Page 30 of Ruled By Magic

He stroked down my neck, his fingers slow and tantalizing. He caressed the curve of my breast, my hardened nipple. My breath came faster.

“This is your first offense. Today, I’ll only keep you confined like this for a few hours. Next time you break a rule, it will be a week with no clothes.” He moved lower, over my stomach and between my legs. I gasped as he slid his fingers through the wetness there, teasing my clit back and forth. I let out a moan. He kept up the motion. Pleasure built, rising to a peak. My body relaxed, ready, and I closed my eyes.

He pulled away. Disappointment crashed in as my body clenched, seeking the friction it needed and finding none. I opened my eyes and met a look of pure, devilish amusement, darkened with lust. “And no orgasms. For you. Next time, you get a week of this. Remember this feeling if you plan to disobey.”

I gritted my teeth and fought to hide any reaction. He stepped back, swallowed, and ran a hand through his hair.

“Since you can’t leave, use the intercom to order food, if you like. No vids, you’re to spend the time thinking about what you’ve done. You may read a book if you so choose.” He waved at the shelf.

“Thank you, Lord Commander.” I couldn’t keep the sarcastic edge from my voice.

He raised a brow. “Get that attitude in check, Liv. I’ll discipline you when I get home.”

I frowned. “Wait. What do you mean?”

“You’ll find out.”

A blue swirl, and he vanished.

I flopped down on the sofa and slammed a fist into the arm. Desire raged through me. How dare he turn my own body into a weapon to use against me?

Without the barrier of clothing, the temptation to bring myself off and satisfy the burning need was almost unbearable. Unable to help myself, I slid my hand up my thigh to the forbidden area. I pushed two fingers inside myself, just once, then traced around the hard point of my aching clit. So close. The right pressure in the right place for ten seconds, and I’d find the release I craved. I touched the sensitive spot with the tip of a finger and my body surged toward pleasure.

No.

With a whimper of frustration, I forced my hand away. I couldn’t add to my tally of sins. He’d been lenient so far, but his “discipline” loomed later. Right now, he seemed almost amused by my disobedience. It might not last if I defied him again.

This wasn’t normal. He sent me into a weird sexual overdrive with nothing but a few words, a little physical contact. How?

I showered. The rush of water restored some shreds of sanity. I was stuck in the apartment for a few hours without clothes, big deal. I tried not to dwell on what he planned for later. And at least he’d warned me what would happen if I disobeyed again. A week of this frustrated boredom. Hideous.

The vid screen being off-limits, though? That was just cruel.

Hair dry and body wrapped in a towel, I drifted over to the bookshelf. Was I cheating by keeping the towel on? No, don’t be ridiculous. He wasn’t omnipotent. Still. After a momentary internal debate, I hung it over a dining room chair.

The books filled me with despair. Heavy political textbooks, military histories. Dull. A series of novels about a special ops battle mage who single-handedly won about fifty conflicts brought a smile to my lips. Trashy reads. Maybe he was a little bit human.

Right before admitting defeat, I spotted a slim volume squashed between two of the weighty textbooks. I pulled it out, gasped, and dropped it onto the sideboard as if it were hot.

What the fuck?

The cover showed a topless woman, shocking in itself. Dexian law banned all pornography, nudity included. This woman wasn’t just topless, though. She knelt, hands bound with rope behind her back. Face turned upwards, her gaze fixed on someone off camera, and her expression...

I leaned in closer. The woman’s face held a mix of fear and desire, lips parted and eyes wide. Is that how I’d looked as I knelt in the Lord Commander’s office?

I flipped the book over. It was sick and voyeuristic to view another person in such a private moment. Except it wasn’t private. Someone held the camera, and the photo must have been staged, set up, taken for a purpose. I tried and failed to imagine how a woman could allow herself to be photographed like that, then have the image sent out into the world.

Had he meant for me to find this? Definitely. It wasn’t even subtle. The restriction on vids, the suggestion of the bookshelf. Obvious. So why hadn’t he just handed me the book? The only answer I could see was that, in this one thing, he wanted to give me a choice. To read it, or not. So, would I?

Of course.

I snatched it up. I couldn’t read it on the sofa, in the nude. Way too weird. I got into bed instead, tucked under the covers. Settled, with the bedside light shining, I fought back my prudishness and examined the book properly. It was beaten up, the spine cracked and the cover torn in a couple of spots. The cheap paper and poor print quality indicated a bargain basement novel. The title readUnder His Command.

Well then.

The story was so simple it could only just be called a plot. A woman—Angelina—lived a comfortable yet lonely life as a high-powered executive in one of the biggest companies in Alaria. At the start of chapter two, a mysterious stranger captured her and took her to a mansion, far from other people or any hope of rescue.

The man, who named himself Master Xavier, put Angelina through an intensive training process, taught her to serve him sexually, and ensured her obedience through a variety of methods. One I recognized—controlling when she climaxed. He employed physical discipline as well, with painful implements. When he pulled out a whip, I snapped the book closed.

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