“I’m sorry I struck you just now,” he said, his voice warm and sincere. “I should have been more patient.” He pulled her close, cradling her gently against his chest. “This is their fault, those Masters Club people. I’m glad I got you out of there when I did.”
He let her go and took a step back. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he stared down into her eyes. “Don’t worry, my darling girl. I forgive you. I’ll help you undo whatever damage they’ve done. I’m going to take some time off and train you properly, 24/7. I never should have relied on others. You’re my most cherished possession, and I’ll never make that mistake again.”
Rowan drew in a breath, trying to relax. She closed her eyes, summoning her mantra.
Master, I am your slave and your property… Use me, teach me, punish me, that I may learn to serve and submit to you in all things.
The words were there, waiting for her to reclaim them, but they no longer resonated in her soul.
And that realization was terrifying.
Chapter 10
Master John’s jetlag was apparently catching up with him. Rowan, too, was wiped out from the tumultuous events of the last few days. They agreed an early night was what they both needed.
Teeth brushed and faces washed, they returned to the bedroom. He lay down on the bed, beckoning Rowan by patting his bare thigh. “Come lie across my lap,” he said, a sexy glint in his eye. “We both need to take a step back and regroup. A good, hard spanking will calm us both down.”
Rowan climbed across him, her skin tingling in anticipation. She did love a good spanking. And he was right—it always served to center her when she was agitated. She settled against him, resting her cheek against the soft sheets as she closed her eyes.
His hand came down hard, no preamble, no gentle warm-up. But that was fine. She needed the strong, steady stroke of erotic pain to quiet the jumbled thoughts still roiling in her brain. Her skin heated quickly, the welcome sting warming her blood and hardening her clit.
“You need this,” Master John grunted.
“Yes, Sir,” she agreed breathlessly.
The smack of his blows cracked in the air, each strike pressing her hard against his muscular thighs. The pain escalated into searing heat, nearly obscuring her masochistic pleasure as it mounted.
“You’re almost there, Rowan. Let go.”
The trainer’s voice whispered in her head, calming her with its steady assurance.
“You can do it. I know you can.”
She relaxed into the erotic pain, letting it sweep her into its dark, necessary embrace. Just another push, and she’d be airborne…
“That’s it,” Master John crooned above her, jerking her back to the present, to this moment, to this man.
All at once, he pushed her from his lap, flipping her over so she was flat on her back. He loomed above her, his thick, hard cock nudging insistently between her legs.
Rowan bit back a cry of frustration. She’d been so close to the miracle. Just a little longer and she would have flown. She was sure of it.
She forgot her frustration as Master John eased himself inside her. Her vaginal muscles spasmed with pleasure, sucking him deeper. She moaned as he reached for her arms, pulling them up over her head and pressing her wrists into the mattress.
She adored being held down in this way, her ass stinging deliciously, her Master’s hard cock thrusting inside her, his heavy, masculine weight pinning her down beneath him.
“You have permission, slave,” he growled, his breath hot on her neck. “Tonight you will come for me. Do you understand?”
He released one wrist to wrap his hand around her throat. The erotic trigger sent a hot gush of moisture through her cunt.
“Yes, Sir,” she gasped, her heart pounding, her clit throbbing.
A recent scenario unspooled in her mind’s eye. She was stretched into a human X on the cross, her entire body alive with sensation. Soft leather cuffs snugged around her wrists and ankles. The heavy flogger whisked over her skin, setting it on fire as a matching heat rose deep inside her.
Each thuddy smack of leather pushed her deeper, igniting every nerve ending in her body with stinging, white-hot pleasure. She could sense him behind her, his calm control, his undeniable dominance, as he brought her closer, ever closer, to that sacred place of pure, raw, brilliant release.
The hand on her throat tightened, sending a shudder of erotic fear over and through her as the hard cock pummeled inside her. Sweat-slicked skin, pounding hearts, a man’s low, guttural cry in the moment of release…
Rowan arched against him, lifted out of her body as a powerful orgasm cascaded over and through her.
“Eric,” she gasped.
Unbidden, the name tumbled out like a stone before she could stop it, landing heavily between them.
Her free hand flew to her mouth, which had gone suddenly dry. Her pulse raced, terror coiling in her gut.