The Master (6 page)

“Thanks. We just had it done. Nathaniel doesn’t work from home often, but when he does, we both need our own space.”

They sat down and Abby faced her. “Tell me how it went with Cole yesterday.”

“He was different than I expected. But in a good way.” She thought back to how he’d calmed her down and rubbed her back.

“He’s a complex guy, but he has your best interests in mind. I know he probably wasn’t who you thought the group would pick.” Abby gave a little chuckle. “I know it surprised me at first, but now I honestly believe he’s the best choice.”

“You knew he wouldn’t have sex with me?” It was a bold question, and Abby seemed to be taken aback for a second—but Sasha wanted to know.

“Yes, in fact, it was that knowledge that finally convinced me to agree for him to do your retraining.”

Sasha raised an eyebrow at her.

“You have to be strong mentally before you can submit physically. Once you get the mental down, the physical will follow,” Abby explained.

“It makes sense in my head.” But damn, she’d like to have sex again. And now, with Cole saying she couldn’t orgasm without his permission, it didn’t appear like that would be happening anytime soon.

“I’ve played with Cole before in a mental scene,” Abby said, surprising her. “And from that I learned two things: one, he knows what he’s doing, and two, he knows what he’s doing.”

Sasha laughed. “What was it like, submitting to him?”

“He’s intense, you know that. So much more so than Nathaniel, and trust me, Nathaniel’s intense. But Cole’s a good man and he’s fair. I don’t think you have a thing to worry about.”

Sasha had once told Julie that she found Nathaniel too intense. Her stomach flipped over hearing Abby say Cole was even more intense than Nathaniel. Why did the thought of Cole not intimidate her as much as Nathaniel did?

“I trust you,” Sasha said. “And I really feel supported by everyone in the group.”

“I’m so glad. You said you’ll be meeting with Cole on Wednesday. Do you have any idea what you’ll be doing?”

“He gave me a writing assignment.” Sasha frowned. She’d started on it last night and hadn’t gotten very far before she put it down. She hated writing. “I guess we’ll go over that.”

“You don’t seem excited about it.”

“I’m not. But everyone talks about how beneficial it is to write my thoughts down, so I’ll do it and see how it goes.” Those were her words, but Sasha knew exactly how it was going to go. She’d hate every second of it.

•   •   •

S
asha chewed her bottom lip Wednesday while Cole read over the writing assignment he’d given her. She’d spent hours writing down her goals for the retraining on Monday when she got home from Abby’s. She’d thought she’d done a good job, but kneeling in the bedroom of the guesthouse he used as an office, with him sitting at his desk, she started to have doubts. He had a red pen in his hand and he was using it far too frequently. Judging by the frown on his face, she guessed he wasn’t writing
Terrific insight
or
Excellent work.

Her suspicion was confirmed when he finally put the pen down and looked at her while taking his glasses off with one hand. Earlier, when he’d opened the door to welcome her
inside, she thought he looked ridiculously hot. At the moment, he looked downright frightening.

“Sasha.”

She tried to speak, but her mouth was too dry. She licked her lips and managed to sputter out, “Yes, Sir?”

“First of all, stop looking at me like that. We are nowhere near being close enough for me to punish you corporally. You will be very clearly notified when I think that time has come.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“That does not, however, mean you will find any punishment comfortable.”

“Of course not, Sir.” Why was he talking about punishment?

“When I gave you the journal, I indicated written assignments had to be two things. What were those two things?”

“Insightful and grammatically correct, Sir.”

“Yes, and while I think these goals are insightful, the horrific grammar keeps me from ascertaining them completely.”

She flinched. “Sorry, Sir. Grammar has never been a strength of mine.”

He tilted his head. “You didn’t tell me this when I gave you my expectations yesterday.”

No, she hadn’t. “No, Sir.”

He held the journal and black pen out to her. “Come get these and flip to a page in the back.”

She hurried to do his bidding and stood by his desk, pen in hand and journal opened to a clean page.

“At the coffee shop we went over your position when I’m sitting in your presence,” he barked. “Either kneel or sit down.”

Fuck.
How could she forget so quickly? She sat down cross-legged on the floor and waited.

“Write ‘Infractions I Owe Master Johnson For’ on the top.”
Her eyes shot up to meet his. He looked pissed. “You will be given a week’s warning before I collect.”

She wrote the title at the top with a shaky hand.

He nodded when he saw she’d finished. “Now write ‘Number One: Neglecting to inform Master Johnson of difficulties with grammar.’” He gave her time to write and then continued. “‘Number Two: Standing before Master Johnson whilst he is sitting.’” When she finished, he held out his hand. “Give me the journal and go back to kneeling in the middle of the floor.”

She swore her heart was going to pound its way out of her chest as she made her way back. He stood up and walked toward her, journal in hand.

“Usually when I find errors like yours in writing assignments, I use a ruler on my submissive’s upturned palms and then have her rewrite the assignment. I find the combination to be an effective learning method.” He lifted an eyebrow. “But you’re not ready for such a punishment.”

She wanted to look at the floor. She hated that she’d already disappointed him so deeply. Hated that there were already two punishments that would be looming between them. And she really hated that she wasn’t at the place where she could take what he thought she deserved for her actions.

“What are you thinking, little one?” he asked in a gentler voice.

His soft tone soothed her. “I don’t like disappointing you, and I’m disappointed in myself for not being able to take an appropriate punishment and having it hang between us as a result.”

“The fact that you’re not ready to be disciplined in a manner I see fit is not entirely your fault. You can’t blame yourself for that. And yes, I’m disappointed, but we’ll correct your behavior
and move on. I’m not one to hold grudges, Sasha, and I believe you’ll find I don’t dig up past offenses, either.”

Sasha could feel a small smile bloom at her lips. One of the things she liked about him so far was he seemed consistent. She always knew where she stood with him.

“I will share with you that one of my concerns in agreeing to this arrangement was the fear that you wouldn’t be open and honest with me. Outside of not telling me about your troubles with grammar, you have been delightfully candid.”

“Thank you for being honest and candid with me, Sir.”

“A Dominant should always be honest and candid with his submissive.”

His submissive.
Two simple words shouldn’t make her stomach a breeding ground for butterflies. “Everyone says that, Sir, and it sounds good and everything. But I’ve found it’s not always the case.”

“Then you’ve been playing with the wrong Doms.”

She couldn’t help it; she laughed. “I think that much is clear, Sir, or else I wouldn’t be here.”

He gave her one of his rare smiles. “True enough, little one. And another thing we should add to your list of goals: how to identify a good Dom.”

“I would have thought anyone in the group would be a good choice to play with.”

“Yes, that would be the assumption. Unfortunately, no program is perfect, not even with the changes Nathaniel and Abby have worked on. And nothing takes the place of personal knowledge.”

He didn’t push her to talk about the night with Peter. She thought that would be one of the first things he did. But he’d
only brought it up casually, leaving her to think either they wouldn’t discuss it or he was waiting until later to do so.

He jotted a note in her journal. “Definitely something we can talk about later. Now, let’s go over some of these errors. I’m going to go through the list first. Pay attention, because then you’ll write them all down on your own.”

She was a businesswoman, so she shouldn’t have any trouble remembering. But she worried anyway.

“‘Its’ versus ‘it’s,’” he started. “When you have the apostrophe, it is always read as ‘it is.’”

That one was just a careless mistake.

“‘Affect’ versus ‘effect.’ There are exceptions, but ‘affect’ is almost always used as a verb and ‘effect’ is almost always used as a noun.”

Affect was a verb. A verb was an action. A, affect. A, action. She could remember that.

“Could have, would have, should have,” he said. “Never, never, never could of, would of, or should of.”

Now she just felt stupid.

“Finally, when you use the word ‘literally,’ it means exactly what you’re writing. For example, ‘He
literally
dug his fingers into her skin’ means his fingers were digging into her skin, which is probably not what was meant and would be horribly painful. I’ve said it before, but it needs repeating: words have meanings, you must learn to use them correctly.”

“Yes, Sir. I’ll do better in the future.” She would. Her next assignment would blow him away.

“I’m sure you will. For now, you will make a list of your errors and their corrections. Then you will write the absolutely filthiest sentences you can think of using the words correctly. Finally, you will rewrite this paper making the needed edits.”

She hid a half smile. That didn’t seem like a difficult punishment at all. She could handle this, no problem.

“I saw that, Sasha,” he said. “And just so you’re aware, this is only part of your punishment.”

She gulped and went to work. The list of errors and corrections was easy, but it was more difficult to come up with the sentences. She finally finished them and went on to rewrite her goals.

Cole was nowhere to be seen when she put her pen down. Not knowing what else to do, she closed the journal and knelt with her head down.

Minutes later, he entered the room. “Did you finish your assignment, little one?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Stand up,” he said. “I want your hands behind your back, chest out, and your feet spread.”

Even though she was completely clothed, she felt almost as if she was naked as she moved into position. In fact, the way he was looking at her made her feel naked. It was too easy to picture offering her body to him.

He stood by the couch, arms crossed. “Recite your sentences using ‘its’ and ‘it’s.’”

He wanted her to say them? Out loud? Her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton. She didn’t have a problem talking dirty, but she’d always done so in the middle of a scene. Where actual sex was involved. Not standing in an office with her clothes on. It felt . . .
off
somehow.

“Trying to catch flies, Sasha? What’s the problem?”

“Can I ask you to use the ruler on me instead?” That would be quick and not anywhere as embarrassing.

“You may not. I assure you, you are not anywhere near ready to accept pain from me. The sentences.
Now
.”

She took a deep breath. She could do this. “I put the vibrator in its place at the back of my nightstand. No apostrophe. It’s huge, and that makes it my favorite. With apostrophe.”

His jaw tightened. “You’ve been active as a sexual submissive for how long?”

“Six years, Sir.”

“Six years and the filthiest sentence you could come up with using ‘its’ is, ‘I put the vibrator in its place at the back of my nightstand’?”

She didn’t say anything. Surely he could tell how embarrassed she was only saying that.

“Completely unacceptable,” he said. “Try again.”

Jerk.
She tried to think of something, but every damn thing had left her brain, making her feel like she was running after words, trying to catch them and arrange them into something resembling a sentence.

“Vibrator is a good item to start with, but try putting it somewhere else.” He wasn’t going to back down. He would make her do this, she knew.

She closed her eyes. “He slides the vibrator inside me, and its width makes me catch my breath.”

“Better. Take that sentence and dirty it up.”

She opened her eyes and forced herself not to glare at him. Was he going to do this with every word? “He . . . thrusts . . . the vibrator deep into . . . my pussy.” Her face felt hot. “And its width makes me catch my breath.”

“Work on the last part. ‘He thrusts the vibrator deep into my pussy and its width’ . . . What about the width, Sasha?” Even from across the room, she felt the heat from his gaze. He
was unrelenting in his quest. “Visualize it if you have to. You’re on your back, arms bound above your head. I’m standing by you, holding a vibrator. Your legs are spread for me and your pussy tingles in anticipation, waiting for it, wanting it and yet, at the same time, a little unsure it can accommodate something so hard and thick. And then it doesn’t matter because I thrust that massive vibrator deep inside you and its width . . .” He paused to cross the floor and bent down to whisper in her ear, “Finish the sentence. Tell me what the width does to you. How you feel when I fuck you with it.”

The words flowed from her mouth without thought. “And it fills me and stretches me and I lift my hips desperate for more.”

“Yes.” His hot breath brushed across her ear and she couldn’t control her shiver. “Yes, you would and I would give you more. I would fucking
delight
in giving you more.”

She didn’t have to press against him to know how hard he was. His breathing was labored. He was definitely turned on, but whether it was because of her or the wordplay, she couldn’t tell. When he pulled away, his eyes were still dark with need.

“Tell me again what your sentence was using
it’s
with an apostrophe,” he said calmly.

Her body was shaky, but she composed herself enough to repeat, “It’s huge and that makes it my favorite.”