His Mistress (26 page)

Tobias went rigid at the command then slowly relaxed as she pushed him backward until his feet were firmly planted on the floor and his cuffed hands were resting on his head with his elbows pointing toward her. Jane rubbed his bent arms with long, soothing strokes, and as the tension eased from his body, she slowly moved to stand behind him again. When her hands touched his upper back, he flinched. Jane held her breath for a long moment, but when he didn’t pull away from her touch, she continued to massage his shoulders.

“You seem to enjoy making me fear for your safety,” she murmured as her hands, still slightly damp with oil, rubbed across his shoulders with light, soothing strokes. “What am I to do with you, Tobias?”

“I can think of a number of things.”

While the darkness still vibrated in his voice, there was a touch of familiar arrogance threading its way through the bleak despair as well. To her surprise, he suddenly leaned his body back into her touch, and her heart skipped a beat. It was a movement that signaled a small, almost insignificant measure of surrender, but she accepted it.

The memory of his response to her kissing his scar made tears well up in her eyes. Jane slid her fingers up the nape of his neck into his silky, dark hair. A dozen questions danced through her head, and she sighed. Almost as if he’d read her mind, he tipped his head away from her touch.

“I didn’t need saving then, and I don’t need saving now, my Lady.” His voice was flat and emotionless. The words betrayed how close she was to touching the demons inside him.

“Perhaps not, but you seem to have a talent for rescuing others,” she murmured as she lowered her head to kiss his shoulder. “Who were you trying to rescue all those years ago?”

The moment the question filled the air, Tobias’ body became a marble statue, and she knew she’d reached the darkness of his soul.

F
ear twisted around his limbs like thick vines until he couldn’t move—breathe. She couldn’t possibly know the truth. How could she know he’d been trying to protect his mother the day his father beat him so hard blood ran down his back? His chest tightened with panic. Only two other people knew his secret, and she’d never met John or Samuel. A soft purring sound echoed in his ear, and he realized it was
Mystère’s
voice. Somewhere in his panicked thoughts, he’d imagined it was Jane’s gentle voice soothing him.

“There is nothing to fear in this room, Tobias.”
Mystère’s
fingers lingered against his temple in a soothing stroke. “Let me care for you. It will please me to do so.”

He shook his head viciously. She wasn’t talking about his physical injuries. It was his inner soul she wanted to touch. The realization emphasized how unworthy he was of any woman, least of all
Mystère
or Jane. If he revealed the darkness buried deep inside him, it would horrify her almost as much as it did him. The thought charged his body with a terror he’d not experienced since he was a boy. It was a tangible sensation across his skin, and he was certain she sensed it as well.

“I prefer to tend to your needs, my Lady. Let me serve you by bringing you pleasure,” he ground out as panic continued to escalate inside him.

“Damn you, Tobias. You are an
obstinate
man,” she exclaimed with soft frustration. He heard the sound of satin rustling angrily over the floor as she walked around to face him. He was too exposed at the moment to challenge her by raising his head. Soft fingers slid across his scalp as she pulled his head up and forced him to look at her. “How do I make you understand that it gives
me
pleasure to care for you? If you truly wish to serve me, you must yield.”

“I
have
yielded to you, my Lady,” he muttered between clenched teeth. He wasn’t sure if he kept his eyes downcast out of respect or in an effort to keep her from seeing how close she’d brought him to the brink. “I answered your questions.”

“But still you hold something back.”

“Then ask me a question I’m willing to answer,” he snarled. She released her grip on his hair and allowed him to bow his head once more.

“Very well. What’s the real reason you came back tonight, Tobias?”

The question drove a spike into him. The answer was one his brain recognized yet refused to acknowledge. A candle sputtered somewhere in the room, almost as if protesting on his behalf. Silence filled the room then quickly stretched out ominously between them. The harsh rasp of his breathing reached his ears before he inhaled a deep breath and released it with a loud whoosh.

“You.” The word scraped painfully against his throat as he forced himself to share at least one truth with her. “I came back for you.”

“For
me
?” There was a pained note of disbelief in her quiet response that made him frown.

Her reaction was that of a woman uncertain of her charms, and
Mystère
had never given any sign that she was unsure of herself. If anything her response held a stark vulnerability that reminded him strongly of Jane. He rejected the idea. Jane was too forthright not to have revealed herself to him the moment they were alone.

Tobias suppressed the rumble of self-disgust fighting to break past his lips. Was he so certain of Jane’s inability to lie to him?
Mystère
exhaled a sharp breath of what he was certain was disappointment, and he was again reminded of Jane.

“Might I remind you that just a few short moments ago, you said you never run from a challenge.” The accusation was razor-edged in its intensity. “You can’t even recognize a lie, let alone the truth.”

Tobias remained silent, and
Mystère
walked around him and pulled up the slack in the ropes until he was once again on the balls of his feet. There was just a hint of discomfort in his side. If Hopkins had hit him any harder, he was certain he wouldn’t be able to tolerate his current position.

Tobias jumped at the gentle caress of her fingertips gliding down his arm then wrapping around his chest before stopping just above where his erection touched his stomach. His cock strained upward, almost painfully, as it stretched itself in hopes of having her fingers brush over the tip of him.

To his frustration, she ignored his aching member. Instead, her hand slid along his inner thigh until she gently cupped his leather-bound sacs in the palm of her hand. The pleasure was instantaneous and acute. He inhaled a quick hiss of breath at the touch, and he could see the drop of cum clinging tenaciously to the tip of his cock. A groan formed in the back of his throat as she tortured him again with her fingers.

“Do you like this Tobias?” Her breath was a sultry breeze against his shoulder.

“Yes, my Lady” he rasped. He didn’t just like it, he was ready to go to hell and back for her if he could come inside her this very moment.

“I’m glad.” The smile in her voice made him stiffen. Christ Jesus was he so far gone that
Mystère
had become Jane in his mind. His tension rose as his fingers teased his skin. “Is your leather ring uncomfortable?”

“Only a little, my Lady,” Tobias choked on his response, relieved she’d not asked something more dangerous. “But not enough for me to ask that it be removed.”

“Good,” she whispered in his ear as her teeth captured his ear lobe and tugged on it gently. “I would not wish to cause you discomfort in any way.”

She grasped him at the base of his erection and moved upward. Eyes downcast, he watched her hand make its way up to the mushroom cap of his cock. She drew out the stroke at an agonizingly slow speed, and her fingers grew tighter around him until her thumb edged its way over the tip of him. Unable to control his response, he uttered a sound that emphasized a need that was already obliterating his ability to form clear, conscious thoughts. With methodical precision, she smeared the white drop of cum over the top of his iron hard length with her thumb. The familiar sensation of his balls retracting upward against the leather strips binding them tugged another grunt out of him.

“Would you like to come now, Tobias?” Her question made the vise around his chest tighten.

“Only if I can do so inside you, my Lady.”

“That does sound rather pleasant, doesn’t it?” The smile in her voice sent a jolt of expectation pounding through him.

As she came around to face him once more, Tobias breathed in the soft, sweet scent of jasmine. He’d not erred in selecting the flower tonight. He’d simply underestimated the extent of her power over him. She lightly ran her fingers over his mouth, and pure instinct made him suck her forefinger into his mouth. She didn’t protest, she simply grew still as his tongue swirled around her finger. Without a word, she pulled her finger from his mouth and stepped back.

“There is a price to pay of course,” she said softly.

“I’ve no doubt the price you ask will be worth the pleasure of sharing your bed, my Lady.”

“Even if that price demands you confess your soul, Tobias?”

Tobias jerked against the ropes stretching his body taut. She didn’t realize what she was asking. She might have the strength and power to care for him here, but he knew she would tremble in the face of his terrible past. Any woman would. His mouth went dry as he acknowledged the truth he’d done his best to ignore and hide from for years.

His body convulsed as if he’d been struck by lightning. The sharp pain of it traveled from the tips of his fingers straight down to his feet.
Mystère’s
hand immediately stroked its way across his cheek in a consoling gesture. It made him believe she recognized the heavy weight of guilt and pain locked inside him. She’d brought him to the brink, and yet he still couldn’t bring himself to yield. The thought that she could see so deep into him made him flinch.

Her intrinsic ability to reach his troubled soul was far greater than he’d realized. He closed his eyes. Other Ladies at
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
had bound and confined him physically, but not one of them had ever made him feel so vulnerable or exposed as this woman did. The revelation twisted his gut.

His entire body ached for a release, but not just for a physical one. Ever so slowly, and with an inherent skill, she was pushing him to surrender. It was as if she understood his needs before he even understood them himself.

“Yielding to me doesn’t make you weak, Tobias. It takes a strong, courageous man to give way to a woman’s touch.” Her voice was a soft, comforting salve to his spirit. She circled him to kneel at his feet. “It’s like a ship after a storm. Your strength remains intact, but you take comfort in the harbor that welcomes you back to shore.”

Unable to avert his gaze, Tobias watched as she leaned forward to blow a long, steady breath of air across his ridged length. A second later, her tongue flicked out to probe the slit in the top of his cock. Tobias drew in a sharp hiss of air and his entire body shuddered with an ache that made him tug at the ropes holding him hostage.

As
Mystère
tipped her head back and stared up at him, the mask she wore revealed little of her emotions, but in her sapphire eyes, he caught the flare of desire. A passion he’d seen in Jane last night. He didn’t bother to suppress a groan as he struggled with the reasons why he wanted
Mystère
to be Jane. Her voice was as sultry as a siren’s.

“I love the way you taste, Tobias.”

She licked her lips in a delicate, sensual movement, and if possible his body grew even harder. The need in his cock had finally engulfed the rest of his body. Sweet Jesus. She wasn’t just using her instincts to make him yield. She was using his body against him as well.

“Would you like me to pleasure you with my mouth, Tobias? You have only to ask.”

The image her question conjured up made Tobias’ cock expand even further. It brought with it a spasm of pain and pleasure as the leather ring around his aching erection prevented him from spilling his seed. For the briefest of moments, he allowed the pleasure to outweigh his discomfort.

“I wish only to please you, my Lady.”

A grunt rumbled out of his chest as he suppressed the desire to ask her to wrap her lips around his cock. The moment he shook his head in refusal, she cupped his balls then pressed her finger against the spot directly beneath his sacs.

“
Fuck
.” The air left his lungs as he went up on his toes in a futile effort to evade her mind-blowing touch.

“That wasn’t an answer, Tobias.”

“Tell me what you want of me,” he said hoarsely as his heart pounded a violent rhythm in his head. His gaze met hers as she tilted her head to look up at him while maintaining pressure on the point just behind his balls. Her gaze narrowed as she looked at him.

“I want you to ask.” Her fingers stroked his sacs gently, and he cried out again at the intense sensation of pleasure swelling through his groin. “It’s that simple, Tobias. Just ask.”

The determination in her voice made his stomach twist into knots. Christ Jesus, as much as he wanted her to take him into her mouth, he couldn’t form the words. He released a quiet groan. The dark sound filled his ears as she skimmed the rim of his cock with her tongue. He tried to arch away from her, but her hand gripped the back of his thigh and held him in place. Again her tongue laced its way across his highly sensitized skin.