To Love and Trust (Boundaries)
A Totally Bound Publication
To Love and Trust
ISBN #
978-1-78184-919-4
©Copyright Katy Swann 2013
Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright December 2013
Edited by Sarah Smeaton
Totally Bound Publishing
This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.
Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.
The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.
Published in 2013 by Totally Bound Publishing,
Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN
Warning:
This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a
heat rating
of
Totally Burning
and a
Sexometer
of
3.
This story contains 142 pages, additionally there is also a
free excerpt
at the end of the book containing 7 pages.
Boundaries
TO LOVE AND TRUST
Katy Swann
Book two in the Boundaries Serial
Should Rachel stand her ground and tell Adam that she won’t be his slave? If she does, she’ll risk losing him, and if she doesn’t, she’ll lose her freedom.
Despite Rachel Porter’s resolve never to love anyone again, she has fallen head over heels in love with her boss, Adam Stone. On the surface, he seems like the perfect Dom—strict but caring. His firm discipline satisfies Rachel’s need to submit, and his kinky demands leave her begging for more. Adam shows her the beauty of submission and teaches her to embrace it—which she does, willingly and happily.
Having her boss as her Dom certainly makes work more interesting, and the fact that he owns an exclusive BDSM club, Boundaries, is an added bonus. Rachel is starting to make friends at Boundaries, and she has never been happier or felt more content.
But she should have known that things are never that straightforward. She’s learnt from bitter experience that love can be destructive, and her struggle to let go of the past and begin to trust again seems like it might threaten her relationship with Adam.
Rachel fights to overcome her fears, but, just when she thinks she’s ready to let her guard down, she starts to realize that not everyone is what they appear.
Dedication
There are so many people I’d like to thank: the staff at Caffè Nero for the continuous flow of coffee, our cats for keeping my lap warm when I’m up writing in the middle of the night and my lovely friends who keep me laughing. I’d also like to say a big thank you to Sarah and the team at Totally Bound for all your help and friendly support. Finally, thank you to my wonderful family for absolutely everything.
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Rabbit: Ann Summers Ltd.
The Times
: News Corp UK & Ireland Limited
Caffè Nero: Caffè Nero Group Ltd.
Chapter One
Rachel Porter took one final look in the mirror and smiled. She was going to dinner with Adam Stone tonight, and she hoped that dinner wasn’t going to be the only thing on the menu.
The night before, she’d been on the verge of ringing him and telling him she didn’t want to see him anymore. His revelation that his ex-wife had been his slave had stunned her, and when he’d then hinted that he might expect the same from her, she had panicked. But this morning, she had thought about it rationally and decided that she must have heard wrong. She had quickly buried her misgivings and had focused all her energy on tonight.
She returned her gaze to the mirror. For once she was happy with the image staring back at her. Her eyes had a sparkle in them that hadn’t been there before—they seemed greener somehow, more like emeralds instead of the usual dull moss-green. Her lips were fuller. In fact, when she really looked, she could almost see a rosy pout where before, her lips had been tense and drawn together. And her hair, looked different too, somehow shinier and sleeker as it hung gracefully down her back like long strands of golden silk.
She hadn’t worn too much makeup tonight—just enough eyeliner to give her large almond-shaped eyes a slightly smoky look, and a natural-colored lip gloss to emphasize her new-found pout. She hadn’t put foundation on for the first time in years and was amazed at how much prettier she looked as her exposed skin showed off her youthful glow. She looked fresh and natural. And happy.
It hadn’t taken long to decide what to wear as she didn’t have a huge collection of posh frocks. She obviously couldn’t wear the new dress she’d worn to dinner on Saturday, so that really only left the old faithful little black dress, which covered all eventualities. It made her slender figure look sexy and the high heels on her black patent shoes made her taller than her usual five foot four.
She did a little twirl in front of the full-length mirror, stopping so that her back was facing the glass, and looked over her shoulder to study her rear view. She lifted the skirt of her dress to inspect her naked bottom, and sighed. The pale skin was unblemished—not even a tiny little red mark remained from last night’s spankings. She was rather disappointed about that.
She looked at her watch. Ten minutes to go. She’d hardly seen Adam all day at the office—he’d been out at meetings for most of the day and the few times he’d been around, he’d been on the phone or with someone. He had politely nodded good morning to her as she’d brought in his coffee and had barely said goodbye as he’d rushed out at four o’clock for a meeting in Canary Wharf—she hadn’t seen him or heard from him since.
At seven twenty-five, she put her coat on and stood by the window to look out for the car. Mandy was working late so Rachel was alone with plenty of time to count the minutes and contemplate the night ahead. Where would he be taking her tonight? What was it he was planning to do to her on Friday night at Boundaries, and what would his house be like when he took her home afterwards? Would he have a dungeon in the cellar?
The sound of a car horn told her Rob, Adam’s driver, was waiting and so she hurriedly grabbed her bag and made her way downstairs. He was holding the passenger door open for her and she smiled her thanks as she climbed into the car. She’d been hoping to see Adam waiting for her, but the car was empty.
“Where’s Adam?” she asked, as Rob fastened his seatbelt then pulled away from the curb.
“He’ll be waiting for you when you arrive.”
“Arrive where?”
He didn’t reply, just kept his eyes on the road and left her alone with her memories of the journey home last night. Her face heated when she thought about the erotic spanking Rob had witnessed in the back and she was thankful for his discreet silence. She fixed her eyes on the passing lamp posts and settled back to enjoy the ride with nervous anticipation.
After a while, she noticed Rob wasn’t heading toward central London as she had been expecting, but was driving toward Highgate.
Where are we going?
Finally he drove past Hampstead Heath and turned into Hampstead High Street. Were they going to a restaurant here? Hampstead Village was famous for being trendy and expensive. A restaurant here would undoubtedly be very good.
Rob turned into a narrow side road off the High Street and continued down to the bottom where he turned again into an even narrower, cobbled lane. The only light came from Victorian style lamp posts—apart from that, they seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. She swallowed nervously and wondered what the hell Adam was up to.
Rob pulled slowly up the lane then came to a stop by a row of Victorian terraced cottages. Without a word, he got out and opened the door for her.
“Where is this?” she whispered as she climbed out of the car and looked around.
Rob just tipped his hat and turned his head toward the shiny black door of the whitewashed cottage in front of them. “Mr Stone is waiting for you, Miss.”
“Is this Adam’s house?” she gasped. Of all the places she had imagined Adam to live, this cute cottage was definitely not one of them.
Rob smiled and nodded, letting her know in his usual discreet way that this was indeed Adam’s house.
“Wow. Thanks, Rob.” She walked up to the front door and rang the bell, excitement building inside her at the prospect of seeing Adam again, outside work. She heard footsteps approach then the door opened, allowing warm, welcoming light and a delicious smell of home cooking to waft out. Adam smiled as he held the door for her to enter and took her coat once she was inside.
“Hello,” he said softly, pulling her into his arms. “Welcome to my home.”
Before she could reply, he covered her mouth with his and kissed her, long and hard. When he eventually pulled away, her legs seemed to have lost most of their muscle mass and she became unsteady and slightly lightheaded.
He wore jeans tonight—old ones by the look of it—faded blue and slightly ripped. Not designer rips either—these holes were from genuine wear and tear. He had chosen a plain white linen shirt that showed off his broad chest and shoulders. Rachel felt her heartbeat quicken as she drank in the sight of him. It didn’t seem to matter whether he was wearing his Dom’s leathers, his sharp business suit or casual jeans, he always looked divine.
Taking her hand, he led her through to the kitchen, which was pretty much how she’d expected Adam Stone’s kitchen to be. Shiny white cupboards and units were topped with hard, jet black granite, matching the tiles on the floor. But where she had imagined it to be clutter-free and spotless, there were dirty pots, pans and utensils everywhere, a sure sign that he’d been making a huge effort doing something for her that he didn’t do very often.
“Hmm.” She sniffed. “It smells delicious. I didn’t know you could cook.”
“You haven’t tried it yet.” He grinned, and stirred something bubbling away in a large saucepan. “I love cooking, but I don’t get much time these days.” He took a bottle of wine out of the fridge, poured two glasses then handed her one. “Do you cook?”
“Me? God, no, I’m useless. I can just about fry an egg, although even then I burn the bottom of it.” It was true, cooking was something she had never been able to master and every attempt she made usually ended in disaster. Every time she offered to cook at home, Mandy quickly thanked her, then suggested that they maybe got a pizza in. Rachel had taken the hint and no longer offered, which suited her just fine.