Iron Dominance (21 page)

For the first time Dankyo said something. “One hit only, sir, with the flat of my hand?”

“Yes. Not too hard.”

“Of course, sir. May I say something, sir?”

“Yes. What is it?”

“Thank you, sir.”

Thank you? Oh that
was
smug!

He hit her, palm slamming down, and it hurt like blazes.

“Uh!” Eyes watering, she couldn’t help saying, with a touch of annoyance, “Done?”

Silence. Then she recognized from the sound and a glimpse of clothing that Theo had stepped to the side.

She almost sprang upright only to find Dankyo had his hand on her back. To stand, or not? Wasn’t this done with? The lack of reply to her question stirred thought.
No
. Disapproval radiated from Theo.
Damn
. She stayed in position. Dankyo’s hand rested across the burning area on her bottom. So hard to not squirm away. Embarrassing. Intolerable. He’d be looking at her bottom like it was a target, and maybe at where the line of pearls disappeared between her cheeks.

And, oh
… Realization dawned.

This was meant to impress on them both their respective places? She hadn’t let it, though, had she? And they knew that. She gritted her teeth, clawed her fingers into her knees. “I’m sorry.”

“Two more, Dankyo. Please. Ready, Claire?”

If Theo wanted her to do this…she had to give to Dankyo a little of what she allowed Theo every single day. She sighed, let her head and shoulders slump the slightest amount. “Yes.”

The device gave a halfhearted buzz as if down there something nibbled on her clit.
Not now. Nooo
. If it triggered when he hit her, she’d die of humiliation.

The next two smacks were hard enough to sting, but she said nothing. Only waited. For an infinitesimal moment Dankyo left his hand there. The pressure of one finger trailed across her skin before he let her up.

When she straightened Theo was by her side and curled his arm about her waist. “There. Not so bad, was it?”

“No.” She willed her heart to slow. Then she turned to Dankyo. Raising her eyes was difficult, and she had to brace herself inside, found herself bemused by her own reaction.
Where’s my courage
? She looked up. “Theo said you respected my skills.”

His eyes glittered a second. Not malevolence for once. Appraisal, like he saw her in a new light.
Damn him
. That
had
hurt. The man had a hard hand and could snap her in two if he so decided. She felt off-center and took some more slow breaths.

“Are you okay?”

She blinked, amazed.

“Uh, yes. Look. The weapon you’ve got your men using, the sights are inferior.”

For a while, he said nothing. The man could have given a statue lessons in being inscrutable. Then he clicked his tongue twice.

“Very well. What do you recommend?”

“There’s a new parallax sight, experimental, but it’s for night use also.”

From an inner pocket, Dankyo whipped out a notebook and pencil, and gave it to her. Having scribbled down the manufacturer and model, she handed the notepad back. Still expressionless, he tucked it away.

She smiled nervously.

This time he raised his eyebrows a quarter inch.

“There’s something else,” she said, then rushed on before he could do his statue impersonation again. “I noticed from the gyrocopter that you have a problem with the firing arcs of the roof cannons. The trees to the north are in a bad spot.”

Dankyo’s left lower eyelid shimmied.

“Claire,” Theo muttered, “that one’s my fault. I’ve told him they have to stay. My great-grandmother’s buried there.”

“Oh. Really?” She nodded to Dankyo as Theo steered her away and back toward the house. “Uh, thanks for listening,” she called back.

“My pleasure, I assure you.” He flashed a mouth-stretching smile that for a millisecond touched his eyes.

Compared to Dankyo, she was an expert at small talk.

“How are you holding up?” Theo inquired, voice calm and unexcited.

“Perfectly. I think I see what you were getting at. He’d never have listened to me before. It’s changed things.”

He stared. “And how do you feel about him now?”

“I know he can hit hard.” She thought for a few seconds, twisted her mouth. “Truthfully, I guess I do respect him a bit more.”

“Good.”

The device triggered. She hung in limbo for a full minute while Theo waited with hand on her elbow, steadying her. She’d managed a quiet gasp and shudder that time. Taken to the heights yet again by that
pulse pulse pulse.

They seemed to take the long way back to the house, past the gardens and the laundry. She learned that just before it triggered, there’d be a little miniature sizzle of energy, and would brace herself, though never quite enough. The shock wore her down. Yet her body wanted more—each time requiring that little extra stimulation, and each time, instead, she teetered, agonized, on the brink of ecstasy. The effort in keeping still and not making a sound exhausted her and made her focus inward. Every part of her body sharpened and fizzed, her nipples swelled, it seemed, to twice their size, and down deep, she caged all the sounds she died to make. Only now and then, a tiny moan escaped her lips. Half the time, over the last hundred yards, she didn’t see where they trod.

Chapter Sixteen

The sun had descended low on the horizon, changing the clouds to a vibrant purple and orange. The winds swung round to come from the east and then died to a sibilant breeze. Theo at last reentered the main back doors. At the sight of the massive curving staircase, Claire slowed, stopped, and found herself shivering.
No farther. Not a step.

“Take this off, Theo,” she whispered, her head bowed. She’d withstood forced marches, marathons, but never anything like this. Her feet seemed a long way down.

“Dankyo and all my staff call me sir. I think it’s time I made that a rule for you also.”

“Sir.” It was too much effort to stop and think about that. She swallowed, only seeing his black shoes before her on the polished timber. “Please.”

“Here? I think not.” He swept her up into his arms with ease and began to climb the staircase. Beneath the tiredness, she marveled at his strength. It was a long staircase, and she wasn’t light. But she clung to his neck and enjoyed the tranquility of resting in his arms.

The doors to his bedroom swung open. She heard the creak, saw nothing beyond the woven fabric of his shirt, embraced by his male scent. The doors shut with a slam. The floor lightly thumped under his boots. He lowered her to his bed, and she gazed up, unable to stir a finger, imagining all the things he might do to her,
wanting…

“Ah. You need to drink.” He rummaged under her clothes, unclipping and removing the voltaic device. She didn’t stir, only glad that the tiny claws of that horrible yet irresistible thing were gone from her body. If she lay here for a little longer, perhaps her body would forget it completely. The hunger quieted.

“Mmm. Thank you,” she muttered. Silence screamed at her. Peeking with one eye, she saw his stern expression. “Sir.”

She felt herself raised by his hand at her back and drank as a cool glass pressed at her lips. He stripped the dress off her, then the corset, guiding her tired limbs. Another sip from the glass, and she lifted her head, feeling revived, and put her arms back to prop herself against the bed. Theo moved his thumb against her clit. She stiffened. At that single touch, every time she’d almost orgasmed surged to the fore, clamoring at her again. Her arms collapsed, and she slid to the bed in a boneless heap, whimpering.

Theo chuckled. “That’s more like it.” The glass chinked as he put it aside.

She shuddered and rolled onto her side, curling up around where his thumb resumed massaging, revolving round and round on her clit. Almost, but not quite, enough pressure.

“Maybe not ropes, but this—” He clipped a wide cuff around each wrist, buckled another pair around her ankles, leather on skin, and dragged her up the bed. Though she knew she had muscles, they weren’t working right then, and she didn’t want them to. Just let him maneuver her into position—kneeling, with head down against the pillow and turned a bit sideways so she could get air. She panted, mouth open, needing, wanting only one thing—him inside her, fucking her.

“I’ve wanted you like this since I first saw you. Bottom up, held down, with your legs apart.” He rumbled the words against her ear, licking at the lobe, then fastened her wrists together and chained them to the headboard. Strapped her thighs against her calves so her heels pressed under her bottom. She let him. She was his.

“Nice.” He slicked a finger along the line of her wet slit, and just when she thought he’d penetrate her…and put
something
inside her…

He carefully flipped her until she looked up at him, lost in the haze of lust and the pounding ache. He knelt between her legs, planted his arms either side of her chest, lowered his head, and applied tongue to her nipple.

She arched, her toes under her bottom, digging into the quilt. “Ah!”

The spark from his wet tongue spread, sending fire-laden streaks to her pussy. The stubble on his chin scraped. His hand was on her, down there. His fingers dancing, pressing everywhere…delicious and conjuring liquid heat. So stirred to the heights, she grunted each time he touched those vital places—clit, nipple, or his fingers in her pussy and ass. In and out, around, slicking, teasing her as her wetness spread. Flesh against tantalizing flesh. She groaned and tightened, felt everything roil together and explode in a blast of light.

A little choking noise came from her throat. Released at last. “Ohh, thank God,” she said softly. As her memory replayed the sensations, new reverberations rocked her body.

“You’re not getting off that easily, agapi mou.” He lightly bit at her nipple.

She heard herself moan as if from a distance. Theo rose from the bed—then came the scrape of timber as he pulled out a drawer. Her bound legs slowly flopped out to each side. She left herself exposed but didn’t care. Cool air caressed her pussy like the lightest of tongues.

She squinted and saw him holding something fat and long—shaped like a cannon shell with a blunt point. The rear half was gold-sheened metal and black seams, with the front half glass. Inside, clockwork cogs slowly ticked over. A miniature blue spark of voltaic energy fizzed across the internal workings like a tiny lightning storm. Theo dropped the thing onto the bed. She tugged; the chain clinked. Nothing gave.

Eek. Is that one of Henry’s inventions?

“This first.” He sat beside her and held a black blindfold out. Those gray eyes inches away gazed at her as he turned it in his hands, showing it to her. “I’m going to put this on you. It will make you concentrate on only the things you should be thinking about. As long as you trust me?” He canted his head, raised his eyebrows, waited.

This was the time to say no if she wished to. Here she was, still tied up, and he asked if she trusted him? After everything today? She licked her lips, nodded, despite the tightness in her throat.

Blackness descended as the blindfold was wrapped about her head and tied. Now there was only sound and sensation and the smell of sweat and arousal. The straps on her thighs were removed; then he pulled her ankles apart and attached them to something. She couldn’t bring her legs together.
What had he done
? This seemed increasingly…odd and unnerving.

“That’s a bar that holds your legs apart,” Theo murmured in his smooth, deep voice. He slicked a finger along her slippery cleft. “It keeps you wide open so I can see everything. I could swim down here, Claire.”

She opened her mouth, then tried to move her legs in. The ankle cuffs stretched taut.
Oh. Yes
. She imagined him looking at her and heated again, felt her lips down there swell a little more.

Something soft and warm covered her clit. His tongue. “Mmm.” She wriggled as much as the restraints allowed. His tongue curled over her, flicking momentarily over the hood, then away again.

“Don’t get all quiet on me will you, Claire? I think it’s time to use one of Henry’s devices.”

Now that alarmed her. After his last device… Something buzzed—a mechanical sort of buzzing. She yanked on the wrist chain. No. Solid. She couldn’t move her arms more than a few inches. The wondering, the anticipation of the unknown when she could do nothing to stop him, pumped her excitement higher.

Theo tweaked her nipple. A spike of pain jolted her. The buzzing approached, and…
magic
. The most incredible pleasure engulfed her clit. Unceasing, startling, microscopic tremors. She squealed, arched her neck, and thrust up her groin. “More! Please!” The buzzing stopped.

“You’re forgetting something, dear,” he said sternly. Which of these would you like?” He gripped her nipple, squeezed hard. “This?”

“No!” Forgetting something? What? Sir? Dammit, this wasn’t a parade ground! Yet… He pinched harder. “Oh! Sir! More of the other, sir! Not that. Please.”

Something hard nuzzled her vagina. The buzzing again, assaulting her with overwhelming pleasure, turning her mind to mush. It stopped.

“This then?”

“Yes! Sir!”

“Good.” It started again, and this time he also descended on one nipple with his mouth.

“Unh!” Nothing mattered except
that
. She strained, her mound pressing, grinding against
it
. In seconds, she came. Her body, shuddering as the device buzzed at her, consuming her, eating her up in a storm of racking spasms that kept on and on and on. And stopped. She twitched and tried to gather her sanity.
What…was…that?

While she lay there breathing like a steam engine gone wild, Theo manipulated her body—sliding something beneath her, attaching straps about her stomach and chest, anchoring her ankles.

She cleared her throat.
Slow. Calm
. “What was that? Sir.” Even behind the blindfold, her eyes were shut. Remembering. Would she ever be free of the pulsations of that thing? And what was he up to? Surely he’d let her go now.