by Sarah Bailey
She walked in after me and stopped in her tracks, pulling me to a halt. Her eyes bugged out. It was decorated in soft greens. Her father had assured me those were her favourite colours.
The wallpaper behind her bed had a forest pattern across it. Pale green trees on a grey background. The fourposter bed was white, each post made from birch tree branches. The duvet and pillowcases were grey with a pale green tree pattern across it to match the accent wall.
There were several black and white prints on the walls of her favourite animals. The rest of the walls were painted in a slightly darker green to her bed, but it was still light and airy. A vanity table sat with a huge mirror on one side of the room and a chaise lounge was opposite the bed. I’d had a window seat installed in the bay windows, the fabric matching her bedding.
I looked at her whilst she took it in. Her mouth was hanging open, green eyes welling with unshed tears.
“I was going to wait longer before I showed you this room,” I said, my voice soft.
“It’s… beautiful,” she whispered.
“Your father told me what you like. It took me a long time to decide on each thing in this room.”
Her eyes met mine.
“You designed it for me?”
I nodded. Would this be enough to show her I cared? The thing was, I really did care about her. Her wellbeing. Her happiness. Her willingness to give herself over to me. I cared about it all. Zach probably thought he’d beaten all the sentimentality out of me, but my father didn’t know me as well as he thought he did.
“You have to earn it first, just like everything else, but yes, I chose everything personally.”
Her hand tightened in mine as she took a step towards me. She reached out and took my other hand, turning the palm over and running her thumb down it.
“Thank you, Dante.”
My heart stuttered in my chest.
“You’re welcome.”
Her eyes were still trained on our hands, but the next words out of her mouth gave me a strange feeling inside my chest.
“I’m not supposed to ask you for things, but… Can I… Can I kiss you?”
I didn’t fucking know what was up or down any more. Her asking for permission to kiss me was completely at odds with the behaviour I’d come to expect from her.
“Why?”
She shifted on her feet, still not meeting my eyes. Her cheeks stained red.
“We were interrupted before. I didn’t kiss you back and I… I want to.”
I pulled my hands from hers. She wanted to kiss me back. Wanted me. I tried not to think too hard about the way my heart raced in anticipation of her lips on mine. Her features fell, hands dropping to her sides.
“Okay,” she whispered. “I understand. I haven’t earnt the right to ask you for that.”
“You can decide whether or not you still want to kiss me after I’ve shown you the last room.”
Her head whipped up to mine then, eyes wide with curiosity and confusion.
“You mean…?”
I smiled, reaching out and cupping her face.
“Do you really think I’d say no to having you kiss me, Liora? I assure you, no is not in my vocabulary when it comes to your lips on mine.”
She closed her eyes, turning into my hand as if savouring the ounce of affection I gave her. The connection between us flared and solidified. Who was I fucking kidding? Her and I were two flames drawn together, burning for each other.
“Why wait?”
“You’ll see why.”
I needed to know if she’d still want me after discovering the extent of my needs. My darkest desires. The ones which fed me unlike anything else. I could neither control or hide what I needed. It wasn’t just about sex. I could enjoy sex without the need to inflict pain. This was a different matter entirely.
I let go of her face and took her hand instead, drawing her out of the bedroom I’d created for her. I walked her across the landing to the other side of the house. I took the keys from my pocket and selected the right one. Unlocking the door, I opened it and gestured to her.
Liora looked at me and then into the dark room beyond. I let go of her hand when she moved towards it. I took a step into the doorway, leant against it and flipped the lights on. Her sharp intake of breath was the only reaction I got from her. I couldn’t see her face.
Nicknaming this the playroom was Brent’s way of taking the piss. It wasn’t a sex dungeon with leather and red walls. The walls were actually painted a dark grey. One of them had a dark wooden cross mounted to it with metal loops to attach cuffs. A seemingly normal bed sat in the centre of the room. It had metal posts and places you could attach restraints. On the wall behind it, various whips hung. I had other things within the drawers off to the side.
“Do you have questions?” I asked.
She walked further into the room and ran a hand down one of the bed poles. She next inspected the whips on the wall and finally the cross.
She turned to me.
“No.”
I raised an eyebrow. I thought she’d want to know why I had this room and if I intended to have her in here regularly. She walked towards me and rested her hands on my chest, staring up at me with wide eyes.
“Can I kiss you now?”
I didn’t reply. My hands were in her hair the next moment and my mouth crashed against hers. I took and she gave. She really did fucking give. Her mouth opened and our tongues clashed with together. Her small hands wrapped around my neck, pressing me closer.
I lost all sense of control. How many more times would we end up in this position today? Three fucking times I’d got sucked into the girl in my arms. I pulled away, breath ragged as I ran a thumb over her glistening bottom lip.
“For a girl who claims she doesn’t want to sleep with me, you have a funny way of showing it.”
Her face grew red, even the tips of her ears were pink. Her forest green eyes flickered with desire even so. I pressed her backwards until her calves hit the edge of the bed. With one hand on her shoulder, I pushed her down onto it. She hissed when her sensitive behind hit the mattress. I crawled over her, running my fingers down her collarbone.
“Have you changed your mind already?”
She shook her head. I hadn’t expected her to.
“Tell me what you think of this room.”
Her eyes darted to the side, eying the wooden cross.
“I don’t know what to think,” she whispered.
“Does it scare you?”
Her eyes met mine again. There was a strange sort of determination in them.
“Should I be? I know you like pain, Dante. I’m not shocked or surprised by what’s in here.”
She might not be surprised, but I was. Surprised by her calm reaction. I supposed I shouldn’t be considering how calm she was about other things I’d revealed to her.
“There is a fine line between the good sort of pain and the bad.”
“Good sort?”
I continued to stroke her collarbone.
“Mmm, there can be pleasure in pain.”
“Pleasure for you or me?”
I smiled. Her naivety was a blessing and a curse.
“For both of us.”
She let out a huff.
“What makes you think I enjoyed it when you… punished me?”
I shook my head.
Sweet, innocent Liora, you really have no idea.
“That wasn’t meant to be pleasurable.” I cupped her cheek. “I could’ve brought you in here to punish you, but I didn’t. This room is for pleasure.”
She was silent for a long moment. Simply appraising me with a quizzical expression on her face. I didn’t move to touch her further even though I wanted to. I desperately wanted to tug her dress up, push her underwear aside and plunge inside her. Having her in here did things to me.
I wanted to fuck her more than I wanted to cuff her to the cross and whip her, but th
e temptation was there all the same. I could strip her, cuff her and have my way with her. Except I couldn’t. The need to have her want those things overrode everything else.
“Who are you really, Dante?”
I licked my bottom lip. If I answered that question honestly, it would open up Pandora’s Box and no one needed that in their life. No one needed to hear about the fucked up bullshit I’d been through. I didn’t want her to look at me with pity or feel sorry for me. Hell, she’d probably think I was a victim. That’s not how I saw myself. Fucked up perhaps, but never a victim.
“Who am I? Your master.”
She frowned.
“But if you want to know where or should I say who I come from… I told you, that’s something you have to earn.”
“How? Don’t tell me I have to obey either. I want to know what you expect me to do.”
I supposed that was fair.
“Perhaps instead of obedience, you can earn it by answering my questions honestly. I want what’s inside your head.”
“Then ask.”
I released her and sat up. Having her body against mine was not doing me any favours. I leant against one of the poles, staring at her. She shifted up onto her elbows.
“Who do you think my family are?”
She cocked her head to the side.
“My father said yours is a business associate so I assume something to do with clothing or fabric. The fashion industry perhaps.”
Clever girl.
“What do you know about your father’s business?”
She shrugged.
“Next to nothing. Honestly, I don’t know why he brought me with him on that business trip three years ago. He said it was so we could spend time together, but now I think it was all because of this.”
She waved her hand between us.
“I don’t know why he gave me to you.”
“Do you want to know?”
She looked at me as if the answer to that was obvious.
“You think I’m not curious about why he handed his only daughter over to a man to use as his pet?”
A normal person would be curious. I had a feeling Liora’s need to know bordered on desperation.
“Naturally you are.” I paused, biting my lip. “I have one more question.”
“Yes?”
I leant towards her and took her hand, pulling her up into sitting position. My face was close to hers. I could feel her breath across my cheek.
“Are you curious about the cross, Liora? Do you want to know what it’d feel like if I chained you to it and whipped you until you begged me to fuck you?”
I’d seen the way she looked at it. Her eyes kept falling on it as if she couldn’t quite work out if it aroused her or not. Her lips parted, pupils dilating.
“You’ll learn it will feel good, the sort of pain I’ll give you. That’s why you’ll beg. You’ll be so aroused, you won’t be able to stand the thought of not getting fucked to within an inch of your life.”
She didn’t look away from me. Her breathing sped up a fraction. I could see her chest rising and falling.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I am curious.”
“Good. When you’re ready, I’ll show you.”
I leant back, breaking the spell between us. She blinked rapidly as if coming out of a trance. Fuck. It felt good to disarm her so thoroughly with a few words.
She’d answered all my questions honestly. She’d obeyed. Liora earnt the right to know who I was.
“My full name is Dante Ajax Benson.”
She stared at me for a long moment before she put a hand to her mouth.
“Does that mean your father is Zachary Benson?” she whispered through her fingers.
I nodded once. Her hands shook, her face going pale. I knew her view of the world had been flipped upside down. Bensons was a household name. My father’s designs were sought after. He was well respected in the industry.
And he was a monster behind closed doors.
A monster who would stop at nothing to destroy this budding relationship between Liora and I if he had any idea of how deeply it ran.
“But… your father is… Oh my god.”
My father was and always will be my worst nightmare.
And now he’d just become Liora’s too.
Chapter Nine
Liora
I stared at myself in the mirror. Dante had left the dress out on the bed for me whilst I was in the shower. He was nowhere to be seen when I got out, but there was a note tucked into the box.
Wear this and don’t forget the shoes. Dante x
I really wasn’t sure how he’d known it would be perfect for me. It was almost the exact colour of my eyes, forest green and lace with little capped sleeves. Whilst it covered my chest completely, my back was almost bare except for the lace detail at the sides. It cinched in at the waist and flared out, hitting just below my knees. He’d even left me appropriate underwear to go with it. A backless bra and black lacy underwear. My heels were ridiculously tall and black to match the small purse.
When I’d opened the box, my heart had been in my mouth. I supposed this was the benefit of being a pet to a man whose father was a famous fashion designer. I shivered at the thought of Zachary. When Dante finally revealed who his family was two weeks ago, I’d barely been able to get my words out. Everything about that day completely overwhelmed me.
I had two weeks to unpack my feelings about it because he left me alone for most of it. He made no apologies for it nor gave me any indication as to why. More often than not, he didn’t come in until I was already asleep and left before I woke up. He’d not kissed or tried to touch me. I was beginning to wonder if he was avoiding me after all he’d shown me.
Brent and the staff had been taking care of me, which I appreciated, but a part of me found myself missing Dante. It was completely insane given who he was. I dreamt about his blue eyes and the way his voice sometimes sounded almost like a purr. It reminded me of a majestic tiger hunting down its prey. I really had to stop comparing him to animals. I had to get that man out of my head.
Except I couldn’t.
Especially not after we’d gone in that room across the hallway. The bedroom with no windows. I’d given it a nickname. The Den of Sin. I hadn’t told him about that, but it felt appropriate to me.
I shivered thinking about what he’d said to me in that room. I couldn’t help being curious about that cross on the wall and he’d noticed it. Nothing got by Dante.
I had no idea why I’d suddenly become so fascinated by the thought of him whipping me. Perhaps, deep down, on some level I’d enjoyed his punishments. It concerned me that I’d get turned on by the pain he so obviously wanted to dish out.
There was a knock at the door. I turned to find Brent standing in the doorway. His eyes roamed over me appreciatively.
“Don’t you scrub up well, Miss Stewart.”
I rolled my eyes, feeling my cheeks growing hot at his compliment.
“I told you to call me Liora.”
He grinned, putting out his arm to me.
“Come along, he’s getting impatient.”
I narrowed my eyes as I walked over to him.
“Is he? Serves him right for ignoring my existence for two weeks.”
Brent’s eyes shone with amusement as I placed my hand in the crook of his elbow.
“D is complicated.”
“No shit,” I muttered under my breath.
I’d gotten used to Brent. He was chatty, which was a little annoying at times, but at least he talked to me unlike Dante. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind, but he was never around for me to do so. And now tonight, we had this charity gala and dinner where I’d have to pretend to be his girlfriend. The thought of it caused my stomach to clench. A part of me wanted to piss Dante off and act out, but the other part, the rational part, knew that would be a mistake. He’d warned me his father would be watching us. Ther
e was no way I was getting on Zachary Benson’s bad side. His father terrified me to my very core.
“You really do look nice,” Brent said, pulling me out of my thoughts as we descended the first flight of stairs.
“Thank you. Do you think he’ll like it?”
Why the fuck did I just ask that? I don’t care what Dante thinks.
Except I did. I really, really did. I wanted him to see how perfect the dress he’d picked out for me looked on my body. I wanted him to know how much I appreciated him taking the time to choose it. I just wanted Dante to pay attention to me. This lonely feeling inside cut me to the core.
“Well, he is a man, so most likely.”
“Brent…”
He looked down at me, his eyes bright with mischief. Even in heels, most people towered over my five foot four frame.
“D won’t say anything, but just watch his eyes. They’ll tell you everything you need to know. Trust me, Liora, no one can fail to notice how stunning you look.”
I spied Dante pacing with an impatient stride in the lobby as we walked down the last couple of steps. His eyes snapped up to us.
“You took your time,” he said.
Brent took my hand out of his elbow and pushed me towards Dante, who stopped a couple of feet away from me. His magnetic blue eyes roamed across my figure, taking in every detail. Then he put his hand out to me. I stepped forward and took it.
“Get her coat,” he barked at Brent as he rubbed a thumb across my knuckles.
His bodyguard had been right. He didn’t say anything aloud. His eyes did the talking for him. They burnt me with the sheer intensity of his desire and appreciation of my appearance. He pulled me closer, tucking my hair behind my ear with his other hand.
“You ready?” he asked in a low voice.
I nodded, unable to speak past the knot in my throat. This was the only thing he’d spoken to me about in detail. How to conduct myself at this event. He’d told me his sisters, Jennifer and Fiona, were twenty five and both worked for their father and his brother, James, was a year older than me. He’d explained enough about them and his father for me to blag my way through the evening.
I took Dante in. His tux was immaculate and moulded to his toned body, making my mouth water. I swallowed, trying to will myself to say something.