5 Nights (Sinful Delights Romance - Boxed Set) (40 page)

Trying to work over the strange feeling Janie's words made her feel she knew she had to lighten the mood.  "I'll probably bust my ass before I make it up the stairs tonight."

Not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable she reeled in her own thoughts of what she'd like to do with her friend.  "You are not going to bust your ass, now slide these on and let's get your face on."

Scarlett was usually the take charge person but since last night, she noticed the change in Janie's attitude.  It was like a switch had been flipped as she was now the one in control, she would have to analyze that later she decided as Janie led her into the bathroom and started applying her makeup.

Twenty minutes later she was staring back at a stranger in her bathroom mirror.  The makeup wasn't overly done, it was just perfect, and there was no other way she could describe it.  Her lips were outlined in a deep chocolate and then filled with a soft shimmering brown.  It made them look even fuller than they normally were.  Janie had applied a charcoal color to her eyes and outlined them perfectly making them stand out.  Her cheeks were dusted with a soft peach, and she hoped it would help cover the blush that seemed to refuse to leave her face tonight.

"Grab your purse Scarlett, I'm driving you to the mansion."   Janie felt a little jealous that Rhett was going to initiate her best friend into their world, but she wasn't about to bring that up with her tonight.

"You're taking me?"  She had just assumed she'd be driving herself.

"Safety first Scarlett, even though I know Rhett and trust him, you never meet a new Dom without a safety net."  She grabbed her purse and ushered Scarlett out the door.

Scarlett couldn't talk as they drove her nerves were strung to tightly.  She was more than grateful that Janie seemed to understand that and kept her eyes on the road not trying to make conversation.  When they pulled up in his driveway she felt her stomach tense in fear again. "Janie, I don't know if I can do this."  She turned haunted eyes to her friend as she put the car in park.

"Scarlett, your cell phones in your purse, you can do this and you will call me in one hour to tell me you're okay, understand."  Janie leaned over the console and kissed her cheek.  "Now get your ass in there and talk to the man."  Pulling back she smiled as Scarlett opened up the door and stepped out.  "Don't forget to call me in an
hour Scarlett, if you don't I'll be here with David pounding down the door."

Scarlett felt like she was going to be sick her stomach lurched hard.  She managed a feeble nod as she shut the door and forced herself to walk up the stairs.  Taking a deep breath she rang the doorbell, and waved timidly at Janie.  She had never been so nervous or excited before.

chapter Four

Learning Curve

The same butler answered the door from the party and she smiled nervously, feeling like her entire mouth was full of cotton.  Tugging down on her dress she walked through the door as he held it open.  She was glad he didn't speak because she knew she couldn't have opened her mouth at that moment if her life depended on it.  When he shut the door behind her she had a strange urge to turn around and walk back out the same way she walked in.  Instead she followed him as he led her stoically up a long flight of stairs and stopped in front of the same study she had been in last night.  He opened the door without speaking and she walked inside.

Rhett stood as she entered the room and his eyes widened at the delectable sight she made standing there trembling like a virgin sacrifice.  "That will be all Edwin," he dismissed the servant and walked over to the angelic creature that he hoped would soon be under his command.  He waited until the servant had shut the door behind him before reaching out his hands to her.

He was so damn beautiful she thought as she held out her trembling hands to him.  She swallowed convulsively as she allowed her gaze to roam over his wide chest and strong arms encased in a white dress shirt.  He wore dark gray slacks and looked like he'd just taken off his tie and walked in from a business meeting.  When her eyes finally met his dark blue depths she could read the humor there and blushed deeply.  The feel of his large hands swallowing her smaller ones felt strangely comforting and she trembled more.

"I'm glad you decided to meet with me tonight, Scarlett," he smiled slightly and allowed his thumbs to run over the soft silkiness of her hands.  He felt the tremors and hoped his smile would put her a little more at ease.  The look of fear in those hazel eyes of hers excited him and had him aching to walk her down to the dungeon.

"T-thank y-you," she whispered not sure what she was really supposed to say to him and her throat felt so parched she could barely talk at the moment.

He smiled at her nervousness and led her over to the small leather couch, pulling her down to sit with him, not once letting go of her hands.  He had this uncanny feeling that if he let go, she might just stand up and run.  This was definitely unchartered territory for him.  "Did you and Janie find time to talk about this today?"  He knew before they could discuss anything he had to put her at ease.  She was strung so tight he felt she would snap at any moment.

Flushing deeper she lowered her eyes and nodded.  She was totally out of her element at the moment and her heart was pounding so loudly she wondered if he could hear it.  Fidgeting in her seat, she felt the need to get up and pace and was trying to stop herself from getting up.

"Scarlett, remember what I told you last night?  I need you to speak to me, and look at me right now."  His voice was commanding because it was very apparent that she was terrified.  While he knew how to deal with a submissive's fear when they belonged to him, she had yet to agree to anything so he was sort of at an impasse.

Her eyes lifted to his and she tried to control her breathing.  "D-do you think I c-could get a glass of w-water?"  The whole breathing thing wasn't really working out for her at the moment and if he wanted her to talk to him, she had to get rid of this dry mouth that was getting worse by the second.

He chuckled softly at her request, let go of her hands, and stood up. "I think I might be able to manage that, sit tight and I'll be right back."  He considered buzzing his servant but he knew instinctively that she needed a few minutes to get herself under control so he left her alone and made his way down to the kitchen.  He filled a glass with ice and pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He thought about offering her something stronger, since it was apparent she needed it, but he wanted her focused on what they were going to discuss tonight.  He never mixed alcohol with a scene but he had no intention tonight on doing anything other than talking.  They had many things to discuss.  He walked back upstairs, and for the first time he was somewhat unsure of how to start a discussion.

Scarlett stood up and paced the study, trying to get her nerves to calm down. She reasoned with herself that this was just a meeting, and that if she didn't stop freaking out, it was probably going to be over before it started.  What if he wanted to have sex with her tonight, she worried her lower lip?  What if he didn't, that thought didn't sit well with her either? 

She had no idea just what he wanted from her and not knowing making her a nervous wreck.  When he walked back in the room she blurted the first thing that came to her mind.  "Are you going to touch me tonight?"  She covered her mouth with her hand at her brazen question and bit down on her lip hard. 

He chuckled deeply and held out the glass of water.  "Well I'm glad you found your voice sweetheart," he smiled as she took the drink and took a deep sip, "why don't we sit back down and talk about it."  He had been expecting to have to coax her to open up, it was very refreshing that she blurted out exactly what she wanted to know. 

She took another sip of water, surprised that she was able to hold it since her hands were still shaking.  She had no idea where her courage had come from, but outside of being embarrassed for being so vocal she felt a little less nervous.  "Sorry," she whispered as she sat back down on the couch.

He joined her and his long arm splayed over the back of the couch behind her and smiled. "Don't be sorry, Scarlett.  Tonight I want you to be completely open with me and not feel reserved in your questions.  This is why we're here, to negotiate." He kept his eyes on hers and was very pleased that she didn't try to look away from him.  "No, I'm not going to touch you tonight, unless you ask me to that is."

Her eyes widened at his words, she hadn't expected him to give her a choice.  "I'm confused," her voice was more confident after her earlier outburst, somewhere inside she had found audacity.

"What exactly are you confused about?" He smiled indulgently, very willing to let her lead the conversation for now. He was still shocked at the change of her attitude in only a few minutes.

"I just assumed that you would be in control of what we did," she took another sip of water, the dryness slipping away with each drop.

"If you decide to accept my terms, make no doubt that I will control you completely." His tone had deepened, while he wanted her to be comfortable tonight, he also didn't want to give her false impressions about who would be taking the lead.

She felt her hands tremble and almost dropped the glass at his change of inflection in his voice.  He grabbed the glass taking it from her hands and smiled warmly and she felt her heart race again.  Holy hell this man turned her on she thought, her eyes lowering as she tried to hide her longing.

"Look at me Scarlett," he demanded strongly, his long fingers went under her chin and forced her eyes to his.  "I need to be able to see your face and know what you're feeling, it's very important that you understand this."

He sat the glass down on the table beside him before turning his eyes back to her.  Not letting go of her chin, he smiled at the desire that filled her gaze.  "We need to talk about what you hope to get out of this.  Tell me what it is you truly want."  His fingers moved from under her chin and stroked softly across her cheek before he dropped his hand.

The touch of his fingers sent shivers of awareness through her and she was lost for a moment. "I think I want you," she whispered softly, careful not to drop her gaze again.

He chuckled softly at her admission, "You only think you do Scarlett?"  He smirked as her cheeks reddened.  She was definitely a delight he thought, feeling a longing to kiss her and refraining from it.

"Th-that's not what I meant, I mean yes I want..." her face burned warmer and she grew flustered not knowing how to explain what she meant to him.

"I'm glad you want me Scarlett, I want you as well, but we are here to figure out what you are willing to allow me to do to you."  He watched her eyes widen at his words and smiled deeply. 

"Wh-what do you w-want to do to m-me," she stuttered feeling a little overwhelmed again.

"Sweetheart the things I want to do to you would probably send you running for the door, but I can be a patient man when I choose to be," he smiled enjoying how her eyes widened even more.  "I need to know what things you aren't willing to try."

"I honestly don't know," she found her voice again and felt defeated because she honestly didn't know enough about sex or his world to give him an honest opinion.

"Baby you have no idea how enticing it is to think about you letting me do whatever I want to you, but you have me in a quandary here.  I have to admit Scarlett this in uncharted territory, I've never taken a virgin before, and I've certainly never introduced one to this lifestyle."  The thought was beyond exciting for him, but he worried if she knew her own needs well enough to get anything from this for herself.

"So you don't want me?" She lowered her eyes again, not wanting to let him see her cry but her disappointment had her on the verge of tears.

He brought his fingers up to her chin and lifted it again.  "Sweetheart you have no idea how much I want you," he chuckled as her eyes filled with hope, "what I don't know is how do this without crossing boundaries that you might not know you have yet."  He let go of her chin and stood up, contemplating.

She looked up at him, and wished she had some wise words to offer him, but she was completely confused.  As he paced across the room, she couldn't stop the smile that found her face since it was something she was known to do when she needed to think.  He completely ignored her as he appeared lost in thought and she took the time to really look at him.

His long legs were powerful as she watched him walk.  It was pretty apparent he was a fitness nut because even dressed in the business outfit, she could tell there wasn't an ounce of fat on him.  He had an ass to die for, she blushed as she was gifted with that side of him as he turned the other way.  He obviously enjoyed being outdoors, she thought noting the golden tint of his skin and that led her to the dark sprinkling of hairs on his arms where his white oxford shirt was rolled up haphazardly.  His profile was one an artist would love, with his strong features of masculine beauty.  Everything about him called to her on a level that left her aching.

He stopped pacing and turned to face her and was nearly stunned by the look of innocent desire on her face.  "Okay, this is how this is going to work if you decide to go through with this." He was having a hard time concentrating as her desire filled hazel eyes roamed over him in fascination.  "Since you don't really know yet what you enjoy and we'll be basically starting from ground zero, I'm going to suggest we don't impose any limits and we establish safe words until we discover your comfort zone." 

She nodded her head and watched a dark look fill his deep blue eyes.  The look made her tremble and she tensed not sure why he was suddenly angry.

"Words, Scarlett, I need you to speak to me.  The first thing you need to understand is that if you don't listen when I tell you to do something, there will be consequences.  Do you understand?"

She nodded again, but then quickly spoke.  "I understand."  She really didn't know what he meant by consequences though.  "Okay I really don't." She felt like a complete idiot.

He sat down beside her on the couch a smile playing on his lips.  "What I mean, is that if you don't do as I say I'm going to punish you so you'll remember next time not to make that same mistake."

Biting her lip hard, she thought about what he was saying.  "H-how would you punish me." She only stuttered a little, and was pretty proud of herself because the look in his eyes was more than a little intense.

His fingers lifted to her lips, "It would be a shame to damage such beautiful lips, stop biting them." He smiled as she immediately complied with his command.  "Since you've never been punished before I would probably take you over my knee and spank you, unless the offense was so great that I felt it warranted a stronger punishment."

"Oh," she forced herself not to bit her lip, and it was no easy task since it was a long time habit.  "What would be a stronger punishment?"  She wasn't sure she truly wanted to find out, but knowledge was power.

"I'll have to introduce you to all my toys, but maybe paddle or cane you."  He saw her eyes widen with fear at those words and smiled warmly trying to put her at ease.  "I think you'll work hard to make sure I don't use those."

She nodded quickly in agreement thinking being paddled or caned didn't sound like something she'd really enjoy.  "What would be a reason for a stronger punishment?" If she was going to do this, she definitely needed to know what he thought was the wrong thing to do.

"Doing anything to hurt yourself would be a big reason for a stronger punishment.  That also means not taking care of your needs or withholding how you feel about something we are doing that makes you uncomfortable just to make me happy.  And of course blatantly refusing to do something I've asked of you without implementing a safe word."

She bit her lip and then remembered he didn't want her doing it and stopped.  "You mentioned a special word last night but what exactly are safe words?"  She didn't want to talk about the punishment aspect of this right now, because frankly it scared the shit out of her to think of this big man abusing her small body.

"We'll get back to the punishment aspect again, but a safe word will slow down or completely stop anything we are doing.  It's your way of stopping me from something that is overwhelming you to the point you can't handle it.  I expect you to be willing to try things for me Scarlett, but if you get to the point where you're ready to run from the room, of course I want you to let me know immediately."