Sean stood and nodded toward the bathroom, not willing to push anymore right now. She’d given a lot tonight, how much was just beginning to dawn on her, and she would need time to assimilate what that meant and how far she wanted to continue taking this.
“Take your time, then I’ll walk you down.” Surprise sent her eyes skittering back to face him for one brief second. He caught the flash of uncertainty on her face before she turned away and knew she took his refusal to fuck her tonight as a personal slur. “Alessa.” Sean waited until she composed herself enough to face him. “We’re taking this one step at a time, one slow step at a time.”
Relief shone in her topaz eyes before she shuttered them again. As she padded into the bathroom, he watched the tension ease from her shoulders, thinking it would help if she’d open up to at least Krista about their new relationship. Having someone she could talk to about their scenes, someone who understood the dynamics of giving up control from her side of things, would help settle her mind when the pleasure diminished, and the self-doubts cropped back up while she was away from him. Alessa wouldn’t do so willingly, which meant another lesson in ceding to his will would be necessary before they split tonight.
Going into the sitting room, he picked up the discarded dress and stood waiting to help her back into it when she emerged from the bathroom. “I can do this,” she grumbled in irritation when he held the sides open for her to slip her arms into.
His frown caused her to stumble back a step, but he caught her wrist and yanked her over his arm to deliver five rapid, skin-reddening slaps. “This is what you’ll get every time you give me attitude.” Tears hovered in her eyes when he lifted her. Confident he’d got his message across, he allowed her to reach behind and rub the offending marks. He’d made sure the swats were hard enough to add to the lingering pain of the paddle. “Now, shall we try this again?” He held up the open dress.
“I only meant I’m not a child,” she pouted.
“Then don’t act like one.” Starting at the hem, Sean slowly buttoned up the front of the dress, his knuckles dragging over her silk covered thighs then her bare flesh when he got to the garter. “There, done,” he announced after buttoning the last one at the low-scooped neckline. Taking Alessa’s hand, he led her to the door with instructions for later. “Sometime this week, you will talk to Krista about us. You need that connection when you’re away from me, at least until you feel comfortable enough to pick up the phone and call me when uncertainties get you down.” Out in the hall, he punched the elevator button then turned to look at her, not surprised to see her eyes flashing with an instant rebuke. Placing one finger across her trembling lips, he warned in a low voice, “I wouldn’t, if I were you. You agreed to this, said this is the lifestyle you wanted to explore. You’ll ask Krista to call me after you’ve talked to her. What you say can stay between the two of you, I just want to know you’ve done as I’ve instructed.”
“Just Krista?”
Sean shrugged and guided her into the elevator when the doors pinged open. “That can be up to you. You know enough about the other girls, and their lives with Zach, Jackson and Miles, to know whether you want to include them or not. But, for what I have in mind next weekend on the yacht, Dax and Krista need to know. Besides, you trust her, and him.”
She stayed quiet all the way out to her car. He opened the door then leaned in after she settled behind the wheel. “Can you get home okay by yourself?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Thank you, what?”
“Thank you, Master Sean.”
“Good girl. I’ll call you.”
ALESSA DROVE AWAY DOUBTING HIM. Every time a man said he’d call, he never meant it, at least, that had been her experience. The warm fuzzy his simple praise generated slowly dissipated as she drove home. She shifted on the seat, uncomfortable sitting on her tender butt, but all that did was emphasize the soreness even more. Her nipples puckered, and she looked down at her chest in disbelief. “Really?” Shaking her head over the confusion clouding her mind, she wondered if she would obey that last order or end this now.
When just contemplating stopping what they’d begun turned her palms clammy and caused her lower abdomen to coil into a tight knot, she knew she would talk to Krista soon. And when she did, it would be a given she’d tell Dax, which Sean had known. Master Sean had been right. Giving up complete control was hard to do, a whole lot more difficult than submitting those first times in the two clubs. She’d convinced herself that was just about sex, the same as any other sexual encounter she’d indulged in over the years, only kinky. That wouldn’t work with what Sean had shown her in the short time since he’d agreed to her request. The small commands to do his bidding that had nothing to do with the scene on the bed were difficult to obey, but when she had, the sense of being cared for made up for the humiliation of giving up her independence.
She still wasn’t sure she could handle this in a full-time, committed relationship; only time would tell that. But she was positive she wasn’t ready to toss in the towel. The powerful orgasms were an extra bonus, and she wasn’t ready to give those up either. Maybe next week, he would add to her pleasure by fucking her. She had a long week ahead, fantasizing about that body crushing hers, his hips pumping inside her as forcefully as he’d pummeled her pussy with the dildo.
Alessa pulled into the drive, cut the engine and fished her phone out of her purse. With her head still ringing with Sean’s last order and her body still pulsating from the climaxes he’d wrought, she wanted to send Krista a text that would ensure she didn’t change her mind come morning. I just spent two hours with Sean Bates in a hotel room. More tomorrow. There was no way Krista would let that go when they met for yoga in the morning. She fell into bed twenty minutes later, a pair of silver eyes popping up right before she drifted into sleep.
CHAPTER 8
A lessa awoke later than usual Sunday morning and to an achy body. Rolling out of bed, she downed a cup of coffee before stumbling into the shower. The tender twinges softened into a pleasant soreness under the hot pelting spray, one that would have made her feel well-used if it weren’t for the fact Master Sean had fucked her with an object instead of his body. Despite the buildup of heat, a delicate shiver rippled down her body when she imagined how she’d feel the morning after being taken by him with as much forceful rigor as he’d applied the dildo between her legs.
Nothing in her past experiences had prepared her for the full impact of a man’s dominant control. In college, the guys were too young and full of themselves to leave a lasting impression or put much effort into the sex beyond getting themselves off. The older, more stabilized men she’d indulged in a few affairs and one-nighters with after the long, extended dry spell following graduation had been more attentive, but the lovemaking had still fallen flat, especially when compared to last night. Not even the two scenes at the clubs could come close to rivaling what Master Sean had put her through.
Drying off, Alessa recalled the demands he’d made of her that went beyond the sex and admitted she wasn’t sure how she felt today about the whole giving up complete control idea. On the one hand, she’d relished the sense of someone caring enough to insist she ate and talked to someone other than him about this new relationship. But on the other, she’d worked hard to put herself through nursing school, get a good job and settle in her own place. She took pride in gaining those accomplishments all on her own. If it weren’t for the constant ache for something more, a connection she’d never earned, she would enjoy her independence more.
With a mental shake, she set aside the ongoing, plaguing questions, determined to see this through with Sean. How it ended, what it might help her find that would complete her life, remained to be seen.
In the meantime, she’d gain as much as possible from his ‘lessons’.
Her phone rang and she rooted it out of her purse, surprised to see Sean’s name. When he’d said he would call, she hadn’t expected to hear from him the very next day. “Hello?” she answered with a nervous hitch, fearing he wanted to end their relationship already.
“Good morning, sweetheart. I’m just checking to see if you’re okay today.”
The hint of concern lacing his smooth, deep voice carried through the line, erasing her worry and replacing it with a sense of warm relief. “I’m good, thank you.”
“Alessa.”
She shook her head, smiling at the stern rebuke. “Okay, I’m a little sore, but nothing too bad. Is that good enough for you?”
“Good enough. Be careful coming home from work. I’ll call later this week with plans for next weekend.”
Alessa hung up and tried not to read too much into his call. Just because no one had ever shown such concern over her welfare before, especially none of the men who’d seen her naked, Sean’s consideration didn’t mean anything. She didn’t know him well but had learned since making that first appointment that he took his job as a psychologist as seriously as it seemed he took his role as Master Sean.
As Alessa’d known she would, Krista barged in her front door an hour later, demanding details. “Our Sean? I knew he’d be good for you!” Tossing her small gym bag on the wicker sofa, she strode into the kitchen where Alessa stood behind the counter and gave her a big hug before saying, “The heck with exercising. If you have some of that raspberry tea I love, we’re going outside to talk. I want details, girlfriend. When did this come about and why didn’t you say something beforehand? How long have I been trying to get you to come out of your shell and join us?”
Grinning, Alessa held up a hand. “Slow down. Yes, there’s tea in the fridge. I’ll pour two glasses while you grab the cookies I made yesterday.”