Beloved Pet

She just stared at me.

“Don’t feel bad,” I said. “Very few people have. But I’ve been privileged to know some of them. Many extraordinary women have crossed my path over the years, while I’ve done my service as a Master. Every single one of them found me to be worthy of their trust. When you were researching me, looking up all the skeletons in my closet, did you find yourself wondering why? Why would any woman agree to take orders from me?”

She nodded, breathlessly. I could tell that she wanted to argue, to protest, to question, but couldn’t quite find her voice. Her eyes were dark and transfixed, her hands gripping the cushion underneath her.

“Would you like to find out?”

Jocelyn’s jaw trembled. But she didn’t speak.

“Remember, just yes or no questions,” I reassured her. “You don’t have to do anything. Just answer me, yes or no. There are quite a few left.”

She still didn’t answer.

“When you came here to my office, was there any part of your mind that imagined me mastering you? Mentoring you in more ways than just professional ones? Teaching you what it’s like to submit?”

I was met with silence.

“Did you wonder how it would feel if I spanked you? If it would feel silly?”

There was silence, still, except for the sound of the clock ticking in the corner.

“Did you ask yourself where you’d draw the line? What you’d do for me?”

Her lip trembled. In her eyes, I could see that her resolve was beginning to falter.

“Stop it!” she shouted, finally, jumping to her feet. “Stop it. This is for my job. I won’t let you humiliate me like this.”

“But you are,” I said, calmly. “You knew exactly what would happen when I started this game. You know who I am. But you came here. And you stayed, while I asked you these questions. And that can only mean one thing, Jocelyn.”

“That’s not true,” she spat. “Maybe I should go tell Ashton and Kane about you. Or their wives. Maybe you deserve to be humiliated, the way you humiliate everyone else.”

I could tell she wasn’t really going to do it. She wanted me to keep going.

“How do you think Ashton and Kane met their wives?” I asked her. “You seem to know about the rumor mill around here already. You must have already heard that they met here at work. That they had a, shall we say, elicit boss and employee relationship. It’s not exactly unheard of.”

She got up as if to leave, but I knew she wouldn’t really do it. She paused, her high heels stopping their clicking on the wooden floor. I could tell she knew about the relationships that had formed at this firm in the past. That was probably part of what she had come— she had known the repercussions couldn’t possibly be that bad, if such things had happened here in the past.

I stood up and went to her, kneeling down, because even though she was tall, I was still much taller, reaching out and taking hold of her chin, gently. Instead of recoiling, she just froze. She wasn’t resisting in the least. I lifted her face.

“You have two choices, Jocelyn,” I said, softly. “You can walk out of here now, and forget we ever had this conversation. I’ll still be your mentor, and I’ll help you get this internship and then this job, because I think you deserve it. But we’ll sit in every meeting, across from each other, and you’ll look at me and you’ll wonder what could have happened here today. I don’t want to force myself on you, of course.”

She looked up at me, her eyes wide and wet.

“Or, you can do everything I ask. This is your one chance to show me how much you want to do that.”

I felt her throat expand and contract as she swallowed.

“Everything?” she rasped.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll be easy on you. At least at first.”

Chapter 7

William

I stepped back, letting go of her, walking backwards until my back was up against the bookcase. She stayed on her hands and knees, trembling, staring up at me.

This was one of those rare times when I really had no idea what would happen next. She might jump to her feet and stalk out, or she might burst into tears and crumple into a ball on the floor. Even though she was the one who’d provoked this in the first place, and I was certain she wanted it, I had no idea how she was actually going to react.

She still hadn’t moved. She was waiting for an order.

“Come here,” I said. “And bring me that piece of paper on the table.”

I pointed, but I didn’t really need to. There weren’t many pieces of paper on the table, and it didn’t really matter which one she chose to bring me. I just wanted her to show me that she would do whatever I asked her to do. If I was going to make her my pet, I wanted to make sure she was going to do everything I needed from her. It was one of my requirements to enter into such a relationship.