Nobody's Hero (10 page)

“You will address me as Sir, Master, or
Master Adam at all times.”

Karla’s heart thumped against her chest. He
was agreeing to train her? Wow. Where had that come from? Who
cared? She smiled.

“Yes, Sir.”

“If I tell you to jump, the proper response
would be ‘How high, Sir?’”

She knew Adam wouldn’t ask her to do anything
she didn’t want to do. Besides, she could do anything for the
short-term. How long did scenes last? An hour or two at most? The
thought of having Adam’s focus on her for that long sent a thrill
through her body.

“Yes, Sir.” Her breathy whisper sounded sexy
to her ears. She hoped it sounded that way to him, too.

“I will tell you when and what to eat, when
to dress, what to wear, when and where to kneel, sit, lie, or
stand. You will focus all of your time and energy on pleasing me
because, as a submissive slave, meeting your Master’s needs and
wants is the only thing that will bring you pleasure and
satisfaction.”

What did he say? “Slave, Sir?” Wait a minute.
Who said anything about slave? She just wanted to play at being
submissive. More to the point, she just wanted to play with
Adam.

“Yes, what I’m proposing is a Master/slave
agreement, which is what I had with my wife for a number of
years.”

Karla felt a shaft of coldness run through
her at the mention of his dead wife. The woman had agreed to that
kind of relationship for
years
? Was she some kind of
doormat?

“It’ll be twenty-four/seven. In the
lifestyle, this is known as a Total Power Exchange, or TPE. A
slave’s main purpose and duty is to be faithful and obedient to her
Master and respectful of her Master at all times. You’ll make no
decisions for yourself. Everything you do, think, say, feel, eat,
wear, etc., will be my responsibility and require my approval. You
will respond to my every command without question and will learn to
look for ways to please me once you know more about what I enjoy.
In addition to what I’ve already said, I also will tell you when to
wake, when to sleep, who you can talk to, and what topics of
discussion are permitted, when and how to service my sexual
appetites and any other needs I want serviced, including
housekeeping, yard work, running errands, and so on. I will even
have to approve your song list at the club. In other words, I will
be in control of everything about you—all day, every day—as long as
the agreement is in effect.”

Karla’s heart pounded against her chest.
Total submission? Slavery? The words had such negative
connotations. Was he for real? How could anyone agree to live like
that? How could he
want
her to agree to that? She thought he
liked that she stood up to him, well, up to a point.

He reached over and pinched her nipple until
she gasped. “Your body will be my sexual toy to do with as I wish.
When you disobey, you will be punished. I will let you express your
hard limits and, if I am in the right mood, won’t exceed them—right
away. But, as your Master, it will be my pleasure to push your
limits fast, hard, and often.”

Back up. What did Adam mean by punished? She
shivered at the images of some of the things she’d seen in the
great room at the club—everything from severe whippings to hot wax
dripped where it didn’t belong to public humiliation. Yet, images
of being bound again with ropes, the way he’d done at Marc’s,
caused her to grow wet. She hoped he wanted to do more of that.

“If there’s something I’d like you to do, may
I ask?”

“No. You’ll learn to like whatever I tell you
to like.”

Whoa!
Did he just say what she thought
he’d said? Angie talked about communication being the key.
Negotiation. The submissive held the control in the relationship.
But that didn’t sound at all like what Adam was proposing. He
wasn’t even going to listen to her, take her preferences into
consideration?

“How will you know what I like?”

“I repeat—you’ll like whatever I tell you to
like.”

Had Joni been like this for Adam? Is this
what turned him on? Maybe that’s why Karla hadn’t gotten him to
notice her in all these months. She was too strong-willed. She’d
thought he admired that. She’d only ever seen him engaging in
rope-bondage scenes with Mistress Grant in the great room. Adam
certainly didn’t demand total submission from that Marine, as if he
could get it from the kick-ass Domme. Karla had just assumed that
meant he was attracted to strong women, like the Grant, who had
been his subordinate in Iraq.

Of course, he did scenes with some of the
bottoms at the club, as did all of the Masters at Arms owners. It
was one of the membership perks and brought in unattached members,
which made it easier for other members to find new partners. But
she didn’t observe though, which often took place in the private
theme rooms, fulfilling various fantasies. Who knew what happened
in there? And, if it involved Adam and some other sub or bottom,
she’d certainly had no desire to watch.

Could Karla become a slave for Adam? She took
a deep breath and looked up at him. His moss-green eyes stared
back. No hint of a smile. No crinkle in the lines at the sides of
his eyes. He wasn’t joking. How could she give up all of her
freedom and personality to become that…subservient?

His intense gaze bore into her, sending a
strange warmth spreading throughout her. How could she not? This
might be her only chance to get Adam to teach her what he loved so
much about this lifestyle. Short of selling her soul, there was a
lot she could withstand, especially if it would help him see that
she was the perfect woman for him. Of course, the thought of a
lifetime gig where she had to perform as the perfect slave, well,
that was off the charts.

But maybe she could learn to like it, if this
was what made Adam happy.

“I could try being your slave, Sir.”

She felt his body tense. Surprise? Had he
just been testing her? Well, clearly he had no idea how much she
wanted him.

And Karla had no idea what she was getting
into, but wasn’t there always a choice in BDSM? If she couldn’t do
it, she could safeword, couldn’t she? Then again, maybe she’d
better make certain, because she’d never spoken to anyone before
about being a slave.

“What if I need to stop? Call it off at some
point? You won’t really own me. I mean, this
is
the 21st
Century, after all… Right?”

“Yes, kitten, you can safeword if you decide
it’s too intense. That will put an end to the arrangement.”

She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer
to this question, but had to ask. “If I safeword, then what about
the relationship?”

“Relationship isn’t the right word for what
we’ll have. This is a TPE arrangement between two consenting adults
who want to explore the Master/slave dynamic.” He made it sound
like some kind of adult-education course, only what she’d be
learning with Adam was much more adult than anything those schools
had ever listed in their curriculum.

“I’m not offering anything other than a
Master/slave arrangement. If you safeword, then it ends.”

So, it was slave or going back to what they
had before—which was nothing.

Karla pulled out of his arms. When she turned
back to look down at him, she thought there was a bit of a smirk on
his lips, as though he’d won some battle. Then she knelt beside
him, resting her butt on her heels, keeping her back straight. She
held her hands palm upward on her thighs, as she’d seen countless
subs do in the club, and cast her gaze down upon them.

“I am your willing slave, Master Adam.”

She fought the urge to look him in the eye,
but didn’t think that would be allowed. Dear Lord, how was she
supposed to learn the rules for something like this? Did they have
tutorials or books available? Maybe she could go online or seek out
a slave at the club to answer her questions. But how would she know
which were slaves and which were just subs, or even bottoms just
out to play for the night?

“Eyes on me.”

Ka-thunk.

The sensation of having her stomach drop into
her pelvis caused her heart rate to speed up. His commanding voice
definitely excited her. She lifted her gaze to meet his.

“Are you sure about this, Karla? There’s no
going back to what we were, once we make this commitment.”

Thank the gods, Sir
. She never wanted
to go back there. She wanted to move forward. To be in a
relationship with Adam, no matter how difficult the transition and
learning curve might be. As long as she and Adam were happy, who
cared what anyone else thought?

“Yes, Sir. I’m sure.”

What the fuck did she mean she was sure? She
couldn’t want this any more than he did. Did she even have a
fucking clue what she was getting into with a TPE, a Master/slave
arrangement? Karla, as his willing slave?
Bullshit
. Karla
didn’t kowtow to anyone—man or woman.

“Sir, may I speak?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck
. What had he just
gotten himself into? He remembered those early days after Joni had
asked him to be her Master. Adam had constantly had to discipline
her for various infractions. He’d watched her lose herself and her
autonomy in the bargain. He’d never quite understood why she’d
wanted to go to that extreme in the first place. It had killed
something inside him, too. After a couple months, he’d slacked off
on the rules a bit to make it more palatable for him. Luckily,
she’d still gotten whatever it was she needed from giving up
control like that.

Joni, at least, was submissive to the core.
But Karla?

“Sir?”

“Speak.” She flinched at his tone.
Fuck
. Did he have the energy for this?

“This is totally new for me. Could we start
training right away? And will you be patient with me until I get
the hang of it?”

Damn
. Why did she have to take to this
so enthusiastically? He felt his cock throb as he looked at Karla
kneeling on the bed beside him, her breasts pressed against her
thin t-shirt, nipples erect and poking against the fabric. How was
he supposed to train her as his slave and not want to take her to
bed? But that was on
his
list of hard limits. No sex with
Karla.

“Choose your safeword.” The sooner he could
get her to safeword and end this arrangement, the better it would
be for him.

She furrowed her brows, whether from thought
or worry, he wasn’t sure. He waited.

“I’ve never really thought about having one
before, Sir.”

“Why don’t you use red, then? Red like the
stop light or stop sign.”

Her smile wavered, but she nodded. “Yes, Sir.
Red will be fine.”

“Remove your t-shirt.”

Fuck. Where had that come from?
He
wanted to rescind the command as soon as the words left his lips,
then found his gaze riveted to her hands, waiting for them to move,
to do his bidding. Maybe he wanted to see how much she’d take
before she safeworded. She sat upright, off her heels. He relaxed.
Good girl
. She was going to leave. At least one of them
still had their wits about them. This hadn’t turned into the total
clusterfuck he’d imagined a few seconds ago when she’d agreed to be
his slave, of all things.

Fuck, no
. As if in slow motion, her
slender fingers wrapped around the hem of her thigh-length shirt,
and he watched as she slowly pulled the tee up, exposing her sexy
thighs, the springy black curls of her mons—
Her naked mons?
Shit!
—on up to her flat abdomen. His dick bobbed. She continued
to lift the shirt until her pert young breasts bounced free of its
confines. Sweat broke out on his forehead as his heart hammered
hard against his chest. In oh-so-painful slow motion, she continued
to strip until she’d pulled the shirt over her head and discarded
it onto the bed beside her.

Adam stared up at her, watching her nipples
grow even more erect than they had been under the shirt, whether
from the cold morning air or because she was as excited as he was,
he didn’t know or care.

“Straddle me.”

He would go straight to hell for this, but he
couldn’t shut his fucking mouth if he wanted to. Maybe he still
thought he could send her running to safety.

Maybe he didn’t want her to run.

She smiled.
Fuck
. Before he realized
he’d started to move, he’d slid over half a foot from the edge of
the bed to give her room for her right knee. He needed to touch her
again. Just his hands. He wouldn’t let it go too far. No way. Her
thighs clamped against his sides like a vise, her pussy pressing
against his dick, and all control fled from his mind. Adam reached
up and spanned her tiny waist, then let his hands roam up her sides
until he cupped her firm, high breasts.

Sweet Jesus
.

She reached down and touched his nips. “Stop.
I didn’t give you permission to touch me.” He hated the look of
uncertainty that crossed her face, but knew that if she touched him
like that, he’d be on top of her in no time, driving his dick…

She smiled when she felt him throbbing
against her ass. What the fuck was he doing? Was there a point to
asking her to straddle him? Hell, he’d thought she’d run for the
door and hide in her bedroom. Why was she following his commands
like this?

Why were his hands squeezing her breasts?
Pinching her tits?

Jesus
.

* * *

Karla moaned as Adam pinched her nipples.
Straddling him gave her a sense of power, but she’d quickly learned
who was in control. Learning what she could and couldn’t do was
going to be a challenge, but she was a fast learner. Rule Number
One: Touching him was out, unless he gave her permission.

Learning how to be his sex slave wasn’t going
to be the easiest thing she’d ever done, but she might as well face
it—nothing about Adam had ever been easy. Then again, the slave
role certainly took the guesswork out of sex. For someone so new to
everything to do with sex, that knowledge relieved some of the
pressure she felt as she tried to determine how to please him.
She’d just wait for him to tell her what he wanted. She didn’t have
to wait long.