Текст книги "Disgraced"

Автор книги: Annabel Chant

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

    Thirty Five

Her

‘I’ll punish you, all right,’ he said, his mouth quirking slightly. ‘But not for that. No – I’m still referring back to my list. Several minor infringements, as I recall, and one major. Do you know what I’m talking about?’

I shook my head, hoping to put off the dreaded moment. He just raised his eyebrow and walked away. When he returned, he had the mask in one hand, along with something that looked like a cat-o’-nine-tails in his hand. He must have noticed my eyes widen as they fell on it, but he said nothing, just held the mask up.

‘Why did I tell you to wear this tonight?’

‘So people didn’t recognise me.’ I spoke quietly. I could see where this was going.

‘And why didn’t I want people to recognise you?’

‘Because…it would be bad for…for my image.’

‘Lower your profile, I told you.’ He threw the mask over towards the coffee table. ‘Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself.’

I winced at his words.

‘Then, I suggested we go for a picnic.’

‘I remember.’

‘We went to board a bus and what did I see, to my great delight?’

‘I don’t know,’ I lied, his sarcastic tone rendering me more uncomfortable by the second. I had an almost irresistible urge to smirk.

‘Well, since you seem to have the memory of a goldfish, I’ll tell you, shall I? Your face, plastered right the way along the side of it.’ He turned away for a moment. ‘And on the back, I shouldn’t wonder. I purposely didn’t look when we got off.’

‘I did a cosmetics advert,’ I said. ‘It was Jimmy’s idea…my…’

‘Agent, I know,’ he said, sounding weary. ‘I give up.’

‘I need the money,’ I said. ‘You wouldn’t understand. I can’t live at Liv’s forever and my job doesn’t pay enough…I only worked there because I needed something that was, well, mine. It was never about the money. It was just a way to feel normal. Now I’ve got the chance to earn real money.’

‘I understand all about needing money,’ he said, sounding irritated suddenly. ‘Believe me. And I know just how low some people will stoop because they need the money.’

That sarcastic tone, again. It was beginning to piss me off.

‘You don’t need to work for Max or Jimmy, don’t you understand? I’ll take care of you. Find you a job, if you feel you need one.’

‘I don’t want to work for you.’ I could feel the anger rising in my chest. Why did he always think he could tell me what to do? Was that what all…this…was about? Telling me what to do?

‘Not for me, Grace.’ He sighed. ‘With me. You’re good with figures – I could use your skills.’ He ran his hand through his hair. ‘And your company, to be honest.’

It was those last six words that mollified me. I’d been right – he was lonely. It was true what they said – money couldn’t buy happiness. I should have known that, just from looking at Leo and Johnno.

‘I’ll think about it,’ I said, reluctantly. ‘But I don’t think I can give up on Jimmy.’

‘Do you want to?’

I thought for a moment. Did I want a life in the public eye, or was it really just that I was desperate for the money? ‘No,’ I said, finally. ‘I like it.’

It was the first time I’d really thought about it, but it was true. I’d enjoyed it so far – even the interview, when I’d burst into tears. I’d even have enjoyed the make-up shoot, if I hadn’t had so much on my mind. The whole experience so far had given me back some of the confidence Leo had chipped away at over the years.

‘Okay,’ he said, with a shrug. He came over to me and tipped up my chin until he was looking into my eyes. ‘Come and work with me, anyway. I love you, Grace. I’m just trying to look out for you, that’s all.’

‘I know,’ I said, quietly. I felt oddly disappointed. There’d been so much build-up to this moment. It was supposed to be fun and, now, it had all gone wrong. He’d let me down from the cuffs in a moment, I was sure, and, suddenly, I didn’t want him to. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, and this time I meant it.

He kissed me gently, his eyes closed. His breath tasted of champagne, and he smelt of sage and mint. I opened my mouth under his and licked his lower lip with my tongue, my gaze taking in his soft, thick lashes and the angle of his cheekbone. He was more beautiful than any man I’d ever met and he wanted me. It still hardly seemed possible, and maybe that was why I was finding the whole situation so difficult. He didn’t want me like that at the moment, anyway, but I wanted him. Exactly like that.

I ran my tongue along the inside of his top lip and, this time, he opened his eyes. At first, they were soft but, as I smiled at him, still kissing him, they grew more piercing and, barely moving his arm, he ran the cat-o’-nine-tails across my back, letting it trail down until it brushed gently over my buttocks.

He pulled away, biting my lip as he did so and pulling it. ‘Enough about buses,’ he said, releasing it. ‘I believe I still have a punishment to administer.’

I breathed a sigh of relief. ‘You do,’ I said, emboldened now by having taken charge, to some extent. ‘Bring it on.’

‘Dear, oh dear,’ he said. ‘Famous last words, Miss Anderton. Famous last words.’

    Thirty Six

Him

She looked beautiful standing there, naked but for her corset and boots. Her long hair fell becomingly down her back and her breasts hung full and firm, the seams of the corset accentuating the slender curves of her body, while the boots did the same for her legs. I could see how she had ended up as a WAG, but she was really nothing like the others I’d met.

I thought back to Kitty Hart with something approaching a shudder. She’d caked on the cosmetics with abandon – Grace wore none, save the merest touch of mascara and a smear of lipgloss, most of which I’d managed to remove earlier in the evening. She was mixed up, there was no doubt about that, but she still had an innocence and freshness about her that appealed to me far more than she could possibly understand. She still didn’t seem to get it – I’d give up everything tomorrow, if it meant keeping her. I could only hope that, at some point, she’d feel the same way about me.

Now, standing there in front of me as she was, it was as if all my dreams had come true. I don’t know if even Aimee coming back to me would have meant as much. As I ran the flogger over her ass again, she closed her eyes and let loose a tiny moan of pleasure and, in that instant, my cock was as flooded with desire as my heart. I wanted to do everything to her, all at once. I wanted to empty the case and use every implement at my disposal to bring her to the edge, again and again, but I had to focus. With her, I was in constant danger of losing all control.

‘Now, Angel,’ I said, making an effort to rein myself in. ‘This is a punishment, remember. It can’t be all fun.’

‘I know,’ she murmured, arching her back as the strands of the flogger ran back and forth across her bare skin. She opened her eyes and stared into mine. ‘Punish me.’

She knew what she was saying, this time, I could tell, and she meant it.

‘Turn around, then,’ I said. ‘I want your ass to the window.’

‘Can people see?’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said, with a shrug. ‘There’s nothing you can do about it. Anyway, you’re far more obvious facing the window.’

She turned gingerly around until her ass was reflected in the glass. She looked breath-taking and, as I lifted the flogger, I prayed to God that she’d still love me in an hours’ time.

    Thirty Seven

Her

He cracked it across my buttocks. I didn’t get the feeling he was holding anything back, but it didn’t hurt as much as I’d expected. It was as if the many fronds of it served to dissipate the pain, spreading it out, instead, over a wider area.

‘This is a flogger, Angel,’ he said. ‘It’ll serve to warm up your skin, make it more sensitive.’

It had certainly warmed up my skin – it was pulsing gently, I noticed, distractedly, before he brought it down again, slightly harder.

‘I’m going to do this the nice way,’ he said. ‘I’ll build you up slowly – give you time to get accustomed to the pain – raise your threshold higher.’

‘Okay,’ I managed to say, as the flogger whipped across my skin again…and again…and again.

‘How’s that, Angel?’ He dragged the tails across my ass gently before moving round to my front and putting it between my legs, pulling it out slowly across my clit. I couldn’t help letting out a moan of sheer bliss.

‘Come, now, Angel,’ he said. ‘No moaning. Otherwise, I’m going to think you’re enjoying it and I’ll have to up my game.’

He did it again – the strands of the flogger running between my legs and setting every nerve ending aflame. Somehow, I managed to stay quiet, but I couldn’t help moving towards the flogger, trying to keep it between my legs.

‘Legs apart,’ he said. ‘Further…further…’

I shuffled my legs apart as far as I could and waited to feel the fronds of the flogger exploring my folds again but, instead, he whipped it up between my legs.

I reeled back slightly, shutting my legs in shock.

‘Spread them,’ he said. ‘Wider than before.’

I looked at him, appealingly, but he only stared back, his lips shut tight and one eyebrow raised.

I’d realised by now that it didn’t actually hurt, and I did as I was bidden. He continued to whip me between the legs, gently but insistently, and – far from being painful – it was almost agonisingly sensual. With every strike, the strands caressed my flesh, inflaming my clit until I knew I was about to come. I let out a wild moan and he withdrew the flogger immediately. I could have kicked him, but I was beginning to see how I could work this game to my advantage.

‘Don’t even think about coming quietly,’ he said, as if reading my mind. ‘Or I really will whip you.’ He cracked the flogger across my buttocks again, as if in warning. ‘Orgasm denial is a punishment I reserve for only the most important of my subs.’

I almost asked him who else had been an important sub to him, but half of me didn’t want to hear the answer, and the other half already knew it. He could only be talking about Aimee. I felt oddly deflated and, when he went back to the case, I watched him with only a vague interest.

I soon took notice when he returned though, because he was carrying several different implements, some of which I didn’t recognise.

The first thing he held up was a dildo.

‘I’m assuming you’ve used a vibrator before?’ He bent down on one knee.

‘Yes,’ I said, not wanting to sound utterly naïve.

He looked up at me, sharply. ‘I thought not,’ he said. ‘No wonder you have such lurid fantasies, Miss Anderton. You’ve been hopelessly repressed.’

I didn’t answer, but his words hit home. Was he right? Leo had been more the missionary-style man, coming quickly, before turning over to go to sleep. It was one of the many reasons his behaviour in Hull had been so utterly devastating. Maybe I was repressed.

‘Not for much longer, anyway, Angel,’ he said, his fingers teasing apart my folds as he began to insert it. ‘Don’t you worry.’

Far from mortifying me, his words actually consoled me. He was right. It was about time I had a decent sex life. If Leo could see me now, I thought to myself, and, for once, the idea didn’t horrify me.

I felt every inch as he pushed it into me, filling me up with it until only an inch or two were left outside. He must have turned a switch because, all at once, it began to move inside me, purring against my walls and into my folds until the vibrations hit my clit. I gasped. No wonder they were so popular with women – I wished, at that moment, I’d bought myself one years ago.

‘Now, Angel,’ he said, holding it in place and using his thumb to toy with my clit. ‘You have my permission to close your legs. Snap them together – you’re going to hold that in place.’

I brought my thighs together as tightly as I could, but I couldn’t see how I was going to manage to keep it in – it was so heavy.

‘Now,’ he said, standing up. ‘Show me that delicious ass. I’ve a paddle just waiting to meet it.’

He held it up to show me. It was black leather, with tiny silver studs across it. ‘It won’t hurt…much. Not unless I choose it to.’

I pushed my buttocks out, which actually helped with keeping the vibrator in place. He moved around behind me and…

Nothing, for the longest time. Just as I thought he’d changed his mind, he brought it down across my ass, my skin blooming into heat under its whack. I drew in my breath and pitched forward, the vibrator nearly falling out as I did so.

He caught it just in time, thrusting it back into position. ‘Say a number,’ he said. ‘Between one and ten.’

‘One,’ I said, instinctively.

‘Are you sure, Angel? It could be one super-hard one to make up for all the missed opportunities.’

I thought again, trying to second-guess him. In the end, I took the middle road – just like so many times in my life. I hated myself, even as I said it.

‘Five, then.’

‘Five it is, then,’ he said. ‘And this is your real punishment, okay?’

‘Okay.’ As nervous as I was, I couldn’t help but be turned on. The vibrator wasn’t helping – stimulating my clit non-stop as I stood with my ass sticking out, waiting to receive a spanking from my protector.

‘After this, your…misdemeanours will never be mentioned again, okay?’

‘Okay.’

‘And I’ll be able to look at a bus without wincing.’

I was actually laughing as he brought it down across my ass. Whack. I soon stopped.

‘Count, Angel.’

I gave a gasp – half of pleasure, half of pain and, for the first time, I understood why people enjoyed the mix. It heightened everything, brought it into sharper focus. The throbbing in my clit was nearly as strong as the throbbing of my ass.

Sorry?’ I said, coming back into myself. I didn’t follow.

‘Count – the strokes, and say thank you, or I’ll begin again.’

‘One,’ I said, determined to take my punishment like a true sub. ‘Thank you, Sir.’

‘Good girl.’ He punctuated his words with another crack of the paddle.

Whack.

‘Two…thank you, Sir.’ My clit was practically aching with the stimulation and that, coupled with the sting of the paddle made it hard to concentrate and even harder to speak.

Whack.

‘Three. Thank you. Sir.’ Each stroke sent shockwaves of pleasure and pain through me. I could barely distinguish which was which by now and it hardly mattered. I was actually getting off on this – something I’d never have thought possible.

Whack.

I could feel something building, but I could barely tell what it was. Was it the smarting of my buttocks growing stronger, or the pulsing of my clit?

‘Four, Sir. Thank you, Sir,’ I groaned.

‘Good girl. One more, now – grit your teeth.’

I was already gritting them, I realised, and he knew it. I clenched my jaw tight, and waited for the final stroke. When it came it was almost a blur. No sooner had the paddle come down across my cheeks, than he was right there, behind me, pulling out the vibrator and replacing it with his length, ramming into me, almost in desperation.

After the non-stop onslaught of sensory stimulation, the sensation of his warm chest against my back, his hips bucking against my ass, his cock filling me far more than even the vibrator had done, was too much for me to endure. I was still whispering ‘Five, Sir – thank you, Sir,’ between my gasps, when we both came together, my arms still chained above me, his semen flooding my spasming walls, his kisses smothering my neck and shoulders like raindrops.

    Thirty Eight

Him

It was her phone that woke us the following morning. I’d released her from her cuffs, massaging her wrists and shoulders as she leaned against me, the heels of her boots buckling beneath her. The play session – mild as it had been – had clearly exhausted her last supplies of energy. When I’d finished soothing her joints, I scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom.

She fell asleep as I was unzipping her boots and I moved her up the bed, covering her – still in her corset – with the sheets. She stirred briefly, as I was arranging the pillows under her head.

‘Did you enjoy that, Angel?’ I whispered into her ear.

‘It was beautiful,’ she muttered. ‘Thank you, Sir.’

‘Nat’ll do now, gorgeous.’ I pushed a strand of hair from her cheek and kissed it lightly. ‘Playtime’s over.’

‘Nat,’ she muttered and rolled into me.

I took her in my arms and laid there for a while, looking from the glitter of the stars over the London skyline down to the silk-wrapped star beside me. In some ways, the whole episode felt like a dream and, in the way of dreams, I lost all sense of reality and forgot to alter my alarm.

She was already sitting on the end of the bed when I awoke. She was pulling on the sun dress she’d worn for the picnic the day before and talking on the phone.

‘Can you meet me in the Ladies?’ she was saying. She sounded panic-stricken. ‘There’s a bag under my desk with my work clothes from yesterday in it. I’ll be…’ She turned to look at the clock beside my bed. ‘Fifteen minutes…twenty tops.’

I sprang out of bed. ‘Shit, gorgeous – I’m so sorry.’

‘It’s not your fault,’ she said, turning to look at me over her shoulder. Her eyes were wide with panic. ‘I didn’t hear my alarm. Liv rang four times before I woke up – she was worried sick. Max is doing his nut.’

‘Finish getting dressed and I’ll drop you off.’ I threw open my wardrobe and grabbed the nearest t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

‘I can get a cab.’

‘No way, Angel.’ I picked up my phone and dialled Stephens’s number, pulling on my jeans with the other hand. ‘It’s me. Be ready out front, please, immediately.’

I’d have driven myself, but Stephens was already on standby to take me to a meeting at the Castle, later on. I didn’t like the fact that Grace was so stressed out about Max. If Stephens drove, he could drop us off directly outside and I could go in with her – have a quiet word.

The traffic was slow – as ever – and it was almost half an hour before we arrived outside Ffyvells. I got out and went round to her door to let her out. She practically tumbled out the car, grabbing at the handbag she’d almost left on the seat. I shut the door behind her and went to follow her into the building.

‘What are you doing?’ She looked at me, horrified.

‘Coming in with you,’ I said. ‘I’ll speak to Max.’

‘No!’ She shook her head. ‘This is my fight. Let me handle it.’

‘But…’

‘No.’ Her brow was furrowed, her mouth hardened into a straight line. ‘I’m sick of being pushed around. I’ll deal with him.’

I shook my head, but didn’t argue. ‘I’ll be waiting outside,’ I said. ‘Let me know how it goes. If he gives you any grief…’ My jaw hardened at the mere thought of it.

‘It’s my own fault.’ She gave a shrug. ‘I have to face the consequences.’

And she was gone, disappearing through the imposing entrance to the country’s most exclusive bank, her head high and her shoulders set.

I don’t know when I’d ever found her more attractive.

    Thirty Nine

Her

Liv wasn’t in the ladies, when I arrived. I was just looking at all the missed calls when she came bursting in. There were numerous – seven had come in from Leo while I was otherwise engaged at Dominion. I shoved the phone in my bag – I couldn’t deal with that now, if at all.

Liv was clutching my bag and more or less threw it at me, as soon as she saw me. ‘I’ve been popping in and out,’ she hissed. ‘I couldn’t wait in here. Max is on the warpath.’

‘Thanks.’ I grabbed the bag and started dragging its contents out onto the sink in front of me. ‘Sorry to be pain.’

‘You didn’t come home,’ she said. ‘And you weren’t here either. You weren’t answering your phone and I kept thinking about what you’d told me…you know…about Nathaniel, and how he was being investigated for murder. I was so worried. Even Max was worried, I think.’

‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘He wasn’t. He’s just mad. He knew exactly where I was.’

‘Oh?’ Liv stood back and looked at me. ‘Well, go on then…tell.’

‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.’

‘Try me.’

I wouldn’t have told her, if I hadn’t trusted her completely. I knew she wouldn’t spread it around the office – or anywhere else, for that matter. ‘Nat owns a…sex club. Bondage…fetish…you know?’

Her mouth fell open. ‘No way, Grace! Were you…?’

I nodded, pulling my dress off over my head. ‘He took me there – only for a little while.’

‘Oh my God – what was it like?’

‘It was…’ I started to dress, while I thought of how to describe it. What was it like? ‘It was different…sexy, but far too full of Maxes.’

She literally gasped. ‘Max was there?’

I nodded, buttoning my shirt. ‘It was mortifying.’

‘No wonder he’s so annoyed.’ She gave a secret smile. ‘I always knew he was my ideal man.’

I laughed. ‘I had a feeling it wouldn’t put you off him.’

‘Put me off him?’ She actually blushed. ‘You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve just fallen officially in love.’

I pulled my skirt up over my hips and wriggled my feet into my shoes. ‘Don’t you have enough of him throwing his weight around at work? Would you actually want him bossing you in the bedroom, as well?’

‘Ooh.’ She gave a sigh. ‘What wouldn’t I give?’

I shook my head and laughed. ‘I guess it takes all sorts,’ I said. ‘Come on, I’d better face the wrath of Mad Max.’

I soon stopped laughing when I saw his face. I’d never seen him so angry. Far from shouting at me though, he spoke in quiet, measured tones. ‘In my office, please, Miss Anderton.’

I followed him in, closing the door behind me and leaning against it. My legs felt weak – for all the wrong reasons. ‘I’m so sorry, Max.’

‘You should be.’ He sat down. His voice was still calm, but there was a fire in his eyes that made me quail. ‘I told you to stay away and, instead, I find you at Dominion – his club – dressed…’ He left the rest of the sentence unsaid, to my relief. I could feel my cheeks growing hot at the mere thought of it.

‘It won’t happen again,’ I said.

‘You mean you’re going to stay away?’

‘Yes. I mean, no.’ Why could I never say what I wanted to, when it came to Max? ‘I mean, I won’t be late.’

‘I pride myself on the loyalty of my team, Miss Anderton.’ He leaned back in his chair and stared directly into my eyes. ‘When I ask them to do something for me, I expect them to do it. I don’t expect them to completely disregard my wishes.’

‘I’m sorry I was late,’ I said. ‘It’s just…’

‘Your being late has nothing to do with it, for fuck’s sake,’ he snapped, finally losing some of his composure. ‘Not that it’s made me see matters in a better light, obviously. I don’t want my team mixing with my friends. Do you understand?’

I nodded, starting to feel angry. It was just like last night with Nat, except that I loved Nat. I didn’t love Max. In fact, at that moment, I didn’t even like him.

‘I’d suggest you have a decision to make,’ he said, looking down at the papers on his desk. ‘Be part of my team, or don’t be.’

I almost laughed. It was none of his business who I saw or what I did. Yes, I’d been late. I held my hands up to that. It was a fair cop, but…this? He was asking me to choose between Nat and him. How could he think he had the right?

‘You know what, Max?’ I could feel the fury boiling in my throat. ‘Screw your team – and screw you.’

‘Now, Grace…’ he began, before tailing off. I think he could tell I was past it already.

I wrenched the door open but, just as I was about to walk out, I caught sight of Liv, sitting at her desk. She was going to have to pick up the flak, yet again. Liv, who’d been there for me and never judged. She was probably the only true friend I had right now and I was going to land her right in it.

I turned back to Max. ‘A word of advice, before I go,’ I said, bold now I’d made my decision. ‘Take care of Liv. She’s going through a tough time, right now, and she’s probably the only one left who’ll put up with your shit. She’d do anything for you,’ I was about to walk out and I had only one chance at this. I took it. ‘And I mean…you know…anything.’

And, with that, I lifted up my chin and stalked out of Max’s office, and out of Ffyvells, forever.