Masterpiece (The Masters of The Order Book 1) (26 page)

“Open your mouth.”

With the sharp command, her lips popped open. Bracing her head tighter, Nicolai jammed his thumb into the side of her mouth, using his strength to overpower her. She couldn’t move or close her lips. Didn’t dare try.

“I want those succulent lips to shine.” He circled the wet head of his cock over her lips, coating them with his seed. “Lick them.”

She hesitated, intimidated by her lack of experience, and looked up. Streaks of moonlight fell over the perfect planes of Nicolai’s face. So beautiful bathed in the magic of this night. So powerful. So worthy of her trust. The adoration in his eyes reassured her in spite of his brutal actions. She took a deep breath and put her trust in him once again.

Whatever had gotten into her tonight, whether it be the fantasy of the moonlight or the sexy car ride or both, made her feel daring in a way she never had. With a dramatic sweep of her tongue, slow and sultry, she licked her lips and mmm’d at the masculine taste.

Nicolai’s eyes flashed with an emotion far greater than simple pleasure at her uncharacteristically brazen display. Even though she was naked and on her knees, that unmasked reaction empowered her, filling her with a boldness she never felt with him before. She wanted her stallion wild and just found a huge spur.

The visual art of submission is the key to obliterating his carefully crafted reserve.

Drunk with the idea of what she could pull from him, she lowered her head to hide the self-satisfied grin. If watching her do this to his body would release the lover he’d locked away since she moved in, then his prisoner was in for one hell of a show. When she was sure she'd schooled the perfect expression over her face, she raised hungry eyes to him.

Take me, my artist voyeur. Make me yours.

Throwing her hair back over her shoulders to display her breasts, she raised them for his eyes before reaching out to take hold of his stiff rod. Pouty lips opened for his jutting erection and her inner vixen exhaled hot breath over the tip. She arched her back, spreading her knees wider, as her tongue swirled around the weeping tip.

The luxurious feel of Nicolai’s skin, hot and velvety smooth, temporarily distracted her from her own performance.

I’m definitely enjoying this.

She licked his long shaft, inspecting him in slow, deliberate increments. Encouraging hands massaged her head as she explored every delicious inch.

And what if I did this?

The tip of her tongue pressed into the shallow indentation at the top and her voyeur hissed.

Or this?

She tongued the underside of his engorged penis behind his balls and the grip in her hair tightened.

Or this?

She sucked the head into her mouth and he began to rock his hips.

She was getting to Nicolai, but the way he retained control frustrated her. The seductress was determined to lure her reluctant lover from behind his barriers. The submissive needed him to force her beyond her own.

But how?

She decided to take a page from her skilled lover’s playbook: withdraw and let him burn with the need for her to continue.

Do unto others, my wicked lover.

She eased back, parting the tails of his shirt, and suckled the perfection of his ridged abdomen. Her hands cupped his balls and her hair tickled his cock. Enticing, but far from satisfying.

Nicolai groaned at the teasing play.

She loved the obscenely sexy sound. Loved the heady feeling of having Nicolai within her power for once. Loved how beautiful and free she felt beneath that shimmering stare.

When she’d tormented him long enough, she brought her hands back to his shaft. It was even harder, so thick and slippery between her fingers. She squeezed, making him strain in her tight grasp, and flicked a gaze of pure, aroused challenge at him through her lashes.

Hold on, lover. You’re mine now.

Her smiling lips surrounded him again.

*****

Nicolai stared down at his alabaster devil.

Such a sexy tease.

Julianne’s eyes sparkled like diamonds in the night light and the smile flirting with her perfect lips was too tempting.

Game on, Beauty mine.

If she wanted to play, he would play. Until he killed her, one orgasm at a time. But not until he let her try to kill him first. He sank back on his heels and savored the simple pleasure of her attention. This certainly would be a wonderful way to die, but he wanted so much more from her. He allowed her to continue until the burn in his balls told him it was time for his turn.

A quick tug on the hair assured that Julianne saw the slow smile spread over his features to make clear that his intent was anything but playful. “I’m going to fuck your mouth."

Those innocent eyes widened. The crude words shocked her, but not enough to chill her arousal. She sucked the tip of his erection harder.

“Take me deep, Beauty mine, all the way to the back of your throat.”

His hands held her motionless as he pushed himself farther into her willing mouth. She gagged the first time, but he kept up a slow rhythm until she learned to relax her throat for him. Then he sank to the back and stayed there, locking her against his groin. After a moment, he withdrew to allow her a breath before sheathing himself in that velvet paradise again and holding her in place once more. The dominating pattern repeated until Julianne was fully pliant, trusting him to control even her breathing.

Bondage, that dark seductress, had always held him in thrall. The arousal from sharing this intimate form of her with his Beauty almost brought him to his knees. He kept Julianne’s head tilted up so he could watch the emotions cross her face. Watch the excitement and the lust and the trust each time the head of his cock reached the back of her throat. Watch those perfect lips stretch wide as he withdrew and filled her again.

The intensity of their connection made him struggle to hold back. Forget the heat of that silken mouth, the sight of her capitulation alone was enough to send him screaming into release. He closed his eyes because it was becoming unbearable to look at her. He would go insane if he continued to savor the vision that ensnared his mind so thoroughly. It was everything he wanted: his Beauty, shimmering in moonlight, exquisitely naked at his feet, accepting his dominance.

He released the tight rein on his control and began to pump himself into her with more force. That virgin mouth belonged to him and he took it with vigor. The fists in the dark silk of her hair pulled. He knew it would hurt. He wanted it to hurt as he thrust, harder and deeper, into her. Taking what was his.

“You belong to me,” he ground out.

His hips were bucking against her, his voice a rumbled growl as he fucked her perfect lips, pushing his cock as deep as it could go.

“I’m going to come. Swallow me, Beauty mine.”

Beautiful agony raced through his gut, up his tense thighs and into his balls. He groaned low in his throat as he abandoned himself to the inevitable. He seized and exploded in a burst of volcanic spasms.

*****

When the first hot spurt hit the back of her throat, Julianne swallowed.

Nicolai threw his head back and howled to the moon. His entire body rumbled with the sound. He withdrew slightly and with shallow jerks, pumped the warm jets onto her tongue.

She loved what she’d unleashed. Intimidating, yet so wild and free. She devoured every drop he gave her, greedily taking his essence and wanting more. To prolong his pleasure, she met each thrust with a hard suck. She could tell she was torturing him through his climax by the raging breath and animalistic sounds grinding out of him, but his unbridled satisfaction was clear.

When he was spent, he didn’t release her, only held her tight against his body. She relished the closeness, savoring the feel of the hair tickling her face, the musky scent of his sweat and his rich masculine taste on her tongue.

The feel of his erection softening in her mouth was a challenge. She didn’t even try for passivity. She wanted him hard again. She swirled her tongue in a slow, sensual stroke around him then nipped him with her teeth.

Nicolai growled. Literally growled.

Gripping her arms with bruising strength, he hauled her off knees and dragged her to the steps. He threw her down onto the stairs and forced her wrists over her head. The feeling of being manhandled sent her mind into oblivion.

“Hold on. Do not let go.” His eyes gleamed with the threat of sweet vengeance, the fierce tone telling her how serious his command was.

She grasped a spindle and held on for dear life.

Brutal hands grabbed her hips and yanked her body down, so hard, she almost lost her grip. Nicolai shoved her knees to her shoulders, spreading her wide, and the stairs dug into her back. Lifting her bottom, he threw her legs over his shoulders and buried his face between her thighs. When his tongue found its target, she forgot the pain.

One hand held her up. The other plunged into her slick channel.

Oh, God. Those talented hands.

He finger fucked and tongued her with masterful synchronicity. Long fingers stroked that perfect spot on the inside while his tongue played over that perfect spot on the outside. No slow ramp up on this orgasm. She shattered.

Her pussy was still contracting when he pulled her hands away from the spindle and flipped her onto all fours over the stairs.

Pulling her head back by the hair, he growled, “Tell me you want me to fuck you. Beg me for it.”

Nicolai could be a perfect gentleman, but right now, he was a beast. And so was she.

“Fuck me, Nicolai. Fuck me. Please.”

He stabbed into her from behind with a single monstrous thrust. The force lifted her off her knees as he impaled her on his body. She cried out with pain and ecstasy when he repeated the sharp jab. Cruel fingers dug into her hips, holding her body captive as he shunted himself deeper and deeper inside, ramming her with his cock like an animal. Each savage invasion brought her closer to the perfect abandon she wanted to give to him. She pressed her head against the stairs and allowed herself to be taken.

The fervor of the possession, the strength of his sweat-drenched body over hers, the violence of his need as he pounded into her sent her spiraling over the edge. Clamping down on his power, she let her body go. Seconds later, Nicolai followed and collapsed heavily on top of her, shuddering with the hard release.

She wanted to tell him that this was the most satisfying experience she’d ever shared with him. That this was the first time since he bound her in the studio that she felt the honesty of his passion. That this was the lover she wanted to lose herself to. But she couldn’t translate her thoughts into spoken words in her best moments, let alone a moment like this one.

Instead, she poured her heart and soul into two simple words. “
Merci, Maître.
”

“What?” Nicolai jerked away, looking around as if he’d seen a ghost. “Never call me that!”

She reached out in a desperate attempt to hold him, but he pulled back. Empty hands grasped the air. The fathomless cast in his eyes made her blood run with ice.

“My God, we’re in the foyer,” he muttered. “I’m so sorry, Julianne. I didn’t mean to...” The words trailed off.

Nicolai stormed away and locked himself behind a slammed door. The ugly sound shot across the open space like an arrow to pierce her heart. The harsh withdraw crushed her. After what they just shared, it was a betrayal.

Julianne stared up at the moon through the window. The light that had seemed so magical only minutes before, now seemed so chilling. It covered her naked body with its frost. The plummet from elation into devastation was more than she could handle and she sat, frozen like an ice sculpture on the stairs.

Over an hour later, Nicolai’s phone rang. Cold fingers ached as they plucked it from the tuxedo jacket thrown haphazardly over the railing. A familiar name flashed in the caller ID. She answered without speaking.

His rich voice reached out to her through the line. “I called to check on Julianne. Is she alright?”

“No, Darion. She is anything but alright.”

19

Satisfy You, Satisfy Myself

Nicolai never emerged from behind that locked door.

Darion told her to go upstairs and Julianne cried herself to sleep, alone, in Nicolai’s bed. She couldn’t understand what happened. Couldn’t accept her lover’s stinging rejection. What had she done wrong? The next morning, she left the apartment, broken, and let Brent take her to Darion.

When Darion opened the door, he didn’t speak, only drew her into an embrace. He was so warm and he smelled so good. She felt so small against him, so safe in his strong arms, like nothing and no one could ever hurt her again. She didn’t want to cry, but couldn’t hold back the flood. Effusive displays were not something she allowed herself, but her need for comfort overwhelmed her.

When her tears slowed to a trickle, Darion led her into another room and the pair sat together on the sofa. A servant brought coffee and croissant. The thought of all the times Nicolai scolded her for skipping meals started the waterworks again. Darion accepted her tears and simply held a small piece of the croissant to her lips.

She studied him as she took the food. He was a contained man, confident and unruffled, whose steady eyes watched her with patience. He was prepared to wait her out.
Take your time
, his whole pose said.
We have all day if you want
. Comfortable silence was such a rarity. She dropped her gaze onto her twisting fingers while he fed her. After a few minutes, her hands stilled.

“Tell me everything and I will help you.”

The voice was gentle; the message, clear. There would be no hiding from this man. Darion expected an even exchange. Honesty was the price for his guidance.

The simple clarity of his expectation allowed her to talk to him. Everything she wanted to say to Nicolai, she said to Darion. The words poured out in a rush. She gave Darion all the shame, the doubt and the pain. And he took it, all of it, without a hint of judgment.

When she finished speaking, Darion brushed the hair away from her wet cheek and looked at her with sympathetic eyes. His expression told her to put her trust in him and she did. Placed herself completely into his care.

Whatever this man told her to do, she would do.

*****

Beauty. The name fit.

Even with a tear stained face and red nose, this woman was superb. And her vulnerability at the moment absolutely lit his fuse. Wide violet eyes tempted, triggering a baser urge to sweep that needy, trembling little bundle into his playroom and make her forget the pain. Darion indulged himself with the pleasure of feeding her instead.

Julianne spoke so candidly and the ease with which she opened to him encouraged confidence. He’d expected to spend most of this encounter drawing her out from behind her barriers. Her ability to trust him so quickly was only an extension of her trust in Nicolai, but trust was an honor, no matter what the reason for it. He would not fail her.

What a mess. Darion saw what had transpired between the two young lovers with perfect clarity even if Julianne and Nicolai did not. Julianne’s perspective wasn’t fully focused for him yet, but what was happening with Nicolai certainly was. Learning about the trauma of Julianne’s past had clouded his mind. He was suppressing his own needs in an ill-fated attempt to protect her. Although Nicolai was a very disciplined Dom, his passion for Julianne made self-denial almost impossible. His love made him fear that he might lose the very thing he wanted the most if he made a wrong move. Blind to his lover’s needs, Nicolai rejected his own as selfish and truly harmful.

Even though Darion knew their destination, he needed a bit more information from Julianne before he could flush out the optimal route. He tried for a soft, reassuring tone, but that wasn’t exactly his forte. “Listen to me. You have done nothing wrong. You and I are going to have a little chat about Julianne Giroux so I can help you. Nicolai told me you’re reluctant to talk about yourself, but I expect full and honest answers. Do you understand?”

Julianne didn’t make a sound, but the way she straightened her spine showed her determination to comply in spite of the intimidation she plainly felt at his command. Nicolai described her as brave and Darion was beginning to see why.

“Nicolai is your first lover. You have had no other sexual experience, except with him?”

“None. My father forbade me to date and before you ask, I never disobeyed him so there was never anyone else.”

Impossible that a beauty like Julianne could remain completely untouched. That fact spoke volumes about how intensely her father had controlled her life. She was far more sheltered and inexperienced than he expected.

Julianne anticipated his next question and continued, “I used to listen to the girls at school talk about boys. I’ve known for a long time that I’m different. My fantasies have always involved a dominant lover. I dreamed about giving myself completely and in return, I got someone who challenged me, cherished me and drown me in the kinky stuff.” A secretive grin slid across her face, passively inviting the next question.

“Kinky stuff?” He raised a disapproving eyebrow. “Tell me what you mean by that and we can work on your vocabulary later.”

Julianne blushed and raised a delicate hand to her mouth to hide her embarrassment. She exuded an awareness of her appeal to men and a cautious reserve about bestowing her charms. Talking about sex was dangerously seductive and she knew it.

She proceeded more carefully. “Everything Nicolai has offered is something I want to experience more of. I want him to show me other things too.”

Darion enjoyed listening to the chime of her voice, the rise and fall of it was very alluring. He wanted to know how that voice would sound talking about darker pleasures so he accepted her invitation to delve deeper. “Does that include erotic pain?”

“Yes. Before Nicolai and I were lovers, we shared an experience that changed me...”

He interrupted, “Paint stirrers can be fun. That experience changed Nicolai too.”

Julianne looked at him in amazement. She hadn’t known the significance of that moment for Nicolai. Hope for their future sparked in her eyes.

“Accepting a lover’s painful attention can be very difficult. What makes you want that type of thing?”

She didn’t answer right away and he studied her as she struggled to find the right words. Her eyes fell to her hands and their tense, entwined fingers. A complex roil of emotions played across her face as she was torn by the dichotomy that defined her. Beneath that reserved exterior lay a daring and darkly passionate woman. As he waited for the reply, he had little doubt about which side of Julianne’s nature would ultimately prevail in her love life.

“I think because...well, the idea that a man has power over me...that I am under his control...I mean, just because he wants it... I can’t explain why. It just turns me on.”

It wasn’t the most articulate description he’d ever heard, but he got it. Nicolai’s Beauty shared more than one of his kinks. Darion knew it as well as he knew his own name. The pair blithely sailed through light bondage and voyeurism in only a few weeks, but their next hurdle was much higher. Julianne craved a more intense dominance as much as Nicolai needed to give it, but Julianne’s past stood in their way.

“And how does your, hmm, let’s call it ‘upbringing,’ fit with the woman you are?”

“It doesn’t.”

She said the words so matter-of-factly that he knew he’d found her blind spot.

“Doesn’t it? Your father abused you hoping to make you completely passive. How can that be unrelated to a submissive sexuality?”

This answer was perfectly articulate. “I never connected my sexuality to the Colonel. I decided who I was and what I wanted on my own. Of that, you can be very sure. But I’m not a psychiatrist, so I can’t tell you that my father has nothing to do with my sexuality.” She looked at him coyly and added, “What he instilled in me, I believe men like you find very pleasing. Discipline, focus, a desire to please, these are positive traits, are they not?”

Her words and the conviction with which she spoke them convinced Darion that Julianne would be the woman she was even without the Colonel’s misguided treatment. His trip to Japan, while very enlightening, hadn't answered this fundamental question about her. If Julianne truly was a natural submissive like her mother, the Colonel would have recognized that. He must have thought what he did would protect her. It was ass-backward reasoning, but there was some logic to it. Julianne didn't connect her sexuality to the Colonel, but he obviously knew his daughter better than she thought he did.

Julianne seemed unaware of his analysis of her, or unconcerned about it, as she revealed more. “Nicolai has erased so much of my suffering. He forced me to share my past. I gave it entirely to him. Writing that journal was a catharsis for me. It allowed me to forgive.”

“But what do you think about Nicolai’s ability to forgive?”

Darion watched understanding dawn in her eyes as dainty fingers covered her open mouth. “
Cher Dieu
. But Nicolai’s foyer isn’t the same room. Nicolai isn’t anything like my father. What we share has nothing to do with...” her voice faded as she absorbed the significance of the parallels that Nicolai obviously saw. “Please, Darion, you must explain this to him. You must make him understand.”

The plea was heartfelt.

He waved a hand in front of his face. “Both Jacques and I have talked to him already. The time for talking is long past. The responsibility to make Nicolai understand is yours. You must tell him.”

“Please, Darion, I can’t. Expressing my wants or needs, well, let’s just say that I’m not used to doing that. I know what I want, but I can never seem to find the right words.”

Julianne obviously viewed her inability to verbalize her desires as somehow her fault. He viewed it as a tragedy that such an artistic and intelligent young woman had been so repressed.

“I disagree. I’ve seen you do it. What did Nicolai tell you to do in that car?” He paused, allowing her a moment to remember the last time they’d been together.

“He told me to ask for what I wanted.”

“Yes, he did. And what happened when you asked?”

“He gave it to me,” she answered quietly.

Her posture told him that Julianne had no confidence in what he was trying to teach her, even before she continued. “But this situation is so much more complex. Do you honestly believe that Nicolai wants me to dictate to him about how to love me? Where’s the romance in that?”

Julianne’s choice of words revealed so much. Her reluctance to express herself was certainly attributable to her experience with the Colonel, but her inexperience with intimacy contributed more substantially to this problem. It was all well and good for a woman to harbor romantic notions of being swept away by her Dom. In fact, it was necessary. But that did not mean she could behave like a child. If she was mature enough to want this type of relationship, she had to take responsibility for it and start communicating.

Darion assumed a more commanding posture and Julianne reacted to it even before he issued a stern challenge. “Expressing yourself honestly is not dictating, Julianne. There is an art to how you should ask, but you will master that in time. For now, trust that Nicolai is not selfish. He wants to satisfy you. By not expressing yourself, you leave him guessing. Given what he knows about your past, that’s a particularly cruel thing to do. The bottom line is this: only you can decide whether you are a little girl who blindly obeys or a woman with the strength to express herself and then submit.”

Julianne may have a gentle spirit, but there was a spark in her. Her past hadn’t snuffed it completely. The fighter emerged and introduced herself with flourish.

Violet met jade. “I am a woman,” she declared. “And I am asking you, Darion LeClair, to help me find the way to express myself to my man.”

“Brava.” He flashed an approving smile and savored her instantaneous reaction. “Expression is not limited to words, Julianne. I’m going to suggest something. If it makes you uncomfortable, tell me now. Any other time will be too late.”

He lowered his voice and infused it with a more seductive tenor. “I want you to submit to me. In front of Nicolai. In the foyer.”

Her eyes lit with excitement at the suggestion and he could practically hear Nicolai’s voice talking in her memory. “Yes. Nicolai asked me to express myself. He said it didn’t have to be a conversation. He told me to find a way. I promised. This is how I will honor my promise. Thank you for helping me find the way, Darion.”

The gratitude in her eyes was humbling.

“In the end, Julianne, I believe that I will be thanking you.” He smiled a knowing smile. “Together, we will show Nicolai the real woman hidden beneath that lovely exterior and make him so sure of your needs that he will stop holding back. But if we do this, we do it my way. You are brave enough to fight for what you need, but are you strong enough to take me on?”

“Yes, sir.”

Darion watched as Julianne’s faith in him replaced her doubts. She was not only brave, but surprisingly determined. So determined that she agreed to submit to him without properly protecting herself. In their world, that type of behavior was entirely unacceptable. The wisdom of Nicolai’s hesitation with her was becoming more and more apparent.