Angelique Rising (44 page)

             
I knew there would be problems, knew it might not work. She wasn't the right material at all, totally the wrong personality type (she was a smartass) and she would no doubt have mega trouble with it, but I was already thinking of the adjustments I could make in it for her. The trouble she'd have would of course auger trouble for me too but oh, if it worked it would be so worth it, a thousand times worth it, even if it turned out I couldn't hold her. And even if I could never get her trained completely, it would still be fun to discover how far I could take her, how much I could actually get her tamed to my will. But if I
could
possess her, how fabulous it would be with a talent like hers and with the feelings she'd already begun to ignite in me --like something had transpired, something lovely but utterly insidious and vaguely narcotic.

             
Jaesha Hampstead, your about-to-be-new-life has just become Stone Enterprises priority number one. C
arpé diem, baby, carpé diem!

             
The first thing I did was get her up to the Ascendant Suite, had to see her reaction, see if there was a chance in hell she'd go for it. I led her up the stairs thinking thank God I knew about those student loans of hers. I was also very glad that after Gloria's departure I'd covered most of the furniture and equipment in the Suite so that when Jaesha walked into it I would be able to "ease" her into the idea. But as I said, I soon learned it was just the opposite with Jaesha, always best for her not to see or understand what was coming.

             
She walked in and her eyes immediately became popeyed as they swept the room.

             
"Come, sit with me," I motioned leading her across the room to the fireplace, seeing her wonderment at its large size. To my delight she did, blinking uncomprehendingly as she walked across the room (eyeballing everything even though most of it was covered) and sat down in second chair as I'd indicated. I touched the switch on the mantelpiece and the fire (wood, not gas) crackled immediately into life. I also flicked the dimmer, set it on three quarters, ten minute time span. I knew that with her artist's eye she'd detect the dimming light but I wanted to see if it rattled her, made her nervous. I didn't want her frightened of me, and if she was, I wanted to soothe her, help her know that she was always safe with me. I sat down in first chair and smiled at her.

             
"You must have a lot of questions," I said, eager to begin her instruction.

             
"The obvious," she responded cryptically but it was easy to spot the bewildered gullibility in her eyes. She was spellbound. A good sign.

             
"Which is?"

             
"What do you
do
here?" she asked.

             
"Perhaps I should start at the beginning, what the beginning was for me anyway. If you don't mind listening?" She didn't answer so I continued. "I was very popular in high school, and by that I mean with girls. By sixteen I had a very active sex life. I cringe when I look back at it now, what my dates had to put up with, my totally selfish behavior. When I turned eighteen I did the usual, procured a fake ID, went to a bar where fate smiled on me. I met the most extraordinary woman, she was ten years my senior and changed my life. I don't know why she selected me that night, she never really explained that, just said she saw I 'had it in me.'"

             
"Had
what
?
"

             
"The ability to replace base instinct with thoughtful behavior. Sexually. Now I know you don't know what that is, so let me explain. Your physical body rules your behavior during sex, does it not?" I saw a shadow cross her face but I thought it was just the dimmer kicking in. "But there is a way Jaesha, with instruction and practice, over time, to change that. To make it so that your body doesn't master
you
during sex, instead your
mind
totally and completely directs not only your body, but to an eminent extent your partner's body as well. And this union creates an orgasm in you both that is more intense, more long lasting and fulfilling than anything I'm sure you have ever experienced, and again, I mean no disrespect to you. This woman taught me how to do this. And I eventually reached a point where I became able to teach others. A phenomenal bit of luck for an eighteen year old."

             
"You make it sound like you can do
magic
.
"

             
"I suppose in a way that's exactly what I do. Just like
you
, don't you think?"

             
"And that's what happens here? You 'train' women to do... that thing you said?"

             
"Precisely, but not in the way you're thinking, there is not a string of women being led through here. When I commit to teach a woman I am devoted to her, I am completely monogamous with her. And I take total care of her, she becomes as important to me as my own life."

             
"And slashes your portrait."

             
She'd not only cut across my narrative, she'd leveled me. Deliberately. Yep, an absolute smartass. Oh the things I would have to do to break her. I stood up. I walked firmly toward her, dominating her with my will as I leaned over her. I saw her attempt to shrink down into the chair, a chair designed to become an encompassing prison with such behavior. I paused, enjoying making her wait for me to continue.

             
"Now you will listen to me," I commanded quietly, "and you will not interrupt. The ripped portrait became unfortunately part of the leaving process, a bittersweet end I never create, always it is the woman who leaves
me
. Even with what I offer, women want marriage and babies, and I do not. But would it surprise you to know that the woman who slashed my portrait had lunch with me yesterday and we are well on our way to becoming friends? We will get there. The women I have instructed know that as long as they wish to keep their bond with me, they can come to me for help in their lives at any time. There will be no sex, but there will always be a bond, at least until they choose to break it. They hold that power, not me." I sat back down careful not to break eye contact, that was always essential.

             
"How many?" she asked audaciously but in a smaller voice. The dimmed light had started to quiet her.

             
"Seven, four of whom I still have contact with. Three married and I have never seen again though I was invited to and attended each of their weddings and was generous with my wedding gifts."

             
"Why are you telling me all this?" she asked in uneasy fascination as she nervously glanced about the room looking for the faithless light fixtures.

             
"Because I invite
you
to become number eight."

             
Okay, bombshell dropped my
femme petite.
I waited for her to leap up all aflutter, scream, show astonishment or fear --heck, Gloria had acted like a bride with black tar spilt down her wedding dress just before the I do's. But Jaesha didn't. Instead she calmly, with no trepidation whatsoever, kept her poise, looked me straight in the eye and asked her question.

             
"What does this
instruction
involve?" she asked. Huffily! I almost stood back up.

             
Her premature question took me aback, but I was not going to lie to her about it, no point in that.

             
"I will teach you not to allow your physical instincts during sex to rule your behavior."

             
"Wouldn't it be hard to get rid of somebody's physical instincts? I mean it would be like explaining to them not to be afraid to jump off a cliff or something."

             
"Harder. Sex is the most ingrained of instincts."

             
"How do you do it?"

             
"Instruction. And it is completely consensual, by mutual agreement. You will learn new discipline by first relinquishing your personal control. To me. But I'm not talking about your entire life, Jaesha, you keep that. Please don't mistake what I do with something called BDSM --sadism, bondage, masochism. What I teach and the way I teach it have nothing whatsoever to do with such practices, practices I candidly know nothing about and don't care to. I'm not some control freak looking to get off on the subjugation of women or the infliction of pain for some kind of sick pleasure. Frankly I find such customs abhorrent.

             
"Our agreement will have nothing to do with those things. And there is room for negotiation in our agreement, you know your preferences and limits, I do not. And always, Jaesha,
always
, if you have reached a limit all you need do is tell me to stop and I will do so immediately. And as you saw, the doors here are not locked from the inside, you are free to break our agreement and leave at any time though you have no idea how hard I will work so that you don't make that choice.

             
"As to how you will get to the point where you are willing to transfer your responsibility to me, it is done via a system of rewards and punishments, while simultaneously receiving instruction in sexual practices you are probably unfamiliar with. Once you have relinquished your self-will to me, completely, then you can
learn
, replace what your body did automatically with what I can teach you. And eventually you will know what I know. You will learn how to command your body during sex, things like how to speed up, slow down, and you will know my body, the signs of where I am at and you will match where you are at to me and vice versa. And in the end it will be almost as if we are two minds in the same body and when we climax it will be much more than anything I know you can now envision."

             
"Punishment?"

             
Damn. That was the only word she'd heard. I saw her mind roiling with the possibilities.

             
"As I said, I am not a sadist. I do not punish for pleasure though I do not deny I may get sexual gratification intrinsic to certain acts. I am not into bondage or submission or any similar sexual practice. I will get no pleasure in punishing you. I do not tolerate the mistreatment of women, children, or animals, though please don't think I am comparing you to a child or an animal. Any punishment I inflict upon you will have a
point
, a purpose, and that purpose will always be to
help you
to give up your own willpower to me while we are together so that I can replace it with what I can teach you.

             
"You keep your own life, with only limited necessary qualifications. And when you do finally acquiesce your supervision over to me, I will never abuse such a trust, quite the opposite. I will protect you while you are learning from me, as you move further along in your knowledge of how to achieve complete charge of your physical body during sex. Once we have completed our agreement, after you have learned, I hope you will choose to stay with me if you find me worthy. If not, I will give you whatever assistance you need to go back on your way before you ever met me. And provided that you have actually completed our agreement, you can always come back to me for help in your life as long as you so choose."

             
"I'm sorry, but this still sounds like you're just getting off on subjugating women, that that's what this is really all about," she said going all temperamental on me, just because she was so obviously mystified.

             
"No, I will get no pleasure out of controlling you other than the typical satisfaction one gets from having one's own way. Again, I am not a control freak and I am not a sadist. You could ask anyone who works for me and they would tell you, I treat them all with respect and consideration; I encourage independent thought and creativity and surrender great responsibilities to others. That trait almost cost me fifty million dollars quite recently.

             
"I ask you to tender your self governance over to me not for my own pleasure, but simply because that is the only way you will be able, conducive and amenable, to
learn
from me, what I can impart to you. Your assigning your responsibility over to me will allow you to
hear
me in the learning, something you would otherwise not be able to do. It is necessary. There is frankly no other way you can effectively assimilate the knowledge of what I can communicate to you without you first abandoning your own constraints to me, trusting me to such a total extent. But again, Jaesha, I view such forfeiting of your personal power to me as a sacred trust, one I would never exploit or betray. I understand that making yourself completely vulnerable to my decisions and care could be worrisome for you, even knowing that everything I would do would be for your ultimate welfare and happiness. The goal I seek isn't harming you or subjugating you. My goal is to bring you to a place where you will feel more alive, more healthy, more happy, than you can imagine. And at that point I think you will discover that it is you who pretty much own me, as long as you want me anyway."