“Hey.” He didn’t sound right. Not really as though he was angry, but there was a hint of something in his voice.
“Something wrong? You sound off.” She prayed silently that he hadn’t found out about The Taskmaster.
“I’m at a bed-and-breakfast someone told me they were going to be at, holding a bottle of wine, cheese, crackers, and a rope. Guess who’s not here?”
“You went to the bed-and-breakfast to see me?” Meagan glanced up and saw that no one was talking; rather, they were all staring at her. “I changed my plans. Abby invited me to a girls’ night thing. I’m at Jeff Parks’s house.”
“Abby West?”
“Yes.”
“She’s a sweetheart. And so much for my surprising you.”
Meagan’s head spun quickly, trying to figure out how she could meet him, but she couldn’t find a way.
“If I had a way to get there, I’d come meet you.” She couldn’t hold back the sigh. “Abby drove me.”
“That’s okay. Maybe we can do it another time.”
Why was he going to the bed-and-breakfast when they’d agreed on one night only? She wanted to tease him about his plan to seduce her, but didn’t feel comfortable doing so with all the ears listening.
“We’re still on for tomorrow?” she asked.
“Yes.”
It would be their first session since they slept together. She’d be lying not to admit how much she still wanted him. But it wasn’t anything she was going to talk about. Especially not with an audience.
“I’m looking forward to it.” Looking forward to having his hands on her body. Looking forward to her knees turning to jelly when he gave her a command. Suddenly the next day couldn’t come soon enough.
* * *
Meagan didn’t make it home the next morning until nearly eleven. She’d planned to get back by eight, but Jeff showed up around seven and cooked breakfast for everyone. He looked so relieved that Dena was fine and insisted everyone stay to eat. She’d looked over at Abby and neither one of them had the heart to turn him down.
Which meant she didn’t have much time to prepare for the session with Luke. Not that, technically, there was much to prepare other than her mental state. She was still floored he’d traveled to the bed-and-breakfast last night.
Before she got ready for Luke, she needed to check her e-mails. She’d forgotten her battery charger the night before and her phone died shortly before midnight.
Once she made it home, she plugged it in and booted up her laptop. There was an e-mail from Guy.
Hey, Meagan,
You left last weekend before we had a chance to talk. What’s your schedule like this coming week? Let’s do lunch!
Ugh. Let’s not. She clicked out of it, but didn’t delete. She’d think of a reason to decline later.
Next up were several work-related issues. She read through them, but didn’t reply. The next e-mail made her physically ill.
Hello, slut,
It seems like I was right and you didn’t need any advice about getting close to Luke. Since you’re doing so well, it’s time for you to once again do something for me. I want you to find where Luke keeps his pictures.
You have a week to find out.
Don’t even think about saying no. I’m bigger and stronger than you, and I know where you live.
The Taskmaster
Her whole body shook when she finished reading the e-mail. This had to stop. She couldn’t do it. Getting information about a new club was one thing. But digging through his personal stuff? She couldn’t think of a legitimate reason to ask him where he stored them. And she wasn’t about to go looking without him knowing. That would be wrong.
But even if she asked Luke about the pictures, if he ever found out she was being blackmailed, he’d hate her. He’d think she only went out with him, only slept with him, in order to get close to him. She couldn’t stand it if he thought that. She’d just have to make sure he never found out.
And why the hell had this person decided to get to Luke through her? She leaned back in her chair. There had to be a connection between the three of them. Was it a given The Taskmaster knew her and Luke personally? That was scary.
She turned it around every way possible until her head hurt, but came up with no answers other than one. For this afternoon, she’d have to ensure Luke had no reason to think anything was up.
* * *
“Okay,” Luke said, hours later. “Tell me what’s going on.”
They’d been working on the first bondage scene shoot for over an hour and so far he had nothing he could use. Nothing. Everything was perfect and working like it should. Everything except Meagan. He knew something was wrong the minute he saw her.
Oh, she tried to hide it, and maybe she would have fooled someone who didn’t spend a good amount of their time watching people. But watch people he did, through his lens as a photographer, in his club as a business owner, and while taking his pleasure as a Dom. Since he’d done all three with Meagan, she was only lying to herself if she thought he didn’t know better.
She looked up from where she was kneeling with her hands clasped behind her back. “What makes you think anything’s up?”
“Don’t make it worse by lying.”
She took a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m just not in the right headspace today. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Last night when she was at Dena’s with some of the ladies from Wilmington, and Abby.
Abby.
Damn it. That’s what the problem was. She’d been with Abby all night and, with other submissives present, they’d probably started talking about scenes. And it would have been nothing for his name to come up. Especially since he’d played with Nathaniel and Abby on multiple occasions. He hadn’t even thought about the times he’d been invited into the Wests’ playroom until right now.
Meagan probably thought he’d been keeping it from her on purpose. It’d slipped his mind she was Abby’s boss.
With a sigh, he put the camera down and started untying her.
“Wait,” she said. “What are you doing? We aren’t finished, are we?”
“We are for now,” he said. “Let’s talk.”
Her face grew unnaturally pale. Fuck, what had Abby told her? He nodded over to a love seat against the far wall and, without him saying anything, she stood up and walked over to it. She sat with her head down, picking at her nails. He took a seat close, but not touching.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about playing with the Wests first,” he said. “You shouldn’t have had to hear it from Abby.”
Her head shot up and from the “O” of surprise her lips made, whatever had been bothering her didn’t have anything to do with him and Abby.
“Shit,” he said. “That’s not what was on your mind, was it?”
“You played with Abby? And Nathaniel?”
“Er, umm.” Damn it all. Wasn’t this just great? He couldn’t very well deny it now, could he? “Yes, a few times. It wasn’t like a regular scene. Nathaniel’s not one to share. But yes, I’ve dominated Abby. I’ve just never had sex with her.”
Meagan appeared to be thinking this over. “That explains why Abby got so flustered when I mentioned you.”
But Abby never told her anything. Nope. He’d taken care of that all by himself.
“I hope this doesn’t make things awkward between you,” he said.
She tilted her head. “No, I don’t think it will. We’re all grown-ups.”
“Good. I would hate to come between you and an employee.”
“Will it be awkward for you?” she asked.
“No, I don’t think so.” He tapped his finger on his knee. “You know, it was actually Abby who inadvertently opened the door for this book.”
“How is that?”
“I took some pictures of her and Nathaniel months ago and they allowed me to post a few of the ones that don’t show who they are. Rick saw them and asked me if I’d be interested in the bo
ok he was publishing.”
“Did he want Abby to be the model?”
“No, he asked me who I thought would be the best person for the job and you were my first choice.”
“Why me?” she asked.
He couldn’t lie to her, so he told her the truth. “You were made to be in front of the camera. I knew that the first time I took your picture and the years haven’t changed that.”
That information lightened the dark expression she’d had all day. But, unfortunately, if she hadn’t been thinking about him and Abby during the session, there was something else bothering her.
“Since I messed up reading your mind,” he teased, “why don’t you tell me what was bothering you during the scene just now?”
She took a deep breath and drew herself up straight. “Work stuff. I’m not going to think about it now. I’m ready to get to work.”
He wasn’t sure he totally believed her. Maybe he needed to change things up and force her mind to be focused on him alone. “Yes, let’s get back to what we were doing.”
She stood up.
“Sit down.”
A look of confusion crossed her expression, but she sat down.
“I’m going to try something else for the shoot. The book is on artistic BDSM so, if you agree, I’ll run this more like a scene and less like a photography session.”
She nodded wordlessly.
“If you agree, strip and crawl to the middle of the room and wait for me on your knees.”
Lust flashed in her eyes and she quickly undressed and dropped to the floor to start crawling. Luke took advantage of the angle to snap a few shots of her ass. She made it to the middle of the room and waited on her knees. He let her stay there for a bit to get in the proper mind-set; then he took his camera and joined her.
“For the next hour or so, you are mine to control,” he said. “Do you agree?”
“Yes, Sir.”
She was a beautiful woman, no question about it. But on her knees, allowing herself to be dominated, she was stunning.
“What’s your safe word?”
“Red.”
“Noted.” He put the camera down and picked up some silk rope. It wasn’t what he would use for an actual scene, but it worked well for photographs. “Stand up with your hands behind your back.”
She stood. Her compliance must have triggered something in her mind, because she no longer looked troubled. All previous evidence of worry had been replaced by an expression of peace and contentment. And he knew no matter what happened with the two of them in the future, no matter what they did or didn’t do, for this time, right now, she was his. From the look of bliss on her face, she wouldn’t want it any other way.
He took his time drawing the rope around her arms. Done properly, bondage was an art, and though he wanted good pictures for the book, more than that, he wanted to pay homage to Meagan’s body by decorating and restraining her to the best of his ability.
When he’d introduced her to bondage years ago and watched the emergence of her submissive side, he’d thought that she was awe-inspiring. But as he stepped back after binding her arms behind her and seeing the submissive she’d become, he was even more awestruck.
He took his time walking around her, trying to capture with his camera just a touch of the beauty that was her submission, but knowing it was far too vast to ever be conveyed by a mere photograph.
He found he didn’t want to stop. He wanted all of her in his ropes. But, he had reached their agreed-upon time limit.
“Meagan.” The decision would be hers. “That’s our time for the day and I got some beautiful shots. If you want, I’ll untie you and we can wrap up. Or, if you agree, I’d like to continue and see how the rest of you looks bound by my hand.”
“I want more, Sir.”
“If you’re sure,” he said.
“I’m enjoying this. There’s so much freedom to be found like this. I can shut my mind off. It’s so refreshing not to have to think.”
Instead of a verbal reply, he answered by covering her lips with his. It was a kiss he fully controlled. One he took. Bound as she was, she couldn’t touch him, and though she could have taken a step back, she didn’t. She remained still, allowing him to kiss her and letting him know how much she wanted it by kissing him back.
He ended the kiss and slipped a black blindfold out of his back pocket. “To further help you shut your mind off.”
She nodded, but she didn’t have to. She knew he’d stop only if she said her safe word. He secured the blindfold around her head and stepped back.
“Thank you, Sir,” she said in a breathy sigh.
“You like when I take your sight away?”
“Yes, Sir. It frees me even more.”
Yup. She was fucking stunning.
He ran his hands over her body. “You okay with me touching you like this?”
“So okay, Sir.”
He smiled and continued brushing his hands along her body. “I’m going to decorate this gorgeous body of yours with my ropes. It’s silk, so it’ll feel so good against your skin. And when I’m finished, it’ll look fucking fabulous.”
Like before, he bound her slowly, and whispered while he worked. Telling her how sexy she looked, how much it turned him on to have her in his ropes, and how it was going to take him so long to bind her properly, she’d probably still be feeling his silk on her body tomorrow.
“Can you feel them circling your breasts?” he asked.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Think of the ropes as an extension of my hands. If I could, I’d be like this silk, touching you everywhere. Making sure you felt me all along your body. There’s not a place I wouldn’t touch.” He slipped a hand between her legs. “Fuck, you’re soaked.”
“Mm, I really, really like bondage, Sir.”
“I’ll say.” He teased her clit. “Fortunately, I really, really like putting you in bondage.”
Once he finished the upper part of her body, he took more rope and started on her lower half.
“Are you okay in the position you’re in?” he asked.
“Yes, Sir.”
Since she was standing, he wasn’t going to put her legs in any wild and crazy positions. He’d save that for later. When he had her in his bed again.
Oh yes, he would definitely have her in his bed again. There was no way he wouldn’t move heaven and earth to get her there. It didn’t matter that he’d said he’d wanted only one night. One night wasn’t nearly enough.
As he worked the silk around her legs, he peppered kisses along her thighs, feeling pleased as her skin pebbled in gooseflesh.
“You look like a goddess in this silk.”
“Thank you, Sir, but if I look good, it’s only because you make me that way.” She sucked in a breath as his lips drew closer and closer to the juncture of her thigh and torso, but whined when he backed up.
“Not yet,” he said. “I’m not quite ready to reward you for being such a good girl.”
He finished his rope work on her legs, then stepped back to look. He’d been right. She was a different person in bondage. Soft and pliable. The hardened TV executive was gone and in her place was the most amazing submissive he’d ever worked with.
Satisfied with the way she looked, he picked up the camera and took pictures. He knew as he took picture after picture that the second part of the shoot more than made up for the lousy beginning. But even as the photographer part of him rejoiced in the quality of shots he was taking, the Dom part knew he’d achieved the greater victory.