Chapter 5
VIKTOR
She brought her hand up to slap him. Viktor caught her wrist, kissing the underside and refusing to relinquish it back to her. “You have too much fire to slink away, malenkaya.”
“Are you trying to say my sisters are lying?”
“I am saying you should find out for yourself. Let me be clear, I am very attracted to you. You arouse me in a way I have never known before…” Emerson snorted. “You think not?” he asked, hauling her close so that she could feel the power of his erection.
He was fully engorged, and all he’d done was kiss her. He wondered how she would react if he followed his need and pushed her into the footwell of the carriage, pulling her to the edge before ripping her panties off, opening his fly and shoving himself deep inside her. He was certain he could scent her heightened arousal even amid the flowers. There would come a time when he would point to the floor, and she would drop to her knees, opening her mouth so he could fuck it. That time had yet to come, but it would.
“Be very careful how you answer me, malenkaya. I am dangerously close to losing control.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” she blustered.
He admired her spirit. “No. It is yourself and your response to me that frightens you. It was the reason you fled the gala last night like Cinderella ran from the ball at the stroke of midnight.”
“I didn’t run from you.”
“Didn’t you?” he teased. “As I said I have never wanted a woman the way I want you.” She might not believe that, but Viktor knew it to be true. “As you are well aware, I am the majority owner of the Carriage House. I take the lifestyle very seriously. I am not some nice, vanilla man. I am a Dom—a Dominant—I crave control and the power exchange. I would like to show you my world, but you will need to accept who I am before we can proceed.” He placed a crooked finger under her chin, lifting her face up. “Will you let me show you my world?”
“You want control? I want honesty. What is it you want from me?”
“If I were to answer you with complete honesty, I fear you would run away and never look back.” He silenced her protest with a light kiss. “I will promise never to lie to you and that there is nothing I want from you that you won’t be willing to give me in the end. Will you join me this evening?”
“Um, I guess.”
“You cannot guess in the lifestyle, malenkaya. You must speak to your master; tell him what it is you need. Failure to do so or lying to me will get you disciplined and not in a fun and erotic way, although I suspect you will find it arousing. I ask you again, will you join me this evening and let me show you the Carriage House and some of what it has to offer?”
“Yes.”
“Good girl,” he purred and watched her relish the praise. “I will send my car for you…”
“I know where the club is; I can drive myself.”
He shook his head. “Your relinquishment of control starts tonight. I will have something appropriate for you to wear delivered this evening, and my car and driver will pick you up at eight. That will allow me to get the club up and running so I can spend my time focused on you. I will show you around the club, and we can have dinner in my office after your tour.”
“And after that?” she asked, raising her chin.
Emerson possessed a streak of defiance he was going to look forward to curbing to better suit both their needs. Even though he preferred the honorarium of Master, he had never cared for submissives who identified as slaves. You didn’t get the same level of intensity and passion from a slave as you did from someone who saw herself as your equal but just on the other side of the slash. Theirs would be an complex dance for power and control, which he would win, but which she would enjoy. His malenkaya would never yield to a man who did not possess the strength to conquer her. Luckily for them both, he was such a man.
EMERSON
She’d been a little put off by the way Romanov had handed her up into the carriage, instructing the driver to return her to her vehicle and remain with her until he was sure her truck would start, and she was on her way out of the parking lot. As she drove out onto the highway, Emerson called home to let her sisters know lunch had been lovely and that she was going to treat herself to a leisurely drive back home.
“Well, Tegan and I were thinking we’d order in pizza or Chinese and we could binge watch something and you could tell us all about the devastatingly handsome and uber sexy Viktor Romanov,” said Kendra.
“As tempting as that is, I’m going to have to pass. Viktor invited me to be his guest at Carriage House. He’s sending a car for me at eight.”
“No,” gasped Kendra. “And you accepted?”
For some reason her surprise annoyed Emerson. “Yes, I did. Any reason I shouldn’t?”
“No. Just that you didn’t seem to know much about BDSM and now you’re going to one of the premiere kink clubs in the world. Just be careful. The man does have a reputation, and not just where his sexual prowess is concerned.”
“I’ll be home in a bit.”
“Do you need help picking out something to wear? I think only club wear is worn in certain areas.”
“Viktor was nice enough to say he would send something appropriate.”
There was a very pregnant pause. Emerson had read about that term but had never really known what was meant by it until just this moment. “Um, okay. Well, I’ll be here if you need help getting into it.”
“Why is it I get the distinct feeling you know far more about this than you are letting on?”
“I’m going to take the fifth on that. See you when you get home.”
“Put her on speaker,” Emerson heard Tegan call.
“You’re on,” said Kendra.
“Hey, Em, is there any reason Viktor Romanov’s secretary would call asking for the name of your stylist?”
Kendra laughed. “The lunch went really well. Em is going to the Carriage House this evening as Romanov’s guest. He said he’d send something. My guess is he wants to know her size, although I’ll bet he’d come damn close to knowing.”
“Oooh,” said Tegan. “I gave her Stephanie’s name before I even thought about it.”
“If what I read in my research is correct, I am not wearing what he thinks I should,” said Emerson with finality.
“Then he won’t let you on the dungeon floor. He might make an exception about the lounge if you wore something really sexy and short, but fet… I hear fet wear only is the rule for the play and scene areas. And again, I’m taking the fifth.”
“Yeah, I’m beginning to think we need to have a long talk tomorrow. I should be there shortly. Anything else I should know?”
“You might want to stop at Anabelle’s. Tell her you’re going to the club. Have her fix your hair and see about maybe doing a little wax work down below.”
“I just went through that torture a couple of weeks ago.”
“It’s been more like a month, and Dom’s can be really fussy about that kind of thing… or so I’ve read,” said Kendra.
Emerson rolled her eyes. What the hell had Kendra and Tegan been up to? Emerson no longer believed they had just been going to the movies lately.
When she pulled into the parking lot in front of Anabelle’s, she realized either Kendra or Tegan must have called her. Anabelle stood outside the front door, waiting. Granted she was vaping, but Emerson was pretty sure she was waiting.
“I’m so sorry to drop in like this,” apologized Emerson as she got out of her truck.
“No need to apologize. I’d have been pissed if you’d gone anywhere else. Now, let me lock up and you and I will go in the back.” Once they were in the private spa area, Anabelle looked at her nails and feet. “Thank god those look good…” she sniffed Emerson’s hair, “… and your hair is clean. Once we get everything else done, I’ll style it for you. Get out of your clothes. We’ll touch up your underarms and legs, but we need to do something with that bush. Some guys like soft curls. I have no idea what Romanov demands, so we’ll do something in the middle.”
“Are you talking about taking hot wax to my privates?”
Anabelle smiled. Just how much power did Viktor Romanov have? People seemed to be falling all over themselves to help her get ready, including her two sisters. Why did she suddenly feel like a lamb being prepared for slaughter?
VIKTOR
Viktor was waiting for Emerson to be shown to his office, swirling his scotch in a heavy crystal tumbler. As he had suspected she might, she had the vase, his great-great-grandmother’s parasol and the box from Bare Bones with her when she arrived.
“Seriously?” she started, without waiting for any other greeting.
He reminded himself this was all new to her, but if she wasn’t careful, she’d find herself with a warm, red bottom before much else happened. He’d taken the liberty of having a contract prepared. They would need to go over hard and soft limits, but Viktor meant to see she signed it and planned to have her back in the club as his submissive by this time tomorrow.
“Damn, and people think I’m an arrogant sonofabitch. You sent Emerson Ravenel a corset from Bare Bones?” Sterling Cavanaugh had chided him earlier. “You just met the girl last night.”
“And I’ve long passed the Viagra warning. She’s fiery and responsive. She’s lucky I didn’t have at her at lunch.”
“This isn’t Russia, Viktor, and you’re not the tzar. It’s not even London or Paris. This is fucking Charleston. You can’t act on your baser instincts…”
“Says the man who has very neatly trapped her sister into getting involved with the lifestyle and him.”
“Do as I say, asshole, not as I do.”
Sterling had meant well, but Viktor had no intention of taking advice on relationships or BDSM from him. He turned his attention back to Emerson. Standing, he walked over to her. He could see she wanted to run or at least back away, but she stood her ground. Good. She had no need to be afraid of him—well, not in a permanent sort of way, at least, but he rather imagined playing on her fears and fucking with her head would be almost as satisfying as fucking her pussy, her mouth, or in time her sweet ass.
If she could initiate a conversation without saying more than a single word, he could do her one better and not use any language at all. He cupped her head with one hand, sinking his fist into her gorgeous ginger mane. His lips came down on hers, silencing her protest as he dragged her close, letting his cock throb between them. He planned on having her in this office in a myriad of ways. It might not be tonight, but tomorrow, after she’d signed the contract and had the standard ‘cooling off’ time, he would have her on her knees and sucking his cock.
His mouth found hers and he dominated the kiss, overwhelming her. His tongue surged inside in a pale imitation of what his cock was going to do. He’d be on her day and night, fucking as often and in as many ways as he liked. She would be his, and he didn’t give a damn what Sterling, Niall, her sisters, or anyone else thought. He would make a deal with Fitzwallace: he would leave the girl to Viktor, and Viktor would give him what he wanted, heading up the blacker ops for Cerberus.
Viktor could feel and smell the uptick in her arousal. She was soft and warm against him. Maybe it was best she hadn’t put on the corset. Not only would he be the first one to see her in it, but he could also lace her into it himself. Yes, maybe that would be a rule: only he was allowed to lace her in or out of all the exquisite corsets he meant to buy her.
He lifted his head. “Was there something you wanted to say, malenkaya?”
She looked up at him with a dazed and dumbfounded expression on her face and then shook her head.
“Good, then I will have the parasol and vase returned to my car and driver, and we will say no more about it.”
Fisting her hair, he dragged her over to his desk and used the intercom to call down to the security guard. When he arrived, Viktor directed the guard to put the two items back in the car. He never released her. She squirmed a little when the guard walked in but stopped when Viktor flexed his fingers, tightening his grip and tugging a bit on her scalp.
When the security guard left, Viktor released her, took the box from her hand and set it down on his desk. Opening it, he drew out the custom-designed corset of midnight blue with an exquisite metallic Solstiss, a kind of fine, French Leavers lace. It was double layered with bobbinet tulle and black silk, all hand-stitched and finished to perfection.
“I see Melanie did right by you. It is sublime. Before you put it on, you will strip for me and turn around slowly.”
“I don’t think I will.”
“You will,” he said, nodding. “I can smell your arousal—spicy and sweet and the dress you have on does nothing to disguise your stiffened nipples. You will because you are intrigued and sense what could be between us. You will because I told you to put it on, and you disobeyed. Let this be a small object lesson in the consequences for willful behavior.”
She turned her back on him. He was almost ready to beat her to the door to ensure she didn’t escape. He was restrained when she reached for the knob to lock it.
“No, malenkaya. The door remains unlocked.”
“Someone could walk in…”
“They could, and they would see you naked and waiting for your Dom’s instructions. Take your clothes off, fold them up and place them in the middle of my desk so even when we have left anyone coming in will know you paid a price for your disobedience. Strip. I won’t tell you again.”
“Wha—what would you do?”
“I would send you home. I chose you because I thought your courage and boldness matched my own. Once you wear my collar, I would spank you until you convinced me the disobedience would not happen again.”
She took a deep breath and expelled it slowly as her hand reached for one of the spaghetti straps that held up the ecru bohemian lace dress and slipped it over her shoulder.