The Plume: The Second Anthology (11 page)

The fifth length was rolled into a cylinder
and was trapped between her knees.

He caught his breath at the beauty of her,
aching that she was his.

He didn’t care about the price.

And then Rex saw that Joanna was crying. The
tears ran silently down her cheeks, making her face slick and wet.
Her lashes were spiked with tears and her gaze was on the floor.
Her lips were soft and full, her lip trembling. She didn’t look at
him, even when he stepped closer.

“Are you hurt?” Rex asked, his fantasy
wavering before his very eyes.

Joanna shook her head, her tears
scattering.

“What then?”

“This ruins everything,” she said, her words
husky. “I have to cheat on Mike to save my privacy. You get what
you want, and I lose what I want.”

“You’ll get the pictures,” he said,
indicating the bag he’d brought. It was jammed full of cd’s, every
single image of her wiped from the hard drives and back-ups of his
computers. “I lose those.”

“It’s not quite the same.” Joanna flicked a
glance at him, then smiled sadly. “Turns out I don’t like being
helpless so much after all.”

Her sorrow destroyed Rex’s sense of triumph.
She didn’t want to be with him. She was here because she didn’t
have a choice. It was just a deal.

That wasn’t nearly as good as what Rex
wanted.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to do. He
wasn’t used to talking to his slaves, except for banter intended to
heighten their excitement. He wasn’t used to confiding in other
people or hearing their secrets. He didn’t want to know that Joanna
had come here just to keep a bargain.

Her tears made him hesitate.

They made him question what he was going to
do.

“I’m sorry,” Joanna said softly, pleating the
ribbon between her fingers. “I didn’t remember, Reginald.”

Rex frowned and looked away, not comfortable
with the reminder of his past. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I think it does.” She looked straight at him
then. “Isn’t that what this is about? Getting my attention, one way
or another?”

“No!” Rex couldn’t look at her. He surveyed
the room, even though it was a completely generic hotel room and
held no surprises. He couldn’t stand the sight of her sadness. He
took a shaking breath and strode to the window, looking out at the
snow that fell over the city. “It’s about making dreams come true.”
He heard the defensiveness in his tone.

Joanna rose to her feet. She walked toward
him, the ribbon trailing behind her in all its lustrous glory. She
stopped in front of him, her breasts nearly against his chest, then
reached up to frame his face in her hands. “Then all your dreams
are coming true, aren’t they? You have your new name. You have your
photography show. And you have this.”

Rex couldn’t have said a word. What was the
cost of his dream? What was he doing to Joanna’s happiness? Was his
dream worth the sacrifice of hers?

“Congratulations on the show, Reginald.”
Joanna spoke with a sincerity that shocked him. “I might not have
remembered you right away, but I remember every word of that
interview now. I remember your passion and your ambition and I
remember that I knew you would succeed.” She reached up and touched
her lips to his, giving him a gentle kiss.

At her touch, Rex’s heart shattered into a
thousand pieces.

Joanna stepped back, then offered him the
fifth coil of ribbon. “So, let’s get started.”

Rex considered her, the sadness in her eyes,
the acceptance in the line of her shoulders, and he knew with
sudden clarity what he would do.

But he didn’t want her to guess. Not yet.

This gift would be a surprise.

He smiled for her and took the ribbon, then
shook it out. He found the middle of the length of ribbon, then
wrapped it over her eyes. He sensed the tension in her, the
agitation and the fear.

That was new.

That was because she really didn’t want to do
this. Rex blindfolded her, knotting the ribbon behind her head with
a force that wasn’t required. Then he repeated the move, over and
over again, wrapping Joanna’s eyes so securely that she wouldn’t be
able to see a thing.

He watched as she struggled against her urge
to defy him. He wanted the resistance to leave her. He wanted her
to be soft and pliable, as irresistable as ever. Even as her mouth
worked, he couldn’t refrain from sliding his thumb across her lips
to soothe her. She shuddered but didn’t settle.

His Joanna.

No. She was Mike’s Joanna.

That was the problem. He couldn’t have her,
no matter how much he tried or how much he wanted her. She wasn’t a
possession – she was a person, and she’d given her heart to
Mike.

It was time Rex not only faced the truth but
did something right.

* * *

Something changed in the air between Joanna
and Rex when he stared at her in the hotel room. She knew she
shouldn’t have taken the initiative of speaking to him, but it
seemed ridiculous to play this game without saying what had to be
said. She owed him an apology and she would make it before she was
gagged to silence.

Even if it meant that he would punish her for
her audacity.

But instead of improving the atmosphere, her
apology prompted a change in Rex. He looked so lost that Joanna
forgot her own dismay. She had to reassure him, though she was
puzzled to feel him melting at her kiss.

She had no time to consider his mood, though.
He was abruptly filled with purpose, determined and resolute. His
doubt was gone, which was reassuring. She was used to Rex moving
with purpose. He blindfolded her so thoroughly that she knew he was
his usual self once more.

In fact, he knotted the ribbon with a
savagery that made her newly fearful of his intent. With a rising
sense of panic, she reviewed the list of Rex’s instructions and was
sure she’d complied with everything. She’d gone to the spa to have
her body hair removed of her own volition, knowing that Rex liked
that, not wanting to take any chance of ruining the deal.

Why then had she dared to speak to him?

Why had she let him see her tears?

Had she broken their terms?

Was that why his attitude had changed?

“I am sorry I spoke without permission,
Master,” she whispered, wanting his reassurance that their deal
stood.

His lips touched her cheek, warm and smooth
and firm. “You were upset,” he said, his voice soothing. “Are you
upset now?”

“No, Master. I want only to please you.”

“And so you do.” His fingertips slid over her
face. “So tell me, Joanna. Tell me what you want.”

He had to be referring to the vow he’d made
her take when she’d tried to enter the Plume the first time. Joanna
tried to remember the words.

“I surrender to desire,” she began, then
hesitated.

“To be blindfolded and bound,” Rex murmured,
a smile in his voice.

“To be blindfolded and bound,” Joanna
echoed.

“To be trussed and tied.”

“To be trussed and tied.” This time, it was
easier to say the words, easy to let the list reassure her. Joanna
had survived most of these possibilities – and enjoyed them.

“To be harnessed and hog-tied,” Rex
murmured.

“To be harnessed and hog-tied.”

“To be shackled and shared.”

“To be shackled and shared,” she repeated.
Rex’s fingertips trailed over her body, making her keenly aware of
her skin.

“We’ll leave out the next one,” he said
quietly, then kissed her shoulder. “Given the circumstances.”

“To be photographed and fucked,” Joanna said,
remembering.

“A shame, since this color of ribbon suits
you so well.” Rex sighed with mock regret and Joanna almost smiled.
“To be mine for this one night.” He leaned closer and she felt his
heat. His tone turned urgent. “Swear it, Joanna. Swear that you are
my possession, right here and right now.”

“To be yours for this one night,” she
whispered. “I swear that I am your possession, right here and right
now. Do whatever you want to me.”

“Excellent,” Rex breathed. His lips brushed
across hers before he swept her into his arms. “Then our deal will
stand.”

With that promise, Joanna surrendered. She
was out of control. She had submitted and her fate was no longer up
to her. She belonged to Rex. She didn’t know where he was carrying
her or what he was going to do to her, but she was powerless.

With that realization came a sweet
release.

The blindfold made the situation easier for
her. She could imagine that it was Mike who was claiming her. It
gave her the chance to hide from the truth of her betrayal. It took
the responsibility from her hands. She was the passive slave, the
submissive. The blindfold let her abandon her worries about
repercussions and results.

About the risk of losing Mike.

Joanna knew those fears would return, but for
the moment, there was sensation.

And captivity.

Rex laid her on what must be the bed. It was
soft and fluffy beneath her, as if covered by a feather duvet. He
positioned her with care, stretching out her legs toward the
corners of the bed. Joanna felt him lash her ankles to those
corners of the footboard, and knew his knots would be tight and
secure. She tugged against them instinctively, and he chuckled that
she couldn’t wriggle free at all.

“Wait until I get you completely tied down,”
he growled.

Joanna’s breath caught as he secured one
wrist to the corner of the headboard. He pulled her taut, leaving
her no room to squirm. When he tied down her other wrist, Joanna
was stretched out, spread-eagle and helpless.

“Struggle,” he said. Joanna tried to move.
She tried to shiver, to squirm and finally to flail. Rex ran a hand
down the length of her and chuckled.

She was his. She could move her hips a little
and turn her head but that was it.

“Perfect,” he said, then began to wind the
ends of the ribbons around her arm. He criss-crossed the ribbon
over her skin, encasing her in a net of satin. He knotted the
ribbon at regular intervals, working with care and testing the
tightness of his bonds with his fingertip. As before, he was
methodical and he was thorough.

Joanna shuddered. She was being encased in a
satin cage by him again. Rex was making her into some composition
only he could see. He’d then use her for her pleasure, and probably
ensure that she had some release as well. It didn’t really matter.
The only thing that was important was that she would have those
pictures in her possession when he was done with her.

Her privacy would be secured.

And for now, she was captive. She allowed
herself to enjoy the sensation of being confined. Rex bound her
completely in the green ribbon, as if it was a second skin. He
didn’t hurry, but he didn’t linger either. He worked steadily. Her
arms and legs were encased and the ends of the ribbons all knotted
behind her waist.

She thought he might be done. Her breasts and
genitals were displayed and her mouth. The rest of her was
bound.

But Rex leaned over her and wound all of the
ends around her waist repeatedly. He pulled them tight like a
corset and knotted them together over her stomach. Joanna could
barely catch her breath, even after Mike’s daily tightening of her
corsets.

Rex tied a bow and arranged the ends of the
ribbons so they curled and caressed her skin. She must look like a
gift.

She felt him stand back and consider her. She
knew that he walked around the bed, admiring the view, even though
his footsteps were almost silent. She waited for the sound of a
camera shutter, but there wasn’t one.

He would keep his promise.

Rex left the bedroom and returned a moment
later. Joanna jumped as his fingertip touched her hot sex and she
squirmed when he smoothed some of that unguent over her
clitoris.

Then she moaned as it sent a tingling heat
through her body.

“Silence!” Rex chastised. “Or I’ll have to
use more.”

Joanna bit her lip to contain her moan and he
chuckled. He flicked a bit of the cream across her nipples, then
she felt him move away once more. The weight of his gaze was
heavy.

“Don’t move,” he instructed her, as if she
had a choice.

She feared that now he would get the camera,
but he kissed her cheek again.

“I’ll be back. Be silent.” The words were
breathed against her skin.

Where was he going? And why? Anxiety rose in
Joanna that she would be left like this, even for a moment.

But Rex left the room. She heard the sound of
the closet opening and closing, as if he was getting his coat. Then
she heard the door to the hall open and click shut.

Silence.

He was gone.

Joanna wriggled but she was as securely bound
as she knew herself to be. She could barely shiver. She certainly
couldn’t free herself. She feared that she’d been abandoned in the
hotel room but couldn’t do anything about it.

Should she scream?

Would anyone come?

What would a maid think who found her like
this?

With an effort, Joanna reminded herself to
trust Rex. He was playing a game with her. Or he’d forgotten
something. If she screamed, he’d punish her for her
disobedience.

Maybe keep her captive longer.

Maybe neglect to surrender the
photographs.

Joanna bit her lip and kept silent. Rex was
pushing the experience to the next level to heighten her response.
He played by Plume rules. She wasn’t in danger and he’d ensure that
she never would be. No, this was a choice. Maybe he thought he was
fulfilling her fantasy. Maybe it was part of his. Joanna took a
steadying breath and told herself to remain calm.

For however long it took.

* * *

Mike was annoyed that Rex called him and
insisted upon a meeting. He’d been to Joanna’s place but Louise
said she didn’t know where Joanna was. On the other hand, Louise
didn’t seem to be disturbed. She said Joanna had said she’d be away
for the weekend.