AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ari's voice broke through her thoughts. “My first rule. From now on, every morning when you wake up, you will make yourself come. And you will be loud about it. I want you to moan. I want to hear your release. Every. Morning. Do you understand?”
“I can't... unless I...”
“Unless you let yourself have those fantasies. I know. You will let yourself think those thoughts, and you will come. Every morning. It's the first thing you do from now on when you wake up. Do you understand, little one?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Good girl.”
Why did that soft murmur of approval do things to her? Why did she crave hearing it over and over?
Ari got off her and off the bed.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Because I need it. And you clearly do, too.”
“But it's so wrong.”
Claire wanted him. She wanted this... whatever this was. But could she really just go along with it? It was different last night when she'd been so afraid he would hurt her. Everything she'd done was for survival. But more and more she felt that he didn't actually want to destroy her. And if that was true, could she let herself... want this?
Ari laughed. “What you did to me was wrong.”
She looked down at her hands. “So is this payback? I hurt you so you hurt me?”
He shook his head. “No. This is me taking what I want and giving you what you need. Fuck morality. It's just you and me now working our fucked-up shit out between us in our own way.”
She wanted to retort that he meanthis way, but if that were true, her body wouldn't be crying out for his.
28
Ari pre-heated the oven and put in the leftover pizza from the night before. It was better in the oven on a baking stone. While their food heated, he put a coat on and went out to the garage. He removed the license plate from Claire's car and cut it into pieces with an electric saw, obliterating all the identifying information it contained. When he was finished, he dropped it into one of the trash bags he'd taken from her place and put them in the trash cans. He took the cans to the end of the vast property for pickup.
The long walk gave him time to sort through his thoughts. Ari was pretty sure the place he'd been kept in wasn't her actual home. The whole vibe of the space had seemed far too utilitarian and temporary to be her home. There had been no art or pictures on the walls, no decorative flourishes. It was all too sterile.
He slipped his fingers underneath the collar of his shirt to feel the bandages from the last time she'd whipped him. She was lucky he wanted to save her more than he wanted revenge... despite the payment he intended to extract from her. The plans he had for her were far more merciful than most would offer.
The two of them existed separate from society now. They'd both moved so far outside the realm of the polite rules of the social structure that the law or morality hardly even mattered anymore. None of the carefully crafted rules made sense for them. He felt suddenly like a very alien creature as though he didn't quite fit into this world anymore. He wasn't sure if it was his brief time as a powerless captive or his own actions since then, but the world felt somehow unreal. He felt disconnected from everything but her.
Claire was real in a way not even the biting cold outside could compare to, and he needed to be near her. If he lost her, he might also lose himself. Something had been forged between them in the scars he now carried for her.
He wouldn't abandon her to the world or let her carry the shame she felt over her needs. He could take care of those needs, and he could remove her guilt for needing it in spite of all the events that had led her here.
By the time he returned to the house, the pizza was done. He took it from the oven and put a couple of slices on a plate for his new pet. The kitchen was extra warm from the heat of the oven. He took off the coat and shirt he'd been wearing and hurriedly ate his own food, leaning over the counter. He had so much work he should be doing right now with the club plans, but Claire was a tempting distraction.
He couldn't believe she'd been wet when he'd touched her. And not just wet, dripping. It had been years since he'd been with a womanthataroused. She wanted him. She'dbeggedhim. Ari had always hated subs who begged for pleasure. He'd always thought it was like a dog begging for scraps—whining and wheedling to get their way. It had annoyed the shit out of him whenever Holly had done it.
But then Holly had done it to manipulate him and distract him from punishments. She was a brat for the attention, but then when she got it, she didn't want the attention she'd earned. She just wanted him to make her come. And he'd far too easily given in to it. It had gotten to the point where all her needs were met, but none of his were. Holly had been the one in control in that relationship, collar or no. There hadn't been any true submission in her. And yet Ari had continued to indulge her—maybe out of boredom or the fear of never finding the right girl.
But when Claire begged for pleasure? Ari bit back a groan. His jeans tightened uncomfortably at the memory of what had happened between them. HewantedClaire to beg. He might have to insist on it.
He grabbed another water bottle and the food and went back to his room. She was lying on her bed in the nook where he'd chained her. She was covered with blankets. Her gaze was filled with hunger when it met his—and not just for food. The wariness was still there though, combined with an uncertainty.
This time she didn't kneel. He found himself disappointed, but she'd been acting from fear before, and he hadn't truly laid out his expectations beyond her daily morning self-care. And she no doubt felt more self-conscious after her first orgasm in three years.
“Kneel,” he said softly.
Claire pulled back the blankets and crawled over to him, stopping on the floor next to his feet. She'd just been waiting for direction, for parameters.
