“Close your eyes and relax. You may come when you like, but I want you to try to hold it.”
Jayden could feel when she relaxed into him, and he proceeded to let his fingers stroke over her with the lightest of pressure while he continued reading. By the time he finished Catherine had soaked his pants. He was thankful he’d kept going. Her closing words spoke volumes to him, and he might have fallen a little more for her because of them. If he’d believed there was a place for romance in the world that is.
i
remember laying there. i felt wet and dirty and it hurt to breathe. One of the men enjoyed choking, and i could still feel his thick hands wrapped around my throat.
The house was quiet after they left, but i didn’t move for a while. What if one of them had stayed behind to keep an eye on me? i feared that if i revealed my consciousness it would start all over again. So i wept in silence. Perhaps i dozed. It wasn’t until my bladder ached that i dared to pull myself onto my hands and knees and crawled to the bathroom.
It wasn’t easy standing up and when i did i saw myself in the mirror. Empty eyes stared back at a gray face with cracked and bloodied lips. My hair was limp and tangled with a myriad of body fluids they’d left on me. i might as well have been dead. i wished i was.
With careful movements, i tugged at the remaining tatters of my clothing, much like a molting snake, and climbed into the shower. i set the water as hot as it i could stand it and stood under the spray. While the filth gave way to tender pink skin, i screamed and cried and beat my fists against the old tiles.
Exhausted and wrapped in my towel, i made it to the round dog bed that i was allowed to sleep in and passed out.
The sun was in the wrong part of the sky when i woke up to a loud pounding. i was groggy but more rested than i could remember being for a long time. The pounding came again and i stood up, stiff and achy everywhere. i grabbed Spencer’s robe off the end of his bed, put it on, and made my way to the front room where i realized the sound was knocking at the front door.
i was scared when i put my eye up to the peephole and then speechless when i saw the uniformed officer standing on the other side. He had come to break me from my cage. i had to yell through the door that i couldn’t open it from the inside.
Twenty minutes later a professional was unlocking it from the outside, and i was informed of what had transpired while the medics that had been called looked me over.
Spencer and a couple of the group – i’m not sure where the rest had gone, which is why i have continued to look over my shoulder all this time, had lost control of the car while speeding and ended up crashing into a ravine.
“There were no survivors.” Were the words the police officer said to me.
But he was wrong – i survived.
.
~~~Chapter 20~~~
Days Go By
Being cradled in Master’s arms, she’d discovered, gave Catherine insight to his thoughts. When he held her close and tight, she could tell by his touch what frame his mind was in. If Master was angry or worried about something his touch was firm and hard, but he was always controlled. Should he be in a playful mood, his touch became gentle caresses, feather-light and suggestive of fun times to be had. Lust came through Master’s toys when they set her skin on fire so that Catherine begged for him to put his flesh on hers. She knew of Master’s pride because it showed in his amber eyes every time he looked at her.
While Master held her in his lap the night before and read her words, she had noticed a new level to his touch that was a blend of everything. Everything about their time in the playroom had seemed amplified; from the way he assessed Catherine’s fraught nerves and gave her a method to deal with them, to how he’d held her protectively and his undeniable possessiveness. Her heart had skipped a beat when a single word fluttered through her mind – love.
The crazy notion had triggered her orgasm, and she was pretty sure she heard a contented sigh from Master against her ear. Afterward he’d removed the clamps, and they had sex – it was too gentle to have been fucking – with her on the bed and him moving inside her with slow-paced, gentle thrusts. The cuffs that hung from the bedposts supported her arms and thereby her weight while she faced the headboard, yet it was Master’s arms that enclosed her and held her safe and sound.
“Did you bring cake, pet?”
“Hm?” she mumbled still in a post-orgasmic daze.
Master’s lips pressed against her shoulder, and she could feel him shake with his amusement. His sure fingers moved to release her from the cuffs, catching her, and guiding her down to the bed.
Catherine didn’t resist when he slid her bare backside over his toned thighs. She was happy to lie against his chest when Master’s palm cupped her head and pulled her close.
“I saw you on the security cameras earlier. It looked like you had something yummy with you . . .”
She started to giggle, and he responded with soft tickles along her ribs until she began laughing full out. The air left Catherine in a whoosh when he yanked her against him and kissed her with a fierce passion.
It was over before she’d had time to accept it was happening, and then he was retreating from her. He backed off the bed and held his hand out to her.
“I think that’s enough playroom for tonight. Come, Jewel. Let’s eat some cake.”
~*~
Catherine shifted in the hard-backed seat, and looked out through the grease-smudged window at the passing scenery. The plug Master had put in was a new size, larger than what she was used to. He had plans to get a fucking machine for the playroom and wanted her ass ready to accommodate double-penetration whenever he felt like it.
“I think we’re going to have fun today, Catherine,” Master surmised. “It’s been years since I’ve been to the zoo, and I can’t remember the last time I rode public transportation,” he added looking around the DART train car.
She looked back to him and smiled. “Aye, Master. This girl hopes we do.”
They had spent the evening before nibbling on cake. Master claimed it was the moistest cake he’d ever had, and they had discussed her journal entry. Because Master had moved them to a free zone – an area of the house where she was allowed to be more relaxed so long as she remained respectful – he’d made it easier for her to make her proposition.
His eyes had sparkled with mischief after she had suggested the zoo be the backdrop for their Saturday play – her treat. Master had raised the stakes by surprising her in the morning when he had Micah drop them at the Lovers Lane train station near Catherine’s apartment rather than drive them all the way in.
Catherine didn’t dare ask, but Master saw the question in her face and answered with a cryptic, “There’s so much I can do to you with a forty-five minute ride. Though, that will be just the beginning of our day, slut.”
Master claimed it was a birthday to remember, and Catherine couldn’t have agreed more.
~oOo~
The Gift of the Magi part II
The zoo day turned out to be such a success for both of them that Jayden started adding ‘field trips’ into their weekends. Museums, sporting events, the aquarium – Catherine was prepared in some deviant way, and then paraded at them all.
With each experience and every outing, Jayden could see how she grew in poise and confidence. Her journal entries showed no further overtones of negativity or sorrow. The broken girl he’d spotted standing alone on a cold, fall evening nine months earlier had turned into his life and he couldn’t tell anyone.
Jayden had continued to stay in touch with Landon, and while he’d not outright told Landon what his true feelings were morphing into, he was pretty sure Landon knew. He wondered if his parents would pick up on it, too.
Denying his feelings was no longer an option for Jayden. Keeping them to himself
was
an option, though, and the right thing to do. If nothing else Jayden would respect that she’d entrusted her submission to him with the understanding that he would not overstep their precious Dom and sub arrangement.
He couldn’t give her up, but he could love her from afar, and he could continue to dominate her.
Jayden was flying down to Corpus Christi for the Fourth of July weekend, and he was taking Catherine with him. His parents would be taking the spare room at Steph and Ronnie’s house so he and Catherine would be staying at a nearby hotel which suited Jayden fine. They would have some space and time to themselves for scening.
The weekend would be interesting to see how he managed to balance his secrets. Catherine couldn’t know about his feelings, and he didn’t want his parents knowing about his sexual preferences. It was going to be a fine line to walk.
Call it a hunch, but Jayden was certain Catherine would also appreciate having a place to gain some distance from his family. They could be a little exuberant at times.
~oOo~
Erin Meets the Family
Catherine would never admit it, but she was freaking out on the inside. She had understood having to meet Master’s parents if they’d come to the Villa for his birthday, but flying with him to meet them
and
his sister’s family seemed a bit above and beyond. If she could figure out what his motive for doing this was, she might be calmer. Without daring to hope that he was beginning to return the feelings she had for him, she’d concluded that he was pushing for her to reach out to her Da.
She would take the trip at face value. It would be a weekend of role play where she’d get to play her dream role: Jayden’s love, instead of just his lover. Catherine was going to trust that Master had his reasons for wanting to put on the act. If the last nine months had taught her anything, she knew he had nothing but her best interests at heart.
She would follow where he led, even if it was to a family reunion. Jayden had asked her to be informal with him around his family, and in the end Erin had a fantastic time.
His sister Ronnie was a riot to be around. She was a female version of Jayden in looks; sharing the silky dark hair, chocolate eyes, and bronze skin. Where Ronnie’s hair was cropped short and stylish near her ears, her partner Steph had long, flaxen strands and a paler complexion. The two of them made a striking, adorable couple, and there were no words to describe just how adorable the twins were – Benny and June, so named apparently because it was the girls’ favorite movie.
Nor could Erin describe how she’d felt each time Jayden had held one of the twins. He’d looked amazing with a babe cradled in his arms. So much so that every time he did Catherine was hard pressed not to imagine him doing the same sometime in the future with a baby of their own, but she always squelched those thoughts at once.
After spending the weekend with his parents Jillian and Malcolm, and his sisters she figured out why Jayden was a natural with the babies – the Masterson’s could be a poster family for happiness. The number of times they completed each other’s sentences was a little eerie. Everyone chipped in on meals and the laundry that piled up despite it only being a four-day weekend. Steph and Ronnie swore they were on vacation with all the help they were getting, but the rest of them were more than happy to do it. The family values were inspirational.
Malcolm was weather-worn with a permanent sparkle in his brown eyes that spoke of his love for his wife and family. Jillian had the weathered tan to match her husband’s – both hard-earned from years of running their ranch out in West Texas – but where Malcolm had accepted his silver hair with grace Jillian’s was almost as red as Erin’s and her eyes just as green.
During the day Jayden and Erin played house and happy family with the Mastersons, and when they reached the hotel room at night, Catherine and Master came out for their turn. It surprised Erin how easy it was to balance both.
That knowledge might have even put silly notions in her head.
In saying their farewells, Erin stood by while Jillian insisted that Jayden bring her out to the ranch before the year was out. Jayden didn’t make any promises, but assured her that they would try.
In the car on the way to the airfield, where the corporate jet waited, Jayden revealed that he was thrilled the weekend had gone so well, and Erin was able to admit that she was sad to leave.
They passed the hour long flight back up to Dallas continuing to talk about the visit since Jayden was obviously bursting at the seams to find out what Erin had thought of his family.
“So, what did you think?” His eyes sparkled with boyish charm.
“About what?”
“My family, the weekend . . . just being us,” he added the last part almost too low for her to hear.
Erin’s breath stuttered before she recovered enough to answer with some decorum. “Well, Jillian has to be the Mrs. Cleaver of the twenty-first century.”
Jayden beamed at her words. “She is pretty great, isn’t she?”
Erin laughed, and nodded. This was a whole new side to Jayden, and she liked it. He really was meant to be a family man. She sobered a bit when the thought occurred to her that he was going to make some woman very lucky one day. Chances were it wouldn’t be her; she probably couldn't even have babies.
“Dad didn’t scare you, did he? I know he can get a little excited when he gets going on his horses.”