Authors: Ann Jacobs
NoBounds (7 page)
Cole quietly arranged for Petrone’s remains
to be disposed of once Obsidion’s police detectives had collected the physical
evidence they needed. He fought the guilt that surrounded him over the fact
that Ciel had felt she had to kill Petrone. Those feelings wouldn’t go away
though.
I should have killed the fucker myself
. The memory of his sister confined in an eight-by-eight cell behind
sturdy iron bars ate at him, just as thinking of Ciel’s tortured eyes, her
madness, had made Amber unnaturally quiet, reflective. For the first time since
he’d made Amber his slave, Cole had slept alone the night before, unwilling to
subject her to his nightmares, his own tenuous grip on sanity.
He stood in the main dungeon at No Bounds,
looking at the shiny new equipment and wondering if his father had been right.
Had this lifestyle that he loved contributed to Ciel’s final downfall?
No. He wouldn’t allow himself to go there.
For whatever reasons, he got off on wielding sexual power, using it to bring
his lover pleasure. Ciel had chosen that way too, though Cole now believed
Amber was right that she’d cast herself into a Dominant role that didn’t fit
her and had lived her submissive fantasies vicariously, through Amber.
He’d talked with his father and promised
he’d help the lawyer and the shrink Alan was sending to get settled in to what
he imagined would become lucrative practices on Obsidion. He had arranged with
Ciel’s jailers to treat her well. He’d so far never ceased to be amazed by how
loudly money talked, particularly on a planet whose permanent inhabitants had
almost all been transported because of some brush with Federation laws back
home.
Now he had a business to run and a slave to
honor and protect. He’d done all he could for Ciel. Now she had to do the rest
on her own. Cole believed, now that he thought about it, that he and their
father had only delayed her breakdown. He knew now that they’d been wrong,
bailing her out of every scrape, every situation where she had placed herself
and others in danger.
He’d never again believe he could save
someone who didn’t want to be saved. Not even the older sister he’d followed
like a faithful puppy when they’d been children back on Earth.
* * * * *
All of them had been children, when all was
said and done. They’d been teenagers trying their wings in a fast-changing
world on Earth.
Amber couldn’t help remembering those first
days after she’d come to live with her grandparents, and how Ciel had welcomed
her when all Amber had wanted to do was die and join her family in that great
beyond, wherever that might be. If not for Ciel, Amber might not have made it
this far. She might never have felt the loving sting of her master’s
domination.
Cole had arranged all he could for Ciel’s
care and comfort, Amber knew. He’d told her what he’d done, but he hadn’t
needed to, for she knew her master. She trusted his wisdom, his kindness and
most of all his deep affection for the woman they both loved.
Last night, Amber had dreamed. Jumbled,
tumbled snippets, past and present scrambled. Horrific mind-photos of Ciel’s
hands dripping blood, her eyes wild with a madness that had lurked just below
the surface. Master Dax’s eyes, glazed over in death, fed the nightmare image
of him standing over her with that red-hot branding tool, of him beating her
with a cane…of Master Cole rushing in and turning the cane onto Dax.
She’d had sweet dreams too. Of Ciel taking
her in hand, showing her the teenage haunts, introducing her to Cole, who’d
been in her grade at school. Of her first sub experience, when she’d realized
that her pleasure came from believing a master cared enough to discipline
her…and that sexual pleasure could arise from pain. Of Cole stopping her
branding, making her his own…
Where was her master now? She never wanted
to pass another night without him near her, providing her the security she
needed, the sensual banquet she wanted. She needed the reassurance of his
gentle touch, the sound of his voice in her ears, the smells of their mutual
arousal…the slightly bitter, salty taste of him when he allowed her to suck his
beautiful cock.
Hours ago, Amber had readied herself for
him. Her hair lay in riotous curls around her shoulders, the way he liked it.
She’d shaved her pussy again, felt it to be sure it would feel as smooth as
silk beneath his fingers, his mouth. The chain that joined the rings in her
nipples and clit swung back and forth when she moved, setting up a delicious
tingling. Her cunt grew wetter and more swollen with every move she made, and
when she heard his footsteps in the hall, she fairly gushed.
She longed for him to come, take her, show
her once again that she could find the ultimate in pleasure from pain.
* * * * *
Fuck. What was a man to do? Cole tore off
his clothes, his gaze never leaving his slave’s plump, pale buttocks or the
still-pink lily brand that adorned the one on the left. He had told her to wait
in his room for him, but he hadn’t fucking told her to bend herself nearly
double over the pommel horse he used as part of his exercise routine, her
position perfect for spanking…
His cock was about to burst. “Amber.”
“Yes, Master?”
“Do you want me to spank you?”
“Oh yes, Master.”
He laid a hand over the brand, tracing its
outline with one finger. “This is still too tender, sweetheart, for me to flog
you the way I’d love to.”
“I welcome the pain.”
Amber deserved no punishment, though Cole
imagined she was mentally flogging herself over her unintentional part in
causing the scene last night at the jail. “No. You deserve nothing but
pleasure.”
If it took him a lifetime with her, he’d
show her that she could experience sexual pleasure without pain—without being
restrained. He came up behind her, rubbed his cock along her wet, swollen
pussy, pushing lightly at her asshole, her cunt, then backing away and groping
in a drawer for his stash of toys.
“Relax, my sweet slave. And grasp your
ankles with your hands.” Gently he worked lubricant up her ass, then smeared
some on the butt plug and inserted it one bump at a time, watching her squirm
at the invasion. “Easy. Does that feel good?”
“Oh yes. Please, Master, give me your
cock.”
He slapped her smartly on her unmarked ass
cheek. “In good time. I want you to be quiet for me. If you can’t, I’ll have to
gag you.”
“Yes, Master. Oh that feels so good,” she
said when he slapped her again.
He moved away again and rifled through the
drawer. “Here, sweetheart, you asked for it.” Kneeling beside her, he inserted
a ball gag in her mouth and buckled it at the back of her head before slipping
a folded silk scarf over her eyes and knotting it securely.
“I want you to feel my every touch.
Anticipate the next. You need neither to see nor to speak. Concentrate on my
hands, my mouth, my cock. Let me bring you pleasure.”
She whimpered, a slight sound that escaped
the ball gag. Cole skimmed his fingers through her hair, then stood, taking the
time to nuzzle the sensitive skin at the base of her skull, bare now below the
hairline while she lay upside down. Another moan, this one barely audible, told
him that she was enjoying his attention.
The skin on her shoulders and back felt
incredibly soft beneath his fingers, tasted slightly salty when he tongued her
there. He kissed the indentation at the base of her spine, tracing each bony
vertebra with searching fingers. When she let out a muffled cry, he gave in,
found her breasts and explored them as thoroughly as he just had her back,
adding a gentle tug on the chain that led from her nipples to her clit.
“I want you to come for me now,” he
ordered, sliding his hands up her body and giving her nipples a hard, quick
tug. “I want your cunt hot and wet when I fuck you there.”
A shudder tore through her as though he’d
wrenched the climax from her. Someday…someday soon, he hoped. Someday she’d
come without the stimulus of pain. Cole freed her while she still was in the
throes of orgasm and carried her to the bed. “Now, my darling slave, I’m going
to make love to you.”
Amber had never felt such gentleness, such
caring as he’d shown in every touch. He showed her again now with the sweep of
his hands over her body, as though exploring her for the first time. His
kisses, as soft as a butterfly on her eyelids, her cheeks, her swollen lips,
aroused her once more, as much as sharp slaps and cruel tugs on the rings he’d
placed in her most tender flesh. “Yes Master,” she whispered against his lips,
“please love me.”
“I do.” Very gently, as though she were a
fragile flower, he spread her legs and knelt between them. He teased her
unmercifully, not entering her immediately but rubbing his hard cock along her
wet, swollen slit. “This is how I’d have taken you your first time.”
Her first time. Perhaps this was her first
time making love without shame, without the feeling that she must be punished
for wanting to be cared for by the person punishing her. Amber raised her arms
and wrapped them around Cole’s broad shoulders. She held him close as she’d
never dared to before. God, but she felt free, wanted. “I love you too,” she
told him as he plunged inside her, joining their bodies as he’d joined their
hearts when he had fastened his collar around her neck.
This time they came together—great,
shuddering bursts of ecstasy that caught her up, carried her over the top to a
place only he could take her. A safe place, where she needed to feel no fear,
only the end of an erotic journey that wasn’t really an end but a beginning.
More than she had in ten long years, Amber
felt secure as she lay afterward in Cole’s arms, feeling the soft cadence of
his breath against her hair. She had found a home where love could flourish
with trust and caring. With no bounds to the ways they could express it for one
another.
The following summer
When Cole looked back on events of the past
year, he couldn’t help but feel complacent. Yesterday he and Amber had
reenacted the scene they’d done a year ago, when No Bounds had first opened its
doors. This time, thankfully, it had reached its intended conclusion, a mutual
orgasm followed by Cole’s speech of welcome to the ever-growing number of
upper-income members coming for the first time to No Bounds to sample the
forbidden world of BDSM.
Today Amber had joined him for a visit to
Ciel at the institution where she’d been treated ever since the trial. Each
time he saw her, he noticed new improvements, beginning with a smile instead of
the blank stare that had lasted from the day after she’d killed Dax until after
she’d been found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
She’d spoken a few words for the first time
since she’d been locked away, not only to Cole but to Amber. Those words had
made Cole believe for the first time that someday Ciel would recover and be
able to join the kinder, gentler BDSM world she had forced him to create on
this planet so far from home.
Each week a transporter brought supplies,
along with a few new colonists from the Federation. Most still came not of
their own volition but as exiles who had run afoul of Federation law, and some
of them brought serious problems for Obsidion—the same sorts of problems that
had precipitated their exile from Earth. But Cole saw hope in each brave soul
who had made a voluntary decision to come and make this a place law-abiding
citizens could call home.
Cole fastened Amber’s seat belt and gunned
the engine of their hovercraft. It was time to go home. To No Bounds, where men
and women could explore the furthest fantasies of BDSM within a framework of
rules that ensured everyone’s safety…where Doms sought to bring pleasure and
subs sought to serve their masters.
Amber leaned over, touched his lips with
her fingers, caressing him. “You’re smiling, Master. What are you thinking?”
Cole kissed her hand. “That I’ve thought of
a new safe word for you.”
“I can never imagine needing a safe word
when I’m with you.”
He’d believed for a while now that she had
gained more confidence when it came to her own sexual hold on him, but from the
pensive look on her face now, he knew he’d chosen the right word.
“It will be No Bounds.” He tipped up her
chin, held her gaze. “When you use it, you’ll be reminded that I will never
stop loving you, that you will never be less than perfect to me—and that there
is nothing I won’t do to keep you safe and ensure your pleasure. Do you
understand?”
Joy filled her gaze and she nodded. “It
also describes the way I feel about you, Master.” A smile came into her eyes.
“I wish we could get home faster so I could prove it to you.”
He gave her a wicked grin, put the craft on
autopilot and pulled her over to straddle his lap. “Why wait?”
Why, indeed? Their love indeed had no
bounds. No bounds at all.
Ann Jacobs is a sucker for lusty
Alpha heroes and happy endings, which makes Ellora’s Cave an ideal publisher
for her work. Romantica®, to her, is the perfect combination of sex,
sensuality, deep emotional involvement and lifelong commitment—the elusive
fantasy women often dream about but seldom achieve.
First published in 1996, Jacobs
has sold over forty books and novellas, some of which have earned awards
including the Passionate Plume (best novella, 2006), the Desert Rose (best hot
and spicy romance, 2004) and More Than Magic (best erotic romance, 2004). She
has been a double finalist in separate categories of the EPPIES and From the
Heart RWA Chapter’s contest. Three of her books have been translated and sold
in several European countries.
A CPA and former hospital
financial manager, Jacobs now writes full-time, with the help of Mr. Blue, the
family cat who sometimes likes to perch on the back of her desk chair and lend
his sage advice. He sometimes even contributes a few random letters when he
decides he wants to try out the keyboard. She loves to hear from readers, and
to put faces with names at signings and conventions.
Ann welcomes comments from
readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her
author bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
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Ann
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Caden
Kink 2: Shotgun Relations
Club Rio
Brava 1: Loving Control
Club
Rio Brava 2: Switching Control
Club
Rio Brava 3: Unexpected Control
Club
Rio Brava 4: Learning Control
d’Argent Honor: Eternal
Triangle
d’Argent Honor 1:
Vampire Justice
d’Argent Honor 2: Eternally
His
d’Argent
Honor 3: Eternal Surrender
d’Argent
Honor 4: Eternal Victory
Gridiron
Lovers: Hot for the Reunion
Gridiron
Lovers 1: Naked Bootleg
Gridiron
Lovers 2: Forward Pass
Gridiron
Lovers 3: Hot in the Clutch
Lawyers
in Love 1: In His Own Defense
Lawyers
in Love 2: Bittersweet Homecoming
Lawyers in
Love 3: Gettin’ It On
Lawyers
in Love 4: Eye of the Storm
Necessary
Roughness 1: Sackmaster
Necessary
Roughness 3: Best Reception
Necessary
Roughness 4: Prime Defender
Pleasure
Partners 1: His Pleasure Mistress
Pleasure
Partners 2: Pleasure Slave
Pleasure
Partners 3: Enslaving the Master
Pleasure
Partners 4: Imperfect Partners
Pleasure
Partners 5: Perfect Master
Pleasure
Partners 6: Her Alien Masters
Pleasure
Partners 7: Training the Master
Club
Rio Bravo 1, 2, 3 & 4: Controlled by Love
d’Argent
Honor 1, 3 & 4: Full Circle
d’Argent
Honor 2: Eternally His
Enchained
anthology
Lawyers
in Love 1 & 2: The Defenders
Lawyers
in Love 3 & 4: The Prosecutors
Pleasure
Partners 1, 2, 3 & 4: Alien Pleasures
Pleasure
Partners 5 & 6: Alien Masters
Ellora’s
Cave Publishing
No Bounds
ISBN 9781419948725
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No Bounds Copyright © 2013 Ann Jacobs
Edited by Rebecca Hill
Cover design by Willo
Cover photography by Syneca
Models: Georgio & Taylor
Electronic book publication October 2013
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