The One Worth Finding (5 page)

When their eyes met again,
she
saw a
shudder run through him. She knew he fought the urge to avert his
gaze immediately.

“Forgive me, Ma’am,” he said, “I
should never dare to look at you without permission.”

“
Don’t forget, Mr. Harte,” she
replied softly, fighting the urge to call him by a gentle
endearment, “you’re not a sub at the moment. But you’ll be a sub
tomorrow. Mine.”

“
Yes, Ma’am,
“ he breathed, “I can’t
wait.”

“What’s your safe word, Mr. Harte?”
Tara asked.

“It’s lemonade,” he answered and
smiled when she lifted a questioning eyebrow, “I’d never say that
in the throes of passion.”

His voice did funny things to her. It made
her crave to take control. He looked so sweet, but he had the devil
in his eyes. And he held his body in a way that told her he would
fully embrace the pleasure she could dish out. He didn’t hide
behind restraints and modesty. When he came, he would be screaming.
She was a sucker for screamers.

“During aftercare,” she said, “I’ll
wrap you in a blanket to keep you warm and cuddle you against my
chest.”

His pupils dilated until she could
hardly see the color of his eyes.

“
Or don’t you want to be touched
after a scene?” she whispered softly “Some subs don’t.”

“Ma’am,” he breathed, “I always want
to be touched.”

When she looked at him again, he
subtly lowered his eyes to the floor. Tara felt a shiver of pure
delight running up and down her spine.

Was there a chance he could establish
a modicum of order here?

Jack Malcolm swallowed the groan he so
wanted to let thunder through the room. Domme and sub had more or
less forgotten that he was in the room. Well, he wouldn’t complain;
at least there was no doubt these two would hit it off.

He liked to do things by the book though,
and that meant he wouldn’t let them go at it like rabbits as soon
as he was out of the room.

He looked at Tara. She was different
tonight; he hadn’t seen her this vibrant in several years. Her
cheeks were glowing, and there was no doubt that her interest was
genuine. Her Domme was intrigued by this sub, who was, no need to
deny it, a damn pretty sight.

He sighed inwardly. He wished
her so much luck after all the misery she had endured. He’d always
wanted to see her smile
more often, to rid her of the desperate boredom
she often showed when she watched scenes in the playroom. Nothing
had really touched her after Jeff’s death.

But now, he saw what had been
missing all those years. The eagerness to play. He welcomed it. And
he would let them play
. Tomorrow.

“
Mr. Harte,” he interrupted the
soft power play that was already underway between his visitors,
“I’ll arrange for you to go home now. Try to get some sleep,
prepare for tomorrow. I suggest you two meet up here at noon; you
will be all alone at that time of day, and can start with the first
steps into your relationship. After that, you can decide the
schedule on your own and play whenever you like. You’ll be a sub
when you enter here tomorrow. Which means, all the rules of the
club apply: no shoes, no socks, no shirt, black bracelet for a
committed sub, don’t look into a dominant’s eyes until you’re
asked, don’t talk when you don’t have permission…. you know the
routine.”

Aaron nodded, but didn’t move. Tara
smiled and got up first. Aaron followed suit.

A broad-shouldered young man
entered.

“Hey Jack!” he said “You need a
driver?”

Jack nodded, indicating
Aaron.

“
Yes, David”, he said,
“please
drive
Mr. Harte home.”

Aaron looked almost shyly at
Tara.

“
Permission to kiss your hand,
M
a’am?” he
whispered.

She nodded, unable to stop
herself.

Aaron bowed low and pressed his lips to
the back of her right hand, shuddering in delight when he imagined
what this hand would do to him eventually. He was happier than he’d
been in months.

Tara needed every ounce of
self-control to keep her calm. His lips were like warm silk, her
skin tingled when she felt the
slight moisture of his kiss.

Aaron released her hand and
straig
htened,
smiling softly at her.

“I’m looking forward to our meeting
tomorrow,” he said, his warm voice slightly hoarse.

“Me too,” she answered.

She didn’t look at Jack for a while
after Aaron was gone.

“Okay,” she finally said with a groan,
“you were right, he’s perfect.”

Jack chuckled.

“Whoa,” he said, “I’ve never seen you
like that, my dear. Evil Mistress Tara has a beloved new pet,
huh?”

“
The only part of me that’s evil
is the fact that I like to play with a part of the male anatomy
most men don’t want to have touched. I hope he’s as good as I think
he is.”

“You think he’s that good?”

Tara thought for a moment. Damn, she
couldn’t wait for tomorrow; she probably wouldn’t sleep
tonight.

“Trust my instincts,” she said,
looking directly into Jack’s eyes, “he is.”

Chapter 4

Aaron hardly
spoke on his way home. Damn, his
cock was so hard it hurt like hell. Thank god that David did all
the talking. Aaron felt sorry for not contributing much, but his
mind was a million miles away, and there was nothing he could do
about it.

When the car stopped at the
apartment where he would spend the night, Aaron tried to give a
cheerful goodbye and raced up the steps. He almost jumped up and
down whil
e he
waited for someone to open the door.

As soon as Jackie’s slightly disheveled
head came into view, he pushed her out of the way as gently as
possible and stormed inside, asking a startled Sondra where his
room was while he passed her by.

Sondra gave directions, which earned
her a brief “Thank you” before Aaron disappeared inside his room
and slammed the door.

Sondra looked at Jackie.

“What in hell was that?” she asked
incredulously.

“
Weeeellll,” Jackie drawled with
an evil smile, “either the meeting was a complete disaster, or it
went EXCEPTIONALLY well.”

Evie, who had quietly sat in an armchair
hidden from Aaron’s direct view, got up from her seat and sauntered
into the kitchen.

“Given his murderous erection,” she
shrugged, “I’d say the latter.”

Aaron could hardly draw enough air
into his lungs.

Damn, damn, damn, he couldn’t remember
when he’d last been that horny. His clothes felt rough and chafing,
his skin aflame, so he undressed completely, leaving the garments
wherever they fell. He opened his suitcase, almost destroying the
zipper in his hurry to get to the contents, and pulled out his
toybag. He took his favorite dildo and the bottle of lube
and…

His phone was ringing. Cussing a blue
streak, he fished for his cell.

Oh no - Sam. Aaron flung down on the bed
and bit into the pillow in frustration. He couldn’t ignore him. He
pressed the answer-button.

“Hello?”

“
Hey, hey, hey, little subbie!”
Sam exclaimed, “How did it go? Come on, tell the boss everything
about your new Domme
!”

Aaron groaned. What did he want
to know? That her skin tasted like sugar-covered rose petals, that
she smelled as desirable as the pastry shop had when he’d been five
year
s old or
that her eyes made a man want to do unspeakable things just to
please her?

“
Uhm, she’s…great.”

He flinched. She wasn’t only great, she
was wonderful, breathtaking, mind-blowing, addictive, so sexy he
could hardly breathe and had the mother of all hard-ons right
now.

“Listen, Aaron,” Sam growled, his
voice stern and Dom now, “don’t be a disgrace to your club, do you
hear me? If you bungle this, I’ll never hear the end of it in this
lifetime! You will submit to her, is that clear?”

“
Sir,” Aaron answered with a
sigh, “I won’t have the slightest problem submitting to her! In
fact, I’m counting the hours until I can sink down at her feet! I’m
dying to please her in every way she wants! Now would you please,
please end this call and let me jerk off in peace?
PLEASE!”

For a moment, he only heard the
faint sound of Sam’s breathing. Then the giant man started to laugh
so loudly Aaron had to
get some distance between the phone and his
ear.

“That GREAT, huh?” Sam
chuckled.

“
You have no idea…” Aaron moaned,
“she’s… you know… damn, I was absolutely ready to scene with her
tonight! The club was buzzing when I left! Why do I have to wait
until tomorrow?”

“
Because Jack said so, Aaron!”
Sam said firmly, “now take care of the matter at hand and relax,
for god’s sake. I’ll call again tomorrow night! Be a good
boy!”

Sam ended the call, and Aaron tossed his
phone into the next corner, already reaching for the lube and his
dildo. Time to get rid of the damn hurt…

Darkness swallowed the city like a
hungry monster.

Tara stood naked in front of her huge
windows. She hadn’t switched on the lights, her need for inky
solitude paramount at the moment. Her skin burned from various
sensations. Need. Bitter longing.

She walked to the desk and picked up the
little frame placed next to her computer. She couldn’t see the
picture in the dark, but she didn’t need to. Jeff’s face was
forever burned into her soul. She couldn’t escape the force of her
memories. The hurt they still brought after all those years. She
felt her chest constrict, felt the choking sensation in her
throat.

She had cried until she’d been empty
after the funeral. Now, only dry sobs would come, leaving her cold
and spent as if she’d been throwing up for hours. The muscles of
her stomach ached.

Eyes closed, she tried to summon the
moisture into her eyes that would give her a short release from her
anguish.

Aaron Harte had rattled her cage, and he’d
rattled it good. She hadn’t realized how soothing it felt to keep
her distance from all the subs she played with. She couldn’t allow
them to creep behind her defenses, and so far, she never
had.

She knew that she scared some of them,
just by the way she looked at them, her gaze skinning them alive,
stripping them of everything they wanted to keep secret. Most of
the subs didn’t get the chance to find out that she had no interest
in cruelty. Mistress Tara wasn’t a sadist. She craved something
that was hard to give: a blast that would thaw out her frozen
heart.

She’d never believed in love at
first sight, but damn if she didn’t feel the ice around her heart
melting during this evening’s meeting. They had looked at each
other and it had been there, the spark of something unspeakable, an
instant connection she’d never felt before
. The frozen armor she hid behind had
cracked, and that she couldn’t allow.

Love had almost delivered the
final blow once, and she had raged and screamed and suffered until
she’d felt
slashed inside. She couldn’t love again- ever.

Aaron Harte was dangerous. With
his sweet smile, angelic beauty
, and perfect obedience. He was dangerous because
she knew she had to steel her soul. And at the same time knew she
most likely couldn’t.

Her nipples were stiff from the cold and
from emotions she had long ago buried inside her past. She wondered
what his nipples would look like. Would he moan if she bit them?
She bet he would. He was as perfect as something made of marzipan.
The softness of his skin irresistible. His lips so full and pale,
screaming for her kiss, the nip of her teeth.

She put the frame down and averted her
gaze in the darkness.

“
Forgive me, my sweet”, she
whispered.

She knew she just imagined the faint mist
around her; imagined she lived in a house haunted by
ghosts.

Aaron took his time to choose
the right clothes to wear to the club
, just in case. He had no idea if she
would see him dressed, but better safe than sorry.

He spent almost half an hour in
intimate exchange with his suitcase and finally picked an elegant
black suit with a dark grey vest. Of course, an immaculate white
shirt was mandatory.

He showered carefully, skipped the shave
today (a slight stubble made him look a little rougher, which
appealed to most women) and applied just a whiff of Eau de Cologne.
He had administered his nightly enema yesterday, but could hardly
resist the urge to repeat the procedure after his morning shower.
He forced himself not to do it. He was spotlessly clean down there,
dammit! No need to become compulsive. Everything would be
alright.

He watched his face in the
mirror. He could read the strange longing in his eyes, a gleam that
hadn’t been there before. What had she woken in him? He was almost
afraid to get his hopes up, to enjoy all this far too much. She was
only his temporary Domme. She would leave him in the end. He
couldn’t afford to
be even lonelier after the public scene than he’d been before. He
sighed.