’ve already sent them.
This script was good enough in the beginning, with notes from the author herself. Now it’s even better and I can’t wait for filming to start.
Good job, Noah Takahashi.
And I don’t know what Dani did, but I have a feeling she played a part in the completion of this script, so good job to her, too. I’ll be sure to give her a reward later.
The thought of her gives me another reason to smile as I face my laptop, my fingers over the jet black keys. She has been doing very well following orders, savoring the pleasure I give her without demanding more. She’s become submissive but not broken. Each time we finish our scene, she looks into my eyes and I still see a stubborn gleam of defiance there.
And that turns me on more than her moans and her pleas.
Nope, that image is not safe for work.
I set it aside as I type an email. I’ve just pressed send when another email comes in, this one from an unknown address.
I’m about to send it to the trash, but the subject line all in capital letters catches my eye and piques my curiosity.
YOU’RE GOING DOWN.
For curiosity’s sake, I open the email. The rest of the message is written in capital letters as well.
YOU’VE BEEN ON TOP FOR TOO LONG AND YOU THINK YOU’RE UNTOUCHABLE WITH YOUR TOYS AND YOUR WHIPS AND YOUR CHAINS BUT YOUR WORLD IS ABOUT TO COME CRASHING DOWN HARDER THAN A FLOGGER, FASTER THAN A WHIP. YOU’RE ABOUT TO BREAK LIKE YOU BROKE ME. AND NOW, THERE WON’T BE AN OUNCE OF PLEASURE IN IT FOR YOU. THE ONLY PLEASURE WILL BE MINE WATCHING YOU FALL.
The letter is simply signed Red Kitty.
I sit back on my chair and frown.
I’ve received threats and warnings before, but mostly to my company or regarding my movies and other businesses. This is different, because it feels personal. I can feel the hatred in every word.
My eyebrows furrow. Who is this person?
I scroll down and notice that there are files attached to the letter—two photos and an audio file. I open the first photo and my eyes grow wide.
The first picture is of Dani’s wrist up close, the marks of the rope still visible. The second is of the whips and ropes hanging from the wall of the Rose Room.
I open the audio file and a recording plays, one of my first scene with Dani in the Rose Room.
I beat my fist on my desk.
Who sent this, and how did he get his hands on that audio?
I march to the Rose Room. I search it thoroughly, top to bottom. I look through every drawer. I inspect every inch. I undress the pillows and turn the bed upside down.
Nothing.
I don’t see any recording device, nor any cameras.
A glance at the wall with the whips make me pause. I turn around to look across it. It’s just the door, and I’ve already checked it, so the picture must have been shot using a camera on something else, on something that must have been on someone standing in the doorway.
And there have only been two people in this room recently.
Just then, Dani comes in. Her brown eyes grow wide.
“I saw the door open so I thought you were already here,” she says.
I don’t answer. I just stare at her.
How could she have betrayed me?
She takes a step forward. “What’s wrong?”
Again, I don’t give her an answer. I simply go to her and rip her dress off.
Dani gasps. “Hector, what’s going on?”
I grip her chin. “You’re not allowed to call me by that name, remember?”
Her eyes and lips tremble. “But…”
I push her away and she falls on the floor.
“Silence!”
Dani picks herself up. “I don’t understand. What is this about? Can you tell me first before…?”
I grab the ball gag from the drawer and strap it around her face.
“I told you to be quiet,” I tell her through gritted teeth.
She looks at me with eyes wide with fear.
I bring her to the cross and strap her wrists and ankles there with her chest facing the wall. I cut away her scissors and her bra.
Then I grab the whip from the wall.
I strike her lower back with it and she whimpers through the gag. I ignore her, striking again and again, across the backs of her legs, across the pale, plump cheeks of her ass and across her back.
Each strike leaves a red mark, and one of them bleeds.
I drop the whip and take off my shirt, which is now drenched in sweat. I free her wrists and ankles and throw her onto the edge of the bed.
I walk over to her as she’s still heaving, catching her breath.
I take out my hard cock, pull her up by her arms and shove myself inside her.
Dani lets out a muffled cry.
I continue to jerk my hips forward, moving in and out of her fast. She clenches around me as my cock sputters. I feel a weight in my balls.
With one final thrust, I release myself inside her. Only when every drop has been spilled out do I let her go. She falls forward on the edge of the bed, but then slides off it to lie limply on her side on the carpet.
I kneel over her and take the ball gag off. Only then do I see her tearstained cheeks. A lump forms in my throat.
I stand up and I see the crimson stripes I’ve inflicted on her and my chest tightens. The ball gag falls from my fingers as my hand clenches into a fist.
What have I done?
Dani touches the toe of my leather shoe, then lifts her head weakly. Her moist eyes, open halfway, stare up at me through the messy veil of her hair.
“I’m… sorry.”
Then her eyes close. Her head falls to the carpet.
Horrified, I kneel beside her and take her into my arms. I feel something wet beneath my fingertips, and I lift them to see the smear of blood.
God, what have I done to her?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dani
I open my eyes and the first thing I see is a wooden canopy above me, some intricate pattern carved into the dark wood.
I turn my head and see the scorching glow of afternoon sunlight drifting in through the lace veil shrouding the French windows. An eggshell blue chaise with tasseled pillows sits against it. In the corner, I see an armchair, and beside it, right across from me, a TV above a bookshelf. On the other end, there’s a door that must lead to a bathroom.
I turn my head to the other side and see a desk, a chair and a potted plant. On the desk is a large bouquet of purple hyacinths, pink carnations and white tulips. A yellow dress similar to what I was wearing but undoubtedly more expensive is draped over the back of the chair along with a black bra. A box of chocolates sits on the chair.
I blink. Is it Valentine’s Day?
Then my gaze falls on the open box on the nightstand, which has a diamond necklace with a pear-shaped turquoise pendant and matching earrings.
My eyes grow wide as my breath is taken away.
I sit up so I can grab the box, but then I wince as pain shoots up my back. I feel a soreness between my legs and behind the
m as well.
Looking down, I find myself in a pink chemise. Beneath it, black underwear. I reach behind me and feel bandages across my back. My fingertips glide over what feels like a bruise, and I frown.
What the…?
Then my mind clears and the memories return. I remember entering the Rose Room. I remember seeing Hector angrier than I’ve ever seen him before. I remember being gagged and strapped to the cross, being helplessly whipped as tears streaked down my cheeks. I remember the pain that seemed to be cutting me open. I remember wanting to say ‘blue’ but not being able to.
Then I remember being bent over the bed and Hector pounding into me. Did I come? That I don’t remember. But I remember that he did.
And yet, my thighs don’t seem wet or sticky. I lift my arm to my nose and I smell soap, lavender and honey.
Have I been bathed?
Just then, the door to the room opens and I see a food cart enter with a platter under a cloche and what smells unmistakably like a pot of coffee. I expect a maid to be pushing it, but to my surprise, Hector is the one behind the cart.
He pushes it inside the room and closes the door. He turns his head and our eyes meet. His gleam with sadness and remorse, far from those eyes that were brimming and burning with hatred earlier.
Why was he so angry? Did he find out that I had sex with Noah and get jealous?
I let out a soft sigh.
First Kaleb. Now Hector. Why is everyone getting so jealous these days? Why does everyone think and act like they own me when none of them has the guts to properly and sincerely ask me to be theirs?
Hector says nothing as he continues to wheel the cart. He parks it by the bed.
“How long have I been asleep?” I ask him.
He sits on the edge of the bed. “The doctor gave you pain relievers after disinfecting and bandaging the cut on your back.”
Doctor?
“Drowsiness is a side effect of the medicine. It’s…” Hector glances at his watch. “Three o’clock now, so you’ve been asleep for almost five hours.”
“Wow.” I touch my head. “No wonder I feel so groggy.”
He moves closer to me. “Are you in pain?”