Mina's Heart (22 page)

“And so that means you would touch other subs?”

That wasn’t the question he’d expected. If she’d objected to being touched by other people, he would have negotiated the details of that limit. However, she’d seemed to accept his terms, showing concern only that he would pay attention to other subs.

“Yes. Sometimes I help out with other people’s scenes.”

She sat silently, staring out the window. The vista before them was magnificent. The barren trees were draped with snow. In the window behind him, the mountain dropped away to reveal the green-and-white valley below.

“Mina? Does that bother you?”

The question seemed to bring her back to the present. “I don’t know. It depends on whether you’re throwing it in my face or…” She scrunched her brows together, and her eyes moved with the speed of her thoughts.

“Or?” he prompted.

She swallowed. “Is it wrong for me to want to be bound or kneeling by your side, not part of the scene, but not excluded?”

“Not at all. I encourage you to voice your wants and needs to me. Being a submissive doesn’t mean you exist to serve me. As a Dom, I have an intrinsic desire to see to your needs.”

Her breath caught. “You’ve said that before.”

“Yes, and I meant it. Think back, Mina. Was there one time I didn’t make every attempt to see to your needs? Even when you refused to confide in me, I tried my damnedest to make sure you were fulfilled and that you were happy.”

She shook her head, agreeing with him, though he knew he’d failed her in the end. There was more she wasn’t telling him, but it would come out in time. He couldn’t force her to reveal everything until she was ready. Patience had never been his strong suit, but if he wanted a future with Mina, he had to dig deep.

He stood. “Put away the dishes, and tidy up the kitchen. When you’re finished, go into the great room and kneel on the cushion in front of the fireplace.”

* * * *

Sounds traveled up the large, curved staircase leading down to the lower level. Mina knelt on the oversize throw pillow he’d left for her in front of the massive stone fireplace and listened, trying to discern what he might be doing down there.

She rested her bottom on her heels, keeping her back straight, knees wide, and arms clasped behind her back. She wasn’t sure where she was supposed to face, but the stairs let out in the hallway near the kitchen, so she wouldn’t be able to see him when he came up anyway.

She wasn’t upset that he’d made her clean up the breakfast mess. He’d cooked the meal, and she’d cleaned up his kitchen before. She was a little on edge about the idea of a play party, and of other men being allowed to touch her. The old Everett would never have allowed anybody that liberty. She wondered how friendly he would get with the other submissives at the party. Though she’d put on a good face earlier, the idea didn’t sit too well with her.

Nearly twenty minutes had passed before she heard the quiet sounds of him coming up the stairs. He breezed into the room with a bundle in his arms. It was a cloth, which he unrolled onto an accent table next to an upholstered chair. He draped a towel over the seat and motioned her closer.

“Come sit. Keep your legs apart.”

She sank into the plush upholstery, noting how much easier it was on her delicate bottom than her heels. At the last moment, she spread her knees until they were stopped by the arms of the chair. It was comfortable, but it seemed so unladylike.

Ever sat across from her on the sofa. He wedged himself in the corner and rested his arms along the back and side, easily dominating the space. “Attending a play party requires trust and negotiation. That wasn’t in our original agreement. If you have an issue with it, now is the time to speak up.”

She didn’t want to voice her misgivings, but he’d asked. “I don’t really know what happens at a play party. You said you wouldn’t let anybody have sex with me, but you would let them touch me. I’d like to know who and how. Also, will I be naked?”

His gaze traveled slowly over her body. “No. I’ll dress you appropriately, though you won’t be wearing much. For tonight, you’ll wear my collar, and that signifies that anybody who wants to talk to you must have my permission. You should remain by my side with your eyes demurely lowered. If somebody speaks to you, you must look to me for permission to speak.”

On the plus side, she didn’t have to make small talk with anybody. On the negative side, he hadn’t addressed her main concern. “I’m not sure how I feel about having other people touch me, even with your permission and supervision.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “That’s where this whole idea of trust comes in. If you’re ever going to submit to me, then you need to trust me completely, in all ways.”

The fact that she was here with him showed a hell of a lot of trust. “I trust you. I don’t trust anybody else.” She knew she could call that as a hard limit, but it wasn’t a hard limit. It was a soft limit. An exceedingly soft limit.

“You’re not required to trust anyone else. I’m responsible for you. That should be enough.” His expression remained neutral, which she found surprising. Normally he was pretty reactive. She thought he’d at least scowl at her argument.

She had to press the issue. “So you’d let another Dom touch my pussy?”

“Perhaps. I might let a sub touch your pussy.”

The idea of a woman’s hands there made Mina shiver, but she wasn’t sure whether it appealed to her. “Would you let them finger me?”

He shrugged. “It depends on whether I think you can take it.”

“Isn’t that the opposite of possessive?” This revelation didn’t fit with her picture of him.

“You still couldn’t come without my permission. I own your orgasms. I control your pleasure. That hasn’t changed.” He lifted the corner of his mouth in a crooked smile. “I can see that you’re very interested in this idea.”

She shifted, and then she shifted back when she realized she’d altered the position he’d ordered her to assume. “I wouldn’t like to see you finger another submissive.”

He laughed, and she didn’t see what was so amusing. When his humor died down, he nodded. “Do you have an objection to me holding the vibrator while her master flogs her?”

Mina scowled. “I’m not sure.”

“Then it’s something to think about.” He wiggled his knee, showing a bit of impatience. That was the man she knew, always on the go. “Play with your pussy.”

He’d warned her about this the night before, that he would expect her to masturbate by herself.

She wet the tip of her finger in her mouth and put it on her clit. Looking at Ever, she saw that she had his complete attention, and the swell in his jeans was growing. So she lifted one leg and slung it over the arm of the chair and pushed her hips forward to give him a better view of her pussy.

He grinned in approval. “That’s it. Make it good for your master, and you might earn a reward.”

She wasn’t sure what constituted a reward, but she’d always been motivated by positive reinforcement. Tracing her finger around her clit, she tempted him with slow circles. The friction and his expression acted in concert to heat her passion. She rubbed and played, taking the time to get to know her pussy the way she’d discovered exactly how he liked his cock sucked.

Soon she was breathing hard. In the back of her mind, she knew he wasn’t going to let her get off easily. He wanted a show, so she moved away from her clit and slipped two fingers inside her body. She’d never done this before. It felt different from when he did it. The pressure of her fingers was less confident and firm. Though it generated an enjoyable sensation, she felt a little cheated. She preferred him.

“I want to watch you come.” He gestured to the table next to her chair. “Use one of those.”

She turned her head to peruse the selection arrayed on the cloth. Though she’d seen many of the toys in sex shops, she had no idea what some of them were. Vibrators, she understood. Ditto for clitoral stimulators. But she didn't know what to do with the ones that had extra arms and projections. Was she supposed to ride with a buddy?

Gingerly, she selected a vibrator that looked a lot like the one she had at home. Simple and powerful. She played it over her clit and around her labia before slipping it into her pussy. Closing her eyes, she gave herself over to the wonderful sensations. When she masturbated at home, she often imagined him watching her. There was no sweeter bliss than to have this fantasy come true.

“Open your eyes, honey. Look at me.”

In her fantasies, he never interrupted with commands. He told her she was beautiful and sexy, but that was all. The order came as a bit of a shock, distracting her from her impending climax, but she welcomed the warm vibrancy of his voice.

She opened her eyes. He pinned her in place with the force of his gaze. She understood that she wasn’t masturbating. Her hands and the vibrator were a proxy for his hands and his cock. He wasn’t just watching; he was fucking her. That knowledge excited her even more.

“Master, please may I come?”

“You may.”

Waves buffeted her, and she surrendered to them. To him.

A few moments later, he rose from the sofa and held a hand out to her. “Come downstairs with me. You can keep me company while I set up for the party.”

She took his hand and followed him down the wide, curving stairs. The lower level contained the dungeon. Huge windows along one wall let sunlight stream through. She gaped at the spectacular view. It was so like what she’d seen the last time she’d been to the building site, the day Ever asked her to consider moving in with him. And then he’d punished her. She shivered in remembrance.

“The windows are reflective. If you’re outside, you can’t see in. At night, I have blackout curtains that we’ll draw over them.” He stood next to her, giving her a moment to take it all in.

The room was large. Last night when she’d arrived at his house, he’d led her downstairs immediately, but the lights hadn’t been on, and the dungeon was in the other direction. This part at the back of the house consisted of one large living area. To the left and right, matching sectional sofas and accent tables created a stunning symmetry in the room. It struck a chord deep inside her and filled her with a sense of calm satisfaction.

She realized at that moment that he’d never fallen out of love with her. Perhaps he hadn’t said the words, but he’d built the house the way she’d wanted and arranged the furniture in a way he knew she’d like.

Looking up at him, she didn’t try to hide her emotions. She wanted to say so many things, but like always, her feelings jumbled up inside until she couldn’t pick out the threads. One word came out. “Ever.”

Releasing her hand, he enclosed her in his arms. “It’s all right. You don’t have to hide from me.”

She basked in his scent and the feel of him surrounding her. She wore nothing at all, but she didn’t feel exposed. She felt safe. “I don’t want to hide from you.”

He cupped the back of her head with his hand and urged her to face him. “In the next day and a half, I’m going to demand everything from you, Mina. You’re going to give me things you never knew you could give, and you’re going to understand, with every fiber of your being, what it means to belong to me.”

Searching his eyes, she found comfort in his sincerity. The idea of submitting, of allowing another person to take over her body and soul, didn’t terrify her the way it used to. His intentions were good, and he was dedicated to taking care of her. He always had been.

“I want to belong to you. I want you to show me how to give you the parts of me that I can’t even give to myself.” For so long, she’d kept her emotions buried. She’d never truly opened up to anybody, not even the only man she’d ever loved.

He inhaled sharply, and the weight of the moment settled on them both. “I need you to be honest. I need you to tell me if this is just a fantasy for you.”

The threat of tears hovered behind her eyes, and emotion welled in her chest. “When I opened my eyes after the accident and saw you standing above me, I thought I’d died and all my wishes had come true. Later I realized that I’d been shown a light, and I needed to take this chance.”

The hand behind her neck squeezed, pulling her hair in a little warning. “Mina.”

“No, Master. This isn’t just a fantasy for me. I’ve been with my company for long enough that they’ll let me work remotely. I want to know if we have a chance together.”

He pressed his forehead to hers and clenched his fist in her hair. “So do I.”

She smiled and offered her lips to him.

He availed himself of that offer, ravishing her mouth with his brand of love. “Tonight isn’t going to be easy, love. I’m going to push you hard.”

“I know.” She needed to be pushed.

He nodded in the direction of a configuration of metal and padding. It looked like the outline of a box with a T sticking out of the top from two points. “Hop on that bench. We need to see if I have it sized correctly.”

He led her closer. The contraption didn’t make sense until he instructed her to place her elbows on one set of pads and her knees on the other. The T-shaped bar supported her abdomen, though she couldn’t really rest her weight against it unless she wanted to feel it pressing into her tender tissues.

She supposed it could be used for spanking or flogging or any number of activities she’d forbidden. As Ever secured the metal brackets around her wrists, neck, and ankles, she realized he could stick a gag into her mouth and do anything to her he wanted, her limits be damned. But she knew he wouldn’t. She trusted him to push her limits, not break through them.

When he made another circuit around her body, he wrapped the neoprene straps around her arms below the elbows and her legs below the knees. She was well and truly stuck into place.

“This is called a punishment bench, but I don’t plan to punish you right now.”

The neck collar forced her to hold her head up, which put his stomach squarely in front of her. He released the neck cuff, adjusted it down, and locked her in again. Now his cock was in the perfect position.

He bent over and smacked a kiss on her lips. “You look incredibly sexy right now, Mina. I could do so many things to you, including leave you here, bound tightly for no other reason than because I want to see you like this.”