The Haunted (Sleeping with Monsters Book 1) (11 page)

She
whimpered in fear as he hoisted her in midair, seeing nothing in front of her,
yet all of her senses telling her she was held, penetrated, owned. He stood in
the hallway for the both of them, using his hands to hold her steady as he
rocked back and forth into her. She closed her eyes so that she wouldn’t think
she was insane, so that she could just concentrate on how it felt – her ass was
on fire from where the crop had lit against it, and the places where his hands
touched her burned, and yet her traitorous pussy needed him. She breathed
faster and clung tighter, signaling him to thrust deeper still, and he spun her
around until her back was against a wall, pinning her there with his cock. The
sound of her voice rose in the open, not constrained by a room, and she heard
the open slaps of his body hitting against her wetness just as sharp as the
whip had echoed prior.

Everything
in her tightened, desperate to be held and to hold onto him, inside and out,
until she screamed aloud in satisfaction, the urgency of his thrusts making the
sound vibrate.

He
sped up after she came, fast, faster, fastest, until he held her still, pulling
her down and pushing himself up, and she cried out again for his sake, because
he could not, imagining him losing himself inside her.

Then
he pulled out of her without setting her down, changing his hold on her to be
like a cradle. She didn’t question this, just sagged against his chest, in closed-eyed
relief, as he took her down stairs, across the tile hall, and up the other
stairs to her own bedroom. Once there he flung her on the bed so hard she
bounced.

She
heard his departing steps heavy in the hall, walking away from her, leaving her
all alone on her too big bed.

“Stop
–“ she called after him, and he did. Heat was radiating from her ass from where
he’d whipped her and it reminded her of his hands. “Come…back?”

Her
voice sounded so small in such a big place. But his steps returned to her, pausing
in the door. Willing herself courage, she threw the sheets on the other side of
the bed down. “Stay the night?”

Inside
her room his steps were silent, and so she wasn’t sure if he’d heard her – even
if she’d made her request aloud. But she felt the weight of him as he got into
the bed, felt the springs sigh and give as he crawled up the bed to get into it
behind her and then pull the sheets back up.

Slowly,
ever so slowly, she put her back against his chest, and chastely went to sleep.

The
alarm chirped, waking her to a still dark room. The curtains were drawn, yes,
but no light peeked in from behind them – and Daphne realized with a start that
she ought to be afraid. Had Arthur forgotten something and come back? Or had
someone jumped him and taken his keys? She scooted back on the bed and found
the Master’s presence still there. In moments, his heat overcame her chilling
fear.

“Daphne?”
a man’s voice shouted from below. “Pet, dear, I’m home!”

She
sagged in the bed. “Richard?”

It
was his feet she heard on the stair now. Him, lumbering up in the dark, with
his luggage. She reached over and turned on her reading lamp and saw the covers
tousled all around her. Three people could be hiding in here with her, not just
one ghost.

“It’s
the middle of the night,” she said as he appeared in the doorway.

“I
know! I rushed home to see you, as soon as I could.”

“You
did?”

“Don’t
I always?” he asked, with a grin.

“And
what about your work?”

“The
market righted itself again. With me standing beneath it, just like Atlas.” He
set his bag down and mimed holding the world. Then he started taking off his
tie.

She
pressed her head into her pillow and pulled the sheets up. “Turn off the light
when you’re through.”

He
took his time. She heard him shuffling around their room, kicking his shoes
off, brushing his teeth, and then felt him sink into bed, not where he
belonged, back where the Master had been sleeping, but in front of her, pushing
her warm sheets up.

“What?”
her voice was rough with sleep and prior screaming.

“When
I left you couldn’t get enough of me.” His voice was a low rumble in his chest,
and his hands were reaching out for her waist.

“That
was before you came home at four AM, Richard.”

“But
you made me promise.” His hand trailed up her side. “I took a solemn oath to
fuck you as soon as I returned,” he said as he cupped her breast. “And Vances
are always good for their word,” he said, lowering his mouth to nuzzle at her
nipple.

“You
–“ she moved to push him away, but – if he wanted her, and if she still wanted
a child – she was hovering in indecision, trying to deny how good his suckling
felt, when a hot hand touched the middle of her back and ever so slightly
pushed her forward, into Richard.

She
made a soft noise, and Richard chuckled like he knew her better than she did.

“I
hate…when you leave,” she said, not sure which part was a lie.

“I
know pet, I know,” he bowed to kiss her other breast now, to do that same thing
he always did, where he sucked her nipple in and then stroked his tongue across
it deliberately inside his mouth, and she shuddered.

Was
she betraying the Master by being with him? The hand on her back was insistent,
pushing her, daring her to continue.

Richard
leaned against her, trying to turn her over so he could cover her, but she
quickly shook her head.

“I
want it like this.” No matter that it was the same as the way Jason had taken
her – she didn’t want to turn over and find the Master gone away.

Richard
grinned, smug. The reading lamp cast shadows down on him, making him look like
a devil.

“Whatever
my pet wants, she gets,” he said, pulling himself up the bed, his erection
rubbing against her thighs as he rose. He kissed her and she put her leg up
over his side, feeling his cock angle down and his hand following it to tilt it
to fit inside her.

Despite
the many reasons she had to hate him, Richard fit her perfectly. Perhaps that
was why she’d been so willing to overlook his many flaws. When he was inside of
her, she felt complete, like a puzzle that’s final piece had been found at long
last. She moaned as he slid in, and so did he, his cock satisfied to finally be
home.

“I
could never get tired of fucking you,” he said, looking down at her, kissing her
face wherever he could reach as his hips began to thrust. Her pussy gave an
involuntary squeeze, knowing that he lied, same as she did when she said, “Nor
I, you.”

There
were no words then for a few moments in time, just them rocking with one
another, in and out, dancing in perfect, gasping, time.

And
then, from behind her, heat neared anew. She tensed and Richard looked down.
“What is it, pet?”

“Nothing,”
she said, shaking her head quickly.

“Are
you sure?” His thrusting slowed.

The
Master was right behind her now. She imagined him breathing on her neck, and
she could feel his hands caressing her back, her hot ass, her thighs. “What if
tonight’s the night? That this finally takes?” she said, trying to remind the
Master why she was there.

“Then
I’d be delighted,” Richard said, in a low growl, with another thrust.

As
he said the word delighted, the Master spread her ass wide, and she felt his
cock slide down her cleft and position itself where he and only he had taken
her once before.

“No!”
she protested, and Richard stopped.

“No?”

By
then it was too late. The slight pulling, and then an immediate sense of
fullness. She clawed her hands on Richard’s shoulder as the Master slid
inside.

“Just
-- slower. If this is the time -- make it count.”

Richard
blinked and then nodded solemnly. “Okay,” he said, and started thrusting anew.

The
two of them inside her, one in front and one in back – the sensation of being
stretched and nerves lighting up that had never lit before – Daphne started to
moan incessantly as the two of them worked at her, dancing between both of them
now, pinned and trapped. Richard sped up, unable to help himself.

“Pet
–“ Richard grunted, between thrusts. “You’re so hot and tight, it’s unreal.”

“I
know –“ Daphne gasped. “Don’t stop –“

“I
couldn’t if I wanted too –“ he growled in her ear.

Her
voice rose as they fought over her sex, her hips in Richard’s hands, her
breasts in the Master’s, and she felt like she was being torn in two by
pleasure.

She
put her hands up to use the headboard to push down, unable to get purchase on
anything else with both of them inside her.

“I’m
going to – I can’t hold on anymore –“ Richard warned her, and she felt his cock
stiffen even more inside, as the Master kept ramming into her ass, harder and
harder.

“Wait
-- just –“ she flung one hand out behind her and felt the Master’s ass there,
clenched as he thrust. This was for him, he had to know that, everything was
for him –

“I’m
coming for you!” she shouted triumphant, her hips spasming between both cocks like
a trapped pinball. Everything in her pulled tight, and Richard took her pussy
fast, letting it grab his cock.

“Yes,
yes, yes –“ Richard groaned, guttural, sending waves of hot cum deep inside
her.

He
slid out but the Master stayed deep, claiming her as his own. Then he pulled
out too and Daphne sagged, like a puppet bereft of strings.

Richard
reached a hand down, and pushed her hair away from her face. “Now
that
is how you make a baby.”

Daphne
could hardly breathe, but nodded in desperate hope.

Richard,
with his iron constitution, was up at dawn the next day to work. Daphne felt
him leave the bed and crawled like a cat into the warm spot that he’d left.

The
pregnancy tests would arrive today, and then she’d know where she was. Despite
his anger after her interlude with Jason, the Master had seemed to understand
her predicament last night.

And
last night – she ran her hand down her chest, shivering. If only every night
could be like that. She closed her eyes, savoring the memories, and then
reluctantly got out of bed. Reality called, as did a shower.

She
was drying off when Richard came back in.

“Pet!”
He was still wearing his robe – he could do all his work at home online – and
all the better to jerk off to chats with Becca in.

Daphne
made a face at that – and didn’t think to cover herself in time.

“Oh
my god -- what the hell happened to you?” He crossed the room and grabbed her
arm so that she had to present her ass to him.

She
looked over as though she’d forgotten herself. Yesterday’s escapade with the
whip had left her marbled black and blue. “I was climbing in the stable
yesterday and I fell.”

Richard
looked horrified. “What on earth were you doing climbing?”

“I
was trying to see if the wood in the hayloft was rotten or not. I want our baby
to have a pony.”

“I
need you to be safe, pet – what if something had happened to you?” Richard made
a face and shook his head. “Besides, our child won’t be able to ride until it’s
three or four.”

“I
like to think ahead.” His concern was charming, and she smiled winningly at
him. After last night everything seemed possible again. Maybe there was a way
that everything could work. The three of them, and one small child.

He
smiled back at her and her heart raced like it used to and then -- there. At
the corner of his mouth, Daphne could tell something was missing. It was like a
fraction of his smile had been stolen away. A piece of him broken off, given to
someone else.

She
could see him trying to give his whole heart back to her. She’d held all of it
once before, she was sure. But now that another woman owned a part of it, it
wasn’t fully his to give again.

“I
do hope things work out,” he said, patting gently at her stomach.

“Me
too,” she said, hollowed out by sadness.

He
walked past her on his way in to the bathroom, and Daphne finally glanced at a
clock.

“Richard
– you’d better put on some pants.”

“Why?”

“I
invited someone from town up for lunch today.”

Richard
made a questioning sound as he peed.

“An
antiques dealer. Her name’s Beth. Her aunt used to work here – I think we
should get rid of some of the statues.” She said things she didn’t mean just to
have a reason to talk to him.

“I
thought you liked the statues?” A flush and then the sound of the faucet.

“I
do, but they’re unsafe – I don’t want him climbing on them, if we have a boy.”

“Climbing
up on things – sounds like someone else I know. Hopefully he won’t be as
clumsy,” Richard said.

Daphne
bit her lips, holding emotions in. “We can only hope.”

Daphne
went downstairs to consult with Arthur and found he’d already set the table for
three. “You’re perfect, you know that?”

“Thank
you, Ma’am,” he said with a bow.

Beth
arrived precisely at noon, and looked around in awe. “It’s even bigger than I
thought it was. And the lawns outside – and the trees –“

“I
know.” Daphne grabbed Beth’s hand in a schoolgirl way, excited to finally have
someone else to show the house to.

“I
can’t wait to get the grand tour.”

“I
can’t wait to show you! But – lunch first. Or Mrs. Dudley will be terribly
upset.”

Daphne
and Beth chatted while eating, and the third place setting sat empty. Richard’s
work called, which was just as well, she wasn’t sure he’d bothered to get
dressed yet. It’s not like there were any antiques in their bedroom or his
office anyhow – she’d just avoid those places – and would hope he wouldn’t
flash Beth. Beth was a little mystified at Arthur’s helpful presence.

“He
won’t bite, honestly,” Daphne said. And realized Beth’s concerns might be other
– “Also, we’re paying him well, I swear –“

Beth
laughed. “It’s not that. It’s just that I can’t imagine my aunt serving anyone.
I mean, she’s been a hundred since I was two, so just thinking about her
scurrying in and out, carrying plates –“ She shook her head to indicate the
impossibility.

“She
and Arthur didn’t overlap – he only served the old family. He came out of
retirement for us.”

“Old
indeed! My aunt only worked here for three years.”

“Oh?
What happened?” Daphne leaned forward, eager for gossip about the house, even
if it was twenty years out of date.

“I
have no idea. If she was anything back then like she is now though – I’d guess
she probably got fired, after throwing silverware in her purse.”

Beth
laughed and Daphne laughed, and god, she loved laughing.

Beth
stood. “Come on – I want to see it all. The whole thing.”

Daphne
took Beth through every room, every nook and cranny of the place, except for
Richard’s office and their bedroom and the dungeon where the Master had taken
her, since she still didn’t know when that was. Beth inspected everything
closely, all the pieces of furniture and statuary, tracing her finger along
seams and trying out drawers, occasionally making a satisfied noise.

“Well?”
Daphne asked when they were through.

“Welllll,”
Beth said, pursing her lips like she was about to tell Daphne sour news. “The
whole house is an amazing example of American primitive.”

“What’s
that?”

“It’s
homemade art. And furniture, obviously. He knew what he was doing – the drawers
pull smoothly, the slats fit together well – but because it’s not of a more
popular style, or by a famous craftsman, it lacks extrinsic value.” Beth walked
over and tapped at a statue, and Daphne wondered a little crazily if her
actions made it mad. “You can’t break it up – they’re only worth anything, in context,
as a full set here, really. You could sell tickets though, or have open houses
– set this place up as a kind of small museum.”

“Oh,”
Daphne said, deflating. “I mean, I wasn’t ever going to sell any of it. I was
just curious.”

“Of
course you were!” Beth said. “The lawns are lovely, and you have so many
bedrooms -- you could turn this place into a bed and breakfast, easy.”

Daphne
snorted at the thought of strangers trampling in and out of the Master’s house.
“Maybe,” she said.

“Do
you know anything about the original owner? He must have been a bit of a kook –
building and carving so much -- it’s a crazy labor of love.”

I
know everything and nothing about him, Daphne longed to say. “Just what I’ve
heard from Arthur. He said the Master was a very stern man, but he only knew
him at the end of his life.”

“The
Master?” Beth’s eyebrows rose.

“Arthur’s
name for him, not mine,” Daphne lied, and it tasted bitter on her tongue.
“Would you like to see his workshop?”

“Yes,
please,” Beth clapped her hands, and Daphne led the way out.

They
walked through the fallow vegetable garden, which Beth oo’d and aw’d over, the
sound of lawn mowers in the air. And when they turned around a row of hedges,
they ran straight into Jason. They saw him before he saw them, he was trimming
back the edges of a bush with the same clippers he’d held when he’d seen her in
the window.

“Hello,”
Beth said, with a bit of a leer, and he looked up, startled. At seeing Daphne,
he smiled.

“Hey,”
he said, lowering his ear-protectors.

Beth
veered towards him, instead of staying on the stable’s path. Daphne grabbed the
other woman’s arm and introduced them quickly. “Beth, this is my gardener –
gardener, this is Beth.” Jason’s face clouded at that, and Beth fought her for
just a second, before letting herself be dragged back.

From
inside the workshop, the lawn mowers sounded like distant bees. Beth wandered
around the small dark room appraisingly. “Well, this only confirms it,” she
announced, at the end of her circuit, kneeling down to consider the half-formed
statue that’d watched Daphne and Jason fuck.

“He
was some kind of crazed lone genius…but that’s it.” She rose up and dusted off
her knees and gave Daphne an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, I know you were
hoping it’d be worth a mint –“

“Oh,
not really. My husband and I are well off. I was more just curious what we had.
I’d never seen anything like it before.”

“Neither
have I – and I’ve spent half my life doing this.” She glanced at her watch. “I
should be getting back to the store –“

“I’ll
take you back,” Daphne said, gesturing towards the stairs. Beth took them
casually – and three steps from the bottom, fell hard on her ass.

“Oh
my gosh!” Beth clung to the wall, staggering back up.

Daphne
trotted down quickly. “Are you okay?”

“I
just – phew – it’s –“ she looked around herself. “It felt like someone pushed
me.”

“What?”

Beth
crossed her arms, as if protecting her chest. “It was so weird. I could have
sworn I felt somebody’s hands.”

“Are
you having a heart attack?” Daphne asked. “Or a stroke?” She fluttered a hand
out to Beth’s forehead, and Beth ducked down.

“No,
I’m fine. Just clumsy.”

Daphne
gave her a pained smile. “I know how that goes.”

Daphne
took Beth straight through the house, and Beth chattered nervously along the
way, worried perhaps that her outburst in the workshop had seemed strange. It
would have, if Daphne hadn’t known better.

She
escorted her to the front door, and opened it up, spotting Beth’s car in the
driveway.

“Pet!
Pet!” Richard called from above. Daphne twisted, and saw him loping down the
stairs, two at a time. Luckily, he was dressed. “I wanted to meet your friend
–“

“You
missed lunch,” she chided.

“Work
– but I’m here now. Richard, owner of this vast estate,” he said, introducing
himself after reading the landing, with an silly affected bow.

“Beth,
owner of the antique store in town,” Beth said, bowing back.

“Well,
are we unimaginably wealthy, or are we living in rustic squalor?”

Beth’s
expression was surprised and she inhaled –

“I’ll
explain later, Richard,” Daphne said, putting a hand on his arm. “Beth’s got to
get back.”

“Drat.
Well, I’m sorry for being rude – you’ll have to come back for our dinner party
–“

“What?”
It was Daphne’s turn for surprise.

“It’s
tomorrow night” Richard said, as though he hadn’t heard her. “Seven o’clock, if
you’d like to come. It’ll be casual – as casual anything inside this house can
be.”

“Thank
you – I’d love to attend!” Beth said, and stepped outside, waving at the both
of them. “Anytime you want to come and see me in town, please do,” she said,
with a nod towards Daphne, and then got into her car.

Daphne
waited until the front doors were closed to round on Richard. “Dinner party?”

“I
forgot to tell you – I invited half the board over. Everyone wants to see this
place.”

“But
it’s not ready yet – the rooms aren’t done –“

“Once
you’re done redecorating, we can have a proper housewarming. This is just going
to be a few of the boys and their wives.”

“But
there’s not enough bedsheets –“

“I
ordered ten sets of sheets and towels online this morning. They’ll get here in
time. Just like the other things I saw you order,” he said, waggling his
eyebrows.

Daphne
blanched. When she’d been ordering pregnancy tests is when Becca’d chatted her.
Had Becca talked to Richard since?

“We
don’t even have curtains –“

“We’ll
string up the extra sheets then.” He grabbed her shoulders and squeezed her
tight. “Don’t worry -- I’ve already warned everyone. It’ll be fine.”

“If
you say so.” Frowning, she capitulated again.

Richard
raced back up the stairs, back to ‘business’, and Daphne walked to the library
and looked up at the Master’s portrait.

“Why
did you push her? That wasn’t right.” She looked around the room, waiting to
feel him. “Was it because she was touching your things? I was never going to
sell them. I just wanted to have a friend –“

Daphne
realized the Master hadn’t shoved Beth down the stairs to hurt her badly – he’d
just pushed her back up them, and waited until she was almost all the way down
first, like a warning. But still – it was frightening.