Enchanted: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella Read online

  “I’m fucking crazy about a truly luscious brat,” he admitted. “Nothing in the world can make me happier than getting a brat to smile my way. And to cry a little, but only if she needs it.”

  She spoke his language. He liked to play but wasn’t afraid of a challenge. It was exactly the type of Dom she adored.

  Years she’d waited, wondering if one of the members in charge of pairing up people would find her a dream Dom. She was the sub who got to break in the baby Doms because they knew she was fun and kind and wouldn’t get serious about anyone.

  She couldn’t get serious about this guy. Couldn’t. But she could play with him. She could pretend. “I know you can’t see me right now, but I’m smiling at you, Sir.”

  She felt his hands soften in her hair and something warm brushed her eye.

  He pulled away and chuckled. “Sorry. I don’t think that was your forehead. It was supposed to be your forehead.”

  It was good to know he wasn’t perfect. “It’s okay. I think I’m rubbing your ear right now.”

  “Hey, it’s totally working for me.” He went quiet for a moment. “Sit with me.”

  “I’d like that.”

  * * * *

  Jared settled himself on the couch, happy he hadn’t fallen on his ass. The dark thing was interesting but it was also fraught with peril. He’d done so well. He’d managed to get her hair down, to touch her and sink his hands into all that soft stuff. He’d always been fascinated by her hair. There was so much of it. She put it up most of the time, whether it was in a messy bun or one of her elaborate updos. He wanted her to let it down for him, had fantasized about what that hair would feel like when she draped herself around him after he’d made her scream.

  Why had he fucking waited? When he’d met her, he’d wanted her. Right from the start. He’d taken one look at her curvy pinup girl figure and stunning face and known he wanted to get her in bed. Then he’d spent time with her and realized she was far more than a gorgeous face and banging body. Sarah was funny, weird in the best way. She saw the world differently and it was a world he wanted to live in.

  By then he’d fucked things up entirely, and now he had to do anything he could to make it right.

  Or he was tricking her and it would bite him in the ass. He had to take the chance. He had to get inside her head and figure out what the problem was—because he was one hundred percent sure there was a problem. Sarah wasn’t the type of woman who ghosted a man.

  He held her hand in his. “I would love it if you would sit on my lap. It will make things so much easier, but if you’re not comfortable with me yet, I understand and we can each have our own space.”

  She was quiet for a moment but then her hand squeezed his. “I’d like that, Sir. Can I be honest with you?”

  “I would greatly prefer it if you were.” Even though I’m not being honest with you since I know damn well who you are.

  “I’d like to do these sessions with you. I might even like to move it to a physical level at some point, but I’m not interested in anything serious right now.”

  He hated the hollow sound in her tone. Maybe if the lights had been on and he’d been distracted by her face, he wouldn’t have caught that tiny hitch in her breath that let him know she was emotional. “We don’t have to decide anything right now. We’re just two people getting to know each other in the dark. Can we take it one night at a time?”

  Her hand came out of his. “I need you to know this will end when the weekend does.”

  “May I ask why?”

  She was silent for a moment and he could hear the low murmur of people around them, though he couldn’t make out the actual words. It was the first real reminder that they were not alone.

  “I’m not interested in a relationship right now.”

  “What’s your definition of a relationship?” he asked. “Are you telling me after this weekend no matter how compatible we seem to be, you won’t be interested in playing with me again?”

  “You’ll be gone, right?”

  Was this her way of protecting herself? “I don’t live in Dallas, but like I said, I have friends here. I miss them. I think I want to come here and see them more often, but no I won’t be around all the time.” He meant to take her with him when he left.

  “So you’ll come back to Sanctum.”

  He liked the hope he heard in her voice. “Yes, I absolutely will come back to Sanctum. I don’t have a sub. When I come back, I’ll want someone to play with. Princess, this is three days. I don’t think we’ll figure anything out in three days. Can we go with the flow? Enjoy this long weekend and then if we both would like to later on, we can play again.”

  It might be a longer game than he’d planned on, but he could improvise. He needed his Jared side to get her talking in person. Sir could be the fantasy Dom. One would work on her body and the other her soul. What he wasn’t willing to do was let her go.

  “I think I can do that.” Her hand bumped into his and he tugged her down.

  It was awkward at first, but she managed to set herself on his lap. She wriggled against him, trying to find a comfortable position. Or being a mega brat who wanted to see if she could make him as uncomfortable as possible since his dick had already responded to having her hands on his skin. He’d gotten aroused at her running her palms across his chest. He was hard as hell as her lush backside seemed to need to rub against every inch of him she could touch.

  “Sorry, Sir.”

  There it was, that husky tone that let him know she’d moved from princess to brat. Or maybe she was always there—his brat princess. He wound his arm around her back, supporting her. Her arm came up around his neck and he breathed her in. He craved her scent. Like daisies and sunshine. It took everything he had not to run his nose along her neck and take that smell into his lungs.

  “Don’t apologize. I enjoy it. I might be a Dom, but every man’s a masochist when it comes to this.” God knew he was. He would take her teasing him as long as it meant she was here.

  “Are you ready for the first course?” a deep voice to his right asked.

  Sarah squealed and if he hadn’t been quick, she would have ended up on the floor. Her arms clutched him and she cuddled close.

  He did the same, liking the darkness more and more. “It’s just our helper. Didn’t Charlotte tell you we would have a person who can see helping us if we need it? He’s going to make sure I don’t screw up the courses.”

  “I assure you she wasn’t listening,” the man to his right replied with a chuckle. “She’s known for following the shiny objects of this world. I think this whole exercise might have been tailored to force her to focus.”

  “I can’t help it if I enjoy the beautiful things of life,” she protested. “And that’s the last time I save your shoulder blade, Master Jesse.”

  Ah, so now he knew who his helper was. Jesse Murdoch. He’d met the man but hadn’t gotten close to him.

  “Somehow I doubt that,” Murdoch replied, his tone low and soothing. “Princess here is known for being incredibly kind, though I do believe she could use someone willing to take responsibility for her. She can be a heinous brat.”

  “I only vaguely resemble that remark,” Sarah shot back but she’d settled in again.

  “For the next three nights, I’m responsible for you,” Jared replied. “At least while we’re playing I am.”

  “I would like to…” she began.

  He knew exactly where she was going. It was not the first time he’d heard this lecture. “You are a strong, individual female who can take care of herself in and out of the club, but we’re playing and we’re going to play like I’m responsible for you, like I’m here to do nothing more than care for you, ensure you’re safe. I’m going to pretend, while we’re in this club, like my whole job is to make you happy. Can you play with me like that?”

  “Meow.” She laid her head against his chest.

  “That means she agrees,” Murdoch explained. “She’s got some quirks, th
at one.”

  “I resemble that, too,” she whispered.

  He thought her quirks were utterly adorable. And their views of D/s had always seemed to align perfectly. They played in the club. They played when they agreed to it, but in real life, they were comfortable with more blurry lines when it came to their roles in the relationship. He didn’t want to have to hide himself from her. He wanted her to share his sorrow and his pain, his life in all its good and bad. She was strong enough. “Are you hungry?”

  “It depends.”

  On what he was going to feed her. “You have to take this part on faith.”

  “I’m ready, Sir.”

  “The plate is to your right,” Murdoch explained. “When you’re done with the first course, I’ll set out the second, and then the third. I’ll be close if you need me, but I’m going to be quiet now unless you need something else.”

  “You’re going to be watching because you’re a pervy perv,” Sarah said, her sass coming out.

  Murdoch laughed. “Probably. So do something interesting.”

  That was not going to fly tonight. This was a formal session. The rules had been laid out. “Master Jesse, I apologize for my brat’s impoliteness.”

  “She was just joking. It’s what we do,” Jesse replied.

  “Not while I’m her Dom and we’re in a very formal setting.” He wasn’t about to let her treat this like a damn joke.

  “I didn’t mean anything,” Sarah said quietly.

  “Then you can apologize to the man helping us and then you can flip yourself over my lap and we can get the punishment out of the way.”

  She went completely still. “You’re going to spank me?”

  Was this how she got through life? Because she was soft and sweet and funny and everyone let her slide? He knew the plan well and knew that while it looked good on the surface, it had left him feeling alone, like no one cared enough to fight with him. Yes, he understood that life well. “You don’t need to sound so surprised. You’ve been in the lifestyle for a long time if you were invited to this party. I was told there were no newbies here. Was I misinformed? Are you a tourist?”

  Oh, that got her to sit up straight. “I’ve been in the lifestyle for years, Sir. I’ve taken a spanking about a thousand times.”

  “Excellent, then you know how to assume the position and how to handle this with grace. And before you try to get out of this by saying you didn’t know it was wrong to be impolite in a formal setting, it won’t fly with me. You’ve already told me you’re not interested in a relationship outside the club. You only want a brief D/s relationship. Well, this is what it looks like. Take the spanking and we can get back to the part where I indulge you on every level.”

  “I have to think about it.” She gave him mere seconds before she spoke again. “Are you a hardass Dom?”

  She didn’t need that, but she did need one who called her on her shit in the proper setting. She needed one who made her take this seriously from time to time. “No. I’m a Dom who thinks he knows what you need. I think everyone else gets the treats, don’t they? Those happy D/s couples, they get to play in a way we don’t. A Dom with a sub gets to spank her pretty ass because it belongs to him. A sub with a Dom never knows when he’s going to spank her so she can’t let her guard down. She has to know he’s always watching her, waiting to see if he can steal a chance to put his hands on her.”

  “They do get all the treats.”

  She slid off his lap and he knew he had her.

  At least for now.

  Chapter Five

  In which an ass is smacked and our hero wishes the darkness could last forever…

  Treats. What he’d said was true. She could be as bratty as she liked and the most she got was Big Tag threatening to put her on double nursery duty. No one ever dropped everything he was doing and demanded she lie over his lap for some much needed discipline.

  It had been a long time since she’d had a Dom of her own, and even then Tommy had been more about getting through it so he could have sex. He hadn’t been a bad guy. He just hadn’t been the right one for her.

  She’d always thought in the back of her head that she would have that moment, the one where she looked across the crowded dungeon and she just knew. One day her Dom would come and he would sweep her off her feet and he wouldn’t make her fall madly in love with him and then leave without saying good-bye or even giving her more than a single kiss.

  She bit back a groan because she wasn’t going to think about Jared tonight. Not when she had a Dom saying the right things, one who wouldn’t break her heart if he left because she wasn’t going to get too involved.

  A Dom who knew what he was talking about. Spankings were treats with the right Dom. With the right Dom she would have to walk into the dungeon and wonder if he was watching because he would always be looking for a reason to smack her ass silly and then make her do nasty things to make up for her bad behavior.

  She probably had paternal issues, but she didn’t care. She knew what she wanted and right now it was to see how well Sir could take care of her.

  Maybe he would be terrible at spanking. He could hit too hard or not hard enough. He could have terrible rhythm. It was dark. He could miss and end up hitting Jesse or the food. Then she wouldn’t have to be so damn curious about him.

  There was soft carpet under her knees. She knew this part of the dungeon well. The floor was stained concrete, but someone had known more than one set of knees would likely hit the ground tonight. She reached up and felt the leather of Sir’s pants. It was easier than she’d thought it would be to position herself over his lap.

  She immediately had to draw in a hard breath because Sir’s hand did not have trouble in the dark. He might have struggled to find her forehead with his lips, but his hand seemed magnetized to her ass cheeks. He caressed her and she could feel he hadn’t lost any steam.

  She didn’t need to see his dick to know how long and hard it could get.

  “It’s a count of thirty,” he said, his voice deep and rich. “You can stop me at any time. All you have to do is say your safe word. What is it?”

  “I use red because sometimes when I’m involved I forget the cutesy ones.”

  “Red it is, then.”

  The smack of his hand on her ass sounded like thunder in the quiet of the space. Pain flared through her, making her eyes water, but even as the fire spiked she already knew this was going to be perfect.

  The room seemed to have gone silent, the sound of her flesh being slapped echoing through. They were listening, every one of them wondering which brat had managed to piss off her brand-new Dom so quickly. Pervs. She loved it. She would proudly tell everyone she was the one who’d taken the first spanking of the celebrations.

  A treat between her and Sir.

  A treat that was making tears drip from her eyes and dirty words bite on her tongue because she wasn’t foolish enough to say them at this point. She wasn’t sure how Sir would take her unleashing an unholy amount of fucks into their disciplinary time.

  Over and over he slapped her ass, somehow never seeming to hit the same spot too many times. He was an experienced Dom, not a baby. He was probably older, maybe a gorgeous silver fox.

  Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful? A man who knew who he was, who’d lived a life and wanted to find some peace with a sub he could care about, share the rest of his time with.

  She could do that.

  “Where are you?” his deep voice asked.

  He’d only given her half of what he’d promised, but again he was proving to be a careful Dom by making sure she verbally acknowledged how she felt. He couldn’t see her so verbal cues would be everything to him.

  “I’m perfectly green, Sir. I’m going to admit to you that I’m a little bit of a pain slut. This isn’t really punishment for me, but I’m also not such a brat that I would have misbehaved just to get this out of you.” She should qualify that. “Not yet, at least.”

  He caressed her backside
, his hand moving from bare flesh to snap at her thong. “I think we’re going to get along perfectly well, Princess. Now for the rest.”

  Her whole body lit up with the pain he gave her—always controlled. Her words seemed to have slightly let him off his leash and she gritted her teeth against the hard smacks he delivered. She wasn’t sure why this did it for her. She joked about daddy issues, but she didn’t really have them. She was born kinky and she was okay with that. The pain sensitized her, awakened her senses the way gentle caresses might for another woman. There was nothing wrong with either. Sex, like love, had many, many forms. She’d been lucky enough to have found partners who’d never given her a sense of shame.

  By the time he delivered the final smack, she could feel her whole body go soft and warm and languid. Her ass was sore but it wouldn’t last more than an hour or so. That was disappointing, but she had the weekend to play with him. He was her personal Dom for the weekend, and she was already planning her wardrobe for tomorrow night’s party.

  There was no way she wasn’t dancing for this guy.

  “I think you should apologize to our helper.” The words weren’t cold. They were a warm reminder that the ritual wasn’t complete.

  “I’m sorry for calling you a pervy perv, Master Jesse.”

  In the background someone groaned. “I should have known it would be her.”

  Kori. Yep, her pervy perv bestie knew her voice well.

  Jesse chuckled. “Not a problem. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

  She gasped as Sir somehow managed to pick her up and flip her over. Oh, this man was full of muscley goodness. He’d made her feel like she didn’t weigh a thing. She was settled back in his lap in a few seemingly easy moves. Her heart rate ticked up again.

  “All right, Brat Princess. Let’s see if we can get through the rest of the evening without more punishment,” he whispered against her ear. “The next time I spank your ass, I want to see it. I think it’s very likely a spectacularly glorious ass.”

  She wanted to see him, too, but she’d decided to embrace the whole exercise. “I look forward to it, Sir.”