Dark Perception: The Corde Noire Series (29 page)

“
Did you like flirting with
Ren Plancharde tonight?” he roared as he marched into her
kitchen.

With a muffled groan, Melinda tossed
her black-beaded clutch to the sofa. “I wasn’t flirting, I was
talking. There’s a difference, Nathan. You left me with him …
which, by the way, you said you wouldn’t do. What did you expect me
to do with the man? Use sign language?”

Nathan rummaged through her cabinets
until he found the bottle of vodka he had brought for her a few
days before. He collected two old-fashioned glasses and returned to
the sofa.

“
He had his hands all over
you.” Smacking the glasses down on her glass coffee table, he had a
seat on the sofa.

“
Hand, singular, not hands,
and he was being nice.”

He opened the bottle of vodka and
poured a portion into each of the glasses. “I hate women who flirt
with every man they meet. Julie used to do that. Drove me
crazy.”

Melinda sat down next to him. “I don’t
flirt with men.” She took the bottle from him. “Nathan, I’m not
Julie.”

He picked up a glass of vodka. “I
never said you were.”

She placed the bottle on the table.
“Then why are you acting this way?”

He peered into his drink. “When I saw
you with him, I suddenly thought, why is she with me?”

“
I ask myself that all the
time when I look at you. I watch you talking to really interesting
people and I wonder, why does he want to be with me? I’m a
nobody.”

He sat back on the sofa. “You don’t
think you’re interesting?”

“
Not at all. I’m a piano
player from rural Mississippi with a degree in music, no career,
and a small amount of experience in the real world. How on earth
could I be interesting?”

“
You can see the future,
that makes you exceedingly interesting … to me.” Nathan took a long
swallow of vodka.

“
Is that all you see in me,
that I’m psychic?”

He shook his head. “You’re beautiful
and sexy and trustworthy. You’re not the kind of woman who will
ever turn on me.”

She snickered. “Five minutes ago you
thought I liked that artist, Ren.”

“
I was jealous when I saw
you with him.” He set his glass down. “I don’t like seeing my women
with other men.”

“
Your women? So I’m not the
first woman you’ve had a jealous rant over.”

He sighed and sagged against the sofa.
“No.”

“
Care to tell me about
it?”

“
No.”

“
Are you still
angry?”

He rubbed his hand over his face. “I’m
getting over it.”

Melinda patted his thigh and then
stood from the sofa. “Good boy.”

She retreated to her bedroom, anxious
to remove her stifling dress and high-heeled shoes.

Melinda was putting her dress away in
the closet when Nathan walked in her bedroom doorway. She saw the
way his eyes lingered on her bra and panties, causing her to grab
her robe from the bed.

“
Did you think he was
handsome?”

“
Who?” she questioned while
tying off the belt on her blue terrycloth robe.

“
Ren
Plancharde.”

She shrugged. “Not my
type.”

Nathan came toward the bed. “Why
wasn’t he your type?”

“
Not enough
experience.”

That made Nathan laugh and he sat down
on her bed. “Take off that robe.”

Her insides recoiled. “Nathan, it’s
late and I’m—”

“
Do as I say,” he cut in.
“Take it off.”

Melinda nodded her head and tossed the
robe to the bed. She stood before him, waiting for instructions.
With Nathan, foreplay was all about giving orders.

“
Take it all off. The bra
and panties, too.”

“
Yes … Sir.” Melinda
removed the bra first and then stepped out of her underwear,
dropping them by her feet.

He sat back on the bed, going over
every inch of her with his eyes. Several agonizing seconds ticked
by before he nodded to her.

“
Undress me.”

Melinda kept her annoyed smirk hidden
from him as she eased his jacket from around his shoulders. While
she removed his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, Nathan’s eyes never
wavered from hers. After placing the clothes to the side of the
bed, she encouraged him to stand.

“
No, do it on the bed,” he
directed.

Stifling an impatient sigh, Melinda
climbed up on the iron bed, unzipped his trousers, and then
struggled to get him out of them. After finally getting him naked,
she knelt next to him.

Nathan clamped his mouth hungrily over
her left nipple. His teeth teased her and Melinda hugged his broad
shoulders, feeling her ardor come alive. When he flipped her on the
bed, relief swept through her. Dragging her fingertips over his
washboard abs, she cupped his hard cock. She figured he would be
too preoccupied to talk about Ren Plancharde anymore.

“
I have a surprise for
you,” he softly said.

Melinda suspiciously observed him.
“What?”

He sat up and reached for his jacket
on the bed. He pulled something shiny from his inside pocket. When
he returned to Melinda’s side, he hid his hands from
her.

“
Close your eyes and hold
out your hands.”

Expecting another piece of jewelry,
Melinda did as he requested. Seconds later, something cold clamped
around her wrists, and then she heard the click of metal. Her eyes
opened just in time to see Nathan letting go of the silver
handcuffs he had secured on her wrists.

Nathan’s deep brown eyes simmered with
delight. “Time to play.”

The bitter taste of fear filled
Melinda’s mouth. She was about to ask him what he had in mind when
he jerked her to her feet.

“
You asked me once why I was interested in pre-Civil War
history. The truth is I was always drawn to the stories of
plantation owners and how they treated their slaves.”
He dragged her to the foot of the bed. Stretching
up, he slid the chain portion of the cuffs over one of the
decorative curls running along the top of the iron canopy bed. “I’m
going to show you what was particularly popular in the South in
that era. The whipping post.”

She fought against the handcuffs.
“Nathan, no!”

“
Not to worry, darling. I
had this bed designed especially to be able to support your weight.
I knew I would need it for more than fucking.” He came up behind
her. She could feel his erection pressing into her butt. “I’m not
going to hurt you, Melinda. I’m just going to teach you a
lesson.”

With her arms stretched above her
head, she was perched on her tiptoes, almost dangling from the side
of the heavy bed. Petrified of what he would do next, she careened
her head around to see him striding into the bathroom.

When he reappeared, he was carrying
her wooden hairbrush in his hand. “There is an art to spanking,
Melinda. Something I have perfected over the years. It’s all
dependent on placement. You have to find the perfect
spot.”

Nathan stood behind her. The back of
the wooden brush caressed right along the seat of her ass. “It adds
to the pain and pleasure you can bring to the
experience.”

A loud
whap
resounded in the room, and then
the slow sting on her right butt cheek made her arch against her
restraints.

“
See,” he cooed. “At first,
it stings.”

Another
whack
rang out. Melinda shook all
over from the impact. He had hit the very same spot as the first
time, compounding the sting and making it turn into a throbbing
burn.

“
That hurts just a little
more, doesn’t it?”

“
I don’t like this game,
Sir,” she pleaded, her voice trembling.

He massaged the tender spot on her
butt, soothing the pain. “This isn’t a game, baby. It’s a
punishment. Next time, you won’t go flirting with all the handsome
men at a party. You will only speak to me.” He slapped her left
butt cheek with the back of the wooden brush. “And you will never
look at another man again.” Nathan hit the very same spot,
propelling Melinda forward.

“
I’m sorry, Sir.” She
sniffled. “I won’t do it again.”

“
No you won’t.” He kissed
her back. “Spread your legs.”

Her eyes flew open and her heart
galloped. She stood very still, not sure of what to do. He smacked
her behind again, right across the seat. Melinda cried
out.

“
Open your
legs.”

A single tear trickled down her cheek
as she splayed her legs apart for him. Keeping her balance was
impossible in that position, and she was about to fall forward when
Nathan grasped her hips.

His fingers went to her folds and
dipped into her. “You’re wet.” He chuckled. “So you do like this.”
He nuzzled her back.

“
No, I don’t like being
spanked, Sir.”

“
Still feisty. I’ll break
you of that soon enough.” He tugged her hips higher, and Melinda
felt her backside resting against his hard cock.

“
What if I spank you like
this?”

He gently slapped her clit and Melinda
bucked, not with pain, but with an overwhelming rush of
lust.

Nathan chuckled. “See? Sometimes being
spanked can be very pleasurable.” He bit into her back as he
stroked her clit. “Do you want more?”

Melinda was dangling from the
handcuffs; her fingers were going numb but the rest of her was
throbbing with longing. Did she want to continue? Did she want to
submit to more of Nathan Cole’s twisted games, or was it time to
walk away?

“
More, Sir,” she heard her
voice imploring.

He slapped her clit a little harder,
and this time Melinda cried out. The burst of heat from her groin
was powerful, and she could feel her wetness dripping down her
inner thigh.

Nathan’s rumble of laughter sickened
her, but she didn’t care. She just needed to feel the pleasure he
created.

“
One day soon, you’re going
to surrender to me completely.” His thumb tracked her wetness
between her butt cheeks. “Then I’m going to take this very tight
ass of yours.”

Melinda defiantly arched her head back
to him. “Never … Sir.”

He smacked his hand against her clit
and Melinda screamed. “I think it’s time to teach you another
lesson.”

Chapter 17

Two
weeks later, Melinda was to meet Ellie for lunch at the
Palace Café on Canal Street. As she waited outside of the
restaurant, Melinda gazed at her reflection and was stunned by what
she saw. The forlorn woman with the upswept red hair in the window
looked nothing like the happy girl she had been. Her cream-colored
silk blouse, taupe designer pants, and expensive leather purse were
a far cry from the jeans, T-shirts, and backpack she had once
considered hip.

Her newest gift from Nathan, a
fourteen-inch, sparkling emerald and diamond tennis necklace,
twinkled in the sunshine. She twisted her fingers around the bauble
and remembered how Nathan had surprised her with it the previous
weekend. Her hand trembled as it brushed against the black cord
collar above the necklace.

“
Hey, there you are,” a
woman’s deep voice called.

Melinda spotted Ellie waving at her
from a few feet away. Wearing a pretty yellow cotton dress, Ellie’s
pink hair was demurely pulled back in a ponytail and she had opted
to forgo her usual shocking pink lipstick for a more somber shade
of red.

Melinda hurried to Ellie’s side and
threw her arms about her.

“
Melinda!” Ellie’s voice
boomed as she stepped away. “What has happened to you? You’re so
thin and pale. What’s wrong? Are you ill?”

Melinda put on a brave smile. “No, I’m
fine.”

Ellie scrutinized her clothes. “Maybe
it’s the outfit.”

“
What’s wrong with my
outfit?”

“
Kind of dowdy, wouldn’t
you say? Not sexy at all. Did you get this?”

“
No, Nathan picked it
out.”

“
Nathan?” Ellie nodded to
Melinda’s diamond and emerald necklace. “Nathan pick out that,
too?”

Melinda covered the necklace with her
hand. “It was a gift.”

“
And that black rope? Not
exactly Tiffany’s, is it?”

“
It’s important to Nathan
that I wear it. It represents our commitment to each
other.”

“
Commitment?” Ellie rested
her hand on her hip, seeming baffled. “It’s a little early for
that, don’t you think?”

Melinda shrugged while avoiding
Ellie’s scolding gaze.

Sighing, Ellie viewed the restaurant
entrance. “We’d better go inside and get a drink. I have a strange
feeling we’re both gonna need it.”

Once seated at a corner booth in the
grand, two-story dining room, Melinda picked up her menu on the
table and purposefully kept her eyes from Ellie. A waiter dressed
in white instantly appeared, but before he could open his mouth,
Ellie stopped him.