Invitation to Ecstasy (7 page)

“His love for you is obvious.”

She startled at his statement and then laughed, her hand
absently falling on his biceps. “Like a brother, Derek. Trust me when I say
there’s nothing romantic about our relationship.”

He furrowed his brow in confusion. Obviously he’d
misinterpreted Ethan’s protectiveness.

“Ethan is the one who introduced my husband to me.”

Derek’s low whistle cut through the night. “No wonder he
hovers like a mother hen.”

She laughed, despite herself. “Yeah, well, if you haven’t
noticed, he hovers over all of his guests. I think that has more to do with his
matchmaking skills. I swear, the man can’t find his own true love, but he sure
is anxious for all his friends to find it.”

“I was pretty sure he set me up to find you at the lagoon
this afternoon,” Derek said. “Of course he didn’t expect me to—”

“Stop.” Sara put her hand up between them, frustration
making her voice unusually loud. “Please stop blaming yourself for Ethan’s
overreaction. What you did, what
we
did together…” Her tone softened.
“It was exactly what I needed. It’s exactly what I
wanted
for this
weekend. Derek, I’ve been in therapy for two years, but nothing was going to
completely heal me without coming here to XTC Resorts where it all began.”

“Which was the reason you went to the private lagoon today.”

“I needed to prove to myself that Marc doesn’t have any
power over me anymore.” She inhaled deeply, finding strength in the spicy scent
of his cologne. “But my therapist also told me that some aspects of my life
with my late husband will never quite disappear and that it would be up to me
to discover which cues will drop me right back into the nightmare.

“Being your submissive was freeing, Derek. Don’t you see
that? I felt cherished and safe even as I relived my hell. There was healing in
the telling.” She laid her hand in the center of Derek’s chest, his heart
hammering beneath her palm. “The smell of leather before you bound me was like
a drug, feeding my addiction. I won’t ever be able to get enough. But something
you said triggered a reaction so deep I know I’ll never be able to let it go.”

Derek’s hand snaked up to hold hers, understanding sparking
in the emerald pools of his eyes. “Beautiful.”

Even after all they’d been through, the word shivered down
her spine and Sara had to work not to cower under its power. “Yes.” She worked
to push the words past the acid burning in her throat. “Marc…he…he…”

“It’s okay, Sara, you don’t have to explain. I was wrong to
push you so hard.”

“No, don’t say that.” Frustration rode on the words, making
them unusually loud in the tranquility of the night. “You were right. It was
all so right. I wouldn’t know I couldn’t handle it if you hadn’t tried. I would
have told you if Ethan hadn’t barged in.” She pushed on, gathering courage from
the heat of Derek’s body pressed against hers. “See, the thing is, it was
Marc’s word. His subtle way of controlling me when we were in public. When he
called me beautiful, it was when he found me the most loathsome. No amount of
groveling would stop the punishment I’d earned when he used that word. And it
wasn’t sexual punishment but a retraining for whatever offense I’d committed.
What Marc did to me was unconscionable. But the fact that I played a willing
role is beyond insane.”

“Sara, now it’s your turn to stop. Marc is the only one who
carries the blame here. It’s over and done. You’re free to be your own woman.”

“And I have you to thank for the gift of that freedom. He’s
gone. Marc’s gone and there’s nothing but a gentle peace I haven’t known in
years filling my heart.”

Derek’s hand, warm and firm, squeezed hers. “You did that.
Not me.”

“Ethan told me you wouldn’t take credit.” Her other hand
found its way to his stubbled cheek, her thumb caressing the hard knot in his
jaw. “Derek, I trusted you to keep me safe even as the ghosts of my past came
to life. I faced every terrible memory and found strength in your presence.
There’s no way I could have done that alone.”

He released her hand and turned from her, casually leaning
his elbows on the bridge and tucking his booted foot between the rails. “You
weren’t safe with me, Sara. I pushed too hard. Even Ethan recognized that. If
he hadn’t saved—”

“Ethan’s timing could
not
have been worse.” She
studied the inky blackness of the pool below, swallowing her trepidation and
praying she did this right. “We both had something to prove to ourselves this
afternoon. Only it seems I was the only one who is willing to acknowledge it.”

Derek stiffened beside her. “What did Ethan tell you after I
left the bungalow?”

“You know better than that.”

Derek nodded. They both knew Ethan would never betray the
confidence of a friend. Regardless of what the resort manager knew about
Derek’s fall from grace, Ethan would never breathe a word of it to another
person.

“Am I so transparent?” he asked.

“I’m submissive, not deaf. You mentioned something about
losing your job and being shunned by the BDSM community last night at the club.
Whatever happened has rocked your belief in yourself.”

“Yeah, you could say that.” Restless, he turned, leaning his
back against the railing, his face turned toward the stars. “I put a submissive
in a degrading situation.”

“A rookie mistake, but not worthy of being ostracized. And
how does that have anything to do with your job?”

“When the sub is the daughter of a very wealthy, very
influential government official touring your father’s architectural firm it can
be a
colossal
mistake. It seems daddies go a little ballistic when they
walk into an associate’s office and find their daughter hogtied, blindfolded
and sucking a man’s dick.”

Oops.
“You stripped her naked and tied her up against
her will?”

“Of course I didn’t.”

“Oh, so you shoved your cock in her mouth when she begged
you to stop?”

Derek sighed, his head dropping. “Sara, I see where you’re
going with this, but unlike what happened to you, this
is
my fault. She
was humiliated in front of her father.
My
father lost city contracts
that would have netted him millions. I didn’t keep her safe, bottom line.”

“Did it ever occur to you that the manipulative bitch could
have been using you?”

“What?” For the first time this evening, his eyes met hers.

Sara turned to him, her breasts pressed against his warm
biceps. She didn’t know the particular sub who had no doubt pulled an elaborate
scheme to humiliate a controlling father, but she knew women. And sometimes it
didn’t matter whose life a woman ruined as long as they got what you wanted.
“Derek, I suspect if you look at the circumstances, I mean
really
go
over every detail of how she ended up in your office in a compromising
situation just coincidentally as her father saunters through the door, you’re
going to discover it doesn’t quite add up.” She smiled. “We submissives aren’t
blind to the fact of just how much power we wield over our Masters.”

His mouth worked, but nothing came out.

“And sometimes we just can’t help ourselves when the
attraction burns in our hearts.” She dropped to her knees in front of him, her
wrists clasped behind her back, her shoulders thrown back, prominently
displaying breasts that ached for Derek’s hands. “I humbly ask my Master to
take me to the dungeon at the Masters’ lodge and use me for your pleasure.” She
kept her chin up, but her gaze locked on Derek’s boots. Her lungs burned with
the nervous breath she held. She was sure her heart would never survive his
rejection.

Derek walked in front of Sara, his heavy biker boots rapping
out a steady tempo as they approached the Masters’ lodge. It was amazing he
could even hear the beat over the sound of his heart throbbing in his ears. In
a million years, he would not have believed this was where this night would
end. But as he lifted the erotic brass knocker on the wooden door, his blood
heated with the anticipation of having Sara bound and at the mercy of his
pleasure.

Despite the blue jeans and button-down shirt Derek wore, his
natural Dom persona had slipped into place the moment Sara dropped to her
knees. He had only this night with her, and now that he’d made the decision to
go through with it, he had every intention of making sure she would never
forget him.

Impatience had him lifting the knocker again, but the heavy
wooden door swung open before he could let it fall.

“I wasn’t sure how much longer to wait for you two.” Ethan
stepped aside, allowing Derek and Sara entry into the spacious foyer. Sensual
black marble statues sat in well-lit alcoves, surrounded by large potted
plants, their thick foliage a stark contrast to the white walls and cathedral
ceiling hanging with an elegant crystal chandelier. “The invitation read eight,
my friends. Thirty minutes is considered fashionably late.” He leaned in
conspiratorially. “But an hour certainly makes a statement, doesn’t it?”

“I always find it best not to carry excess baggage into the
dungeon,” said Derek.

“A wise decision.” Ethan turned to Sara, who stood mutely
behind Derek. “You look ravishing tonight, Sara.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Though Ethan and Sara were no more than friends, the hot
spike of jealousy at the Dom’s frank appraisal and Sara’s flushed cheeks took
Derek by surprise. He’d thought the afternoon had been about helping Sara, but
the alluring submissive had revived something in him he hadn’t realized had
been lying dormant all these months.

“My apologies for misunderstanding at the bungalow this
afternoon, Derek.”

Derek took the hand Ethan offered and pulled him into a
fierce hug. “Friendship and love can blind a man.”

“It seems Sara was the only one with her eyes wide open,”
Ethan said.

Color flooded Sara’s cheeks as her full lips curled in a
smile that stole his breath. “Any submissive would count herself fortunate to
have two Masters who cared so much.”

“I’m the lucky one, Sara.” Derek brushed his hand
possessively down her braid. Ethan cleared his throat. “The others were just
headed down to the playroom. Shall we join them?” He turned and walked down a
long hallway to their left. Derek invited Sara to walk between them, her
confident submissive posture so different from the arrogant challenge she’d
offered him last night or the apprehensive demeanor she’d displayed earlier in
the afternoon.

The hall they walked had recessed lighting on their right,
highlighting more carnal statues in black marble, each depicting a stunning
scene of Master and slave. Through the wall of windows on their left, the
manicured lawn and colorful garden, illuminated by tasteful landscaping lights,
stretched out to the edge of the pool they’d seen from the bridge. The water
rippled tranquilly in the tropical breeze, the moon’s glow shimmering along its
ebony surface. All these details his architect’s eye picked up in seconds, but
the male in him forced his focus back to Sara.

Five hours ago she’d been coming undone in his arms. Three
hours ago Derek had been sure he’d done her irreparable harm. Shit, an hour ago
he’d been ready to say goodbye. Now everything was changed. Their relationship
had found solid ground, both of them needing what only the other could give. A
symbiotic push and pull that went down to the very marrow of who they were—a
Master and his submissive.

“Here we are.” Ethan raised his arm and stepped back,
offering Derek his first glimpse of the Masters’ dungeon.

The large room before him was a tasteful blending of modern
architecture and old-world castle charm. The white walls had been accented with
bricks and inlaid stone rising up to a vaulted ceiling that allowed Doms to
suspend their submissives in elaborate systems of cages, pulleys and ropes.
Wooden racks of floggers, whips and various tools were set back in recessed
alcoves lit by decorative torch sconces that camouflaged modern lighting
fixtures. Red leather couches for relaxing and viewing were interspersed with
large pieces of bondage furniture, some of them already in use.

“Please make yourself comfortable in my home.” Ethan left
them, joining a small group watching a naked sub being artfully bound in ropes.
Derek would like to see Sara bound and suspended and completely at his mercy,
but he didn’t have that kind of patience at the moment.

With his hand on her low back, Derek guided Sara into the
room, pleased when several people stopped what they were doing to admire her,
their eyes quietly seeking an invitation to join them. Derek had no intention
of extending it. If he only had one last night with her, even in this public
dungeon, this night would be about only them.

He stopped in the center of the room, a simple bondage frame
before them. “Sara, I intend to bind you and use your body for my pleasure
tonight. Remove your corset and thong, but can the stockings remain?”

“Yes, Master. They’re held up with a garter belt beneath the
corset.”

Christ, Sara was a fucking wet dream in the flesh.
Derek had all he could do to remain focused as blood pooled in his groin. “Very
well, the garter, heels, collar and nipple jewelry remain. I’m going to find
some equipment we both can enjoy. When I return, I want the rest of your
clothes gone and you standing spread eagle, displayed for everyone’s
admiration.”

“Yes, Master.”

Derek walked away, adrenaline kicking up his heart rate.
Never had he felt so much riding on a scene. He thought Sara’s suspicions may
be right about the situation in his office. Though he still held some
culpability, it was perfectly plausible that the woman had manipulated the circumstances.
As Sara pointed out, too many things had come together and created the perfect
storm of consequences. He would never know if the woman had intended for him to
lose his job, but over the last year and a half, Derek had realized his
business philosophy was much different from his father’s and he could now take
his architect business into a greener, more environmentally friendly future.

And Sara. He turned to admire her just as the corset fell
away, his heart aching that her flawless body would belong to another Master
after tonight. Hell, he didn’t even know where she lived. They could be in
opposite corners of the continent, for all he knew. And long-distance
relationships, especially one as unique as theirs, would be difficult to
nurture. He figured he should be grateful she’d allowed him into her heart long
enough to help her heal.

Did he dare to risk his own heart by wanting more?

Sara spread her legs and lifted her arms above her head, her
ankles and palms resting on the frame. He’d done a quick calculation as he’d
stewed in the club of the years she’d spent caring for her deceased parents,
added the years of nursing school and her marriage and figured she was roughly
a decade older than him, give or take a couple of years. But the perky breasts with
their dusky nipples and flat stomach prominently displayed appeared to be the
body of someone in their late-twenties.

Stunning. Alluring. Gorgeous. Enticing. Bewitching.
Sara was certainly all that and more. He would spend hours in the quiet nights
of his apartment finding adjectives to describe her heart-stopping beauty.
Beautiful
would never again be part of his vocabulary.

He wondered after this night, if it would even matter.

Sounds of pleasure came from every corner of the room.

In her peripheral vision, Sara could see two Mistresses on
her right sitting on a couch chatting, a male sub buried in each of their laps.
She suspected the squeaky turn of a pulley and quiet grunts behind her meant
they were suspending the woman who had been lying naked in the corner of the
room, lengths of ropes laid out on the floor around her. Two St. Andrew’s
Crosses leaned against each other to her left, two male submissives, bound at
wrists and ankles, facing one another, their Masters each wielding a bullwhip
that snapped wickedly each time they hit the men’s backs.

But none of that held any appeal. There was only one man who
had captured her attention. And it took all her training not to lift her head
and search for her Master. Derek had been gone longer than it took to walk
across the room and gather the tools he would use on her. Perhaps he’d joined
the group binding the woman behind her. Rope work was an art many Doms eagerly
sought to learn. There was nothing submissives coveted more than leaving a
dungeon proudly wearing the marks of their Master.

She’d purposefully pulled her hair back, blatantly
displaying Derek’s bite marks on her shoulder. Though she wore the collar of a
submissive, she really had no desire to be dominated by anyone but the man
who’d freed her heart—ever again.

Sara wasn’t sure when she’d come to that realization, but if
Derek was willing, she’d like to continue seeing him after this weekend was
over.

“Do you have an idea how everyone is admiring you?”

Her Master’s velvet voice slid over her ear, his heated
breath feathering across her cheek. He pressed close, the clean scent of him
filling her nose. With her eyes cast down, she could see that he’d stripped off
his shirt and boots, the warmth of his body surrounding her, centering Sara in
the presence of him.

“Every Master and Mistress in this room wants to dominate
you.” He gently took her hands from the frame and snugged a leather cuff around
each wrist. “Every submissive is hoping they will be asked to grovel at your
feet.” He lifted them above her head, threading a chain through a loop between
the cuffs. “But they can’t have you. Tonight you belong to only me.” He pulled
on the chain, stretching her hands up high until she was slightly off balance
on her toes. “What’s your safe word, Sara?”

“I don’t need one, Master.”

His hands slid down the inside of her arms, raising
gooseflesh. “You have no idea what I’m going to do to you.” He pinched her
nipples, rolling them between his fingers, the pain drawing a sigh of pleasure
from her lips.

“I’m safe with you. I don’t need one. There’s nothing you
could do to me that would make me say it. I trust you implicitly, Master.”

His finger came up under her chin, forcing her gaze to meet
his. Sara’s stomach clenched with hope at what she saw reflected in his eyes.
Hunger and passion had dilated his pupils, but a longing deep and raw sparked
in the emerald pools of them. Could it be possible he wanted more beyond this
night?

“Sara, you can’t trust that a Master will know when to
stop.”

“I’m not going to be with another Master. I’m going to be
with you. You understand me like no one else ever has.
Ever.
”

“How have I been so lucky to find you?” His hands snaked
around her neck, his lips brushing hers without demand. Still, she quivered
under his barely contained power. His tongue ran along her bottom lip, seeking
entrance. When Sara complied, the familiar taste of him burst on her tongue.
With a softness that melted her heart, his mouth made love to hers. Derek’s
tongue delved in, dancing with hers in breath-stealing sensations of satin and
heat. His hands fisted in her hair, pulling at the roots, her body responding
to his desperation. Of their own accord, her hips tilted forward, her belly
rubbing his growing erection, her breasts squashed against the solid wall of
his chest.

He pulled from her, his forehead pressed to hers, his heavy
breaths buffeting her mouth. “I don’t deserve you.” Derek’s coarse words
sounded as if they’d been dragged over sandpaper.

“No, it’s me who has won the Dom lottery.” Sara smiled,
willing for the first time in years to bear open her heart, praying she hadn’t
misread her Master. “I’m a sexual submissive. It’s who I am in the dungeon.
It’s how I find my pleasure. But outside these walls, I’m an independent woman.
I wasn’t sure I’d find someone who understood the difference. You do.”

“God, you are everything I didn’t know I was searching for
and now that I’ve found you, I don’t want this to be the last time for us. I
don’t want to leave here and never see you again, Sara.”

“Planes fly in and out of Boston every day.”

Derek’s head came up, his eyes searching her face. “Boston?
Are you from Boston?”

She nodded, her hope turning to confusion when Derek’s rich
laugh rolled over her. He shot a look over her shoulder, and she wanted to turn
and see what he found so humorous. But even in this relaxed conversation, Sara
was still a submissive waiting for her Master’s commands.

“My Italian grandmother has nothing on Ethan’s matchmaking
skills.” Derek’s hands bracketed her cheeks, the smile splitting his face
reached up to spark in his eyes. “I’m an architect in Boston, Sara. Ethan set
us both up this weekend. There’s more of this if we want it.”

How dare the manager of this respectable resort be so
presumptuous?
She’d kill Ethan if she weren’t so happy. The man standing
before her, with his heart shimmering in his hungry eyes, was devouring her
with every sweep of his gaze over her body. “Just say the word, Master.”

He didn’t bother to say anything—he simply let his actions
speak for him. Derek slid the ring off her nipple, bending to suck the tender
flesh into the wet heat of his mouth. He removed the other ring with his hand,
the chain dangling down to tickle her belly. Teeth grazed the sensitive pearl,
the sublime pain jolting over her nerves. Slick moisture dampened her thighs.