The Art of Domination (25 page)

My kinky thoughts of what she’ll be submitted to at the club are interrupted when I recall my phone conver
sation just before our amazing fuck session. Isa’s show is in three days and still, we’re not any closer to finding out who’s causing all of these problems. I hate to admit it, but I’m going to have to pay Erika a personal visit and try and convince her it’s in her best interest to tell me what she knows. I don’t want to tell Isa, but I promised I wouldn’t lie to her anymore.

I walk up behind her and pull
her to me by her waist as she finishes up our sushi rolls.

“Isa, love,
I need to go somewhere a little later.”

“Mmm hmm
. Okay. Can I come with you? I’m getting cabin fever something terrible.”

“I don’t think so. I have to
talk to…
Erika.
” I tense up and wait for the ass kicking.

She spins
around and stares at me with heated luminous eyes.

“Can I ask why?”
she asks in a controlled voice.

“Because I’m going to try and convince her to tell me what she knows.”

“I see. Sawyer is going with you,
right?
” she says as more of a courteous demand than a question.

“Of
course.”

“Okay. I trust you’ll give her my message abo
ut kicking her ass to hell for making an inappropriate and desperately pathetic request to my husband, too, won’t you?” she asks graciously and smiling innocently.

“
Of course.”

“Good. Then let’s eat.”

Damn. Isa is really taking this submissive thing seriously for a change.

***

Stay calm, Isa.
I want to scream at Dylan for even thinking about visiting Erika. Especially after everything he just told me about not comparing myself to her.
It’s just business,
I try and convince myself, and Sawyer will be there. Surely he wouldn’t allow anything to happen between the two of them.
Surely
. I’m doing my best to hide my jealousy and frustration. I think it must be working because Dylan acts like he doesn’t have a care in the world and devours his sushi.  This man is seriously pushing my limits. And I don’t mean sexually, either. Well, yes, he’s pushing those limits, too.  But right at this moment, he’s pushing my mental limits and my patience.

I just need to go out for some air. I’ve been cooped up in this hous
e like a captive for days. How long am I supposed to hide out in here? Forever? My show is in three days.
Oh my God
. I haven’t even thought about that. I still need to paint two more pieces. A wave of panic washes over me thinking about meeting the deadline and the show itself.

“What’s wrong?” Dylan asks as he touches my arm.

“I was just thinking about the show. I still don’t have all the pieces finished. With everything that’s happened, I forgot about them.”

“Don’t worry about that. If you’re a few pieces short, it won’t be the end of the world.”

“I made a commitment. I want to be taken seriously and if I can’t even deliver what I promised, I might not get another chance,” I tell him and stand to clean up our plates.

“Sit down and fin
ish your lunch, please. You’ll be taken seriously. Once the world sees your outstanding talent, no one will think about how you didn’t finish two measly pieces for a show.”

I sit back down and play with my food, rolling the rice between my fingers. “It’s not just my name
that’s attached to this show, it’s yours as well. I have your name now and I don’t want to dishonor your reputation in anyway. I know how much work you put into getting this done for me and what kind of work ethic that you represent,” I tell him. I would never want to embarrass him in anyway. I want him to be proud of me.

I sit quietly picking apar
t my sushi roll when Dylan reaches across and grabs my hands. He’s holding them tightly and when I look up into his eyes, they’re warm and shimmering.

“You really don’t have any idea what you do to me, do you?”

“No. Tell me.”

He smiles impishly at me. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

“How about you start with, I love you, Isa. I can’t live without you, Isa. I won’t let Erika or anyone other woman come between us, Isa.”

“That goe
s without saying, doesn’t it?” he asks.

“I suppose, but I still need
to hear it.”

“Okay. I love you, Isa. I can’t and won’t live without you, Isa. I wo
n’t let Erika, any other woman or your father come between us, Isa. I love fucking you, Isa. I love when your submissive, Isa. I love when you’re defiant, Isa. I love everything about you, Isa.”

My heart skips a beat and my panties dampen to his words. I can’t resist
him any longer and I hop off the stool and lunge myself at him, kissing him viciously and nibbling at his lips.  I push my tongue inside his mouth and suck his breath from him in an attempt to stifle any protests that he might have about my alter ego making her appearance. He responds by grabbing my hair with both hands and kissing me hard with his tongue invading my mouth firmly. I breathe him in again and he tastes like beer, sushi and Dylan. I move to his neck and lick the crook of his ear and he moans and giggles in a deep sexy way. I bite his collar bone and grip his dick through his jeans.

Shit
, I’m forgetting my place.
I immediately stop and sit back down on the stool with my hands in my lap, but breathing ragged as I try and get my alter ego under control.

“Why the hell did you stop?” he asks irritably.

“I’m sorry, Sir. I forgot my place,” I whisper.

“Fuck that. Ge
t back over here and take me,” he demands.

Maybe Dylan misses my alter ego as much as I do
. I throw myself at him again and start tearing at his pants, but there’s a knock on the door.

“No, no, no!” I moan out.

Dylan laughs and then kisses me on the forehead. He stands, adjusts himself because he’s sporting major wood, and runs his hands through his messy hair. He moves in front of the door and sighs heavily just before he opens it. I’m standing at the kitchen bar with soaked panties and raging hormones.  Sawyer comes walking in and I’m aggravated beyond reason.

“Hello
, Isabel,” he says to me.

“Thanks a lot, Sawyer,
” I half yell at him and he looks stunned at my response. He looks back to Dylan for some kind of explanation, but Dylan just smiles crookedly at him and shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head.  I promptly stomp into the master bathroom. My body and alter ego ache for release, but I don’t dare finger myself without permission from Dylan so instead, I take a cold shower, hoping it will shock my system back to submissive normality.

I quickly finish, get dressed and g
o the office to see what Dylan is up to. I walk in and he smiles naughtily at me.

“Do you feel better now?”
Dylan asks and winks at me scandalously.

“Yes, Sir, b
ut not much.” I look over at Sawyer and give him stink eye for his rude interruption.

“What did I do?” he
asks.

I don’t answer him and just continue giving him a crusty look. That man seriously needs to get a personal life so he can stop intruding on mine.  He needs a woman of his own so he can…

“I was thinking you and I could get away for a few days until your show,” Dylan chimes in as if reading my thoughts.

My mood lightens
instantly.

“Really? To where?” I ask excitedly.

“Beaver Creek. We can go up to our place and do some skiing. The powder up there is perfect right now.”

Our place?
Doesn’t he mean
his place
? Oh, yes. We’re married. I keep forgetting that little fact since it hasn’t quite sunk in yet. Not with all the absurdity that’s gone on the last several days. Dylan has told me about the cabin in Beaver Creek, but I’ve never been there. It would be fantastic to get away from here and out of this place.

“Like a mini honeymoon?” I ask him.

“Sure. Something like that,” he says and his eyes glow with sinful thoughts as he looks me up and down.

I wonder why the sudden change of heart. He’s been dead set on staying put here and not wanting to venture out because of the
danger.
I silently laugh at the shadowy nature of all the goings on lately. It’s like we’re living inside a bad mystery novel. Then I chastise myself for being light-hearted about it. Dylan seems to think there is serious danger and I shouldn’t be kidding around about it. Maybe that’s why we’re leaving.

“Is something wrong, sugar?” I ask him.

“You mean besides the usual bullshit from the last few days?”

“Yes. Why do you want to leave so suddenly?”

Dylan starts shuffling papers around on his desk and stuttering and Sawyer promptly looks away from me and starts tapping his foot.
I knew it.
There is something wrong, but these two aren’t going to tell me, I can see that already. Look at them. They can’t even come up with a good excuse.

“You two are ridiculous,
” I tell them.

They both look up at me dazed by my statement of calling them out on their inability to tell a simple white lie.

“Yeah, so?” Dylan says sarcastically.

Oh brother.

Isa can always sense when I’m hiding something. I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Right now, it’s definitely
not
a good thing. She doesn’t need to know that her place was broken into and most of her belongings were cut and slashed beyond recognition. I just want to get the hell out of Dodge for a few days. But not before I pay a visit to Erika.

“I’m going to go paint and try and get my last
two pieces finished,” Isa tells me.

“Good idea. Sawyer and I are going to head over to see Erika.”

When I say that, Sawyer looks surprised that I’ve told Isa and he looks from me to Isa and then back again as if he’s waiting for World War III.

“You’ll remember to give her my message, won’t you?” Isa says, raising her eyebrows and folding her arms.

“Yes, dear, I will.”

“Do you p
romise?”

Ah, hell.
I sigh loudly and she starts tapping her foot.  “Yes, Isa, I said I would.”

“Promise me, Dylan.”

“I said I would!” I say impatiently.

“Dylan Nathaniel Young, you promise
me right now or I’m coming with you and I’ll deliver that message to her myself, along with my foot shoved sideways up her perfect ass,” she says petulantly.

“I do
n’t think your foot would faze her much considering what else she’s had in there. And I also wouldn’t say that her ass is perfect.”

Isa’s arms unfold and she fists her hands at her side wh
ile she gives me the evil eye.

“Okay, okay. I promise. Jesus. Settle dow
n woman and go paint something,” I tell and point towards the door.

“I’ll paint something, alright. I’ll paint your balls blue
and your nipples hot pink if you think or talk about anyone’s ass but mine,” she says as she marches out of the office. As soon as Isa leaves, I burst out laughing at her remark.

“Damn, Young.
You two are…
something else.
” Sawyer’s face turns red and now it’s my turn to laugh heartily at him.

“
So that’s what the N stands for in your name? Good to know,” he says, quickly turning the tables on me as he laughs in turn.

What the fuck ever.
Back to business.
After talking about our plan of attack, we decide to leave to go to Erika’s place. I grab my coat and keys and walk into Isa’s studio where she’s working feverishly on a marvelously naughty piece.

“You
’ve got quite a bit done. It’s brilliant.”

“You li
ke it? Does it look familiar?” she asks with a sly smile on the corners of her mouth.

“Yes, it does. It looks similar to what we did this morning. Am I right?”

“Mmm hmm. Mixed in with some of what we did on our wedding night. Well, what
you
did. I just sort of laid there and accepted what you doled out. Were you bored that night?”

“Bored? Seriously? I wouldn’t say that you just
laid there, but, yes, you did accept what I gave you. Quite spectacularly, I might add. I wouldn’t mind using you as human furniture again and eating more meals off of you.”

Isa’s face turns a delightful shade of pink
. “I was trying to forget about that.”

“
Why? You think my tastes are bizarre?”