Brat and Master (16 page)

He caught her chin and aimed her face upward. “You don’t need to ever turn away from me, Amanda. I don’t regard it as submission, and it makes it harder for me to read you. And you have the most beautiful blue eyes.”

Amanda smiled. “Yes, Master.” She lifted her chin to let him know she’d keep looking without him holding her. She wasn’t used to being looked at so intently. It was hard not to turn away, yet at the same time she was soaking it in. There was a room full of people around them, a pretty bartender and a half-dozen half- or fully naked women within thirty feet. And that was just what she could see with a quick twitch of her eyes. But Jeremy’s gaze never seemed to waver, even when Vincent had clapped him on the back. He was entirely focused on her.

More, please.

“I’m going to get a towel and clean you off. Then we’re both going to get our clothes together, and I’m going to take you to my home, where you will sleep tonight in my arms.”

She smiled. That sounded wonderful, and her hesitation about being alone with him in his house had vanished. Besides, he’d announced it in front of everyone, which wasn’t the action of a serial killer. “You’re going to clean me off?”

“I made a mess of your back.” He tucked his half-hard cock back in and zipped his pants.

She reached behind her and ran her hands through the dampness, rubbing it into her skin. It was awkward. “Next time you should come on my tits,” she told him with a grin. “This would be sexier to watch.”

“You do enjoy telling me what to do, don’t you?”

Her grin widened. “Only when you’re wrong,” she said. She knew she was asking for it.

He leaned forward, his voice calm. “And would that be now?”

“Well, just about the towel.”

He turned from her to look at Karyn. At first she thought he was going to order a drink, but instead when he got the bartender’s attention, he asked, “Do you have a spare towel back there, or should I go to the safer sex supplies table?”

“This is where we keep the extra towels, actually,” said Karyn.

“Mind dipping one in the tap?”

“No, not at all.” In a few moments, Karyn handed him a wet towel.

“Stand up and turn around, Amanda,” Jeremy said.

She pouted but got to her feet and did as she was told. She liked the idea his seed was clinging to her, and she didn’t want him to clean it off, but she’d made that clear enough. Now she wanted to submit, no matter how conflicted she was. Needed to.

“You know, I like your way better,” Jeremy said, and his voice held amusement.

She smiled and then frowned. “But why—”
The towel,
she was about to say, and then the wet towel struck her ass hard. She shrieked. Karyn could have at least used warm water. Karyn identified as a submissive, but she had a sadistic streak.

“Next time, I will come on whatever part of you I want to. Until we go and get tested together, at which point I would like to change that to whatever part of you I want to come
in
.”

She turned her head and tried to look serious. “You’re sure I can trust you to be faithful to me?” She had a hard time not grinning, because she knew the answer. He’d been faithful to her all along, even when he didn’t have to be and when she wasn’t giving him any satisfaction.

For answer, he snapped the towel across her backside again.

“I was joking!” she cried.

He laughed. “I know. That’s why you got rewarded. Have any more jokes for me?”

“That is totally twisted, you know.”

“Yep,” he said with satisfaction.

“Why did the chicken—” She didn’t get those words out either before the cold towel smacked on her butt. “I mean, no, Sir. No more jokes!”

“Good. Now put your raincoat back on.”

“I thought you said I could have clothes.”

“I changed my mind. The clothes can ride along in the backseat. My house is nice and secluded, with a driveway none of the neighbors can see. You’d be safe there even if you were stark naked.”

Secluded wouldn’t have been very enticing a few weeks ago, but now that she trusted him, it sounded wonderful. She picked up her raincoat and fastened it up. “Ready, Master,” she said. “Take me to your home.”

“Good girl,” he said. “I think it is where you belong. I hope you end up agreeing.”

Chapter Seven

Amanda peddled her bike up the driveway. She got off and leaned it against the house. He was right; it was a very secluded place, and no one could see the bike from the road. No one had any reason to come up the driveway, and she’d stopped bothering to lock it a few days ago. It was safe where it was. She opened the kitchen door with her key and let herself in. The sounds of Jeremy playing the piano filled the air. “Hi, honey, I’m home,” she called out, relishing the normalcy of it. She didn’t feel that life with Jeremy was at all normal, but she did feel like she was home. She hadn’t slept at her apartment in the weeks since he had taken her home. It was more convenient to her current job. And every evening she came home to her own personal concert.

She didn’t get an answer, and that made her frown. She was already on edge. She had thought it would be interesting to surprise him, but her appointment at the hairdresser’s had made her late. Surprising him no longer seemed a great idea. What if he hated her hair? She should have consulted with him, but they were in agreement that outside the bedroom, she was her own woman, and she didn’t want to do anything to imply otherwise.

Snowball, however, had run to greet her, and she bent down and gave her cat a scratch behind the ears. Cal, Jeremy’s standard poodle, came right after, nuzzling against her for equal attention.

A few seconds later, though, the melody resolved, and the music stopped. “Welcome home,” Jeremy called out. He had been waiting to finish. Usually he called out without missing a beat, because he still had half the piece to do. She apologized to Snowball and Cal and straightened. She walked through the dining room to the living room and into his arms.

“You’ve gone back to pink,” he remarked, his eyes crinkling. She wasn’t sure whether that was amusement or appreciation.

“Well,” she said. “Since my job didn’t mind.” She bit her lip and then asked the important question, because it did matter to her, a great deal. It had nothing to do with him being the boss in the bedroom and everything to do with wanting to please him. “Do you like it okay?”

“It’s beautiful.” He ran his long fingers through it. “You’re still growing it out too.”

“Um, careful, you might get pink on your hands. It’ll be better after a few washes that way.” Probably it wasn’t getting on his hands. The pink wasn’t as bad as some red she’d had once, and salon colors were better than the ones she’d used to do her own at home.

“I was thinking I might make your bottom pink to match.”

“When?”

“Now. If I can entice you into the bedroom.”

“Not after dinner?”

“No. It will hurt to sit down.”

“Are we eating standing up?”

“No, I thought we’d go out and eat. I’m willing to negotiate where. My only insistence is that it be someplace with nice hard chairs. Other than that, you can pick.”

Amanda wasn’t sure whether to grin or grimace. “You evil, evil man.” Just because he was in charge only in the bedroom and when they went to Excess didn’t mean she couldn’t feel what they’d done afterward. Nor did it stop her from thinking about what he might do to her every time she had a spare moment. It was with her all the time, even when there was balance between them. Maybe, someday, she could give that up. Maybe she couldn’t. He’d assured her he was fine with the way things were. In fact, she got the impression he preferred her being her own woman most of the time.

“Well.” He grinned and held his two fingers close together. “A little bit evil.”

“A nice sadistic coating, and a chewy coconut crème center.”

“Whereas you, my brat, are a lovely pink marshmallow peep.”

“Too sweet?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.

“Too tempting.”

“Bad for your diet?”

“Not as long as I have just the one.”

He always seemed to have the perfect reply. “Correct answer,” she said.

He looked at her for a long moment and then laughed. “You know, if Cheri had told me that, I’d have put her over my knee. And if I hadn’t, she’d have wondered if my control was slipping.”

“And you liked that?”

“I did. It was wonderful. This is different. And also wonderful.”

Amanda grinned. “It’s fucking amazing.” Being put over his knee sounded good. As long as it wasn’t because he was angry or because she didn’t measure up to Cheri. It was easy, sometimes, to think of Cheri as a perfection she couldn’t possibly compete with. But his experience with Cheri had made him what he was, and perhaps in a way it enabled him to want a different kind of relationship with her. She wasn’t sure. She knew, however, that she felt at home in his home, and she’d given up hope that she’d ever feel that way about a man.

“I’m going to go to your bedroom now,” she announced. She slipped under his arm and walked toward the room where she had slept and been fucked for the last two weeks, knowing he’d follow her. She appreciated having that certainty, that bit of control. She loved that he took it all away from her the moment she crossed the threshold into his room, and that anything could happen there.

“Our bedroom. Amanda?” His voice brought her up short, as well as the fact that he wasn’t following. She turned around, worried.

“Yes?”

“I wanted to say something before we got to the bedroom. It’s been on my mind all day. Well, for a while.”

Uh-oh.

“I love you,” he said.

Her heart felt instantly lighter. She flew back into his arms. “I love you too.” It was a relief to finally say the words. To feel his arms wrapped around her and know that she was loved and cherished, and something a whole lot more than just fun to play with.

He squeezed her tightly, his hard chest squishing her breasts. Their lips met, and he seemed to devour her with a kiss. Her whole body responded to his presence. Her nipples tingled; her pussy moistened. He must have sensed something too, because his cock hardened against her.

“So this loving me thing—do I still get spanked?” she asked when they finally let their lips part.

He laughed. “It gives me more energy to spank you with, brat.” He pulled his hand back from her waist, as if he was about to spank her right then and there.

“Not unless we’re in the bedroom,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

She thought for a moment that he might spank her anyway, but he let her go instead. He stepped back and waited.

She ran to the bedroom as quickly as she could.

Loose Id Titles by Sindra van Yssel

A Haunted Romance

Blonde and Owner

Blue Desire

Brat and Master

Dom and Domme

In the Middle

Purple Passion

Red Lust

Secretary for Two

Submissive by Moonlight

The Barbarian and the Witch

* * * *

The BONDAGE RANCH Series

Roped In

Pushing Limits

Moving On

His Little Tart

Sindra van Yssel

I live in Northern Virginia with my partner, my teenage son, and a lot of fish. For many years I was active in our local BDSM community. Yes, people really do the things people do in my books!

By day I work in a public library, where I get to meet all kinds of readers. I've a soft spot for happy endings and characters who learn more about themselves, but I enjoy torturing my characters along the way, too. Hopefully you'll enjoy watching them squirm as much as I do.