Master (5 page)

"Tea, coffee, or juice?" she shouted as she filled
the kettle and then lifted two mugs down from the shelf.

"You."
The voice came from directly
behind her.

She screamed and dropped the mugs. They bounced off the edge
of the sink and shattered on the quarry-tiled floor.

"Asshole, what the
fuck
are you doing frightening me like that?" Anna whirled round and glared
at
Cade
who was standing so close that her hands
brushed his crotch. His cock responded with alacrity at that casual brush of her
palm, and she bit her bottom lip.

"Thinking with your gonads, not your brain,
Cade
? Move so I can pick the shards up."

His eyes narrowed, but Anna couldn't have cared less. He
wasn't her boss, her Dom, or her better. In spite of the broken crockery, the
kettle steaming away over her shoulder, and the hard, dark look in his eye, she
could have punched the air and high
fived
herself.
She wasn't worried about his reactions, and she felt free.

"I'll do it."

Anna found her feet were off the ground as
Cade
lifted her effortlessly over the mess on the floor and
sat her on the work surface across the room. "Don't argue, please,
Di
...
er
Anna. I startled you.
It was my fault; therefore, I clear up. If you tell me where the dustpan
is?"

"Left hand side cupboard."
Anna pointed. If he wanted to
play Mr. Sorry-it-was-my-fault, who was she to argue? She leaned back against
the wall and
watched,
as he made sure every splinter
of porcelain was cleared up and wrapped in a sheet of newspaper before he
deposited it in the bin.

"Right, now let's have that coffee." Anna began to
slide down to stand on the floor. A glance from
Cade
made her check her movement. "What?"

"Did I say you could get down?"

Anna couldn't believe what she'd heard. "I beg your
pardon? I must have defective hearing, and you must have a death wish. Who the
hell do you think you're talking to? This is my home, and you mister, are an
unwanted guest. No more, no less. So…" She stopped and watched as a dull
red stained his cheeks. He had realized what he'd done then.
Slipped
into his Dom role.
Well, not with her, not now.

"I believe then, I owe you an apology." His voice
was toneless.

Oh shit, I bet that hurt him,
well tough.

"I believe you do." She waited.

So that is it? That's supposed
to be an apology?
In his dreams.

"
Caden
," she said in a
soft tone, the one that had everyone wary and determined to get out of her line
of fire. "That wasn't an apology. That was supposed to have me thinking it
was. But, you
see,
now I know better. You don't give a
shit about what you've done. All you want to do is pay lip service to what you
think needs to be done to get your own way. Once upon a time I'd have accepted
that, and we'd have carried on as you wanted. Yes, as you wanted, not as I or
we did. But you see I'm not twenty anymore, and I have a voice and a mind of my
own.
And the ability to think for myself.
Which includes moving and making coffee in my own home.
So,
would you like a cup of coffee? Or shall we go next door, say our piece, and
you can bugger off, and I can go to bed and get some sleep. It's been a long
day." Anna hoped to hell her knees weren't knocking, Standing up to
Cade
when every nerve end, every sense was screaming
submit, was hard.
Very hard.

"Coffee."
Just one word, said in a
monotone and accompanied by a scowl, but it was enough to unlock her muscles
and let her move across the room. She walked around
Caden
,
who stood silent in her way, and grinned to herself. He didn't frighten her. He
never had. Anna had been privy to his softer side and knew however harsh he
might seem he
was
in every sense an
honorable man.

She made the coffee without speaking, mentally damning
herself for remembering how he liked it.

Be honest, you've forgotten
nothing. That's half the problem
. As soon as the coffee was ready she loaded the jug, some
mugs, and the milk jug onto a tray, and added a tin of biscuits.

"May I?"
Cade
gestured
to the tray.

"Of course."
Anna handed it to him and
preceded him into the lounge. "If you could put it on that little table,
I'll pour."

Cade
nodded and did as asked
before standing next to the settee. "May I sit down?" The overuse of
politeness was enough to make Anna clench her fingers.

Prick.

"Suit yourself and stop sulking." The flare of
anger in his eyes had her pelvic floor tightening enough to hold a pencil in
place—and write her name. "Oh sit down,
Cade
,
and let's get this over with. You want an explanation, and I want
closure." She poured two cups of coffee and handed him one, daring him to
say anything. It had been a standing joke that her coffee making skills were
next to useless. Her comeback, whenever
Cade
had
wrinkled his nose and added another heaped spoon of coffee, had been to say,
"Ah, but I'm good in bed." There was no chance of her saying it now.

He took the mug with a soft murmur of thanks. The look he
gave her was designed to taunt.
To dare her to sit next to
him.
Anna couldn't have cared less about the dare as such, but had no
intention of being seen as a coward. With what she hoped was an outward show of
composure, Anna sat on the other end of the settee. It wasn't big enough to put
a large gap between them, one small wriggle and she'd be in—or over—his lap.

The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but Anna squirmed inside.
She wanted this confrontation to be over and done with. Of course she'd have to
be polite to him at the club, for she knew he'd honor his commitments. However,
she did have holiday due, and she might just take the coward's way out and book
it for when he was due to demonstrate.

She took a deep breath and the initiative. "So, is this
all coincidental,
Caden
? Or deliberate?"

He put his mug on the table next to him. "What do you
think,
Di
?"

Anna stared at him over the top of her mug. "My name is
Anna. And you tell me." If he could fence, then so could she. Except she was
tired, her feet ached, her clit was doing the Samba, and she needed a pee.

"My P.A. saw you and recognized you from a picture I
have in my office. I checked it was you, contacted your boss about giving some
tutorials, and here we are.
To find you more beautiful than
ever, and an empty shell."

A
picture?
She ignored the empty shell taunt. It was
too close for comfort.

"What picture?" Her heart pounded so loud she
fancied it vied with the grandfather clock in the hall as to see who could make
the loudest noise.

"The first time I
Shibari
tied you."

"You have that on display?"
How dare he?

 
Cade
looked surprised.
"Of course.
You look
beautiful."

"You bastard."
Anna flung her cup, coffee
and all, at him as hard as she could. He moved as swift as a leopard, and it
glanced off his shoulder and fell to the carpet where it bounced and rolled
onto its side. Coffee dripped from it and left dark stains on the pile.

He looked unmoved. "What a waste of coffee. Are you
going to clean it up before it stains?" he asked mildly.

 
"No. And I want
you to go. Then I can type out my resignation and email it to
Linsey
. I promised myself once I left you I'd never let
myself be a puppet anymore. I never have, and I'm not starting now." Her
chest heaved, and she dug her fingernails hard into her palms to stop herself
crying. Anna felt betrayed.

"I never took you for a coward."

Anna rolled her eyes. "I'm not, but neither
am
I a sub." Once the words were out, she could have
bitten her tongue.
Oh if only I believed
that
. "I'm my own person,
Cade
. I belong to
no one."

"You were always your own person,
Anna."
He emphasized her name. "And we belonged to each
other, it was a partnership. One you walked out of with just one word.
No.
Nothing else.
I thought you loved me as much as I loved you. We were married, and I hoped
that you'd agree to be collared. I looked forward to the time we'd start a
family. Instead I came home to an empty house and no explanation."

"So you did."

Cade
stood and paced the room
before going down on his haunches in front of her. His beautiful eyes were
clouded, and for the first time Anna truly saw how her rejection had hurt him.

"You asked too much of me,
Cade
.
You still do. Like I said, we wanted different things, and let's face it, that
hasn't changed. But I tell you
now,
you better remove
that picture from where people can see it."

 
He looked at her as
if she came from another planet. "Why? I told you you're beautiful in it.
You can see your body, your trust, and your submission."

"My nudity, my naivety, and my stupidity, you mean. I'm
telling you,
Cade
, either I get it in writing that
you remove it, or I'll sue your ass off. I didn't give permission for you to
use it." Anna had no idea if what she said was a pack of lies or not, but
now she knew her body was on show, she felt sick. That had been a private,
loving moment, something between the two of them. As far as Anna was concerned,
it hadn't been for sharing.

He stood up and frowned before he put his cup on the table.
All male, all predator, he towered over her. Not intimidating, but unnerving.

"You want it removed, you come and get it."

PART TWO

Discovery

Chapter Four

How Anna gathered up the courage to go into work the next
day she had no idea. More than once she picked up the phone to ring in sick.
However, she knew if she didn't go in then, she wouldn't go in at all. So she
made her mind up, if she had to face anyone, dressed to kill was the way to go.
Not
slutty
, not
subbie
, but
as a woman comfortable in her own skin … even if she wasn't.

The dress shrieked ‘do not
diss
with me'. She'd rummaged in the back of the wardrobe and found some killer
heels to wear—even if she had a pair of flats in her bag. She, Anna
McCourt—yes, she admitted that was her name—was in a take-no-prisoners mode.
Grey skirt, black blouse, and high—oh so very high—black heels. She was back.

Her big entrance was for no reason. For once
Linsey
wasn't in the office. No one to say hello, how are
you, what are you up to? No one to tell her what'd happened.
A
big empty space.

Bugger, why did I bother?

Anna stashed her bag in the drawer and opened up her
computer. Once she'd logged into her emails, she froze.

There, in black and white was his email name.
And the title.
'Up to you now.'

Fuck him.

For long seconds she stared at the screen before, with a
fatalist attitude, she opened the email.

'If you've opened this, then
it's a start. If you want fulfillment or completion, the next step is up to
you. I'm here. I won't wait forever. You have one month, or it goes public. So
far it's still in my office.'

Anna thought it was as well it wasn't her personal computer
she was on. Or she'd be looking at an expensive repair bill due to a major
meeting of laptop and wall. Instead she threw three pens, one pencil and a
glass onto the floor. To her annoyance the floor was carpeted and they bounced.

As she tried to format a reply, her door opened. Not to
admit a person, but a long stick with a pair of white knickers on the end. She
saw the funny side and choked, and gurgled.

"Okay, bastard.
Come in and be warned, I hate
you. It's official, you are a shit."

Linsey
put her head around the door.

"Why?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Um, because."

The knickers waved on the stick as if they were in a storm
or Brad Pitt was demanding them off … off … off.

Anna growled. She who thought growling was abhorrent to any
sane person.