Did I want to be his?
I did. My anger from before had subsided. I wanted Jake, and I wanted to be his equal someday.
I slid the collar around my neck and clasped it shut. Then I knocked slightly on the door. My heartbeat began to pound faster as I waited for him to open up the room for me. His secret room, the place where I’d learned more about myself than I ever wanted to know. Where I’d learned about him, about his family.
He opened the door and I looked up into dark green eyes that dazzled me just as much as the first time I’d seen his face. My breath caught in my throat as he reached out and trailed his fingertips down my neck to where the diamond collar fit nicely around my neck.
“Lacey,” he murmured.
“Don’t you have to get ready?” I asked shyly. “I mean, aren’t you leaving for Paris tonight?”
He waved away my concerns with one hand. Then, hooking his finger under my collar, he led me into the room.
“Business is business,” he said, picking up a leash from the side. “You come first.”
Before I could say anything, he’d clicked the end of the leash to my collar. It was a strange leash, heavy, with extra straps. I reached up to touch it.
“What… what is this?”
“Leather cuffs,” he said. He had one of my hands encircled in a moment, pulling the strap tight around my wrist. Then he did the other one. I didn’t protest, but as I let my arms drop, I realized that my wrists were strapped closely to my neck. I couldn’t reach down to protect myself at all.
I was entirely at his mercy.
He smiled as he noticed the realization come into my eyes.
“Don’t worry, my dear,” he said. “Haven’t I always been good to you?”
“Some people might say that kidnapping me away from my job and spanking me red isn’t… ah, exactly good.”
“Are you one of those people? I seem to remember you rather liked being put over my knee.”
I flushed hard. At the memory of that first night, I felt my body begin to throb in anticipation.
“What are we doing tonight?” I asked, trying to be bold.
Jake only smiled slowly.
“I’m going to take you places you’ve never gone before,” he said. He pulled the leash and jerked me forward. I raised my hands as I stumbled against his chest. His hand wrapped the other end of the leash tight and he brushed my lip with his thumb.
“I’m going to show you a new world of pleasure, Lacey,” he murmured. My body was hot already with desire, my core thrumming inside.
“What are you going to do to me?” I asked, lifting my chin as his fingers slid down my cheekbone.
“Part of the pleasure lies in not knowing what comes next.”
“If I guess, will you tell me?”
“Maybe.” His bright green eyes danced with pleasure. He turned and walked to the back of the room, where the mirror curved along one side of the wall. On the other end of the short leash, I was forced to follow closely. He hooked the end of the leash above my head to a clip hanging from the rafters. Then he turned away from me, moving into the darkness.
My wrists were close to my neck, and I had no idea what he was going to do. The ache of desire pulsed within me, every heartbeat making my blood hotter. I could already feel his touch dissipating from my skin.
“I guess you’re going to stand there for a while and stare at me like a creepy perv,” I said. Jake’s face was hidden in the shadows, and I felt like I was being put on display in the only light of the room. I could see my own reflection out of the corner of my eyes.
Jake stepped forward, and I could see that he had something in his hand. A small object, something I couldn’t see well.
“Turn and look at yourself,” he ordered. His deep voice brooked no disobedience. He pressed one shoulder and I turned, letting my eyes fall onto my own reflection. I looked at the lovely blue gown shimmering over my curves. Then my gaze moved up, past my own shoulder, to Jake’s eyes.
“Not me,” he said. “Look only at yourself.”
“Okay,” I said. I forced my eyes back onto my own body. I had hated my body for so long that it almost hurt to stare at it. I covered myself in loose-fitting jeans and hoodies to the point where I had forgotten what I looked like.
“Look at your arms,” Jake said. He stood behind me. His hands moved down over my shoulders, smoothing over my skin. He cupped my elbows, then ran his fingertips up to my wrists, where the leather cuffs still bound them close to my neck. “What do you see?”
If I spoke honestly, I would talk about the extra flab where my arms touched my chest and bulged out. I would talk about the dimpled flesh of my elbows, the too-thick parts of me. But I knew that wasn’t what Jake wanted to hear. So I just shook my head.