What"s your favorite flower?”

She couldn"t keep up with him, let alone voice her reservations. “Wildflowers,” she whispered. “No particular kind.”

“What grows wild on the roadsides, hmm?” His lips brushed the sensitive skin behind her ear. “Perfect.” Sliding his hand down the curve of her spine to her ass, he weighed one buttock in his hand. As he smoothed his fingers over the fabric of her slacks, then tightened his grip, a needy sound came from her lips.

“I know you"re worrying that by tomorrow night you"ll have shut down or be running from this again. And you will be. But I"m going to give you a leash, something to keep you tethered to my will, even when I"m not with you to enforce it. Come with me.”

He rose then, bringing her to her feet. They were standing so close together that the curve of her bottom slid over his erection. She froze, the urge to rub against him so overwhelming she didn"t think she could stop herself. Holding her hips to keep her still, he bent his knees enough to slide his hard length along that indentation between her legs and up the crease between her buttocks. She gasped, needing his strength to keep from swaying forward.

“Yeah, you"re hot for it.” His voice was husky, rough with his own lust, and she would have sold her soul in that moment to be fucked by him. Straightforward, raw, no embellishment. “Hot and ready, and that"s how I want to keep you.” He guided her over to his desk. “Lean over and put your palms on the wood.” His hand was pressing into her back even as he gave her the order, and she had no will to resist. Her fingers curled, uncertain, as he slid her belt free, then unhooked her slacks, opening up the zipper so the fabric fell loose and lower on her hips.

“Stay right in this position.” He was moving away, and now she was staring out the windows at the river, realizing how many scenarios like this might be playing out behind tinted glass. She heard his door close, the lock slide into place.

“Peter was a brief hint of possibilities, but this is between you and me.” He caught both the slacks and panties beneath and slid them down to her thighs, leaving her bottom naked to the touch of the air. She swallowed, fears and worries rising again.

“Easy, girl. Stay like that and be quiet.” He"d moved to a closet, was rummaging.

She heard drawers opening and closing, and then, interestingly, the sound of metal tools clinking together. “This adjustment will do…I think. Yeah, that"ll do the trick. I need to custom fit one of these for you, but in the interim, this will work.” He returned then. “Close your eyes. I want you to feel what I"m putting on you before you see it.”

She obeyed, that amazing little jump going through all her limbs as he fitted something around her throat, a strap of some sort that buckled. Then a slim chain drifted along the line of her spine as he threaded it down the back of the shirt. It apparently divided into two pieces, because it went around her waist and he hooked it together again below her navel.

His hand slid over her mound, and something cool and metal pressed against her clit. When it pinched, she gasped, a choked sound of arousal as the nerves he"d been stoking the past hour caught fire. It took everything she had not to writhe against him, push into his hand.

“Steady there. Be still.” His other hand gripped her buttock again, squeezed hard enough to hold her motionless as he pressed here and there. Suddenly that metal piece seemed affixed to her clitoris, a slightly alarming feeling. Then another, smaller piece was being eased into her pussy, just inside the entrance. It gave her a curious and dizzying sense her labia had been spread and opened, only a bit past its normal resting place, but the sensation made it feel much more vulnerable. Another slim chain ran from there between her buttocks, hooking to the waist chain and then continuing to the back of her neck, attaching to the collar piece.

“All right, open your eyes. You can use your fingers to feel.” When she obeyed, she saw there was in fact something that looked like a metal molded shield fitting snugly over her clit, making the throbbing beneath all the more excruciating. Below that, the piece that dipped into her pussy worked like an additional clamp to hold the clitoral piece.

Jon closed his hands on either wrist, brought her arms up and her hands to where she could feel the buckle of the collar. There was a pendant there…no, not a pendant.

She swallowed.

“It"s a lock,” he confirmed. “It holds the collar and the end of the chain, Rachel. You can"t take any of it off. Only I can do that. Now, it"s not unbreakable. You could probably tear all of it off if you were pretty determined. A really sharp knife would cut through the collar. But I"m betting you won"t do that, because this will keep your mind on everything I"ve told you to do, not on the many reasons you think you shouldn"t.” As he turned her to face him, she knew she had to be wild and wide-eyed, her body in a roiling state. He hadn"t put a vibrator inside her, turned it on high speed. It hadn"t been necessary. Like having her on her knees next to him, it was what it all meant that stimulated every nerve ending, captured every thought. He tipped up her chin, held her gaze with an unwavering stare.

“One of our drivers will take you to your class tonight. The driver will wait for you, and take you home afterward. Tomorrow, if you need to go to the grocery store, he"ll take you. You"re not driving while you"re wearing this. I hate that I won"t be able to watch you teach a class, knowing all this is beneath your clothes, that you"re wet and needy.” He flashed a wicked grin. “I"d wear loose-fitting yoga clothes and stay away from headstands, unless you want to explain some things.” She wasn"t sure if she wanted to strangle him or tell him not to do this to her. Or beg him to come home with her. There was no room for shame or inhibition with this feeling, and she expected that was the point. “I don"t expect cleaning and cooking will take up your whole day,” he continued. “There"s a book by your bed. You have about fifty pages left of it. You"ll finish that, so you can tell me how it ends. I also want you to meditate for an hour sometime before our date tomorrow.” Sure, and she"d figure out the answer to Middle East peace while she was at it. He was insane, but even worse, he was now quite serious.

“You"ll bathe and shave the way I instructed you to do this morning. Now, two very important things.” He lifted two fingers, taking one down as he made the first point. “One. No release without my permission. Two.” He slid that one finger along her nose, to her mouth, spreading moisture from her tongue onto her lips. It made her acutely aware her lower body was naked to him, her bare pussy inches away from his body. “You will wear that lipstick tomorrow night, because I am going to see those moist, painted lips wrapped around my cock, watch your tongue lick my come from them.”

“Jon…” No question, his name a whimper, her knees buckling with all of it. He had her around the waist now, though, and he pushed her back down, face forward, until her upper torso was flat against his desk, her sensitive nipples registering the cool wood through the thin cloth. The position constricted the collar and chains at her throat, between her buttocks and against that clit piece. When he put his hand on the back of her neck, it was as effective as if he"d clamped her to the wood. He crowded her, the hard evidence of his arousal between her legs, increasing the pressure on that clit piece.

It took everything she had not to move.

“I let you get away with defiance this morning, but it will be the last time.” He slid his finger along her spine, briefly tangling the chain. “Come to think of it, this isn"t enough of a reminder. You need one more.”

“A reminder of…what?”

Instead of answering, he slid his arms underneath her, lifting her at the bend of her hips, forearms pressing into her lower abdomen and above her breasts. Turning, he carried her without any awkwardness the three strides to the drafting stool. Before she could react to the unorthodox transport, he had her bent over it. The slacks around her thighs inhibited her movement. She had one thrilling moment of dazed comprehension as he picked up a flexible 18-inch metal ruler, and then he slapped it down on her bare buttocks.

She gripped the edge of the stool, a cry breaking from her lips. It hurt so badly the sting was just the beginning of it. It radiated out, every nerve ending screaming. But then he brought it down again.

He was holding on to her forearm, his own stretched out in front of her, and she bit down on him, trying to hold in the next shriek. He didn"t flinch, didn"t remove his arm.

Even as she was biting she had to taste him, like some crazed animal. Oh God, this hurt.

But her covered clit was against the stool, and a spasm racked her, an insane, unexpected surge from the depths of her womb.

“J-Jon…”

She came during his fifth, sixth and seventh stroke, and she was sure she had welts, possibly even broken flesh. But the climax racked her convulsing body, undeniable proof of her gut-level reaction to the pain, the punishment.

He didn"t touch her otherwise, though, so it was hard, intense and then done, leaving her gasping, her mouth still open on his skin. She was making those little whimpers again, and as he lifted her to her feet, she had to sag against him. He held her with one arm, sliding her panties and slacks back in place with the other. The climax immediately soaked the panel. He took his time with her clothes, as was necessary one-handed, but seemed to take great pleasure in it.

“Let me…” She was struggling to breathe, wanting him to let her go so her knees could buckle. “Let me suck you now. Please.” Was that her voice, that rough, uncontrolled plea?

Instead, he tucked in her shirt, pushed her back against the drafting table as he curved his fingers over her clit, bound inside that metal mold under the fabric. She pushed into his touch, a wave of aftershocks making her moan again. He let her ride it, his unrelenting gaze on her face, not letting her hide from him.

“Not right now.” He buckled her belt back in place, then cupped her buttocks, bringing her off the table. She flinched at the firm contact, the agony and yet the remembered ecstasy of it making her lick her lips. “This, along with the rest, should keep your mind occupied until I see you tomorrow night. It"s also a reminder you obey your Master, or you accept the consequences. Now look at my eyes.” He had to guide her there, a hand to her chin again. “For the next twenty-four hours, you think only of your Master"s will. You"ve waited a long time to prove how devoted a slave you can be. Don"t deny yourself what you truly want.”