Authors: Christine d'Abo
Petra, shit. She’d forgotten about her friend. Tomorrow she’d need to give her a call and find out what the hell was going on between her and Darcy. She’d never gotten all the dirt on their one-night stand. Though they couldn’t call it that anymore. Alice would give Petra a call tomorrow, and she’d be able to help her figure out what to do about Gael.
Because the idea of becoming his submissive was a thought she couldn’t get out of her mind.
Chapter Fourteen
Alice’s morning hadn’t gone according to plan. The night before, she’d managed to sneak into her house. But her mother, who had in fact decided to stay the night, had taken up residence in Alice’s bed rather than use the guest room. Left with no other options, Alice had grabbed her nightgown and tried to sleep without her normal comforts.
Not that she’d been able to sleep. She’d spent most of her nighttime hours tossing and turning, while her mind raced through all of the possibilities of Gael’s proposal. Regardless of his current role with the firm, he was still a lawyer on the path to becoming a partner. Did she really want to be one of
those women
who started an office romance with a boss? It didn’t matter how their relationship started, there would always be people on the staff who would look down on her for chasing after Gael.
And it didn’t matter that he said he wouldn’t hold things against her; if their being together was discovered by his uncle and ruined the opportunity to cosign the loan, Alice would feel like absolute shit. So as she tried to doze, her mind went back and forth on the idea of spending a long weekend with him. At one point, she gave up trying to sleep, grabbed her smartphone, and did a search on BDSM.
There was some really scary shit on the Internet. But she managed to track down a few sites that were more about education and less about the kink itself. They even recommended a few books on what it meant to be a Dom and a sub. She’d bought copies of each for later reading. The end result was an overload of information that refused to allow her mind to shut down, making what little rest she’d been able to get fitful.
The lecture she’d received this morning at breakfast hadn’t helped either.
It had been a long time since she’d truly pissed her mother off. Alice had been sixteen and had just told her that she was quitting modeling.
Her retreat to the office hadn’t provided any relief. As usual, Gael was at work early. She’d been hoping to have at least a few minutes with him before the office filled up, so she could ask him a few questions. Get a bit more perspective on what exactly he was offering her.
But no, the fates wouldn’t even give her that today. Within two minutes of her arrival Carmella stepped into Gael’s office to chat. The conversation quickly turned to a whole bunch of extremely obvious flirting on her part. And the more apparent Carmella got, the more Alice contemplated the various merits of starting an office cat fight. She could totally take Carmella out.
Instead of discovering more about what a weekend in Gael’s capable hands would involve, she was forced to keep her annoyance in check. Not something she normally had to account for.
“Package for the most stunning woman in the office.” Brian dropped a courier envelope on her desk. “Why the long face, sunshine?”
“Just having a bad morning. Thanks, hon.”
Brian looked behind him at Carmella, who now stood directly in front of Gael’s desk, blocking her view. “Boss lady giving you a hard time?”
“No.”
Boss lady is making the moves on my guy.
“Oh. She’s pissing in your pot without permission. My wife always told me never get between two women who are after the same man.”
Alice snapped her gaze back to Brian. “I’m not—”
“Sweetie, everyone here knows you’ve got a crush on Hernandez. Especially that one.” He nodded toward Carmella. “She should know better than to play with fire. Anyway, it’s time for my next drop-off.”
Having lost the ability to speak, Alice could only watch as he left.
Everyone
knew she had a crush on Gael? How was that possible? Shit, did Mr. Gibson suspect? She’d never said anything to anyone besides Petra. She’d never chased after him in an obvious way, not even the type of flirting that Carmella was embarrassing herself with right now. Alice would smile, make a little small talk, and help him out. The same thing she’d do for anyone in the office.
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” Gael’s voice snapped her out of her funk and brought her attention back to the matter at hand.
“I saw that it was important and would need to be dealt with quickly.” Carmella smiled at him. Dear God, was she trying to bat her eyelashes too? Oh honey...
“I never doubt your expertise in these matters.” Gael followed Carmella out of the office and stood by his doorway.
“Thanks. I’ll get Alice to look after the file—”
“Unfortunately,” Gael said, his voice loud enough to draw a few curious glances, “I require Miss White’s assistance on another matter. I’ll leave the Gruber file with you. Miss White, can I see you for a moment?”
“Of course, sir.” Okay, so calling him
sir
wasn’t exactly playing fair. Alice was tired and annoyed enough that she honestly didn’t care. “I’ll be right there.”
Gael held his ground while she got herself organized, watching her every move. She had no doubt it was his way of getting even for the
sir
comment, and she had no intention of letting him know he was getting under her skin.
In fact
...
Grabbing her cell phone at the last second, she marched past Gael without a second glance. Ignoring him as he closed the door behind her, she hit the speed dial for Petra.
“Hey hon. I’m sorry I haven’t answered your calls. I’m...going to be out of town for a bit. And out of cell range. Something, ah, came up and I have to handle it. Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ll tell you about it when I get back. Bye!”
Gael crossed his arms. “I take it you don’t need until lunch to make your decision?” The note of amusement was so unlike Gael, she was caught off guard. “You don’t even want to know what my plan is?”
She did. Desperately. But she was so pissed off—at her mother, Carmella, herself, her lack of undergarments—there was no point in pushing things. “This is supposed to be about trust, right? I trust that you won’t do anything to hurt me.”
“No, I won’t hurt you. Not in the way you mean at least.”
“Then the only way I’m going to figure this out is to put myself in your hands and hope for the best. I don’t have a clue as to what I’m doing, but you already know that.”
Even though she was silently begging him to close the distance between them and work his Dom magic on her, Gael didn’t move. Instead, he sat down behind his desk and pulled his keyboard closer.
“Tomorrow I’ll arrange for you to leave work early and pack a bag. Just the essentials. No clothing. I’ll pick you up at four-thirty.”
That was a dismissal if she’d ever heard one.
“Wait, no clothing? Do you plan on keeping me naked the entire three days?”
Gael simply cocked an eyebrow.
Bastard.
“I’m fighting the urge to fire off a smart-assed comment about you not being the boss of me.” She chuckled. “But I’d be wrong about that on both counts.”
“Go work, Alice.”
She snorted as she turned and marched back to her desk.
Oh sure, easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one who had to sit around wondering what the hell she’d gotten herself into. It was only three days. Of sex. Kinky sex that she didn’t quite get the rules of. With the man of her dreams.
And look, an email.
Groaning, Alice leaned forward, pressing her forehead to her desk. It was going to be a long two days.
* * *
Carmella had simply smiled when Alice told her she was leaving early and gave her the okay. It was strange considering how badly she’d been flirting with Gael yesterday. Not that her boss would have any idea what was about to happen between them. She might have kicked up a stink otherwise. Or begged for further details.
Packing was more than a joke. Her toiletries took up a pitiful amount of room in her overnight bag. Strangely, she’d grown comfortable going
sans
panties, though she still missed her bra, and the absence of the rest of her clothing was almost freeing. For once she didn’t have to be concerned about what to wear, if she looked appropriate, or what he would think of her.
No, she’d simply be walking around buck naked instead.
“Fuck.”
Four-thirty came and went with no sign of Gael. There could be any number of reasons he wasn’t there yet. Traffic. A late meeting for one of the cases. He’d changed his mind. Yeah, no reason at all for her to worry. The more time that passed, the more she had to fight the urge to call him. Or Petra. Or her mom. It was too quiet, too still, and that only made her more nervous.
He wouldn’t have changed his mind. Not after everything they’d done and said to this point. Gael would have called her and let her know. He
should
have called her if he was going to be this late.
At ten after five, she was ready to take her things back upstairs, put on a sports bra and her granny panties, and watch reruns of
Grey’s Anatomy
while drinking wine. God, how pathetic a thought was that. But as she was mentally tracking down where her slob clothing was hiding, she heard a car pull into her driveway.
He’d come.
Thank God.
She wasn’t sure if she should go out to meet him or wait for him to come into the house.
Take the initiative
,
girl.
He needs to know you’re serious.
Alice grabbed her bag and her keys, and stepped out into the warm evening air.
Gael hadn’t gotten out of his car, and she couldn’t quite see him through the windshield. Fumbling with her keys in the lock, she gave herself a few seconds to pull her shit together before she took the final step and got into the car, heading off into the unknown.
“Okay. Let’s do this.”
Before she lost her nerve, Alice strode as quickly as she could over to the passenger side, and jumped into the car without looking.
“Hi there. I didn’t think you were...”
The words dried up in her mouth as she turned to see Gael sitting behind the wheel. Gone were his dress shirt, tie and suit pants. Instead he was wearing a tight black T-shirt and leather pants. That was...
“Wow.” Alice swallowed hard and tightened her grip on her bag. “Uh, hi.”
“Sir.”
Alice frowned. “Sorry?”
“From this moment on you are to call me
Sir
. You will do what I tell you to do. Do you remember your safeword?”
Gael was wearing leather. Alice swallowed again. “Red.”
“If you say
Red
at any point in the next three days, we stop.
Yellow
, and I know you need a break. You’re still permitted to ask questions, but there will be times when I won’t want you to talk. Listening and understanding sometimes can only come about in quiet moments. Do you understand?”
She was stunned by this sudden change from what she’d been expecting and the current reality. “Yes.”
Gael reached over and grabbed her chin, forcing Alice to look him in the eye. “I didn’t hear you.”
In that moment, Alice began to understand what the next three days meant to him. He was risking not only the change to help save his family’s business, but he was putting his heart on the line. This wasn’t a game, or a whim and she needed to be careful.
“Yes, Sir.” Her voice took on a breathy quality. “If I say
Red
, then things stop.
Yellow
slows us. Questions can be asked. Sometimes I’ll need to be quiet.”
Gael relaxed his hold on her chin, lingering for a moment to caress her skin before letting her go. “Good. We have a bit of a drive ahead of us. In that time I want you to think over your hard limits for our time together. The things you absolutely will not do. When I ask you, I want a list.”
He then faced the front, put the car into reverse, and took Alice toward the unknown.
How the hell was she supposed to come up with a list if she didn’t know what her limits were? Or what he was planning on doing to her?
The one thing she was excellent at was digging up information. Taking her smartphone out of her purse, Alice continued her early research. Come hell or high water, she was going to make the next three days memorable for both of them.
Even if the information she had to read made her question everything.
Yup
,
large butt plugs are going on the list.
Alice turned her phone sideways.
Maybe.
Chapter Fifteen
Gael fought to keep his eyes on the road once they cleared the heavy traffic on the 401 and started heading south on the QEW. Their destination was a cottage in Niagara on the Lake, one that had everything he would need to ensure Alice would get the full sub experience.
Uncle Stephen had stared at Gael for several long minutes before agreeing to give him Friday off. He had no doubt that his uncle suspected there was something going on, but would wait until he had proof of Gael’s crimes before bringing them up. Despite looking for opportunities to find a way to renege on his deal to cosign the loan, Uncle Stephen couldn’t go against basic employment rights, such as vacation time.
Gael was well aware that as far as his uncle was concerned, he was just as bad as his father. His mom hadn’t told him everything that had gone down in the family when she’d agreed to marry his dad, but it was no secret that Uncle Stephen didn’t approve.
Well fuck them. His parents were the happiest couple Gael had ever known. It was no one else’s business what they did in the bedroom. Perhaps if his uncle were more honest with himself and what he wanted in life, he wouldn’t be on his third marriage.
Alice made a soft
huh
noise and clicked a few more buttons on her phone. She’d been engaged in her browsing from almost the moment they’d pulled away from her house. Gael had assumed she’d go down that route, and was pleased with his increasing ability to read her. The better he was at that meant the better he’d be at anticipating her needs. Pushing her beyond the limits of where she thought her body could go, to a place of bliss.
Based on the dark circles beneath her eyes, Gael could tell she’d had a rough night. He’d had his own restless night, trying to work through the chaos that had become his carefully laid plan. Having this weekend with Alice would put his plan in danger. But for the first time in years, he wanted something for himself first. No, finding a partner who shared his particular kink in the bedroom hadn’t been a priority for him. He had his choice of any sub he wanted at Wonderland any night of the week. If this had simply been about sex, he wouldn’t have come within ten feet of Alice.
This wasn’t about sex. This was something more.
And it scared the shit out of him.
The sun was still in the sky as they turned onto the final leg of their journey. Alice had been a perfect sub, taking his order seriously and making sure she’d be able to fulfill his request. He’d watched her get like this before. That intense scrutiny she’d put against a problem, worming her way through mounds of information until she got to its heart. A swell of pride rolled through him as she put the same level of care into this task.
She wanted to make him happy. In turn, he wanted to blow her mind.
“We’ll arrive in fifteen minutes.” His voice felt odd from not having been used for the past few hours. “For the next few minutes, let’s make this Gael-and-Alice time so there’s no confusion about what either of us expect. Tell me your list.”
Alice looked up at him and blinked with that doe-eyed way of hers. If she wasn’t careful, Gael would have her sucking his cock in the car as they drove.
“Umm...okay.” She clicked a few buttons on her phone. “Hard limits. No blood play. No scat or golden showers. That’s just disgusting. No branding.” She shuddered. “For now, I’m not comfortable having sex with anyone but you.”
Gael saw the blush rise on her cheeks. “Easy enough. I don’t intend on sharing you.” That was a kink to explore when they were both more comfortable with each other.
“Okay. Um, what else?” She scanned her document some more. “Anything with electricity scares the shit out of me, so none of that. I’m also terrified of needles. I think that’s it.”
She dropped the phone in her lap and grinned. Fuck she was too cute for her own good. And his.
Gael reached over and spanked her bare thigh.
“Ouch!”
“Here are my rules. If you break them there will be punishments. You are to address me as
Sir
or
Master Gael
at all times. At. All. Times. You will do what I say, how I say, and as quickly as I say. There will be no arguments or I will punish you. If you don’t move fast enough, I will punish you. If you refuse to do anything, I will punish you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir.” He didn’t need to look over to know she was aroused. Alice sucked in a breath. “What kind of punishments?”
His cock immediately reacted to her soft words. The timing for everything was coming out in his favor. It was time to put the next phase of his plan into play as they made the final turn toward their destination.
“Spankings, floggings, me bringing you to the brink of orgasm and holding you there.” He squeezed her thigh before shifting his fingers upward. “Anything I want.”
Alice sucked in a breath, but she didn’t respond.
Gael-and-Alice time was over. “Take your shirt off.”
Alice’s surprised gasp was expected. As was her slight hesitation in carrying out his order.
“This is a private road. No one will stop us. Now take it off.”
This is it.
Gael could only keep his eyes forward and wait as Alice began to shift in her seat and remove the blouse she’d put on that morning. The first sight of her round breasts sent another pulse of blood pounding through his cock. He would need to take the edge off soon if he wanted to concentrate.
“Fold the shirt. You won’t need it again.”
She complied, folding the shirt with shaking hands. “Is there anything else, Sir?”
“Not yet.” The list he had was quite long. No need to scare her before he began. “Here we are.”
He’d always been amused when applying the term
cottage
to his family’s retreat. It was more upscale private home than rustic escape. The building had been in his mother’s family for years. It was secluded and had everything he wanted for both Alice. He hadn’t needed to explain anything to his mom when he’d called asking for the keys. She’d smiled as she handed them over to him.
The light wood and large windows gave the cottage a warm glow. The trees had been cleared out around the building, and a large wildflower garden put in place. Gael had always enjoyed the peace of the place as a child. The paved driveway led to the garage.
“I need to turn the security alarm off. Get out of the car and go to the front door.”
He didn’t wait to see if she’d listen, instead getting out and heading over to the keypad. The
thunk
of the car door shutting and the clicking of her shoes on the pavement had him smiling. Thing were going the way he wanted. And if he played his cards right, Alice would be his for the keeping.
* * *
Alice stood by the door, nipples hard and face flushed, praying she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life. She was standing outside topless waiting for a man who sounded more than a little excited about the idea of punishing her to let her in to a secluded cabin.
Alice was fairly certain that was the opening to a horror movie she’d seen recently.
She couldn’t deny that she was equally as excited about what the next few days would entail. The moment she saw Gael had gone into Dom mode, she couldn’t keep her mind from their first night together at Wonderland. They hadn’t had intercourse, but what had happened between them was far more intimate than the sex she’d had in the past. This wasn’t about getting off. This had to do with knowing another person so well, you would do anything in the world for him.
Having spent the last three hours reading hadn’t helped quiet her imagination either. Page after page on the dynamics of power, sexual enticements, using pain as a means to reach pleasure—all information she had to read and do her best not to picture Gael doing these things to her body. She’d stopped caring after the first hour.
The fantasizing started at the hour-and-a-half mark.
Gael’s footsteps echoed through the house, followed by the sounds of the door being unlocked. Opening the door revealed that he’d taken off his own shirt somewhere between the garage door and here. This was the first time she’d seen him in any state of undress. Hot damn, it was something she could get used to.
“Come inside. Take off your skirt and shoes. Then get on your knees in the middle of the living room.”
Why thank you
,
Mr.
Hernandez.
I
would love to see the inside of your little love nest.
“Yes, Sir.”
Alice didn’t know if it was the result of having spent so much time reading up on the workings of a BDSM relationship and her brief exposure to what could happen when she was at Wonderland, or if being out here alone with Gael helped her move past her mentally constructed barriers, but she didn’t hesitate. Being naked in a strange environment didn’t bother her. She’d had to do enough costume changes in hallways and backstages over the years to get past that embarrassment. Even having Gael watching her every move as she complied with his wishes didn’t freak her out.
None of this was setting off any of her internal alarms. For the first time in years, Alice felt a sense of calm wash over her as she kicked her feet free from her sandals and got to her knees on the hardwood floor. Wanting to do this right, she put her hands behind her back as he’d instructed her at Wonderland.
The challenge was turning her mind off.
She thought it had been hard to kneel in front of the cross at Wonderland, watching the couple as they went about their business. But that had proven enough of a distraction she hadn’t been aware of the pain in her knees, the cool air on her skin, the feeling of Gael’s eyes watching her every move as she tried to settle in to the position. At least now she’d read enough to have a sense of what he was doing.
This was a test. A way of seeing what her buttons were and how best he could push them. He had her list of hard limits, and she knew he’d respect them. Everything was now in his hands, the control she’d freely given him.
She jumped when he reached out and ran his fingers along the back of her shoulders. The air in the cottage wasn’t cool, so the spread of goose bumps across her skin could only be blamed on Gael.
“There are so many things I plan to show you.” Something had changed in his voice as he spoke. The intensity was still there, but there was another note Alice hadn’t heard from him before. “The next three days I will push you. You’ll know for certain if this is what you want. If I’m what you want.”
Oh she wanted alright...
“The first thing you need to learn is what I expect from you. Like at Wonderland, when we are in a room together you get on your knees. Sit back on your heels, spread your legs. You’re gorgeous and I want to be able to see every inch of you.”
Alice shifted her body into his specified position, hating the way she felt exposed. “Yes, Sir.” God, she was so wet he’d easily be able to see.
“The second thing you need to realize is that this weekend is all for you. This is my chance to show you about my life, what I like sexually. But it’s more about us learning about each other. There will be times over the next three days where we won’t be in a scene. That’s what this is called. It will just be Gael and Alice. It will be our opportunity to see if we are compatible in other ways.”
The idea of sitting down and chatting with Gael had always been one of her greatest desires. He’d fascinated her since his arrival at the firm, and that had only deepened in recent weeks.
“Right now we’re going to start things off on familiar territory.”
Gael walked past her, over to the large black leather couch on the opposite side of the room. Funny, she hadn’t even been aware of it when she’d first come in. He pushed it around so it now faced a large set of windows, and sat down on the middle cushion.
His naked chest and arms were a stark contrast to the black leather of both his pants and the cushions. Alice would have been content to simply stare at him for hours. Gael had different ideas. Patting his lap, he beckoned her over.
“You haven’t followed my instructions as quickly as I expect. What did I say that would result in?”
“Punishment. Sir.” She’d liked his form of punishment the last time she’d been in this position. But unlike at Wonderland, there was no bench and no restraints to keep her in place. He wanted her across his lap, as if she were a naughty child who needed to be taught a lesson.
In a way, she was.
“Now, Alice.”
The sharp bite to his voice had her stumbling to her feet and walking over to him as quickly as she could manage. Sure, nothing intimidating at all about scurrying around naked in an unfamiliar house. Everything status quo here, thanks for asking.
Stopping by his side, she hesitated. It was one thing to read about this online and how exciting it sounded to do. But to actually stretch across his lap to expose her naked ass for him to spank...
The last thing she wanted to do was push her luck so early on in their time together. So she took a deep breath, prayed she wouldn’t look too awkward, and bent over his legs. Gael took over, helping her into a comfortable position. Her feet were still touching the floor, though she was now bracing her hands on the opposite side. The blood had begun to rush to her face, making her head spin.
Whack!
Alice cried out at the unexpected force of his spank. Not only had he hit her far harder than he had their first time together, he hadn’t said a word to her. The pain morphed into a strange heated burning until only a lingering vibration seemed to live on in her skin.
“I’m going to start with only ten.”
The second spank was to the opposite cheek, and no less forceful than the first. Alice clenched her teeth and did her best to keep her cries locked inside her.
“Every day I’m forced to watch this ass as you walk past me doing your job. Do you know how fucking hard it’s been to be so close to you and not touch?”
The third and fourth spanks came in rapid succession, landing close together. Her ass had started to go a bit numb and the blood rushed to the area, heating everything. She wanted nothing more than to reach back with her hands to protect herself from further contact, but she needed the leverage to keep from landing on her head.