Chapter 4

CHAPTER4

Shock. She had to be in shock at this point. The entire night had been a series of upsetting and unsettling events, but this last one might just break her.

This stranger, this… incredibly sexy stranger, was offering her the life of her dreams. But he couldn’t know those things. How could he possibly have guessed what she fantasized about when she was alone in her bed.

She’d never told anyone. Not even hinted to her friends or the few guys she’d dated about the dirty things she imagined happening to her. They were just fantasies. She didn’t really want any of it.

That’s what she told herself, because wanting any of it would be… wrong. People, especially women, weren’t supposed to want to be dominated. They weren’t supposed to want to be punished.

But when he’d called her a bad girl, it had resonated right to the core. There’d been a hard pulse between her thighs and hunger had washed over her.

In that moment she knew she was going to agree. All those secret little longings that she’d hid from the world, and even from herself as much as she could, they’d spilled out. It made her want to refuse to sit, just to see if he actually would spank her.

What would that feel like? To be manhandled like a bratty actress in an old movie. To be held down by his strong arms and spanked without any chance of avoiding it.

It was a moot point because her legs folded and dropped her back on the bench without a conscious decision on her part.

He didn’t even look surprised. He expected to be obeyed.

What had she gotten herself into? It was just supposed to be a quick job that would buy her groceries and help with the rent shortfall. She’d accepted it because she really had no other options, but who could have guessed it would lead to… this.

Now her heart was thundering in her ears, and it was hard to take a deep breath. Her nipples tightened, and she was overly aware that they were pressing against her t-shirt. She was glad for the baggy hoody. At least it wouldn’t be noticeable to him.

The very fact that she was considering the proposal of a man she’d known less than half an hour, was proof of how insane her night had gone. She’d had boyfriends for months that she’d never confessed her desires to. Of course, none of them had seemed to just… know.

Not the way he did. He rattled off words like spank, punish, and fuck as if he knew exactly how they would affect her. Which was impossible, but he wasn’t wrong and that was the weird part. If he kept talking, she’d probably end up humping his leg she was so turned on right now.

She tried to steer the conversation into safer waters, just so she could breathe. “I don’t even know your name.” That had to be safe enough.

“You may call me Master.” He paused a second, adding, “If you say yes that is.”

Or not. The word was invasive. It echoed in her ears and rolled across her skin like a tongue. Master.

It should have sounded stupid, pretentious. It didn’t.

“Yes.” Agreement slipped out in a shaky, stunned voice, before she knew she was going to reply.

His lips quirked up at one side. “Please be specific about what you’re agreeing to. I don’t want any misunderstandings. Once you say yes, you belong to me and it’s irrevocable.”

Of course, he was going to make it harder. “Yes, I agree to your deal. If you can fix all the problems I’ll… I’ll be…” She stumbled over the end of the sentence.

“You’ll be mine,” he prompted.

She sighed. “I’ll be yours.”

“Excellent. I’ll take care of the first part right now. Wait here for me, like a good girl.” He stood up, and headed back down the path without another word.

“Hey. Wait. Don’t—" Fog swirled up from the ground, obscuring him, and then he was gone. She was left in a creepy cemetery, by herself, on Halloween. “Ugh. This is not okay.”

She definitely wasn’t going to wait there for him. Deal or not, it was just too spooky. Besides, the moment he vanished from sight she started rethinking her decision. The overwhelming excitement he’d raised in her body had pushed her to agree, but now her logical mind was reminding her of all the reasons it was impossible.

“I can’t believe I said yes.” She muttered the words as she got to her feet and started hurrying towards the gate. If she was lucky she could be out of there before he came back.

At some point she’d started to believe he really could follow through with his promises. Maybe it was when he’d so accurately guessed her secret fantasies. Was she really so obvious? Maybe she put out signals that dominant men could read.

But again, once he was gone, the doubt came back. It was ridiculous to think one man could somehow get the better of an entire gang and retrieve her bag. It wasn’t that he looked weak.

He didn’t. He was tall and even in his tailored suit, she could see there was hard muscle, but still, he was only one guy.

And that was if he could even find them. Nope, it wasn’t happening. It had been exciting to consider his offer. For a few minutes she’d even let herself believe, but now she had to go back to the real world and…

She stopped and frowned. “What the hell?” She’d started down the path, the same path they’d come in on, but somehow, she’d gotten turned around. “Where’s the gate?”

It had been a very short walk from the entrance, just a few minutes. She’d been walking longer than that now, and still couldn’t see it. The fog wasn’t helping, of course, but she hadn’t remembered any turns. She should have reached it by now.

She started walking again, but this time she paid more attention. It felt like at least ten minutes had passed and she still hadn’t reached the end. She couldn’t be sure of the exact time, since her cheap cell phone wasn’t working all of a sudden.

It had been fully charged before she’d left the house earlier. Now there was only a black screen, and it wouldn’t power up. Without it she had no way of knowing how long she’d wandered, doubling back, and trying to figure out where she’d gone wrong.

A panicky feeling started to fill her. Her steps quickened to match her racing heart. She tripped and fell. She was struggling to get up when a hand reached down in front of her.

“I told you to wait for me.” It was him. He pulled her to her feet and frowned at her with furrowed brows.

“It was too creepy to sit in a cemetery alone.” Her tone held a note of accusation in it.

His expression smoothed. “I hadn’t thought you’d be scared alone. My apologies. I just wanted you to be safely out of the way while I retrieved your bag.”

“You… you actually got it back?” Her eyes flew open wide when he pushed the heavy pack into her arms. It looked identical and the weight was about right.

Of course, there was no way of knowing if it was the same. She’d never looked inside so she couldn’t confirm the contents. It did feel right though.

“I told you it wouldn’t be a problem. Now, let’s get this delivered before it causes you any more trouble.” He took her by the arm.

Normally she would have pulled away. She didn’t like casual touching from men, but that seemed silly considering the deal they’d just made.

Her stomach did a flip as she realized that he’d filled the first part of the deal. His clothes seemed to indicate money wouldn’t be an issue for him, which meant seeing her safely to the delivery was the only real task left on his side.

And that meant… oh.

“You weren’t really serious about this deal, were you? I mean, you were just teasing me? Trying to get me hot and bothered?” Her voice wavered a little. It could have been from nerves, or from the fact that he was rushing her down the path, as if he had some place to be.

He looked down at her out of the corner of his eye and snorted. “I’m not in the habit of making deals I don’t mean.”

Seconds later they were passing through the gates. She felt stupid for getting so flustered when they’d been right there. If she’d held out a little longer, she would have been free and on her way. Now, there was probably no chance of getting away from him.

Why did she feel a sense of relief about that?

The rest of the night passed in a blur. He delivered her to the address, and she turned over the backpack, to the right person. Whatever was in it didn’t please the older man when he looked inside.

There was a lot of shouting and at one point, she was worried they were going to hurt her. But the stranger, Master, stepped in front of her and things went fuzzy. She wasn’t entirely sure what happened, but they left a few minutes later and everything was fine after all.

She felt weird. Like she was buoyed on some weird drug. There should have been fears and worries, but instead she was relaxed and sleepy.

That feeling continued as he took her back to the garage to pick up her money, and then home to her ratty old apartment. She expected him to claim his part of the deal then—or at least take a down payment.

He didn’t. Actually she wasn’t entirely sure what happened because at that point the sleepiness overwhelmed her. When she woke up the next morning, she was alone. There was a moment of disappointment when she realized Master wasn’t there.

And then a moment of weird embarrassment at thinking of him as Master, but she had no other name to use for him.

She’d woken in her bed fully dressed and if he’d touched her, she couldn’t tell. She felt fine except for the hunger that was trying to gnaw through her stomach. At least she had money to fix that problem.

When she checked her pocket there was a wad of small bills that equaled what Lev owed her, plus a small bonus. It wasn’t a lot, but it would buy her groceries and help with the rent.

She tucked it back in her pocket and took a few minutes to pee, brush her teeth, and run a comb through her knotted hair. By the time she was somewhat presentable she’d convinced herself that the night before had been a dream.

Clearly someone had slipped her some drugs at some point, and she just wasn’t remembering anything right. There’d been no rich guy offering to save her from her life and do depraved things to her body. She’d just done her job and gotten paid.

Too bad though. She was almost sorry it hadn’t been real. She sighed and turned to the door— only to stop short. “Where did that come from,” she blurted.

There was a suitcase pressed against the door. She’d never seen it before in her life, and she would have recognized the expensive leather if she had. It wasn’t the type of thing she could afford.

Yet she had to have placed it against the door herself, because there was no other way out of her apartment, and no way to pull the door closed from the outside with it there. Had she stolen it on her way home?

She was beginning to wonder if she’d had a full-on blackout. That was more than a little worrying.

But… since the suitcase was there, she might as well take a peek inside. Maybe there was some good stuff she could take down to the consignment store. The case itself would probably be worth a nice chunk. Even if it was a knockoff, it was a good one.

She dragged it away from the door and laid it down so she could unzip it. The first thing she saw rocked her world. The note on top made it clear she hadn’t imagined the stranger or the odd meeting.

My Aline,

This is the last part of what I promised you, or at least the beginning of it. I have other obligations that I need to deal with at the moment. I’ll return to claim you soon. Take the time to prepare yourself for a new life.

For now, this case should make things easier and take care of any problems you might have. That includes your unsavory neighborhood. It’s time for you to move to a safer location.

Don’t bother finding a new place to live. You won’t be there long enough. Instead you should check into a hotel while you wait for my return.

Don’t worry, I’ll find you.

As for your part of the bargain… you’ll begin by following these rules.

1. Remember that you are mine and I don’t intend to share you.

2. Do not put yourself in any danger. This includes avoiding any people you may have connected with in the past for illegal activities. Money is no longer a problem, so you have no reason to take on any other dangerous jobs.

Remaining in your apartment is not an option, as it would be considered dangerous. I don’t know how much you’ll remember from last night, but whatever you were paid for that delivery wasn’t worth it. There are some very bad people unhappy with your boss, and by extension, you.

You will find both money and credit cards in the bag. More than enough to allow you to set up in the finest hotel in town. The location is your choice, just be sure you remove yourself from your current area.

There wasn’t much of the letter left, but Aline couldn’t resist setting it down for a second, to dig through the bag. He hadn’t lied. Underneath layers of expensive-feeling clothes, there was a stack of cash and a fancy purse that contained several credit cards—all in her name.

Somehow. She didn’t know how he even knew her full name, but more importantly how had he managed to have credit cards ready for her so quickly? She’d never had a card before, but she was pretty sure it didn’t work like that.

They looked real enough though. She took one out and turned it over. The signature panel on the back had her name scrawled across it, and oddly enough it looked exactly the way she signed her name.

Mystery after mystery and no answers anywhere in sight. She sighed and picked up the letter again.

3. Until I come for you, you will not come at all. There will be no touching yourself while you fantasize about the things I’m going to do to you. I want you to be desperate for my touch alone when I return. Your pleasure is now mine to control.

4. Have fun with your new life and buy whatever you like. Treat yourself.

Just be aware that any rules you break will lead to punishment. As much as you fantasize about being punished, you’re going to learn that discipline is rarely sexy or enjoyable. I guarantee you will regret disobeying me, and I will know if you do.

Sincerely,

Master

She was already seeing the good and bad in this… relationship. A slightly panicked laugh escaped her. “Relationship? I just met this guy. What was I even thinking?”

Her habit of talking to herself when she was alone helped her make sense of things sometimes. It didn’t do much for this though. She’d apparently sold herself to a strange guy who was now intent on taking over her whole life.

Rules? She was an adult woman, who did he think he was?

She glanced down at the suitcase, and sighed. Someone with a lot of money obviously, and she couldn’t say that wasn’t just as appealing as the other things he’d promised. If she hadn’t been so hungry, she would have been tempted to stay and look through the clothes, but later when she came back, stuffed with fast food and loaded up with groceries, she discovered it was all in her size.

There were matching accessories and even shoes packed in there too. How he’d fit so much in one suitcase, she couldn’t even explain, but there was nearly a full wardrobe there. And the money of course. She couldn’t forget about that.

He was like some kind of fairy godmother, granting her wishes left and right. All she had to give him in return was her body and that didn’t sound like a bad trade. All things considered, maybe things were going in the right direction, finally.

But the more she thought about it, the more she wondered how he knew so much about her. She waffled between the idea that he was a stalker who had been tracking her and had planned their meeting, and the thought that maybe he had mistaken her for someone else, and it was all just a coincidence.

The former was a creepy idea, and it made her nervous, so she tried not to think about that. If it was the latter, then eventually he’d realize and want his stuff back. Or maybe he’d just let her keep it since money clearly wasn’t an issue.

Her mind would keep spinning over these possibilities over the next couple of days. She did strongly consider moving to a hotel, as directed, but two things stopped her. The first was that she really wasn’t used to following orders. The idea that she was supposed to obey anyone, let alone a guy she barely knew, rankled.

The second, and more salient point had more to do with her persistent fear that this wasn’t actually happening. Oh, by now she’d accepted the fact that he was real. That he’d made an offer, and she’d accepted it.

She only had to look at the money and clothes to be sure of that. No, it was more that she didn’t think the situation could be happening. The idea that some sexy, rich guy would want her like that… it just didn’t track.

Aline was fine with how she looked, and aside from the occasional self-conscious moments that everyone had, she saw plenty of positives when she looked in the mirror. Her skin was fairly flawless. Luckily acne had never been an issue for her. Her dark eyes had hints of amber speckled around the irises, and she’d been told they were striking.

Her body was skinnier than she would have liked, and it contributed to a boyish figure, but that was mostly from missing so many meals. She’d always figured that given the chance to fill out some, she’d develop enough curves, but in the meantime, it was useful to look as she did.

The right kind of men didn’t mind her height. The other types were often intimidated, which was a plus as far as she was concerned. She’d heard snide remarks about how she towered over them, and of course, the rude comments about her small breasts. None of it really bothered her, and looking as she did meant she got harassed less.

A man like that though, with his looks and money, she’d have pictured him with a model or an actress maybe. Not some poor girl he had to rescue. If he’d only wanted a fuck toy, she’d have had less trouble believing he was serious.

But he’d actually suggested a permanent relationship, even saying he wanted her as a wife. That was the part that kept sticking. Maybe he’d been drunk or stoned—that would explain why he was walking around the worst parts of town to begin with.

It could have been some weird spur of the moment’s urge. Or he had a type, and she was it. But whatever had caused him to make the offer, she couldn’t imagine it would last forever.

Aline was sitting there with more money than she’d ever seen in her life, and that wasn’t even counting the credit cards. Some people would have gone on a spending spree, but all she could think about was what would happen when it was gone.

What would happen when he sobered up, or came to his senses and realized that he didn’t want to be saddled with a girl who was way below him on the staircase of life. There wouldn’t be any more money and the cards would be cancelled so fast the plastic would melt.

So she wasn’t going to spend one penny of the cash. And as far as the cards…well, she couldn’t see a downside to using them, but she also didn’t want to set herself up for crushing disappointment when they were gone.

Checking into a fancy hotel, like he’d ordered, might be a glorious vacation, but what if the cards stopped working before the final bill was due? Nope. She was going to use them alright, but not for that.