Rude Awakening (6 page)

She snapped her head to face him, widening her eyes.

He raised a hand to stop her saying anything. “We’ll go shopping in another town if that makes you feel better, have a nice day out, and then, after we’ve eaten dinner, we can begin your first lesson. How does that sound?”

She blew out a breath, straightening her shoulders. “Bloody brilliant. Here’s to tomorrow, the first day of my new life.”

Chapter Four

Ruby couldn’t believe she was about to go shopping with a complete stranger—couldn’t believe she was staying in his house, either. He sat opposite her in his kitchen sipping his morning coffee. The posh man had Italian blended coffee beans, which had to be ground and then filtered. Aromatic coffee scent surrounded them, and Ruby found the smell pleasant but the taste foul. Maybe it was her council roots, but she’d be happy with supermarket home-brand instant—a bitter taste but decent on the pocket.

“Could you pass the butter, please?” he asked.

Butter? What happened to good old-style margarine? Ruby knew deep down she was way out of her depth. She’d thought Master was upper class and posh, but this man really had it all about him. Even in the way he sat—his back straight, not slouched as he gazed down at the newspaper. Charm, confidence and sexual masculinity oozed from every move, pore and presence.

Yep, out of her depth.

“Which pot would that be?” From where she came from, marg was taken straight from the tub, no faff of transferring it from a perfectly reasonable tub to a pot because it looked pretty. Seriously, who had the time?

Harry chuckled, leaned over and took a weird-looking thing with a lid, which he lifted to reveal the slab of rich butter.

So now she knew the weird-looking pot with a lid now contained butter.

“You can eat anything you like,” he said. “It looks like you could use more meat on your bones.”

Was he taking the piss? She was fat all over. Master had monitored her eating habits. The bastard had even put chains on the fridge and cupboards so she couldn’t snack while he was out. He’d fed and clothed her…and controlled every little way of her life. She raised her hand to her neck to touch the collar that had contained her for so long, only to find a bare expanse of neck. Master kept all the keys to her freedom on a little chain at his waist—the one to her collar just another to keep her with him.

“The coffee will do,” she said, not willing to risk another pound to her weight.

“This isn’t something your Master was teaching you, was he? You do realise you’re underweight? You look pale and fragile and really need some food.”

Each one of his words sounded like the truth, but years of constant verbal and mental abuse from the man who claimed to love her had filled her with self-doubt. She’d been taken over, had insecurity ingrained inside her from his brainwashing.

“He did, didn’t he? Another one of his little control games?” Harry asked gently.

Ruby watched him fist the newspaper and she flinched. After so many times of watching hands fist in the same way, only to be struck moments later…it was all still so clear in her mind.

He cursed. Ruby gazed at him in wonder—the curse so shocking it took her out of her fear and instantly brought on surprise. She hadn’t expected to hear a word like that from him. He got up from his seat, placing his paper down on the table, and went to his knees in front of her. She refused to back away from him. He wouldn’t hurt her. Despite knowing that on a subconscious level, she kept chanting calming words inside her head—force of habit. Sweat beaded on her forehead—why, when she wasn’t scared, she didn’t know—and she tried to keep her shaking hands contained in her lap.

Ruby expected him to touch her, lash out at her. Instead, he looked at her. He saw right through her, she was sure of it, past the waves of insecurity and the battle she fought to be the fun-loving Ruby with him—previous name remaining a secret—to the shell of a human being she became under the hard lessons from Master.

“You’re terrified, I can see it,” he said. “I don’t usually curse. I’m sorry if I frightened you.”

Harry appeared deep in thought, and all Ruby wanted to do was reach out and reassure him. But something was stopping her. In her heart of hearts she knew he wouldn’t hurt her, and part of her loved her new name simply because Harry, her white knight, had given it to her. But if she lifted a hand, touched him, and took away the distance, what more would she open herself up to?

“I’d never hurt you. In all my life as a Dom, I’ve never struck a single female or any of my subs in anger or for proper punishment. I adore them for the pleasure and trust they grant me with their minds and bodies.”

He took one of her shaking hands in his. Ruby let out a rush of breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding. His touch was firm but not painful. He held her gently, as though he was of the old-fashioned mindset—he was the man and she a woman to be taken care of. There was nothing threatening in his action, he merely offered her comfort. With no further speech, he allowed her to become accustomed to the simple act of him grasping her hand. Unable to resist, she stared into his eyes, trying to see if she could read his intentions. He stared right back.

What was he thinking? What was he feeling? Did his hand warm or tingle from her touch or was it a simple gesture of consolation?

The act of kindness flowed through her mind. Master had fucked her over harder than she’d ever realised. How long had she been with him? Three years? Longer? And in all that time—once she’d moved in with him—she couldn’t recall a tender touch, kiss or caress. No kind words of comfort. Bitch, slut, whore, filth—all the degrading words that had filled her days. Nothing had ever been good enough or right. Every punishment had been exactly that—a punishment meant to hurt, not to enhance their love life.

It suddenly dawned on Ruby—since meeting Master and being in his life, she hadn’t experienced a proper orgasm since the first one she’d had, on the night she’d moved in. The terrifying ordeal she’d been through after climaxing without permission had taken their budding relationship into a downward spiral she’d had no chance of ever escaping. At least now Ruby could admit that if she hadn’t got away, she’d be leaving her old room at Master’s in a body bag…or worse, dead, dumped outside in his back yard.

Ruby shivered and averted her gaze from the man who was demanding access into her head, the very soul of her being. Through it all, Master had never fully conquered her mind. For the longest time she’d thought of escape, forming the best-laid plan. Her escape had worked, and as she sat here now, trying to avoid Harry’s penetrating gaze, she couldn’t help but be relieved by her random luck on him finding her.

He caressed her palm with his thumb, rotating little circles over her skin, the touch nice and gentle after so much pain. Ruby leaned her head back and closed her eyes in bliss, loving the contact of another person who didn’t have plans to harm her. He circled her wrist, fingers strong, bringing her right back to how she’d felt with Master. His finger and thumb touched, his grip tightening, and the sudden feeling of being trapped brought her up short. She yanked her hand from his grip, drawing her delicate and easily breakable wrist to her chest.

“You’re skin and bone, Ruby.” He spoke softly, his hand falling to her thigh.

Ruby glanced at his hand but didn’t pull away, even though she wanted to be alone, far from the fear of an outburst of anger. At the same time she craved the touch, the intimacy from him.

He represented peace.

“I’m fine,” she whispered.

Her stomach decided to tell the man otherwise, letting out a huge growl.

Fucking feed me.

A blush spread over her face and neck. She wanted him to feed her and wondered if she would allow it if he did. Harry smiled, resting his hand on her stomach.

“Eat something for me,” he said.

Each touch he gave was clearly designed to calm and soothe her.

Ruby nodded. He took a ripe, juicy piece of peach from a bowl and raised it to her lips. She obliged him, opening her mouth and taking the chunk. The melting sweetness burst on her tongue, and she couldn’t stop the moan of approval.

“That’s good. Take another bite.”

Harry continued to feed her bite-size chunks of fruit and toast until her tummy suddenly stopped rumbling and she held her hand up for him to stop. She was amazed by how patient he was. From looking at his face, Ruby couldn’t decipher what he was thinking or feeling. Nothing about his presence gave anything away, but she could see,
feel
he would never hurt her. With Master, she’d memorised certain movements and sounds that let her know beforehand his type of mood—whether he wanted to lash out and hurt, or bring torture, or just plain taunt her. With Harry she didn’t know anything about him except for the unmistakable air of kindness, the times he was a little too posh, and his soft sarcasm last night in the upstairs hallway.
 

Once she was finished eating, she sipped the foul-tasting coffee—tiny sips to appease him. Harry tapped her knee and moved to the other end of the table. Ruby admired him more for not expecting anything from her.

For giving her time and personal space.

“Ruby, thank you for eating breakfast. You gave me great pleasure in feeding you.” He picked up his own coffee.

She frowned. “I don’t understand. You
want
me to eat? To put on weight?”

There was more going on with him than Ruby was comfortable with. She couldn’t get her head around the contrast between the two men.

“You’ve never been thanked by your Master before, have you?”

What could she say? Master was a first-class prick—not that she’d ever say it to his face.

“Let’s just say he was bigger on the punishments and verbal abuse than he ever was on being nice.” Without thinking, she took a huge gulp of coffee, the taste hitting her throat, making her heave. Turning away from him as best she could, she spat the liquid back into her cup.

She expected some sort of anger.

“You don’t like the coffee?” He sipped his with a raised eyebrow.

One day, she’d shave that thing off if he wasn’t careful.

“It’s disgusting. Tastes like horse shit, not that I know what horse shit tastes like.”

“No need to be vulgar. It’s Italian blend.”

Unable to raise just one eyebrow herself, Ruby raised both of hers.

“You’re right. There is no need to be vulgar and I apologise. I’m more of an instant-coffee person.”

Fucking think before you speak. Don’t say shit like that.

“I’ll remember for next time on the coffee detail,” he said. “So you’ve never been complimented?”

Ruby shook her head.

“Right. Seeing as you asked me to show you how a Master should behave and actually teach you the ways in a proper relationship, I’ll begin now. My belief and teaching is to treat my submissive with the utmost respect and let her know when she’s doing something that pleases me. You pleased me by eating, and I thanked you for it.”

Everything he’d said so far had made sense. She waited for him to continue.

“I’ve been thinking. You really struggle with me being close, and I thought of a good way to show you the building of trust within a Dom and submissive partnership.”

Ruby was intrigued and leaned further on the table to listen. Before her time with Master, she’d been interested in learning more about BDSM.

“You’ve clearly had a bad time, and I think using a safe word now, outside of the bedroom, will show you that no matter what, I would never ever hurt you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“As soon as a safe word is decided and agreed upon, you’ll use it from here on. What I’m proposing is if I ever scare you or make you uncomfortable in a way you don’t like, you’ll say a safe word. For instance, ‘butter’. If you say the word ‘butter’ when you’re not comfortable with me or are frightened, I’ll stop and change. This will show you how being a submissive is empowering to the mind and body, that you have control over what I say or do. That it is a partnership,” Harry said.

Ruby nibbled her lip. Before, Master had ignored her safe word and continued regardless of the rules. She looked down at her knotted fingers—interlocked, as though trying to protect themselves from an enemy they didn’t deserve. For too long Master had been the voice inside her head, and if she didn’t break free soon, she’d be forever in his grasp.

Holding a hand out across the table, she shook Harry’s.

“Deal.”

“And the safe word?” he asked.

Ruby smiled. “Let’s stick with butter.”

Her heart jolted as he smiled back, nodding in agreement.

He truly was a handsome man.

* * * *

Ruby had decided on the spur of the moment to throw caution to the wind and shop in Manchester, not another nearby town as Harry had suggested. She’d have to face Master at some point, and although she didn’t relish it today, with Harry by her side she had more confidence. Besides, Master rarely went into the city. He ordered what he needed online or sent one of his employees out for purchases.

They’d been shopping for hours, Ruby wearing a pair of Harry’s black wellingtons that were too big and a coat that drowned her. He’d soon remedied that, buying her a pair of boots that fitted and a thick red jacket to die for. A scarf and gloves too. She thought her feet were going to fall off from all the walking and changing of clothes. What was wrong with seeing a shirt or trousers in the colour you liked, trying one set on and then leaving with the same style in a variety of different colours? According to Harry…everything. Every shirt, pair of trousers, skirt, dress, all types of shoes and lingerie needed to be tried on.