Love Ever After: Eleven All-New Romances! Read online

  She arched into it. “I think it fits perfectly.”

  He grinned. “Almost like it was made for you.”

  “I think it might have been.”

  “Oh?”

  “Well, it is a St. Andrew’s Cross, and my last name is Andrews.”

  He chuckled. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Quinn?”

  “Yeah.”

  Her lashes blinked rapidly as she stepped away from the cross. “I think I’m ready to fill out my contract.”

  He smiled just as the castle’s bells chimed—an indication that playtime was about to begin. “Okay, but first I’d like for you to invest a few hours into watching some scenes.”

  She nodded and they made their way to the front of the castle. Quinn greeted each guest as they arrived. He kept a close eye on Rebecca, studying her reactions as a few costumed couples entered the premises. Once everyone had arrived, he shut and locked the heavy front door, then took her hand in his. He brought her to the office again and handed her a bottle of water. She’d been swallowing an awful lot and she looked like she needed it. But now, as he watched her tip her head, exposing the long column of her neck, all he wanted to do was put his mouth there and kiss her sensitive spot until she cried for more.

  Clearing his throat, he looked at his watch. Now was not the time to be envisioning her naked and at his mercy. Not when he had duties to attend to. Cursing his cock for not behaving, he said, “All set?”

  “So you just make rounds, to make sure everything is okay?”

  “That’s right.”

  She recapped her water and left it on the desk. “Then I’m ready.”

  He stepped up to her and pushed her hair from her face. Leaning into her, he dropped a soft kiss onto her forehead. “I think you’re far more ready than you know.”

  Trailing his hands from her face, down her arms, he captured her hand in his and they moved toward the door. A cacophony of sexy noises reached their ears, and he didn’t miss Rebecca’s quick intake of breath. He guided her from room to room, exchanging nods with the Doms and subs in play. When Rebecca saw the hot wax play, her eyes lit with intrigue.

  She visibly quaked but he could tell it wasn’t from fear. She leaned into him. “I thought that would be a hard limit for me. Now I’m not so sure.”

  His cock swelled. Damn, he loved her openness. How he’d make it through the night without taking her six ways to Sunday was beyond him. “We can try it. If you decide you don’t like it, you always have your safe word.”

  Over the next hour, Quinn continued to introduce her to many different scenes, explaining the process and answering her questions as he monitored the dungeon and its players. When he met with a closed door, his gut tightened. He wasn’t a fan of the closed-door policy himself, but some preferred it so he had to respect that.

  “Are you allowed to go in?” she whispered.

  “It’s my duty.” Quinn eased the door open quietly and stepped into the room. The scent hit him first. An unpleasant mix of sweat and the clawing fragrance of masculine cologne assailed his nostrils. Then he heard the whimpers. Restrained facedown on a bench, the sub recited her safe word, over and over, only to be ignored by the Dom using a hard cane on her backside. Rage erupted inside Quinn.

  “Stop!” Quinn flew across the room, grabbing Felix’s arm before he could land another blow on the exhausted female.

  Looking somewhat dazed, Felix stared at the hand gripping his wrist, but Quinn suspected he was looking through him not at him. Standing eye-to-eye with the man, who was as tall and broad as Quinn, Quinn snapped his fingers. “Felix,” he bit out harshly.

  Quinn shot a look over his shoulder, and he spotted Rebecca at the door. She stood deathly still, her mouth open and her eyes wide in terror. He cursed. He grabbed the cane from Felix, resisting the urge to beat the living hell out of him with it and rushed to her.

  “Rebecca, kitten, are you okay?”

  “I…I think so.”

  He held her tight and pressed an intercom button near the door. “Jacob, I’m in room three. I need you to come collect Rebecca.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Within seconds Jacob was there, and Quinn released her to him. “Take her to the office. Stay with her.”

  Looking horrified, Rebecca met his eyes, seeking reassurance. He touched her face, rubbing his thumb over her cheek. “I’ll be right there, but I have to take care of this first.”

  She nodded, and once she disappeared he turned his attention to Felix. Anger rose in him. He crossed the room, unleashed the sub’s hands, and helped her to stand. He looked her over and found her trembling and injured. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded but his experiences told him she wasn’t. He looked at Felix. “You wait here.”

  He guided the girl to a room where aftercare took place and knew he’d find Sasha inside. Tonight was Sasha’s night to monitor the aftercare room. Sasha took one look at the sub and reached for her. He mouthed the word “Felix” and she frowned in understanding. She wrapped the girl in a soft, warm blanket and brought her to the sofa. Knowing the traumatized sub was in good hands, Quinn hurried back to Felix.

  He took a few deep breaths, then stepped inside the room, closing the door behind him. “While I would like to show you to the door and never let you return, I can’t very well do that.”

  Felix grinned and ran his hand through short hair cut to the same style as Quinn’s. “Daddy wouldn’t be pleased.”

  “Nor would he be pleased at what I just witnessed.”

  He shrugged. “She was fine.”

  “You ignored her safe word.”

  “I couldn’t hear it.”

  Quinn shook his head. “Since you can’t master another until you learn to master yourself, you’ll be assigned a mentor.”

  “Come on, Quinn. I don’t need a mentor. This is fucking bullshit.”

  “You do, and you will have one.” Quinn turned on the balls of his feet and made for the door. “Follow me to the office. I’ll be fitting you with a new bracelet.”

  “No.”

  Quinn swung around. The petulant refusal grated on his precariously frayed patience like sandpaper scraping over his teeth. It took two long strides to bring him nose-to-nose with the obnoxious little asshole. “Obviously that college degree your father bought you by funding the college’s new IT department didn’t cover a class in common sense, so let me explain how this works…”

  Outrage flared in Felix’s eyes. “You can’t talk to me like that. My daddy…”

  “Owns this place.”

  “That’s right.” Felix’s chin came up.

  “And it’s one of his most profitable enterprises. It remains a big money maker because it holds an exemplary reputation for adhering to protocols.” Quinn tipped his head when Felix broke eye contact. “What? Too many big words? Let me simplify it for you. Your father entrusts the integrity of his businesses to people who make the right decisions. Tonight, that person is me. This shit you pulled? Not the first time it’s happened, and your daddy knows it.” The look on Felix’s face was priceless. “That’s right. He gets biweekly reports on everything, including disciplinary action taken on both members and staff. This is your third offense. One more and you’re out of here.”

  “You’re a dick.”

  “And you’re a sadistic little prick with no integrity whatsoever. If you want to continue your membership here, you’ll play by the rules or you’ll walk.” Quinn stepped out of Felix’s personal space and indicated the open door, biting back a satisfied grin when the other man suddenly realized that anyone passing by had been privy to his dressing down. “After you.”

  Felix glared at Quinn, and, acting like a petulant child, he kicked the bench his sub had occupied across the floor before preceding Quinn down the long hall leading to the office.

  Inside, Quinn found Rebecca sitting at the desk across from Jacob. She glanced up, her gaze moving between him and Felix. She hadn’t run. Reli
ef slammed into his chest like a cannon ball. She sat perched on a chair, a pen poised over a small stack of papers. He didn’t want Felix anywhere near his girl and hated that she’d witnessed his ignorance in a scene, but he needed to bring him to the office to replace his band.

  Felix’s surly expression immediately transformed when he saw Rebecca. He shot her his trademark playboy smile, flashing dimples and several thousands of dollars’ worth of orthodontic work, and ran his hand through his hair. Ignoring Quinn’s warning glare, he stepped forward, glancing at the contract she had been filling out. Quinn shot Jacob a questioning glance.

  “She didn’t have one on file so I thought…” Jacob let his words fall off and looked away.

  Quinn swore under his breath. Now was not the time for Rebecca to go over her limits, especially after having witnessed Felix cross a line with his sub. Since it was too late to do anything about it at this point, Quinn huffed out an exasperated breath and purposefully stepped between her and Felix as the man put out his hand for a shake, effectively stopping him from touching Rebecca.

  “Back up,” Quinn said, and when Felix put a measure of distance between him and Rebecca, Quinn went to the locked cabinet behind the desk. He unlocked it, grabbed a braided yellow leather bracelet and handed it to Felix. Felix reluctantly took his off and put the new one on.

  “You’re out of here for the rest of the night.” Quinn pressed a button under his desk. “I’ll have security walk you out.”

  “You’re ordering me around? In an establishment that my daddy owns?”

  “I’m in charge here. Don’t ever forget that,” Quinn bit out. He drew a breath to get his temper in check before he personally removed the smirk from the spoiled little prick’s face.

  Felix hardened at his words. The smile fell, and rage move in to take its place. “We’ll see about that.”

  Two security guards walked in and Quinn handed Felix over.

  The second he was gone, he turned to Rebecca and touched her face. “I’m sorry you had to witness that.”

  “What does the yellow bracelet mean?” she asked.

  “It means he’s in yield position.” He pulled her from the chair. “He’ll be assigned a mentor.”

  “A mentor?”

  He sat and pulled her on to his lap. “He needs to learn discipline. Believe me, we don’t tolerate that kind of behavior here.”

  “Then you should be his mentor.”

  “Fuck. No.”

  “I think he should learn from the best.”

  Her confidence in him filled him with pride and he felt a curious shift inside him. There was no question that in a short amount of time she’d taken up residency in his heart and had him considering something he’d never, ever considered before—collaring her and expressing his devotion, his level of commitment to her. That thought frightened him almost as much as it excited him. Sure, he had cheating blood running through his veins. But Rebecca made him want to try to break the pattern. Made him want to be a better man, the only man—for her.

  “Is his…is the girl okay?”

  Feeling a little off his game at that revelation, he checked his watch. “She will be.”

  “Do you need to go?”

  “It’ll soon be closing time, and I need to do another check.”

  She slid from his lap and moved to the door, a sexy sway to her hip. She moved toward the door. “I’ll come with you.” His gaze dropped to a lush backside that he couldn’t wait to cradle in his hands. She turned to him and his eyes moved to her soft, round breasts hidden beneath her blouse.

  He stood and looked at the contract, noticing the big X by blindfolds, but other than that she now seemed open to trying many things. He filed her papers, deciding to go over them tomorrow when she had more time to digest tonight’s events. He turned to her, and his heart pounded a little bit harder as he took in the excitement, the curiosity in her eyes. He fisted his hands to occupy them, resisting the temptation to rip off her clothes and ravish her right there in the office. His cock swelled as visions of the two of them coming together filled his thoughts, and he couldn’t help but think maybe he’d start her training sooner rather than later.

  Chapter Five

  A fine shiver moved through Rebecca, stopping at every erogenous zone along the way as she watched Quinn lead the last of the players out of the castle. The lock clicked into place and when he turned to her, the heat in his eyes, the way he looked at her, made her want to drop to her knees in submission.

  Outside of the Felix incident, tonight’s events had raised her curiosity. She was anxious to be tied up and taken by the powerful Dom who was currently looking at her like he wanted to eat her alive. He’d said she wasn’t ready to play, but deep in her heart, she knew she’d been ready for a very long time now. In an effort to show him just how much she wanted this, just how ready she really was, she sank to her knees and lowered her head.

  “Rebecca,” he groaned. She knew he wasn’t a man who rattled easily, and it excited her to know she had the ability to fluster him.

  “Yes?” she asked, lifting her eyes slightly. He was tense, like he was fighting an internal battle. He stood motionless, save for the clenching and unclenching of his fingers. When she didn’t think she could stand another moment waiting, he reached down, slipped his hand around her neck, and grabbed a fistful of her hair. He tugged until her eyes met his.

  “Yes who?”

  Her pulse leapt as he stepped into the role of her master. “Yes, sir,” she answered, realizing that they were now in high protocol.

  His voice changed, hardened as he tugged her hair with a little more force. “On your feet.”

  She stood, and as his heat and passion reached out to her, she lowered her eyes, getting into the right headspace for what was to come.

  “Are you trying to tempt me again, like you did at your office?” he asked. “Answer, please.”

  She stole a peek at him, and knew her eyes were full of want as they met his. “Yes, sir,” she said honestly, her whole body trembling.

  He shook his head, the muscles along his jaw ticking. “Once again I find you trying to take control from me.” She remained quiet, waiting, hoping for more. “I won’t tolerate this kind of behavior, kitten.”

  Electricity sizzled between them. “Sorry, sir.”

  “I believe it’s time for me to take you over my knee… Or better yet…”

  His words trailed off as he took her hand in his and hurried her through the castle, moving like a man who knew what he wanted and knew how to get it. When he ushered her into the room with the cross, she was pretty sure she’d died and gone to heaven. Her chest heaved but she worked to keep herself from showing too much excitement.

  His eyes held hers. “Tell me your safe word.”

  “Freedom.”

  “Say it again.”

  “Freedom.”

  “Undress,” he commanded.

  With shaky fingers, she removed her blouse and skirt, standing before him in nothing but her black bra and thong.

  His eyes went dark as they dropped to her hips. “Did we not already have the talk about panties?”

  “I didn’t know.” She drew in air and let it out quick. “You said I wouldn’t be playing tonight.”

  He stepped up to her and in one deft movement he unclasped her bra. As it fell to the floor, he gripped the lace on her panties and gave a quick tug, ripping the slip of material from her hips.

  “Any time you’re with me,” he reminded her. “You do want to please me, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why do you continue to defy me?”

  “It won’t happen again…sir.”

  “It had better not.” He put his mouth close to her ear. “Otherwise, I’ll put you over my knee, and I won’t be so gentle.”

  “Oh,” she said, her voice a breathless whisper.

  He backed her up until she was pressed against the cross, his lips still by her ear. “Turn around,” he commanded
, the rush of air from his mouth brushing over her naked flesh.

  She obliged, facing the cross, and in her next breath he shackled her hands and legs. With her now at his mercy, his palms roamed her body, exploring her every curve, her every crevice.

  He leaned into her and his scent fell over her like a powerful aphrodisiac. His hard cock dug into her back and her nipples tightened painfully. Her body hummed with excitement. She drew in a breath and held it, certain she’d never been more aroused in her life.

  Suddenly, he was gone, leaving her in the room all alone, completely naked and secured to a cross. A shiver stole over her as anticipation raced through her veins, the wait for his return, for him to touch her, nearly killing her.

  The sound of footsteps heralded his approach and her breath came a little quicker when she felt his mouth near her ear. “I believe my kitten needs to learn a thing or two.” He walked around the cross and heat bombarded her when she saw the paddle in his hand. This one lacked the air holes and she guessed he wanted to introduce her to pain slowly—in the heat of the moment she was thankful that he was such a caring Dom. He spun the piece of equipment in his hands, his eyes going to hers, gauging her reactions.

  He looked her over for a moment, then said, “Eyes down.”

  She tore her glance away as he circled her again, his drawn-out foreplay building the eagerness inside her. He stilled behind her and she felt his hand on her backside. He grazed his fingers over her skin, traced the shape of her curves so lightly that her flesh quivered for more when he stopped. The next touch came from the paddle. She gasped at that first sweet whack, and her body banged against the cross.

  His hand moved over her ass, soothing the burning sting before the paddle hit again. Oh God, it felt so erotic, stimulating. Hot. The third whack brought a blistering heat that exploded inside her, and she gave herself over to the pain and pleasure, letting it take her to a place she’d never been before.

  As she basked in her sexual awakening, her head fell forward, wanting, needing…something…but not exactly sure what that something was. The paddle came across her cheeks again, then he used his hand to soothe the sting, creating a need inside her unlike anything she’d experienced in the past. Her sex muscles clenched, eager for something to grip. Her brain shut down, focusing only on the pleasure racing through her.