Her breathing hitched and her heart rate accelerated as the pain blossomed through her. Could she take more? Yes, for him she could do it. And the strangest thing was happening to her. She felt as if a drug had been unleashed in her system, carrying her to an out-of-body place. A high that made everything else unreal and took her more deeply into subspace.
The cane landed again, but now one bite of pain blended into the next. Unbelievably she was suddenly so aroused that she was sure she could climax by herself, even stretched out as she was. She tried to wriggle her hips back and forth and rub her clit against the coverlet, but a smack of the cane, sharper than all the others, stopped her.
“None of that, querida. You will not do anything to satisfy yourself until I give permission. The pain takes you right to the edge and that’s where I want to keep you. Until I’m ready for you to come.” He smoothed a hand over her buttocks. “Your skin is such a beautiful shade of red right now I could kiss it. In fact, I think I will.”
He trailed his mouth over each cheek, placing little wet kisses. But rather than soothing her they seemed to intensify the heat and the pain. Oh, god, it hurt, but the pleasure it brought was so strong she wanted to beg for more.
She could hear him moving around the bed, and in a moment he was back beside her, his hand on her stinging thigh.
“You are doing so well. So very well. I knew you would take to this right away. Do you remember how much Marlena enjoyed it? What she told you?”
She nodded.
“I didn’t hear you.” He pinched one ass cheek.
“Yes, Sir.” She turned her head slightly and realised the blindfold was wet. She’d been crying and hadn’t even known it!
Diego stroked two fingers across her damp cheek. “Good tears,” he told her. “They bathe away the pain.”
Kaci blinked behind the silk. Good tears? Well, yes, maybe they were. Everything was suddenly different. The pain was stronger, the edge sharper, but the arousal so great she had to stop herself from rubbing against the bed again.
“Now the flogger,” he went on. “I think for tonight just ten strokes.” He bit down gently on one cheek of her buttocks, then soothed with his tongue. “You’re doing so well. I’m so proud of you.” His fingers were at her pussy again. “Aah. And so hot and ready. Do you want to come?”
“Yes, Sir, I do. Please.” Her pussy was burning even more than her ass, hot with a driving need. “Please, please.”
“Please what?”
“Please would you fuck me, Sir?”
“Not yet.” He pinched one globe of her buttocks. “While I use the flogger I want you to think about how badly you want me to fuck you. About how desperately you want my cock inside you. About how much the pain enhances the need. So that when I finally do fuck you the orgasm will blow your mind.”
More movement, then the soft feel of the flogger on her skin, back and forth like a dance on her body.
“This is different than the cane, my pet. Softer yet harder at the same time. Let’s see how you do.”
She’d been mentally falling into that black velvet pool again, but the snap of the flogger on her already tormented skin brought her back to awareness. She jerked in her restraints. Oh, god. She wanted him to stop. No, she wanted more. She wanted him inside her. She wanted something to stop this savage need.
“Too much?” he asked.
“No.” She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “No, Sir.”
She bit her lip, sinking into the darkness around her. She would not ask him to stop. It was obvious he knew exactly how hard to cane, how to wield the flogger with expertise. And strangely she was still disconnected enough to enjoy the intense pleasure it brought as the pain subsided.
“Good, then.”
The flogger was in some ways better than the cane, not as sharp, and in some ways worse. It covered more skin at one time. Diego counted off each stroke as she squirmed in place, and more tears leaked from her eyes and soaked into the blindfold. It was all she could do to hold herself still, not raise up and down on her toes, until he counted off the last stroke.
She heard him toss the flogger aside before he unfastened the cuffs and rolled her over. Even the softness of the comforter seemed harsh against her stinging skin, and she clamped her teeth together to keep from crying out. But stronger than that, she wanted his cock inside her more than she wanted her next breath. The pain had aroused her to an unbelievable level, and the plug in her ass was ramping it up even higher.
She almost sobbed with relief when she heard the swish of fabric as he undressed and the familiar crinkle of the condom wrapper. In the next instant he lifted her legs, spread them wide and with one swift movement of his hips drove inside her.
“Ohhhhh.” The sound rolled from her lips on a long exhalation of breath.
“Yes.” His voice had a rough edge to it. “See how much better the pain makes it, querida? I feel how hot and wet you are. How your pussy clamps down around me as if it will never let me go.”
She cried out as he slid free of her body, but in the next instant he flipped her over and pulled her to her knees, again thrusting his cock inside her. With the butt plug solidly in place, every inch of her was filled. She rocked on the impalement, urging him to move his hips.
Diego’s laugh was low and rusty. “You want me to fuck you more than anything. I knew you would.”
And then he moved, one hand on her hip and the other on the chain swinging between her breasts. With each roll of his hips, driving his shaft into her, he tugged on the chain. She embraced the pain that radiated from her nipples straight to her clit, hearing the little whimpers of pleasure she was making.
Tug, tug. Thrust, thrust. More, more. She was in a place where the only thing that existed was the hard cock plunging into her and the man holding her. And the orgasm that unwound so rapidly and crashed through her just as Diego’s body stiffened, and with a shout he emptied himself into the latex sheath.
She fell forwards, gasping for breath, and he eased himself from her tight clasp. He moved away to dispose of the condom, then returned to remove the butt plug and nipple clamps. First lifting her in his arms, he turned back the covers on the bed and placed her gently down on her stomach. And finally he untied the blindfold.
Kaci blinked as if she’d just returned from a distant planet. Which, in fact, was exactly the way she felt. Diego showered kisses on her cheek and her forehead, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“You did so well. I’m so very proud of you.”
Kaci was exhausted and completely spent, yet she had to stifle the urge to ask him how she compared to his other subs. Had they performed as well for him?
No jealousy here. Remember. This relationship will have an end. Be ready to accept that with dignity.
She just smiled at him. “Thank you, Sir.”
“You did well, my pet. Very well. And your orgasm. Was it not beyond anything you’ve experienced before?”
“Yes, Sir. It was.”
“You found your way to headspace very well. I’m very proud of you.” He kissed her cheek again. “Now it’s my turn to take care of you. Close your eyes and let me do that.”
He spent several minutes lightly rubbing a soothing cream into every inch of her stinging skin, caressing her with every movement of his hand. She let herself fall under his spell, the sharp bite of pain easing under his ministrations, sleep beckoning her.
And she shoved any misgivings nibbling at her out of the way.
Chapter Four
“So how’s it going, all in all?”
Lora perched herself on a high stool, popped the top of a soft drink can and took a long swallow.
Kaci wasn’t all that surprised to see her. Occasionally Lora stopped by on her way home from work if she saw a car in the driveway. But today Kaci wasn’t exactly in the mood for girl talk. There was work to do. And she’d barely had time to cover her special project with a drape before opening the door. Now she focused her attention on
the hammer and chisel she was wielding on a new block of Hill Country limestone.
“You mean with the next show? Pretty good, but I have four more pieces to finish.” She straightened up and blew out a breath. “Thank goodness I’ve still got three months to work on them.”
“Actually, I meant with Diego. Don’t take this the wrong way, but there’s a lot of betting going on.”
Kaci forced a calm she didn’t feel. For one thing, she needed all her concentration for the piece she was working on. For another, and more importantly, she wasn’t about to let herself get dragged into a conversation about her situation with Diego. She worried about it enough by herself.
“Really? Who’s doing the betting?”
“Oh, you know. His friends. People at the munches. Folks who’ve known him a long time.” Lora paused. “This is the longest he’s ever kept a sub.”
Kaci held onto her temper, pounding the chisel with a little more determination than usual. “First of all, he’s not ‘keeping’ me. We’re together by mutual agreement. Secondly, when our relationship runs its course we’ll both know it.”
“You think? People are saying—”
“Stop.” Kaci set her tools down and brushed a strand of hair off her face with the back of her hand. “I’m not interested in what everyone’s saying. They have no idea what goes on in the privacy of our home. And it’s none of their business.”
Lora widened her eyes. “Hey. I’m sorry. I just thought…”
“No problem. But I’ve really got a lot of work to do. Diego’s out of town until tomorrow night, so I plan to work late.” She forced a smile. “You understand, right?”
“Oh! Oh, sure.” Lora hopped off the stool, pitched her empty can into the recycle bin and picked up her purse. “Maybe next time Diego’s out of town and I’m at a loose end too, we can grab a bite to eat.”
“Maybe. We’ll see. I’ve really got a lot of work to do before the next show.”
Lora looked around at some of the finished pieces. “You only do women. Why is that?”
“It’s a way for me to express femininity,” she answered. “To show people the many faces of women.”
Lora started to lift the cover on one of the other pieces, and Kaci jerked the cloth out of her hand.
“Not for viewing yet.” She took a breath, evened out her voice. “They’re just not ready to be seen by anyone, even you.”
Lora frowned. “I never thought of you as a temperamental artist. What’s the deal?”
“The deal,” Kaci said, “is Diego gets to see everything first, then the gallery owner, then my friends. You get it, right?”
Lora shrugged. “Sure. Okay, then. I’ll be going.”
Kaci let out a slow breath as she closed the door and locked it. This was not a distraction she needed. These days she worried enough about her situation without anyone else’s comments. She knew people wondered at the length of her relationship with Diego. Lately, she’d begun to harbour a secret wish that it was turning into something different. Something more.
She wasn’t sure just when that feeling had begun to develop. It had sort of sneaked up on her without her even realising it. One day she was content to be Diego’s sub until the relationship ran its course, the next she was thinking about a lot of tomorrows. Even forever.
She wanted to ask him if he indulged in edge play with his other subs. If they were good at learning it. If he enjoyed it more with her.
If he ever thinks about us staying together permanently.
It had been the impetus for her to agree to the edge play to begin with. Enjoying it as much as she did was a bonus. She felt it had somehow deepened what was between them, but did he feel the same?
“I’m driving myself crazy,” she said aloud. “If I’m not already there.”
She lifted the drape covering the piece Lora had tried to take a peek at. It was one of a series she’d been working on. Not for a show. Maybe never for a show. They were all of Diego, all his many moods, his many postures. Some were the entire body but smaller in size while others were busts or chests and head. They were all done from memory, but every single one of his moods was engraved in her brain. And the work was a labour of love.
She walked over to the corner where the huge block of limestone she was working on awaited her, and pulled back the sheet. This was her favourite—Diego naked lying on a block of stone with one knee bent, his head tilted back over the edge, arm hanging down one side, the picture of a tortured man seeking…something.
It was her expression of the look she’d seen on his face when he didn’t think she was watching. But what kind of look? What exactly was he looking for? She knew so little about his past, and he deliberately kept it that way. Just as he never pried for details of hers. Oh, he knew that her parents lived in Arizona, that she had a married sister in Oregon and a married brother in Wisconsin, and that none of them knew that she lived The Life.
Beyond that, all he knew was her life since she moved to Austin and whatever she chose to share with him. He made it clear that was all he wanted to know. It was clearly a good mechanism for not letting things get too serious
Only for the first time in her life she wanted serious. She wanted more than a relationship with an expiration date. Diego touched places deep inside her that she hadn’t known existed. It wasn’t just the sex. It was the way he respected her talent. Encouraged it. Like hiring world-renowned sculptor Giorgio Franco to tutor her. Like introducing her to the gallery owner who had given her that first show. Like standing in the background, watching the high-dollar friends he’d encouraged to attend whip out their chequebooks to pay outrageous prices for her work.
Work that was worth it, by the way. Every buyer had been tremendously pleased and they in turn had told their friends who came to her next show.
Like caring for her when she had the flu.
And most of all, like showing her off to his friends, not as a prized possession but as a person of value. Of worth.
For a moment her mind wandered back to their edge play three nights ago. Absently, she rubbed her ass. The skin was still tender, although most of the redness had disappeared. Diego had been diligent about applying the soothing salve at night and in the morning.
Working on her newest piece made her think about everything that had happened. About focusing on her current work so that nothing else was real to her. So that she was in a different time and place, a place where she could accept whatever he did. Whatever she agreed to. When she thought about the bite of the pain and the wave of pleasure it produced, her pussy contracted. Cream surged into her panties, so heavily she felt the wetness on the inside her thighs. She had been so very, very aroused that when he’d finally fucked her, the orgasm had shaken her to her very core. And even with the residual soreness, she couldn’t wait for him to do it again. To take her to that place in her head where the pleasure and pain blended so perfectly that she couldn’t tell one from the other.
Yes, she wanted it. Craved it. Something she’d never expected.
It deepened the bond between them, she was sure. But would it be enough? She’d begun to live in an uneasy state, wondering when the other shoe would drop and he’d tell her it was time for both of them to move on.
Stop it! Just stop it!
She rubbed her forehead, let the fabric fall back in place and went back to her current work in progress.
Focus, Kaci, focus. People are finally paying a lot of money for your work. Deliver the goods.
* * * *
“I think this will be our best deal yet.” Capital venture mogul Dylan Rice shook Diego’s hand across the table. “You always bring me the good ones.”
Diego smiled. “And they’ve made us a nice amount of money.”
Diego was overseeing the merger of two software companies, one in the United States and the other in Germany. The deal would require expansion of both facilities to accommodate the new contracts for production as well as hiring more staff. Plus a major media rol
lout. Diego had handled the negotiations, and Dylan would provide the financing. For that, each of them would receive shares in the new company that would generate a nice income.
“Yes, they have,” Dylan agreed. “How long do you expect it to take before all the contracts are signed?”
“I’d say no later than the end of next week. Hans Frieder is flying in from Germany on Monday. I’ll get him and his attorney together with Fred Dunlap and his legal eagle in my office by Wednesday and it will be a done deal.” He picked up the thin stack of papers that lay on the table between them. “But your part of the deal is complete. Both CEOs signed and had their signatures notarised on those papers. I still wish you could come to Austin and join us. I’ll be holding a little business reception for them.”
“Me too, but I’ll be in South America next week.” He stood up. “Thanks again.”
Diego watched the man walk away, then lifted his cut-crystal tumbler of bourbon and took a sip. He checked his watch. Nine o’clock. He was sure Kaci would still be at the studio working. He had a sudden strong desire to talk to her but he was all too aware that when she was lost in her work she often didn’t hear the telephone ring.
Using that focus as a guide to show her what subspace was—how to let herself fall into it, how to clear everything else out of her mind—had been brilliant on his part. If she could lose herself in work she could do the same thing with sex.
Their orgasms that night had been beyond anything he’d ever felt with another woman. Even now he remembered how tightly her cunt had gripped his shaft when he drove into her; a hot, wet vice that promised never to let go. Just thinking about her body stretched out on their bed, hands restrained, her ass and thighs striped a delicious red made his cock harden and twitch.
But it was more than that, as reluctant as he was to admit it. A frightening word had burst into his mind as he exploded into her body.
Home.
And another one.
Mine.
Two words he never used with any of his subs.
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