Their Famous Dominant (Office Intrigue, 4)

by Nicole Edwards

  Trent reached up and released Troy’s arms from the hook in the ceiling.

  “Since it’s apparent I need to outline every single detail, we’re finished for now.”

  What?

  He was ending the scene?

  Just like that?

  I didn’t understand. I did everything he’d asked, exactly as he had instructed.

  “I want you both to head up to my apartment.”

  I dropped my hand and glared at him, my eyes following him as he moved around to stand beside the bed.

  “Do you have a problem with that, Clarissa?”

  Nope. I was no longer sunshine, his submissive. I was back to being Clarissa, the woman who had clearly disappointed him.

  He held his hand out to me, his eyes narrowed and a strange look on his face. He was not happy.

  Forcing a cheerful tone, I smiled. “No, Master. I don’t have a problem. Whatever pleases you.”

  “Give me the toy.” He took it from my hand. “I want the two of you to go up to my apartment. Do not bother getting dressed. Once you’re up there, I want you both to kneel in the living room and wait for me.”

  “Of course, Master.” Without his help, I climbed down from the bed.

  Trent turned away and mumbled something I couldn’t quite make out. Rather than question him—it wasn’t my place and he’d already given me instructions—I grabbed my clothes and waited for Troy to get his before I followed him out of the room.

  Walking naked through the club wasn’t my favorite thing, but for some reason, I couldn’t even worry about it. This was obviously punishment.

  Although, for what, I didn’t know. I had absolutely no clue what had gone so terribly wrong.

  Trent

  AFTER TROY AND CLARISSA LEFT the room, I took my time packing up my things before wiping down the room and tossing the bedding onto the floor. One of the submissives would be in at the end of the night to retrieve it and send it to be laundered.

  Rather than follow Clarissa and Troy up to my apartment, I stalled.

  While I had enjoyed the power play with Troy—the boy was going to learn to follow instructions eventually—I had been sorely disappointed in Clarissa’s reactions. She was purposely keeping her distance and it bothered me. Oh, sure, she took the toy, she pressed it to her clit, but not once did it seem as though she was enjoying herself.

  She was going through the motions and that pissed me off. I didn’t want a submissive who was merely a warm body in the room, and that was what it felt like with her tonight. Even with Xander’s warning, I had been caught off guard.

  When it came to our sexual interactions, she was far too docile. Like she turned off the switch to her brain and only followed orders. And not very well, mind you. Well, that wasn’t necessarily true. She followed orders to the letter. Hell, she hadn’t come because I hadn’t ordered her to.

  “Fuck,” I growled.

  This was not how I saw this playing out.

  Sure, I sensed she truly did enjoy watching me and Troy, but not in an engaging way. If I merely needed an audience, I could’ve very well taken Troy down to the dungeon. Or I could’ve allowed someone to be in the adjoining room, but I hadn’t. I’d purposely secured the room because I hadn’t been interested in someone watching us tonight.

  Not because I cared that they saw what was taking place. I merely wanted the chance to explore Troy in my own way. This was all fucking new to me. Taking his cock in my mouth had been so out of the norm I’d been hesitant. I wasn’t a hesitant man, but I found myself wanting to ensure I was pleasing him rather than exploring my own desires.

  Perhaps I’d gone about this the wrong way.

  I fucking hated that I was doubting myself.

  Knowing I couldn’t go to my apartment until the club closed down, I decided to mingle. Maybe that would give me a little time to cool off and figure out just how the hell I could make this work.

  I found Xander on the main floor, standing near the bar, Mercedes kneeling at his feet.

  “Oh, shit. I know that look,” Xander said when I approached.

  “What look?” I pretended not to know what he was talking about.

  “The one that says your submissives derailed your scene.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  When the bar submissive approached, I asked her to bring me a bottle of water.

  “Let me guess,” Xander said. “Clarissa tensed up. She couldn’t follow through without your explicit instruction.”

  I nodded as I reached for the water. “Something like that.”

  “Not to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong,” Xander said, his hand rubbing the top of Mercedes’s head, “but I think you’re going to have to deprogram her if you expect to get anything out of this.”

  I nodded because I was still so fucking pissed I didn’t want to talk about it.

  “Look,” he said softly. “Clarissa wants to please. That’s her sole objective. You have to keep in mind she has never belonged to anyone. For that reason alone, she keeps her distance. Shane was the only constant for her, but there was never anything between them. They blew off steam together. Everyone knows Shane has an interest in Leah. He has for a long time.”

  I knew Leah was Xander’s assistant and this was news to me. Not that I gave a shit who Shane was interested in.

  Xander sighed. “Put yourself in Clarissa’s shoes. She’s never had a Dom of her own, doesn’t know what to do now that you’re showing interest.”

  It made sense even if it didn’t.

  I took a long drink of my water and stared at the stainless-steel bar top. “How do you suggest I deprogram her?”

  “Don’t let her out of your sight,” Mercedes said.

  I twisted and stared down at the submissive still kneeling on the floor.

  She gave me a wicked grin.

  Xander sighed again. “She’s been ordered to remain silent. See how well that works for her?”

  I grinned down at Mercedes. “As much as I’d like to kidnap Clarissa, I don’t think that’s appropriate.”

  “Not technically, no,” Mercedes said, still smiling. “But I don’t think it’ll take much to convince her to stay with you for a few days. You could show her how much you want to spend time with her.”

  “Or maybe you could take her back to Chicago,” Xander suggested. “Introduce her to the city, show her around. If she’s going to relocate there, it could prove beneficial in more ways than one.”

  “She hasn’t led me to believe she intends to take the job,” I told him.

  “Maybe she doesn’t know yet,” Xander noted. “All the more reason to take her to check it out. Show her around.”

  It sounded reasonable.

  “She likes you, Trent,” Mercedes said. “I’ve known it from the beginning. And I also know that’s the reason she hasn’t been with another Dom in so long. She plays with us because she needs it, but there’s never anything intimate.”

  “Clarissa needs this,” Xander said. “She needs you to focus on her. She needs a Dom who is willing to put forth the effort. If she even thinks you’ll be gone on the next strong breeze, she’ll never open up.”

  Yes, that was obvious.

  “Take her somewhere. To Chicago, your house, anywhere. It doesn’t matter,” Mercedes said again. “I’m putting her house on the market on Monday. She’s basically packed up, so I can get the rest of her things moved to my condo while she’s gone. It’ll give me a little extra time to get the house staged. It needs some work, so it’s best if she’s out of the way.”

  They were giving me the perfect opportunity, which I wasn’t opposed to using to my advantage.

  However, kidnapping Clarissa wasn’t an option.

  I would simply have to find a way to convince her.

  And the thought of deprograming the woman … that was a task I was up for. But even I knew that was going to be far more difficult than it sounded.

  *

  Not once since Dichotomy opened to mem
bers had I been eager for the place to clear out, but tonight I was. And by the time the last person left at midnight, I was damn near coming out of my skin. Bishop and Zeke had disappeared into the Doms’ lounge so they would be close if needed.

  With the building secured, I headed up to my apartment, fully expecting to find Clarissa and Troy asleep somewhere. I had left them for too damn long without supervision and I wouldn’t blame them if they’d passed out from exhaustion.

  When I opened the door, I found them both kneeling on the floor in the living room. At least they’d had the sense to retrieve throw pillows from the sofa. I should’ve considered the fact that I wasn’t coming up for an hour and a half, but I hadn’t.

  Another failure on my part.

  I didn’t like to fail, yet I seemed to be doing a lot of that these days. Losing my control with them, putting my own needs in front of theirs, even letting Clarissa top from the bottom. I couldn’t seem to get my shit together. I wasn’t sure I deserved to call myself their Dom.

  After closing and locking the door, I placed my keys on the table and stepped farther into the room, not stopping until I was standing between them.

  “Please stand and greet me appropriately,” I stated firmly, slipping back into the role I was born to play.

  Clarissa rose slowly, her eyes never lifting from the floor. When she turned to face me, I didn’t say a word, wondering what she would do.

  Nothing.

  That was exactly what she did.

  However, Troy didn’t do nothing. He moved to step in front of me, smiled, and greeted me with, “Good evening, Master.”

  “Good evening, boy.” I slid my hand into his hair and tilted his head back, locking my eyes with his. “I apologize for leaving you waiting.”

  He didn’t respond, but I saw the concern burning in his gaze. I knew he had no idea what my expectations were, but he was definitely picking up quickly.

  I released his hair, then turned to Clarissa. “Sunshine?”

  Those golden eyes finally lifted to my face. “Yes, Master?”

  “How do you think you should greet me?”

  “I don’t know, Master. You haven’t told me.” She tilted her head down once again.

  For fuck’s sake!

  I knew the woman had a brain, so why wasn’t she using it?

  I didn’t like her answer one bit, but she was technically correct. I hadn’t told her specifically. Then again, I shouldn’t have to. That wasn’t what I was looking for.

  I made sure she heard my disappointment when I said, “Well, an acknowledgement of my presence would go a long way.”

  Her head snapped up, wide eyes peering back at me. She obviously realized her mistake. “I’m sorry, Master.”

  I cupped her cheek. “Don’t apologize, pet. But in the future, if you aren’t sure what I prefer, I expect verbal communication.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  The fact that they were both still naked was a good sign. However, it also bothered me that I’d left them for so long.

  I sighed. I was going to have to get a handle on this. No way could I let my disappointment cause them discomfort. It was one thing to punish them when they knew what they’d done wrong, but something else entirely for me to retreat without explaining myself.

  “Are either of you hungry?” Because I was starving.

  “I could eat, Master,” Troy stated exuberantly, causing me to chuckle.

  “And you, pet?” I tilted Clarissa’s chin up.

  “Only if it pleases you, Master.”

  Son of a bitch.

  I dropped my hand from her chin and bit back the anger that threatened to escape. This was not how I’d envisioned my time with them going. Clarissa was acting like she had absolutely no desire to be with me and it pissed me off.

  Taking a deep breath, I turned to Troy. “Boy, will you please order something? Have it delivered to the building, and I’ll go down and get it when they arrive.”

  “Of course. Is there something specific you’d like?”

  I glanced at Clarissa. “Do you like pizza?”

  She seemed to relax. “I do, Master.”

  “While I change, figure out what you both want and order anything you’d like. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “Master, may we get dressed?” Clarissa called out as I was leaving the room.

  I turned toward her, letting my gaze slowly run over her naked form. “No. I prefer you both naked for now.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  I certainly wasn’t finished with them tonight.

  However, I had yet to figure out just what to do to shift us back on the right course.

  Troy

  I HAD DONE SOMETHING WRONG. I knew it, but I didn’t know what it was.

  Something had changed with Master tonight. He’d been eager and willing to play, but he’d abruptly put a stop to that. For an hour and a half, we’d been left to our own devices, having absolutely no idea when he would return. At one point, I had wondered if he would at all.

  Not that we remained silently kneeling all that time.

  Well, we had been kneeling—I knew because my thighs were aching from the position— but not silent.

  When we first arrived in the apartment, I’d tried to make conversation with Clarissa, but she had clammed up. It wasn’t until I started talking about my childhood that she had opened up. Not a lot, but it was more than I’d expected.

  It was obvious she wanted to talk, and I had definitely wanted to listen, so we’d spent some time chatting about high school, first crushes, losing our virginity. I’d told her about my parents and my father’s disapproval of me not wanting to take over the family business.

  But the second the doorknob turned, she had shut down completely. Gone was the sweet woman I’d been getting to know, and in her place the plastic doll she had become ever since she stepped into the club tonight.

  “What do you like on your pizza?” I asked as I retrieved my cell phone from the bar.

  Master preferred a specific pizza joint that was likely getting ready to close. I was hoping his celebrity would pay off at the moment, though. Rather than try to order online, I decided to call directly.

  “I usually go for veggies,” Clarissa said. “But I’ll eat whatever you want.”

  When the man answered the phone, I quickly introduced myself and he was more than willing to deliver for Master. A few minutes later, after I’d ordered a veggie pizza for Clarissa, pepperoni for Master, and Canadian bacon and pineapple for myself, I told the man to have the driver text me when he arrived, and someone would be down to pick it up.

  “Are you okay?” I asked when I noticed Clarissa had wrapped her arms around herself. “Are you cold?”

  Her eyes shot up to my face. “No. I’m fine. I…”

  Master appeared in the room wearing a pair of navy blue pajama pants and nothing else. I could completely understand why Clarissa’s words trailed off, because seeing him like that, those pants riding low on his hips, was enough to dry up anyone’s mouth.

  “Did the club close down?” I asked him when he took a seat on the sofa.

  “It did,” he confirmed, his eyes darting to me before turning to Clarissa. “Come here, sunshine.”

  Rather stiffly, Clarissa moved toward him.

  When she was close enough, he pulled her into his lap, positioning her so that he could hold her.

  “Boy, come here.” He patted the cushion beside him.

  I took a seat, my bare ass on the leather cushion. It felt strange being completely naked in front of them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It would probably take some getting used to, but I was sure I could get there. Especially if it meant Master looking at me the way that he was.

  Master shifted. “Take her feet in your lap,” he instructed.

  I did, moving back so that Clarissa’s calves rested against my thighs.

  “Touch her.”

  I placed my hands on her smooth, warm legs. Her toes curled under as
I began moving one hand gently, gliding over her skin.

  “Sunshine, lean your head back on the armrest.”

  He moved again so that she could lean back. Master placed one hand on her chest, directly above her beautiful breasts, the other on her stomach.

  “Relax,” he told her. “I want you to close your eyes and breathe.”

  It took a moment, but finally, her muscles loosened.

  “What do you see when you look at her?” he asked me.

  “A beautiful woman,” I admitted honestly.

  “Very beautiful,” he agreed, his fingertips beginning to move over her skin. “The most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, in fact.”

  Clarissa’s eyes shot open and locked on Master’s face.

  “A woman I want in my bed and on my arm,” he admitted. “Every day. Not just here in the club.”

  She seemed shocked by his admission.

  I knew Master well enough to know he had a point. He wasn’t merely telling her all the things she likely wanted to hear. True as they might be, Master was leading up to something.

  I watched as Master’s fingers continued to trail over her. He was careful not to be too intimate, despite the fact she was naked in his arms.

  “Close your eyes, sunshine,” he repeated. “I want you to listen to the sound of my voice. Don’t do anything but breathe.”

  It took a moment, but once again she relaxed.

  “This is how I want you, Clarissa. Open and receptive to my instructions. Not what you’ve learned from others. I don’t want you focused on trying to figure out how to please me. You already do, simply by breathing. If I’ve earned the right to be your Dom, then you’ll trust that I know what’s best.”

  I hadn’t thought of it that way, but it made sense. And I knew that Master had noticed the same thing about Clarissa that I had. She was eager to please, but rather than enjoying herself, she was doing her damnedest to ignore her own desires to give him his. That seemed like a shitty way to go about this.

  Not that I knew a damn thing about this lifestyle the two of them obviously lived, but I had learned a few things. When Master gave a command, it was because he wanted to. Not because it was his job or he was viewed as the authority. He was a Dominant through and through.