Temporary Master (8 page)

He
blinked at her slowly, before lifting her entire body with an ease she hadn’t
expected to place her on the other side of him. “You’ll find when I want
something, Ms.
Johnston,
I’m willing to move the earth
and the moon to get it.” He opened the door and gazed outside for several long
moments. A low whistle escaped him.
“And damned if I don’t
covet your car.”
He turned back to her. “I don’t suppose I can convince
you to sell it to me?”

She
crossed her arms over her chest.
“Sell Thea?
Are you
out of your mind, Dr. Tremaine? She’s my baby.”

“I
figured you’d say that.” He gave a drawn out sigh, before his face lit up. “How
about letting me drive her sometime?”

Behind
her Davis groaned. “Don’t do it. He drives like a madman.”

Ethan
had the audacity to look offended. “I do not. Just because I don’t keep my speed
at precisely three miles an hour under the posted speed limit does not make me
a mad man.”

Davis
leaned forward. “No, he only goes thirty miles an hour over it.”

Ethan
shook his head. “How many times to do I have to tell you, Davis? It was only
once and how was I supposed to know kilometers were different than miles per
hour?” He gave Sabella a pleading look. “I grew up in Japan. Lived in Japan for
over thirty-five years…” He glared at Davis.
“
Learned to
drive
in Japan.”

“Likely
story,” Davis taunted.

Ethan
gave a put out sigh, and shook his head. “Would you excuse me a moment while I
strangle my partner?”

The
calm
demeanor
with which Ethan delivered his threat,
set off a round of giggles in her. “I…I…suppose not. Where would you like me to
wait, Sir?” Then she dropped down in a perfect curtsy.

Ethan,
who’d obviously been ready to thump on his partner, froze mid-stride as she
straightened. That’s when she realized what she’d done. She’d only been goofing
around, but between the honorary title and her little curtsy, she’d definitely
sent a message she hadn’t intended. The tension grew between them, until he
finally spoke. “Please wait for me in the training room. It’s the second door
down on the right, Sabella.”

The
command sent her fleeing down the hall. What had she just done?

“Are
you okay? You look like you just got pole-axed.” Davis’s question jerked Ethan
out of his sudden urge to toss Sabella over the nearest flat surface and warm
her behind. It was going to be a long training session if he had to battle his
naturally dominant urges. He turned to watch her disappear into the training
room.

“I’m
fine.”
Or I will be once I figure out how to put my dick on a leash.
He
took a couple deep breaths. “She’s going to be handful to train.”

“I
have a feeling you’ll be just the man to do it.” Davis rolled his shoulders.
“So why don’t you go see how she handles the first lesson, and I’ll go and try
to conquer our receipts payable accounts?” He moved back towards the door.
“I’ll be down in the club office, yell if you need me.”

Ethan
nodded. “I will.” As soon as Davis left, he walked into the kitchen to splash
cold water on his wrists and the back of his neck, in hopes of cooling himself
down. He had to get into the right frame of mind before entering the practice
room. This was different…no, Sabella was different, and he’d be damned if he’d
let her act of kindness
be
ruined by his lust.

Taking
a few deep breaths to center himself, he finally pushed away from the kitchen
sink. There was much to do and so little time. First of all he had to give his
lovely new submissive a crash course in the ritual, which he always did without
fail each and every time he indulged in his passion for the
kinbaku
.
Then
would
come
the very first lesson — familiarizing her
to his touch. Drying his hands on the tea towel, he gazed out of the kitchen
window towards the huge barn which housed New Beginnings. Eventually he’d take
her down to the main floor and bind her for the members to see. It would be
good preparation for the large numbers of people who would be attending the
Kinkfest. 

Once
he was certain he’d leashed his libido, he walked down the hall towards the
practice room. Entering the room, he took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar
scents of jasmine, sandalwood and just the faintest essence of lilies. Doubling
as his dojo for his daily practice of
Hojōjutsu,
it was a place of comfort as well as one
where he could focus on nothing but his submissive and the training of her body
to his ropes. The pads in the room were also a plus for him. Some of the
positions in traditional
kinbaku
could be stressful on the knees and
other joints.

Sliding the door shut behind him, he closed off his private domain
from the rest of the house. It was one of the few rooms reflecting his mother’s
heritage, aside from his master bedroom. As he turned back around, he took in
Sabella as she stood next to the rice paper banners with his mother’s family
name written on it — the Japanese characters a stark contrast to the creamy
paper. She was tracing her fingers over the letters. The sun from the skylight
poured over her as if embracing her in its arms. The small potbelly stove
between the two banners held the incense burner and a variety of red and white
candles. Standing to the side of it, she was in the correct position to begin
his personal pre-bondage ritual. But first there were a few things they had to
go over.

“While I don’t embrace all of my mother’s culture, I do have some
rituals I do adhere to, Sabella. And at the moment you’re standing in the
middle of the most important one.” Once he was closer, he stepped up behind
her, drawing in her unique scent but also that of previous burnings of jasmine.
“But before we go further, I need to know your safeword. Amongst everything in
the BDSM scene, it’s what I hold sacred above all else. Your submission will
mean nothing to me if it’s not freely given. Do you understand?”

She looked over her left shoulder, exposing the slender column of
her neck to him. He wanted to trace his fingers over the delicately pounding
pulse, to monitor her excitement by how fast it beat against his thumb, or even
better his lips.
“Of course.”
She swayed towards him
before catching her balance. “It’s Dobby.”

He leaned forward a bit to inhale her scent. “Do you not like
Harry Potter books?”

“I love all of them actually, but it’s hard to think about sex
when you’re thinking of a little house elf who’s ready to take on the world.”

“Very true.”
Unable to resist, he brushed his fingers over her skin. “So Dobby
is your safeword. Do you have a slowdown word?”

Her eyes drifted shut but she kept her head up. “No, I don’t.”

Exhaling softly, he gave her a choice.
“How
about
matsu
?
Could you remember that if you need me to slow
down?”

“
Mat…su.”
She drew out the word, before giving a small nod.
“Yes, I think so.”

He wanted to growl at the sound of his native tongue coming from
her but resisted. “Good. Now limits, even though this isn’t a true scene. But I
do need to know if there is anything that’ll
cause
you
distress when it comes to bondage.”

She licked her lips, before opening her eyes. “I’m pretty open to
almost everything when it comes to bondage. I just ask you be careful with my
right knee.”

He arched a brow at her.
“An old injury?”

“Yeah, I blew it out during a skiing trip with my dad a couple of
years ago. Came down a slope and managed to catch the one lone tree on the
course. I had to have replacement surgery afterwards, but it still can give me
fits if I put too much strain on it.”

“Good to know. There are several positions we can use that won’t
strain but instead support your knee.” He filed the information away for future
reference. He wasn’t planning on suspending her today. No, today he only wanted
her to understand the ritual he used, and how his hands would feel on her body.
“Okay, we’ve got that out the way, now I want to guide you through your part of
the pre-ritual before a kinbaku session. Do you have any questions before we
start?”

She started to shake her head, before pausing. “Actually I have
one. How am I to address you during these scenes?”

“The Sir you used earlier is fine, or you can call me Dom Ethan.
Either will work for me.” He cupped her cheek. “I won’t force you to call me
Master. I’m not that way, but don’t be surprised when we visit my club if you
hear other submissives call me Master. I assure you it’s an honorary title and
nothing more. I don’t have a submissive at the moment and…” He gave her a soft
smile. “…I only have one submissive at a time.”

She cocked her head. “And why’s that, Sir?”

“Because I prefer to give all my attention to one submissive
rather than divide my attention between several.”
He stepped back. “Now,
as I mentioned I have a certain way I do things. Not only is it steeped in my
heritage, but it’s also the way I trained under my own
nawashi.
It not only gives my submissive a
routine to depend upon, it also helps center both of us before we embark upon
the pleasurable task of binding you with ropes. Are you ready to learn?”

“Yes,
Sir.”

He
nodded, offering her his hand. “Good, let’s begin.”

* * * *

Sabella
stared around the room while she finished lighting the last candle as her Dom
had requested. Around the room, several other candles flickered and a gentle
trail of smoke drifted from the incense on top of the potbelly stove at the far
end of the room. In the background, the soft rhythmic sounds of tribal drums
thumped from the hidden speakers. When he’d first asked her to turn on the
music, she’d expected to hear something of Asian descent, but this music was
more Native American or perhaps African with its drums and flutes. It was a
very relaxing sound, but despite it, she found herself wound tightly, her skin
tingling in the anticipation of his touch. But so far he’d stayed on the far
side of the room, merely watching her, and instructing when need be. Once she
was done, she assumed the
nadu
position as he requested. Sinking to her
knees, she parted her thighs wide, kept her shoulders back, all the while
placing her hands palm up on her knees and keeping her eyes lowered
submissively but head held high.

“You
have excellent form, Sabella. Your previous Doms taught you well.” Ethan
crouched down next to her, rubbing his thumb over her cheek. She watched in
fascination as he retrieved a leather thong from his pocket and tied back his
dreadlocks.  “Now that you’ve assured the correct setting for our session,
it’s time for the next step.” He stood and disappeared from view. After hearing
a rustle behind her, she nearly jumped out of her skin as he knelt down, the
heat of his thighs pressing against the outside of hers, his chest pressed to
her back. A sigh of relief escaped her as she realized he still wore the linen
pants. “I need to align our centers, now. To do this I like to employ a
technique called synchronized breathing. And I normally do this shirtless. It’s
easier to feel and see the rhythm of your breathing. Remove your shirt, sub.”

Sabella
stiffened in surprise, not expecting any nudity, but then again she wouldn’t be
naked, would she? She’d still have her bra on. With trembling fingers, she
tugged at the bottom off her tee and pulled it up. She calmed as his fingers
assisted hers in guiding it over her head. She released it without so much as a
whimper,
curious to see what was next. But he didn’t
throw it as she’d expected. No, instead he neatly folded it and laid it just
next to his thigh.

“Good
girl.” He spoke softly. “Now, I’m going to pull you against me so we can feel
skin against skin. I’m not playing a trick on you.”

Then
he guided her in leaning against him. She gasped at the press of his warm skin
against her back. She hadn’t realized how warm his body actually was. His
cologne teased her nose as she turned her head and found her cheek pressed
against his collarbone.

He
shifted closer. “Now, we’re going to begin
kokyo-ho.
” He wrapped his
arms around her. “Shhh, it’s merely breathing. I need you to concentrate on
matching your breathing to mine. Feel my chest rise and fall, pattern
your
breathing after mine. Can you do that?”

Overloaded
with unfamiliar sensations, she struggled at first with her focus, but he
didn’t get impatient with her like Louis would’ve, or any of her other Doms.

“Shh,
don’t struggle so, Sabella. We’ll get there. Just relax and your body will get
the message soon.” He spoke the soothing words directly into her ear, causing
goose bumps to run down her arms. “You’re new to this. Close your eyes if need
be, listen to the way air leaves and returns to my body. To breathe is to live
— to live is to breathe. It’s natural.”

Letting
her eyes drift shut, she finally found his rhythm and when she did, she was
nearly overwhelmed by the closeness she felt to him.
She
hadn’t expected this, but darned if she was scared enough to flee from the
unexpected intimacy.
It was scary, but wasn’t.
He was
only holding her and doing nothing more.
Not even the feel of his
erection pressed against the swell of her bottom could distract from the bond
she felt forming between them.