Masks (3 page)

“What—?” she began, but he cut her off.

“This is all very amusing,
Mistress
,” he rumbled. “But it isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I made this appointment.”

“But…but I don’t understand.” Chloe’s voice sounded weak and indecisive, even to her. She struggled against his grip, but she might as well have been struggling against a pair of steel handcuffs. He held her effortlessly, a small smile playing around his full mouth. But the direct blue eyes behind the black mask were like laser beams in their intensity.

“There’s nothing to understand.” He started walking through the townhouse that doubled as Zoe’s office as though he owned it and knew the layout very well. Chloe had no choice but to follow him since he still had her firmly by the wrists.

Rule number one
—
you
’
re breaking rule number one! Quick, say something
—
get back control of the situation before it
’
s too late.

Chloe tried, she really did. “Let go of me!” she fumed in what she hoped was an authoritative voice. But Mark just laughed at her.

“I don’t think so, sweetheart. I’m through playing things your way. It’s my turn to run the show.”

“Why you…you…” Chloe couldn’t think of anything bad enough to call him. As she was being dragged behind him, she noticed that his hair was as black as the mask he wore and that it was cut short at the nape of his neck. That was nice, she didn’t like men with hair that was too long. Also, he had a nice, tight ass…

Wait a minute, what am I thinking?
This man, this Mark Jacobs, had completely turned the tables on her. Zoe’s rule number one was shot to hell and if she didn’t get control of herself, rule number two might be quick to follow. Chloe’s head was spinning as he led her down the hall to a door at the far end.

“In here.” His deep voice still sounded amused but his grip on her arms was unyielding.

Chloe couldn’t help gasping aloud when she saw he had led her to the dungeon room. She had barely had a chance to poke her head in this room before Mark had knocked at the front door. Now it looked like she was going to get a much more intimate view of it.

The floor was carpeted in a deep black and the walls were a stark white in contrast. They could have been painted fuchsia, though, for all the difference it made. Almost every square inch of wall space was devoted to different erotic tools and devices. Everywhere Chloe looked there were whips, canes, paddles, even hairbrushes. There were also various restraints including masks, ball gags and some things she didn’t even have a name for.

The sight of so much foreign equipment, much of it obviously used for pain as much as pleasure, finally broke Chloe’s nerve. “Please,” she gasped, uselessly tugging at her arms. “Please, what are you going to do to me? Please, don’t hurt me.”

“Oh, hey.” He abruptly stopped dragging her and turned to face her, taking her shoulders in his hands. He bent down to get a better look into her eyes. “I would never hurt you, don’t you know that?” he asked, his deep voice a soft rumble.

“I don’t know anything,” Chloe protested. “I don’t know anything about you.”

“That’s all right.” He bent lower and placed a soft, closed-mouth kiss on her trembling lips. “You’re about to find out. Come on.”

He pulled her towards the large, wooden frame shaped like a capital X which she supposed must be the Saint Andrew’s cross Zoe had talked about. At all four corners of the X were restraints made of supple but strong-looking black leather.

“Please,” Chloe tried to protest once more as he buckled her wrists to the top part of the cross. “Please, Mark…”

“No.” He shook his head decisively and stopped for a moment to look into her eyes. “From now on, you can call me ‘Sir’ or ‘Master’, but my real name is off-limits to you until I say differently. Understand?”

Chloe looked at him blankly for a moment and he got even closer, so close she could smell peppermint on his breath and the warm musk of his big body.

“I said,
do you understand
?” he asked, his voice low and stern.

Slowly, Chloe nodded her head.

“I can’t hear you,” her new master said softly. “Answer me out loud.”

“Yes,” Chloe whispered.

“Yes, what?” he prompted.

“Yes, Master,” she said, her voice shaking.

* * * * *

Chloe could scarcely wrap her mind around the predicament she currently found herself in. She was no longer even remotely in control of the situation. Zoe had sent her into the lion’s den and she had no idea if she would come out again in one piece.

He said he wouldn
’
t hurt me.
Yes, but she didn’t know anything about him. How did she know he could be trusted? He was a strange man and he had her chained to a wooden whipping post. At least he had chained her facing the room instead of the wall so she could see what was going on, but that was a very small comfort indeed.

The only person who knew she was here was Zoe, who was probably propped up on her satin sheets reading the latest cheesy romance and eating bonbons.
I should have known better than to do this, should have known better than to switch with her tonight!
Chloe had to admit that the situation she found herself in now was infinitely worse than being up on stage in front of the entire student body trying to recite a monologue she didn’t know.

“There.” His voice woke her from the almost trancelike state that had taken hold of her mind and Chloe realized he had just finished buckling her ankles to the cross with the soft leather restraints. He’d been kneeling by her feet and she should have taken the opportunity to kick him in the head and scream for help, but she’d been too caught up in her thoughts to notice and she had missed her chance.
Great going, Chloe. Just let the guy strap you in while you do nothing to prevent it!

“Relax.” Mark stood and dusted his hands together briefly, as though finishing a hard job and then smiled at her. He stripped off the black suit jacket along with his tie and the crisp, white dress shirt which Chloe herself had already unbuttoned. He hung the jacket, tie and shirt neatly on a peg that also housed a long, wicked-looking riding crop and turned to face her, bare-chested.

“Now what…Master?” Chloe was quick to add when she saw the slight frown on his face.

“Now you’ll get a taste of your own medicine, sweetheart.” He came closer, and Chloe thought he looked even larger now that he was wearing nothing but the black dress pants and the black leather mask. The muscles in his chest bunched and flexed as he moved and she could see that she had been wrong—it wasn’t completely smooth after all. There was a light dusting of coarse, black, curling hair between the flat copper disks of his nipples. It led down his flat stomach in a narrow trail, past his abs and disappeared into the waistband of his pants.

“Do you like what you see?” He stepped forward, giving her that white, frightening smile. “Because I know I do.”

“Wait!” Chloe said desperately as he stepped even closer. “Wait, you don’t understand. I’m not supposed to be here! This is all a big mistake—”

“Shh.” He placed a warm finger against her lips and shook his head slowly. “No more talking unless I tell you to. Not unless you want me to use a gag. And you don’t want that, do you, sweetheart?”

“N-no,” Chloe stuttered. “I mean, no, Master.”

“That’s better.” He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand and for some reason the gentle touch sent a shiver down her spine. To her surprise, Chloe could feel her nipples hardening inside the black leather bustier. Surely this wasn’t turning her on—was it?

“This is the way it’s going to be,” Mark continued, still stroking her cheek. “We’re going to play a little game, have a little fun together. But I’m not going to hurt you, and I’m not going to make love to you unless you ask me to.”

“M-make love?” Chloe actually felt faint. Rule number one was down the drain and now he was talking about rule number two. What was she going to do?

“That’s right, make love.” He traced a slow, ticklish line of warmth down her cheek to the sensitive side of her neck. “Maybe you think of it differently, I don’t know. But I’m not here for a quick fuck.” His hand slid lower, caressing the heaving tops of her breasts and Chloe felt like he was trailing a line of fire over her exposed flesh.

“If I take you,” he continued in that deep, maddeningly reasonable voice. “It will be long and slow and utterly unstoppable.” He bent to brush a kiss against her neck, sending warm shivers down her back. “I’ll spread your legs and fill you. Pin you to the bed and ride you until you come all over my cock.”

She wanted to tell him to stop and to never stop. No one had ever talked to her like this before—she’d never dreamed she
wanted
anyone too. And yet…suddenly she was melting inside. He was telling her he wouldn’t take her unless she asked him to, and telling her exactly how he would do it
when
she asked him at the same time.

“I…I don’t…” she started to say, but he stopped her with a kiss. This time his mouth wasn’t as gentle and chaste as it had been before. He was firm but insistent, seeking entrance until she opened her mouth to him, giving him what he wordlessly demanded.

Standing with her hands raised helplessly above her head and her legs spread, wrists and ankles fixed immovably to the cross, Chloe had never felt so helpless or so hot. As yet, Mark had done nothing but caress the tops of her breasts and kiss her senseless, but she felt like she might melt into a puddle on the black carpeted floor if the wrist restraints weren’t holding her up.
Does this mean I
’
m some kind of pervert that likes being tied up?
she thought hazily as the kiss went on and on. Or did it just mean that she liked Mark? His dominant but gentle ways, his hot words interlaced with promises not to hurt her. His hands and mouth on her body…

He pulled back at last and placed a final sweet kiss on the corner of her mouth. “That’s good, sweetheart,” he whispered, his breath barely stirring the hair at the nape of her neck. “That’s very good. I think you’re ready to play.”

“Play?” Chloe looked at him, wishing she had a hand free to touch the feathered mask she still wore for a boost of confidence. What did he mean by “play”?

Mark answered with actions instead of words. He reached for the front of her bustier and began unlacing the leather cord that held it in place. His hands were warm on her skin as he bared her breasts to his gaze.

“Please…” Chloe bit her lip, unable to stop the small, helpless cry from escaping. The other times she’d had sex had been in the dark. Sweaty fumblings that were almost anonymous because of the lack of light. She’d never had a man undress her before. Never had a man look at her so hungrily, as though she was a work of art, the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

“Shh,” Mark told her again, softly. He had stepped back for a moment to admire his handiwork. “Do you know how gorgeous you are, standing there like that? How absolutely unbelievably beautiful you look?” He stepped forward again and cupped both her breasts in his large, warm hands. Chloe shivered helplessly at the sensation of his calloused palms against her erect and sensitive nipples.

“Oh God,” she whispered softly. “What are you going to do to me?”

“What do you want me to do?” he teased gently. He seemed to have forgotten about his command that she call him Master, which was a good thing. Chloe could barely remember her own name at this point, let alone anyone else’s.

Mark pinched her nipples gently, twisting the sensitive points until she moaned at the cruel pleasure. He released her gently. “Did that hurt?” he asked, softly.

“A…a little,” she admitted.

“Would you like me to make it better?” The deep voice held a sensual promise she couldn’t ignore…couldn’t resist.

“Yes,” Chloe breathed. The next moment his hot mouth was sucking her, taking as much of her right breast inside as he could at once while he continued to pinch and twist her left nipple without mercy.

“Please… Oh God, please!” Chloe found she was thrusting her chest out, trying to give him better access to her bare breasts. His mouth on her was hot and wet and utterly right. She could feel the heat and moisture gathering between her spread thighs as he worked on her relentlessly. Over and over, from right to left and back again he teased her with his tongue and teeth, gently nipping at her sensitized nipples as she writhed against the smooth wood of the Saint Andrew’s cross at her back.

Finally, when she thought she could stand it no longer, he pulled back. “Is that good, sweetheart?” His voice was low and needful as he looked into her eyes.