To Serve Is Divine (21 page)

The playroom was empty when she entered. Removing her thin robe, Catherine hung it by the door and went to her place. Master didn’t make her wait long. There seemed to be an urgency – a need – radiating off of him. He was out of sorts, and Catherine hoped before their scene was over that she would have alleviated him of his stress.

The warm air circulated around her. Master’s soft caress of her face and the stroking of her thick hair aided in helping her to feel relaxed and certain in her decision. There would be no resistance from her tonight; she would do whatever Master asked of her.

“In light of my unexpected trip, I have changed my plans for this evening. I do believe you need a crash course in self-awareness. If the tasks I set in my absence are to have any effectiveness, then you need to be comfortable playing with your pussy.”

Master’s words made her gulp. He knew she didn’t masturbate well.

“Get on the bed, slut. Make yourself come for me.”

With his plan laid out, that was how the weekend proceeded. Master made her stay on the large bed and play with herself repeatedly until her curls stuck to her face with perspiration. After the first half dozen orgasms, she noticed that he had placed assorted toys within her reach on the bed. When Catherine didn’t move to use one right away, he demanded it.

By Saturday night, Catherine’s fingers looked like prunes and she felt raw – but she had the art of masturbating at her Master’s command down. He hadn’t sought any release the whole time.

“Tonight you will sleep in my room.”

Her emerald-eyes grew large at his pronouncement. She had yet to see the inside of his room, let alone have spent any time in it. Master had explained it was his personal space when he’d first shown her the house all those months ago, and she’d accepted that.

“I have been very gracious to you, and feel I deserve some relief before we must part ways.”

She spent the night tethered to his oak bedpost by a long length of rope tied to fur-lined, pliable, pink leather cuffs. They shared their final hours with Master delighting in the pleasures of her body whenever the urge struck him – which was frequent throughout the night.

~~~Chapter 16~~~

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Getting on the plane had been bittersweet. Catherine had agreed to stay one more night beyond their usual planned time, and Jayden had her sleep in his room again. Granted, the first night they didn’t get much sleep. Sunday night had found him tethering her to his bedpost, but not sleeping on the floor. Their final night was spent in his bed, where she slept in his arms.

He hadn’t slept. Couldn’t, in fact, thanks to some unknown desire to keep watch over her and memorize every detail of her face. There were a couple of freckles on her left cheek that were larger than the others. Her snore came with a slight whistle. She rubbed her nose quite often. Even when she passed gas in her sleep, he had found it . . . cute? Endearing that she was so relaxed around him?

What had shocked him was when an obvious flush bloomed over her bare chest, her nipples hardened, and she whimpered his name: Jayden, not Master. The gasp had left his mouth unheeded and she had rolled into him in response, burrowing her nose against his chest. He’d kissed the top of her head, and then stroked her hair until she settled down.

That single moment, more than anything they’d done thus far, was what continued to play on a loop in his mind while they went through the pre-flight checklist.

Samantha had been at Love Field before they arrived, so when the car pulled up, she had his coffee, his itinerary ready to review, and what seemed like a smug grin when he introduced her to Catherine.

Yes, Catherine had ridden with him since he’d been late getting them out of the house. It had just been too hard to unwrap his arms and wake her.

Catherine was gracious and polite while he made the introductions, and he left the two women to chat for a moment while he took Micah aside.

“I have a favor to ask of you, Micah.”

“Of course, Sir. If it’s in my power, I’ll do it,” the boy replied with eagerness.

“Keep an eye on her for me, yeah?” Jayden wasn’t looking at Micah as he talked, but across the distance to where Catherine stood with Samantha.

Catherine’s red hair was unfettered and blowing in the light morning breeze. When her hand came up to capture the wayward strands, Jayden felt his chest pinch at the intrinsic beauty she displayed in the soft glow of the rising sun.

He didn’t understand what was happening.

A soft chuckle pulled his attention back to Micah who was watching Jayden with narrowed eyes. “It would be an honor, Sir.”

Jayden clapped Micah on the shoulder, and then shook his hand before moving toward the ladies and the plane with long, sure strides.

He could only hope his business would be settled sooner rather than later, and he’d be stateside once again with his jewel in his arms.

~*~

The first two weeks passed in a blur, full of welcome dinners, meeting the workers, and factory tours. Jayden checked in with Micah once a week and Catherine daily – though with the time difference their contact was mostly through email. As much as he wanted to Skype with her, Jayden knew she needed her sleep and refused to have her stay up to accommodate him.

He’d send her instructions, or daily tasks, which in turn, she would write up what the experience had been like and email it back to him. By the time the second Friday night rolled around, he was itching for sexual relief, and her report from Thursday’s task of not wearing panties while she temped at the library served to make matters worse.

How Jayden would have loved to have observed Catherine from a distance. Her mid-thigh length skirt would inch up her creamy, toned legs while she climbed the short stools to return books to the upper shelves . . .

Before he could think about it, Jayden had the phone in his hand and was asking Samantha to join him in his hotel room. He tried to ignore how happy she sounded down the line. Inside him things were shifting, and Jayden knew it wasn’t Samantha he wanted with him, but he was stubborn. Admitting he had more than platonic feelings for Catherine would do neither of them any good, and time with Samantha would remind him of that, in addition to soothing the needy ache which had plagued his balls since parting ways with Catherine.

In a move unlike Jayden, he went to the mini-bar and poured himself a Saki, downing it and pouring a second. By the time the knock sounded at the door of his suite, a numbing buzz was coursing through his body.

Lightweight
, Jayden thought to himself when he went to open the door and missed the handle.

Samantha stood there with flushed cheeks and bright eyes, which darted to the floor the moment he had the door open. Her long, tanned legs stretched out from beneath a red pair of incredibly short shorts. Following the line of her torso, her midriff was bare, and her small titties were hidden by a matching halter top. He assumed he’d caught her working out.

“Good evening, Sir. You called?”

“Yes, I did. Please come in,” Jayden invited and held the door open. “Saki?” he asked while moving back to the bar to pour himself a third. It was beginning to taste rather good to him.

“Oh. Um, no thank you, Sir. Sir?”

Jayden turned to her with upraised eyebrows while he threw back the drink. “Yes?”

“If you don’t mind me asking, are you okay?” Her brows furrowed in concern, and Jayden laughed.

“No, Samantha, I am most certainly not okay.” He laughed again, but it was far from a happy sound. “But you’re here now, and you are going to make it all better. Strip and kneel,” he ordered. Jayden was going to prove to himself that a good fuck was all he needed.

Except it wasn’t.

Samantha moved to obey, but he noticed that her hands shook and the happiness that had shined in her eyes when he first admitted her had been replaced with uncertainty.

Wiping his hand down his face, his vision cleared just enough for him to assess the rest of her body language: timid, nervous, not in the least bit aroused. Well, fuck.

“Get up.”

“I’m sorry, Sir?”

“I said, ‘get up’, Samantha. You don’t want this right now.” He went to the bathroom and retrieved the plush white robe, returning to hand it to her. “I apologize for scaring you.”

“No, Sir. You didn – ”

Jayden cut her off with a sharp stare.

“Well, maybe just a little bit,” she admitted with a shy smile and walked over to the couch to sit down.

The Saki beckoned him, so he poured himself another before joining her. This one he sipped.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He wasn’t sure why, but the question put him on edge. Jayden wasn’t prepared for her follow-up.

“Is it Catherine?”

“What makes you ask that?” he questioned her, and swallowed the rest of his drink down.

“You’ve been different since the day she first called the office,” Samantha offered with a shrug. “And at the airport, you couldn’t take your eyes off of her. I’ve never seen you look at me that way – or anyone for that matter.”

Jayden appraised her. “You can be rather blunt, do you know that?” He didn’t want to hear what she was saying.

Samantha smiled at him and winked. “How’s this for blunt? What the hell are you doing getting drunk on foreign booze? I haven’t seen you drink before.”

“That’s none of your business. I’m a grown man and can have a drink if I want one,” Jayden snapped.

“Sure thing, boss. Though I think the reason is sitting back in Texas with her pretty green eyes.” She stood up and disrobed. “Do you want me to blow you or not? If not, I’d really like to go take a shower and get to bed; we’ve got an early start tomorrow since we’re driving out to the mining site.”

Her words were on repeat in his head as waved Samantha off. “No. I’m sorry I bothered you, this evening. I’ll see you first thing.”

Jayden watched her pull her shorts and tank back on before he hefted himself off the couch to walk her to the door. “Thank you, Samantha.”

She paused to lift on her toes and kiss his cheek. “Anytime, Sir.”

The loud click of the door settling into place was like a gavel coming down. At that moment, Jayden decided if Catherine could endure the length of his absence with release only through her hand, then so could he.

Starting now.

~*~

Somehow Jayden found the inner strength to keep his commitment to himself for the duration of his trip. He ordered the Saki removed from his room so that he wouldn’t be tempted again. Jayden was appalled that he’d even turned to the alcohol; what if he had contacted Catherine instead of Samantha in his drunken state?

It would have been a major setback in the amazing progress Catherine had made, and he didn’t want to even consider how the slip would have affected the trust they’d built or the bond they shared. Jayden knew her feelings on alcohol. Without a doubt, if this had happened at home, he would have called Landon first thing the next day and begged to be put on his knees.

The remaining month passed in meetings and negotiations. Jayden altered Catherine’s schedule so that on the weekends she slept during the day and could Skype with him at night. That was helpful to both of them. She continued to perform each task he’d assigned with perfection and when she emailed her journal writings each week, he would read in disgust of Spencer and in awe of Catherine.

More and more, Jayden was convinced she was an amazing woman, not just a submissive.

It was in his final week in China that Jayden heard from Angelique informing him that Katarina was going to be performing at the Valentine’s Day Demon Night, and he made the decision to get back to business with Catherine with a bang. After giving her instructions to go lingerie shopping for his return, he headed out to find a jeweler.

~~~Chapter 17~~~

Playdate

Master’s business trip ended up taking six long weeks. In that time, Catherine feared that whatever progress they’d made bonding over Christmas had been lost. The tender disposition with which they had parted ways that Monday had given way to a distant and withdrawn Master. He never faltered in seeing to all of Catherine’s needs while he was gone – all except for actual physical contact which was out of his hands. However, any communication they had – while pleasurable in the end for them both – felt like it lacked the undercurrent of unbridled desire she’d learned to feed on in their time together.

Catherine knew she had no reason to complain. Master had been quite generous with her in his absence. However, it didn’t matter how many times Catherine found release in her fingers or toys; it wasn’t the same as being under Master’s hand or his domineering stare. She missed feeling her body erupt with life under his dark gaze.

Desperation was overtaking Catherine in her need to feel something other than mediocre pleasure. The knowledge that Samantha was in China with Master acting in her stead and getting what Catherine craved didn’t help. Nor did the fact that Catherine had finally been introduced to Samantha the morning they’d left. Master had convinced her to stay over with him that Sunday night, and Micah gave her a ride home Monday after dropping Master at the airfield where Master had met Samantha before boarding the corporate plane.