Finding You (8 page)

“I have a person that cooks for me during the week.  She gets here at 3 in the afternoon and leaves after dinner is finished.  She will let herself in and out and will not disturb you.  If you have any special requests let her know.  The kitchen is yours for breakfast and lunch.  The cleaning staff works the same hours.  We have the house to ourselves on the weekends.  I prefer to cook but we may go out some as well. 

“I hire out for yard maintenance and their schedules vary.  They are always here at least one day a week sometimes more.  If it is an issues for you let me know and I will include their work days in your calendar.”

“Don’t you think the staff will be a little curious about me?”

“I don’t care what they think.  If they bother you let me know.  I have no patience for meddling people.  That isn’t what they are paid to do.”

I was seeing first hand why being a Dom was what he liked.  He was obsessively scheduled and had control over everything in his life.

“Do you have anyone that could possibly interfere in our arrangement or anyone that I need to know about?”

“No, I don’t have anyone.”

“No one, not a friend?”

I hung my head.  “I don’t really have friends.”

“You are saying you have no one that would miss you? What about your friend that owns the bar?”

I shook my head. “As long as he knows I’m in school and drop by once in a while he won’t question anything.  It’s not like we are really friends, I just know him because I like his bar.”

“There isn’t anyone that would notice you weren’t at home.  No one that would ask questions about where you are?”

Was it so hard to believe I liked being by myself.  “I mean, I do have a few people I get drinks with from time to time but they are classmates, not friends.” 

“What do you do with all your time Nova?”

“I read and I study.”

“That’s it?”

“I’m not a hermit. I just like being by myself.  It’s easier for me that way.” 

“I will need your cell number.”

She looked up at him.  “I don’t have one.”

His eyes opened wide.  “Why don’t you have a cell phone?”

“No one really calls me.”

“We will get you a phone this afternoon.  You will need to email me your class schedule and obligations you have or will have until you graduate.”

I nodded.

“You do have an email don’t you?”

“I may not have a social life but I more than know my way around in the technology world.”

“Just not a cell phone?”

“Why would I need a cell phone if I don’t ever talk to anyone?  I have a home phone and answering machine if anyone needs to get in touch with me.”

“You know that there are six year olds with cell phones.  You are probably the only person in the twenty year old age bracket who doesn’t have a cell phone.” 

“Maybe.” 

I still didn’t see what the big deal was.  I didn’t need a cell phone.  I didn’t talk to people often.

“Alright, let’s go to your apartment and get you some clothes.  You can decide what you want to bring here and I will have someone pick it up tomorrow and bring it to the house.  We will have your car moved back too.”

“Why can’t I just drive it back?”

“Because I need to run to my office today.  I have some things I need to look over before Monday and we need to get you a phone.  It will take twice as long if we have to drive your car back here first.” 

“Okay.”

“Come upstairs.  I have an extra toothbrush you can use and you can change into one of my t-shirts.”

I couldn’t refuse either so I followed right behind him to his room.

“Wow!”

He looked back at me as I followed him into his bedroom.  “What?” he asked.

“Quite a contrast from the playground don’t you think?”

He seemed nervous.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s the elegant version of your playground minus all the leather and straps.”

He looked puzzled.

“The brown walls are the same.  You have elegance in one room and debauchery in the other.”

“I guess I have never looked at it that way.”

He also couldn’t see the Jekyll and Hyde that I could see.

“The bathroom is in there.  Toothbrushes are in the top drawer.  You can use anything you need.  I will get you a shirt.”

Toothpaste had never been more satisfying.  When I was finished I borrowed his brush.  I needed a pony tail holder which I knew I wasn’t going to find so I did the best I could with the brush and some water to tame down the fly-aways on top of my head. 

“I laid a t-shirt out on the bed.”

I turned admiring him yet again.  I loved him in his dress slacks and shirts but jeans and a t-shirt made him raw and less controlling. 

“If you keep looking at me like that, we are going to run late.”

I smiled.  He caught me again but I just couldn’t help myself.  I didn’t understand the feelings he caused in me but I liked them.

He had a Harvard t-shirt laying out for me on the bed.  I quickly changed shirts and went back to the bathroom. 

“Did you graduate from Harvard?”

He wiped his mouth and turned to me as if I had just spoken a foreign language to him. 

“Yes, Nova I did.”

Hmm
.

I packed a bag with as many of my clothes as I would need for the weekend and with Ian’s help moved everything to my kitchen table that I wanted brought to his house.  In all, I had about five boxes of things to be moved. 

“Is this everything?” he asked getting ready to make a call.

“No, I need my computers but I can take those with me in my backpack.”

He nodded and started talking to someone.

I went back to my room and shut down my main laptop.  I had another one hid in my closet.  It was the one I used to track Stanford’s calendar and hack his various accounts.  It had an untraceable IP address.  It took me two weeks to set up the programs to keep it from being tracked by anyone else.  No security company could trace me.  There were very few I couldn’t hack into myself.  I put it in my back pack along with my Wi-Fi device and iPad. 

“You won’t need the Wi-Fi.  It’s in all my vehicles and the house.”

I turned to put it down but when he left the room I dropped it in my backpack. He didn’t know but he’d appreciate me not using his Wi-Fi while hacking.

We drove back to Boston and parked in front of the Enterprise Building. 

“This is where your office is?”

“Yes.  This is where you will find me Monday through Friday.”

Once inside I had to go the bathroom. 

“My office is on the twentieth floor.  Come up when you finish.”

The elevator door closed and I walked to the bathroom.  I had never been in the Enterprise building but I knew some of the most influential businesses in Boston rented space here.  Top notch law firms, securities companies, investment brokers just to name a few. 

In the elevator I was surprised to see that the twentieth floor was the top.  When the elevator opened I stepped out into a marble tiled lobby.  It was a beautiful office.  I pushed open the glass door just as my eyes saw the name on the door.  “I.S.C.” 

Oh my God.

He was waiting just inside the door. 

“Are you alright Nova?”

I turned to look at him. 

“I had no idea?”

“You had no idea about what Nova?”

“You are Ian Strong.” 

He was the chairman and CEO of Ian Strong Corporation or I.S.C. as it was better known.

He blushed just slightly. 

“You have heard of me,” he asked almost flattered.

“I am a MBA student.  Do you think I wouldn’t have heard about you?”

“Well, I hope I am not a disappointment in person Nova.”

“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

“Would it have made a difference if I had?”

“No, but…”

“But, what Nova?”

“I have read about you.  I can’t believe I didn’t put it together.”

“So out of everything, this is what impresses you.”

She didn’t say anything, she didn’t have to. 

He laughed. 

“What is so funny?”

“You served drinks to a Senator, one of the best criminal defense lawyers in the state and a Wall Street tycoon and you had no idea who any of us were?”

“No.”

“Honestly?  You really didn’t try to figure out who any of us were?”

“No I didn’t.”

“Why?” 

He looked at me as though following the rules was a bad thing.

“Because it was in the rules that we weren’t supposed to be on a personal level with any member or girl.”

“And you obeyed the rules?”

“Yes.  I did.” 

I didn’t like that he doubted me.

“Come on sweetheart.”

He didn’t believe me.

“It’s the truth.  Why don’t you believe me?”

              “I knew I had you pegged right.  You are the only one who hasn’t tried to figure out who we are.”

“Are you mocking me because I followed the rules?  I just did what I was told.”

He smiled at me.  Maybe what he said was true.  I had always followed the rules that someone else made for me. 
Shit, maybe he was right about me.

He bought an iPhone for me on the way home.  I turned it on and started moving over all my purchases from my iTunes account.  When we got back to the house I synced my calendar and emailed it to Ian’s personal email address.  I had no planned engagements so my calendar had nothing on it but my class schedule.

At dinner, he pulled up my calendar. 

“You have a test on Monday.  Have you studied already?”

“Yes.”

“If you need some time tomorrow to study that is fine.  After tomorrow you will need to study before I get home.”

“I’m not a procrastinator when it comes to studying.  I was ready for that test last week.”

After dinner and two bottles of wine I finally relaxed. 

“You haven’t showed me my room yet.”

“I thought I would let you choose.”

I picked a bedroom on the West End of the house.  I wanted to be close to the library and away from everyone else.  The bedroom I picked had an adjoining bathroom with a big claw foot tub and walk in steam shower.  

I turned on the faucet in the tub and started unpacking my clothes.  When I was finished I lowered myself down into the tub. Sometime thereafter, either the hot water or the wine or maybe it was both put me to sleep.  I woke up when his hand brushed against my cheek. 

I opened my eyes a little dazed but when I saw him sitting next to the tub staring at me, I couldn’t help but smile at him.  “I must have fallen asleep.”

“It seems that you did.”

I had my hair draped over the back of the tub. 

“You look very beautiful sitting in there.”

I smiled wiping my eyes. 

“I think I drank too much.”

“I think you did too.  Come on and let me help you out.  Your water is turning cold.”

I stood up just in time for him to help me out.  I bent down to pick up the towel out of the floor.

“What the fuck Nova,” he yelled turning me around.

Oh God, I forgot about the bruises. 
Hurriedly I wrapped the towel around me and tried to get back to the bedroom.

“Nova, don’t run from me.  Stop, now!”

I didn’t take another step.  I situated my towel as best I could but he took it from me. 

“Have you looked at your back Nova?”

I didn’t need to look.  I had seen his handy work for years.  “No.”

I let my hair fall over my back but he quickly moved it. 

“What did he hit you with?”

It wasn’t standing in front of him nude that made my skin whence, it was knowing that he saw all the damage that had been done to me.

“I asked you a question?”

“A belt.”

“I want the footage you have of him hitting you.”

“No, this isn’t your battle, it’s mine.”

“The hell it isn’t.  Do you expect me to do nothing?  Look at what he has done to you.”

I got a tank top out of the drawer and put it on as fast as I could. 

“I wasn’t obligated to you when this happened.  Stay out of it Ian, this is a limit of mine.  I don’t need anyone to fight for me.”

“Yes, you do.  You don’t fight at all.”

“If I fight, it only makes it worse.”  Why couldn’t he understand that?

“Nova, listen to what you are saying.”

It wasn’t like I didn’t appreciate his concern but I didn’t need him meddling.  The last thing I wanted to do was piss off Stanford again.

“No, you listen.”  I pulled on some pajama pants.  “You promised not to judge me.  The bruises will be gone by the end of the week.  Extend our agreement if you can’t stand to look at me.  I don’t blame you.”

He was beyond furious with her. 

“This isn’t about our agreement Nova.”

“Your right, it’s not because you are making it personnel.  This isn’t personnel Ian.  It’s you fucking me whenever you want.  We have a business arrangement.  It’s not personal.”

~  ~

He stormed out of her room only to find himself on the way back after he had a few minutes to think.    She was sitting on the bed when he walked in. 

“You’re right, it’s not personal.  Its business and you defied me.  Get your ass down the hall.”

He needed this to remind him of who he was.  He needed this to remind him of what he was and he was a person who didn’t give a fuck about anyone but himself.  In the few times he had taken a submissive he had always taken their needs above his own, that’s what a dominant does for his sub but beyond play he had no emotions with a submissive.  He had never made anything about the relationship personal and he wasn’t about to start now.  Fuck whatever this possessive feeling he was having for her.  He just needed a minute to remind himself.

“What?”  She yelped back realizing he was serious.

“Now Nova.”

He unlocked the door and pushed her in. 

“Get down on your fucking knees and don’t raise your head unless I tell you too.”

He rumbled through a few drawers finally coming back and demanding she place her hands behind her back.  He cuffed her and raised her to her feet with one quick jerk.  He didn’t pull her hard enough to hurt her but he wanted to make a point.  She had a place in this house, in his life and he was reminding her of that. 

She didn’t whimper as he pushed her towards the bed.   

“Tell me what you did wrong Nova?”

She swallowed hard. 

“I defied you.”

“What happens when you defy me?”

“I get punished.”

He spun her around and pulled down her pants.  He bent her over the bed.  God her body was beautiful.  Her perfect little ass just screamed to be hit.  His erection was rock hard.  This was his element.  This is who he was but there was no way he could do to her what his body wanted so badly.  Not tonight anyway.  Tonight, he needed her to know that he was the one in control.  That as long as she was with him unless she used her safe word it was his responsibility to protect her.  He didn’t want to make it personal and obviously she didn’t either but she was crazy if she thought he wouldn’t protect her.   

“You are mine Nova.  Regardless of when this happened to you the marks are still present which makes it my business.  When I ask you a question or try to protect you, you won’t defy me.” He grabbed her tank top and ripped it down the back exposing all her bruises. 

“I’m sorry I defied you, sir.”

Her words crashed into him bringing him to an abrupt halt.  Her response was methodical like she had said it before.  Is this what he made her do before he hurt her?  Made her apologize, made her think that his actions were her own fault. 

She was so still.  She had retreated to some place in her head.  Some place to keep her safe and block away the pain.  He liked pain.  He liked to feel it, he liked to give it but what he saw on her sickened him.   She was expecting him to hurt her but that wasn’t what he was trying to do. 

He leaned over her and began kissing the deep, purple stripes.  She tried to run because she thought the bruises made him not want her.  She thought they made her ugly and used.  The longer he took, kissing every inch of her bruised skin she finally started to relax.  Once she was back with him, he unlocked the cuffs and gently rubbed her wrist while checking to make sure he hadn’t left any marks on her. 

When he was done and she was no longer afraid he helped her to stand and dismissed her to her room.  She needed time to think about her reaction as well as his actions.

~  ~

Two hours later she was still lying awake in her bed. He hadn’t come back and she couldn’t sleep.  The guilt of not telling him and treating him so badly when he only wanted to help made her feel sick at her stomach.  She should have showed him her back the night she confessed her truth to him.  She had never had the desire to be wanted but being wanted by him was the only thing that mattered.  She shouldn’t have reacted the way she did.  If she had just stopped and tried to talk to him he wouldn’t be mad and she wouldn’t be alone wishing she was lying right next to him.  This was her fault. 

She got up and walked towards the living room.  The house was dark but an approaching storm lit the way with flashes of lightening.  She went up the stairs to his room.  Quietly she pushed open his door.  In the frequent flashes of lightening she could see his sleeping form.  God he was so beautiful.  The sheet was draped just below the level of the perfect V that ran down his lower stomach.  She nudged the edge of the bed with her knee. 

When his eyes opened the fire was still there but this time it was a raw fire filled with desire for her, not anger.  She wiggled her way out of her pants and pulled off her shirt.

~  ~

In the flashes of light, he admired the beauty of her body.  He almost worried that she wasn’t really standing in front of him.  He honestly didn’t think he would see her again until morning.  The fact that she was here, naked in front of him told him that he had made progress with her.  She was starting to trust him, she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t. Reaching up for her, he pulled her down to him.  When her skin glided across his, desire raced through his body.