Mistress A-0002

I should have been coming up with a plan. I should have been making calls to those in my control. After all: self-preservation. One would want to cover their ass and protect their future. But I wasn’t just anyone. They’d expect me to come crawling back to save myself. They’d be doing more of their secret trappings, and I’d be worse off. Fuck calling them. Fuck mercy. I made this place. I gave them their Main Master. I introduced them to most of the scientists they needed to obtain. I was Dr. Melissa LaRoe. If they wanted me, they knew where I was. Let them try to outmaneuver me in my own game. Let them try to attempt to destroy everything I’d worked so hard for. They had no idea who they were messing with, but soon they’d find out. One by one, I’d make them fall. We’d see who was left standing when it was all said and done.

“Mistress, please allow me to go out there on your behalf. What you said last night about these council members…it scared me. You should stay inside until this blows over. I don’t mind collecting your breakfast from The Six. We can even have them deliver it.”

I laughed, throwing Muriel a look.

“You’ll do no such thing.” My words got stuck in my throat as I scanned over my slave’s beautiful face. “Actually…yes, you can go. With me. We’ll go together and have breakfast in front of everyone. Let them see I’m not cowering in this apartment. Elec . He thinks he can ruin me. Just wait. I hope he’s there. I hope he tries to avoid my stare. He knows I won. He knows I’m stronger. You’ll go and you can see how he silently bows to me.”

Muriel’s grip stayed glued to her dress as she twisted it in her stiff grasp.

“…Of course. I would be honored to join you, Mistress. Allow me to change.”

My gaze lowered to the light lavender dress she wore. It was slightly formfitting, giving a glimpse to her nipples that pushed into the material.

“No.” I stepped forward, lifting my hand to cup the fullness while my thumb went back and forth over the hardening nub. Muriel’s lips parted and her breathing deepened at my growing nearness. “You’ll wear this. You have nothing to hide. You’re beautiful, and you’re mine. Let them look. Let them see what happens when they do .”

“Melissa. You can’t. What if?—”

Her words were a whispering plea on my lips. One I quickly snuffed out as I pulled her in and thrust my tongue into her mouth. The moan that left Muriel was immediate. It drove my body forward, sending her stumbling backward, right into the sofa. She fell back and I followed her down, leading her to the side so that she was laying down the length. The moment I added my weight on top of her and settled between her spread legs, she met my lips with the same desperation she always did.

Love.

The sentiment she held didn’t feed the affection I harbored for her. It fed my power. The control I so desperately needed. Outside of these walls my world was spinning into complete ruination. Here, with Muriel, I was the Mistress and she was my slave. Her very breath belonged to me.

“Is this what you’ve been waiting for?” I kissed her harder, jerking up the dress as I settled my palm over her thigh. “You came to my bed last night. You slept with me, but you kept your distance. Did you pray I would touch you? Want you?”

“Yes.”

“Did you get sad when I didn’t?”

She was already rocking under me, meeting my lips as she moaned.

“I’m not at liberty to want. You come to me when you want me.”

“That’s not what I asked.” Higher, I moved, brushing her panties as I began teasing her over the wet material. “Were you sad? You say you love me. Does it hurt you not to have me like you want?”

Muriel’s lids cracked open, and the truth was so clear that I didn’t need her to answer. That didn’t stop me from pinning her with an expectant stare.

“I…would like…” She gasped as I pulled the panties to the side, tracing my finger along her opening. “I, mean, I would like to be able to sometimes…. initiate .” I plunged my digit in, rotating my shoulder so that I could add pressure over her clit. “You used to let me. Lately, you’ve pulled back.”

I added another finger, biting my bottom lip through her movements. She was squeezing her fists, digging into the sofa. “None of that has to do with the question I asked. Does it hurt? Do you get sad?”

“Always. Mistress, please.”

My narrowed lids said no as I kept the thrusts steady.

“Is the pain great? A stain on your day as you try to focus? Or…is wanting me, knowing you can’t initiate the way you want, crippling? Consuming?”

Muriel arched, shaking her head back and forth.

“I almost can’t take it. I just want to hold you. To feel your skin and warmth against me. To hear you say it. One more kiss. Please .”

“There’s only one place I want to kiss, and it isn’t your mouth. What does the thought of me tasting you make you feel?

The whimper followed her head lifting as she watched me remove her panties and lower between her legs.

“Are you getting wetter? More impatient?”

“Yes.”

“Spin.”

But I didn’t give Muriel the chance to process my order. I lifted and moved, pulling to help her sit as I kneeled between her knees.

“Scoot down to the edge of the cushion and spread your legs wide.”

No arguments. No hesitation.

I let her adjust, taking in her pussy not inches away. When I looked up and met her stare, I felt my chest tightened through a reality I was trying so hard to block out.

I could lose this. Lose her. Fuck, I could lose everything. Part of my mind knew that. The other part was foggy and rebellious but confident after my elevator faceoff with Elec. My skills were supreme. If I could win with him, I could work my way out of this. I had with everything else. This would be no different. It appeared I was in trouble, but this would pass. It was Keith’s word against mine. My expertise against all of their ‘sudden’ recollection. I would explain that this was nothing more than a witch hunt. I would get the Collective High Council to side with me, or I’d make them .

“Closer.”

I grabbed Muriel’s hips, pulling until her ass was hanging over the edge. She wasn’t even settled before I leaned in, running my tongue from her opening, up to tease her clit. The slight jolt of her legs had me repeatedly circling the sensitive nerves. For minutes I let it drag out. Not touching but adding pressure just close enough to her clit to have her moaning and crying out.

“Please. Melissa. Mistress, please .”

“Keep talking. Is this what you want?”

I slid a finger inside her pussy, withdrawing just to add another. Muriel’s mouth opened and her lips made that beautiful O-shape I loved seeing. She was so wet. So close as I began to thrust.

“I want—I need. I want…”

“I know what you really want, and me tasting you isn’t it. You’d much prefer me to say those three words you cling to more than anything else.”

I kept fucking her with my fingers as I refused to meet her eyes. I went back to licking and sucking against her clit, basking in the one person who ever meant anything to me. Muriel wasn’t a motive. She wasn’t a patient or experiment. She was a woman. One, who had fallen in love with me over the course of our years together. One, who had listened to my deepest, darkest, most fucked up thoughts, and embraced them. Embraced me.

“Oh, God. Please? Please say it.”

“That I love you?”

She gasped. “Yes. Please .”

“I…love…your moans. I love your taste. I love your beautiful eyes.” I sucked against her. “But I will not say I love you. Not yet.”

I curled my fingers up, rubbing against her channel, putting extra attention to make her feel good. I didn’t have to. She would have come regardless. But there was something changing within. A weight that I wasn’t sure was good or bad. It had me nearly missing her screams as she jolted underneath me with spasms.

What if I ended up not able to get control of the Council? What if this time was different than the others before? Serial Rapist? What if I couldn’t recover from this?

Laughter. I tried to ignore how everyone seemed to be in extraordinarily good moods. The Couples’ faces were glowing with happiness. Tables housed Masters who were deep in enthralling conversations. It wasn’t easy to miss the eagerness in those stares, or the planted light-haired Master who had been tailing me for days. There was even a table of four Mistresses who dazzled through their dialogue. Expressive hands. Soft postures. They were at home in their moment. I used to feel that way here, and maybe still would, had I gotten what I needed. But so far, every outing to The Six didn’t supply the one person I kept hoping to see. Elec was nowhere to be found. He was avoiding me, and I knew it was because Jett’s trial was just around the corner. But what if it was more? What if he learned something I didn’t know? Or what if the Council was planning to side with him? I was not going to give in and call, and no one seemed to think it was important to call me. Was that good news? Bad? All these fucking questions.

“Mistress, are you okay?”

I tore my gaze from the table of bubbly female celebrities.

“That’s the third time you’ve asked me that. I’m going to kill him, slave. That Master who’s been following us. That’s Elec’s doing. Look at him, trying not to be obvious. I bet you he’s a blank slate. I bet he’s not even a real Master. How many others do you think are watching? Have they been following us the entire time?”

Delusional.

Delusional.

Paranoia.

“Mistress, do you want to go?”

Her stare dropped to my hand, and I followed it down, taking in the fork I clung to. My knuckles were white. My hand was shaking. To let go of the fork was a chore. My fingers didn’t want to unclench. The shock of that was the only thing that had me letting go.

“We’re not leaving anywhere. Elec should be here . Every day we delay the time by fifteen minutes, and every day we miss him. He’s coming. Eat slower.”

Muriel nodded, glancing back to her plate as I gave death glares to the blonde who randomly kept looking our way.

“He’s here, Mistress. The Main Master.”

My attention shot to the door and with it, my chest tightened.

Grand smile. Perfect, white teeth. Hair slicked back with his side part. Blue eyes as cold as ice. His joyful demeanor didn’t fool me. Elec didn’t feel happy. He couldn’t. Not entirely, and not because I numbed what little emotion he had . It was him. It was what I had turned him into by circumstance.

Perfect puppet of authority.

Socialite seducer.

The Main Master’s charm sparked my own. A part of me hated him. To see him brought out the worst need of rage. Yet, meeting his stare as it came to spot me…I couldn’t entirely hate him. He was part of me. He was…mine. My creation. My ultimate game. Fury, absolutely. Betrayal, like a knife in the heart. Handsome and powerful…just like I wanted him to be, and there was pride in that.

“Shit. Mistress, I think he’s coming over here.”

Of course he was. He’d need to face me after our episode on the elevator with Ethan. He wouldn’t be able to help himself.

“Mistress Two.”

Elec slowed a few feet from the table. He glanced at my plate, making it a point to connect with my eyes and hold. I kept my voice cold, calm, and detached.

“Main Master. How is my son?”

Elec stood at ease, just like I knew he would. As if our exchange was nothing.

“He’s doing fine. He’s not happy, but that’s to be expected.”

I nodded.

“Braddock?”

“Safe and on the mend. Body and mind.”

His tone sparked defensiveness. Mind. As if he knew. No, of course he knew. To delude myself was pointless now. They all knew. They had to. But that changed nothing. I’d still win this. The cost didn’t matter anymore.

“What of the girl? The slave Jett attacked?”

“Healing.”

“Good.” I glanced over to the blond. My breath was shaky through the spike of anger that came with his presence, and I hated that. “Can you get your goon to stop following me? The blonde Master over there. He’s everywhere. I’m sick of seeing his face. Are you so afraid of me?” I nearly smiled, and the amusement couldn’t help but make its way into the end of my question. “How many others did you send to follow me as well?”

Elec glanced to where I was staring. He didn’t speak, but he didn’t have to. I dropped my gaze to his chest, trying to stay composed. When my eyes lifted, Elec’s unguarded expression didn’t put me at ease. It was all threat. All decimation. Hate flashed, like what was in me, yes, but something more. Something that made me feel like the prey when I was clearly the predator. …I knew nothing. What was coming promised nightmares. An end, and this rouse he was putting on was nothing but a diversion to distract me. But it didn’t stop me. He knew something. He had information, and I needed clues as to what the hell was going on.

“According to the outside news this morning, our circle is missing a very important man.” My eyes narrowed. “Quincy Mallory. How ironic. Pearl is Ethan’s chosen, and now her father is missing. Is Quincy here at the Gardens?”

Stoic. Hard. Elec’s gaze was eating me alive. Every second I could see even more through his mask.

“He was here. He’s dead now. Quincy was my present to Ethan. I’m sure if you’d like to see him again, Ethan would let you take a walk in his meat freezer. I actually helped Ethan prepare Mr. Mallory for his reunion with Pearl. You know how Ethan loves a good steak.”

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

Was that look baiting? Taunting? Elec’s sudden smugness had to be for a reason, didn’t it? Did he know I had Quincy kill Claudia? No. I made that disappear from Quincy’s mind just like I did with Pearl’s. Nosey girl. That secret was safe, dead and gone just like my old lover was now.

“Well, great. I’m sure Pearl will appreciate his death after locking her away for all those years. He was a horrible father. Bon Appetit, I say.”

“Indeed.” Elec glanced to his assigned table but hesitated to head that way, instead pulling out a chair and sitting at mine. The action had Muriel’s head turning to me. I didn’t look at her. I kept my attention on the killer I’d caught a glimpse of as Elec lowered. “Quincy mentioned a name to Ethan before he died. Ethan didn’t recognize it, so he came to me.” Elec held my stare, the flat fury blazing through his eyes. “Have you ever heard of a man named Corbin Frasier?”

My heartbeat took over my sense of hearing as I stared into ice blue. Cold. Dead. Unreachable depths. Paranoia melted away and didn’t exist anymore. There was no suspicion or sudden delusions for me in our moment, only facts as I felt myself sink impossibly lower. Maybe to unreachable depths.

I swallowed back the colliding emotions, smiling as I lifted my glass, tipping it towards Elec. The cards were falling. The thread was unraveling. Did I really think Elec would never discover the truth? Well…no.

“I do know him.” I took a drink. “So do you.”

Confusion.

His look fed my power. It told me I still held the smallest ounce of control. My dear little creation may know the ultimate secret between us, but he didn’t know everything.

“What do you mean, I know him? I assure you I’ve never heard that name in my life. Who is he, Melissa?”

“Your tone. It’s very thick. Impatience isn’t a flattering quality for your role.”

“Who is he?”

“Is that anger I detect, Main Master?”

“ You have no idea . Stop playing games. We’re beyond that now.”

A shadow seemed to fall over the table as Elec’s demeanor darkened to a pitch black. He leaned forward with consuming eyes. His pupils were dilated as he turned his full attention to Muriel. The dead language that left his mouth came out as a twisting of words. Weight was so heavy against me, it almost felt as if my skin was going to turn to liquid. I snapped to get him under my spell, crying out as he locked to my wrist. The pain was worse than ever. It had tears pooling in my eyes and me crying out.

“That’s not going to work anymore, Mistress . Who. Is. He?”

Muriel wasn’t moving. She wasn’t blinking. She sat upright but didn’t respond as I grabbed to her bicep with my free hand.

“ What did you do? ”

“What I’ve been trained to do, Mistress Two. Just because your slave didn’t come through the normal process doesn’t mean she’s immune to the training all slaves undergo. She may be yours, but she belongs to me. You see, if you won’t talk, she will. She won’t have a choice.”

“You can’t do this. She’s mine, and she hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Actually, she has. You may be off limits to me due to the Council, but she’s not, and I believe your slave has information to an investigation the Gardens is looking into. One regarding this Corbin Frasier. I have every right as the Main Master to take her downstairs and try to retrieve that information by any means possible. She’s always been so loyal to you. We both know how that’s going to go.”

I leaned more towards him as I met his glare head-on.

“I hate you. You lie. ” I snapped with my free hand trying to ignore the agony of his hold increasing. Again. Nothing. It almost caused me to yell out. “The Gardens couldn’t possibly be looking for Corbin Frasier. But I’ll oblige you since you’re so desperate to know. Corbin was a filmmaker. A pampered, entitled little shit who had a smooth voice and a big cock. He was studying the fascinating mysteries of the mind. I gave him material. Too bad he had an accident before he could use it. Not that those were the videos he was looking to make public.”

“So, he’s dead.”

“Blackmail isn’t something people forgive, Main Master. I’m sure you understand that. Corbin had enemies. Whether his accident was truly that or not is a mystery. The body was never found. I guess no one will ever know.”

“Don’t be so sure of that.”

“ Oh, I’m sure .” My head shook in disgust and anger. I tugged hard, trying to get my wrist free. “You think you’re so much better than me. You think you have this all figured out. Let me guess…Vivia.” His expression didn’t change. Hate. So much hate. “ You know nothing . Your first mistake was turning your back on me. Your last was involving the Council. I know you were behind all of this. You want an enemy, fine, you’ve got one. But if we’re battling over love, let’s meet on a level playing field.”

I ripped my hand back, breaking free. No thoughts. No hesitation. I turned, grabbing the knife next to my plate, surging and plunging it into the side of Muriel’s neck. Once. Twice. I twisted, pulling it free to throw across the table. Blood went splattering over the white tablecloth as the blade stopped just shy of Elec. “Now we’ve both lost the love of our lives. Let the real game begin.”

Blood sprayed out, pouring into her lap from the opened wounds. Her body was motionless as Elec surged to his feet, racing for her. Muriel didn’t so much as blink. She was a statue as death approached. Free from pain. Free from the torture of telling my secrets. And me, I felt nothing but rage.

Nothing…but a need for revenge.