Mastered 2: Ten Tales of Sensual Surrender (66 page)

Nate kept their mouths joined as tightly as their bodies.  Their chests were heaving.  They were both gasping, taking air from each other as she inhaled his breath and he inhaled hers.

“Come, Corinne.” Nate’s voice was rough, harsh.  “Come now.”

Against her mouth, Nate mumbled something else, something she didn’t catch.  She didn’t know if he was incapable of forming a coherent sentence or if was no longer able to comprehend one.

An instant later, it ceased to matter.  He drove into her, and at the same time cracked his hand hard across her ass.  Corinne screamed, her orgasm going through her with the force of a hurricane.

Nate didn’t stop thrusting or slow down but continued to drive into her.  She took what he had and when his own release overtook him, he gave her ass another hard slap and Corinne went with him again.

Just as she started to come, Nate wrapped one arm all the way around her, then reached up with the other hand and released her from the hook, the cuffs and the chain.  She dropped onto him, into his waiting arms.

Corinne began to shake.  Tears filled her eyes and trickled down her cheeks onto Nate’s shoulder.  But she wasn’t the only one shaking. Nate was shaking too.

“Corinne?”  He eased back from her just enough that he could see her.  His eyes filled with remorse and regret.  “I’m sorry, baby.  I’m so sorry.  I never meant to hurt you.”  Softly, tenderly, he kissed her hair, her brow, kissed each tear as it fell onto her face.  “I wanted you to know what suspension with me would be like.  I thought once you saw that it was nothing like you’d experienced, you could begin to overcome your fear and the nightmares would stop.

“I wanted to replace your memory of that night in Steven’s dungeon with a good one of you and me so you’d know you never have to be afraid of me or of anything we do together.  I would never harm you, baby.  I’ll remove the hook.  You’ll never have to see it again.”

Corinne blinked to clear a torrent of tears she couldn’t stop.  A damn had burst inside her and everything was rushing out.  “You were so hard tonight. So cruel. You frightened me so much.”

Nate closed his eyes and when he opened them they were tortured.  “It killed me to do that to you.  To be that way with you.” His strength seemed to leave him.  He lowered them both to the mat, with her on his lap.

That was why he hadn’t been able to get an erection until she was aroused too.  She reached up and touched Nate’s jaw, now dark with his evening stubble.  Her hand was shaking as badly as the rest of her.  “You gave me what I expected and showed me it wasn’t real.  You pleasuring me the way I need to be pleasured, you caring for me, you loving me, that is what is real.”

Nate cradled her face with both hands.  His eyes burned into her. “I will always give you what you need.  I will always love you.”

Corinne’s heart gave a hard thud.  “I know.”

Nate’s arms came around her, tight and strong.  More tears spilled onto her cheeks, but these were good tears.  She pressed her face to his chest and let them come.

Chapter Thirteen

One Year Later

“Nate.”

At the sound of Corinne’s voice, Nate stirred.  He was in his bed, on his side.  His arms were around Corinne, his legs tangled with hers beneath the covers.  Her breath blew softly against his chest.

“Nate,” she said again a little louder.

He grunted a response then released a long breath about to drift back into sleep.  She shook his shoulder.

He opened one eye and glanced at the clock on the nightstand.  He groaned. “Baby, it’s six a.m.”

Corinne smiled.  “It’s Christmas.”

She looked so happy.  Nate closed his eyes in profound gratitude.  How different this Christmas was from the last one.  Last Christmas had come and gone without either one of them acknowledging it.

One year had passed since the first time he’d taken her into the dungeon and suspended her.  A tremor shook him as the memory of the terror he’d felt that night washed over him.  He’d been terrified that he’d pushed her too fast, pushed her too far.  That instead of helping her to overcome the nightmares, he’d only added to them.

He’d never questioned decisions he made as a Dominant, commands he gave, but he’d questioned himself, doubted himself that night.  He’d been more afraid than he’d ever been in his life, terrified that he’d fucked up.  That instead of helping her to heal, he’d broken her.

“Nate, are you all right?”

She smiled up at him again.  How differently that night could have turned out.  How badly . . .

The nightmares hadn’t stopped after that first session in his dungeon but she was better.  After that, every time she woke up screaming, he took her there and suspended her.  He’d hoped, over time, the good experiences with him would override the bad.

With each session, the nightmares came less often until eventually she stopped having them at all.  Nate took in the fact that she was here with him and happy and brought himself back from that horrific place and to this perfect moment.

In a lightning-quick move, he rolled her beneath him.  “So it is.  Merry Christmas, baby.”

He kissed her long and deeply.  His morning hard-on pressed between them.  He would have liked to do something about that, to sink into her as deep as he could get, but she nudged him.

“Nate, we need to get up.”

He rolled away from her.  She leaped out of bed then tugged his hand.   An instant later, she was leading him into the living room, naked.

In her excitement, she hadn’t given him any time to put on any clothes, but the upside to that was she wasn’t wearing any either.  She’d regained the weight she’d lost last year and now Nate’s eyes fixed on her beautifully round ass that swayed with each step she took.

Corinne’s hand tightened on his. “I can’t wait any longer to give you my gift.”

She released him then crawled under the tree.  Ass in the air, she sifted through the presents they would deliver later today to his partners, to friends, and their children.  While she went through the packages to find the one she was looking for, Nate fantasized about driving balls-deep into her sweet ass.  Oh, yeah, he’d be sure to do that today.

Corinne emerged from beneath the tree, and held up one brightly wrapped package. Her face was glowing.  Nate took the box she handed him, then shook it, unable to resist teasing her.

“Open it!”  She put her palms to her flushed cheeks.  “Now. Please!”

Nate laughed then kissed her.   He unwrapped the gift then roared with more laughter.  As far as gifts went, he couldn’t think of anything better.  It was a selection of DVDs, all chick flicks, including the one she’d chosen the first night she fell asleep in his arms.

Nate cupped the back of her head and brought her mouth to his.  “These are now my favorite movies.”

Corinne laughed.  She drew back from him and walked her fingers down his bare chest and grasped his turgid hard-on.  “Now, about this . . .”

Nate swallowed hard then groaned.  “You’re killing me, sweetheart.” He leaned into her and she pumped him a couple of times. As hard as he was, as desperate as he was to be inside her, it wouldn’t take much more for him to come.

He covered her hand with his, stopping her movement.  “I plan to be inside you a good long time but I want you to be wearing my gift when I enter you.”

Corinne’s brows drew together as if she were working on a puzzle.  She smiled as she tapped her index finger to her lips.  “Clothing?  You want me dressed when you come inside me.  You have my full attention.”

Her spirit and sass were back.  Nate loved it.  Loved her.  He took her finger from her lips and brought it to his own, kissing the tip.  “Wait here.”

He went into his bedroom to his nightstand and returned with one long rectangular box.

Corinne rubbed her hands together.  “Ooh! I can’t wait to see what you want me to wear.”

He handed her his gift.  Squealing, she tore through the brightly colored paper then opened the box.  Inside was a thin, white-gold collar.

“Nate . . . ” Corinne’s eyes glittered with a wash of tears.  Carefully, as if it were a Crown jewel, she removed the collar from the box.

Nate didn’t need to ask how she felt about the obvious mark of his ownership.  It was there in her eyes for him to see.  “I want every Dom to know who owns you.”

Corinne apparently stopped trying to hold back her tears and just them flow freely.

She pressed her face against Nate’s chest.  “Put it on me, now.  I don’t want to be without it a second longer.”

Nate secured the collar around her neck then brought her close again.  Into her ear, he whispered, “There’s something else in the box.”

Corinne shook her head, her confusion evident.  “Two gifts, Nate?”

“They go together, at least they do for me.  I’ve loved you so long.  I can’t imagine giving you one without the other.”

Corinne dug beneath the cotton then gasped at the diamond solitaire.

Nate looked into her eyes.  “No Dom will ever work harder to make sure your every pleasure is fulfilled.  No man will ever love you more than I do.  Be my submissive, Corinne.  Be my wife.”

“Nate . . . oh, God.”  Her voice broke.  Tears spilled onto her cheeks then her eyes filled again.  “You’re everything I ever wanted in a Dom, in a husband but never thought I could have.”

Nate thumbed her tears from her cheeks then held her in his arms until her tears subsided.

She looked up at him. “Will you put it on me?”

After, Nate kissed her finger where his ring now sat, kissed her neck where she wore his collar, then brought her mouth to his in a long searing kiss.

Against his lips, Corrine said softly, “Now that I’m appropriately dressed . . .”

Nate drew back.  Her lips were swollen from his kisses.  Her nipples were hard points pressed against his chest.

“If it would please you, Master . . .”  Corinne sank to her knees at his feet then lowered her eyes but not before her gaze went to the dungeon door.  Her gaze filled with longing and her breath trembled with unmistakable arousal. “If it would please you, Master, with your permission I would be of service to you.  If it would please you Master, use me for your pleasure.”

She looked so beautiful in her submission she took his breath.  Nate figured that was the way it should be since she already had his heart. “That would please me very much.”

Now that Corinne no longer needed it to purge her nightmares, the dungeon had become their playroom as Nate had always intended.  She loved playing there.

Nate held out his hand.  When she put her hand in his, he lifted her to her feet.  Corinne linked their fingers and he let her lead him down the stairs.

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About Karen Fenech

USA Today Bestselling Author Karen Fenech writes erotic romance, romantic suspense, and short works of suspense. She is the author of the bestselling romantic suspense series, The Protectors. As of this writing, the first four books in the series are available:

Book 1:  IMPOSTER;

Book 2:  SNOWBOUND;

Book 3:  PURSUED;

Book 4:  HIDE.

Karen's novels and short suspense fiction have received critical acclaim. Her novels have been translated into several languages and have been released in audio by her publisher. When Karen's not writing or spending time with her family, she loves to shop, watch movies, and just kick back in a comfortable chair and read.  If you'd like to know when Karen Fenech's next novel is released, sign up for her notification-only news at: 
www.karenfenech.com/books.html

Other Books By Karen Fenech

Romantic Suspense Novels and Novellas

UNHOLY ANGELS

BETRAYAL

GONE

IMPOSTER: The Protectors Series -- Book One

SNOWBOUND: The Protectors Series -- Book Two

PURSUED: The Protectors Series -- Book Three

HIDE: The Protectors Series -- Book Four

CAUGHT (A Protectors Series Novelette Between The Books) Summer 2015

GUILTY: The Protectors Series -- Book Five Coming 2016

Erotica Books By Karen Fenech

HIS TOUCH: The Surrender Series -- Book One

(TITLE TO BE DETERMINED) -- The Surrender Series -- Book Two -- Coming late 2015

To read excerpts and to find out more about Karen's books, visit her website: 
www.karenfenech.com/books.html

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