The Forbidden Room 01 - The Forbidden Room (34 page)

I wished that Lexi were here. She would know what to do about Ethan - it had been weeks since he and I had talked and our last conversation was awkward and abrupt. It seems like forever since I’d seen her. We constantly talked over IM, text, and webcam whenever we were able to get together. knew that she had graduated, and was talking about staying in New York. Thankfully, she had a substantial nest egg to live off of, so she wasn’t too worried about it. She had mentioned an interview last week, but I think she’s still waiting to hear.

I had picked up beer and pizza, and was looking forward to a relaxing night. My phone beeped, and I got a text from the maid to let me know I had a couple of deliveries. I smiled to myself. Ethan had become distant and brooding since our experience that last night. If it made him happy, I wasn’t going to complain if he got me a present. Just the fact that he thought that much of me made me feel good. I instructed Consuela to have the things put in the playroom. Thankfully I had found a maid that didn’t balk at the sight of all of the bondage equipment. In fact, she had been giving me a certain look lately that made me smile.

I pulled into the drive, and then carried dinner into the house. I set it on the table and then headed straight up the stairs. My room was on the second floor, as Ethan’s was and I headed in. At first, I didn’t notice anything, but then my eyes were drawn to a large wrapped box with a big red bow. It had to be a new piece of equipment, but what had I not bought? God, I loved the way his mind worked. As we walked over to the box, I saw another smaller box sitting on the table. It was wrapped in the same paper, and had a matching bow.

I picked up the smaller box. It was surprisingly heavy. I thought about calling Ethan, but I figured I’d see what was in the box first... So, I removed the wrapping to reveal a black leather case. It looked like a briefcase, only it was larger. Curious, I popped the latches on the front and opened it. There were half a dozen titanium collars and wrist cuffs. My breath caught as I looked at them. They were beautiful. I picked up one of the collars and examined it. Inside each one was inscribed:
Devoted servant of Master Jayden -
I loved them. knew from talking to others in our lifestyle that some had inscribed ”Property of” or “Owned by” but I liked this better. It showed that whoever was wearing the collar was serving me of their will. They were devoted to my needs. Each collar also had my kanji inscribed on the front, ‘pride’. It was fitting. The wrist cuffs were the same, only on a smaller scale.

My heart was in my throat as I walked over to the larger box on the floor. I called Ethan then, and thanked him for the collars. He asked if I had opened the larger box, and I told him I hadn’t. Oddly, he asked me to put him on speaker before I did. It looked like an old-fashioned box with a large lid, so I grasped it firmly and lifted it off ready to look inside. Once the lid was removed, however, the sides fell away to reveal…

“LEXI!” I cried. She was in the standard submissive position that Ethan had taught me years ago, and she was gloriously naked. I was stunned. She was the very last thing on earth I expected to be in that box.

“She wants you to collar her, Jayden. She wants to be your sub.” Ethan said. “She has been begging me to train you as a Dom since before she went to New York. I told her then that I didn’t have enough time, you weren’t ready then. Finally, after we got back from our trip to see her, I was able to start.” I knelt in front of Lexi, and took her face in my hands. She looked up at me and smiled softly. I shook my head slowly, and she blanched.

“I want you as so much more than just my sub, Lexi.” I said softly, stroking her face which brightened slightly. “I have been in love with you for so damn long.” The shock registered on her face first, and then a deep seated emotion that I couldn’t quite identify. Her eyes filled with tears, but I didn’t hesitate to keep going. I needed to get this out. “It may have started that night at the bar – you told me that I wasn’t going to find what I was looking for there. You were wrong. I found everything I ever needed right there – the night I met you.” Her hand came to my face then, and I leaned into her palm. She wasn’t running, she wasn’t screaming. “I don’t care how we work out our need for this lifestyle. You can sub with Ethan, or you can wear my collar, or we can collar a sub together. We will do what we need to in order to be happy together.” She still hadn’t said anything.

“Say you want this Lexi, please. That you want us?” I pleaded, pulling her into my arms.

“I do want this. I would have settled for just being your sub. I’ve loved you for so long.” She said softly, and I could have died right there.

She loved me. She wanted to be with me. She wanted us… She wasn’t in love with…

Then I stopped dead picked up the phone, he was gone. I sighed. I think at some point after our last night together, he realized that the feelings he has for Lexi aren’t romantic love. He loves her, yes. He loves me, yes. But I don’t think love he feels for us is based on a need for romance, it’s based on our friendship and our bond. I knew that one day it would happen for him though. He is too perfect to be alone, now that he knows what he needs.

* * *

A few weeks after she told me that she loved me, Lexi and I were in the car on our way back to our house when my cell phone beeped with a message. The only thing displayed was a date and a time, but it made me smile. I looked over at Lexi, and she smiled back. She took my hand and held it between us. I don’t think we could have been happier.
My heart hurt when I thought of Ethan
. We had decided that I was too close to her to really be able to Master her well. I wouldn’t be able to test her limits effectively, or discipline her harshly as required. It just wouldn’t work for us. So we decided on another plan.

I pulled up in front of the house, and saw that the truck was still there. Good. This would be an interesting conversation to say the least. I opened Lexi’s door, and we went inside. He was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until we ascended to the second floor that we found him in his room. I asked him to follow us down to our playroom. It was the room that Lexi and I role played in when we wanted to enjoy bondage and domination together. Today, it would serve a different purpose.

“We asked you specifically not to enter this room, Thomas.” I said sternly. He looked down at the floor, obviously ashamed of disobeying our wishes. Good, that was very good. I knew when he became our boarder that he was different. The first few that we interviewed just weren’t suited to our lifestyle, we saw that instantly. But Thomas, he was naturally subservient and he had a well sculpted body. Lexi and I instantly knew that we would at least try to collar him.

“Now, it seems that you have a decision to make…”

* * *

A sneak preview of -

A House of Cards the thought-provoking sequel to
The Forbidden Room
.

ETHAN BRYANT

The soft light filtering through my bedroom window woke me. I looked around and noticed two things virtually simultaneously, I was naked and I was alone. As I rolled to check my bedside clock, the soreness brought with it a flood of memories from the previous night. Jayden’s lips against mine, his face as we made love, and that feeling in my chest when I told him that I loved him. That feeling warmed me, it made me feel whole. That is, until I saw the time. He was gone. Last night had been our farewell, and he had left early this morning. I hurled my clock, the current bane of my existence, at the wall. It shattered on impact, further damage being inflicted by its not so subtle contact with the floor.

The ache in my chest grew as I lay in bed. It wasn’t just my body that was naked; my soul had been laid bare as well. My throat burned as I watched the ceiling blankly. A sob broke through my sealed lips, and I could no longer contain my anguish at his absence. I rolled slowly, careful of my lingering discomfort and buried my face in the pillow. The catharsis continued until I was utterly spent. I don’t know if the release lasted minutes, or hours but when it was over I was drained. I had just enough energy to roll back onto my side and fall asleep.

When I awoke again, it was dark and I heard a distant pounding. It certainly wasn’t for me. I had no one. No one in the entire state of Washington cared enough about me to pound on my door. Within minutes, it had stopped anyway. I closed my eyes again, and contemplated getting up to use the bathroom when my bedroom door flew open. I blinked as the light from the hall burned my eyes and I saw a slight figure silhouetted there.

“What the fuck, Ethan? I’ve been calling you for hours!” Nicole yelled, and then softer, away from me she said. “No, Jayden he’s here. He looks okay, I’ll call you back.” She waited briefly for his responses and then snapped her phone shut. I closed my eyes and rolled over onto my stomach, trying to deaden the sound of her voice. “You know I’m still your emergency contact at the hospital, right?” Damn, I missed my shift. I just can’t bring myself to fucking care.

“Why are you here?” I asked, half into the pillow, surprised when my voice cracked. God, I even sounded broken. Would there ever be a point in my life when I would just be fucking happy?

“The hospital called me. I called you and didn’t get an answer so I called Emmett for Jayden’s cell. I didn’t know he… Well, Jayden asked me to use the key under the porch to come and check on you.” I felt her sit lightly on the bed beside me, and then she stroked my hair. “Did you two have some kind of fight?” She asked in a concerned whisper.

“No. He had a family obligation and had to move to Chicago. He left… He left this morning.” I said softly, my heart breaking a little more on each word. “This won’t happen again, Nicole. I’ll call the hospital tomorrow and take an indefinite leave.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, now stroking my upper back. It felt nice, soothing. It reminded me of something, something I had surely buried. I pushed it away. I didn’t know if I could voice my feelings right now. They were so raw, they tore at my insides. I wasn’t used to feeling like this. I had been pushing everything down for so long, feeling numb for so long. They opened this fucking hole in me, and then just deserted me. I shook my head, and after a while she got up and left. I heard her starting to dial someone as she went out the door. I had a feeling I knew who that someone was.

I finally heard the front door close and decided to take care of a few things. The bathroom was first on the agenda, and then I headed downstairs. I didn’t bother getting dressed, knowing that the curtains were all closed. I always kept the curtains closed; I didn't like people looking at me. It had been like that since I was a kid, since… Well, for a long time, anyway. After getting a glass of ice, I headed to my liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of very old, very expensive scotch. It was half-full, or was it half-empty? I hadn’t needed this in a long time, but I needed it today.

On the way back to my bedroom, I stopped on the second floor landing. It was like I couldn’t go any further. I turned, and was in his room before I realized I had even moved. The stark emptiness of the room made my breath catch. It was almost like he’d never been here, like I had imagined him. I sat down on the carpet and rested my back against the wall. The scotch burned as it hit my throat. I didn’t care. I needed the buzz, I needed the numb. After my third scotch, my mind drifted back to the first time I had ever seen Jayden.

I had been nervous about taking on a boarder, but I was also sick of being alone. Lexi said that maybe bringing a stranger into my home would help me to be more comfortable around people. Maybe it would even help me to make a few friends. Is that really what I wanted? I was comfortable being alone. As hard as it was, it was easier than being around people. I don’t know what happened with Lexi, she was just different – it had always been that way. She had become more than just my sub. This had never happened to me before. I had heard of Doms getting too close to their subs, but I never thought it would happen to me. I had decided to let it run its course. It might have headed in a direction I couldn’t go, but I couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing her again.

The voice on the phone had been pleasant enough. His southern accent was strangely alluring - I found myself asking him inane questions just to listen to him speak. With his schedule and his plans, he seemed to be an excellent choice for a roommate. I waited for him in the front room, half watching out the window for his arrival. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason for my edginess. I just put it down to meeting a new person. Then, I saw him. His soft blond hair was blowing gently in the mild breeze as he walked up the walk. His body was lean and muscular under his t-shirt and jeans. I had the insane thought that I wanted to run my hand over his chest. But, as cliché as it sounds, it was his eyes that I found the most captivating. They were the color of the ocean at midday, and just as warm. I couldn’t help but smile as I opened the door. I didn’t know then that I was opening that door to so much more than just my house.

* * *

J. P. Barnaby

Erotic fiction is more than just moans, grunts, and physical pleasure. To J. P. Barnaby, erotic fiction consists not only of the mechanics of physical love, but the complex characters and relationships that lead to those all encompassing feelings of need and longing. Sex without context is merely sex - but sex coupled with attraction, with explosive repercussions - that is good erotic fiction.