Authors: Natasha Knight
“He always manages to track me down so I just figure it’s easier to check in now and again.”
“Why? You used to be close. I thought after your parents’ death, that bond would grow.”
“That first year after it happened,” she began, keeping her expression neutral. “I wasn’t sure if either of us were going to make it. Nate lost it for a while.” She dropped her toast on her plate and sipped her coffee. “I don’t know if you know the details.”
“I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he just shuts down,” Luke said.
“You know that he was driving, right?”
Luke nodded. “It was in the papers. I wanted to reach out to him, but…” It had happened just weeks after the incident with Julie. “Emma, I was…am…so sorry about what happened with Julie. If I could take it back…”
“But you can’t, that’s the trick, Luke. You can’t.” She was surprised at the bitterness of her tone. “None of us can take back the stupid bullshit we’ve done to fuck up our lives. Joke’s on us, huh?” Her chuckle turned into something else, but she didn’t cry. “Anyway, it sucks that it had to be you, but you weren’t the only one.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“She showed up at the house a few weeks after my parents died. Nate was drunk.” She checked his expression and decided to explain. “He drank a lot that year,” she said. “He blamed himself for the accident,” she offered. “Anyway, I told her to go to hell, but she pushed her way in, insisting on seeing Nate. Well, he was angry and drunk, not a good combination. He didn’t hold back and when she realized he wasn’t interested in taking her back, she let loose and told him everything. You were just a drop in a rather large lake, it seems,” she finished, more angry now than anything else.
“Jesus,” he said. “How did Nate take it?”
“He poured himself another drink,” she said. “I quit school; I should say I planned to quit for a semester, but things sometimes don’t go as planned, right? Well, after a few months, I got him into a program and it helped. He got better, stopped drinking, met his wife Celia there, believe it or not.” This did make her smile.
“You like her,” he said.
“Yeah. She’s great. She’s exactly what he needs. They’re expecting, did you know?”
“I’d heard. I’m glad he found someone good. He deserves it. But what happened to you in the meantime? You couldn’t go to school because you were taking care of Nate while dealing with the loss of your parents. I wish I’d been able to help you both. I was ashamed of what I did, and to make things worse, I just took off. I regret that. I regret that very much.”
“That’s long ago, Luke.” But she had wondered herself how things might have gone had she never walked in on Luke and Julie that night.
“How did you get to talking once a month?”
“Once he got better, he decided he needed to take care of me for a change and went a little overboard with it. He treated me like a kid, but after that year, I wasn’t a kid anymore. I did make some not-very-wise decisions, I’ll give him that.”
“I’ll say,” he added.
She ignored him. “But just as you’ve changed, Luke, so have I.”
He nodded.
“My parents’ will had left Nate in charge of my trust and anything that would be mine until I turned twenty-five and I think he thought he would be able to keep a better handle on me if he made me financially dependent on him until then. Unless I got a job, of course. But having dropped out of school, it wasn’t that easy.”
“Why do you say it like that? What happened that he needed to ‘get a handle on you’?” When she didn’t answer right away, he added, “I’m not asking because I’m going to judge you, Emma. I have my own regrets; my past isn’t all sunshine either.”
“Do you mean the thing with Julie?”
“Among other things. Go on.”
She was intrigued. “This conversation has to be two-way, Luke. If I’m spilling my dirty little secrets, you need to do the same.” But she wasn’t really giving away everything, just as much as she thought he could bear.
“Fair enough, but today’s about you.”
That would have to do. She had the impression Luke Roark was not a pushover. “I guess I was sowing my wild oats,” she said, her voice flat. She bit into the crisp toast, sending crumbs everywhere.
“And Damien was one of those oats?”
“I suppose.” If he only knew.
“And that contract your job?”
She dropped her gaze for a moment. “I’m not proud of it, but it was quick money, and this lifestyle is something I was curious about anyway. You said you wouldn’t judge me. Besides, you were there to buy someone like me, remember?”
“I’m not judging you,” he said. “Bad situations put people in bad positions. I don’t agree with your rebellion against Nate though.” He put up a hand when she began to interrupt. “But I’m not judging you. I’m just grateful I was there last night.”
“Me too,” she said, finishing the last of her breakfast.
“And you’re right, my intentions were not the most honorable.”
“How long did you live in the UK?” she asked.
“The first ten years of my life,” he said. “More coffee?”
“No, thanks,” she said. “So your mother married Mr. Roark.” She was forming the family tree in her head. “Weren’t you old enough that you didn’t have to take his name?” she asked. “I mean, you didn’t want to keep your real family’s last name?”
“The Roarks are my real family,” he said, pushing away from the table and making a second cup of coffee.
His tone shut her down. Obviously a sore spot. Well, she could leave it alone as long as he stopped probing into her past. Fair was fair.
“Ok, Luke. Let’s let the skeletons lie.”
He nodded, resuming his seat.
“I have one question about last night and after that, I never want to mention it again.”
“Shoot,” he said, taking a sip of coffee.
“How much did you pay for me?”
“Ah,” he grinned. “I’m curious about your portion as well,” he said. “Twenty-five grand.”
Her mouth fell open. “What?”
“I’m guessing you didn’t see much of that yourself?”
“Five! Five fucking grand from Damien! The bastard paid me a tiny percent of what he pocketed!”
“In his defense, I overbid. I didn’t want to take a chance on losing you to someone else.”
“That’s almost…romantic,” she teased. She stood and carried the dishes to the dishwasher. “Hope you didn’t overpay.”
“Oh, I plan on getting every penny’s worth,” he said, his expression leaving no doubt of that.
“I want to hear about the photography, about England.”
About your family
, she thought,
but she left that alone.
“Not now,” he began. She could tell he wanted to sound casual, but he didn’t. “And besides, I have more interesting ideas for the morning.”
Chapter Six
“I need to get a few things, then I’ll meet you in the living room,” he said, leaving the kitchen. “Oh,” he turned back, “you’ll be naked and on your knees by the time I get there.”
Emma watched him go, his words leaving her warm and nervous at the same time. What few things was he collecting, she wondered. She was both relieved and disappointed that he wouldn’t spank her, which in itself was unsettling, but she also knew the alternative he was planning wouldn’t exactly be letting her off the hook.
It felt good to have told him all that stuff about Nate, about what had happened to him after the accident. Although he and Nate had moved beyond the Julie incident, their relationship had never been the same. She wondered how much of that was because Luke kept Nate at arm’s length rather than the other way. As for Julie, she knew he was sorry for what he’d done; she’d known that since that day she’d walked in on them. The look in his eyes had said everything he couldn’t.
Emma walked into the living room and stripped the shirt off, laying it over the arm of the sofa. She then chose a spot and knelt, knees wide, back straight, hands resting on her thighs with the palms turned up, her pussy already wet and ready for attention.
“Very good,” he said, taking her in as he stepped into the living room and dropped some things onto the coffee table.
She watched. “Uhm, what is that?” she asked, eyeing the items.
“That is a butt plug. And you can call me Sir. Or Master. I quite liked the ring of that last night,” he said, casually smiling.
A butt plug? She turned wide eyes up to him and watched while he unbuttoned and rolled up the shirt sleeve of his right arm, all the while returning her gaze with a gleam in his eyes.
“Never used one, I imagine?”
She shook her head. “No, Sir.”
“Did you like my finger inside you this morning?”
Oh god no, he wasn’t going to make her say it, was he?
“Emma?” he asked.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Sir, but I don’t know if I’d like
that
.”
“Do you trust me never to hurt you, not really, even when I punish you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
He rolled his other sleeve up and she glanced at the other items: a tube of lubricant and two sets of fur-lined leather cuffs, a flogger as well as two black leather straps that looked like belts but were too thin and short.
“What are you going to do with that?” she pointed to the flogger. “Sir.”
“It’ll be a surprise,” he said. “I’m going to put the plug inside you now. You’ll wear it for a few hours this morning and then again this evening. I also plan on binding your arms behind your back during this morning’s treat. Are you comfortable with that?”
Treat? For whom? “Yes, Sir.”
“Are you ready?”
“I don’t know, Sir,” she said. “Will it hurt?”
He smiled. “Stand up,” he said, moving a leather ottoman to the center of the room. “Hands flat on the seat, legs spread,” he said while retrieving the plug and the lubricant.
She watched him for a moment, then stood in front of the ottoman.
“Down,” he said.
She glanced at him from over her shoulder before taking her legs wide and bending forward to place her hands on the seat. She lifted her ass just so.
“Lovely,” he said. “I can watch you like this all day. Maybe I will.” He moved behind her and she turned back to find him spreading lubricant onto his fingers. “Down onto your elbows, Emma.”
She groaned but did as he said, knowing how this posture would expose her even more than she already was. One large hand settled over her left buttock and spread it away from the right. She blushed red, but the sensation of him spreading the stuff over her anus soon overpowered that.
Her pussy was soaked through within moments and she closed her eyes. He was patient and seemed to enjoy his work as he pressed against the hole, then circled more lubricant around it, trying again and again until it gave way and his finger slid into her. She moaned, wanting desperately for him to touch her clit and make her come.
When his second finger joined the first, her hips found rhythm with his movements until she was on the very precipice of orgasm.
“Please,” she begged.
“I think you’re ready,” he said, pulling his fingers out altogether and leaving her totally empty and unsatisfied.
She turned to see him greasing the plug, which was about two inches long and an inch in diameter. Although not large, it was still bigger than his fingers had been.
“Don’t look so scared just yet. It isn’t anywhere near the size of my cock,” he said, reading her expression. He brought the tip to her anus and began to play the smooth toy over her ready opening. To her surprise, it slid in easily, stretching her to a point of constant awareness of that part of her body.
“Good girl,” he said. “I’m going to wash my hands and when I’m back, we can go ahead with this morning’s lesson. Hold your position.”
She didn’t turn to watch him go but wondered about the other implements he’d brought with him. Was he going to bind her before spanking her and would he use the flogger? Was that what he’d meant with having something different in mind? She wiggled her bottom at the thought, tensing her muscles around the plug and finding the feeling not unpleasant.
“Nothing like walking into a room where a woman is waiting for me just as you are,” he said. “Perhaps even better than finding her on her knees.”
She watched over her shoulder as he approached. He’d taken his shirt off; the lean muscles that defined his chest, shoulders, and arms made her mouth water with desire. “Face forward,” he said, stepping behind her and just touching the base of the plug. “Nice and snug. You may straighten.”
He picked up the cuffs. “I’m going to bind your arms together both at the wrists and just above your elbows. Are you comfortable with that?”
“I guess so, Sir,” she said.
“If you have any pain, let me know. Bring your hands together, please,” he said.
She did, clasping them behind her back. He slid the first cuff over one wrist, then the other. The fur was warm and soft and they weren’t tight enough to cause discomfort. Then came the other set.
“Draw your elbows together for me,” he said. “There you go.”
She realized why he wanted to cuff her arms like this. By bringing her elbows together, it forced her to push her chest straight out, her breasts thrusting forward, her nipples already pebbling.
“How do you feel?” he asked, turning her to face him. His eyes roamed over her chest approvingly.
“Sexy,” she said, the muscles of her anus tightening and relaxing around the plug almost of their own accord. She was more than aroused, but she didn’t know what he had in mind for her just yet.
“You look sexy,” he said, “but we’re not close to ready yet.” He picked up the two straps and stood behind her once again. “Just a couple more things,” he said, laying the first of the set just over her breasts and buckling it snug at her back. The next one he placed just below her breasts, bringing it around her arms once again and buckling it. He turned her to face him. If she’d felt exposed a moment ago, it was nothing compared to how she felt now with her full, round breasts framed as they were.
“Perfect,” he said, picking up the flogger. “Helps with my aim.”
“Sir, what do you mean ‘your aim’?” she asked, now eyeing the flogger as she struggled not to take a step backward.