SovereignsChoice (9 page)

Quickly I snatch my fingers away and pull
the crimson shirt closed tight around me. But it’s too late—the damage has obviously
been done. “I just wanted to check my email and tell my professors I wouldn’t
be in class tonight,” I say miserably. “I didn’t mean to…to disobey
orders…Master.”

His eyes soften when I use his title but only
slightly. “Whether you meant to or not, you’ve violated the rules I set for
you, Emma,” he says sternly. “And for that, I’m afraid there will have to be a
punishment.”

“A punishment?” I squeak, remembering the
way he put me over his knee and spanked me the night before. My ass is still a
little tender from that and I’m in no hurry for more.

“Did you really expect anything else?” he
demands.

I drop my eyes. “No Master. I-I guess not.”

Aiden seems mollified by my submissive
answer. He nods and looks at his watch. “Good, since I can’t eat with you this
afternoon, I’ll have Barnes bring a light lunch to your room. Afterward, may I
suggest a cooling swim in the pool? It might help you keep those hands where
they belong.” His eyes flick over my hands, curled into anxious fists in my
lap.

Actually a swim sounds lovely and I want to
see the pool. “But I don’t have a suit,” I protest.

“You don’t need one,” Aiden says sharply.
“For the last time, Emma, no one will be watching you.”

“But your uh, butler guy—Barnes…”

“Is legally blind.” One corner of his
sensual mouth quirks up in a rare smile. “He finds his way through the house by
touch and manages by being familiar with everything.”

“What?” Now I’m pissed. “And just whenwere
you going to tell me that?” I demand. “You
knew
how uncomfortable I was
this morning at breakfast when you made me go naked in front of him. You—”

“Careful, darling,” he says softly. “You’ve
already earned yourself one punishment today. Don’t make it two.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and cross my
arms over my chest. “Fine.”

“That’s better.” Aiden nods at me. “And the
reason I let you believe he could see is that I need you to be ready to display
yourself when I ask you to. You weren’t willing to do that last night at the
ceremony. I needed to see if I could break down your barriers enough for you to
do it this morning.”

“But why?” I can’t help asking. “Why would
it be necessary for you to…to show me off like that?”

“For my pleasure. You’re a very beautiful
woman, Emma. It might please me to share your beauty with others sometime in
the future.”

“What?” I’m suddenly cold all over. “You
want to
share
me? Huh-uh, no way! That’s not in my job description.”

His eyes turn cold again, so cold I can
almost feel the frost coming out of the computer screen. “
Your job
description is whatever I say it is,”
he growls softly. And then his tone
softens. “But when I say share, I mean in the visual sense only. I will never
tolerate another man’s hands on you. Just the thought of it…” He shakes his
head, his eyes flashing fiercely. “It doesn’t bear thinking of.”

I feel a little better now. At least he’s
not thinking of making me take on the starring role in a gang-bang orgy or
something abhorrent like that. Still, the idea of being naked in front of other
people makes me unhappy. I guess it’s something we’ll have to take up another
time.

“I see,” I say, as neutrally as I can.

Aiden cocks his head to one side. “Do I
detect a hint of defiance, Emma?”

“Why would I be defiant?” I give him my
best wide-eyed innocent look. “I don’t want to risk earning another punishment,
right?”

“Ah yes, your punishment.” He leans back
and gives me a cold, thoughtful look. “I’ll be home precisely at five. When I
get in, I expect to find you completely naked, wearing only the collar, clamps
and harness.”

“But-but what about our deal?” I clutch the
red shirt around me like a lifeline. “You said I could wear—”

“If you can’t obey orders, you forfeit your
privileges, Emma,” he says. “As I was saying, I want you naked and bent over
the bed with your bare ass in the air, ready to take your punishment. Do I make
myself perfectly clear?”

A thrill of fear and something else goes
through me. “Yes Master,” I whisper, unable to say anything else.

“Very good. I’ll see you at five.” And then
the screen abruptly goes blank and the little box with his face in it
disappears.

I spend the rest of the day in a haze of
worry and dread. What is Aiden planning to do with me? Probably spank me—but
with what? His hand? A cane? He won’t really hurt me, will he? I mean, the
spanking was a little painful but not in a life-threatening kind of way. But
he’s a vampire and they’re not usually known for their leniency.

Barnes, the blind old servant—now I feel
guilty for thinking he was creepy—brings a tray to my room at noon. It has
creamy, mild goat cheese, some crisp wheat crackers and a delicious assortment
of fruit. There’s a white-wine spritzer to go with it, which I gulp down though
I usually don’t drink. But at this point I’ll take anything to calm my nerves.
Hell, I wish I had spreadable valium to go on my crackers instead of cheese.

Lunch is delicious but I really don’t have
much of an appetite. My stomach is tied in knots by the images my brain keeps
showing me. Images of me spread out naked while Aiden does whatever he wants to
me. Goddess, I have gotto get hold of myself!

An hour after lunch I find my way to the
pool. It’s in an enclosed atrium with tropical flowering plants all around.
Beautiful. A glass skylight above lets in the sunlight, warming the pale-blue
water to perfection.

I remove my collar because I’m not sure if
the ruby is real or not. If it is, I’d better not risk losing it at the bottom
of the pool. Then I look down at my harness. I want to take it off too but I’d best
not press my luck. I dive in with it on, trying to ignore the feeling of the
phallus moving within me as I stroke through the water.

After forty minutes of laps I feel a little
more calm and clearheaded. I exercise regularly in my futile attempt to lose
weight and while physical activity doesn’t seem to do much to budge the numbers
on the scale, it
does
do wonders for my state of mind.

After my swim I shower off the chlorine in
the shower stall, placed conveniently and unobtrusively in the corner of the
atrium, and dry myself on a large, fluffy towel. There’s a whole stack of them
on one of the lounge chairs beside the pool and I use another on my hair. I
take special care to dry the harness but it seems to have taken no lasting
damage from the water. Maybe the leather has been specially treated to
withstand it? I don’t know and don’t care—I just want to be sure Aiden can’t
accuse me of taking it off for any reason.

All the swimming and obsessing I’ve been
doing over my upcoming punishment has worn me completely out. I know it seems
strange but I’m actually sleepy.A glance at the clock on the wall shows
it’s still hours before Aiden comes home. Plenty of time to relax in one of the
lounge chairs and stare at the pool for a while. Maybe I can let my mind go
blank and stop thinking about what he’s going to do to me when he comes home…

I wake up with that hazy, confused feeling
you get when you mean to just lie down for a power nap and wind up sleeping
away the entire afternoon instead.
What am I doing here? Why am I naked in a
lounge chair by a strange pool?
I blink at my surroundings uncertainly. Then
suddenly the silver hands of the clock catch my eye. Hmm, it’s ten ’til five.

Holy crap!
Ten ’til five!
Alarm bells start going
off in my head. Aiden is going to be home soon—very soon! And what if he’s
early?

I stumble up out of the lounge chair and run
out of the pool atrium and back into the house in a blind, naked panic. Which
way is my room? I turn down a long mirrored corridor that looks vaguely
familiar but ends up in a part of the house I haven’t seen before. Crap. I
waste precious minutes backtracking, trying not to get more lost. All the time
I can almost hear the clock ticking. Aiden said he would be home preciselyat
five and I bet it’s only five ’til now. If I’m not in the position he told me
to be in… But I don’t even want to thinkabout that.

Finally I find the right hallway and make a
mad dash for my door. Outside the house I hear the crunching sound of tires on
the crushed-shell driveway. Oh no, he’s home! I make it to the bedroom and tear
open the door. Rushing for the dresser, I grab the nipple clamps and clip them
in place. I’m so worried about being on time that I barely feel their bite as
the fine golden chain swings between my breasts.

With just seconds to spare, I run to the
foot of the bed and bend over it, placing my hands on the cool satin coverlet
and pushing my ass out into the air. I breathe a sigh of relief—
whew, made
it!
My hair is flying everywhere, looking positively wild, no doubt. I wish
I didn’t look so disheveled from my haste but at least Aiden can’t give me
another punishment because I’m not following orders. I—

Suddenly I realize I am missing something.

I don’t feel the butter-soft leather band
around my neck or the weight of the ruby pendant in the hollow of my throat.
Almost too horrified to look, I turn my head slowly to glance at my reflection
in the old-fashioned oval mirror over the dresser. Oh my Goddess, I don’t have
on the collar! The first thing he gave me to wear and I lost it!

No, not lost—I took it off to swim. It’s
just down by the pool. I can still get it—

But just then Aiden stalks quietly into the
room, ending my fantasies of zipping down to the pool, grabbing the collar and
getting back to the bedroom just in time to assume the position. “Hello, Emma,”
he says and his voice is so cold I feel as if I swallowed a pound of ice cubes.
“Are you ready for your punishment?”

“Y-yes Master,” I somehow manage to croak
out. I keep my body bent over the bed, trying not to shiver under his keen
gaze. Now I’m actually glad for my fly-away hair. Maybe it will hide the fact
that I’m not wearing the collar. My stomach clenches in fear. How angry is he
going to be if he finds out?

“You seem agitated,” he remarks, which is
the freaking understatement of the year. “Have you been that worried about
taking your punishment?”

I think about my hours of anxiety and
obsessing, wondering what he is going to do to me, and my pulse races. “Uh, you
could say that,” I admit in a low voice.

“Emma, that has to stop.” He sounds as
though he is frowning but I don’t dare raise my head to see. “Punishment is
part of your life now. You can’t submit properly if you fear it so much.”

“How am I not supposed to fear being
beaten?” I demand, jerking my head up to glare at him.

He looks offended. “I am not going to beatyou. There’s a difference between physical abuse and corporal punishment,
you know. I’m simply trying to train you to submit. A process you’re making infinitely
more difficult by—” Suddenly his eyes narrow. “Emma,” he says in a low,
dangerous voice, “Where is your collar?”

Shit!
My
heart pounds out a frantic rhythm and my mouth is too dry to talk.

“I asked you a question.
Where
is
it?” He’s still speaking softly but the cold rage in his voice would be enough
to freeze anyone in place. “Did I not tell you that I wanted you naked, bent
over the bed, wearing the collar, the clamps and the harness?”

“Y-yes,” I manage to get out at last.

He takes a step toward me, looming over me,
glaring. “Then whydid you disobey me? Are you deliberately trying for
another, much harsher punishment?”

“No, all right?” I burst out at last. I
stand up and cross my arms over my chest protectively. “I just forgot it. I
left it by the pool. I took it off so it wouldn’t get ruined while I was
swimming. Then I-I lost track of time and I had to rush back to the room only I
got lost because y-your house is s-such a freaking m-maze…”

The lump I felt earlier while talking to
Lexy is suddenly back in my throat and this time I can’t swallow it down. I try
to go on but whatever I was going to say ends in a sob. I do my best to hold
back the tears. I don’t want to cry in front of him. It’s stupid and girly and
weak and it will probably just reinforce his view of me as a dumb little sex
slave but I can’t help it—the tears just come.

I don’t know what to expect from Aiden—maybe
he will bend me over the bed by force and spank me again? Or give me a look of
cold disgust and then leave. Vampires aren’t known for being warm and fuzzy and
he doesn’t exactly strike me as the hearts-and-flowers type.

But he does neither of these things.

Instead, he gathers me into his arms and
sits on the edge of the bed and just…holds me.

“All right, darling. It’s all right,” he
murmurs, pillowing my head on his shoulder. “Everything is going to be fine.”

“I-I don’t see how,” I say, trying to get
myself under control. I don’t want to but I have to admit I like the feeling of
his strong arms around me. And his scent, the smell of cedar and dark,
masculine spice, is comforting somehow. “This isn’t going to work,” I tell him miserably.
“I’m just…I’m not the girl you want. This is all a big mistake.”

“Look at me, Emma.” He lifts my chin until
our eyes meet. “I did
not
make a mistake when I chose you,” he says softly.
“You absolutely are the one I want—the
only
one I want. I don’t know how
to make that any clearer.”

“But you want a woman who knows how to
submit, to do this kinky S&M thing with you,” I protest. “And I…I’ve never
even had sex at all, let alone kinky sex. How am I supposed to do this?”

“With my help, every step of the way.” He
strokes my cheek. “Please believe me, Emma, I wouldn’t demand your submission
if I didn’t have to. But I do—a great deal is riding on it.”

I frown. “I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to,” he assures me. “Not
right now, anyway. But it’s important for you to know that I’m here for you.
I’ll help you. But you have to do your part too. You have to at least
try
.”

“Why should I?” I ask mutinously, swiping
at my eyes. “Why should I try so hard to get past my comfort zone and break
down my boundaries just so you can dominate me and turn me into a good little
submissive?”

“Because you want to.” His voice has gone
deep and soft and dangerous again—his Master tone. “Because it makes you wet to
submit to me—it arouses you as much as it arouses me to see you being
submissive.”

“What?” I shift uncomfortably in his lap, suddenly
very much aware of my nakedness. “I…what are you talking about?”

“Don’t try to deny it, darling.” He strokes
my cheek again and this time his touch sends slow fire dancing through my
veins. “Tell me something, what part of that ‘hot movie’ did you enjoy watching
the most? Was it when the Dom blindfolded his submissive…or when he tied her to
the bed?”

My breathing is suddenly shallow and tense
and my skin feels too small for my body. “I-I don’t know what you mean.”

“Come now, Emma.” He is beginning to sound
stern again. “Don’t waste your time or mine by lying to me. You yourself admitted
you found the movie arousing. And even if you hadn’t admitted it, I caught you
with your hand in the cookie jar, so to speak.”

I feel my face heat as I remember how he
caught me touching myself. Goddess, I’ve never done that in front of anyone
before—it’s such an intensely private act. The fact that he saw me, even for a
few moments, makes me want to die of shame.

“Emma,” he says warningly and I know he’s
waiting for my answer about the movie.

“Fine,” I whisper, looking down at my
hands. “I-I liked all of it, all right?”

“No, it’s not all right.” He raises my chin
again. “Look at me. Tell me which part you liked the most. If you don’t, I’m
going to take you into the study and we’ll watch it together until I know simply
by observing you.”

Oh Goddess, I’m going to have to tell him.
“I…” I clear my throat. “I liked the part where he went down on her.”

“Intriguing,” he murmurs. “And what exactly
did you like about that? Have you ever had it done to you before?”

“No, never.” My voice has dropped to a
whisper but I still keep talking. “I’ve never…never had a guy do that to me but
I liked the way it looked. The way he was so…so masterful with her and yet so
gentle at the same time. He was…was touching her, tasting her, and she couldn’t
do anything about it because she was tied down.”

Then I look away again, my heart beating
and my cheeks burning. Goddess, I can’t believe I just admitted that! Aiden is
right, I amturned on by this submission stuff.

It’s a revelation to me but he doesn’t seem
surprised at all.

“Good, very good. You see, you
can
obey orders when you try.”

“I shouldn’t
want
to try,” I mutter,
still looking away.

“But you
do
want to, don’t you,
darling?” He kisses my flaming cheek and I shiver with nervous tension. “You
don’t want to admit it but you long to give yourself to me. To open yourself
and let me master you, just as the Dom mastered his lovely submissive in the
movie you watched.”

“I…I…” I can’t quite bring myself to admit
it out loud. But I know that he sees the truth in my face.

“That’s all right, we’ll talk about it
later. Right now we still need to tend to your punishment.”

“What?” I look up at him uncertainly. “But
I thought—”

“Darling, your tears roused something in me
I haven’t felt in years—compassion,” he murmurs. “But a submissive still has to
take her punishment.”

“Wh-what are you going to do to me?” I ask,
my voice quavering. “I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon, wondering…”

Aiden frowns. “I can see that with you
anticipation turns quickly to anxiety. That was never my intention.”

“I can’t help it,” I say. “I’m a worrier.”

“So I see.” He sighs. “Very well. This once
I’ll let you know what I’m going to do. First, I’m going to bend you over the
bed. Then I’ll give you exactly five strokes with my belt.”

“Your belt?” I look down, studying the
black leather belt around his lean, muscular waist nervously. It has a very
hard-looking silver buckle.