Masterpiece (The Masters of The Order Book 1) (27 page)

“You’ve forgotten something very important in your eagerness, my lovely. We haven’t discussed limits. If I were to whip you in that foyer, how would you respond?”

Her breath hitched. “I don’t want that. I can’t do that,” she blurted the words with panicked desperation.

There was the wound. Whether the Colonel left a permanent scar on her psyche remained to be seen.

“Okay, Julianne. No whips.”

She grinned and looked directly at him. “How about spanking?”

“You would like that?”

Her eyes shot back to her hands. “I think so.”

“Spanking it is then. I have only one question left for you, Julianne. Are you absolutely sure? With me, there are no safe words. There is no holding back. Once we begin, we will finish on my terms.”

She hesitated. Something he said undermined her confidence.

“Speak openly.”

She looked him in the eye. “Nicolai told me to express my limits too, but I’ve never been spanked. I don’t really know how I will feel. How can I define limits when I don’t know what to expect?”

Frustration and embarrassment were equally clear in her expression, but she held his gaze.

“You just did exactly what Nicolai asked you to do. Expressing limits is not about knowing everything in advance. It’s about giving your fear to your lover and trusting him to know how far he can take you. Trust me, Julianne. I will know exactly how far I can take you.”

Her eyes fell to her lap again as she considered his words. When she looked up, the fighter had returned. “I trust you to care for me, Darion, and I’m absolutely sure. My past is gone. Nicolai is my future. I will not let anything or anyone, past, present or future, stand in the way of that.”

Darion was amazed. With those words, Julianne cast off the erroneous lessons of her past and entrusted her future to Nicolai. This woman was such a rare and precious gift for the man who possessed her. A talented Dom could dedicate years and never achieve this ideal, never bring a lover to the place where Julianne existed so naturally. Behind those violet eyes, so innocent and trusting, lay a survivor and a fighter. If not for his love for Nicolai, he would have claimed her for himself. As it was, he would more than enjoy what was to come.

Their lifestyle was a vocation for him, not just a game or a passing fancy, and he was determined that Nicolai and Julianne would find their place within it. He spent the next few hours coaching Julianne on how to behave when they returned to Nicolai. He knew Nicolai would be frantic with worry about her, but it was more important to make sure that everything he planned would be carried out to perfection. When he was satisfied that she was properly prepared, they left his apartment.

On the drive to Nicolai’s apartment, he dialed his protégé. Nicolai answered on the first ring. “Your Beauty is with me. I’m bringing her home. We have something very important to share with you. Wait for us in the foyer. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

*****

As soon as she saw Nicolai, Julianne forgot Darion’s instruction to remain by his side and started away.

A gentle touch on the shoulder reminded her to stay put. Nicolai approached with a determined gait, but Darion raised his hand to hold him at bay. He stopped. Before she could process what was happening, a punishing twist forced her view away from Nicolai. She found herself staring up into Darion’s jade eyes.

“Your Beauty has something to show you, Nicolai. Please allow her to do so.”

Nicolai didn’t speak. Every bit of her was burning to see his reaction, but she didn’t dare shift her eyes away from Darion. He was that intimidating.

Nicolai must have given some assent, because Darion transformed right in front of her. The change in his posture was subtle, but unmistakable. His shoulders set in a firm line. His stance became more rigid. He seemed somehow taller and if it was even possible, more intimidating.

This is my Dom.
Her stomach knotted tight.

“Who is your Master today?” he asked in a low, controlled voice that held more command than she’d heard in it before.

“You are, sir.”

She stammered the words with less grace than she wanted, but she addressed Darion properly and remembered to keep her eyes fixed on his. Everything inside started to shake. This was far harder and far scarier than it seemed a few hours ago.

Darion towered over her, stern and threatening. Power radiated off him in waves. This man walked through life while the world bowed at his feet. Looking at him now, she understood the real reason why that was true.

How could I have agreed to this?

Fantasies aside, Darion wasn’t Nicolai. She loved Nicolai. She did not love Darion. Lust definitely, but not love. And trust? Darion said this was the right thing to do, but at the moment, she honestly wasn’t sure. She didn’t really know the man who would control her in this scene. The realization hit her hard, making her afraid. But she shoved away the fear. She had to do this. She would do this. For herself and for Nicolai.

Darion looked at her with approval, as if he could read the complicated trail of her thoughts simply by the look on her face. “Do you want this to happen, Julianne?”

He told her he would ask this. It was her last chance to stop what they had planned. She had to verbally take ownership of what would happen between them before he would continue.

She steeled her nerves and said perhaps the two hardest words she’d ever uttered, “Yes, sir.”

He turned to Nicolai. “Do I have your permission?”

Darion explained this protocol too. She belonged to Nicolai. Out of respect for him, no one would touch her without his permission. To do otherwise was a sign of disrespect that was punishable within the Order. Even though Nicolai had obviously given his permission to both Jacques and Darion on other occasions, a very big part of her never believed he would give it to Darion in this scenario.

“Yes. You have my permission.”

The words sent deeper frissons of fear racing through her.

“Strip. Everything off. Put your things on the chair and return to me.”

She raised trembling hands to the buttons on her blouse and began to undress. What had Darion said would happen next?
Merde. I should have listened more carefully
.

In her fear, she instinctively turned back to Nicolai. The look of regret in his eyes stopped her short. Darion was right. Nicolai needed to see this or he would never believe the truth about her. Never stop holding back or regretting when he did not. She promised him that she would express herself, but she had failed in every other attempt. Words were not the way for her. She had to believe this was.

If I have to show him by submitting to Darion, so be it.

“You must learn the truth about yourself as well, Julianne, without fear of disappointing him if you learn something you don’t expect.”

How could Darion possibly know that?

She told him about her fantasies, but she had been very careful not to reveal those niggling doubts about whether she could act on them. She hadn’t told him that she didn’t understand the boundaries of her own sexuality. She hadn’t said that she implicitly understood what Nicolai needed in a lover and was desperately afraid she would disappoint him. Yet Darion knew. He saw it all.

“Do you trust me not to harm what is yours, Nicolai?”

That cinches it. Darion can definitely read my mind.

Hearing Nicolai say yes to that question was exactly what she needed to garner the courage to go on. She squared her shoulders and turned back to kneel at Darion’s feet, positioning herself exactly the way he wanted. A willing submissive offering herself, head bowed, knees apart, hands laid on the thighs, palms up.

She remembered Darion’s words.
Your submission always belongs to Nicolai, even when he gives you to another
. She suddenly had to be sure that Nicolai understood her loyalty. She snapped her head up and looked over to him.

“You and only you,” she said urgently, then lowered her eyes.

Neither man corrected her for speaking without permission.

She could see Darion remove his shirt from beneath her hooded lids. She wanted to look directly at him, but kept her gaze down. That sexy-as-sin mind reader was going to play with her and hurt her while her lover watched the whole thing. No safe words. No turning back. Her decision was made before she stepped into this room. She was truly terrified, far more than she expected to be.

Darion came to her side. His hand dangled over his pant leg and she noticed that he hadn’t removed his watch. A tattoo on his forearm read,
Trust is earned
. The words comforted her in an odd way. He reached out, his fingers trailing through her hair, before moving to crouch behind her. Lifting the strands with one hand, he ran his fingertips over the erogenous zones at her neck and shoulders. She could feel his eyes on her skin even though she couldn’t see him.

A low hum of arousal began inside of her.

“Like silk. You are correct, Nicolai. This one is a fine piece of art.”

Nicolai didn’t answer.

Warm fingers slid down her arms to bring each wrist to the small of her back. He began to tie her. Nicolai had bound her much more securely than Darion’s simple wrap, but this binding was distinctly harder. She felt trapped and helpless. Everything Darion did scared and aroused at the same time, but at the moment, scared was winning. She twisted her wrists. The binding held. Her breath picked up and she began to panic.

I can’t do it.

Darion tilted her head back and pressed his lips to hers in the softest of kisses. His silken hair swept over her shoulder like a blanket to cloak her. A strong hand gripped her bound wrists in a steel hold, but feathery kisses dusted over her face to gently coax away the fear. Her breathing slowed.

Darion reached around her body and cupped her breasts, sampling the contours, grinding his palms against her, squeezing and testing her weight. Then he turned his attention to her nipples, swirling circles around each, pinching and pulling. The touch alternated between exceedingly gentle and painful as firm hands played with her body. The mild hum of arousal ramped up to a bass beat that thudded in time with her pounding heart. By the time he released her, she was ready to crawl out of her skin with need.

Holding her by the biceps, Darion brought her to a stand. She wobbled as he turned her body to face him.

“Spread your legs. Chin up,” he commanded.

She swallowed hard, struggling to stay focused, and complied.

Darion plumped her breasts with his palms and primed her with slow, dragging strokes of his tongue before drawing each nipple into the hot suction of his mouth. Softly at first, then harder until the sharp pulls forced a moan.

He eased back with one hand still over her breast and dangled a small chain in front of her. He told her he would clamp her and she really expected to like it. He pinched and placed the clamp over the wet tip.

Wrong! It hurts like hell.

His hand gripped her chin to make her look into his eyes as the harsh sting of tiny metal teeth sent sharp streaks of pain in all directions. His eyes were intent on her face as if he was reading her mind again. Before her body could adjust to the single clamp, which was harrowing enough, Darion heightened the pain. He pulled and flicked the metal, all the while absorbing every response in her eyes. When he opened the other clamp and brought it to her breast, she whimpered at what was to come. He didn’t hesitate. The sensation was fiendish and she struggled to breathe through it. A merciless tug on the chain between the clamps shook her from head to foot.

He turned her body again. When she realized that he intended to lay her face down over a table, she resisted. The pain was already too much to bear, but she was no match for his strength. He pushed her down with a steady hand between the shoulder blades. The press of her chest against the cold tabletop sent a new wave of torture through her enflamed flesh and she struggled against him.

He held her down. “Take the pain, Julianne. Take it for me.”

Her nipples were sore, so incredibly sore, but there was no denying the low ache that gripped her between the thighs in an unyielding clutch. Her body began to tremble, torn between the demand for release from the horrendous pain and the mounting pleasure. The lines were blurred and she couldn’t decide which satisfaction she needed more. She strained harder against his hand.

Darion pressed his hips against her bottom, bringing the front of his legs against the back of her thighs, and arched his body over her, covering every inch with hard muscle. His weight pinning her intensified the pressure of the clamps. The skin of his chest was hot against her back. Thick strands of silky black hair fell over her face like a veil, blocking her sight.

He went completely still. Just breathing.

Blind, bound and blanketed by powerful male, her vulnerability was complete. The overwhelming magnitude of Darion’s dominance brought tears to the corners of her eyes. She was powerless. His to do with as he pleased. They wouldn’t continue because she liked something he did or stop if she did not. Whatever he wanted would happen.