RequiredSurrender (21 page)

“This is how I like you. Drenched and needy.”

She let out a moan and he sat back, dropping his hand.

“Turn around.” She’d barely done it and he grabbed her to
pull her down onto his lap. “Who do you belong to?”

“My Master.”

“And who’s your Master?” he spoke against her ear.

“You.”

“Say it. Say I belong to you.”

He nipped at her neck, biting and softly sucking until she
could hardly think. “Yes.”

“Say it.”

“I belong to you,” she half groaned, half moaned. “I do. I belong
to you.”

“Master,” he murmured against the pulse point at the base of
her throat.

She leaned her head to the side to give him better access.
“I belong to you, Master.”

“Beautiful. That is what I want you to tell me no less than
three times a day. Surprise me. Delight me.” He kissed her shoulder. “Forget
the rest of the world while you’re here with me. It’s only you and I because no
one else matters.” He fisted a hand in her hair and the firm tug got her blood
singing. “I’ll never judge you. Everything you do, you do for me. For my
pleasure, remember that.”

“Yes Sir.”

He let go of her hair and cupped his palms over her breasts.
The squeeze he gave each of them caused her to sink back against him. This was
exactly what she wanted. Him to be hers alone. This felt right. It felt good,
too good. She thought she might pass out.

“We’re going to have a fresh start, you and I. No
preconceived notions. No right or wrong way to do things. There’s only my way
of doing things.” He plucked and pulled on her nipples, making it hard for her
to concentrate. “Are you listening?” He bit her earlobe.

“Yes Sir.”

“Good because I want you to know that I’m going to teach you
the most fundamental principle a submissive woman needs to understand in order
to find true inner happiness. It’s simple.” He shifted and tilted her chin
until she was forced to look at him. Then he whispered, “If you want to be
given everything, you have to give everything up.”

The breath caught in her throat and she wasn’t sure if it
was the words themselves, the tone he used or the sexy sight of him that had
her breathless. She stared at his lips, wishing, hoping that he’d kiss her, but
he didn’t. His warm, minty breath bathed her face while he waited for her to
say something. To do something.

It was his scar that drew her interest next. She studied the
pale jagged line that ran from the corner of his left eye to the middle of his
cheekbone and she fought the powerful urge she had to touch it. Almost as if he
read her mind he abruptly let go of her chin. The loss of his touch galvanized
her and she nodded. “Yes Sir.”

“Good. Let me show you the rest of the room.”

Jo stood and waited for him to do the same. When he did she
took his hand and fell in step behind him, even as she wondered if she could do
what she’d just promised. Could she forget the rest of the world and immerse
herself with him in this one? God knows she wanted to, but there was
something…guilt? No. Shame, maybe? That caused this war inside her head to
rage. He called it an emotional thing, but to her it was so much more than mere
emotions going back and forth. Her core ideals were being challenged to the
extreme and yet there was still a part of her that wanted to tell them to fuck
off and let her enjoy the experience.

“You’re scowling. Talk to me.” He stopped and pulled her to
face him.

“This is real.”

“Yes.” He studied her for a quiet moment. “This is as real
as it gets.”

She took a deep breath and was in the process of slowly
releasing it when he shifted and she caught sight of the contraption in the
corner behind him. “What is,” she kept eye contact with him and pointed to it,
“t-that thing?”

He glanced over his shoulder and then back at her. His
expression was downright dirty, his tone of voice obscene, “One of your new
toys. Do you like it?”

Chapter Fifteen

“Like it?” Jo dropped her arm and sputtered. “How would I
know? It looks like a…” She tilted her head right and then left as she
squinted. “A saddle connected to a dwarf sawhorse or something.”

“Close, but we’ll get to that in a minute. I want to show
you your bed.”

“My bed? You have that big honking tree house up there and
I’m not sleeping with you in it?”

Ted knew all of this stuff was going to be rough on her. He
was prepared for the dramatics so he braced himself and simply shook his head.

“Huh.” There was no mistaking the rising belligerence in her
tone. “This sex slave gig blows.”

“Jo.” He was hoping she’d check herself. He hadn’t counted
on having to discipline her the first night of their new arrangement. He would
if he had to, but the truth was he didn’t want to. He wanted to give her some
leeway. He knew how hard this was for her, but he couldn’t let her cross a line
and right now she was teetering on it. “Behave.”

The air between them fairly crackled. He wasn’t going to
take much more of her outbursts and unfortunately, it seemed she was powerless
to control them. A bad combination if ever there was one.

“Fuck you.”

Had he thought bad? This was disastrous. “Apologize.”

Her goddamn chin tilted up and she crossed her arms. “No.”

He towered over her. “Yes.”

“You’ve gone too far.”

“Wrong. I haven’t gone far enough, but I will if you don’t
apologize. Now.”

“I don’t mean with all this.” She swung an arm out and waved
it around. “I mean with my punishment. I made a mistake. I admit it. I broke a
trust and yes, I may have encouraged you to talk that night in the bath so I
didn’t have to but I was scared.”

“You think I offered this arrangement to you as punishment?”

She nodded.

He studied her a moment, sighed and then stepped back. “No.
I offered you this because it’s all that can ever be between us now. I told you
before. There is no going back. Ever. So this arrangement isn’t a punishment,
Jo, it’s a chance. The only chance you have to be with me.”

He hated to see the shimmer of tears in her eyes. Worse, her
hoarse tone when she whispered, “You must hate me.”

“Hate you?” He brushed her hair off her shoulder and shook
his head. “If I hated you,
mera pyra
, you wouldn’t be here.” He placed
two fingers under her chin and pushed up. “And if I were punishing you?” He
searched her watchful eyes. “The last thing you’d ever get from me is pleasure.
And I promise there will be pleasure eventually if you stop fighting me and
commit to the journey.”

“I want to.”

“I know you do. But I worry your motive for doing so is to
recapture what we had before. That’s not going to happen. I can’t be that man
for you because I won’t be lied to or manipulated every time you refuse to face
your challenges head on. This is the last time I’m going to tell you this. I’m
prepared to be your guide. Your life coach. Your Master. To take on the
responsibility of your care without question and in return I expect you to not
only appreciate my efforts, I demand that you surrender to them.”

“I understand.”

No she didn’t. “If you truly understood you would have said,
‘Yes Sir’ and put your gaze where it belonged when I’m speaking to you like
this.” He could tell that shocked her because her eyes widened. “Here’s your
last opportunity, Jo. And even though I don’t have to do this, because you did
sign a binding agreement, I’m going to give you one more chance to change your
mind. If you decide to leave I’ll cut my collar and cuffs off you and I won’t
think any less of you. I promise.”

This time with head gracefully bowed she answered, “No Sir.
I’m not going to leave you.”

“Who’s the ‘you’ you’re not going to leave?” Before she
answered he added, “It’s not Ted Basel. He left you that evening after dinner
and he’s never coming back. Remember that. I am your Master. If you stay now
it’s me as your Master that you’re choosing. It’s your Master you’re not going
to leave. Say it.”

Her voice was quiet. Very quiet when she finally said, “I’m
not going to leave you, Master.”

“I’m glad we settled that.” He pulled her into his arms,
turning her until her back was to his front. Jo liked to be crowded. It calmed
her so he figured the best way to have done with the heavy awkwardness between
them was to do this and plow ahead. He gathered her in and pointed up to his
bed. “You see that square with the railing around it at the end of the bed.” He
leaned back so Jo could look up.

“Yes. It looks like a balcony kinda, but the railing is too
short.”

“That’s where you’ll sleep. At the foot of the bed unless I
instruct you otherwise. And this space,” he dipped his head down and whispered
in her ear, “right underneath it is your area. Where you’ll read, write in your
journal after dinner or where you’ll go for time out.”

She stiffened. “Time out? You’re going to ground me?”

“If you’re lucky.”

“Lucky?” She made to turn around but he held her still.

“Yes. In certain instances you’ll be lucky if all I do is
ground you because the alternative will be…”

“What?”

“Harder for you to bear, I would imagine.” He heard her
swallow and gave her an encouraging squeeze. “Remember this when your anger is
getting the best of you. Learn to control your frustrations by carefully
weighing the corrective measures I may have to mete out if provoked.”

“I’m screwed, aren’t I?”

He kissed her temple. “Yes.” Her shoulders slumped and he
chuckled. “Expect the worst and you won’t be disappointed. Anything better than
that will be a win. Now.” He turned them toward the Sybian, or contraption as
she’d called it. “I had this modified specifically for you. The part that you
referred to as ‘the saddle’ is a Sybian. What it’s attached to is an adjustable
sawhorse and the frame above it was added so you’d have something to hang on to
if need be.”

“It looks medieval.”

“It’s one hundred percent twenty-first century. Believe me.
And as this is the only heavy-duty toy we’ll be using over the next week or
two, depending on how your training goes, I want you to get familiar with it.”

“I hate that word.”

“Toy?”

“Training.”

“Tough.”

He walked her closer. Choosing to ignore how he practically
had to push her forward.

“I don’t believe it.”

Stopping them right beside the structure, he bent and hooked
his chin over her shoulder. He followed her line of vision and held back a
grin. “What?”

“That’s a dildo stuck on there.”

“Yes. You straddle the machine. I’d say then you vaginally
insert the dildo, but that’s not the only option, before you take a ride.” He
let go of her and stepped back a pace, encouraging, “Take a look. It won’t
bite.”

Not the only… She leaned down and put her hand on the black
leather. Following the curved shape of it from one side, up the crest where the
dildo spiked, down the other. “Why go through all this trouble putting this,”
she indicated to the dildo, “on this hump saddle thing. You could have stuck it
on a chair just as easily, couldn’t you?”

“No. Let me show you.” He walked to the opposite side of the
Sybian and picked up the controls. “This is unique in that,” he turned it on,
“it vibrates all over while the phallus moves. When you straddle this and it’s
properly positioned every one of your pelvic muscles will be drastically
stimulated by this baby.”

Jo was horrified and excited all at once. She straightened
and tried to imagine what it would be like to ride something like this.

“I can see you’re interested. You are, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” She wasn’t going to lie.

“Good, because tomorrow at two you’re going to have your
first intimate introduction to it.”

She wasn’t sure what thrilled her more. The thought of
getting on that sex machine and riding it, or having him watch her do it. She
tried to capture a visual, and it was odd, because if she understood the
logistics, the front of the machine faced the wall. She would have thought it’d
be the other way around.

“Is this the front?” she asked, noticing the handles at
various points that were doweled through the walnut-stained, wooden slat that
was fixed to the wall. It went up at least seven feet she gauged, since Ted’s
height cleared it, and then canopied over the machine and attached to another
vertical post that was bolted to the floor.

“Yes. If you’re wondering, you’ll be facing the wall when
you’re on it.”

“What are the handles for? And what’s with the rope?” There
was one piece of rope that was looped around the overhead wood. It was stupid
really, but just the sight of it creeped her out. Ted was good with rope. He
liked rope. He liked to tie her up with rope.

“I’ll explain everything tomorrow.” He came around the
structure and held out his hand. “Come on. One more thing to cover and then
it’s time for bed.”

“But…” She was still looking over her shoulder. Wanting to
get an answer on that rope when he stopped pulling her. That got her attention.
And when she shifted to look in front of her, she realized they were standing
right at the threshold of what he’d called her “time out” area. Her cheeks
instantly heated and that anger was back climbing up her throat and choking
her.

“There’s a Kindle on the low table. I’ve already loaded it
with the books I want you to read, along with notes and a list of things I want
you to study. I’ve opened an account for you, so feel free to order yourself
any other books you’d like to read in your spare time.”

Jo took in the area that was directly under the bed. In fact
it was her part of the bed that made the ceiling to this prison. That was sort
of what it looked like only the eight posts were more in way of decorative
pillars that ran from the bottom of the bed to the floor. If she turned
sideways she could slip through them. Meh, it didn’t change the fact that the
overall feeling was that of a cage.

“Go in and have a look around.”

Go in? “Is this supposed to be a cage or something?”

“No, but I do have one of those, do you want to see it?”

She took two steps and nearly tripped. “What? No.”

“Then be respectful and open minded.”

She nodded, but again was half listening. Maybe it was shock
that was making this so hard. She looked around and decided that the space was
nice. It reminded her of a sultan’s den. All the furniture, the bed, large
ottoman and two square tables were low to the ground. The accessories, a filigree
lamp and two vases filled with exactly six orange roses, had a Turkish flare to
them too, but it was the plethora of pillows, all different shapes, colors and
sizes, piled on the bed that really brought home the exotic feel of the place.

“It’s lovely. Are those real?” She didn’t wait for him to
answer. Instead she stepped over and touched a bloom. “They are real.”

The fact that he’d gone to such trouble melted some of her
anger. Of course, she’d have no anger at all if she wasn’t standing in a
quasi-prison of his making, so maybe he was right. Maybe she needed to expect
the worst and anything better than that was a bonus.

“Do you have any questions?”

She swung around. “No.”

“All right. Tomorrow’s going to be a difficult day so I
suggest you go and get ready for bed. When you’re finished washing up, come and
say good night. I’ll be right over there.”

He pointed to the gas fireplace where there was one
wing-backed chair angled halfway toward it. The way it was set he could either
watch the flames, if he chose to light the fire, or her, whether she was in her
prison area or bed. He had a prime view. The very idea unsettled her.

“You’re not going to bed now?”

He shook his head and a lock of his hair fell forward. Her
body reacted immediately. Her breasts tightened, her nipples hardened and
butterflies fluttered in belly.

“I’ll, um, go then.”

She hurried into the bathroom, not because she feared he’d
make a grab for her. She knew he wouldn’t because he was back to being stiff
and standoffish. It was her. What she wanted to do to him that had her worried.

It took her less time to wash and brush her teeth than it
did for her to stand at one of the twin bathroom sinks and try to pull herself
together. Between her overwhelming desire for him and the dirty thoughts she
was having about the Sybian, he’d be lucky if she didn’t jump him before she
even had the chance to say good night to him.

Deep breath, then another.
Jo, you got this
.

Well, she did have it until she came out and saw him sitting
in that chair. His size swallowed it up and there was something about a guy
like him reading a book that appealed to her. When he looked up and gave her
the heated once-over she wanted to die. Instead she dropped her gaze and waited
for him to speak.

“All done? Come and say good night then.”

She couldn’t feel her legs. She walked on them but they were
numb. Her heart hammered and her pulse beat double time. What was she supposed
to do? Kneel when she got to him? Too soon she was standing right in front of
him eyeing his lap.

He snapped his fingers once. “I want you to kneel at my
feet.”

The words rocketed through her. Unlike kneeling on those
stupid mats, this was different. Personal. Erotic and intimate somehow. Without
complaint she sank down as he told her.

“Look at me.”

She did without hesitation.

“You did well today.” He reached out and curled two fingers
around the collar and tugged her forward. “I love this on you. You made me
proud in front of Lenny by not complaining or getting angry, even though I know
you were.”

He stared at her and she stared back, unsure what he wanted
from her.

Dipping his head, he whispered, “Thank me.”