Ensnared (6 page)

He patted his lap.
 

My eyebrows shot up. “Are you serious?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

I couldn’t help it. I demanded again, “Are you really serious?”

“Oh dear.” The words had me whirling around and I saw Madame Lavinia on the doorway, a look of dismay on her kind face. “You should never question your Master, young Zari. That is one of the most sacred rules for human pets.”

“Umm…” I could feel my Master’s smile stretching to a smirk behind me.
 

“If your Master wants you to sit on his lap, you should be grateful for such a sign of affection. It only means he cherishes your company.”

“Err…”

Her hands made a flapping wave towards Alexandru’s direction, as if silently urging me to do as he asked.
 

Slowly, I turned around to face my Master.

As expected, he was smiling ever so beautifully…and ever so slyly.

Heat burst in my cheeks, but knowing that resistance was pointless, I slowly made my way to him. When I was just an inch away, I waited, hoping he’d just tug me to his lap so I wouldn’t have to do it myself.
 

But of course, my hatefully contrary Master wasn’t the type to make things easy for me. Instead, he stayed still, a mockingly patient expression on his face.

“Zari?” Madame Lavinia asked, her tone bewildered.
 

Cringing in mortification, I slowly lowered myself on his lap, back ramrod straight. I stared straight ahead, knowing that if I caught sight of my Master’s sly smile, it would only get me blushing harder. That or strangle him. It could be either.

Madame Lavinia sighed in relief. “There, there. I’m so glad you’re not as stubborn as the other First-Mades.” Taking the couch opposite us, she sat down and handed each of us a folder. “Please take your time answering this.”

She directed a questioning glance to my Master. “Would you like a moment of privacy while you fill this out?”

“If it wouldn’t be so much trouble, please.”

“Nothing is too much trouble for you, my dear,” the older woman said warmly.
 

When she left, my Master’s fingers drifted against the small of my back, which I now knew was his way of telling me he wanted my complete attention. “Read the forms, pet. I’m sure you’ll have questions.”

I glanced down at the form. The first line told me that he was right. I would have questions – a lot of them.

Legacy or First Made?

“She mentioned this a while ago,” I murmured. “What does this mean?”

“Legacy refers to all those who come from families who have served as human pets for generations. First-Mades are like you – humans who have been
acquired
by other means.”

“You mean sold in auctions?”

My Master’s face became grim. “I’m sorry, pet, but your circumstances are rare…and unfortunate. Most other First Mades are a result of a simple legal agreement between humans and otherworlders.”

The surprises just kept coming
, I thought. “You mean, someone would really
choose
to be a human pet?”

He raised a brow. “Why not? Your main responsibility is to feed us when we need sustenance. In return, you will be able to live in the lap of luxury forever.”

“But it also means a lifetime of not being free to do whatever you want,” I argued. “You told me before that I can’t even have a relationship without your approval.”

“Naturally. It is for our race’s safety. We must make sure that people who know of our existence are all trustworthy.”

“But—”

“I understand and respect your opinion, pet.” His tone was gentle but firm, and I knew it was his way of subtly reminding me of what we were. Master and pet, and whatever way you want to look at it, it would always be one commanding the other and never the other way around.

My gaze moved back to the form, scanning the rest of the questions until I saw one that I couldn’t understand.
 

Claimed or Unclaimed? If Claimed, please state your Master’s name.

“I don’t understand this.” I pointed to the words that caught my attention. “I’m guessing I’m Claimed, but what about the Unclaimed ones?”

“They’re humans who come from the most illustrious Legacy families. They’re highly sought after, which means they can afford to refuse offers of claiming. To put it simply, they prefer to be claimed by only the most powerful Masters.”

“I see.” The bonds between Master and pet were turning out to be a lot more complex than I thought.

Are you willing to share your pet?

My Master caught sight of my stunned expression and when he saw what I was staring at, he chuckled, the sound tickling my back. “Occasionally, otherworlders come here in need for immediate sustenance, and some Masters are quite generous with their pets.” He cupped my jaw, making me look at him. “You have nothing to worry on that count, though.”

“I’m not worried.”

His lips curved, and his sly smile was as sinfully sexy as ever. I wondered if there’d ever come a time that I would be immune to its sight, wondered if there’d ever come a time that my heart would stop skipping a beat when he smiled at me like that.
 

“You and your lies.” He clucked his tongue. “Do you really think you can fool me?”

“I’m really not worried—” The rest of my words disappeared into his kiss, turning me into a statue on his lap. But still his kiss continued, its fiery heat making my body melt. When his fingers sunk into my hair, using it to angle my head so he could deepen the kiss, my resistance weakened even more.
 

“Are you really not worried,” he whispered against my lips. “Because if you’re not, I’m going to leave you this very moment—”

“No!” The word burst out of my lips, my hands clutching his shoulders in desperate and instinctive protest.
 

Laughing, he kissed me again, fiercely, seductively. “I was just teasing you, pet. I will never leave you. I promised you, didn’t I?” Slowly, he pulled away. “You do understand why I need you to stay here, Zari?”

I didn’t answer.

“Zari?”

I shrugged.

He sighed. “Answer me, Zari.”

The commanding tone left me no choice but to answer, and I muttered, “Just because I understand doesn’t mean I agree.
Master
.”

“You know the kind of life I lead. I want you to have a long life by my side, but that won’t ever happen without proper training.”

“You could train me.” I hated how petulant I sounded, but I couldn’t help it.

“True, but I have much more important uses for my time.”

I winced. As blunt as ever, my Master.

“Are we agreed on this then? You will stay here if you are accepted?”

It wasn’t like I had a choice.

You’re thinking too loudly, pet. Of course you have a choice. I will never be the kind of Master who’d take that kind of freedom from you.

I bit back a sigh. He didn’t understand. How he was a Master wasn’t the problem here. It was me – what I wanted – that was leaving me without a choice. With each passing day I spent in his company, the urge, the drive, the need to please him grew and grew until I had to keep my hands behind my back – the only way to prevent myself from embracing him and never letting go.

“Zari?”

I bowed my head. “Whatever you want, Master.” And God help me, but I meant that.

****

I was accepted, of course. I had a feeling I would be, seeing how Madame Lavinia treated my Master like royalty. After all forms had been signed, we had been immediately escorted to the dormitory. My room was at the corner of the third floor. It was spacious and elegantly furnished, with velvet drapes, a four-poster bed, and an en-suite bathroom.

My Master waited for the older woman to bid us good night and retreat before asking, “What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful,” I answered simply.

“You think you will be happy here?”

“Of course.”

He sighed. “Honesty, pet. Is it too much to ask?”

“Acceptance, Master. You need to accept that I’ll always be like this. Is it too much to ask?”

He strode towards me and made me gasp when he flicked my forehead. “Stubborn pet.” I gasped once more when he lifted me in his arms. “Brave pet.” He carried me to the bed and as he laid me down, he said softly, “Cute pet.”

“Cute?” I pretended to be offended, but my voice just came out shaky and breathless.

“Yes, cute.” He flicked the first button of my blouse open. “In an arousing way.”

I clutched his hands in shock when I felt his fingers working on the second and third buttons. “What are you doing?” My voice came out strangled.

“What do you think?” By the time he finished speaking, my blouse was completely undone.
 

“But—”

Again, my words disappeared into his mouth.

The kiss shocked me. He hadn’t kissed me like this since the night he found me.

The kiss slayed me. I couldn’t say it, would probably never be able to say it, but I was addicted to his kisses. I didn’t think I’d ever get enough of it.

Dimly, I felt him discarding my blouse, and soon the rest of my clothes followed until I was entirely naked. When he pulled back to study me from head to toe, I writhed under his gaze in embarrassment.
 

“You’re turning pink all over,” my Master purred in obvious pleasure.

“Shut up,” I muttered, even more embarrassed by his words.

My Master only laughed. His fingers cupping my breasts, he murmured, “I missed this. You do not know how much I missed this.” His head bent down, and I felt him nuzzling the valley between my breasts.

I half-struggled, half-writhed under his powerful form. “Master.” The word came out as a plea, but I had no idea what I was begging him for.

“You smell so unbelievably sweet.” His words were a tantalizing whisper, a delicious caress against my skin as his lips trailed down my neck. “It makes me mad with jealousy, wondering if someone other than me would notice your scent.”

His lips moved further down, and another gasp escaped me when his mouth closed over one nipple. My body arched under him as he started to suck. He had never kissed me this way – never!

My hands found its way to his body, moving against his back restlessly as he sucked and sucked. When he moved to my other breast, worshipping it the same way, my hands moved up in its own volition, clutching his shoulders as my body curved in helpless desire against him.

“Please.” I still didn’t know what I wanted. All I knew was that what I needed, only my Master could provide. When he bit my nipple, I cried out. “
Please!”

His head lifted, and a sinful kind of promise glittered in his eyes. “Soon,” he rasped.

I felt his hands moving over my body, shaping my curves slowly and thoroughly, as if he wanted to memorize every inch of my skin. Down, down, down his hands went until I felt him prying my thighs open.
 

Trembling, I allowed my legs to fall apart, and then his hand was there. Right where I was most sensitive. It was the hottest part of me, the part that throbbed and ached so much the sensations filled my every thought.

“Master!” My head tossed from side to side as his hand traced my wet folds. I was so wet it was embarrassing, and I would probably have blushed again if I wasn’t so caught up in the sensual magic of his touch.

“Look at me. I want to see your face as I please you.” His gaze held me captive as our eyes met. “Does this make you feel good, pet?” Slowly, he slid one finger inside me.

I cried out, my body shaking harder even as my flesh contracted and expanded, my inner muscles tightening around the part of him that marked his first possession of my body.

“Answer me.”

“Yes.” I sobbed the word out as he started to move his finger, sliding it in and out at a slow, steady pace.