Enthrall Him (Enthrall Sessions Book 3) (39 page)

“I’ll make you a nice cup of tea,” he said, taking my hand and guiding me into the kitchen. He grabbed a tea towel and used it to dry my hair.  

I stared ahead, taking deep painful breaths. “What am I going to do?”

“What we all do, Mia,” said Shay. “We fuck the pain away.”

“What if that doesn’t work?”

“Then we use pain,” he said.

Cameron’s words came back to me. “
It’s what we do here
,” he’d said, sitting beside me in the garden of Enthrall. “
We control with pain. Balance pleasure with pain
.
Banish pain with pain.”
 

And in that upscale restaurant, Chez Polidor, Cameron had admitted he too was into pain.

It hit me like a lightning bolt.

Cameron was using his feelings for me to punish himself.

The realization stunned me into silence.  

CHAPTER 33

NAKED IN THE center of the bedroom, my arms clutched to my chest, my breaths came short and sharp.

Christmas evening and all was still in the house.

Cameron was long gone, having caught his flight at Heathrow hours ago, and would be in mid-air by now. Shay continued to guard us discreetly from somewhere in the house.

Though Lance’s threat seemed like it was over now, wariness waited in the shadows, biding time until my thoughts lost their strength to block these memories that seeped in.

Richard ran his fingers through my hair. “Baby, we need to talk.”

I agreed with a nod.

“Tell me what those men did to you?”.

In the corner sat a big leather chair. The left foot was slightly crooked, buckling under years of people sitting in it. I wondered if Richard ever sat in it.

“Oberon Grove has a camera in every room,” he said softly. “Summer watched the footage.”

My gaze snapped to his.

“Cameron gave me Summer’s number,” he said. “I phoned her. She told me what happened to you.”

“The nest?” I shook my head. “I only watched the women. I didn’t do anything.”

“Nest?”

Oh, he wasn’t talking about that.

I stared off.

That crackling fire. That phone within reach. Those men in tuxes. The locking of a door…

“You’re here with me and you’re safe.” Richard raised my chin. “I know they touched you. You should feel no shame. You did nothing wrong.”

He pressed a fingertip to my lips. “You begged them to let you go.”

“They thought I wanted it to happen.”

“At Chrysalis, no means no. Use that word and all play stops.” He shook his head woefully. “Lance will pay.”

“How?”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Please don’t do anything illegal.”

“He’s banned from Chrysalis and Enthrall. He’s banned from Oberon, and so is Helete.”

“Is their threat over?”

“Yes.”

“They won’t come after me again?”

“They have no reason to,” he said. “Cameron and Lance spoke on the phone this morning.” Richard pulled me into a hug. “It’s over.”

“Does that mean Shay won’t need to follow me around everywhere?”

“Once Cameron’s paranoia has lifted. For now you’ll still have someone watching over you.”

I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that. My privacy had been compromised this entire trip. Going home knowing there were people out there following me around made me antsy.

I eased my collar away from my neck.

“Too tight?” Richard ran a finger beneath it.

“Hold me.”

He pulled me in and hugged me. “We’ll find our way back, Mia. And we’ll be stronger and more together than we ever were.”

“Yes.” I squeezed my eyes shut, needing this to be true.

He eased me back and grabbed my shoulders. “I’m going to heal what happened to you.” He strolled over to the chest of drawers and removed a lace blindfold. “Arms behind your back, please.”

He’d ordered me into
the
pose and I obeyed, my eyes fluttering with expectation, my heart scrambling for cover.

A swinging pendulum.

Above that fireplace in that room back at Oberon Grove had hung a painting of a fox hunt with men atop horses, their expressions proud, those dogs at their feet ready for the order to chase.

Ready to rip that fox apart.

Those men had hardly touched me yet my mind took me to the place where they had, betraying me with thoughts of what could have happened.

Richard scrolled down his phone and the sound of soft rolling waves came from it and filled the room.  

“This is my way of taking you back to Malibu.” He secured the blindfold around my eyes. “I’m going to replace those thoughts. I’m going to bring you back to me. Can I make love to you?”

“Yes.”

Yes.

His mouth was on mine, firm but gentle, easing mine open. His tongue searched, explored, soothed.

Kisses, there were lots of kisses, and caressing. I swooned at the pleasure he brought, the suckling at my breasts, his teeth grazing my nipples, the pang below causing shivers.

He nudged me back and I toppled onto the bed.

Taking his time, he made love to me, planting soft kisses at my feet, his mouth leisurely moving from one toe to the next, moving upward, trailing between my thighs.

His mouth settled on my sex and his tongue flitted, circled, flicked.

Arching my back, I lifted my hips, offering more of me.

His body crushed against mine. “My cock has magic powers.” He nipped my ear.

“Is that right?” I giggled.

“Oh yes. May I provide a demonstration?”

“Why yes, sir.”

He whispered into my ear, “I’m going to erase the past.”

Gently, he positioned the tip of his cock at my entrance, his hips rocking so he tapped against me, rendering pleasure.

“Please,” I begged.

“Shush. Nice and slow, baby.”

Wrapping my legs around his hips, spellbound, I moved closer to edge of forgetting.

“Please, sir,” I whispered.

This gentle tapping, this easing inside, this stretching wide. He raised himself to change his angle and penetrate deeper, working himself inside me and reminding me once again he’d mastered the art of pleasuring a woman so very long ago. His ability to seduce was breathtaking.

While gliding in and out languidly, his mouth eased mine open. Our tongues battling, his for control, mine to prove he had it.  

Richard’s body trembled with the pressure of his closeness. This was him proving he knew what I needed, not violence, not punishment, not even domination, but love.

His breathing stilted as his time neared yet he continued on and on, focusing on my pleasure alone, goading me, grinding, circling.

I plunged into this sea of sensation. Ocean waves crashed around us. Their insistent rhythm seduced and I gave myself over, arching my back, feeling his warmth filling me as we went under together.

CHAPTER 34

ROLLING WAVES CRASHED over golden sands.

Turning slightly, I gazed up at the majestic Mediterranean styled house on the hill. The place Richard and I called home.

I was thrilled to be back in Malibu. I’d only returned two days ago and it felt wonderful.

London had been a whirlwind of time spent with Cameron, running from Lance Merrill, and trying to settle back as Richard’s sub. My head still spun with all that had happened. My heart, though battered and bruised, still felt capable of so much love.

A piece of me was missing and I couldn’t work out why.

I was not the same Mia who’d stood here on this beach looking out at the vast ocean all those weeks ago, wishing Richard would train me into the submissive he yearned for. During his beachfront party, I’d learned my fate. The news was delivered that I’d be given over to Cameron Cole, nudging my future in a dramatically different direction.  

That same evening, Scarlet had joined me here on this very sand and had taken my breath away with her words of what it meant to serve a master, and more profound still her foreshadowing I was ready for Chrysalis.  

Her stark prediction of how it would change me.

And it had.

Before I’d entered that great house, Cameron had warned me, his tone firm and menacing,
‘I will take you further than you have gone before. What will be left of you is that which you do not believe exists within you. I will destroy you. I will burn away this façade and I will reveal the true Mia.’
 

Changed forever.

It made me wonder if the outcome both he and Richard had expected had gone awry. Now my confidence soared, my self-respect was at an all time high, and my new passion had turned to philosophy.

These last few days had seen me tucked in a corner, a book open on my lap, devouring every word on every page, absorbing knowledge with newfound joy.

This world held so many questions, an unending array of whys, wheres, hows and what ifs. My widening perspective drew me onward into the unknown.

Taking several refreshing breaths in, I headed back up the pathway and on towards the house.

Winston ran from plant to plant marking his territory.

“Not the flowers,” I scolded him, though considering he’d been taught this since a puppy the chance of him ever behaving was unlikely. He didn’t even sulk when scolded, merely looked up at me lovingly as though waiting for a snack.

I made coffee and carried a mug into the bedroom. Richard was fast asleep. He looked so beautiful, so peaceful, with his head resting on that pillow, those ruffled sheets askew.

Gently, I ran my fingers through his hair. “Wake up. We’ll be late.”

He stirred. “What time is it?”

“8AM.”

He sat up, his hands rubbing his face. “Damn jet lag. It’s always worse coming home for some reason.”

I handed him his coffee. “This will help.”

“Thank you.” Richard took it from me and sipped. “All hail the caffeine God.”

I melted into those blue eyes. They were so alluring, so kind.

“How about I drive us in?” I said. “You can sleep in the car if you like.”

“Eager to drive your gift from Cameron?” he said.

“I’m not going to keep it. It doesn’t feel right.”

My new silver BMW sat in the driveway. A stunning reminder of the kind of money that flowed around here. That new car smell had stirred excitement, but reality had sunk in that it would never be mine. The loss of my mini brought a wave of nostalgia. Cameron had confiscated it.

Other than this act of control, I hadn’t heard from him.

“Well you can leave it at Chrysalis when you visit later,” said Richard. “Have Leo bring you back. But don’t be surprised if you don’t rile up Cameron’s wrath.”

I’d be seeing
him
again. “Chrysalis?”

“You have an appointment this afternoon.” He took another sip. “Great coffee, Mia.”

“Why?”

“You didn’t think you’d gotten out of math that easily did you?”

“I hate math.”

“From all accounts, you’re a great student.”

“What time?”

“2PM,” he said. “Gives you enough time to settle back into Enthrall. We only have one client on the books this afternoon and I can welcome them.”

“I have so much catching up to do,” I said. “Maybe I can resume my lessons in a week or so? I’m kind of jet lagged too.”

“Say thank you.”

I lowered my gaze. “Thank you, sir.”

There was gratitude for Richard allowing me to study on work time, only I wasn’t sure I was ready to see Cameron again so soon.

A lump caught in my throat.  

I didn’t trust myself not to crumble at Cameron’s feet, beg him to hold me one more time. I’d embarrass myself and betray Richard all over again and ruin my self-respect.

From Richard’s stare, he might have been thinking that too.

“I like the new playroom.” I quickly changed the subject. “Perhaps…tonight?”

“You feel ready?”

“Yes. More than anything.”

“Pleasure or pain, Mia?”

A thrum settled low in my belly. “Both.”

“You always favored pleasure?”

I sucked in my breath. “Whatever you deem me worthy of?”