She ran a finger over that last word in open amazement…and growing, heated arousal. “Master,” she whispered.
Shit on a gigantic platter. She had to be dreaming this, right? She was going to wake up on the couch, having fallen asleep on Garrett’s chest, embarrassed because she’d drooled all over him. This couldn’t really be happening. This was surreal, insane—a manifestation of her deepest sexual fantasies…
Nope. Wrong.
He was a manifestation of those fantasies.
He was leaning in the doorway to the guest bathroom, waiting for her in sensual silence. Oh, who was she kidding? Sensual was the world’s hugest understatement for the creature who stood before her now, with smoke in his eyes, half a smile on his lips, and soft black leather sheathing his huge, chiseled legs. From the waist up, he was sinfully bare, every striation of his golden muscles gleaming in the light of what seemed a thousand candles.
Candles.
After noticing how their light danced on Garrett’s body, Sage noticed the votives themselves. There seemed to be thousands, all lighted and placed on frosted glass shelves that had been mounted at various heights along the perimeter of the room.
And shit, the room! Even it had been transformed. The guest bed was still here, though she barely recognized the thing. In place of its demure art deco comforter, the mattress was now fitted with a tight cover in a shade of royal blue, in what looked like a leather texture. A steel truss system rose up around the bed, with several attachments already in place…including leather cuffs that seemed to wave at her in welcome. She swung her stare over to take in even more. In the corner opposite the bed, there was a big X-shaped cross just like the one she and Garrett had used at King’s Medina kink mansion, along with another piece of equipment that appeared kind of like a prayer bench lined in dark-purple velvet.
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Okay, maybe she already was in church. Or heaven. Or a wild, glorious combination of the two.
“Damn,” she finally got out. “Garrett…sweetheart…this is—”
“Just the beginning.” He cut her off as he pushed away from the door and stepped over, his strides given a more menacing air by the heavy motorcycling boots he wore. “That is, if tonight goes well.”
She laughed, trying to make light of the fact that his boots alone had just made her wetter than the Puget Sound in January. “Oh, I definitely think it—”
He snatched her words from her again, along with the very breath behind them, by grabbing her chin with his palm and hitching her face up. His stare sent a long lick of blue fire straight to the deepest parts of her pussy. “You’re not in here to think, S.” His murmur smoldered hotter than his stare, descending deeper as he addressed the confusion that must have risen in her eyes. “Do you have any questions about that?”
She managed to get enough moisture into her mouth to speak. “Are…are you saying you want to go further with this, Sir?”
He smoothed his fingers across her face. His gaze consumed her with its fierce possession and pure adoration. “Oh yes, sugar.”
She swallowed hard. “H-How much further?”
“That’s a journey we’ll take together. It’ll be in steps. But listen to me, and hear my promise to you. My need to dominate you will never quell my need to make you happy, to make you soar.” He pressed a soft kiss on her lips. “To keep you safe.”
Sage smiled. “I know.” She raised her hand, meshing her fingers with his. “So…what happens now?”
Garrett let their hands fall apart. Gone was the cameo appearance from his gentle Dom. The hard-hewn conqueror was back, standing before her with an agenda in his eyes. An agenda that didn’t involve a lot of couch cuddling anymore.
Shit. Shit.
“Kneel for me, Sage.”
Yes. Yes.
That simple act pulled her mind and body into deeper focus on him. She heard his quiet rumble of satisfaction and rejoiced. She felt him step to her again and melted. As his long fingers descended atop her head, a long sigh left her trembling lips.
“From now on, when you choose to come in here with me, you are no longer Sage. You will be only S. And I will be simply Master. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, Master.”
“We’ll certainly discuss things that Sage has done, perhaps to address how she’ll be disciplined for them, but Sage herself belongs to that world out there. She belongs to the place where you have to worry, to think, to care. S does none of those things. In here, Master does the worrying. S is here merely to be a receptacle of things on Sage’s behalf.” His hand spread harder against her scalp. “Do you still understand?”
She lifted her face. Dear sweet God, if this man was stunning as Garrett, he was resplendent as Master. Every inch of his gaze exuded power, strength, control. He was huge and mighty and confident, yet every molecule of air he breathed on her, every inch of his touch on her, was composed of his loving care, his fervent protectiveness. She was terrified of him like this, yet her body, her senses, her very blood and breath never wanted him more.
“Yes.” She gave it to him on a raw rasp. “I still understand, Master.”
“And…do you still want this? With me? Even after everything I’ve told you?”
“Oh, yes!” Hoping he excused her for the burst of beginner’s zeal, she grabbed his other hand and pressed a kiss on his upturned palm. Garrett used that hand to guide her back to her feet. She was greeted by a beautiful warmth pouring from his cyan eyes.
“That pleases me,” he told her, “but I want you to be sure.” He nodded toward the bed. “You see this equipment and you know what it means, right? That when I say you’ll be a receptacle for Sage, I mean for rewards and punishments. You will always have safe words. You’ll always be able to slow me down or stop me if you need to. Then we’ll take it outside and talk.” His fingers alighted on the column of her neck, trailing possessively along both sides of her wind pipe. “But when you’re in here, S…when you’re in my realm…you’re mine. All of you belongs to me.”
By the time Sage remembered she had a voice, let alone how to use it, he’d trailed his touch down, coming to the black bra clasp between her breasts. “I still want this,” she insisted. “I still understand, Master. Ohhh, Master…oh…ummm…”
She interrupted herself as he played with the fastening. His voice alone had turned her nipples into nubs of sheer need. Now she literally couldn’t talk from the intense need. Over the last week, he’d been fond of learning what her breasts could endure. Because of those test runs, both those peaks were hypersensitive to the tiniest brush of arousal, especially if that brush was in his hands.
But the real challenge here was…Garrett knew that too. A stolen glance up at his face confirmed that fact with crystal clarity. He was like a bronze container of serenity and composure. She, on the other hand, could think of nothing else but letting his long, magical fingers roam all over her aching breasts.
“Did you need to finish that, S?”
“Y-Yes.” She forced her voice into compliance, even though he teased at the clasp in maddening experimentation, making her bend toward him in a wanton grovel. “Yes, Master, I did need to…to…”
“Focus,” he murmured. “Lock your hands behind your waist and concentrate. I’m right here, and I’m listening. Now continue.”
“I’ll…I’ll try. Oh! Ohhhh…”
Continue? He expected her to continue, to concentrate at all, when he opened the bra and pushed it down her arms but did nothing with her exposed swells except run his knuckles along their undersides?
“Yes?” he prompted. “I’m right here. I’m listening, sugar.”
“I know!” she finally snapped. “I know, okay? But damn it, Gar—Master—please!”