10 Nights (6 page)

"Stop tugging at
it, you'll damage the material," Janie told her friend. "You are drop
dead gorgeous, and Rhett is going to die when he sees you tonight. Just
relax." She had always thought that Leah reminded her of a baby doll, with
her full lips and angelic features, but that look was completely altered by the
dress. Now she looked more like a siren pixie with her expressive hazel eyes
and her lower lip trembling in nervous anticipation. She had a perfect figure,
with softly rounded thighs and a small waist and Janie had to admit she was
more than a little turned on. "Sweetie, you look fucking hot."

Leah blushed at her
friend's remark. "I do not," she protested, turning her face away
from the strange heated look in Janie's eyes.

"If you weren't my
best friend I'd show you just how damn hot you look." Janie winked and
blew a kiss as her friend looked at her in shock, before crossing to the closet
to take out a pair of strappy five inch heels.

Trying not to think too
much about the butterflies Janie's words set to flight in her stomach Leah
attempted to lighten the mood. "I'll probably bust my ass before I make it
up the stairs tonight."

Not wanting to make her
friend anymore uncomfortable than she already was, Janie pushed aside the
thoughts of what she'd like to do with her friend. "You are not going to
bust your ass, now slide these on and let's get your makeup sorted."

Twenty minutes later
Leah found herself looking at a stranger in the mirror. The makeup Janie had
altered her features with wasn't overly done, it was just the right tone, and
in Leah's opinion was perfect, there was no other way she could describe it.

Her lips were outlined
in a deep chocolate and filled with a soft shimmering brown, which made them
appear fuller. Janie had also applied a charcoal color to her eyes and outlined
them perfectly, making them stand out. Her cheeks were dusted with a soft peach
color, which she hoped would help cover the blush that didn't seem to want to
leave her face.

After a moment, during
which she admired her handiwork, Janie spoke up. "Okay, grab your purse;
it's time to get you to the mansion." She was a little jealous that Rhett
was going to initiate her best friend into their world, but she wasn't about to
bring that up just then.

"You're taking
me?" Leah was surprised; she'd assumed that she would be driving herself.

"Of course. I know
Rhett, and I trust him, but you never meet a new Dom without a safety
net." Grabbing her purse she ushered Leah out the door.

Leah couldn't bring
herself to talk during the drive; her nerves were strung too tight for
conversation. She was grateful that Janie seemed to understand that and kept
her eyes on the road, not bothering to try and draw her friend out. When they
pulled into the mansion's drive Leah felt her stomach tense in fear once again.
"I don't know if I can do this." She turned haunted eyes to her
friend as the car came to a stop.

"You can do this, hon,
just remember, your cell phone is in your purse. Call me in one hour to tell me
you're okay, understand, and if you have any problems call me straightaway and
I'll be right there." Janie leaned over to kiss her friend on the cheek.
"Now get your ass in there and talk to the man." Pulling back she
smiled as Leah opened the door and got out.

Leah felt as though she
was going to be sick, her stomach did somersaults as she shut the door with a
feeble nod and forced herself to walk up the stairs.

"Don't forget to
call me in an hour," Janie called after her. "If you don't I'll be
here with David, pounding down the door."

Ringing the doorbell
she turned back to her friend. "I will," she called in return, waving
timidly. She had never been so nervous or excited in her life.

4

Deciding

The door was answered by
the same butler who had opened it on her previous visit and Leah smiled
nervously, feeling like her mouth was filled with cotton. Tugging at her dress
she entered the mansion as the butler held the door open.

She was glad he didn't
speak to her; at that moment she was sure she couldn’t have answered him if her
life depended on it. She had to fight the urge to turn and dart back through
the door before it closed; an urge which only faded when she heard the click of
the door catch and realized it was too late for her to leave.

Since she couldn't
leave, without making a total fool of herself, she followed the butler as he
led her up a long flight of stairs. They didn't stop until they reached Rhett's
study, where the butler held open the door for her to enter.

Rhett stood as Leah
entered, his eyes widening at the delectable sight she made, standing there
trembling like a virgin sacrifice, which he thought was a good description for
her. "That will be all, Edwin." He dismissed the servant his eyes on
the angelic creature he hoped would soon be under his command.

He waited until his
butler had shut the door, leaving the two of them alone, and then he crossed
the room to take Leah's hand in his own.

Leah's eyes raked over
Rhett as he approached and took her hand. She swallowed convulsively as her
gaze roamed over his wide chest and strong arms, which were encased in a white
dress shirt. He wore dark gray slacks and looked as if he'd just taken his tie
off following a business meeting. She couldn't help thinking he looked even
more handsome than he had the night before.

When her eyes finally
met his she blushed deeply as she felt herself drawn into the dark blue depths,
which contained an element of humor, as if he found something funny.

The feel of his large
hands swallowing her smaller ones felt strangely comforting, and her trembling
subsided slightly.

"I'm glad you
decided to meet with me tonight, Leah." Rhett smiled as he ran his thumb
over the soft silkiness of her hand. He felt the minor tremors that were
running through her and smiled, trying to put at ease. The look of fear and
uncertainty in her hazel eyes excited him and had him aching to walk her
straight down to his dungeon, but he knew he needed to calm her down just then.

"T-thank
y-you," she whispered, not sure what she was supposed to say to him, her
throat felt so parched she was surprised she could say anything at all.

He smiled at her
nervousness and led her over to the small leather couch, pulling her down to
sit with him once they got there. He kept hold of her hand the whole time,
fearing that if he let go she would turn and bolt. "Did you and Janie find
time to talk about things today?"

Flushing so deeply she
was sure it would be visible through her makeup Leah nodded. She was totally
out of her element and knew it; she imagined he could hear her heart, so loud
did it seem to be beating in her chest. Doing her best not to fidget she fought
the urge to get up and pace, or run.

"Do you remember
what I told you last night, Leah? I need you to speak to me, and to look at me
when you do so." His voice was a step short of the commanding tone he
would normally have used with a submissive, Leah had yet to agree to such a
position and he realized he needed to moderate himself until she did so to
avoid scaring her off.

Leah lifted her eyes to
his. "D-do you think I c-could get a glass of w-water?" she asked, thinking
that if she wanted to actually talk to him she needed to do something about her
dry mouth, which was getting worse by the second.

He chuckled softly at
her request, let go of her hands, and stood. "I think I might be able to
manage that. Wait here and I'll be right back." He considered summoning a
servant to fetch the water, but knew instinctively that Leah needed some time
to get herself under control so he left her alone, making his way down to the
kitchen.

Filling a glass with
ice he pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He thought about
offering her something stronger, since it was apparent she needed it, but he
wanted her clear-headed when they began their discussion. He made it a policy
not to mix alcohol with business, whether it was business business or personal
business, doing so invariably led to bad decisions, and he didn't want Leah to
regret anything she might agree to.

As he walked back
upstairs to his study with the glass and bottle of water he found himself uncertain
how to start the discussion that was to take place; he hadn't experienced such
uncertainty before and found himself wondering at the cause of it.

When Rhett had left the
room Leah stood and began pacing the study, trying to calm her nerves. She told
herself that it was just a meeting, and she shouldn't freak out, part of her
degree course had involved mock meetings to get her used to such experiences, but
part of her wondered if he was going to want to have sex with her when the
meeting was over and she worried about that. She wasn't sure she was ready for
that, even though she knew sex was a large part of what she was there for.

In opposition to the
thought that he would want to have sex with her when the meeting was over was
the thought that he wouldn't. Leah wasn't sure which possibility was worse.

She had no idea what
was going to happen, either during the meeting or after it, and not knowing was
making her a nervous wreck.

"Are you going to
touch me tonight?" Leah blurted the question the moment Rhett re-entered
the study, her hand flew to her mouth the instant the words were out, shocked
that she had voiced what was on her mind.

He chuckled deeply and
held out the glass, which he filled from the bottle when she took it from him.
"I'm glad you found your voice, Sweetheart." He smiled as she took
the drink and took a long sip. "Why don't we sit and talk about it."
He had expected to have to coax her into opening up; it made things much easier
having her blurt out such a question.

Leah took another sip
of water, surprised that she was able to hold the glass without dropping it,
her hands were shaking that badly. Although she was embarrassed at having
blurted the question, now it was out in the open she felt less nervous.
"Sorry," she whispered as she returned to the couch and sat again.

He joined her, resting
his long arm on the back of the couch behind her. "Don't be sorry. Tonight
I want you to be completely open with me, I want you to ask and say anything
that comes into your mind. This is why we're here, to discuss things and to
negotiate." He was pleased to see that she kept her eyes on him as he
spoke and didn't try to look away. "To answer your question, no, I am not
going to touch you tonight, unless you ask me to that is."

Leah's eyes widened at
his words, she hadn't expected him to give her a choice. "I'm
confused." She felt a little more confident and it showed in her voice,
which didn't waver as it had when she asked him about being touched.

"What are you
confused about?" Rhett smiled indulgently, happy to let her lead the
conversation for the time being.

"I thought you
would be in control of what we did." She took another quick sip of water,
feeling her tongue loosen and her confidence rise as the water moistened her
mouth.

"If you accept my
terms tonight then yes, I will be in control; I will control you
completely." His tone deepened, while he wanted her to be comfortable, he
didn't want to give her false impressions about who would be in charge.

The change of
inflection his voice made her hands tremble and she almost dropped the glass.
He took it from her with a smile of reassurance and she felt her heart skip a
beat before picking up pace until it was pounding in her chest like a bass
drum. She was surprised he didn't seem to hear it.

Lowering her eyes she
tried to hide the longing he inspired in her.

"Look at me,
Leah." His voice was demanding and his long fingers went to her chin,
raising her face up until her eyes met his again. "I need to be able to
see your face to know what you're feeling, it's very important that you
understand this."

Not letting go of her
chin, or taking his eyes from her, Rhett took the glass from her and set it
down on the table beside him. "We need to talk about what you hope to get
out of this. Tell me what it is you truly want." The desire he could see
in her gaze pleased him and he moved his fingers from under her to chin to
stroke them softly across her cheek.

The touch of his
fingers sent shivers of desire through her, and for a moment she found herself
unable to think, let alone speak. "I think I want you," she whispered
finally, when she regained her voice, careful not to drop her gaze from his.

He chuckled softly at
her admission. "You only think you want me?" he asked as her cheeks
reddened. He felt a longing to lean over and kiss her but forced himself to
resist, it wasn't the time for that.

"Th-that's not
what I meant, I mean yes I want…" Her face burned crimson and she grew
flustered, not sure how to explain to him what it was she had meant.

"I'm glad you want
me, Leah, I want you as well, but we are here to figure out what you are willing
to allow me to do to you."

Her eyes widened slightly
and she stuttered, "Wh-what do you w-want to do to m-me?" she asked,
feeling a little overwhelmed again.

"Sweetheart, the
things I want to do to you would probably send you running for the door. But I
can be a patient man, when I choose to be." He smiled, enjoying the way
her eyes widened even more. "I need to know what things you aren't willing
to try."

"I honestly don't
know," she told him, embarrassed to admit that she didn't know enough
about sex to be able to tell him what she wasn't willing to try.

"You have no idea
how enticing it is to think about you letting me do whatever I want to you, but
you have me in a quandary here. I have to admit that this is uncharted
territory for me; I've never taken a virgin before, and I've certainly never
introduced one to this lifestyle." The thought was beyond exciting for
him, but it also worried him.

"So you don't want
me?" Despite his stricture against doing so she lowered her eyes, not
wanting him to see her cry; her disappointment had her on the verge of tears
and she wasn't sure she was going to be able to hold them back.

"Sweetheart, you
have no idea how much I want you." He chuckled as her eyes filled with
hope. "The trouble is, I don't know how to do this without crossing
boundaries you might not know you have." Rising to his feet he looked down
on her contemplatively.

Leah looked up at him,
wishing she had some wise words to offer him; she couldn't begin to imagine
what she could say however. As he paced the room, lost in thought, and
seemingly unaware of her continued presence, she took the opportunity to really
look at him.

It was apparent he was
a fitness nut; even dressed in his business suit she could tell there wasn't an
ounce of fat on him. When he turned away from her she was gifted with a view of
his ass and she blushed at the thought that crossed her mind. She was shocked
to find herself thinking that his ass was to die for, she didn’t normally think
like that.

The golden tint of his
skin, which contrasted with the brilliant white of his shirt, told her he
enjoyed being outdoors. After that her eyes moved up to his face; his profile
was one a sculpture would love, his features a strong example of masculine
beauty. Everything about him called to her on a level that left her aching.

After several minutes
Rhett stopped his pacing and turned to face Leah, his cock twitched at the look
of innocent desire on her face. "Okay, this is how this is going to work
if you decide to go through with this." He was having a hard time
concentrating as her heated gaze roamed over him in fascination. "Since
you don't yet know what you enjoy, and we'll be starting from ground zero, so
to speak, I am going to suggest we don't impose any limits to begin with.
Instead we will establish safe words for you to use until we discover where
your comfort zone is."

Leah nodded, and
immediately felt a wave of fear wash over her as a dark look filled his deep
blue eyes.

"Words, Leah, I
need you to speak to me. The first thing you need to understand is that if you
don't listen when I tell you to do something, there will be consequences. Do
you understand?"

She nodded again, but
then quickly spoke, "I understand." Despite her words she wasn't
actually sure what he meant by consequences. "Okay, I don't really
understand," she admitted, feeling like a complete idiot.

Sitting on the couch
next to her, Rhett directed a stern look at Leah. "What I mean is, if you
don't do as I say, I am going to punish you so you will remember not to make
the same mistake again."

Leah bit her lip hard
as she thought about what he was saying. "H-how would you punish me."
She only stuttered a little, and was proud of herself for that, the look in his
eyes was so intense she was surprised she could say anything at all.