“Protection,” she gasped. Felicity might have been lost in her emotion, but she hadn’t lost her mind.
“Table, in the vase-bowl thing.”
She saw the white, molded glass of a high-rimmed bowl or a low-rimmed vase in the center of the coffee table. She shifted her weight and reached over to it, plunged her hand inside the cool, fringed lip and found several condoms, tens of condoms in fact. Her face must have shown the shock.
“I like to be prepared for every eventuality.”
He was prepared for many eventualities. Not for the first time, Felicity wondered what kind of man Samuel really was. Was he a player? His cock throbbed against her thigh, the slight pain and the mounting pleasure helping her to put the question aside for another time. She wanted him, needed him and thought would only get in the way. She fumbled with the packet, then fumbled to get the contents over his cock. It wasn’t as easy as he’d made it look, but she was happy with the end result. So was Samuel. His dick strained and he bumped his pelvis up to show his eagerness.
Felicity felt between them once more. She clenched her eyes closed to preserve the passion as he slipped within her. She pushed down and took him fully inside with one hard thrust. She was wet, eager and wanted release. Everything else that mounted inside her, she held back—her fears, her insecurities, her worries. She left them behind and concentrated on the perfection of the moment. They fitted together as if made for each other.
She bounced her hips and discovered the pace and the length of thrust that worked best for them both. His thighs shook around her, the cool of the leather warming against her outer thigh and under her knees. He rested one hand casually on her hip, tightening his grip, squeezing her flesh in time to the rhythm of their joining. The other he pushed against her stomach and pubis, pressing his thumb against her aching clit.
“Oh, God!” she exclaimed as he rubbed.
The pleasure that had pulled at the pit of her stomach tensed in her center and began to slide down to her clit, to the place where they were joined. She knew it wouldn’t take much more manipulation to make her come.
Her whimpers and gasps blended with his moans and pants. They tightened against each other. Felicity wasn’t thinking, just feeling. The push and pull of the building orgasm dictated each and every move. The ecstasy enveloped them and in one, convulsive, thrust, they both came. She squeezed his cock as it throbbed. She clenched her thighs, arched her back and screamed out her climax. He roared as he pumped into her. Digging his nails into her hip, keeping her still, he left himself fully buried within her.
Chapter Six
Felicity gasped in air, greedily dragging in oxygen to stabilize herself. She was dizzy, all energy drained. She slowly slipped forward, pulling herself off his softening cock and pushing herself into the welcome of his embrace. She snuggled close to him, wiggling round until her back pressed against the upright of the sofa then hooking her thigh over his.
He stroked her back, and she listened to the reassuring thump of his heart and cupped her hand over his hip. Samuel kissed the top of her head and wrapped his other arm around her, squeezing her shoulder. She fluttered her eyes open to look out over the unobscured vista of the river and the old industrial red bricks and slick new shapes of the city beyond.
It was surreal. She didn’t know what to think, what to feel. She wanted to stay there forever. Everything was right and good in the embrace of her Master, her love.
“Well…” He let out a long, shuddering breath. “That didn’t go quite as planned.”
“You didn’t plan to fuck me?” Felicity asked with a wry smile.
“Well, not at that point, no.” He twisted his fingers in her hair. “I was saving that for later.”
“I wasn’t sure there’d be a later.” Felicity felt the unresolved tension in the pit of her stomach bubbling back into action. She couldn’t avoid the confrontation any longer.
“I was hoping that there would be, working hard to make sure there would be. I don’t want to lose, you Felicity.” He squeezed her tightly then reluctantly moved back, keeping his arm lightly resting over her chest.
“Sam…Samuel,” she hesitated over is name in front of him for the first time. “I don’t know what this is. What we are. I like it—don’t doubt that. I like it. But…” She took a deep breath and contemplated how to phrase the next part of her thought. “I don’t think we can really be together, can we?”
“Why not?” He shrugged beneath her. “We both enjoy each other. You’re the most exquisite sub. I’m happy, ecstatic to be your Master.”
His approval made her smile, and to know that he enjoyed being her Master as much as she enjoyed being his sub buoyed her heart.
“But we’re from different worlds. You might call it pride. I call it self-preservation. You might say it’s only money, but it isn’t. It’s a different way of life, a different world, even. I’m poor—so very poor—and you’re stinking rich. It can’t possibly work.”
“And why not?” His tone held a tinge of incredulity, a hint of annoyance.
“Didn’t you hear me? Different world, Samuel. I’m never going to be comfortable accepting gifts from you. I’m never going to be able to split a meal tab with you—and I’d want to. I’ll never be able to buy you a gift in return for the ones you give me. I can’t afford that level of quality. I can’t come here and not compare it to my flat, realize how insignificant I am in comparison to you and all you have.”
“Felicity, oh Felicity.” He sighed. “I know where you’re coming from. I was once as poor as you, if not poorer. I was brought up on a dodgy estate, no prospects and no hope. I was shit in school, and I’ve never been very good at following rules. I was making money even then, though. I’d nick fags from my parents, just one or two from each packet—they never knew—and I’d sell them to my mates. I used to sell on my brother’s comics once he was finished with ’em. I had several paper rounds. I worked hard to get here. The papers sell me as some overnight success story. Yes, my company formed quickly. I hopped onto a hot idea at the right moment, but I’d worked for the ten years previous to get myself off that estate, to make something of myself.”
Felicity’s agitation was rising. What was he trying to say? She lifted her hand from his chest and laid it along her own leg. She was moments from pushing up and away from him when he continued to speak.
“I can see that same determination in you, Felicity. It comes through in everything you do. The way you hold yourself. The way you captured customers at the fair, pulling them in and gently persuading them that they had to buy something from your stall. I watched you and your success rate was really high. That’s because you’ve got something unique and you’re a natural salesperson.”
“That still doesn’t change what I said. I’m still stupidly poor. Maybe in ten years I’d be on a more similar level as you.” She pushed herself up and away from his body. Crushed next to him, she felt like she couldn’t think straight. She was so comfortable, so content. It was impossible to imagine that anything could be wrong. “Maybe you should look me up then.”
She shuffled down the sofa and away from him. Samuel let her pass, curling his legs over the side of the seat and sitting up himself.
“Felicity, don’t. Just sit and wait and think for a moment.”
“All the thinking in the world isn’t going to change it, Samuel. I will always feel cheap next to you, second best.” She sighed and fished around on the floor for her dress. “And that I’m at the bottom of a list of rich, beautiful women who you treat in the same way, who you leave a supply of condoms on your coffee table for, who you keep a briefcase of toys at work to play with.”
Samuel’s eyes widened with surprise.
“Okay, so I’ll address the second point first. I’m not a good boy, Felicity. I’ve had my fair share of sexual relationships, many of them casual. Yep, I’ll admit that. I was always on the lookout for a new sexual experience—if I was lucky, a new sub. That’s why I have condoms aro
und, toys at work. I was single when I went to the fair and right now I’m involved with only you, and I don’t want anyone else.”
Her skepticism must have shown on her face.
“Oh, Felicity, it’s true, so true. I can’t get you out of my mind. I’ve never met a woman like you, so passionate, so malleable, so willing.” He sighed.
“But I’m crap at being a sub. I keep getting it wrong. I’m probably crap at the sex too, since I’ve never had much of that either.” She shrugged.
“You’re learning. No one is perfect straight away and jeez, I don’t want a perfect sub. I want one who’ll be naughty and push my buttons, give me good excuses to punish her—and you do that. And the sex—God, woman, you’re amazing. It’s like…like we’re made to fit together.”
He dropped his gaze then, swept his hand through the side of his hair and glanced at her.
Is he nervous?
“I feel like that too,” Felicity whispered then licked her lips. She was close, so close to just leaving her point, her high horse and kissing him again, but she knew they’d be in exactly the same position, no matter how many times they fucked to avoid facing it. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I have nothing and you have it all. We’re not compatible.”
“But can’t you see it?” He gasped. “Can’t you hear the contradiction you just spouted? Can’t you see it’s all in your mind? There’s nothing separating us—nothing real anyway.”
Felicity clutched her dress to her chest and glared at him.
“You said yourself that money means nothing to you. Money means everything to me. If I don’t sell enough, I don’t eat. I don’t pay rent and bills. If I don’t pay rent and bills, I become homeless. Every day all I do is think about money. Can I afford to buy a loaf of bread or a pint of milk? When’s the rent due and will I cover it? Can I buy materials so I can make more jewelry? Money is everything to me. It consumes me, and I hate it.” Felicity gritted her teeth. It was hard to say exactly what her life was like, difficult to admit she lived on the breadline—especially to a man with the Midas touch.
“And?” Samuel used the one word as a poignant question and turned to face her. He’d not even thought to dress. She really strained not to let her gaze drop. She didn’t want to be distracted by his body.
“That is exactly why I left you the check. So you wouldn’t have to worry.”
She shook her head viciously.
“Gah, Felicity, you are so stubborn.” He slapped his hand down on the leather between them and made her jump. “It’s only your pride that won’t let you accept my help.”
“I don’t need your help.” She spat the words before she had time even to think. It was a programmed response.
“Exactly!” Samuel’s tone raised in exasperation. “That is exactly what I mean.” He ran his fingers through his hair and cupped his head in his hands for a moment before looking up again and continuing with a much calmer tone.
“You are perfectly capable of pulling yourself up, Felicity, but it will take time. And you are definitely worth waiting five, ten years for, but I want you now, and I know you can’t be completely mine while you think you’re on a different step of the social ladder to me. I know that, see that. I’m not unaware of what the problem is.”
Felicity opened her mouth to speak, but Samuel shook his head, and the words died on her lips.
“I saw the problem and I came up with a solution—a loan, a gift, whatever. I don’t care what you call it or if you ever pay it back. It’s only money. I’d give all of it away, every single fucking penny of it, to be with you.”
“You don’t mean that.” Felicity shook her head again, unable to comprehend.
“I don’t say things that I don’t mean.” He emphasized every word.
His stern gaze captured her. She couldn’t look away.
“But you couldn’t… You can’t… I mean, you barely know me.” She sighed.
“I know you enough to know I want you in my life, Felicity. What hurts me right now is that it seems you don’t want me.”
He gulped and his stare wavered.
Are there tears in his eyes?
“No.” She shot out her hands, dropping the dress, forgetting propriety and gripped his hands. “No, don’t say that. I do want you. I do, but—” Felicity choked on her words.
He had just told her he’d give up all he owned for her, and although she doubted he really could, he’d sincerely meant it. Why wasn’t she willing to give up her poorness, her pride, for him?
“I know I’m stubborn. I know this seems crazy to you. You’re doing a good thing for me, trying to do a good thing. I’ve always been told not to accept charity. We were poor when I was kid, and poverty killed my parents. But they would never ask for help, never accept it. Mum would always say we might not have two pennies to rub together but we weren’t scavs. We wouldn’t take charity and we’d always have our pride. I have my pride.”
She looked into his eyes and the convictions of her argument melted away. She could see the incredulity in their depths, in the tight vee of his drawn eyebrows, in the set of his jaw.
“It’s all I have, Samuel.” Tears rushed down her cheeks unbidden. “It’s all I’ve ever had. I…I…I don’t know how to get past it.”
Samuel wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in a tight hug.
“I’ll help you, if you let me. I understand. My family held exactly the same view. No charity for us, but I’ve learned that kindness and charity aren’t bad things. You accept it when you need it and give it when you can. It’s another transaction, Felicity. A karmic loan, so to speak. It all evens out in the end.”
Felicity sobbed against his chest, and he stroked her back, held her softly as she cried.
“I’ve been stupid.” She finally sniffled, embarrassed by how wet she’d made his chest with her tears.
“No, not stupid…stubborn.”
She heard the smile in his words, then felt his mouth pressed against her hair.
“I’m sorry.”
She pulled herself together and sat up to look him straight in the eye. “I’ll accept your kind loan. I want you. I want us to be together. I think I even need us to be together.” Her cheeks tinged with heat as she admitted, at least in part, her deepest desire. “But it is a loan. I will pay you back. I’ll set up installments.”
“Okay.” He nodded, gulped and rapidly blinked a few times.
Is he trying to regain his composure?
When he looked back at her, his eyes shimmered with a film of wetness. “Whatever you want to do.”
“I’m finding this intensely difficult. I’ve used my pride as a barrier so long it’s difficult to lower it. But I want you to know I’ve done it for you because I want you. I need you.”
His face lit up with a smile and calmed the nervous churning of her stomach, making the ache of indecision ease. When she looked into his eyes, she knew she’d done the right thing.
“Good girl.” He purred. “I want you too.”
“That makes me deliriously happy.” Felicity grinned and wiped her cheeks.
“As it should.” He nodded. “My desires and wants should be your top priority as my sub.”
“Yes, Sir.” Her mouth went dry, her breath hitched.
Oh God, is he going to punish me again?
Her buttocks ached just thinking about it.
“Now, you’ve not been prioritizing my needs, have you?” He looked down the bridge of his nose at her.
“No, Sir, I haven’t. I’m sorry, Sir.”
“I know you are, Felicity, but naughty subs need to be punished.”
She linked her hands in her lap and waited.
“And you’ve been very naughty, Felicity.” He leaned in and cupped her cheek in his hand. Strength and power showing through the tender action. “Haven’t you?”
“Yes, Sir.” She shivered. Nervous excitement built in the pit of her stomach and built up and boiled out, covering her whole body in a wire mesh
of tingles. She held herself stiffly, eager to submit, but worried about the pain.
“I know you’re already sore, Felicity. You are going to have to learn to be less naughty, sweetheart. That doesn’t mean you get out of your punishment. I will have to be creative.” He leaned closer and whispered into her ear. “If any of this gets to be too much, use your safe word. If you’re not ready for play, use your safe word now. I want to show you why you broke through your pride. I want to show you why I fought so hard to keep you.”
She didn’t speak. She was still a maelstrom of emotion, and tears still pooled in the back of her eyes, but she wanted to lose control to him. She wanted it more than it scared her to want it. He gently laid his lips against her cheek before sitting up and moving away from her completely.
“Stand up.”
She obeyed immediately.
“Come with me.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the middle of the room. “Kneel here.”
The cold seeped through her from where her knees hit the marble. She rested her hands on the tops of her thighs.
“Good girl. Stay there and don’t move until I come back.”
Felicity fidgeted and wiggled. She couldn’t really hear her Master’s movements, as he was barefoot, but a slight creak of metal made her think he’d headed upstairs. She tried hard to be still, but the way she’d knelt had her heels pushing up into her tender buttocks, had her sore thighs compressed against the back of her calves and it was uncomfortable.
Sir had been creative. This was real punishment. She ached and couldn’t move, and he had denied her his presence. Felicity closed her eyes and tried sucking in some long, deep breaths. It calmed her a little, but she really needed to move. Surely, she could lift up for a while and relieve her achy bits. She shifted forward and lifted her arse. The relief was instant. She kept on stretching her thighs until they were straight.
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