Page 57 of His Custody

“Don’t worry, you only have to wear these through dessert.”

It didn’t sound like a long time, but when he’d finished applying the rubber band to her other nipple, she wasn’t sure she’d make it two minutes, never mind twenty. Never had she had so much attention drawn to these parts of her body, never had her thoughts been pulled so consistently to the lewd, the hedonistic. But it wasn’t only that.

When she was with Jasper like this, she was very much grounded in the present. No anguishing over things that had happened in the past, nor fretting about things that might come in the future. And to have that time was a gift, pure and simple.

She raced through her key lime pie, but Jasper took his damn sweet time, talking to her between bites, a devious look on his face, no doubt knowing precisely how horny and vaguely uncomfortable she was. And when he’d finally finished, he ordered her to come sit in front of him on the edge of the dining table where he drew the skirt of her dress up to her waist and stripped her underwear off, emptied her body of his toys and then quickly drew on a condom so he could heave her into his lap, and onto his cock.

Her nipples rubbed against her dress and his tux as he urged her to ride him, her wrists trapped behind her back by one of his strong hands. It wasn’t long before she was crying out her pleasure, and then slumping against him as he poured his own climax into her. There was no way the actual party would be so memorable.

***

He shoved his briefcase at Ada, knowing it wasn’t her fault but also knowing she wouldn’t take it personally. Fuck all had it been a hellish day. The Lowenstein deal had fallen through, and one of his most promising associates had tendered her resignation.

He went straight to his room, not bothering to stop in and say hello to Keyne, and set out what he’d need. He wanted to hurt her, really hurt her. Not in a taking-his-anger-out-on-her-hide kind of way, because that was against every rule he’d ever been taught. He wasn’t angry at her. But anyone who said kink wasn’t a good stress reliever was either lying or a moron. He spared a grateful thought to the universe for bringing him someone who he could share this with, who would understand and delight in the way he liked best to unwind after a crazy-making day.

Clover clamps to get her in the right head space, flogger to warm her up, the cane to finish her off. She’d blanch when she saw it laid out on the bed and he’d relish the way her eyes would get big and round, the way her heart would thump hard behind her ribcage. She’d be a mess, a glorious mess when he was done with her, and then he would clean her up, make her shine and sparkle with drowsy satisfaction. But first, he’d wreck her and he’d relish the wrecking.

He finished laying out everything he’d need for their session before he went to find her. He stalked through the house, hunting her and she a clueless woodland creature in for the surprise of her life. She was in her room with her headphones on, cascade of red hair swaying with each bop of her head. He hesitated for a split second. She was having a good day. Even now they weren’t so frequent, did he want to make her suffer?

But yes, he did and in the end, she’d enjoy it. He’d make her come like a shooting star and coddle her afterward. He could use some coddling himself. But first the filthy sex.

He slid up behind her, careful to keep his approach a surprise. It was possible he was enjoying this too much, delighting in the stealth of sneaking up on his poor, unsuspecting prey. While he tiptoed across the rug, the entire scenario played out in his mind.

He would cut off her greeting with a hand across her eyes and one clamped tight over her mouth, his arms trapping hers by her sides. When she issued a muffled noise of surprise under his hand, he’d be half hard.

“Listen to me. I am in a foul mood, not to be trifled with. We’re going to go to my room and I’m going to take it out on your ass. You’re in for some serious hurt and you’re going to take it all like the obedient little girl you are. I don’t want any complaining or begging. You’re going to take everything until I’m finished with you. Nod if you understand.”

Her head would go up and down under his hands and it would remind him of how delicate and small she was, how easy it would be to harm her if he wanted to. But that was part of the fun, part of the challenge, part of the high. Knowing he could do irreparable damage and being in control enough not to. He’d take a deep breath with the back of her head pressed into his stomach and remind himself that today, he would need to be especially careful.

He couldn’t fucking wait. Catching her headphones mid-bop, he slid them off her head onto the desk and—

Promptly found himself facedown in the carpet, his arm wrenched up between his shoulder blades, and a knee threatening to dig into his kidney.

“Keyne...” Her name came out muffled by the thick fiber of the carpet, which his face was well and truly mashed into. But then there was sweet relief in the form of his arm being released, and her weight coming off his back. Then she tugged at his shoulder to urge him onto his back.

“Oh my god. Jasper, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

Truth was, he was both bemused and tickled. Apparently Alice had done a bang-up job teaching his little pixie how to kick some ass. He’d just never anticipated it being his. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I—”

“Took me down pretty hard? Yeah, you did.”

He smiled up at her, trying to reassure her, make her round-with-panic eyes and pinched mouth subside back into her usual sweet expression. While he wasn’t wild about having been so summarily and thoroughly dispatched, it did ease his mind about Keyne’s ability to defend herself should the need arise. Not to mention that if she really didn’t want to be with him, it appeared she would have no trouble demonstrating it.

“My shoulder will be a little sore for a few days—thanks for using my left one, by the way—but other than that, I’m fine. Swear.” And he’d remember that if he wanted to play this kind of game with her in the future, he’d be well-advised to give the girl some warning, lest he end up with her shin across his throat or a knee to the groin.

“Okay.” She didn’t totally look like she believed him.

“You want to try this again? I had some pretty fantastic ideas about what I was going to do with you.”

Her red hair waved around her shoulders as she nodded, looking more curious than apologetic. Good. Levering himself up from the floor, he dusted himself off, rolled his shoulder and shot his cuffs.

“Okay. But you’re going to have to remember not to take me out. If that happened again, my pride might be wounded.”

Pink lips pursed into an amused smirk. Brat. “Couldn’t have that, now could we, Master?”

He usually loved it when she teased him, but for some reason today—maybe because it had been such a god-awful ten hours—it riled him instead, and the growl rose in his throat. “Oh, little girl, your ass is grass.”

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