The Favor (14 page)

“Thank you, Sir.” I whimpered in response, looking down to my toes. My body swayed over them, but my mind was too far gone. The pain of the cuffs and my throbbing muscles honed in on one thing and one thing alone.

“Do you want me to touch you, Kit?”

“Yes please, Sir,” I cried out, pushing up onto my toes and attempting to find my balance. The cuffs pinched at my wrists. If I'd have been in my right mind, I would have paused, answered with restraint and composure like a good sub should, but I wasn't, I hadn't, and in that moment I really wasn’t sure I was capable.

“Where?”

I was brazen in my lust. My tongue swept over my bottom lip again and my eyes fluttered as I fought to keep them focused on my feet, when all I really wanted to do was look at him.

“My pussy, Sir.”

His answering chuckle and the click of his tongue had a traitorous tear escaping from the corner of my eye, telling him exactly what he’d managed to do. He was out of his chair in a blink, his long strides carrying him across the room to me. Gripping my chin, he lifted my head, and whether by instinct or direction, leaned in to lick the tear away, his tongue tracing the reverse of its path, making my knees weaken under me.

“Now you're teasing me.”

“No, Sir,” I breathed out. It hadn't been my intention, even if it was the truth. I needed his touch. I needed him inside me. I felt like a rabid animal, tethered from the rest of the world.

Jared’s accusation had more tears following the first, and my frustration mingled with my shame as he anchored me by my chin. His breath brushed over the dampness of my cheek seconds before his nose ran the length of my jaw and he breathed me in.

“Your tears,” he said, swallowing hard. “God, Kit, they make me want to be inside of you, feeling the heat of them on my tongue as I fuck you.”

I whimpered. This was a side of him I hadn't seen yet and it just made me want him more. His dominance was perfection. his tone was torture and the look he was giving me made me want to drop to my knees and please him, but I couldn’t, not even if he cut me loose. That didn’t stop the mental images, however, and the clench of my stomach muscles, in that familiar, needy way, ensured that my tears continued to flow.

“I thought seeing you bound like this would disturb me,” he whispered, reaching out until the fingers of his free hand hovered an inch over my nipple. One deep breath in and I could close the distance, but I was frozen in place by his voice, and the insatiable hunger there. “But it made me so hard. Did you enjoy watching me pleasure myself?”

“Yes, Sir,” I whispered in response, forcing the words around the lump in my throat.

“Are you wet?”

“Very, Sir.”

He growled, his free hand dropping to his dick as though he was hard again. Maybe he was. It was unlikely but not impossible.

“I want to feel, but I'd be breaking the rules.”

He would, but it wasn't breaking the rules for me to touch myself. Mistress Kayla had never put restrictions on that because she traveled so much.

“Sir, I can show you.”

His breath stopped in his lungs, the caress of his nose against me pausing as he considered it. For a moment, I wasn't sure if he was going to agree or not, but then his hand lifted and moved up my arm, slowly, purposefully. He unbuckled only one of my wrists from the chain and caught it before it fell. He must have been aware of the ache that was there, because he took his time lowering it before pushing my hand to my stomach.

“Show me,” he growled, his body pressing against mine.

In one smooth brush, my hand was under the waistband of my underwear, setting a fiery path over my skin as I dipped my fingers between my folds, sliding through the dampness.

Jared grunted in my ear impatiently and I yelped in need, the sound growing more wanton as my fingers brushed over my swollen clit only for a second before I retrieved my hand. The moment it was free, he gripped my wrist, pulled my hand to his face and stared at my fingers with rapt fascination.

Moving slowly, his body slid behind mine and pressed in close, his hand turning my head so I could see him over my shoulder. In a slow but steady movement, he slid my fingers into his mouth, his cheeks hollowing as they sucked every bit of my dampness from them. Unable to control myself, I allowed my head to fall back against his shoulder. My climax was, once again, teasing and threatening to claw through my body as his tongue flicked between the two fingers.

“Sir?” My tone was dripping with supplication. I didn't want to orgasm without his permission, but I was starting to hurt from denying myself the release.

“Come,” he whispered huskily, and he didn't have to say it twice. My body was overwhelmed by the surge of painful pleasure as it took control. My muscles ached, the fire in my joints flaring, and my voice broke as the final shudders worked their way through my frame and the weight of me fell against him.

I slept like the dead, my body loose and relaxed as I pressed up against Jared. He'd been more than amazing. The moment I'd lost the use of my legs, he unclipped my remaining wrist and carried me to the chair. A warm blanket was produced from somewhere and wrapped tightly around me before he tucked me against his chest where I seemed to fit like I was made for him.

I lavished in his attention. My body rested against his as he hummed quietly, his hand rubbing up and down my arm, creating warmth from friction. I could feel the uncertainty flood his body as I settled against him. My immediate need to reassure him coercing me to talk.

When he finally understood that my languid state was from pleasure, he relaxed again, our bodies melding into one being. Both of us were just taking a moment to absorb the connection between us. My mind was empty, my muscles relaxed and sated, so it wasn't long before I drifted into a peaceful meditative state. It wasn't sleep. I was still too aware of his breath and the sound of his heart under my ear.

I’m not sure how long we stayed that way, but all too soon, he stood and carried me to the main house, pouring a hot bath for me while he went to get us both some food and something to drink. The heat of the bath water and the steam eased the aches in my arms and my smile didn't slip at all. I was beginning to come to terms with the fact that Jared seemed to have a propensity for surprising me, and, even more astonishing was the fact that I liked it. There was something to be said for the unknown. As much as I loved the certainty of what was expected of me normally, this was a whole new experience. There was excitement and bewilderment. My body was responding accordingly without me even having to think about it.

I should have felt guilty about enjoying myself so much while my Mistress was elsewhere, but she'd asked me to do this for a reason and it would be stupid of me not to savor it while I was here. I enjoyed Jared's company, and I adored being around Charles, too. He had stories, and not just kink-related ones. He could pull you in with his descriptions of the things he'd seen in his long lifetime. The house itself was a dream where I spent hours getting lost when the two men were working. The areas surrounding it had more beauty than I could ever have imagined, and then there was Maria.

She and I had formed a friendship that I hadn't expected that first night I'd been in the house. It was a fast friendship that I'd come to cherish in the short time I was a guest here. She was a conscientious observer, had an objective opinion, and topped it off by being an amazing listener. It was wrong to feel guilty about any of these things.

It was only after food and fluids that Jared finally tucked us both into bed. His warm hands worked the joints in my shoulders before moving to my hair and sending me into the oblivious darkness of sleep.

I found that I was reluctant to leave. I loved Mistress Kayla, I loved my life with her, and I even loved the city, but this swampy bayou was magical. If Charles and Jared had to concentrate on work, I was dismissed to fill my time and I would visit Maria in the kitchen before taking a walk through the copse of trees that surrounded the house. Some days, I just walked around, my eyes closed and head lifted, my smile growing as I wandered into the spotty beams of sunlight that warmed my face.

I'd spent so much time seeking that peace in my head through submission and beatings, longing to find a moment of calm, and it had been tucked away where I hadn’t known to look for it all along. It was an accumulation of location, solitude, and these people. The wanting was still there, and it always would be, the call for the sharp bite and ache of the tools used on my flesh desperate when I let my mind wander too much, but it wasn't every day as it had been for as long as I could remember.

We were leaving for New Orleans as soon as Jared woke up, and I didn't know what Mistress had planned for us that night. I also knew better than to think too hard on it. There were a thousand and one things in that club that she could use on me – that she could teach Jared to use on me, too. It made the stirring inside of me flare to life like a flame lighting a room.

Rolling onto my side, I watched Jared sleep, taking in the way his lashes dusted his cheeks, the subtle twitch in his beautiful square jaw and the dark shadow that covered it. I didn’t touch him; I refused to let myself grow too attached, so I took him in until he slowly began to wake up by himself. His eyes moved behind the thin membrane of his eyelids, and his lips twitched subtly, but he looked at peace. He was calm, tranquil and happy. He barely resembled the scowling man I'd met that Saturday night, only a week earlier. This version of him had a different kind of intensity. No anger and hostility, just determination and intrigue. The passion he showed while he was learning – he was like a fish to water with everything he was confronted with. To me, he was a paradox.

Slipping from the bed, I looked back at him as I headed toward the bathroom. I needed some time to get ready to go back to the city. I had to see if the bruise on my jaw was finally fading. I didn't want the first thing I saw on Mistress Kayla's face to be a scowl, which it inevitably would be if the bruise was the same dark shade of purple it had been.

I took a shower first, meticulously going through my routine step by step and lingering under the hot water as it stole the last of the aches from my joints. I'd climbed out and wiped the steam from the mirror before I finally leaned in to examine the damage.

The ugly yellow and purple mark still held the same intensity.

My hands planted themselves on the sink and I hung my head forward, unable to look at it anymore. I was no longer ashamed at what I did. Charles had made sure I understood that I'd helped him, and I couldn't and wouldn't regret what I'd done. What I hated more than anything was that it lingered there, reminding us all of what had happened. I didn't miss Jared's occasional glower when he saw it, and it wasn't just because there was a bruise there. It was what had caused it that angered him and I knew it wouldn't be any easier for Mistress Kayla when she finally saw it.

I’d hardly had time to react when the door between the two rooms opened, and I'd only just lifted my head when Jared slid in behind me, his arms folding around my waist as he pulled me back against him.

“What's the matter?”

“Sir, nothing's the matter. I just wish this would go away.” I slid my finger over the bruise and I noticed his eyes cool through his reflection in the mirror. I wanted to reassure him, let him know that I was fine, but it was pointless. He was already reaching up to stroke his fingers along the marred skin.

“I wish you hadn't stopped me from hitting him.”

My smile was immediate. I had no doubt the douchebag would have had his ass handed to him, but it would have solved nothing. With my way, there was a chance the asshole had learned something. Or, at the very least, he’d be a little pickier about whom he chose to hit in the future.

“It worked out in the long run, Sir,” I whispered, my head falling against his shoulder.

He laughed gently and kissed my bare shoulder, his lips lingering against the skin as his eyes surveyed my reflection. Stepping back, he swatted my ass and laughed at my involuntary wiggle.

“We slept a little later today. Best you get your arse ready so we can get on the road.”

“Yes, Sir.” I grinned, pausing. “May I brush my teeth and hair first, Sir.”

“Please do!”

I opened my mouth in complete shock at the implication. The humor in his eyes told me he was waiting for a response that would push him into reprimanding me, and I wanted to give it to him. Unfortunately, we were out of time.

By the time he'd stepped out of the shower, I'd only just finished picking out what I was going to wear. His eyes roamed my naked body from head to toe, the ever present hunger lingering behind the warm blue, making the flutter in my stomach progress into the telltale tightening he invoked in me, a complication when there was no underwear to be worn today. Still, in Mistress Kayla's house I had to live by her rules, and I respected that.

I picked up one of my favorites of the dresses Jared had bought for me and slipped it over my head, the material floating down to tickle my skin before falling into place and swinging around my thighs. I felt beautiful and feminine, my hips swaying from side to side to coerce the fabric into its natural movement around me.

“Good choice.” Jared approved quietly, approaching me, his hand sweeping a strap out of the way as his lips brushed over my shoulder. I leaned my head to the side as the tingles from his warm lips ran down my spine, my eyes fluttering closed for a moment as I enjoyed the intimacy of his affection. The longer we spent together, the more he seemed to need that touch between us; whether it was sweeping his hand through my hair, walking with his palm on the small of my back or even a simple brush of his fingers against mine, there was constant contact, a reassurance for the two of us.

He left me to finish what I needed to do and went to pack a few things of his own. I didn't have much to take, so I wandered downstairs to wait for him, only to find Charles at the study door. He gave me a smile before I dropped my eyes, his chuckle announcing his movements as he walked towards me.