Master (13 page)

The faint noise of a car on the road outside sounded
unnaturally noisy, and the tic, tic of the radiator warming up seemed as loud
as the strokes of Big Ben. He kept his eyes on her face. It took all of Anna's
concentration not to squirm.

"Why?" he asked finally, just as she was ready to
scream.

The question confused her.
"Why
what?"

His eyes flashed.

 
Oh shit.
"Sir."

He nodded. "I think we'd better set out some basic
rules of courtesy, Ms. Taylor. You will always address me as Sir or Master. You
will answer all my questions, and you will strip."

What? The bastard, he knows I
hate this. Well, fuck him.
She stood up and walked across to him to stare into his eyes.
I'll
sodding
well show him, even if I spit in his eye afterwards. After all, this is not
public. Okay, it's his office.
His.
But
not public, not public.
Maybe if she repeated that like a mantra it
would help.
Because
it was almost public
.
That guy outside could walk in, anyone else
could.
She did her best not to think about that scenario. There was no need
to go down the 'what if' route unless it happened.

"Yes, Sir.
Any
particular order?"
She couldn't help the frosty tone.
Cade
, however, ignored it—up to a point.

"Bratty. That will have to go.
Skirt,
blouse, and the rest.
If you're serious about all this, then the first
thing to remember is no backchat, no sass, and do
as I
say." The look on his face dared her to contradict him.

The heat that filled her and the tingles that raced up her
spine were contrary to what she expected at his command, and Anna grinned.

"Do you think that's funny, Ms. Taylor? Perhaps you
need to learn about what happens to bratty subs?"

The gush of liquid that coated her thighs
surprised her. How could something she'd abhorred make her skin tingle and her
heart race in a good way? It wasn't the spanking she'd hated, and she knew it.
How best to answer him?

"No, Sir, and I'm not trying to be bratty. I'm
scared."
Where has that come from?
Anna hadn't even known the truth of that statement until she blurted it out. He
didn't say anything, and Anna realized he was waiting for her to expand on
those few stark words. Well, she'd wanted to try and explain her actions and
feelings, and now was her chance.

Her fingers fumbled with the zip at the back of her skirt.
In her mind this was the most nerve-racking thing she had ever tried. Even more
than anything they'd done before. Her fingers slipped, and she swore.

"I can't get this bloody thing to move. It's
stuck." Her breath hitched, and she bit her lip to stop it trembling.
Caden
moved so fast she didn't realized until he cuddled
her close to him and rested her head on his chest. Under her cheek his heart
beat a comforting thump-thump that surrounded her and gave her comfort like a
warm blanket on a cold night.

"Anna, my love, don't. Please, love,
it's
okay." He stroked her hair, and that simple gesture was her undoing.

She jumped and swayed as his faced blurred.

"It's not, you know. I can't even do this properly. I
thought I could come, and we could start again and see what might happen. But I
can't even
str
... strip for
you. Not here, where people might see." Her eyes stung, and she felt the
tears gather. Annoyed with herself, Anna bit her lip and rubbed her eyes with
the back of her hand. "I'm useless, and bugger it I hate feeling like
this."

****

Cade
wanted to hit himself. Why
had he tried to be so clever? Fuck it, she'd had the courage to do this, and
he'd behaved like an asshole.

"Hey, stop this." He rubbed her lips with a finger
and forced them open. "Don't mutilate yourself. You've been so brave, so
bloody
brave,
I don't want to hear you denigrate
yourself. It's me. I've been a fucking shit. On purpose,
which
is bollocks.
All me, me, me.
And that, my love,
is so not on. So, let's start again, eh? Talk, really talk and say what we both
want and need. Be honest." He waited. His skin was so taut that if anyone
had touched it
Cade
reckoned he'd hit the ceiling. He
waited for her response, his body as tight as a coiled rope. For what seemed
minutes, but was probably only seconds, she stared at him. Then she gave a
juddering sigh, blinked, and smiled. It was like the sun coming over the
horizon at dawn.

"I want you … Sir." She paused and ran her tongue
around her lips.
Cade's
cock, already hard, began to
throb.

"Well, you can have me." He stopped and watched
her eyes dilate, go cloudy, and then clear. "Once you're honest. Tell me,
what the fuck went wrong?"

She was so rigid
Cade
wondered if
she'd fall over if he touched her. Then she shut her eyes and swayed. Just as
he thought he'd need to grab her before she fell over, Anna groaned. "I've
got to." She opened her eyes. "And it scares me shitless. So sit down
and shut up. Please let me have my say."

He took a deep breath and watched as she stared at his cock
and smiled. Well, it was somewhat aroused. "I can do that."

"So sit." Anna pointed to a rather exquisitely
covered chaise, which he knew was about as comfortable as sitting on a sword.
"And don't speak."

 
He was amused to find
himself on the end of a command. Okay, he'd pander to her for now. It suited
him. He sat.

Anna was so silent for so long he wondered if he'd misread
her. Then he saw her swallow and take a deep breath.

"What went wrong, I now know was no one’s fault," she
began. Then she shrugged. "Well, not quite true. It was my fault for not
being open and your fault for not seeing the signs. But," she held her
hand up, "don't interrupt, please. This is not sub to Dom or anything
remotely like it. This is your ex-wife."

"Estranged wife,"
Cade
interrupted. "Not ex." Anna nodded. She knew in theory he was
correct.

"Estranged wife then, trying to put things right. I
have to show you, explain to you things I never ever thought I'd voice.
And
Cade
?
It's the hardest thing
I've ever done.
Even harder than leaving you."

She stopped speaking again.
Bloody hell, we'll be here for
a week come
Tuesday if she doesn't get a move on.
Cade
held
his tongue. He'd wait for a while.

"Um, okay, I've done a lot of thinking. And I know now,
that it wasn't everything we did that I hated. In fact, quite a lot made me
more than hot and bothered." She giggled, and
Cade
saw the younger woman she'd been, before she sobered suddenly. "And a lot
made me feel sick. It's sorting out which is which that's difficult. Will you
help me?"

She stared at him, and his body tensed as if he was waiting
for a blow. That was stupid. It was
Di
… no, Anna,
for goodness sake.

"Anna, love, I'd be proud to. Tell me what you need,
what you want, and how I can serve."

His choice of words made her giggle—or something did.
Yeah, that'll be the day.
"Okay, I
need to try to see what I can do. No worse than that. Oh hell,
Cade
, I need to see what would satisfy you.
Therefore."
She took a deep breath, and
Cade
watched as perspiration dotted her brow. "Um, I
want … will you do things?"

How the hell could he answer that? "What sort of
things, love?"

 
Anna nibbled her
nail.
Cade
forced himself not to grab her hands and
demand she stop. This had to be her show.

"Well." She tucked her head to one side, something
he remembered her doing when she was deep in thought. "Will you handcuff
me and make me come?" she asked in a hurry, her words tumbling over each
other. "I bloody loved that."

He waited to see if she would say anything else. She didn't,
so it was all up to him.

"If I do that for you, what
else?"

She stared at him like a rabbit caught in a trap. "How
do you mean?"

"If I handcuff you, how do you want me to make you
come?"

It was obvious she hadn’t thought that far. Anna stared at
him and licked her lips. "I don't understand. I mean you'll make me
come."

Cade
closed his eyes so she
wouldn't see his frustration. "Oh I understand that.
But
in what way?
Tied?
 
Over a bench,
blindfolded? Making you fuck yourself? You need to be more explicit, Anna. I
don't know at which point the 'I loved it' became the 'I hated it'. If I'm to
help you here, I need a little bit of direction."

Anna looked startled. "But you're the Dom. Don't you
tell me?"

Oh shit.

"If I do, love, we might not get any further. What I
want could perhaps be three steps too far. So you tell me. Do I shackle your
handcuffs? What do you want?" He paused took out a bottle of water from
his desk drawer and had a swig of water.
 
"This time, let's assume
there's
no Dom
and no sub and only a beautiful lady asking her man to play." Would she go
for that?

Anna wandered around the room, not really looking at
anything, but he could sense her mind whirling. Then she stopped dead,
swiveled, and walked to stand in front of him.

"If I cry ‘red’?" she demanded. "What
then?"

"Then we stop. I'm past trying to persuade you. What I
want here is secondary, I reckon. You know what I want. We need to work out
what I need." Who the hell knew if that chasm could be breached? It seemed
as unlikely as snow in the
Sahara
.
Cade
stopped talking. "It's up to you, love. We need
to see what you want to give as well. I'm happy to follow your lead for now.
But we both know, for me to meekly sit back and watch as you destroy anything
we might have is so not going to happen. I want to fill you, bind you to me
with more than physical ties, and hear you cry out for me. Can you cope with
that?"

He watched her go through the colors of the rainbow on her
skin, and swallowed.
Hell’s bells, she
does that a lot, and it sends my body to high alert.
Promises,
promises.

"Can you, love?" He pressed her for an answer,
because he had to know. His skin was so tight that he thought if she touched it
she'd bounce.

God almighty, even the air held its breath. It was getting
to be a habit.

Slowly, Anna nodded. "I need to try. Hell,
Cade
, I love you, and I want you. Whether that's enough,
who knows? But really, honestly, I want to try. So can we?"

His heart swelled, and he wanted to punch the air.
Yes!

"I reckon so, love. I reckon so. Now, if I say assume
the
position, just for me, can
you? Will you?"

 
Ana
smiled,
the enticing smile of a siren home from the sea.
With a graceful movement, she knelt in front of him, put her hands behind her
back and dipped her head.

"Oh, I reckon…" The muscles in her neck moved
convulsively. "Well, I reckon.
Yes, Sir."

Cade
thought all his birthdays had
come at once. Surely, surely this was a good start. He hardly dared look at
Anna in case he saw desperation or negativity on her face.

Come on, act the part. Look
and help her, that's your remit. You're a bloody Master, for goodness’ sake, so
be one.
Cade
gave himself a minute to
collect his thoughts before he turned to the woman who kneeled in front of him.
As he watched, a faint tremor shuddered through her. So she wasn't really
comfortable. That little movement made him stiffen his resolve. He would push
and prod, and see if they could come up with a compromise.

Chapter Ten

Anna wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt and wondered what
the noise in her ears was. She couldn't see a grandfather clock in the room,
but she was sure she could hear one. She glanced around her and noticed
Cade
was watching her, his expression wary.

"What?" she asked.

He didn't say anything, just looked at her, and Anna's
clammy palms turned sweaty as she realized the clock was her heartbeat.

"Talk to me. What's wrong?" she demanded.

He raised one eyebrow and continued to look at her like a
specimen in a
petri
dish.

 
Damn, I've forgotten already. I can so see
this all going pear-shaped.
Anna began to lose her temper. This wasn't going according to plan. Not that
she actually had a plan, but she thought he might be somewhat more helpful. She
was floundering.